Lugatium stared at the hole torn through its body.
Its mechanical brain began running calculations at maximum capacity as energy surged violently through its internal systems.
It was trying to repair its destroyed lower body.
Yes.
Lugatium no longer had a lower body.
Although it had shifted slightly at the last moment and prevented its core from being destroyed instantly—
Everything below its waist had been completely obliterated by Izumi's Avrora Beam.
Izumi's single strike had dealt catastrophic damage.
Lugatium wasn't dead yet.
But its combat capability had been cut in half.
There was no way it could display the same power it had moments ago.
Izumi wasn't the type to waste such a perfect opportunity.
With a single step through space, he appeared directly in front of the crippled machine.
"Well then… time for you to be on your way."
He raised his fist calmly.
"I hope that next time we meet, you'll be stronger."
The words had barely left his mouth before his fist came crashing down.
BOOM!
Lugatium's head shattered instantly.
Its mechanical body collapsed and disintegrated on the spot.
All reactions ceased.
Just like that—
The battle was over.
Izumi looked down at the remains of Lugatium.
Without hesitation, he picked up the wreckage.
He planned to take it back and let Aiba Asagi analyze it.
Who knew?
Maybe there were some interesting secrets hidden inside that machine.
Looking around at the devastated battlefield, Izumi couldn't help muttering to himself.
The EXE World's entire force stationed in this corridor had been wiped out.
Every last one of them.
Seeing that the battle had ended, Rias Gremory and the others hurried over from afar.
As soon as they arrived, Izumi gave his next order.
"Send the troops forward."
"This time we'll completely occupy this corridor."
He looked toward the distant horizon with a hint of excitement.
"If things go well… we might even get the chance to launch a counterattack into the EXE World."
At those words, Rias's eyes lit up.
She didn't hesitate.
Immediately, she pulled out a communication device and ordered the combat personnel who had retreated back to the camp to mobilize again.
After that, Izumi didn't participate in the operation himself.
Instead, he floated quietly in the sky, watching the battlefield.
With Le Fay Pendragon and numerous Heroic Spirits present, the remaining EXE mechanical soldiers stood no chance.
The battle quickly turned into a complete cleanup operation.
Meanwhile, the loli squad and the Heroic Spirits seemed extremely excited.
They fought with enthusiasm, clearly enjoying themselves.
Some of the girls had minor injuries.
But none of them cried.
Instead, they kept glancing toward Izumi from time to time.
Their intentions were obvious.
They wanted his praise.
Floating above the battlefield, Izumi couldn't help smiling at the sight.
At the same time, he felt slightly helpless.
Those girls were really reckless.
With a snap of his fingers—
A medical team appeared on the battlefield.
It was led by Asia Argento.
"Asia, treat their injuries."
"These girls are way too reckless."
Hearing Izumi's voice, Asia quickly responded.
"Leave it to me, Izumi-sama!"
"I'll make sure they recover quickly!"
She immediately rushed over with the other healers.
They began treating the injured.
Naturally—
Their first priority was the loli squad.
As for the students…
Well.
They weren't going to die anytime soon.
So they could wait.
Asia activated the power of her Sacred Gear and began healing a small silver-haired girl in front of her.
The little girl looked at Asia excitedly.
"Hey, Asia-onee-chan!"
She asked eagerly,
"Do you think Izumi-sama will praise me?"
"I destroyed a lot of robots today!"
Hearing that, Asia puffed out her cheeks in mild anger.
"Honestly… don't push yourself so hard."
"I don't know whether Izumi-sama will praise you or not…"
"But I do know that when we get back, the other girls are going to look down on you for being reckless."
Then she looked at the little girl with concern.
"You can't do things like this anymore."
"If you run into danger, you need to escape immediately, okay?"
"Otherwise… Izumi-sama will be very sad."
Asia knew better than anyone how much Izumi cared about these children.
That was why he had summoned the entire medical team the moment he saw them injured.
Hearing Asia's words, the little girl lowered her head shyly.
"I'm sorry!"
"Asia-onee-chan, please don't be angry."
"I won't do it again."
Asia smiled warmly.
"Good."
"I'm sure Izumi-sama will praise you when we get back."
"Don't worry."
At those words, the girl's eyes sparkled with excitement.
After all—
The whole reason she had fought so hard was to earn Izumi's praise.
Before long, she began giggling happily.
Nearby, several other injured girls who had overheard the conversation also started smiling excitedly.
All of this was clearly visible to Izumi.
Watching them, he sighed softly.
Those girls really were too reckless.
Still—
He had no intention of scolding them.
Although they were injured, none of them were in real danger.
And ultimately, they had only been trying their best to earn his praise.
How could he possibly reprimand them for that?
Once the battlefield cleanup was complete, Izumi's group took control of the massive EXE base.
Compared to the crude camp Izumi's group had built earlier—
This place looked like something from a completely different world.
Advanced technology filled every corner.
Factories, machinery, and countless devices dazzled the eyes.
It was a technological fortress.
Aiba Asagi soon arrived as well.
After searching the facility, Izumi and the others eventually found the core control system of the base.
Asagi immediately connected to the system using the power of her Sacred Gear.
The moment she infiltrated the base's enormous database—
Her suspicions were confirmed.
"As expected," she muttered.
"Just like I thought."
"These mechanical soldiers all have their own databases."
"And they're connected through a shared network."
She continued analyzing the system while speaking.
"They constantly collect data on us and upload it into this central database."
"Then the combat data gets updated and distributed."
"That's why the mechanical soldiers we fight keep getting stronger each time."
Hearing this, Izumi nodded slightly.
"So that means…"
"They've been collecting our data as well?"
Asagi nodded.
"That's right."
"Anyone who has fought them before—everyone's data has been recorded."
"But now this database is under my control, so these records are basically useless."
She paused briefly.
"However…"
"I still need to confirm whether the data has been transmitted back to their home world."
She sighed in frustration.
"The programming systems used by the EXE World are completely different from ours."
"Even their language system is different."
"Deciphering all of this is extremely difficult."
Asagi crossed her arms with a slightly annoyed expression.
If it were low-level mechanical units, breaking into their systems wasn't too hard.
But the higher-level ones were a different story.
Even creating viruses didn't help much.
Their systems could purge malicious code almost instantly.
The only time her virus attacks had any effect was during their first encounter with the mechanical army.
After that—
Every time she tried using the same tactic, it failed.
Their systems were constantly evolving.
And that—
Was the most troublesome part of all.