The pale moon climbed; black clouds churned; night drew its curtain and swallowed the last ribbon of light.
This was Torrent Gorge, a gate on the road to the Elven Capital.
Year-round stream-spray soaked the air; the green grew thick; only one road cut through, a perfect throat for an ambush.
Deep in the trees, birds burst out with startled cries.
A file of white-robed figures slipped through the trunks without a sound.
Their feet fell as one, swift and sure. Branches and briars felt like smoke; nothing slowed them.
They were Crimson Paradise’s mechanical corps, TX-45 mechanical swordsmen.
At their head rode a black-robed loli on a mechanical leopard. She lay low on the steel spine, sprinting point, tasting the wind for intel.
Target route confirmed. All units, bearing thirteen.
Copy.
A Sea Swordmaiden in a revealing bikini slid from the foliage. Six bikini-clad swordmaidens shadowed her like surf.
Maybe they once guarded the Sea Kingdom. Now their oaths belonged to the Crimson Baroness.
There’s the target.
Through a slit of leaves, the Sea Swordmaiden sighted a prison wagon crawling the mountain road. The silver-haired girl rode inside. Only ten Elven Guards escorted.
Form the hexagram battle array. Strike!
At her cry, the six bikini swordmaidens arrowed forward. She’d botched it before; tonight she’d lead from the front and win back the Baroness’s favor.
Enemy attack!
Brace up!
The sword-bearing girls burst from the green. The Elven Guards didn’t flinch; they answered in kind.
Graceful elven maidens drew and loosed. A dense rain of arrows fell—their secret art, Linked Arrows.
It was rapid fire, trading precision for pressure. Six archers still wove a storm to rival hundreds.
Damn it, they were ready!
The arrowstorm walled off the swordmaidens’ path. They were fierce at knife range and nimble against ordinary strikes.
But bare skin wore no armor; their defense was near zero. A massed rain of arrows was their bane.
Abort the charge. Take the trees!
Ha! Black Swordmaiden, you’re washed. It’s my stage now!
The black-robed loli grinned and spurred her mechanical leopard out. Her white-robed troops were machines; needle-sharp arrows only tickled.
Ura! Full assault!
She waved; the mech leopard threw back its head and roared. White-robed automatons erupted from cover in waves—hundreds strong.
The white-robed hit on the commercial center was only dozens. Crimson Paradise went all-in tonight. Drilled as they were, the Elven Guards were a lone leaf on a storm sea.
Whoa, that’s a massive formation.
The silver-haired girl sat in the wagon’s heart. Another “prisoner” girl sat beside her—by design. Her proud curves strained the prison cloth: our Lady Qiu Ruyi.
Big formation, sure. Pity… they’re all dying here.
Huh? But, Ruyi, I thought you don’t kill.
Breaking robots isn’t killing.
The green-haired girl smiled. The wagon burst apart—and reassembled with clockwork grace. Bars flattened into barrels; wheels uncurled into traverse rings.
In a blink, the prison wagon became a Gatling-style turret. The yawning barrel swung, merciless, toward the onrushing whites.
Final warning. This is the Elven Kingdom’s unit. One more step, and you’ll be treated as hostiles.
The automatons knew no fear. Qiu Ruyi never meant to give them time anyway.
Before the words faded, the Gatling’s muzzle lit with azure sparks. What spat out wasn’t bullets but clots of cerulean plasma.
Machines die better from the inside than the outside.
The plasma glows were small, yet every hit popped a crackling star on a white robe. Along the hundred-meter run from trees to road, blasts bloomed one after another.
This wasn’t a battle. It was a slaughter. One side set the board; the other walked into the snare. Humans would’ve routed.
But robots felt no pain and owned no fear. Arms blew off, legs sheared away—still they crawled forward, dragging themselves toward the turret.
Damn it! Since when do elves field weapons like this?
The black-robed loli bit her lip, stung. She’d planned to impress the Baroness. The opening gambit went sideways.
If so… we go all-in. Everyone, crush them.
The mech leopard howled to the clouds. More white robes showed from the trees.
The black-robed loli lowered herself and charged with the tide.
The hulking mech leopard stood two people tall. One swipe of those claws could fell a tree.
...
So that’s Crimson Paradise’s field commander? Nothing special.
Ruyi, don’t get cocky, okay? I know you want this done so we can go drink… but you have to win first.
