Chapter 8 The Siege of Iron and Blood

Chaos filled the air—villagers sprawled on the ground, mecha goblins looming over them, blood dripping from their claws.

One terrified man fired his gun frantically at a mecha goblin, missing its weak spot. The creature crushed the gun in its hand and slashed at him with its claws.

Rachel dashed forward, and with a heavy strike her blade sliced through the mecha goblin. With a crunch and a shower of sparks, the mecha goblin fell, shattered metal and circuits scattering in all directions.

She turned to face three remaining mecha goblins as they charged.

Rachel hurled her greatsword at the mecha goblin on her right; the weapon spun through the air and buried itself in its head.

Leaping back, she narrowly avoided the swipes of the other two mecha goblins. As she steadied herself, her cursed blade reappeared in her hand.

She stepped forward and swung downward, cleaving the closest mecha goblin in half. Sparks burst from its body as it crashed to the ground, twitching with lingering pulses of electricity.

The last goblin lunged, but Rachel sidestepped and kicked it in the chest, sending it to the ground. She drove her sword into its chest, pinning it to the ground as its arms, legs, and head twitched unnaturally, bending into inhuman positions.

Then the familiar voice of ZeroOne rang in her helmet: "This area is clear. I sense no more AI."

Rachel looked around, listening for the nearest sounds of combat, and then sprinted off at full speed.

Soon she arrived where gunshots rang out and men and women on the wall were unleashing all their bullets on the mecha goblins below as the army advanced forward.

ZeroOne chimed in: "To your right—there is a group of mecha goblins trying to reach the gate controls. You must stop them." A horde of mecha goblins was surrounding the few guards left protecting the mechanisms.

Rachel leapt forward and charged in while the mecha goblins focused on the guards. With a mighty swing, there was a loud crack of metal, followed by an eruption of circuits, wires, and sparks. The fallen mecha goblins collapsed to the ground, resembling nothing but scrap.

Then the whispers crept into Rachel’s head: This will not do. You should kill those humans cowering in the corner. These things cannot feed my hunger.

Rachel’s hand and sword trembled as she strained to resist the cursed voice gnawing at her mind.

“Shut up!” Rachel yelled, her anger flaring as she forced the urge back. The whispers recoiled, retreating to the depths of her mind.

Then something shifted in the battle. A loud, feral robotic howl echoed nearby, followed by the screams of people being torn apart atop the wall.

Someone shouted, "Run! It’s a mecha werewolf! They have a mecha werewolf—everyone retreat!" But before he could finish, his body fell from the wall and slammed into the ground as the monstrous machine continued to slaughter the fleeing soldiers.

Rachel burst into action, vaulting over the crowd of soldiers and bringing her blade down on the charging mecha werewolf. But it was too fast—it leapt back effortlessly, avoiding the devastating strike.

In the same moment the mecha werewolf landed, it lunged forward, its razor‑sharp claws bearing down on Rachel.

At the last instant she shifted her cursed blade, blocking the strike. The machine did not relent—it pressed its claws against her sword, forcing it back inch by inch as it snapped at her face with jagged metal fangs.

ZeroOne spoke, “This doesn’t look good. It’s too fast and strong for your current strength. May I reccoment a tactical retreat for now while we form a plan to take this mecha wher—”

“Shut up and let me fight for a moment!” Rachel snapped. She suddenly let her weight give way, rolling backward. Using the monster’s own momentum, she planted her boot against its chest and kicked hard, sending the mecha werewolf tumbling behind her.

Freed, Rachel sprang to her feet and took her stance. The mecha werewolf rose tall, its bright red eyes glowing with malice.

Rachel swung her sword at the mecha werewolf, but it dodged easily and countered with a slash. The claws tore across her chest plate, leaving shallow marks as she staggered back just in time to avoid a fatal blow.

