Chapter 253 - Instructions

# BOOM!

Underground in the buried ruins.

In an open space deep within, Stardust threw a full-power punch at the knight in heavy armor lying in the center.

"Ugh..."

The tremendous shockwave she felt in her body showed just how powerfully she had struck with all her might.

As strong as her blow was, the moment her fist connected, a thunderous sound rang out as cracks spread across the surrounding floor, filling the area with dust.

After being pushed back considerably by the impact, she coughed while waving her hand to clear the dust cloud and muttered to Egostic.

"Did I finish it off?"

[That's highly unlikely.]

And just as his words reached her.

Ziiiiing-

A strange mechanical sound began coming from ahead.

And through the dust cloud, blue eye-lights became visible.

"...Is that it?"

As she muttered briefly.

Boom-. Boom-. Along with heavy footsteps.

Finally, it appeared before Stardust.

A massive knight over 2 meters tall, with a hulking frame covered in gleaming silver armor.

What made an impression was the blue light swirling within the strangely shaped helmet of this seemingly lifeless being.

[Stella prodidit. Protest. Sequentia reducitur.]

Then came bizarre mechanical sounds from the thing in front.

As she swallowed nervously watching the knight-shaped weapon that was muttering something while looking at her, Egostic's serious voice echoed in her ear.

[Ms. Stardust. Let me explain one last time. This ancient weapon of destruction, the Knight of God, has specific attack patterns. I'll tell you what they are, and you should follow what you see on screen and listen to my voice. If you do that, you can definitely win. Understood?]

"...Yeah."

Unlike his usual self, Egostic spoke in a calm and serious voice, and Stardust found herself responding with equal gravity.

...Certainly, if Egostic was speaking this way, it must mean this opponent was something special.

And just as she took up a combat stance.

[...Currens proditor remotio Program.]

After muttering something to itself, it seemed to finish and turned its head to look at her.

Kuuuuuuung-.

As it clenched its fist and stomped the ground, blue energy swirled around its body.

[Guahhhhhhh-]

It suddenly began charging toward her like a rhinoceros.

[Ms. Stardust, dodge to the right!]

With Egostic's instructions in her ear, she threw herself to the right.

And thus began the curtain-raiser of the battle.

Or more precisely, the proxy raid against the Knight of God.

***

In the deepest level of the ruins, a space wide enough to hold hundreds of people.

There, Stardust was dodging the attacks of the enormous holy knight while following Egostic's instructions.

[Ms. Stardust, a fist will come from the left! Duck and then immediately get up and hit the glowing part on the right shoulder of its armor! 3, 2, 1...]

[Now it's going to start pounding the ground like crazy, and shockwaves will come out. Just stay away for a while. Here it comes soon. 3, 2, 1...]

[This is the third pattern. It will stay still for 3 seconds, then summon a blue greatsword in its hand. Before that, kick its abdomen with all your might. Now!]

Kwaaaaaaang.

"Huff, huff."

After striking the armored being with all her might as he instructed.

While it was recovering, she caught her breath.

....Had it been an hour since they started fighting?

Indeed, it was a powerful opponent.

No. Actually, "powerful" wasn't quite the right word.

"...."

To be precise, the creature took no damage unless attacked in specific ways.

As if immune to all types of attacks, it withstood everything without flinching. Like an iron punching bag.

But there was just one way to damage it.

When it attacked her, hitting specific body parts at the exact right timing.

Only then did it take damage.

In other words, if you didn't know the pattern, hitting it was useless no matter how hard you tried.

'.....'

Only now did Stardust understand why Egostic had called it an immortal weapon of destruction.

Each attack was devastatingly powerful enough to collapse the underground, yet it was immune to damage in most situations. Why was something like this sleeping beneath Korean soil?

Of course, there was no time to ponder such things.

Just following Egostic's instructions was keeping her plenty busy.

'...Still.'

Thanks to Egostic giving such quick and accurate directions, she had managed to fight without much difficulty so far.

Although the windows to attack were brief, damage was clearly accumulating on the knight. Judging by the creaking sounds coming from around its body.

[It looks like it's about to get up again.]

"...So it seems. Phew."

As she took her stance and waited for it to rise again.

