Pewww!
From behind, the sound of the cruiser’s cannon fire echoes.
On the opposite side of the city, dust and snow clouds rise, shaking the ground and carrying the shockwave of destruction.
Wwwrooooom—
The vibration and noise of the endless tracks resonate through the gauntlets, felt muffled through the gloves.
The asphalt is cracking under the weight of the SquiTE and the impact of the tracks.
Even so, the SquiTE continues to move forward.
“Mom! It’s shaking a lot!”
Turning my head, Seoli looks up at me, her eyes sparkling.
“Are you feeling sick or anything?”
“Yeah! It’s super fun!!”
With that answer, Seoli bursts into a wide grin, clenching her fists and tapping her knees.
I feel a smile unconsciously creeping onto my lips.
“Edu, ahead!”
“Hmm?”
Following Nisia’s call, I look up to see a large, artificial crater at the city entrance.
A mark left by the cruiser’s bombardment.
“Alright, shall we stop here?”
“Yeah.”
The SquiTE, effortlessly breaking through the scattered Invader remnants and obstacles, comes to a halt in front of the crater.
“SquiTE, zoom in on the front camera.”
The screen enlarges significantly.
In the distance looms the tundra.
Over the vast wasteland, an unnatural, thick snow mist rises toward us.
The ground rumbles subtly, carrying the threat warning.
Through the blurry snow haze, a dark shadow looms.
Amidst the mist, a red fiery glow flashes.
Taking that as a signal, countless red dots begin to emerge within the white curtain—hundreds, no, thousands of them.
Breaking through the dense snow haze, invaders—made of iron and metal—reveal themselves, an army of Invaders.
Pewww!
Along with the cannon fire, a shell zips above our heads.
The shell planted in their midst explodes violently, scattering wrecked and broken enemies across the ground.
“Then, shall we begin?”
“Yeah!”
“SquiTE! Unlock all armaments! Target the oncoming tin cans!”
The SquiTE responds to my command.
Countless reticles light up on the screen.
The covers of the missile pods open, and high-speed Gatling cannons aim straight ahead.
Just as all the reticles align in a row,
“Launch!”
Puushhhh—
Countless missiles skyrocket into the sky.
They don’t follow a parabolic path but shoot straight up, like rockets aimed at space.
The moment the missiles leave the enemies’ sensors, gas spews from the nozzles, changing the missiles’ angles dramatically.
The formation of destruction reconfigures amidst the sky.
A rain of destruction, propelled by gravitational acceleration, descends upon the Invader army.
[Enemy attack detected, responding—]
Pewww! Kwaahhh!
Before the anti-aircraft vehicles can respond to the orders, the bombardments impact and explode across the ground.
[?!!]
The vanguard of the swiftly advancing Invaders gets enveloped by flames and stops.
Bangbangbangbang!!
The Gatling cannons pierce through the flames, mauling the enemy forces.
The overwhelming caliber of the cannon shells surpasses any ordinary weapon, striking them once more.
Powerful as the firepower is, the ammunition depletes quickly.
But we have prepared for situations like this.
“SquiTE, replenish armaments!”
Mana drains from my body.
The empty missile pods revert to their original state, and once more, a rain of destruction soars toward the high skies.
Pewberoo! Kwaahh!
The explosion echoes, and once again, the enemy’s ranks are shattered.
“Replenish armaments!”
For one more time, we replenish our weapons and unleash our firepower on a different group of Invaders approaching from another direction.
Consecutive explosions and towering flames.
The advancing enemy forces break and scatter, their wreckage falling across the frozen tundra.
A fiery wall arises, surrounding the frozen city.
“Wow…!”
“Pewpew kaw!”
Nisia marvels in awe, and Seoli reacts like a child watching fireworks.
In a sense, it is akin to fireworks, so this is a normal reaction, isn’t it?
Seoli’s pure reaction eases the tension a little.
“It’s fun, right?”
“Yeah! Bright and shiny! It’s amazing! It’s so fun!!”
