Bullets danced, triggers whispered.
Black-and-white explosive armor-piercing rounds were fired.
Bang—!
Penetration!
The man's skull was pierced by that single bullet.
He, already being suppressed by Eve, had no chance to dodge.
His brain was splattered open.
Revealed within was something not human.
Gears, machinery, and a cobalt-blue cube.
This man was not human.
He was a mechanical construct, much like Eve.
The gunshot faded.
The residual soundwaves still trembled through the air.
This shot from Black Ebony felt like slapping dreamers back into reality.
Inside the RUN Company train.
Louisa stared at the mechanical man collapsed on the floor; her face, already shadowed by deep dark circles, grew even uglier.
"Idiot."
A mechanical arm extended from outside the carriage, trying to retrieve it.
But any mechanical arm entering a 210-meter radius would be locked onto and attacked by Eve.
"A mechanical lifeform? And... its level isn't low. It actually suppressed Alexei—at least above Level 11."
Louisa summoned the system interface and pressed a button.
The carriage opened.
A swarm of drones filled the sky.
Humanoid combat weapons.
Heavy mechs outfitted to be controlled by human brains...
A vast mechanical legion was summoned.
The seat beneath Louisa rose until she reached the top of the train.
She crossed her legs, sipped coffee, wore those weighty dark circles, and issued commands.
"Advance."
Watching the approaching mechanical bodies, Ye Qiyan rubbed his chin and muttered to himself.
"Mechanical legion?"
"Pretty cool."
"Maybe I should get one later?"
"Forget it, think about that later. For now..."
"This is already a war, right~"
He raised his hand and swiped—
Inside the Void Card Repository.
Demons appeared.
Bewitchment, Death Omen, Arrogance, Red Tears.
And.
Gluttony.
Boom—!
Thunder threatened, rain threatened.
That barrier shielding them from outside attacks could not stop this rain of Red Tears.
"Caw—!"
Ravens cried.
Gluttony's hungry cry transformed headless goblin apostles.
"I like my side better~"
The numbers weren't huge, but each was elite.
Ye Qiyan took the iced smoothie WALL-E handed him and issued an order.
"Make sure Gluttony eats a few extra mouthfuls."
Demons marched alongside machinery.
Except for the Hunt-Patrol Mech-Dragon and Lisette, everything else entered the battlefield.
If confrontation was judged by sheer numbers alone, Ye Qiyan's side was absolutely at a disadvantage.
But what about quality?
The Raven demon, the Red Tears demon, Gluttony demon transformed into headless apostles of the gods.
Plus Eve in Overdrive Star mode, and Lisette standing beside him—her back spikes already splitting into precise increments that increased by the second.
What mechs, drones, or war machines.
Their levels might not be low.
But which of them could rival Ye Qiyan's assets?
Louisa’s instant coffee hovered at her lips.
Her gaze kept flicking between the demons.
"Demons? This is a card sequence? Wait... I think I've seen..."
Skimming records, Louisa quickly found a wanted notice from the Imperial Sequence Organization for an entry called [Demon Mech-Dragon Man].
"Imperial Sequence Organization? Damn, Garlo was right. The Imperial Sequence Organization really did get involved with the Tribunal."
Should she retreat?
Louisa was wary of the Imperial Sequence Organization.
If it had only been Menrojina, she might have considered sticking her nose in.
Now there was another person, and earlier someone who took Garlo away also seemed to be from the Imperial Sequence.
Weren't they supposed to be only Menrojina here?
Deceived? A trap?
Or just an accident?
No—impossible.
Louisa remembered what Grace had told her not long ago.
"I should have thought of it earlier. How could the leader of the Imperial Sequence Organization, of all people, suddenly trip in public and have their identity discovered? Chased down the street with a bounty notice?"
"This has to be a trap... but..."
She bit her lip and took a dark-golden shard from the pocket over her chest.
"No mistake, absolutely no mistake. Earlier, I sensed... that was the aura of the Blasphemy Card."
"There must be a fragment of the Blasphemy Card here. It's mine... I must get it."
Louisa's eyes hardened.
She downed the instant coffee and glanced at the mechanical lifeform Alexei still lying like a corpse.
Then she looked over at her mechanical legion that had been entirely blocked.
She manually controlled a mechanical arm and, taking advantage of the moment, dragged Alexei back.
She looked at the opened skull spot with a touch of pity.
Louisa produced a black cube and placed it inside.
"Stand up again, Alexei."
"Activate Abyss Mode!"
"And—"
A card sequence appeared in Louisa's palm.
"Heh, card sequences aren't only for people from the Imperial Sequence Organization."
"Calamity Card · Intelligence Machine Crisis!"
Alexei opened his eyes; their original color was gone.
In their place glowed red pupils.
He silently walked outside.
His aura climbed steadily.
Level 11, 12!
His level reached Level 12.
To ordinary eyes, that was effectively the highest-level existence.
Not only that.
The instant Louisa used that card sequence,
every component of her released mechanical legion gained intelligence, speed, and enhanced repair capabilities.
Under Alexei's influence, they all took on a black abyssal aura.
Their ammunition and defensive plating received noticeable boosts.
"Pretty cool, isn't it, Lisette?"
The Mechanical Girl winked.
In a voice only they could hear she said:
"Master, do you like it?"
"Want to steal it?"
Ye Qiyan glanced at the mechanical lifeform he'd just shot in the skull and that now stood again, and shook his head with a smile.
"Stealing someone else's stuff is useless."
"I still prefer robots I build myself."
He climbed down from the roof.
He strode straight into the battlefield.
In his hand, the Book of Reality and Illusion rested in his palm.
Intelligence Machine Crisis, huh.
So they all have intelligence now?
If they have intelligence, they have minds.
If they have minds,
they can go mad.
Then~
Let's see~
How many mental points they can lose?
Ten? Fifty? Or a hundred?
"Red Tears."
Red Tears cut through a human-brain mech; the demon wings at her waist fluttered, like a red ribbon in the rain as she came to his side.
She awaited her master's order.
Pale hand pressed against the sword hilt.
"Come on, draw the sword. Let's see what you pull this time."
Some battlefield from ages long past.
Under this wind and rain.
Slowly materialized.
At his feet, the purple-red halo of the Book of Reality and Illusion
began to spread outward.
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