Chapter 13: There, There

"Asuna...!"

Alter's pained cry went unheard. A37’s gaze remained fixed on Burnatville.

"Scrap metal, you say? I believe I stationed 213 automatons in the direction you came from. What happened to them?"

"They were destined for the scrap heap anyway, right? I sliced them into bite-sized pieces to make them easier to collect. You should be thanking me."

"You could have just gone around them."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

She let out an incredulous scoff.

"The shortcut was wide open. No one is stupid enough to take the long way around on purpose."

"You’re insane..."

She spoke of leaping into a tide of chaos as if it were the most natural thing in the world. All 213 units, taken down by a single person? It shouldn't have been possible.

"What about Varady? He was supposed to be monitoring the area."

"Who...? Oh, that humanoid thing. I killed him."

"I see. However, we are operating these bodies remotely. No matter how many mechanical shells you destroy—"

"No, no. I mean I killed him. For real. My ability made sure of it. If you don't believe me, why don't you switch on that radio you usually keep muted?"

Taking her at her word, Bernatevil opened the channel.

"Lord Burnatville! Lord Burnatville! I finally got through! Lord Varady has been found in his pod... he’s... it’s gruesome..."

"So, it’s true."

"Heh. So, what’s the move? Do you really want to fight someone who might actually be able to kill the real you?"

"I think not. I value my life as much as anyone. But I assume you won't mind if I finish off these five first?"

"Hmm? I don't really care, but it would be a problem for me right now."

The five of us stood there, stunned. Somewhere in our hearts, we had hoped A37—Chrono White—was an ally. We had been desperately trying to ignore the fact that she, too, was a Slayer.

"Newbie, lighter."

"What?! ...Oh, right."

In a flash, she was standing beside me, asking for a light.

"Inhale... exhale... These people are essential to my plans. If you try to kill them now, you’ll have to answer to my judgment⭐︎."

The dust swirling in the air suddenly condensed into A37’s hand, transforming into a massive black greatsword easily exceeding three meters in length. The dark blade shimmered in stark contrast to her white hair.

"The odds are clearly against me. I will kill you when I return with a more powerful chassis."

"Whatever."

In an instant, he seemed to shroud himself in white smoke; by the time it cleared, he was gone. Seeing this, A37 let her weapon dissolve into mist and turned toward us.

"Looks like you made it to Burnatville."

"What... what was that thing?"

"An Avatar. The Empire finished developing them ten years ago, and they've been active ever since."

"Wait, Asuna! Where did you get that information? And why are you acting so... human?"

"Oh, look who it is. Alter. Heh. We should go for a drink sometime—assuming you have the guts to dance with a fugitive."

With that, the woman called Asuna blew a cloud of purple smoke directly into my face.

"Cough! Hack!"

"See ya, Newbie. Listen to Alter and be a good boy."

She gave my head a messy pat. By the time I looked up again, she was nowhere to be found.

"Alter..."

"Follow me. We need to talk."