[I heard the joints of Red Lotus crying out]
The dusk poured like molten rock over the scorched wasteland, withered grass tips hanging shattered sunsets, like a shattered piece of amber. The steam trail rising from the horizon was like the breath of a giant beast, the smell of rust and blood boiling in the hot air, dyeing the dusk into an eerie dark red.
Fourteen beast-like mechs crouched on the scorched land, scales-like armor gleaming cold under the dying sun. Cooling steam sprayed from the joints, like the breath of steel beasts.
These steel giants formed a killing formation, quietly advancing toward the center of the encirclement - that crimson humanoid mech stood alone, its armor full of cracked scorch marks, like the remains of something licked by fire.
[That crimson stands out so obviously in the darkness]
Suddenly, the three-meter-tall leader of the beast horde emitted a bell-like low roar, and all the mechanical beasts' backs lit up with blue flames, like hundreds of pale blue eyes opening in the air, tearing the dusk into fragments.
The crimson mech suddenly bent its knee, the back thrusters roared, and the body used the recoil force to leap up, like a meteor crashing into the black current. The steam from the thrusters formed blood-red shadows in the air, making the sunset more crimson.
"Boom!" The metallic fist accurately hit the lower jaw joint of a mechanical beast in front, the two-ton alloy head exploded like a ripe fruit! The crimson mech then used its left arm to spin and elbow, throwing the enemy from the side into the air, flying metal fragments drawing dozens of silver arcs in the sunset, tearing open the thickening dusk with cracks.
[The huge metal impact sound echoed continuously on the wasteland]
The beast leader suddenly attacked from the side, the eight-ton alloy body bursting with cheetah-like agility. Its mounted alloy claws tore through the air, accompanied by a sonic boom falling.
When this claw with backward spikes hit the side waist of the crimson mech, the whole battlefield trembled - that was not the usual attack of a mechanical beast, but a heavy impact like a meteor falling!
The crimson mech slid sideways like being hit by a siege hammer, the metal heels plowing two deep grooves on the ground, the waist armor exploded.
A fierce red immediately poured out from the crack - it was the girl's scattered long hair, with broken nerve lines entwined in the strands, like flowing auroras under the fiery sky.
There was no time to breathe, the encircling beast tide advanced again.
[The brittle sound of hydraulic pipes mixed with the hum of mana overload]
"Damn!" The girl tore off the severely deformed armor residue on her right side, took out her right hand to draw a circle in the air, and three fire runes appeared out of nowhere! A hot fire flow emerged from it, compressed fire vortex exploded, the shockwave pushed the mech backward, tearing open the encirclement, but several mechanical claws had already locked the mech's left leg.
The red-haired girl turned her hand and hit out another fire ring, the circular fire ring exploded when it touched the mechanical beast, the power of the explosion pushed the enemy back while the huge impact also destroyed the girl's remaining armor on the left.
Taking advantage of the gap when the beast tide attacked, the girl spat out the blood in her mouth, used her teeth to tear off the bandage on her left arm, the white-gold rose pattern on her skin awakened like a vein slightly pulsing.
Threads of light emerged from the pattern, wrapping the girl and the mech together, the network spread over the mech's shell, these glowing threads reconnected the broken pipes, the mech slowly regained vitality, as if it also had life!
The threads finally converged on the left arm into a light blade, the crimson mech spun and slashed out a silver light that cut through the dusk, the giant beast's huge body was cut in half by one stroke!
"Here we go, Red Lotus." The girl said softly.
Suddenly, the thrusters of the Red Lotus mech overrode, the blue flames instantly turned into glaring plasma streams, like a burning lightning bolt shooting into the sky.
The beast leader seized this moment of weakness, its compound eyes suddenly contracted into needle tips, the alloy body emitted a turbocharged scream, its front claws accelerated again during the advance.
When the claw blade cut into the chest armor of Red Lotus, the sonic boom came only a moment later! The huge impact directly threw the girl into the protruding shock pad, before she could adjust, the second strike of the beast leader had already followed - the residual kinetic energy of the front claw and the new impact perfectly overlapped, instantly breaking through the chest armor of Red Lotus.
Twelve layers of protective armor peeled off like an onion, the cockpit was completely exposed! The girl's left hand was shaken off the control stick, the sound of the wrist bone hitting the control panel was clear like shattered porcelain.
And at this time, the third attack of the beast leader had already filled with red light.
The girl decisively tore off the nerve connector lines wrapped around her wrist, kicked open the deformed cockpit door! The ejection device activated - compressed gas exploded from under the seat, the girl flew out of the cockpit like an arrow leaving the bow, the torn combat suit's lower part fluttered in the airflow.
The girl used this brief time of suspension, through the flying cockpit fragments, glimpsed the mechanical beast's shadow behind her, then quickly adjusted her body, rolled and landed.
At the moment of landing, the white-gold rose bloomed on her left arm into a fiery fist wrapped in golden threads, then turned around and punched out! The huge column of fire wrapped in golden threads directly smashed the three mechanical beasts into scrap metal!
But the leader mech hid behind the remains of its companions and attacked again, its fangs were only half a meter away from her throat - what to do? It was already too late to punch again.
The girl ignited flame under her feet, but in the next second, it faded into scattered sparks - her mana was already exhausted.
An eight-ton alloy beast body wrapped with a stench swept past her side, the sound of metal claws tearing through the air, a faint crack exploded from her collarbone, like ice cracking on a spring noon.
The girl's body, thrown by the impact, drew a twisted parabola in the air, finally crashing back to the broken remains of Red Lotus. When her right arm hit the broken part of the mech, the joint emitted a grating sound, her fingers still curled spasmodically, a few glowing embers drifted away with the wind, like the remains of crushed fireflies.
[Her blood-stained face no longer showed her original features]
The girl instinctively wanted to use her hand to support her body, only to realize that her entire right arm had already lost sensation. Viscous blood lines crawled over her brow, sliding into her collar and mixing with the coolant leaking from the mech, creating a black snake-like trail on the scorched land.
"Ha... still not good enough..."
The girl struggled to her feet, leaning against the scorching body of Red Lotus, the dying sun stretching their shadows long.
She raised her hand, her fingers tracing the sky, using the remaining mana to light the last spark.
"This is... the last one..." she whispered softly, her voice like petals falling in the wind, gentle yet with a hint of determination.
The spark on her fingertip ignited the nearly extinguished white-gold pattern, the pattern wrapped with the spark directly rose into the sky,
the sky's highest point exploded with a burst of fire.
[Embers mark the end of flames, but the wind remembers every flickering shape]
When the ashes scattered, night was swallowing the last small piece of crimson armor of Red Lotus.
Only her still unretracted long hair, still swayed in the wind, like an unextinguished flame.
[At the same time, two kilometers away in the garrison camp]
A bearded man in uniform, looking at the white-gold fire in the sky, furrowed his brows, then punched heavily on the metal railing!
"Another failure..."
The last signal ripple from the plain was like a burning rose.