"Screech! Follow me out, now!"
"These filthy things-quit dragging your feet and just kill them already!"
"Screeeeech!!!"
The humans who had been holed up in the cave were being dragged out, one by one.
Those who possessed the rare skill to excavate frames were talents even the Elf Kingdom seldom saw.
The knights' commander had ordered that they be captured with as few injuries as possible.
And inside the sacred site lay the colossus frames as well.
At this unexpected windfall, the elf knight Delranel smiled in satisfaction.
"Sir Knight! We've captured all the humans! The dig team is being kept separate!"
"Hm. Well done. I shall soon throw a feast for you lot."
"Scree! A feast! Screeeeech!!!"
Goblins shrieked in delight.
Presently Delranel turned his gaze toward the cluster of humans.
They wore uniforms.
Arms bound, they glared at his colossus. From the cockpit he spoke through the loudspeaker.
- Beg for your lives. Tell me the number and placement of the colossi in your base, and I shall spare you.
Startled by the unexpected offer, the soldiers looked toward the second lieutenant.
Such high-level information as colossus deployments had been shared only with the officers.
"Don't even think of bluffing-kill us! We won't tell the elves anything!"
- Hoo. Then shall I change the question?
At the knight's gesture, one soldier was dragged out of the colossus's shadow.
"You bastards! What the hell are you doing?!"
- First, one.
Thoom-!
A single burst from the machine gun.
The cursing soldier's body burst apart on the spot.
"Screeeeech!!!"
The goblins' cheers followed.
They rushed the shredded corpse, snatching pieces of meat and stuffing them into their mouths like fiends.
"Ugh?!"
"These crazy bastards!"
It had happened in an instant.
Pale-faced, the officer shouted, but Delranel, unmoved, spoke again.
- Beg for the lives of your men. Give me the information, and I'll let you go.
"Grrk! This is a war crime! Has the Elf Kingdom forgotten the Jenar Accords?!"
- That's not the answer I want.
Another man was dragged out.
"S-Sir! Please, spare me...!"
- Next time, two will die.
Thoom!
"A feast! The knight has given us a feast!!!"
"Screeeeech!!!"
The goblins, sucking marrow from bones, raised their guns to the sky and devoured the corpses with howls of joy. The soldiers' gazes toward the second lieutenant grew desperate.
"Sir, please! We don't want to die!"
"If we report to command, it might work out! Please, let us live!"
"I've got family back home...!"
Hearing their pleas, the second lieutenant felt his resolve wavering.
Was this the price for not having the courage to kill himself when capture was certain?
Trembling, he hung his head.
From the cockpit, the elf knight watched the scene with languid pleasure.
- Take your time; I have plenty. These fellows still have room in their bellies.
"Screeech!!! A bit more! Give us a bit more, Sir Knight!!!"
"Screeeeech!!!"
The soldiers' expressions toward the second lieutenant began to shift.
If that guy just opens his mouth, we might live.
Because of him, we're the ones dying.
The thought spread, desperation curdling into resentment, resentment into hate.
"Damn it! Talk! Talk, damn you! You planning to let all your men die here?!"
"You officers get to live anyway, right?! Our lives are worth less than flies!"
"Open your mouth! Open it, you son of a bitch!"
Though they knew the situation was hopeless, the soldiers turned their anger on the second lieutenant, one of their own.
Head bowed, fists clenched tight-what was he thinking?
Watching them tear at each other never got old.
Delranel smiled contentedly from the cockpit.
"If I tell you... will you really spare my men?"
"Heh, so he finally speaks."
The second lieutenant's tortured silence broke. He murmured, then spoke into the loudspeaker.
- My offer remains unchanged.
At that, the second lieutenant stepped forward.
"Twelve colossi have been dispatched to the front lines, just arrived at the forward base. And-additionally-Sir Cain Lorenz himself has sortied."
- Cain Lorenz! The captain of the Imperial Knights has come in person!
Delranel's face lit up with unexpected fortune. A great haul. With this information, returning to headquarters would earn a massive reward.
Who would have thought such a feat could be achieved in these backwaters!
