The crowd outside stared at that mask like fish gaping at the surface; a thin blade of fear flashed through the host’s eyes.

“Folks, listen up. That mask’s called the Stone Ghost Mask. It tears a mech apart and rebuilds it, makes a frame where speed, power, and armor all spike hard. I remember it’s a hidden item. Regular players don’t even know it exists. To them, it’s just decoration. So how does she know?”

A heckler couldn’t take it. “Just say it’s an official account! Why dress it up like that!”

The host shook his head as cold sweat slid down his cheeks like rain on glass. “One last time. It’s not an official account. Even internal staff barely know the Stone Ghost Mask. I only learned it because the boss let me try it. In the whole company, only me and the boss know…”

A sudden thought struck; surprise crackled across his face. “Don’t tell me—she’s the boss’s secret daughter?!”

Forget the gossip blooming like weeds outside. Cut back to the duel.

Tension knotted in Alicia’s chest as black parts swarmed around Lian like crows around a storm. She had tried to rush in and stop it, but each time a part shot at her like a bullet. With that kind of impact speed, she didn’t dare test her fragile frame.

The parts drew tight, every collision clicking like teeth—clack, clack—until a mech barely over two meters tall stepped out of the black tide. It stood in brutal contrast to the ten-meter giant from before. If Alicia hadn’t watched the whole metamorphosis, she wouldn’t have believed it was the same machine.

Alicia pulled a dozen blades in close, crossing them before her chest like a silver wall, her face set and grave. “Ling! What did you do?”

The two-meter mech’s eyes lit with red glow, and then—like a person—it opened its mouth. “Alicia, big sis… how’s my new form? Look at this boundless power. Look at this perfect frame. Look at this nimble body. Ah! Speed! Power! Subarashii! Sis… do you like it?”

Alicia stared at Lian’s new body, her expression twisting. “It’s… uh… not bad?”

Anyone could see the answer was shaky, but Lian bounced like a praised child. “Mm-mm-mm!! If big sis Alicia likes it, that’s perfect! Then, I’m coming in~”

Bang! Fire roared from Lian’s feet like a geyser; her whole body blurred, leaving only a streak of blue flame scrawled across the air.

The speed rattled Alicia. The strike hit before her thoughts caught up.

Bang! The fist slammed into the crossed blades. The outer swords shattered under that monstrous strength.

“Tsk.”

Alicia flicked the ruined blades aside and watched Lian with a wary chill in her eyes. —She’s hammering my guard on purpose. Trying to crack my nerve. And with a cheat this blatant, nobody’s stepping in?!

“Alicia, big sis, don’t space out mid-fight.”

That voice usually soothed like warm tea; right now, it cut like ice.

The rear thrusters howled at full burn. The sudden push hit like a tidal wave. Alicia’s balance broke; she pinwheeled through the air in an ugly arc, spared only by how the force carried her away from Lian’s killing blow.

She hit, rolled, clawed herself steady, then popped the cloaking device she’d used earlier. A giant frame vanished as if swallowed by mist.

Seeing Alicia disappear, Lian offered cool praise. “Good call. On a real battlefield, that move could save your life.”

Alicia didn’t even hear it. Her mind hammered at the problem, searching for a crack in the wall…

A spark. Risky, but it’s the only way.

Lian frowned when Alicia didn’t reappear. “What’s wrong? Big sis Alicia, your cloak won’t last that long. If you don’t come out, it’ll drop, and you’ll be even easier to catch~”

Whoosh— A longsword flashed out of thin air.

Lian slipped aside in a blink, drew a pistol, and snapped a shot at where the blade came from. The bullet met nothing, just carving the air and screaming away.

Miss. Lian clicked her tongue. “You’re not actually trying to win with sneak attacks, are you? That won’t happen.”

Another thrown blade answered her, a silver streak. Lian dodged, then narrowed her eyes. She’d pieced together the plan: use stealth and high-speed repositioning for surprise strikes, then ramp the tempo until a normal brain’s reaction time collapses.

But. That works on normal people. Not on me. After all the fights we’ve had, Alicia still keeps me in that small box. Fine. I’ll use this battle to change your mind.

Her smile warped.

Just as Lian predicted, Alicia’s attacks came faster and faster, a rain turning to a squall. Even so, Lian slipped them all at impossible angles, moving like she could read the next second.

…

Whoosh—she leaned her body and let another flying sword hiss past. The ground around her bristled with steel, blades planted like a field of cold reeds. Lian hadn’t moved a single step.

“Alicia, big sis, you’re… out of swords, aren’t you?”

The air wavered, heat-haze over stone, and Alicia’s form shimmered into sight.

“Heh. You’re right. I’m out.”

“Then… give up.”

Alicia stood before Lian like someone accepting the tide, arms spread.

“That’s more like it, big sis~ If you’d given up at the start, we could’ve skipped all this trouble.”

Lian lifted the pistol slow and steady. The muzzle settled on Alicia’s chest; her finger rested on the trigger. One pull, and the game ends.

“Yeah—you’re right. If you’d given up at the start, I wouldn’t have to deal with so much trouble, Ling!”