Frenda knew that no matter how fast Saten Ruiko ran, it would be useless; unless it was an ability user specializing in speed, it was impossible for a human to outrun a Driven Armor on foot.
“Bastard! Look at me!” Frenda threw a small bomb, attracting the enemy's attention.
Taking this opportunity, Saten Ruiko finally answered the phone.
“Haruue, you heard what happened to me, right! Help me!” Saten Ruiko shouted into her phone, “Misaka Student or Lin Wuming, please help me call for rescue!”
“You’ll be disappointed; I’m probably the first one to arrive,” Shirai Kuroko’s voice came from the phone.
“Shirai Student? That’s great!” Saten Ruiko said excitedly, “I love you!”
“No thanks, save your love for Haruue Student.” Shirai Kuroko, carrying Haruue Erii’s phone, continuously used “Space Movement” to rush towards Saten Ruiko’s location, “Hold on, I’ll be there in three minutes.”
“Frenda, hold on! Someone is coming to help Our!” Saten Ruiko loudly announced the good news.
“Reinforcements? It’s so convenient to be friends with a Level 5,” Frenda muttered to herself, “As for me… Oh no, Mugino will probably scold me, right?”
—After all, as a formal member of “Item” and one of its main attackers, she couldn’t even handle one Driven Armor...
It should be known that in “Item”’s past missions, they had faced enemies on the scale of dozens of Driven Armors simultaneously.
It was a pity that Frenda’s compatibility with armored targets like the Driven Armor was not good.
Her bombs couldn’t directly penetrate armor—after all, these were “little guys” she carried daily, not like the specialized bombs prepared for missions.
Moreover, the Driven Armor attacking them at this time was a heavily armored engineering-specific machine—even harder to break through.
The two girls maneuvered while running towards the nearest building.
Saten Ruiko arrived first, cleverly hiding behind the corner.
The thick walls of the building gave her a strong sense of security, Saten Ruiko slightly calmed her breathing, then called Lin Wuming again.
“Ruiko! Don’t just stand there!” Frenda ran past the corner, grabbed her hand, and pulled her to run forward.
The next second, a club of unknown material smashed the corner wall to pieces!
“What kind of terrifying destructive power is this!”
“That’s why, if you don’t want to die, don’t stop!” Frenda shouted.
“Lin Wuming is coming soon too, holding on is victory!”
“The premise is that we can last until then!” Frenda said, “I have a plan…”
—If it’s just to buy time…
Frenda calculated her remaining firepower and quickly devised a plan.
“I hope there’s no one in the houses on both sides,” Frenda glanced at the exterior walls of the buildings on both sides, then quickly dismissed the thought.
“What do you need me to do?” Saten Ruiko asked.
“You? Be the bait!”
...
At the next fork in the road, the two girls ran in separate directions.
The Driven Armor slowed down, seemingly hesitating which way to pursue.
Bang!
A crisp explosion helped it make its decision.
After smashing a small firecracker in her hand, Saten Ruiko took off running.
“My ears…” She rubbed her ears and groaned as she ran, “What exactly did Frenda give me?”
Just before they split up, Frenda gave Saten Ruiko two “small firecrackers” to lure the enemy.
She said they had no lethality, completely “toy”-level little things.
Who knew that after smashing it against the wall, it would erupt with a thunderous roar!
Saten Ruiko looked at the other “firecracker” remaining in her hand with some trepidation, hesitating whether to throw it away.
But the rumbling sound from behind made her unable to bother with such trivial matters.
“Run, run…” Saten Ruiko felt her heart was about to pound out of her chest, and she ran with her head down.
The main reason she dared to act as “bait” and cooperate with Frenda in this operation was that this Driven Armor seemed to only use a club for attack; besides that, it showed no other weapons or equipment.
In other words, as long as she stayed outside its attack range, there would be no danger.
—In a narrow alley, playing hide-and-seek, it’s certainly more advantageous for humans like Our!
Just then, a firework shot straight into the sky and exploded.
“That’s great!” Saten Ruiko’s spirits lifted.
This was the signal from Frenda’s side.
Saten Ruiko changed direction and ran towards her.
After two turns, she saw Frenda waving at her.
“Victory!” Saten Ruiko suddenly laughed happily.
—What an exciting morning!
Shirai Kuroko, from above, located the direction from which the explosion came.
“Saten Ruiko… who are you with?” Shirai Kuroko frowned slightly, then leaped down from the rooftop.
During her descent, Shirai Kuroko continuously activated “Space Movement,” rapidly approaching the direction of the explosion.
Then, Shirai Kuroko saw half of a five-story building had collapsed, and the fallen bricks and rubble completely buried a Driven Armor.
Saten Ruiko and a blonde girl were sitting on the ground not far away, laughing heartily together.
Although she had long known that Saten Ruiko was a lively and cheerful girl, this was the first time Shirai Kuroko had seen her laughing so freely and boisterously.
“Is the Driven Armor out of control? Or is someone intentionally harming people?” Seeing her friend was unharmed, Shirai Kuroko shifted her attention to the Driven Armor.
“Shirai Student, be careful,” Saten Ruiko loudly warned, “That guy isn’t injured yet!”
Frenda’s trap only temporarily trapped the Driven Armor. Considering the sturdiness of this Driven Armor, it wouldn’t be surprising if it still retained its combat capability.
“Don’t worry.” Shirai Kuroko held three Acupuncture in one hand, while simultaneously activating her ability, moving onto the Driven Armor.
Shirai Kuroko reached out and pressed the armor at the Driven Armor’s cockpit, activating her ability.
Fortunately, because it was made of new composite materials, the weight of this single piece of armor was limited and did not exceed the upper limit of “Space Movement.”
“Ah, just as expected.” After forcibly removing the armor protection, Shirai Kuroko saw inside the cockpit.
—It was empty.
“It really is unmanned operation, isn’t it?”
As the cockpit was violently opened, the Driven Armor finally fell completely silent.
“No driver?” Frenda leaned over, “In the end, I was chased by an unmanned Driven Armor for half the day?”
The blonde girl’s expression was grim: “This… if Mugino finds out, I’ll definitely be scolded to death, right?”
“If you’re so eager, I will,” a familiar voice sounded from behind.
Frenda shrank her head, then immediately showed a sweet and innocent smile, turning around.
“What a coincidence, Mugino, I didn’t expect to meet you here…”
“It’s truly super coincidental,” Kihara Saiai nodded seriously, “We were originally just shopping at a nearby mall, and we came to check it out because we heard an explosion…”
Takitsubo Rikou also nodded in agreement.
“….” Frenda fell silent; she hadn’t wanted Mugino Shizuri and the others to know about this, which was why she hadn’t asked them for help.
Yet, she didn’t expect her painstaking efforts to be meaningless…
In the end, wasn’t this super unlucky?
