Nepgear reached Planeptune's beach shore as her feet touched the cold sand. The sound of water waves complemented the calm night, along with the moonlight. The wind softly whispered in her ears and the smell of the salty water brought a wash of nostalgia and peace. She wanted to clear her mind after that horrific incident, but her moment of peace was interrupted by a call from her N-Watch.
She let out a deep breath and brought her watch close to her face. "Ah, Histoire. I just finished my business and I'm heading back—"
"Nepgear. We have an urgent situation."
"Huh? W-What? What happened?"
"There were sightings of monsters that are approaching close Planeptune's border. We are unsure of the number but there is a high risk that they'll breach into the city's border if we do not deal with this situation hastily."
"Are you sure? Monsters don't usually wander near city borders."
"Yes, I'm certain."
"Nepgear let out a groan.
Seems like I can't catch a break.
"Okay, I'll head over there and deal with it now."
"I've already prepared the military defenses just in case. Retreat if it proves difficult. Good luck and please return safely."
Nepgear ended the call before she took off into the night sky. It was going to be a long night.
(N)
The CPU had no trouble finding where the monsters were gathering. She landed from a safe distance and began observing the monsters with her gun blade's scope. There were a bunch of them, and a variety of them weren't the usual inhabitants of this area, and even some she didn't recognize at all.
Where did all those monsters come from?
This wasn't right. Those types of monsters shouldn't spawn near this part. Either they somehow migrated all the way here or someone had spawned them. She's leaning towards the latter.
Nepgear steadied her aim before she pulled the trigger and released the air from her lungs and fired a couple of energy shots, which finished some of the unsuspecting wolves with clean shots. The surprise attack didn't last for long, as all the monsters were now alerted and aware of her presence. The pack of wolves howled before they all rushed to attack her.
She evaded the first attack by darting to the side and firing multiple shots that neutralized the first wolf. The other four wolves were slowly circling her like a predator sizing its prey.
She hardened her grip on her weapon and adjusted her feet as two wolves attacked from each side. She aimed her gun blade up and shot at the first wolf, followed by quickly slashing at the other wolf. She then quickly spun and fended off an attack with her blade as it bit her weapon instead and clung to it. She knocked it in the air before she flew and sliced it in half in midair.
Predictably, the last one leaped at her. This time, instead of blocking, Nepgear simply dove under and pierced its exposed belly from underneath as the blade impaled straight through its body. She felt her danger sensation going off and quickly flew up and nearly avoided being crushed by a boulder.
Woah, she was almost a gear-knuckle sandwich.
The arena then was covered in dust and large craters, which made her let out a few coughs from inhaling some and blink away tears. After the dust cleared out, she turned her eyes and saw a giant iron golem that stood like a tower over her. It was accompanied by two cyclops that were holding a giant wooden club. Those types were known to possess great strength, especially in numbers.
She fired a couple of shots at one of the cyclops, which tore off one of its arms. The iron golem made another boulder using earth elements. It aimed for the CPU before it flung it in the air.
Now's my chance!
She dashed towards the cyclops with one arm, who prepared to swing with its club at her but she evaded it by sliding between its feet before she saw him completely flattened like a pancake beneath the huge boulder. The battleground was covered in dust and the smell of sweat and minerals.
She then rushed towards the second cyclops and darted to the side as it slammed its club on the ground before it went to lift it from the ground. She took this opportunity to jump and deliver a powerful punch to its face but it was ineffective as the cyclops slowly turned his head back and swatted her with its arm, which knocked her off in the air.
She quickly managed to stop herself from hitting the ground by correcting herself in the air. She shook her head and let out a growl before she took notice of the glowing eye in the middle of its face.
She fired from behind her to repeal herself using the recoil before she pointed her blade and stabbed it into the Cyclops' eye. The monster let out a roar before she watched its body slowly collapse and crumble into mere dust and rocks.
She returned her attention back to the giant iron golem. The ground began shaking as its feet pounded the ground as it slowly approached the CPU. Nepgear began firing her weapon at the giant monster.
The iron golem was unfazed by her attack and raised its arm high in the air and, with might and force, slammed its hand deep into the ground, which generated a large shockwave that was enough to knock her back.
Nepgear widens her eyes and quickly flies up to evade the attack. As the monster was kneeling, she noticed a strange, glowing red gem that was in the back of the iron golem's body.