"There! I've told you everything I know! Release my men at once!"
- Indeed. I shall release them. I won't do anything more.
The colossus's arms rose. Relief flickered across every face-except the second lieutenant's.
However-
- Though I wonder what my goblin friends think. Seems the meat supply is a bit short.
In an instant, the hope on their faces turned to despair.
"You coward! That wasn't the deal!"
- No, it was exactly as promised. I won't lift a finger. Run for your lives-through a crowd of goblins armed with rifles!
"Screeeeech!!!"
"Screeech!"
At Delranel's words the goblins howled and raised their guns one after another.
"You pointy-eared bastard, you planned this from the start...!"
"You never meant to let us live!"
The soldiers huddled together, backing away from the approaching goblins.
Drooling, the goblins leveled their muzzles as one.
Then-
Thud.
"Hm?"
The vibration froze the goblins in place.
At the same instant, Delranel turned, puzzled, at the magical signature now detected within the barrier.
Inside the cave where the colossus frames were stored-
Something had begun to move.
- All units, hold. Goblin Squad One!
"Screeech!!!"
Hearing their call, the goblins answered.
- There's something in the cave. Search every inch!
"Screech! Got it!"
About ten goblins who had shouted that ran into the cave.
Startled by the unfamiliar roar, the goblins too seemed tense; they stopped what they were doing and began to watch the direction of the sound.
"This heat signature... a colossus? Moving only on mana, without a cockpit? How could a human...?"
Reacting to the ever-growing signature, Delranel also began to gather mana.
Even if it was merely a frame without armor or weapons, a colossus was still a colossus.
Defeating it as infantry was impossible.
How much time had passed?
Goblins burst frantically out of the cave.
'Hmph, were there still some rats left inside?'
"Screeech!!! A monster! A monster has awakened!!!"
"What? These brats aren't so stupid they can't recognize a colossus, are they?"
While he was wondering at the sight of the goblins fleeing in terror-
Boom!!!
An explosion rang out.
The sound of something bursting. But this was no explosion caused by gunpowder.
An earthquake? The vibration was so massive Delranel grimaced.
And when he turned his eyes toward the source of the tremor, his eyes flew wide.
"What... is that?"
Up in the sky.
Something was floating at a height that even a giant colossus would have to crane its neck to see.
Not the wooden-doll-like frame of a colossus, but joints as delicate as a human's.
The thing that had risen into the sky was now plummeting toward him in an instant.
"Screeech?! It's falling this way!!!"
"Damn it!?"
Kwa-kwaang!!!
The impact was like a shell landing; Delranel's colossus hastily leapt backward. He saw goblins caught in the blast sent flying in every direction.
Impossible-had a colossus just jumped?
And that high?
"What is that thing!?"
"Re, reinforcements! Everyone, counterattack!"
"Screeech?! The humans have weapons! Hit them!"
In an instant the place became a melee of soldiers rushing in and goblins trying to stop them.
Soon the thing burst through the cloud of dust and revealed itself.
"An Imperial Army colossus? No. I've never seen armor in that form before. A new model?"
To maximize defense, colossus armor is cast in a single piece like plate mail.
But the armor on the thing in front of him looked completely different from any other colossus.
A sleek body covered with countless armor plates jutting out like spikes.
It looked almost like a beast's mane, or a dragon's scales.
- Who are you.
He spoke casually through the loudspeaker.
The dark-gray colossus before him turned its glowing red eyes toward him, as if it had heard.
- ....
There was no answer.
An unidentified colossus, crouched low, silently watching him.
No-could something shaped like that even be called a colossus?
- An Imperial knight? Unlucky for you. This is no situation for an honorable duel.
Shaking off his uneasy doubts, Delranel leveled the machine guns mounted on both arms at the colossus before him.
'If it's a new Imperial design, the armor strength will be higher. Then...!'
With that thought, Delranel's colossus reloaded the machine guns on both arms. The rounds were high-explosive. Even if he loaded armor-piercing rounds, the low-caliber guns couldn't punch through that armor.
But if he poured out thousands of rounds, the heat and impact might let him seize the initiative in the close fight that would follow.
