I grab Amari and dodge away from the bronze knuckle.
Commander Seiron yelled. "Captain Daria and Captain Minai, hurry to rescue the crew and head to the North Feather!" The captains left in an instant as the Commander's office was falling apart.
"Yuuhi, run away, this isn't something you can handle." Amari got up and ran toward the gun that lay at the corner of the glass room.
Countless tremors disorient her footsteps, the floors slanting. The bronze fist retreats, debris pulling towards it.
'This isn't something I can handle!?! Of course, it's not!' I duck away from the falling debris. 'Why the hell was I even called in here in the first place? The commander didn't even tell me what I had to do yet!'
Amari grabbed her sniper rifle and immediately shot at the hand; the bullets seemed to be special as they pierced into the gigantic bronze fingers.
A hole had formed in the Commander's office—one of the monitors that survived caught my eye, and the display glitched, showing what was happening outside. The Talos had thrown a punch extending to the Armament Wing; the entire South Feather and parts of West and East Feathers, along with the Commander's office, were heavily damaged, debris falling into the clouds below.
I dashed to the exit of the glass room as the levitating platform slowly lowered. Kanegawa Aira was nowhere to be seen.
A sudden yelp caught my attention. I turned around to see Amari hanging onto the floating platform desperately. The floor below her had already fallen.
"Discharge!" My heart leapt as I dashed toward her. '––?! It won't activate?! Why?! I recharged just earlier!' I managed to reach the crumbled platform, but before I could reach out to Amari, her hand slipped.
"Amari––!!" I yelled, trying to reach out to her still.
'…'
"Yuuhi, pull me up! Quick!" I open my eyes to see that I was grabbing her hand. I pull her up without effort.
Amari grabbed her sniper rifle again and ran towards the exit, holding my hand. The glass around the room was somehow still intact, but only the floor and the roof were crumbling.
"Veridian Glass is nearly indestructible. Stay close to the corners." Amari said as she kept shooting at the retreating hand. "Someone must've triggered Talos' combat mode, he wouldn't have been able to come so close, so fast." The clouds clear away, revealing a gigantic Talos charging towards the Armament Wing.
Cold sweat formed at the sight of the behemoth. Each of its limbs was ten times larger than the Armament Wing.
"What should I do?" I ask Amari.
Amari replied. "You don't have to do anything. Just stick to the corner as I said!"
"HUH?!" Arguing felt pointless. 'What's the point of having this power if I can't do anything about this situation?' I grit my teeth in frustration.
"Amari, use Conscience Release on its head." Commander Seiron's voice pierced through the smoke raised by the debris.
"Roger." Amari set her sight on the forehead of The Talos. "Conscience Release." A ball of green energy accumulated at the sniper rifle's mouth.
The smoke cleared up to reveal Captain Collins at the center of the room. "Prejudiced Verdict." The debris around us came to a halt, freezing in place.
Amari released the bullet of energy toward the Talos. After a second, an explosion occurred at the forehead of The Talos, sending its head backwards gradually.
Due to its size, every movement of The Talos felt dragged and slow, but its huge area of attack is nearly inescapable for the same reason.
While it's still recovering from the attack, Captain Collins raised a cross above his head, "Cathedral Court is now in session." The halted debris each crumbled into bits of fine powder.
I looked up to see Commander Seiron levitating above the broken roof with a rapidly spinning metal ball floating between her palms. The rings around the metal ball rotated just as fast in opposition. The catalyst glowed gradually.
"The Talos, Bronze Guard, Ichor Automaton, The Defendant." Captain Collins drew a vertical line with the cross. "Seiron Sanctuary, Armament Wing dwellers, The Plaintiff." He declared as he drew a horizontal line with the cross. "Myth Talos has been accused of unprovoked destruction, abandonment of duty, and breaking several agreements between the Sanctuary and Greek Myth."
"…" The Talos opened its mouth; it was still in the recovering phase, still facing upward.
"As the Defendant has nothing to reply with, the court shall proceed with the verdict." Captain Collins continued.
'They're forcing The Talos so that it wouldn't plead not guilty! But what kind of punishment could take down that thing?!'
"Cathedral Court's Archbishop has judged The Talos to be…guilty!" He pointed the cross at Commander Seiron. "With Seiron Makise acting as the executioner, The Talos shall immediately be sentenced to…nine hundred years of Petrification!" A faint yellow glow enveloped Commander Seiron.
Commander Seiron's catalyst spun faster, glowing more radiantly and finally releasing a beam of light upwards. During this, her eyes opened for an instant.
The beam fell in the form of a gigantic light raining down on The Talos. In an instant, The Talos was covered in stone from top to bottom, followed by the sound of screeching and roaring.
"Is it over?" I asked, pulling my hand away from the veridian glass.
"Thankfully, we had Commander and Captain Collins on board…" Amari's legs gave out, and she collapsed.
I rushed to hold Amari and peeked over the powdered debris to see that the light rain had cleared the bed of clouds around Talos, revealing that Talos's knees and below were submerged in the ocean.
'That's one way to do it…'
The powdered debris attached to the Armament Wing and the parts that fell into the clouds floated back up. In an instant, the Armament Wing had been restored to its previous state. "All Things Equally Holy." Captain Collins released his grip on the cross. "We should hold until we reach The Sanctuary with this."
"Good work, Collins." Commander Seiron landed on the floating platform. She turned to me. "Mr. Kansai, please get off here. She appeared before me and knocked me out with a kick to the chin.
I let go of Amari as she yelled at Commander for kicking me.
'Was I only here to be a punching bag…?' My vision faded to black.
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[End of Chapter 1: Prologue at the Armament Wing]