NOTE 18

The fight has gone on for too long. After a good couple of minutes of relentless assault, Kertanegara could see that their stamina was starting to decline. Although he use his ability to put up protection on Karangka, she was taking shots more often than before. The shooters and those attacking from the side were no less overwhelmed. Their bullets were running low as well as their stamina. But the battle had no yet reached its peak.

As Karangka continued to press on the attack, something hit her hard, causing her to fly to the side of Kertanegara. But it didn’t stop there, it continued to charge forward as if it didn’t want to give Karangka any room to recover. It readied its arms and prepared to hit her with the full force of its fist.

Kertanegara immediately intervened. He put his hand together in front of him, covering him from the chest to his face. The blow flew regardless of what happened to his opponent. And it connected, leaving dust and dirt in its wake.

But the blow did not affect him at all.

“Rangka, how are you doing?” asked Kertanegara.

“Damn! I think it broke my ribs,” said Karangka as she stood back up. Then she saw Kertanegara withstand the machine’s blow. “Heh, as expected from you.”

The machine’s fist stopped a few metres before even connecting to his hand. Thanks to the fly dust and dirt, she could see it, his power. Right between them an invisible barrier had been erected.

“Wait, you have nosebleed!”

“Don’t worry, but I need you to help others!”

“No, let me handle this one.”

“What? But the others—”

“It’s my job to eliminate as much enemy as I can,” said Karangka as she held the bardiche again. “And it’s your job to keep us out of danger with that power of yours.”

Kertanegara looked like he had something to say but decided not to. “Be ready.”

“Yes!”

Kertanegara released his hand and rushed to the front line to join the others. The machine’s hand continued to slide and hit the ground, scattering dust and dirt again. It tried to chase after him but realised Karangka’s presence.

“Yo, your opponent is me.”

Karangka swung her bardiche and decapitated the machine’s right hand that was still stuck on the ground.

“Now we are even.”

It swung its hand, trying to hit Karangka but she easily dodged it and create distance.

In front of her is a mobile armour used by the military. Code CL-109 or widely known as The Rhino. The names come from its ability to withstand countless of heavy artillery shell and how strong their armour is. It three time the height of a normal human and it was usually driven by a pilot but not that machine. With her thermal vision, she could see the contents of the machine and where the driver usually was. But at the moment no one inside that machine.

Realising it had no longer right hand, it reached its back an retrieved the saw blade. Karangka could only smile sarcastically while looking at the sword.

“You know, I like saw blade,” said Karangka.

It swung the saw blade. But once again, Karangka was able to dodge it easily. Yet it didn’t stop there. It continued to assault her with a combination of slashes, stabs, kicks, and even body slams itself directly at her. And its movement were not slow at all. In fact, it moved quite fast for a machine full of thick, heavy steel plates. And that is what made Karangka continue to dodge without striking back at all.

In addition to the injuries she sustained, the machine’s thick armour reduced the number of attacks she could perform. If there was a rider inside it, she would only need to damage the hatch and then stab the driver. It still wasn’t easy feat but at least it was much easier than what she has to do now. Her only chance now was to destroy the power source that drove the machine or cut it to the piece until it can move anymore.

[I got your back]

A bullet travelled and hit the machine’s thick armour. It did nothing. Just scraped the paint off the machine. Yet the shot was not meant to destroy or do damage to it, but to give Karangka an opening.

And took the opening, she did. When the shot hit again, the machine planted its feet to avoid tilting. Just at that moment, Karangka climbed up from its right hand, which was already half missing, and stood on the machine’s back. As she just stood there, several automatons fired at her but were stopped by an invisible barrier. The machine also tried to get rid of her but was also stopped by another shot.

“HAAAHHHHH!!!”

Karangka shouted loudly as she drove her bardiche right into the machine’s back. The machine jerked and stiffened. Soon it was no longer moving.

“One.is.DOWN!!!” exclaimed her.

But the celebration didn’t last long. A whistling sound shot through the air. Another direct hit yet with the same result. Due to the impact of the explosion, the machine now lay on the ground with Karangka standing beside it, unharmed. Once again, the invisible barrier saved her.

“T-Thanks—”

“It’s not over!” shouted Kertanegara. “Every vanguard! On me!”

Upon hearing the order, Karangka and the other four students in front line immediately gathered around him. He then quickly spread his arms wide and erected the invisible barrier in the shape of dome. Soon, they could no longer hear the gunfire produced by the automatons or their own voices.

They could only hear the rain of whistling.