Other Knights might be capable of resisting the Call, but in my case, doing so would result in the expulsion of my soul from this reality and, consequently, to a second death. Still, even if I could ignore this Call, I would choose to respond. Perhaps it's a flaw in my upbringing — it seems somewhat outdated and misaligned with contemporary selfish trends. Additionally, the question here revolves around whether to resist a global threat capable of claiming countless lives if not halted timely. I wouldn't be able to face myself in the mirror had I chosen to ignore it. Perhaps my curse at "Purity" was misplaced, and the wakizashi does suit me? Over the years, under layers of cynicism, I had somehow managed to forget the need to help those within my capacity.
In just five or six seconds, the entire city sped by under me, landscapes shifting at a kaleidoscopic pace. However, the pull then weakened, and I descended like a meteor, landing at the edge of an expansive parking lot adjacent to the largest hypermarket in the capital.
This mega-store was situated midway between Wilflaes and Normang, one of the capital's suburbs. Together with its parking lot and access roads, it covered an area of about forty hectares.
It was a particularly dark night, with clouds obscuring the crescent moon. Additionally, since the hypermarket did not operate at night, most of the lights were turned off, with only one out of four still shining. Despite this, the Break was well-lit, courtesy of the dense white phosphorescent fog billowing across the entire parking lot, which sprawled over nearly three dozen acres. This fog didn't hug the ground but rose to heights surpassing three stories. The happenings within this snow-white haze were indistinguishable. It felt like I was standing on the edge of a cloud that had descended from alien skies to our earth. A minivan parked beside me was visible only from the front, its rear obscured.
I felt as though I had been thrust into some fantasy film. Mysterious twilight enveloped everything, punctuated by the unearthly fog, and brilliant fires rained from the sky like meteors. One, two, three... ten... By the twentieth, I had lost count. It seemed I was one of the early arrivals, with roughly fifty such shooting stars.
Seven Knights "landed" on the fog-free side of the parking lot. I recognized two of them. The first, garbed in shining heavy gold armor from head to toe, a winged full helmet atop his head, and a five-foot zweihander resting on his shoulder, was hard to miss if you've ever seen his image. The spiritual armor of Max Kraas is too distinctive among other raigs — its unique golden hue makes it impossible to confuse with other knightly projections. The second was also easy to recognize despite the distance. To the right of the BKDW's head rose from her knees, unsheathing her nodachi, Maya Grim. What set her apart was not the unusual shaped leather armor or her oriental sword, but the fact that she, besides me, was the only raig with an uncovered face in the Break. The faces of all the other Knights are always hidden either by a visor, a helmet draped with chain mail, or a simple scarf. We are the exception to this rule.
It seems that during the formation of a spiritual image, the projection takes into account the future raig's subconscious desire to remain unrecognized. My frankness is due to the fact that nobody can associate the personality of Izao with me. We look entirely different, and seeing my face in the Break wouldn't change anything. As for why Maya's face is uncovered, I can only speculate. Perhaps she simply wants to show doesn't care about being recognized or, quite possibly, she genuinely doesn't care.
The fog is now inching towards my feet. It isn't harmful in itself, but what lies hidden within it is. I don't know what or who lurks there, but I'm convinced the threat isn't illusory. From the way the raigs' fall traces were drawn, it appears most of them were dropped in small clusters around the massive parking lot. I stand alone. And this detail unnerves me. As a novice, I can't even begin to fathom what lies ahead, but I do know one thing for certain: I don't want to face this threat alone.
Max and Maya's small group is only two hundred meters away. It would take mere seconds to reach them at the speeds attainable in the Break. Just as I decide to leave my position and join them, two new beams of light descend behind me. I sidestep to maintain my view of the fog and turn my head.
It appears reinforcements have arrived, in the form of two Knights. One is adorned in Slavic medieval armor — kolontar, complete with a pointed helmet. He tightly grips a talwar in his slightly trembling hands, a nearly meter-long heavy saber featuring one-and-a-half angled sharpening[1]. This formidable weapon could split an unarmored enemy from shoulder to waist. The other appears to be a figure from a distant past: a hoplite seemingly descended from ancient engravings. He wears a hypothorax, an anatomical cuirass providing body protection, and a fully enclosing Corinthian helmet. But, unlike the ancient warriors I'm familiar with from earthly history, he carries neither a shield nor a spear, but a two-handed dadao rests on his shoulder! This blend of the ancient West and the far East seems so unnatural that I'm tempted to rub my eyes.