Oh?
With the black-robed loli’s command, the board flipped. The Gatling still scythed white-robed chassis, but the broken ones didn’t stay down. They linked with neighboring scrap.
Mechanical puppet, reassemble.
The black-robed girl vaulted into the center on her leopard. Its claws hammered the dirt. A dark ripple spread like ink in water—every white robe it touched recombined.
In ten seconds, a giant puppet of parts hauled itself upright. Black light screwed its pieces tight. The thing stood ten meters tall. Even the Gatling’s blue glare couldn’t bite it.
What—
We’ve got enemies in the rear!
Huh?
Dixue and Ruyi glanced back. Somehow, the six bikini swordmaidens had surfaced behind them, skin beaded with water, charging the wagon. The angle sat square in the turret’s blind spot.
Used the creek to redeploy? Good tactics.
Sigh… I blew it. I admit elves alone can’t beat this type. Dixue, time for your plan.
Heh. Then—Interception Team, to positions.
Interception Team, move out!
From the cliff, Yue Liuyi also caught the shift.
The blue-haired girl nodded and relayed Dixue’s orders to each ready squad.
Copy. Interception Team, move.
Before Chulei even showed, a pale ship’s silhouette slid out of the night.
Huh? The… Sky Voyager?!
Yue Liuyi stared at the familiar hull rising from the dark. For a heartbeat, she thought the Sky Voyager had come to help.
Then she looked closer. The shape was smaller, only a few hundred meters. Its edges blurred. Through the silvery hull, she could see stars.
It wasn’t the Sky Voyager. It was its mirage.
The ghost-ship dove from afar toward Torrent Gorge. It slammed down, heavy as judgment.
Boom.
Even knowing it was a phantasm, Yue Liuyi felt the weight of a thousand tons. The earth itself seemed to sway.
Who’s… calling the fleet!
Duanmu Liang stepped out of the dark, scimitar in hand, strolling up to the bikini swordmaidens like a man with nothing to prove.
Their legs buckled. They dropped where they stood, struck by some unspeakable spell. The daze still fogged their eyes.
So this is a master-class mage.
By Yue Liuyi’s read, the old captain of the Sky Voyager might even outclass Sikong Qinhui. He’d been petrified too fast to resist, that’s all.
Commence capture!
Officer Chen and Mino sprinted in, eager to bring the bikini girls to justice. In his mind, their outfits were indecent, like the girls he’d seen in vice sweeps.
They needed re-education. That was a cop’s duty.
So thought Officer Chen.
You!
The Sea Swordmaiden would never let that happen. Fury darkened her deep-blue eyes. She swept her arms, and a wave rose.
A wave rose from packed dirt—terrifying as a dream made real. The ground twisted under that power. Officer Chen yelped and dove aside, his arrests postponed.
But—
Your opponent is me.
You fossil. Get lost!
Duanmu Liang met the Sea Swordmaiden blade for blade.
Sea Swordmaiden’s pinned. My turn… Mechanical puppet, charge!
The black-robed loli drove the giant forward.
Not on my watch.
Chulei arrived on time and webbed the choke point with a trap.
He used silk-strong threads. They couldn’t hurt the puppet, but they laced its feet to the scattered scrap, dragging its pace.
The puppet’s stuck? Damn—?
Little girl, are you the ones who hurt the elves?
I don’t care about elves. I care about my lady’s orders.
Then I’ll stop you here.
We’ll aid you. (Elven)
Under the cover of the Elven Guard and the Gatling turret, Chulei engaged Xiaohei, the black-robed loli.
...
The field locked in stalemate, a storm of clashes.
Dixue sat within the grand array and somehow produced a feather fan. She waved it lazily.
LittleSnow, what are you doing?
Trying out the feeling of sitting steady at central command.
“Don’t pull a stunt just because Total War: Three Kingdoms dropped; they’ll say you swerved so hard the carriage lost a wheel.”
“Nope. I’m conserving strength, sharpening the edge. Our side’s generals already clashed with whoever the enemy threw in. Which means next…”
“Huh? Next?”
“It’s when the commanders cross blades!”
A thrill flickered through Yedie Snow; she rose and leveled her feather fan toward the far horizon. At the rim of the ink-black sky, a sable phantom drifted closer.
Crimson Baroness,
beating wings black as midnight,
appeared from the far shore of the night…