Boo-oo-oo-oom!!!
The roar and smoke of the guns filled the former elven sanctuary. Caught off guard by the sudden machine-gun barrage, the Imperial colossus raised both arms to block.
'Idiot-blocking and blinding yourself!'
At this point the match was decided.
Immediately, Delranel's colossus cut the firing machine guns and flung them aside, then charged forward. In both hands were spikes meant to pierce a colossus's cockpit.
"This ends it!"
Kwaang!!!
His spike struck the exact spot where the cockpit should be. Maximum penetration. Even if it failed to pierce, the Imperial knight inside would be pulp from the impact.
If it had been an ordinary Imperial colossus, that is.
Grrriiiind....
Delranel's eyes widened. The colossus had withstood his blow-had caught the spike with its hand.
"Wh-what...?!"
Something was wrong. Panicking, he tried to pull away, but even that was impossible.
Like a beast caught in a snare, his colossus wouldn't budge; Delranel sensed things were going badly.
Thud.
"Gahh!?"
A shock ran through the frame and Delranel groaned.
The next moment the colossus before him had grabbed his head.
A colossus baring its face like a beast snarling.
A form utterly unlike any colossus modeled on a human-let alone a knight.
Not human at all, more like a beast.
- L-let go, dammit! What kind of strength...?!
The tables had turned in an instant.
Realizing the danger, Delranel desperately gathered mana.
But no matter how much mana he pulled, he couldn't pry the enemy frame off his colossus.
And the next moment, terror crept across Delranel's startled face.
Sscccrrrrr...!
With a sickening sound the frame tilted to one side.
No way. Impossible. It couldn't be-Delranel denied reality as he was forced to watch what the enemy frame was doing.
"N-no... no way...!"
At last Delranel's eyes, staring at the unknown colossus, were locked in horror. The thing was gripping the colossus's head and tearing off its arm.
Szzzzzp!
Like a beast ripping its prey apart for a meal, the colossus's arm was torn out.
Even armor plating several centimeters thick was shredded like paper, and the frame that had withstood artillery fire without a scratch-
That monster tore apart with its bare hands.
"Aaaargh!!!"
The impossible scene robbed him of all reason. This thing was no colossus.
A monster!
Using its remaining arm, Delranel's frame knocked away the arm holding its head and collapsed on the spot.
Its mana was already exhausted, and the cockpit was a mess of sweat and filth from terror.
Thud. Thud.
Crouched low, the dark-gray monster slowly approached the collapsed frame.
Arms hanging limp, it came on with a chilling slowness, and Delranel could only curl up and scream like a madman.
"D-don't come! Don't come any closer!!!"
But only for a moment.
Ruuuumble....
The colossus walking toward him stopped in its tracks.
"H-huh...?"
In the sudden silence Delranel, eyes squeezed shut in terror, forced them open.
Psssssshh--
The armor plates covering its entire body opened, and the colossus released a cloud of white vapor.
Like a weary beast letting out a sigh, the monster, thick with hot steam, stood motionless.
"I-I have to run! How could anyone beat something like that...!"
Last chance.
Delranel, who had barely leapt out of the cockpit, began sprinting toward his own lines.
Even though the monster stood completely defenseless, fear had swallowed him whole and he could think of nothing else.
"W-withdraw! Everyone withdraw!! Run from that monster! Now!!!"
"Eek?! The knight is running!"
"Screee!!! Run! The knight has fallen!!!"
As the knight who had led them fled, the remaining goblins began to collapse as well.
Second Lieutenant blocked the soldiers who were frantically pouring gunfire at the fleeing goblins.
"The elf knight is running!"
"You bastards! Hold your fire!?"
"Don't pursue! We have to rescue the excavation team members first!"
Once the goblins were out of range, the second Lieutenant quietly lowered his rifle.
The soldiers ground their teeth, frustrated, but soon seemed to remember their duties and scattered across the site.
Then came footsteps again.
-Survivors! Are there any survivors!?
With voices blaring from loudspeakers, Imperial Army colossi were rushing in from afar.