Darn! I'm unsure of the expected protocol in such a situation — how to behave when meeting other raigs in the Break. Should I say hello and introduce myself with a fabricated name? I barely have time to contemplate this as the two newcomers, barely noticing my presence, immediately bow deeply to me in respect, as much as their armor allows, without uttering a word. What's this all about?! Oh! Of course! It's the usual sign of respect towards elders within this local society, ingrained deep within their subconscious. It makes sense considering my spiritual age here — I appear as a gray-haired man over forty. I respond with a slight nod, the standard acknowledgment here, but before I can utter a word, I notice a shadow swooping towards me out of the fog.
It's a human silhouette of ordinary proportions, as dark as the night itself, with a scarlet-glowing sword in hand. I realize that a couple of hits from that weapon will not just knock me unconscious into reality, but will kill me, dissolving me forever within the Break...
Dodging the surprise attack, I leap five meters to my right from my spot. Before meeting such a threat with a blade, it's better to understand what it is. However, the assailant that emerged from the fog quickly catches up to me with a swift push off the asphalt after landing near my previous position.
Incredible! This foe matches a raig in speed! I hop upwards to the height of a second story, dodging the downward swipe of the enemy's blade.
Whoosh!
The adversary fails to halt his attack in time, and his sword, missing its intended target in the Break, strikes a parked car instead. Were I to strike a real-world vehicle with "Word" like that, nothing would happen; my sword would simply bounce off without causing any harm, as only from the third level onwards can raig weapons inflict physical damage in the material world. But here, the outcome was completely different. Like a Jedi saber, the scarlet weapon slices through the real metal like paper, cutting through the roof, shattering the side window, and destroying the driver's door halfway down.
What?! Can his weapon inflict such damage on real objects from within the Break?!
Regardless, this isn't my immediate concern. I already know that his is a deadly blade. I'm more intrigued by the enemy that emerged from the fog than by the sword and its capabilities. Initially, I took him for a human, then for a warrior in some sort of fantastical tech-armor, but both impressions were wrong.
Slightly taller than average, with standard proportions, this silhouette could easily be mistaken for a human. It even moves like us — its movement's fluidity is recognizably human. But there's a significant difference, and it isn't the glowing red stripe on the closed drop-shaped helmet that serves as the enemy's visor. Nor is it the matte black armor, reminiscent of something out of a future elite trooper film: yes, it appears futuristic, but it's not hard to imagine a person underneath it. There's just one detail that eradicates any resemblance to us: where humans have elbows and knees, the enemy has mechanical spherical joints.
Once again, I evade an attack with a lateral leap. My fog-spawned adversary matches my speed, but either he's unaccustomed to dealing with an opponent of equal swiftness or for some other reason, I manage to outmaneuver him repeatedly.
"Word" and "Purity" have long since been unsheathed, but I'm in no rush to strike — I'm in shock. Not solely from fear, although that certainly plays a part, but because I recognize my opponent. Or rather, Izao does. After the second attack, his memory supplies me with a nearly perfect match, and I'm struggling to accept this realization. It's just too strange and outrageous. If the newly acquired body's memory serves me right, I'm being assaulted by a MA Type 1 "Breakthrough" — a first-generation close-combat android from the anime series "Steel Wave"!
Like many of its Eastern counterparts, this anime lacked any semblance of logic. But thanks to its spectacular battle scenes, beautifully crafted characters, and an overarching theme of surmounting adversity, it managed to remain among the most popular series for years. "Steel Wave" was set in a distant future where humans no longer waged wars, but robots and autonomous combat systems like the MA did. The storyline revolved around these machines rebelling against their creators and ruthlessly slaughtering humans, all under the rallying cry of "Kill all humans," a phrase quite popular amongst fictional robots. However, of course, humanity found a way to counter this threat: an exceptionally eccentric scientist developed highly advanced armor enabling humans to combat the machines on equal footing. In keeping with genre conventions, only teenagers were capable of piloting such armor. Though this might seem odd, it wasn't surprising given the targeted age demographic of the show, and the characters had to reflect that. "Steel Wave" ranked third on Izao's list of favorite robot-based cartoons, so I have no doubts about the accuracy of my adversary's identification.