[....Grrrrrrrrr]

With a bizarre sound, the silver knight rose again.

The eye-light still burning intensely inside the helmet.

But something was different.

The eye-light within the helmet was now burning orange instead of the previous blue.

...What's going on?

As she pondered this question.

Egostic calmly said:

[Phase 2 now.]

[...Arggggggggg!!!!!]

And as soon as he finished speaking.

Suddenly, multiple glowing orange blades began forming around its body.

As Stardust watched this with ragged breath.

[...Ms. Stardust. Listen carefully.]

Egostic spoke to her in an even more serious voice, emphasizing his words.

[From now on, its attacks will be much more threatening and faster than before. The windows to attack will also be shorter. So from now on, I won't explain in detail but will just give short instructions. I'll speak informally. Is that okay?]

"...Yeah. Of course."

She wiped away her sweat and nodded in response.

This wasn't the time to worry about such things. And...

Egostic's guidance had been tremendously helpful.

[Thank you. Then, let's begin. If we can endure this phase, we can win.]

As he finished speaking.

[Krahhhhhhh-----!]

Finally, it opened its silver chest wide as transparent orange blades began swirling around it.

[Duck.]

At his brief but firm command, Stardust reflexively ducked her head, and in that moment.

Whoosh.

A blade from nowhere swept through where her head had been.

"....I see. So you're not going to make this easy."

Alright. Let's do this.

With that determination, she walked toward it step by step.

The ruins, already half-destroyed from the battle, rumbled as if about to collapse.

And in the ochre-colored space, only the silver holy knight glowed incongruously, roaring as it charged at her.

Orange blades rotating around its body as it approached with tremendous momentum.

But she wasn't particularly afraid of the sight.

[Dodge right then jump up, then step back once and kick.]

Because she had someone incredibly reliable by her side.

***

Stardust had quite extensive combat experience.

With experience built through many real battles and superhuman intuition, she usually made good judgments when fighting enemies.

But in the current situation, she had to admit it.

[Three steps back.]

One, two, three.

Kuuuuuuung.

No sooner had she moved her feet exactly as instructed than orange blades erupted from both floor and ceiling where she had been standing.

[Now punch to the right.]

And as she followed his instructions, turning right and throwing a punch at empty air.

Swoooooosh.

-Kwagwagwagwang.

Suddenly the knight appeared from that empty space, ran into her fist, took the hit squarely and bounced off in the opposite direction.

[Run and hit it repeatedly!]

As soon as he finished speaking, she launched herself toward where it had fallen and began attacking furiously.

It had been like this the whole time.

Egostic would command her what to do, and she would stop thinking and act as he said. From simple commands like covering her ears to absurd ones like punching empty air.

And all those seemingly meaningless actions revealed their purpose once carried out.

The moment she covered her ears, an unidentified sonic attack struck; when she punched the empty air, somehow the enemy ran into her fist.

Additionally, the next-generation hero-assist device Egostic had given her marked vulnerable spots to attack with red indicators, making her actions extremely precise.

Thus, with the strange sensation of being one with Egostic.

She was gradually, steadily overwhelming this seemingly impregnable knight.

Finally.

[Arg.......]

As black smoke rose thickly from the knight's body and its two mechanical arms dangled limply, suggesting it had reached its limit.

It made one last desperate move, suddenly placing its hand on its armor-plated chest, becoming enveloped in blue and orange energy as if trying to do something.

[Now! Hit its chest with everything you've got!]

Egostic's urgent final instruction came.

"Hyaaah!"

Using the last ounce of her strength, Stardust rushed toward it and drove her glowing yellow fist into its solar plexus.

---------KWAAAAAAANG.

PUUUUUUNG.

Finally, with a tremendous boom.

It emitted light, then its body turned to dust and disappeared.

"Haa... haa... did I do it...?"

[Yes. That's right, Ms. Stardust. You did it.]

"...Haa. Haa."

Having finally defeated it, she sat down exhausted and caught her breath.

Finally, finally. It's over...

She thought as she panted.

Just let me rest for a moment.

That's what she thought.

Rumble rumble rumble.

"Huh...?"

...Until the ruins began to collapse from the battle's aftermath.