“I know! That's why we'll contact those two and have them―”
That was when a laser fired from one of the enemy robots pierced through Kiriha's shoulder. As Kiriha was occupied with the battle in its entirety, she revealed an opening, and the attack from the robot happened to overlap with that opening.
“Ugh”
Kiriha's face distorted from the pain and she fell to one knee. Since her wound had been cauterized by the laser there was no blood, but she had lost her ability to move her right arm and she dropped her rifle.
“We're running, everyone! Yurika, use that villainous magic of yours or something!”
The moment Kiriha had been injured, Sanae instantly decided on a retreat. Sanae had felt that everyone's morale dropped when their leader, Kiriha, had been hurt. Though they might still be in danger if they fall back, they wouldn't be killed right away like they might if they stayed here. That was what Sanae's intuition told her, and in a rare display of leadership, she led the retreat.
“Kiriha, can you stand?!”
“I'm okay... Only my arm is hurt”
Sanae put her palm over Kiriha's wound and poured spiritual energy into her. Once Shizuka got back, the two of them worked together to help Kiriha up. Immediately after that, a uniquely colored fog covered the battlefield. The fog was the poison and acid clouds that Yurika had created. The enemies were wrapped in the fog, took damage and had their view of the battlefield robbed from them. With that, the enemy soldier's attack was interrupted, but the robots were equipped with heat sensors and continued attacking.
“Then how about this! Fire Wall!”
Maki created a wall of flame between them and the poison cloud. With the heat from the flames, the robots heat sensors couldn't pick up any more people and their attack stopped as well, giving everyone a chance to escape.
“Now, everyone, hurry and go!”
Maki signaled her allies, and once they had moved out she retreated as well. But that was when the unthinkable happened.
In the center of Maki and her escaping allies, a big explosion suddenly occurred.
“Kyaaaaaaaa!!”
The girls screamed out. The shockwave created by the blast sent them flying, and many of them were slammed into the ground and lost consciousness. The only one still conscious was Maki who had been bringing up the rear.
“...W-What just...”
Maki endured the pain and tried to get up, but the shockwave dulled her body and she was unable to move as she pleased. The only thing she could move was her head. She turned her head around and looked in the direction of the enemy behind her.
There she saw several robots; they had ignored the poison and acid clouds and the fire wall, and forcibly chased after them.
I see... They were all disposable... We were too naïve...
If their opponents had been human, Maki and the others probably could have escaped using that method, since pushing through poison and fire was nothing short of suicidal.
However, their opponents this time had robots as well. Robots didn't hesitate to put themselves at harm’s risk. And the commander didn't care for losing some robots. The only thing they were thinking about was eliminating Maki and the others. The robots ignored everything and pushed forward. Maki and the others hadn't predicted this strategy that humans could never pull off.
Will we die here...?
Maki couldn't move any more. As she realized her death was imminent, strength left her body. Despite being face to face with death, Maki didn't feel any fear. She knew what was scary wasn't death, but solitude. Since she was with her friends, she wasn't scared.
Satomi-kun... I'm sorry...
Her only regret was Koutarou. She felt deep regret about leaving Koutarou alone. But there was nothing she could do with her body unable to move.
I wanted to see you, one more time, before I died...
With that thought as her last, Maki's consciousness began drifting away. Her built up tension was all released and she was overcome with a large amount of mental fatigue. And because of the pain, she was unable to stay conscious.
A blue, light... Is that... Satomi-kun...?
Just as she was about to lose consciousness, Maki spotted a blue light. And in the center of that blue light was a boy wearing a blue armor. Seeing that, Maki felt content and lost consciousness. It didn't matter to her whether it was an illusion or the real deal.