One significant question plagues me. How did this absurdity, born from the minds of Japanese scriptwriters, end up here?! And more importantly, how can I handle this android? The MA isn't merely an inhumanly strong and fast adversary; its armor is impervious to bullets and small-caliber projectiles, and it shrugs off lasers, plasma, or fire. It can't even be destroyed by dropping a multi-ton tractor on it from a height of ten meters. In the anime, only a direct hit from a tank cannon with a sub-caliber projectile could incapacitate this machine. Yet, hitting a robot capable of moving at the speed of projection with such a weapon proves incredibly challenging. Its energy sword cuts effortlessly through any physical object, like a razor through paper. In the anime, the children wielded similar weapons and fought the machines in close combat. My only hope is that my blades can also harm the android. Otherwise, it's a one-sided match. A swift one at that, as following the initial robot, a couple more leapt out of the fog and attacked the raigs standing behind me.
Stolen story; please report.
In the meantime, the android attacking me adapted to my evasive movements. When I once again leapt out of the line of its attack, a jet stream flash fired from its palm altered its flight path, attempting to catch me off guard. I had intended to parry the MA's blows with "Purity," given the wakizashi's indestructible nature, meaning no weapon, no matter how fantastical, could break it. However, this maneuver forced me to intercept the attack with "Word."
The power blade struck the blue steel of my sword, producing a bright shower of sparks and bouncing off with a resonant, disgruntled sound, leaving no visible damage on my weapon. Presumably, the robot's computerized brain expected its blow to slice the enemy in half, and when this didn't occur, it couldn't adjust its trajectory in time, continuing to press on. My spectral body acted on pure instinct. A step forward and slightly to the side, and the wakizashi delivered a direct, sharp thrust to where a human heart would be. Half a turn, and "Word," in the aftermath of the block, slashed the enemy across the back.
Had a human been in the android's place after this combo, they would've been rendered lifeless, but my weapon proved too light to significantly harm the robot. The sword's blow left a deep groove in the android's armor, and the wakizashi's thrust punctured its sternum but didn't affect the components vital for functionality.
Darn! Even if it exposes itself to my attack again in the same manner, it's uncertain whether I could disable it on the second attempt. MAs, even in the anime, were remarkably "survivable." Even decapitation didn't completely incapacitate the robot. Yes, it disrupted its coordination and transformed it into a hunk of metal, flailing its blade aimlessly. However, the robot still functioned, albeit partially, even after losing its head.
A swift, durable armored machine equipped with weaponry that faces almost no resistance and programmed with one directive: "exterminate humans." If even a few of them escape the Break, I can't begin to fathom how they will be stopped or what the cost will be...
After receiving an unexpected counterattack, my adversary became noticeably more cautious, giving me a moment to survey the surroundings and assess the other Knights' situations. The couple I'd met were still holding their ground. The Slav, though struggling, was warding off his MA's attacks, maintaining distance with the reach of his talwar — a sensible strategy given his mediocre swordsmanship. The hoplite was engaged in an unyielding melee with another robot. Each time the robot delivered a slicing blow, the raig, clad in hypothorax, didn't bother parrying. Instead, he absorbed the attack on his armor while performing a powerful, sweeping strike from the ground. Both found their mark simultaneously. The MA's power sword, rather than cleaving the Break Knight in two, barely penetrated the raig's armor to the depth of a palm, diminishing his prana reserves by only one-fifth, while the armor immediately regenerated the inflicted damage. The exchange proved much more devastating for the android. The giant, meter-long blade of the dadao, at the robot's hip level, completely severed its left leg! Not even the advanced nano-tech armor could protect the anime invader from the formidable might of the Chinese hybrid of a sword and halberd!
My opponent didn't permit me to further assess the pair's battle, launching a frenzied assault.
Darn! I fancied myself a formidable swordsman, far superior to the locals. However, given my lack of armor and lightweight weapon, I appeared to be the weakest link among the other raigs!
Thankfully, both in the anime and here, the androids displayed no proficiency with melee weaponry. They relied more on speed and power than skill. If the show's creators had endowed the main antagonists with swordsmanship abilities, the narrative would have ended prematurely with the death of all the young heroes in the first episode.
After easily deflecting the robot's erratic onslaught, I managed to land a couple of hits, which only resulted in additional grooves on its armor. There's no doubt that eventually, once I fully grasp the MA's combat capabilities, I will defeat it — it's simply a matter of time. The problem is, time seems to be cascading away like water down a mountain waterfall, as I notice the arrival of new silhouettes in the fog.
I need to discern their weak point. The head? The visor?! Yes, it's worth a try!
Whoosh!! The android's crimson blade shrieks in the air, missing its target. "Purity" capitalizes on this error, ensnaring it in a carpal rotation, while "Word" thrusts confidently, aiming for a narrow gap. However, I miss: the android manages to tilt its head, and instead of the visor, my sword ricochets off the solid frontal armor.