Patting Seoli’s giggling head affectionately.
At that moment, another shadow appears through the flames.
A crimson sensor glowing vividly amidst the fiery blaze.
Trampling and pushing aside the crushed wreckage, the invaders of steel continue their advance.
The invaders who showed no sign of hesitation, despite the numerous missile strikes eliminating so many of their own.
“Of course, they won’t give up easily.”
Pewng.
Behind them, the roar of cannon fire erupts.
Pewberberberbanggg!
Consecutive roars of the invaders’ counterattacks.
SquiTE’s sensors detect the enemy’s bombardment, and on the screen, the enemy shells flying overhead in an arc become visible.
“Nisia, back!”
“Yeah!”
The endless tracks reverse their rotation.
Pushing against the ground, the massive chassis of SquiTE retreats.
“SquiTE, brace for impact!”
Simultaneously with the command, the activation sound resonates.
Armored plates rise, quickly retracting the exposed armaments.
The heavy armored vehicle SquiTE, specialized in eradicating large enemy forces.
The continuous firepower produced by the high-powered missiles and the high-speed Gatling cannons is undoubtedly among the supreme weapons, but SquiTE has one more power.
And that power is the impenetrable armor that shields against enemy attacks.
Just as all defenses are fully equipped, the enemy barrage rushes toward us.
Anticipating any potential impact, I gently cradle the soft and cuddly Seoli.
“Hmm?”
“Eh?”
But their attack isn’t targeting us.
The shells whistling sharply pass over our heads and crash deep into the city.
“Edu, that direction?”
“Mr. Balder! Are you okay!?”
A brief silence.
Soon, Mr. Balder appears on one side of the screen.
[We’re okay! Apart from a few injured from the nearby explosions targeting the returning Colossus, there’s no significant damage!]
“The Colossus…?”
[Yes, it’s impossible to create such a barrage unless specifically targeting the Colossus!]
Balder sends over a screen capture from the cruiser.
The panoramic view of the city appears at the corner of the screen, showing the numerous craters around the Colossus.
Indeed, just as Balder said, it was a barrage clearly aimed at the Colossus.
‘Why would they target the Colossus?’
We had advanced this far, deploying our large-scale firepower both to reduce enemy strength and to draw their attacks.
But the Invader forces ignored our actions and aimed at the Colossus, as if it meant nothing to them.
‘Could it be…?’
Suddenly, a memory from the previous day flashes back.
The intense battle fought inside the blazing Fangju with Dainsleif.
Back then, Aarondight, its identical-type unit, immediately retreated the moment Dainsleif was destroyed.
There was no immediate reason to retreat, an action that was difficult to understand.
However, if the purpose of that retreat was to extract information, it becomes comprehensible.
‘The high-level processing unit must have detected our presence. That’s why it acted that way.’
The puzzle pieces are fitting into place in my mind.
The best way to utilize this situation forms in my mind, and I can’t help but grin.
“Mr. Balder, let’s wrap up the weapon delivery here. Please prepare for immediate evacuation.”
[Understood!]
Balder’s image disappears.
“Nisia, let’s retreat as well. We might as well keep retreating steadily until we board Jason.”
“Yeah!”
Nods her head and moves the SquiTE towards the location where Jason has landed.
Finally, I issue instructions to the Colossus, which has become the crucial element in this operation.
“Colossus! Follow my commands and move!”
…
[End of 3rd wave firing, start of 4th wave firing.]
Simultaneously with the command, fire erupts from all the barrels.
The mist swirling with the rising snow and white smoke around the long body of the self-propelled artillery.
Numerous shells are fired into the sky and explode near their targets.
[End of 4th wave firing, start of 5th wave firing.]
Again, a barrage of shells rain down.
It continues without end, and merciless bombardments follow one after another.
[Information: The target has moved south. It seems they boarded a large elevator connected to the underground facility.]
[Information: There is a high possibility of danger lurking within the underground facility. Caution is advised.]
[Confirmed: We will be careful in our offensive.]
