For Karon, who had effectively run out of options, the question of whether his trump card might accidentally injure himself was...
Well, getting accidentally injured meant there was at least a probability of survival. But if he fell into someone else's hands—especially if the roles were reversed and he was the one doing the capturing...
He felt he wouldn't have even a sliver of a chance to survive!
However, what Karon—who had always projected the mindset and state of the Vanishing Wolves onto others—completely failed to expect was that not everyone's heart was as dark as his.
And this miscalculation caused him to lose the very last chance he might have had for mercy.
In order to strike by surprise.
Seeing that Meow-Da's attention had shifted to Lucy, he immediately and decisively pressed the mission execution button for the Autonomous Mech. It had long been debugged, commanded, and was standing by at a moment's notice.
THUD!!
In the next instant, the cargo container at the very rear of the convoy popped open immediately. A massive black shadow, relying on the thrusters on its back and the powerful ejection capabilities of its legs, leaped heavily into the air.
At the very moment the Autonomous Mech activated.
Even across a considerable distance, the keen-sensed Meow-Da immediately picked up on this abrupt sound of mechanical operation, similar to the ones before.
The cat ears under his helmet twitched subconsciously, and he then raised his head to look toward the source of the sound.
"There's actually more, meow?! Enemies that you can't detect until they activate are so annoying, meow!"
Looking at his new friend who hadn't realized the danger at all, Meow-Da, having no time to explain, immediately reached out and grabbed Lucy by both sides of her waist.
"Hup!"
"Eh?! Eeep?!!"
Amidst Lucy's sound of surprise, Meow-Da, who was attempting to pick her up, awkwardly discovered a problem.
Even though Lucy had the figure of a young girl, when the 1.32-meter-tall Meow-Da tried to lift the 1.52-meter-tall Lucy, he found—he had no choice but to find—a certain fact.
That was, even if he lifted her to his maximum height, it simply wasn't enough for Lucy's feet to completely leave the ground.
Realizing this, Meow-Da suddenly felt a little helpless.
Without a Cart, trying to carry a person purely by lifting was indeed too difficult for a Felyne.
Even if the other party didn't have the massive bulk of a Hunter, it still wouldn't work.
Thus, after realizing there was absolutely no way to pick Lucy up properly.
Time was tight, so Meow-Da directly chose a more rustic, universal method that could definitely be completed—he lifted Lucy directly over his head, just like lifting a Large Barrel Bomb.
Then, amidst Lucy's surprised cries, he tossed her out directly, just like throwing a Barrel Bomb.
"Eek!"
Although she knew the other party was a child, Meow-Da's actions still caused a trace of panic to subconsciously appear in her heart.
But after realizing she had been immediately thrown into the air, this situation of flying through the sky without any protection turned Lucy's panic into sheer terror.
Fortunately, the thing she feared most did not happen.
Upon landing, she immediately felt herself fall into a large patch of loose sand, rolling two full times before finally coming to a stop.
Her white dress picked up quite a bit of dust while rolling in the sand, looking gray and very disheveled, but Lucy found that she was completely unharmed.
This was, of course, not because Lucy's luck was good enough.
It was because Meow-Da hadn't just thrown her out randomly.
The moment he made his move, he had already relied on his rich experience to find the most suitable pile of sand within his field of vision.
A perfect landing spot that was furthest from the surrounding bad guys, large in area, and capable of perfectly absorbing the impact generated upon landing!
Coupled with his gentle throwing technique.
Meow-Da was confident that even if it were the type of object most prone to exploding, no accident would occur upon landing.
Let alone Lucy, who was a person.
In the very next moment after throwing Lucy out, the newly activated Autonomous Mech crashed down with the momentum of Mount Tai pressing onto the top of the location where Meow-Da and Lucy had previously been.
As if it wanted to destroy everything in the surrounding area.
However, even though throwing Lucy had taken some time, relying on Meow-Da's speed...
Running out of the opponent's attack range within this timeframe was absolutely not a problem.
But after Meow-Da noticed the truck cab, which was also within the attack range, he hesitated for a moment before firmly stopping his steps to leave.
"Even if he's a bad guy, I still can't just watch him die without saving him, meow!"
As a Hunter responsible for protection, it was indeed hard for him to watch a life die directly.
Drawing the Chainblade Dragon Great Sword that he had used ever since it was crafted, Meow-Da held it horizontally in front of him, blocking the leg technique of the Autonomous Mech that descended from the heavens.
CLANG!!!
The chassis of the truck beneath his feet emitted an overwhelmed creak the instant the two made contact.
Subsequently, the chassis that Karon had specifically reinforced dented instantly like fragile plastic, bending like a folded plastic board.