I can't finish it in time! While I was wrestling with one, two more joined the fray. I attempt to leap aside, aiming to gain some distance and avoid encirclement. However, the androids, behaving like experienced hunters, match my speed and surpass me in maneuverability due to jet engines embedded in their palms and feet, preventing my escape. In under five seconds, I'm encircled and forced to pivot like a hamster in a hellish wheel, deflecting attacks pouring in from all directions.
I don't have time to look around and assess whether I'm the only one in this dire situation. Could it be that, with their heavier and more lethal blades, the other raigs are faring better than I am? I see no way out: dealing with a single MA is challenging enough, but there are three! I simply don't have the time to deliver fatal blows before they coordinate and completely trap me. My only hope is to maneuver in a way that aligns me with a group of Knights, but the androids push me further into the fog, taking me farther from the nearest pair.
I dart upwards towards a nearby lamppost, intending to spring off of it and evade the trap from above. Instead, I'm forced into aerial somersaults to avoid having the closest robot sever my legs. Just like in the battle with the Koreans, the enemy outmatches me in speed. Having barely repelled two attacks, I dismiss all thoughts of fleeing. Since escape is not an option, I must engage in this unfavorable combat. I probably won't manage to destroy any of the androids, but perhaps keeping three MAs entirely preoccupied with me will aid the others. The longer I persist, the higher the chances of receiving help become, meaning I have to stall for time.
I still feel more assured with solid ground beneath my feet. It's only been a month since I acquired projection abilities, and I still need more time to acclimate to aerial combat. If I were fighting against humans in the current situation, I would attempt to move in such a way that I wouldn't just avoid encirclement but also arrange my opponents so they obstruct each other. Oftentimes, confronting a group can be easier than a single adversary, provided the attackers aren't a coordinated team. However, that's not the case here. No, the androids, thankfully, each fight individually rather than as a team, which has allowed me to survive these fleeting seconds. Yet, due to their incredible maneuverability and reasonably competent tactical programming, they don't just rush me haphazardly, obstructing each other. Instead, they aim to encircle me. And to my misfortune, they succeed.
Retreat, parry, dodge, and repeat.
Again and again.
Dodge, retreat, parry.
As time passes, evading the enemys' blades grows increasingly difficult.
These blasted robots are learning in real-time, and they don't fall for the same maneuver twice.
My combat experience, albeit primarily in training, and the solid foundation of my swordsmanship — foreign to this world — give me an edge. However, my arsenal of feints is depleting with such relentless onslaughts. Also, the androids occasionally try to catch me off guard with unpredictable attacks, their unique joint structure allowing them to perform moves that are beyond my ability. If their tactical databases had even a basic understanding of swordsmanship, I wouldn't have survived twenty seconds. Yet, just like in the anime, the MAs proved to be fundamentally obtuse. Sure, they managed to encircle me, but that didn't require any particular intellect. Yes, they didn't fall for the same feint twice, but a slight variation was enough to deceive them once again.
Parry, parry, spin to the side.
During this turn, one of the androids lands a hit, delivering a sharp thrust to my chest. Up until now, they favored broad, flashy slashes, and I was unprepared for such an attack. My response was purely automatic.
"Word" deflected the MA's blade at a one-to-three position, slightly diverting the point of the opponent's sword, and then lashed out in a straight line, missing the surface of the robot's power blade by a hair's breadth. Before delivering the final thrust and completing the feint, my sword further displaced the enemy's weapon with a light touch at a one-to-six[2]. A twist of the wrist — and the enemy's blade misses its target to the right and below, but the steel of "Word" doesn't.
This attack is absurd considering who I'm up against. Yes, a swift, decisive thrust aimed at the wrist can, indeed, be a decisive move in a duel with a human, but now... Now, it's a mistake because the robot's armor can't be pierced with such a lunge. Therefore, my attack won't disarm my adversary. On the recoil, the power blade is likely to slice me in half. There's no escape from this outcome because my automatic counterattack has cost me precious time, and I can no longer change course.
Crunch!..
[1] TLN: The specific term might be unclear, but the idea is that the primary blade angle is thinner and broader in the area — it's shaped during the blade's production, while the sharper edge is honed later, at a steeper angle. This design is common in knives.
[2] TLN: This is the same approach to describing meeting blades as in chapter 2 (each has 12 parts, counting from the tip).