Bonus – Visit to the Unknown – 02 First Contact

Zaza’s tongue clicked as it attempted to retreat from the combat zone.

Five of its subordinates were no longer detectable, and it was clear that they had been finished off.

The plan had failed.

Zaza had to attempt to return as quickly as possible in order to prevent any further casualties–in other words, its own death.

Zaza was a cyborg.

An important part of the fighting force of the resistance–Light of Dawn– that was able to move on the surface.

The surface world was polluted by poison.

Not only that, but apart from Zaza’s own will, there was a setting that prioritized the command, ‘return alive.’

And as a loyal warrior of the organization, Zaza obeyed the order.

Of course, Zaza also had a fear of death.

However, Zaza knew from experience that there would always be another chance as long as you lived.

“Damned bastards. They used the nuclear missiles without hesitation! I won’t forget that you killed my team. And I will have my revenge!”

Zaza spat before leaving the area.

Battle–no, it was more of a one-sided assault–and Zaza was the only survivor.

They had come all this way. The five subordinates and the Remote Robot.

And yet they had all been so easily destroyed by the nuclear missile the enemy had used.

The Remote Robot had avoided destruction through the use of an electromagnetic pulse, but it was no longer usable after that.

The mission was a failure at that point.

They had lost their method of transportation, and so it was no longer possible to steal resources.

It was hard to even see.

The massive explosion had filled the air with dust.

There was nothing else to do.

Zaza decided to take advantage of the situation and escape while the enemy would have trouble seeing.

Furthermore, Zaza needed to hurry in order to avoid the flames that were closing in.

And so Zaza cautiously stayed away, all the while keeping an eye on the oxygen supply device that was inside of its body.

The device made if possible to extract oxygen from the atmosphere and store it, but on the surface, where radiation and poisonous gasses were thick, there was hardly any oxygen at all.

And so it was necessary for Zaza to return to the closest base before its supply of oxygen depleted.

And if that was not possible, then it would have no choice but to descend into the depth of the underground, where the pollution was relatively lighter.

But the underground world was dangerous. It was filled with strange life forms that had mutated. It was something that Zaza would prefer to avoid.

“Thirteen hours left. That’s enough.”

Zaza was relieved by that.

This mechanical body hardly required any oxygen at all.

It wasn’t just synthetic muscle, but the chemical fibers that connected each part also expanded and retracted though electricity from an internal power reactor.

The only part that required oxygen was the ‘brain,’ which was encased in the head and the only part that was not synthetic.

The oxygen only had to be thinned and sent to the bio-solution storage cylinder.

A little oxygen could keep the brain running for a long time.

Zaza sighed after moving away from the area of the blast.

“Phew. No pursuers then. It seems that I was able to escape…”

Just as Zaza felt relieved…

An alarm went off in its head.

“…!?”

Zaza frantically jumped away.

Immediately after, just by the boulder that Zaza had been hiding behind, a rain of fire came down.

It was a blaster.

No sound. No presence–and yet the killing machine had approached Zaza.

It looked a lot like a doberman. However, it was not very cute. It was a horrifying killing machine.

Along with quick mobility and ability to hide, it had high pursuing ability that came from its multitude of sensors.

It was also known as the—Murder Dog.

It could run three times faster than the speed of sound and could even fly for a short time.

Its main weapon was the blaster, which currently rained down.

The heat rays were created in its throat and then unleashed at a temperature that ranged from thousands of degrees to tens of thousands.

As Zaza was a cyborg with thin armor plating, vaporization would occur instantly.

The best thing to do was to attack it at close range before it could unleash this attack, but that was not always realistic.

Besides, its fangs were also a great threat.

The fangs were a titanium alloy with an electric current running through them. A bite of those fangs would destroy the electromagnetic balance.

As long your body was ruled by electric signals, and your armor could not repel those fangs, there was no real way to deal with this opponent.

The Murder Dog could be said to be the mortal enemy of the Cyborg.

“Damn it! Three Murder Dogs!?”

Zaza’s face twisted in despair.

It had only been by coincidence that the burning flames had made the Murder Dogs hot enough to be detectable by Zaza’s heat sensors, allowing it to dodge the attack. But now that Zaza was surrounded, there was no escaping it.

In the first place, Zaza was not a model specialized for battle.

A fight against a Murder Dog was foolish from the very beginning.

“I’m sorry–it appears that fate would have me die here…”

Zaza gave up trying to escape, and dropped its head weakly.

Zaza said words of regret towards its dead subordinates and to those who waited back at the base. Then Zaza waited to die.

It would not take long for the three Muder Dogs to attack.

◆◆◆

Veldora ran.

Ramiris sat on his shoulder.

Beretta ran beside them.

None of them looked tired as they made their way towards the site of the explosion.

As they moved, Ramiris began to talk in a thoughtless voice.

“Let me just say this! I don’t appear to be able to use any magic, so one of you must protect me!”

Well, it was quite important to her, so maybe calling it thoughtless was too much.

However, a magic user not being able to use magic. She was practically declaring that she was of no use in battle. And yet she acted as if it was no concern of hers. So one could not be blamed for thinking she was thoughtless.

However, there was, of course, a reason that Ramiris brought this up.

Beretta was a guardian and always acted in order to protect her.