Kaaaaaahhhhhhhh.

Subterranean ruins.

In the clearing that lay deep within, Stardus threw a full force punch at the heavily armored knight lying in the center.

Ugh.

A tremendous shockwave rippled through her body from how hard shed struck.

As strong as her blow was the ground around her cracked with a deafening sound as her fist made contact, turning the air into a cloud of dirt.

Stumbling back from the impact, she waved the dust away with her hand and muttered to Egostic.

Did I do it?

[It couldnt be.]

And just as she heard him say it.

Zeeeeeeeee-

A strange mechanical sound began to emanate from up ahead and through the dust clouds, a light blue glow.

Thats it.

She muttered briefly.

Quang-. Quang-. The sound of heavy footsteps.

Before Stardus, stood a massive knight, over two meters tall and clad in gleaming silver armor.

The blue glow of his eyes shone through his oddly shaped helm, seemingly lifeless.

[Stella prodidit. Protest. Sequentia reducitur]

Then, from the one in front of her, an eerie mechanical sound was heard.

As she swallowed hard and tensed at the sight of the knightly weapon muttering to himself, the earnest voice of Egostic rang in her ears.

[Stardus, for the last time, Ill explain: that ancient weapon of destruction, the Knight of God, has a certain attack pattern. Ill teach you that, and youll just have to follow what you see on the screen and my voice, and then youll be able to defeat it, okay?]

Okay.

Hearing the unusually calm and serious tone of voice of Egostic, Stardus replied with a more serious expression.

Surely, if hes talking like that, he must be onto something.

And just when she was ready for battle.

[Currens proditor remotio Program.]

He mumbled something to himself, and when he was done, he turned his head to look in her direction.

It clenched its fists, its feet clouding, a light blue aura hovering over its body.

[Guahhhhhhhh-]

It suddenly started to run like a rhinoceros towards where she was.

[Stardus, dodge to the right!]

With the echoing words of Egostic in her ear, she leapt to the right.

The battle had begun in earnest.

Or, more accurately, the proxy raid of the Knight of God.

***

In the deepest level of the ruins was a room large enough to hold hundreds of people.

There, Stardus was dodging attacks from a hulking paladin, following Egostic lead.

[Stardus, a fist will come flying at you from the left, duck your head, then immediately stand up and hit the glowing area on the right shoulder of his armor. 3, 2, 1]

[Now hes going to start pounding the ground like crazy, and theres a shockwave coming out of it, just stay out of it for a second. Okay, here it comes. 3, 2, 1]

[This is the third pattern. Hes going to hold still for three seconds, and then hes going to summon a light blue greatsword from his hand, but before he does, kick him in the stomach. Now!]

-Kaaaahhhhhh.

Hmph, hmph.

After hitting the armor with all her might she caught her breath for a moment, while it repaired itself.

.It must have been an hour since they started fighting.

Certainly, it was a strong opponent.

No. Not exactly strong.

.

To be precise, he doesnt take any damage at all unless you attack him in a certain way.

Its as if hes immune to all kinds of attacks, and he can take anything you throw at him. Like an iron punching bag.

There is only one way to damage it.

When it attacks her, hit a specific body part at the right time.

Only then does it take damage.

In other words. If you dont know the pattern, you cant damage it.

..

Suddenly, Stardus understood why Egostic had called it an immortal weapon of destruction.

Each blow could shake the ground to its core, and he was immune to most attacks.

Why the hell is this thing sleeping beneath Korean soil?

Of course, there was no time to ponder such things.

She had enough on her plate right now, just doing as she was told.

Still.

Thanks to how quickly and accurately he gave her instructions, it seems like she has been able to fight without too much trouble so far.

Even though the timing of the attacks was short in the middle, the damage was definitely accumulating on that knight, judging by the gurgling noises around his body.

[Looks like hes about to get back on his feet]

Right. Phew.

And with that, she positioned herself, waiting for him to get back on his feet.