With the deformation, both the front and rear of the truck immediately and involuntarily tilted upward due to the bending.
This directly shook Karon, who was in the cab, into a state of total disorientation.
And with the collision, Meow-Da's feet had even sunk into the deformed steel.
On top of him was the massive Autonomous Mech, posing in a 'Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg' stance.
The mech, which was a full circle thicker and heavier than the previous two, stood upright on Meow-Da's Great Sword just like that. On both sides of its wings, there was a massive autocannon each.
And if the previous mechs resembled flying birds, then this one gave off the feeling of having become a raptor.
Thick, sturdy, and powerful.
And Meow-Da, who frowned slightly and unconsciously, also sensed the difference between the two.
The gap between the former and the latter was simply like two boxers who were not in the same weight class; one could say it was the difference between heaven and earth.
And the Flashfly he kept in his cage had just used up the energy accumulated in its body. Temporarily, there was no way to use the Plunderblade to steal its energy core directly like just now.
Did he have to strip the armor off its body clean like the first one?
But this one was obviously much more troublesome than that one; there was simply no way to dismantle all of the opponent's armor as quickly as with the first one.
If this delayed things for too long, what if Lucy was in danger?
For a moment, Meow-Da was in a bit of a dilemma.
He did not want to aim his Dragon-hunting weapon at a human.
Because as long as he did such a thing, even if the Guild might not take action due to mitigating circumstances, his qualification as a Felyne Hunter would definitely cease to exist.
This was the highest honor belonging to all Felynes who aspired to become Prowlers!
But at the same time, Meow-Da also did not want to let Lucy encounter potential danger.
However, after merely an instant, Meow-Da let go of these tangles in his heart.
"Worst case scenario, I just won't have the qualification of a Felyne Hunter anymore, meow! Anyway, I've always prepared to be Boss's Palico forever, so it's the same even if the qualification is gone, meow!"
He exerted force violently to push the Autonomous Mech on his sword away.
To prevent accidental injury during the battle with this lump of iron, Meow-Da dodged directly, retreating to a position on the other half of the area from where Lucy was.
This spot was just as open as where Lucy was.
And because the distance wasn't too far, even if some accident really happened, Meow-Da could protect Lucy at the first opportunity.
And as the Eldest Miss of the Montefio family...
The knowledgeable Lucy immediately recognized the true identity of Karon's trump card after recovering her senses.
"This is actually a Terror Bird?! A meritorious model that participated in multiple campaigns and was known as the symbol of that era?!!"
Lucy was extremely shocked by the appearance of the Terror Bird.
She couldn't figure out a few things.
"Even if the autonomous system can't quite keep up due to its age, how could this kind of Autonomous Mech appear here!!!"
Was this a rebel unit?
Or could it be that the military had become so corrupt that they even started smuggling and selling this kind of mech, which could be considered a main battle force?!!
Meow-Da, who had keen hearing and was facing off against the Terror Bird, couldn't help but turn his ears slightly toward Lucy, hearing her words clearly.
"Autonomous Mech, meow?"
This term seemed to have been heard from the Boss's mouth before?
But before he could think in detail, the Terror Bird, which simply didn't know the meaning of restraint, had already launched an attack immediately.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
The autocannons suspended on both sides of the Terror Bird were not affected in the slightest by its footwork.
Although the firing speed of the large-caliber autocannons wasn't as rapid as machine guns, the size of the caliber could cover up all shortcomings.
As the shell casings were ejected into the air, the bullets had already flown in front of Meow-Da.
Meow-Da was seen holding the Great Sword vertically in front of him, constantly adjusting the position of the Great Sword in accordance with the angle of the incoming bullets.
Then, under Lucy's shocked gaze, all the bullets that could have hit Meow-Da smashed against the edge of his Great Sword.
In the next moment, all the bullets were directly split into two halves by the sword edge.
It was as if the bullets had grown eyes and sought it out themselves.
Just like that, until the gun barrels were beaten red-hot, not a single bullet penetrated the defense line of Meow-Da's Great Sword.
Seeing that the autocannon attack had no effect whatsoever, the Terror Bird immediately switched its attack mode from the original standard of alternating multi-layered strikes at long and close range.
Inside the thick leg armor, the hydraulic rods used for dashing and jumping contracted continuously.
Powerful force accumulated within.
The moment they contracted to the limit, it transformed into unparalleled propulsion power.
BOOM!
The explosive power trampled the ground beneath its feet into inch-by-inch cracks, and what followed was terrifying acceleration.
Almost in the blink of an eye, the distance of a dozen meters had already been crossed by the Terror Bird. The air didn't even have time to react, compressed into a barrier in front of it.