Ah, this must be what's powering it. But the question is, how can I get to it?
Lilac Heart tried to approach from behind but the iron golem kept its eyes on her and followed her every movement. She had no choice but to go on the offense until an opportunity presented itself.
She went in front of the iron golem and baited it into attacking her. The giant raised its iron fist and pounded it into the ground where she was standing but Nepgear quickly rolled out of harm's way. She tried to attack its arm with her but it yielded no result as her blade was no match against its thick wall body.
She cursed under her breath before she quickly rolled once again as it smashed its other fist and implanted into the ground. She suddenly had an idea as she took notice of the monster's sluggishness after each attack.
She waited until it attacked again. Once it bashed its fist on the ground, she quickly climbed into his arm and ran towards its shoulder. She then jumped and hugged its face as she held it tight. The iron golem shook his head to try to shake her off before it tried to punch her but Nepgear quickly flew up and the monster punched itself in the head instead, which stunned it for a moment.
She landed on top of his head before she quickly slipped behind its back and grabbed onto a ring in his body and saw the glowing gem in front of her face. She held her gun blade in her hands before she channeled it with lighting element magic. After a few moments, electricity began sparking from it. After it was done charging, she plunged the blade deep into the gem and she watched it glow bright before it exploded into tiny shards.
The iron golem then stumbled on its feet and tried to keep balanced before it finally froze and his head lowered. Its large body then slowly fell forward and flopped hard into the ground, creating a loud thud noise as its body lay motionless.
Nepgear landed a few feet on the ground. She stood there, red-faced and sweating like a fountain. Her breathing became ragged and she leaned on her weapon as she took a moment to catch her breath after the fight.
She hoped this was the last of them because this battle took a half-chunk of her energy. Nepgear felt herself low on energy and it wouldn't be long before she would be forced out of HDD.
Nepgear was about to retreat with the little energy she had left, but her eyes caught something in the distance. Among the shafts of the moonlight was a figure of a girl lying on the ground.
Wait... someone is lying over there.
The CPU quickly rushed without a thought, fearing that it might be a citizen or an adventurer who got injured by the monsters. She ran to her side and grabbed hold of her wrist to check for pulses. After a few moments, she let out a brief sigh after feeling one, though it was very faint.
She let go of her wrist and studied the girl's features. The girl had dark blue hair like sapphire, with a tie that matched her hair and with a black swirl mark. She wore a black open shirt, and black fabric underneath covered most of her body.
The girl's hand felt cold, but not too cold to be identified as a corpse.
The girl needs medical attention ASAP.
She found a large megaphone, a strange choice of weapon, but not surprising at the same time. Her idol friend, 5pb, uses a guitar as a weapon too. Nepgear came to the conclusion that she was most likely an unfortunate adventurer who might be ambushed by monsters.
She was about to call Histoire to inform her but she heard a low growl coming from the depths of the forest. She gasped and quickly aimed her weapon at the source of the noise. She saw glowing red eyes in the distance. A huge, shadowy figure towered over her. She saw long, sharp claws first on the edge of the shadow. Then, finally, the figure emerges from the darkness into the shaft of moonlight.
Nepgear silently cursed at her luck.
A Fenrir? You gotta be—of all time!
This Fenrir was bigger, a lot bigger, and stood in front of her like a mountain. It had a long scar across its left eye and its fur was thick and black as coal.
Nepgear silently cursed again. She knew she wouldn't be able to take out a Fenrir head-on by herself, not in her current condition at least. Her fight-and-flight responses were triggered. Histoire said to retreat if this thing got out of hand, but she couldn't just leave the girl to her demise.
She had to make a decision.
I'm sorry, Histoire.
Nepgear took a deep breath and washed away any fear so it couldn't smell it and stood her ground. She tightened her grip on her weapon and hardened her stare at the beast before her so as not to appear weak.
Unfortunately, it could sense that she was injured.
She prepared herself as if it were her last fight. She might not be able to win with her current condition, but she won't go down without a fight. She could try to find a way to distract it enough for her to make a run for it.
The Fenrir let out a growl and extended its sharp claws before it rushed and closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye. It leaped with its sharp fangs open, ready to tear her clean. She dashed and rolled to the side and used the last remaining of her energy to deliver a blow to its side but it did nothing but make the monster more agitated.