[.Grrrrrrrrrr]

With a grotesque sound, the silver knight pushed himself up again.

The inner light still burned intensely within his helm.

However, something was slightly different.

Instead of the usual light blue color, the inner light burned orange.

What is that?

Just as she was about to ask the question Egostic said calmly.

[Its Phase 2]

[Arggggggggggg!!!!!]

As he finished speaking, suddenly several orange glowing blades began to form around his body.

Stardust stared at them, breathing heavily.

[Stardus, listen carefully]

Egostic said to her in a more serious voice, as if to emphasize.

[Starting now, his attacks are going to be much more threatening and faster than before, and youre going to have a shorter window of opportunity to strike, so from now on, Im not going to give you any detailed instructions, Im just going to give you short instructions, semi-verbally, is that okay?]

Uh, sure.

At his words, she wiped the sweat from her brow and nodded.

Now was not the time for such things, and.because what he said was quite helpful.

[Thank you, then, lets get started. If we can get through this quarter, well win].

And as he was saying that.

[Krahhhhhhhh!]

Finally, he puffed out his silver chest, transparent orange blades hovering around him.

[Stay down]

At his short but firm words, Stardus reflexively lowered her head.

-Flick.

A blade from nowhere grazed the spot where her head had been.

.Yes. You dont plan on making this easy.

Okay. Lets do this.

With that thought, she trudged toward him.

The ruins were already rumbling with the aftermath of the battle, half smashed and crumbling.

Only the silver paladin stood out in the ochre-colored space, glowing with an alien light, roaring and charging at her.

His orange blade spun around his body as he approached with tremendous momentum but she was not frightened by the sight.

[Dodge to the right, fly directly above him, then step back and kick.]

For she had him, whom she trusted, with her.

***

Stardus combat experience was quite extensive.

Her experience in combat, coupled with her extrasensory instincts, made her a pretty good judge of character.

In a situation like this, she had to admit.

[Three steps backwards]

One, two, three.

-Boom, boom, boom.

Before she knew it, orange blades shot up from both the floor and ceiling where she stood.

[Fist to the right, as it were]

And as she did as he said, she turned to her right and punched into nothingness.

-Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the knight leapt out of thin air, and lunged at her fist, catching it squarely and sending it bouncing back to the other side.

[Run and beat him up!]

And as soon as hes finished, she launches herself into the air, right over to where hes lying, and starts pummeling him.

So far, so good.

Egostic ordered her to do this, and she stopped thinking and did what he told her to do. It could be as simple as covering her ears, or as outrageous as punching the air.

And all of those seemingly meaningless actions, once she did them, had a reason.

As soon as she plugged her ears, she was hit with a mysterious sonic attack, and when she threw her fist into the air, the enemy mysteriously punched her back.

Add to that the fact that this next-generation hero-assist given to her by Egostic was showing her exactly where to dodge, or where to attack when a weakness was revealed, with red markers, her actions became extremely precise.

In a strange way, she felt as if she were one with him.

Gradually, she was overpowering this impregnable knight, until finally.

[Arg.]

Black smoke rises from the knights body, his mechanical arms crumble, and his body seems to fail him.

He suddenly puts his hand to his armored chest, as if in a last ditch effort, and is engulfed in blue and orange energy, about to do something.

[Now is the time, punch him in the chest with all your might!]

Egostic urgent, final command came.

Hmph!

And with that, Stardus used every last ounce of her strength to lunge at the creature and plunge her yellow glowing fist into its chest.

kwaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh.

-Purrrrrrrrrrrr.

Finally, with a tremendous noise his body turned to dust and disappeared.

Hah Hah I did it?

[Yes, thats right, Stardus, you did it.]

Ha ha. Ha ha.

With that, she finally defeated him, and sat back, exhausted, for a moment to catch her breath.

Finally, finally, its over

She thought as she gasped for air.

Hold on, lets take a break.

She thought to herself.

-Rumbleeee.

Huh?

until the ruins began to crumble in the aftermath of the battle.