"Match start! Objective: Capture the enemy flag or Eliminate the opposing Unit!"

  The automated system’s voice echoed, followed by the shrill whine of sensors activating the combat zone. The concrete floor had transformed into a labyrinth flanked by two watchtowers. Unit 10 wasted no time. Just as Zilla predicted, they moved as a single organism—five silhouettes gliding in a perfect diamond formation. There were no war cries, only the synchronized thud of boots that sounded like the approach of a death machine.

  "Alright! Nugia, Amae, tail them and find a gap! Meyra and I will be the bait while protecting Reyna, our flag bearer!" Zilla’s command cut through the noise. "Reyna, finish them with the Silent Banshee-X. Remember, don’t waste those specialized rounds!"

  The instructions were crystal clear to the others, but to Amae, the words felt like nothing more than a painful, distorted hum in her ears.

  They nodded in unison and locked their positions. Nugia ran low, gripping her twin daggers, Twin Fang, ready to circle the enemy like a predator eyeing a blind spot.

  "Target detected. They’re forming a walking shield!" Zilla reported, glancing up at Reyna, who gave a sharp nod from the tower. Zilla and Meyra prepared to unleash fire from their Stingray-27 tactical pistols and Iron Wall Shells to cover Reyna—their key—who was currently lining up a shot. Click.

  "Nugia, Amae! We’re drawing them out!" Zilla gave the final signal, her eyes locked on the approaching enemy barricade.

  Nugia moved with lethal agility through the suffocating steel maze. On the other side, Amae remained frozen at the starting point, her feet seemingly rooted amidst the tide of death she couldn't comprehend.

  Unit 010 moved like a seamless steel tank. Their perfect coordination, combined with their Iron Wall Shell defense, forced Reyna to hold her breath in the watchtower—every time she found a gap, the shield snapped shut before she could fire.

  Zilla and Meyra pushed forward until both units met at a blind spot: an open area in the heart of the labyrinth with no walls for cover. Only the Iron Wall Shell stood as the thin line between life and death.

  The firefight became inevitable. The deafening whine of bullets, the spray of sparks, and thick clouds of explosive smoke began to merge, blurring the vision of Amae, who was still paralyzed in the distance.

  "Why..." Amae whispered softly, her voice drowned by the thunder of weaponry. "Why are you going this far?"

  But outnumbered two-to-five, Meyra and Zilla’s Iron Wall Shells began to glow a hazardous red. Amae watched Zilla and Meyra’s backs, covered in dust and sweat. In her eyes, their struggle looked futile—all just to protect someone who couldn't even lift a weapon properly.

  "Everyone, advance! Reyna, Nugia, Amae!"

  Zilla’s roar broke out, but to Amae, that command sounded more like a death sentence than a strategy.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  From above, Reyna tried to aim at a narrow slit in the enemy barricade—the only gap left by Unit 10’s muzzles. But Reyna’s fingers were trembling. Her shot went wide, striking the edge of the steel shield without leaving a scratch.

  Nugia lunged forward, sensing an opening. But just as she reached the enemy’s rear line, a device was thrown. Lullaby Web. The electric net exploded in mid-air, ensnaring Nugia in a high-voltage cage. The enemy, sensing they had gained the upper hand, turned to surround Zilla and Meyra.

  The two were cornered. There was no more room to dodge.

  "Why don't you just leave me?!" her mind screamed as she watched Nugia collapse, her body convulsing on the cold concrete, black smoke rising from her skin. Nugia’s eyes rolled back, leaving a haunting white stare that shattered Amae and Reyna’s hearts.

  "Why are you fighting for me?!" The plea felt lost, drifting in the wind before finally crashing into the depths of their souls.

  For a moment, time slowed. Fragments of memories exploded in her mind. "Amae, your thunder fist is so cool!" Nugia’s eyes had sparkled back then—while everyone else laughed, Nugia’s praise was sincere. The memory of Nugia parrying Varkas’s whip for her. The memory of Nugia carrying her across the field during punishment. Salty tears flooded Amae's face. "Nugia, why? Why?" Her fists clenched hard.

  The mental defense of the three girls began to crack. High above, Reyna felt her fingers freeze. The violent tremors in her hands made the trigger of the Silent Banshee-X feel like it weighed tons of steel—she could no longer aim. Below, Meyra lost her emotional control and charged without a plan. "Nugia!" she screamed, lunging at the enemy defense with desperate precision. "What are you doing, Amae?!" were the last words from her mouth.

  Zilla could only watch in horror as Meyra was struck by a barrage of high-voltage electric bullets. Meyra’s body jerked violently as the current fried her motor nerves. She stood swaying for a few seconds, staring at Amae, before finally collapsing onto the concrete with a dull thud.

  "Run, all of you! This is all because of me! Just leave me!" Amae shrieked, her voice hoarse from tears and dust.

  Zilla didn't answer. She could only lean helplessly against her fading Iron Wall Shell, letting the shield become a silent witness to their heartbreaking defeat. Behind the fog of the simulation smoke, the faint sound of mocking laughter drifted in from the other units watching outside—an insult far more painful than the enemy's electric sting.

  Amae was paralyzed. She couldn't even move a fingertip. The shadow of failure manifested into black hands holding her down, whispering words that made her feel like a broken, useless doll.

  "Amae..." Zilla whispered through the earpiece. Her voice was heavy, raspy from gasping for air. "Run... You are our last key. With Reyna... the two of you can make it."

  The voice was piercingly clear in Amae's ear, cutting through the din of the battlefield. But instead of giving her strength, those words were the trigger for the explosion in Amae's chest. Suddenly, her emotions boiled over. She released everything she had kept suppressed.

  "Why?!" Amae screamed back into the comms. "Why does it have to be me?! Why do you trust me so much?!"

  Amae sobbed, her voice clashing with the sound of gunfire. "Am I not the one who got you punished? I am the burden! I am the one who made you fail! Why can't you understand that?!"

  Zilla fell silent behind her shield. She hadn't realized that all this time, the "1 Newton" they treated as just a number had become a crushing mental weight for Amae. Zilla realized the wound in her friend's soul was too deep to be healed by mere words of encouragement.

  Meanwhile, Unit 10 advanced with surgical precision—instruments of PETERUMMAN, cold as NPCs. They didn't need to speak; brief hand signals were enough to coordinate the final execution. Their shields formed an impenetrable tortoise formation, reflecting every desperate shot from Zilla.

  Outside the arena, mocking laughter erupted from the other units.

  "Look at that 1-Newton girl!" a cadet from Unit 001 shouted. "She can't even hold a gun properly! Unit 009 is falling apart just because they’re carrying a piece of trash on their backs!"

  The mockery was gasoline to the fire in Amae’s heart. Every laugh was a lash. Every insult was a nail locking her feet to the concrete. Amae stared at her trembling palms. She felt like a virus. A black hole sucking the light from Zilla, the strength from Meyra, and the precision from Nugia.

  "Stop it..." Amae moaned, her voice ragged. "Stop that laughing..."

  Meyra, still trying to rise despite her nerves screaming from the electric shock, glanced at Amae one last time before finally losing consciousness.

  Zilla was now truly alone. The Iron Wall Shell in her hand emitted a long, high-pitched whine—a sign the plasma battery had reached its critical point. She knelt, using her shoulder to bear the weight of the flickering shield. Zilla looked straight at Unit 10, now only meters away. Five muzzles were aimed directly at her head.

  Just as Unit 10 surrounded Zilla, ready for the final elimination... something happened.