This time she wasn't fast enough before the Fenfir pounced and tackled her on the ground while pinning her body with its sharp claws. Nepgear turned to see that her weapon was knocked from her hand behind her. Her eyes got wide as she saw the monster about to gnaw on her neck with its sharp fangs.
She quickly used her left arm as a shield to protect herself and braced herself before she let out a scream when she felt it tearing her flesh as its sharp fang sank deep into her skin. In a moment of desperation, Nepgear used her other arm and dove her sharp, long nails into the beast's eyes. The large beast let out a guttural bellow before it let go of her arm.
She used this moment to push herself out and rushed to pick up her weapon. She then fired multiple shots before she made a run inside the forest while her body ignored the pain in her bleeding arm as it began pumping a lot of adrenaline in her body. She ran as far as she could, hoping she could lose it in the forest. As she was running, her body was enveloped in light, and she was back to her human form.
Damn it, not now!
She then heard the beast let out a sound-shattering shrill before it gave chase and played the hunting game with her.
She felt the beast slowly catch up to her as its footsteps became more and more audible. A snippet of Nepgear's clothes got scratched by a tree branch as she was fleeing, leaving a trail of blood behind. She felt her lungs burning along with her muscles as if she were on fire. Soon, she ran out of breath before she took cover behind one of the trees and grabbed her left arm to try to stop the bleeding.
She grabbed hold of her sleeve and tore it, leaving her whole arm exposed. She then began to wrap the piece of clothing around her bleeding arm.
Soon, the large predator caught up and began searching the area in search of its prey. It began sniffing around until it picked up a scent nearby. Nepgear heard the monster coming closer as she clammed her mouth shut using her hand as her eyes looked around for a way out.
The beast began to sniff to pick up her scent and followed the blood trail before it led to one of the trees. The Fenfir let out one last sniff before it growled and pounced to behind the tree.
Only to find... no one.
The beast looked at the piece of clothing hanging from a branch before it began to sniff it curiously.
"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
A loud cry came from above. Nepgear, now wearing a white dress, dropped down and mounted on its back. The beast let out a resonant screech before it thrashed wildly. She attempted to maintain her balance by grasping its fur. She then summoned the last remaining of her strength and thrust her beam blade deep into the beast's hide while slowly twisting it.
The Fenrir let out an anguish cry before it sent her flying onto a tree. Nepgear emptied the air in her lungs once her back hit the tree. She felt like she had broken a few ribs, and she wondered if she was still alive as she had lost all sensation in her body.
The Fenrir ran around while the blade was still stuck on its back. Soon, his movement slowed down to a limp and then finally to half before falling over, succumbing to his injury.
Nepgear was lying on the ground. Slowly, her sensation returned to her fingers first, as she could move her fingers. Then she felt it coming back to her body as it finally registered all the pain in her body. Nepgear struggled to pick herself up from the ground. Her legs were trembling as she used the tree for support. Her legs felt like twigs and could snap at any moment.
The pain was immense.
She then felt the shares flowing into her slowly until she had just enough to move. She went to retrieve her torn sailor dress. It had many holes and scratches, but she wore it back nonetheless. She then limped to where the Fenrir's carcass was and retrieved the weapon from its back. She then made her way back to the unconscious girl.
Each step felt like she was walking on a path filled with burned coal.
Just a bit further, come on!
She kept telling herself to carry on and pushed herself far beyond her limits. By the time she reached back to the girl, Nepgear collapsed just near her. Her legs finally gave up. She brought her N-Watch and slowly pressed on the name 'Histy' from her contact list. After a few moments, she heard a voice coming from the device.
"Nepgear? Hello? Are you there? Where are you?"
"Histoire, I... need help." Nepgear tried to speak but her voice came out weak. She was beginning to lose her voice. "I found... someone. I'm sending you... my location. Please... hurry."
"Nepgear? Nepgear! Stay with me. I'm going to send help. Just hang on, my dear. Hello? Hello? Please Answer me—"
Nepgear couldn't hear as the voice got muffled and her vision darkened before her body dropped like a sack on the ground.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
The situation that's happening in Palestine is horrible. Seeing the many piles of dead bodies, including innocent children, in Gaza. I pray for them. #FreePalestine
Next Chapter: Midnight Stroll
Nepgear awoke in the middle of the night and stumbled upon a peculiar conversation between her sister and Histoire.