“I can do this…”
That was the only thought Nene managed to hold onto before throwing herself into the fight.
Her mind repeated those words again and again, like a fragile mantra that unraveled with every heartbeat. She was scared—so scared her legs trembled as if they might snap at any moment. Her heart smmed against her chest so hard it almost hurt.
She expected the Floor Boss to attack her at any second. But that moment never came. Lorelley’s four monstrous, gleaming eyes didn’t even gnce her way. They remained fixed—cold and unblinking—on her real target: Miss Makina.
For a fleeting instant, relief slid into her chest. But she tore it away immediately. How could she feel relief knowing her comrade was about to die? Pathetic.
Clenching her teeth, Nene ran toward Jorgen. The man y unconscious a few meters away, his huge body rigid, still trembling, veins bulging, teeth locked tight. She tried to drag him, but the pain in her broken arm made her choke out a dry groan.Without one arm, her strength slipped away—but still, she kept going.
“P-please hang on, Mr. Jorgen…” she gasped, tears mixing with the dust on her face. “Miss Makina needs you…”
The swordsman’s eyes flickered aimlessly, twitching with spasms. He couldn’t hear her. It was like trying to talk to a corpse.
Bang! Bang!
Gunfire echoed through the metallic forest, the sound warping as the hollow trunks screamed it back. Nene looked up just in time to see Makina fall.
“Ahhh!”
The sniper’s scream froze her blood. A pink burn sizzled across her abdomen, smoking and acidic. The air reeked of scorched flesh and molten metal.
“Miss Makina!” Nene shouted, desperate, even knowing the words were useless.
After all, words alone couldn’t protect anyone.
Lorelley lunged toward her partner—a whirlwind of fangs, wings, and venom. Makina twisted on the ground, trying to aim, but pain betrayed her.
Time slowed. Every second stretched into eternity. Nene felt her breath hitch, her thoughts colpsing into a single question:
What could she do?
What could a useless girl like her possibly do?
Fight? She didn’t have the strength.
Heal? She didn’t have the power.
All she could do was move the wounded. Watch. Survive.
“Damn it…” she thought, gritting her teeth. “If only it had been me who froze up…”
And then—an idea. Small, desperate, but hers. If she couldn’t fight, if she couldn’t be useful, she would do the one thing she was good at.
“Residual Sync – Target [Lorelley Floor Boss (Technique)]: Boss’s Roar.”
Her Resonance burned. A vibration ran through her throat, a guttural, beastlike sound that no human should make. The roar that burst from her chest exploded through the air.
Lorelley froze.
“W-what…?” Makina’s body went rigid as the monster’s jaws stopped inches from her neck.
“I-it worked…” Nene whispered, trembling. She knew what she was about to do could kill her.
“Residual Sync – Target [Lorelley Floor Boss (Technique)]: Boss’s Roar.”
The roar erupted again—louder, wilder. This time, Lorelley responded. The sound was so sharp it made the trees vibrate, scattering metallic dust from their branches.
The monster turned. Three of its eyes searched for something unseen. The fourth—still fixed on Makina—flickered like a dying ntern.
“What are you doing, Nene?!” Makina shouted, struggling to stand. “Take the others and run!”
The young woman ignored her and spoke a few simple words:
“M-Miss Makina… o-on my signal… kill it!”
Nene knew what she was doing. She had watched the creatures long enough to understand: monsters were stupid. If you could match their aura—pretend to be one of them—you could fool them.That was how she had survived before, when she escaped the beetles.
But this time, she wasn’t running.
This time, she wanted to be seen.
She wanted to be hated.
…She would be the bait.
A dark energy crawled over her skin. It felt like being coated in bck mud. Her breathing grew heavy, the air thicker around her.
The veins in her arm glowed; her eyes turned a ghostly pink, and the pain in her wounds kept her awake.
“Residual Sync – Target [Lorelley Floor Boss (Aura)]: Mimic.”
Her body trembled. In that instant, her presence changed. To the monster’s eyes, she was no longer human—but a creature like him.
Lorelley’s jaws opened, drooling acid. Waiting for an order. Waiting for her signal.
Nene didn’t wait. She ran.
Her breath was fire in her chest. Every step pushed her to the edge of colpse.
The world warped—the vibration of the air, the echoes of the metallic forest, the monster’s roar behind her—everything fused into a single heartbeat.
“Come on… look at me… believe it…” she thought.
“Residual Sync – Target [Lorelley Floor Boss (Technique)]: Boss’s Roar.”
Two seconds after she started running, she roared—a deep, primal sound that made the debris around her tremble.
At the third second, Lorelley roared back and unched toward her, its body—a mass of wings and living metal—cutting through the air in an instant.
“N-now!” Nene screamed with everything she had.
Fourth second—the monster’s fangs were over her head. She could smell the acid in its saliva. Her heart stopped. One second… just one… and she’d be dead.
Then—the gunshot.
“Technique Deployment II: Sniper – Precision Shot!; Connect: [Bang-Bang! (9x39mm Cartridge)]” (15 R.P)
The world shook. A bullet pierced through the monster’s face, shattering half of its crystalline skull. Lorelley’s roar became a monstrous screech that split the air.
A second shot followed, tearing through its neck. The crack of breaking crystal filled the silence, followed by the heavy thud of its body hitting the ground.
And just like that—in five seconds—the creature that had seemed invincible fell, undone by the simplest, most human of tactics: provocation.
Silence returned. Only Nene’s ragged breathing filled the forest.
“…Ha… I’m still alive…” she ughed like a crazy woman. “I’M STILL ALIVE! I—”
Her words were cut short by a violent cough. She fell to her knees, trembling, bile burning her throat. She cried, not knowing if it was from fear or relief.
She couldn’t believe it.
Her reckless, desperate pn… had actually worked.
