With great effort, Shir tried to move his fingers.
They twitched. And then slowly, shakily, he tried to clench them into fists.
"I… I still have… an SS-Rank automaton," he said, his voice barely a whisper, raspy and broken. "You… you will never be able to…"
Reen sighed and scrunched her nose in mock annoyance. She stood up straight and pointed in a direction outside the crater.
"You mean your junk doll?" she said. "Don't worry. We planned for that too."
At first, there was only silence.
But then, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed from above the crater's edge. The ground trembled faintly. The sea monster appeared.
He dropped down beside Shir with a loud thud, cracking more of the broken ground under his feet. His huge body was covered in bruises and gashes.
Blood ran down his arms and chest. But despite the wounds, he stood tall. His breath was steady. His aura pulsed strong.