She swept her blade in a horizontal arc, hoping to trade strike for strike, but the werewolf’s reflexes were too sharp. It leapt high, stomping down on the flat of her sword. The force knocked the cursed blade from her grip. In the same instant, it raked at her neck—missing her vitals by sheer luck, leaving only a stinging cut as she scrambled backward to gain distance.

Rachel retreated step by step, then turned and sprinted, forcing the monster to give chase.

Noticing she was weaponless, the machine saw her as easy prey, claws gleaming and ready to tear her apart.

With a powerful push of its foot, the mecha werewolf lunged forward leaping into the air. Rachel twisted and crouched low just as the cursed blade re‑formed in her hand.

With a smirk she whispered, “Gotcha.”

The mecha werewolf, trapped mid‑air, couldn’t change course. With a powerful angled swing, Rachel’s cursed sword bisected the creature at the torso, its body crashing to the ground in two pieces.

Then Rachel spoke firmly, “ZeroOne, from now on don’t chatter during a fight. Just get to the point and tell me what I need to know. I didn’t start fighting just yesterday—I can handle myself pretty well.”

ZeroOne replied, “Understood. I will remember that for future battles.” Then it called out, “Behind you! It’s still functioning—you haven’t killed it yet.”

Rachel turned to see the mecha werewolf’s upper body crawling toward her. Even split in two, it was still trying to fight. Sparks burst from its torso, cables dangling and sparking. Rachel glared down at it, raised her cursed blade, and plunged it into its head. A shower of sparks erupted as its eyes burst in shards of metal and glass.

Then Rachel heard it again:

Assimilation found. Mecha claws… Proceeding to assimilate parts…

Assimilation complete. Modifying cursed armor… Modification complete.

Assimilation finished.

Rachel felt a surge of power flowing through her, the strength of her cursed armor heightened by the assimilation. She looked down at her gauntlets. The fingertips had grown sharp and pointed, the gloves now resembling a fusion of her cursed armor and the mecha monsters she had been fighting. She spoke to ZeroOne: “What did it gain—just sharp, fingered gauntlets?”

ZeroOne answered, “No, that’s only the form the modification needed to take to be used.”

Rachel asked, “Then what does it do?”

ZeroOne explained, “Concentrate on your fingers. Claws should grow from the tips.”

Rachel focused. Cursed power seeped from her fingers like smoke as the tips of her gauntlets extended into long, cursed claws.

She slashed at the nearest wall, leaving deep, jagged gashes. Nodding in satisfaction, she retracted the claws, the cursed energy sinking back into her armor.

Then the guards who had fled from the mecha werewolf stepped forward. One of them spoke, “Thank you, hero. The city would have fallen without your intervention here.

” He then turned and shouted, “Everyone, back to the wall! Resume firing!” Instantly, that section of the wall became alive with renewed activity as the sound of gunshots rang through the area once again.

Rachel looked out over the battlefield beyond the wall—scattered mecha goblins lay everywhere. Then she noticed something strange: the kobolds weren’t fighting. Instead, they were hauling away the bodies of the fallen mecha goblins, dragging them off into the distance.

She turned to the nearest guard. “What are the kobolds doing with the bodies?”

The guard grimaced. “They take them to the Goblin King and Queen’s lair. There, the creatures are rebuilt and given a new AI. That’s why the goblins fight so recklessly—no matter how many we cut down, they can restore their numbers as long as the King and Queen live.”

Rachel’s eyes narrowed. “So they’ll keep attacking until this fortress finally falls.”

Rachel turned to the wall and leapt down with a thunderous crash, a dust cloud erupting around her. All the mecha goblins froze, startled by the impact.

From the cloud she emerged mid‑swing, her blade cleaving through the goblins before her. As their bodies collapsed in sparking heaps, she grinned and declared, “Just like the battlefields back home… time to go all out.”

She charged headlong into the remaining mecha goblins, her blade a blur as she tore across the battlefield with relentless, devastating strikes—each swing carving a path of sparks and shattered metal as the endless bullets provided protective cover from all sides, signaling that the brutal battle was finally drawing to its end.