Information flows steadily.
As Edu had predicted, the Invader army flooding towards the city is solely pursuing one order given by the high-level processing unit.
And that order is solely to bring down the humanoid weapon of the enemy, namely, the Colossus.
A rational command issued upon identifying that the Colossus was being operated by Edu and Nisia, but the high-level processing unit did not know one thing.
That the Colossus can move independently.
[Information: The enemy cannot be located. The division has succeeded; continuous firepower is being deployed.]
[Confirmed: Do not give the enemy a chance to retreat. Ground forces must approach quickly.]
[Confirmed: All vehicles will accelerate at maximum speed.]
Grurrroooow—
The coarse sound of the endless tracks pressing against the ground.
Stretching beyond the horizon, a ceaseless stream of steel—the Invader tank army—advances.
Phwooooom—
The sharply armored vehicles, surpassing even the tank division, accelerate even more.
Passing through the burning earth, the Invader army sets foot into the city.
Kwaahh!!
The disappearance of allied signals amid the attacks from enemy aerial vessels.
But with far more power flowing into the city, the city is gradually being overtaken.
Unaware that this is a trap, they simply continue forward, one step after another.
[Confirm: Shared information regarding the current location of the target is required.]
[Information: The target cannot be located. It seems they took cover inside the underground facility.]
[Confirmed: Assistance needed in countering the enemy aerial vessels.]
[Confirmed: Commencing bombardment.]
Pewbang! Kwaang!
The loud roar of tank cannons firing at a high angle and artillery fire.
Multiple rocket launchers spew flames and the majestic golden warships previously stationed quietly are struck by the bombardment.
With consecutive salvos, enemy airships ascend slowly.
Following that, the pristine white airships stationed within the city ascend into the skies.
[Information: The enemy fleet is ascending. Success in separation.]
[Confirmed: Pursuit unnecessary. Prioritize subduing the target.]
[Confirmed: Advancing into the city.]
The massive Invader army dyes the pristine white city pitch black.
Between roads and across the spaces between buildings, every possible path and crevice is tightly packed with black tanks and armored vehicles.
The tank cannons aiming at a single location.
The sensors of the invading army converge on one spot, creating an impenetrable blockade.
[Information: Recommendation for the target’s surrender.]
[Confirmed: We will try using the equipment inside the facility.]
The bot squads disembarking from the armored vehicles.
Without hesitation, the bot squads race across the ground and vanish into the city hall.
A long silence.
Clatter…
The large elevator activates.
Tinkling sounds of metal friction resonate and the tank cannons slowly shift.
Aiming for a spot approximately 5 meters away, presumed to be the target’s vital point.
But no bombardment occurs.
[?!]
Because in the hands of the target emerging on the elevator, there was something that shouldn’t be there.
A mark combining yellow and black colors.
The insignia, featuring something that resembles flower petals within its sphere, might seem harmless at first glance, but there isn’t anyone who doesn’t know its significance.
A nuclear weapon.
That alone is shocking enough, but at the feet of the Colossus, at least ten more identical nuclear weapons were scattered haphazardly.
[Information: Critical situation occurred! Immediate response requested!]
The cries echoing through the communication lines.
While the suppressed emotion modules respond chaotically, the giant’s hand slowly rises.
[Information! Self-destruction is barbaric. A peaceful resolution through dialogue is possible!]
The urgent cry, externally conveyed to the Colossus.
Ah, no!
[Barbaric method?]
Educated’s voice, laced with electronic tones, echoes inside the Colossus.
That voice unmistakably carried a tone of amusement.
[Humans are inherently barbaric by nature.]
Ha ha! Fine!
Before any response could be made, missiles slam violently into the ground.
A blinding flash engulfs everything, and a massive mushroom cloud rises over the city.
![[TS] The End of Magical Girls Has Come](https://i3.wp.com/darkmtl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/1737407792-8993-TS-The-end-of-magical-girls-has-come.png?resize=85,105 "[TS] The End of Magical Girls Has Come")