And following closely behind was an attack carrying incomparably powerful impact force.
But Meow-Da was likewise not a Felyne who only knew how to take a beating without fighting back.
Since he had made up his mind, he would not hesitate.
Just as the Terror Bird stopped its autocannon fire and retracted its hydraulic rods, he had already grasped the sword handle with both hands, raising the Chainblade Dragon Great Sword high above his head.
As the Great Sword was retracted behind his shoulder, he began to mobilize the strength of his entire body to charge up.
Powerful strength began to continuously gather in Meow-Da's seemingly small body. As the strength accumulated to the limit, quantitative change transformed into qualitative change.
A brilliant white light enveloped Meow-Da's whole body, so dazzling under the setting sun.
But he showed not the slightest sign of stopping in satisfaction because of this.
Instead, he continued to charge.
Even as the Terror Bird charged, Meow-Da's charging motion didn't change in the slightest.
Just the moment before the Terror Bird's attack was about to land on Meow-Da, the light, which had already turned from white to yellow, underwent a fundamental change at this instant.
A scarlet light devoured all other original colors, enveloping Meow-Da's entire body.
And this also completely changed Meow-Da's aura.
If the normal Meow-Da gave people a feeling of cuteness, and the first and second stages of charging gave a feeling of being dazzling...
Then during the third stage of charging, just seeing him would make one feel endless danger.
At this moment, Lucy, who had been watching the battlefield closely the whole time, suddenly felt her hair stand on end.
Even knowing that Meow-Da wouldn't hurt her, a kind of fear akin to encountering a ferocious beast involuntarily surged up from the bottom of her heart.
A chill rose continuously from her back, shooting straight to the top of her skull.
Looking down, on her exposed forearms, the fine hairs had long since stood up involuntarily.
It was as if the instinct of life was desperately warning her of the danger of the existence before her that could unleash this attack.
Even the Terror Bird, as an Autonomous Mech, felt an unparalleled sense of danger.
But the attack had already been launched.
At a time like this, it was too late to do anything.
The only thing it could do was to smash down with its current attack with all its might, gambling that its attack could overpower the opponent.
It wouldn't stop, and moreover, it was impossible for it to stop.
But to some extent, this could be said to be a lucky hit.
For a Great Sword in the midst of charging, if evasion was impossible, then only this way could offer the only possible path to survival.
That was to interrupt the opponent's charge.
Like the brave winning when meeting on a narrow path; if one got scared and wanted to flee halfway at this moment, that would turn into a true dead end.
The moment the charge was completed, the Terror Bird's attack had also crossed this short distance and was about to land on Meow-Da's body.
As long as it hit, the charge that had taken so long would inevitably be interrupted.
But since he dared to charge like this as a Great Sword user, Meow-Da naturally wasn't shooting without a target.
Just the moment before the attack was about to land on him, Meow-Da slammed his shoulder violently toward the Terror Bird's kick.
The armor collided with the Terror Bird's feet, which had been meticulously reinforced specifically for attacking.
BOOM!!!
In the next instant, a massive shockwave spread from the center of the collision, directly stomping the ground beneath their feet into a collapsed crater.
But following Meow-Da's tackle attack, the massive reaction force forced the Terror Bird to land.
And while its feet emitted a creaking sound of being overwhelmed, Meow-Da, who had also taken the Terror Bird's attack, remained unharmed under the protection of his armor.
Even his movements didn't deform.
In this moment, the outcome of this collision was already beyond doubt.
And in the very next instant after successfully countering the opponent's attack...
Meow-Da, whose charge had not been affected in the slightest by this, assumed the stance of the Strong Charge Slash toward the Terror Bird, which had been forced to stop in place due to damage to its feet.
In the next moment, an incomparably powerful slash chopped down upon its head, accompanying the swing of Meow-Da's Great Sword and carrying endless might.
In merely an instant, the Terror Bird was directly turned into two halves under this slash.
And the attack, seeming to meet no obstruction at all, slashed fiercely into the ground after splitting the Terror Bird down the middle.
BOOM!!!!!
Accompanied by the Great Sword smashing into the earth, under the gaze of Karon who had just barely recovered his senses, a deep fissure began to spread rapidly across the ground.
Like leaving a wound on the earth that was difficult to heal, it expanded continuously in the direction the sword tip pointed.
It extended all the way to the edge of the road before finally stopping.
Looking from above, the pitch-black fissure seemed bottomless, narrating the terrifying power of this single sword stroke.
Under this sword, Karon's trump card, which he had been so proud of, was thus thoroughly turned into a pile of useless scrap iron.
_____
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