Greetings, Automata Maid

I adjust my stance after tumbling a few times and look at the man, who’s also standing up again. I didn’t expect him to tear himself away from me with an explosion.

But it’s fine, I might have been pushed back but I haven’t suffered much damage.

“Silver Bullet, are you okay?!”

The other men start preparing to launch magic at Ruri. I have no choice but to hope she can handle that, I need to focus on the enemy in front of me.

“Thunder Spark!”

The bolt of lightning shot by the man goes through my body, but basic magic like that isn’t strong enough to affect me. He seems a bit surprised to see me stand up like nothing happened, but he doesn’t delay his next spell.

“Air Edge!”

Countless blades of wind fly at me, so I shoot them with Black Hawk’s incendiary rounds, the explosion disrupting their shape and dispersing them.

The thick smoke makes it hard to see, so I use that opening to rush at my opponent, but he already anticipated that, as he receives me with a counterattack ready.

“Thunder Storm!”

A whirlpool of lightning stops my advance. Thunder Storm is a medium level spell, making it much stronger than the lower level Thunder Spark. A regular person with no defenses would die instantly, and those with resistance to lightning would still get a paralyzing shock.

But I’m not a person, I’m a magic automaton. And more importantly…

“This is nothing compared to my Mistress’ or the Young Lady’s!”

I’ve seen both of them use Thunder Storm too, Ophelia while I was training in the Valhen Woods, Olivia while she was fighting Mathias. This is nothing compared to them.

But I can’t forget that I shouldn’t kill this man, I just have to restrain him.

They’re all part of a big merchant company, this isn’t the same as killing a group of bandits in the forest. It’ll be bad if my gun or magic blade leave lethal wounds, but I also don’t have the proper skills to knock him unconscious with my body alone.

At least that’s what I thought at first.

Now I know he’s a magician, so he should be decently resistant to magic.

All of this happened because I tried to make him talk without knowing he can use magic. I won’t let this happen again.

I control my hand that I shot off before I ran earlier, touching his back with it.

“Jump out, Thunder Spark.”

With that, my spell activated. I might suck at making my spells reach far, but if I’m touching my target they can’t avoid getting hit.

“Aghaghaghaghagha-”

His body starts convulsing, then his knees give in and he falls flat. He’s not moving almost like he’s dead, but just in case I tie him up and gag his mouth.

“…a…gh…”

He mumbles something before passing out. It takes me a bit too long to realize that it was an order for Plum’s Sorcery Core. Something white suddenly enters my vision and I jump back as soon as I can, a large arm crushing the spot where I had been standing. That white flesh is covering her body again, and the nerve threads I used to restrain her feel loose now, no longer holding her back.

“It’s unlikely you’ll be able to restrain me with the same material as my nerve threads.”

I’ve really been messing up. Giving the man enough time to activate Plum’s Sorcery Core was a mistake, but so was using my nerve threads on Plum, when I should’ve known she could also manipulate them. Somehow I convinced myself she couldn’t do that because she can’t shoot out her limbs like me.

But that’s not all of it either.

“Bone replacement materials found. Entering second stage of regeneration.”

As Plum mutters that, Steel Silk begins to move around into what looks like an armature used for a clay sculpture… or no, it’s exactly an armature.

White flesh pours out from Plum’s chest, covering all the Steel Silk armature and regenerating into an enormous body.

“Gh…nn…”

The enormous thing lets out a strange groan. Its chubby body is covered in liquid, once again making me think of an amphibian. The rotund flat head reminds me of a giant salamander.

“What’s happening…”

Plum’s body poked out from the salamander thing’s back.

“Regeneration complete. Proceeding to eliminate obstacles.”

The thing raises its front leg. I can tell it won’t end pretty if I’m crushed by it.

“Suimonka!”
“Earth Blade!”

A flower of water tears open the left side of the salamander’s head, while a sword of mud pierces the right one, tipping the enormous body to a side. I look to the source of those spells and I see Ruri, I mean Bunny Moon, and Christina.

“I’m glad to see you two safe.”
“Somehow it’s become a really sticky situation in the blink of an eye though.”

Ruri takes a stance next to me, holding her dagger ready. All of the men were knocked out cold, even though there were no external wounds on them. Still Ruri doesn’t seem to be out of breath at all.

“That looks like a White Salamander… Also, what’s up with your masks…”
“Please don’t ask about that.”

I had been worried about Christina dealing with things alone, but it seems I was worrying needlessly.

“Plum is being kept inside that thing.”
“No way…”
“I’ll do everything in my power to get her back.”
“Natalia, if things get worse-”
“I’ll definitely get her back.”

I interrupt Christina before she can finish that sentence. I prefer to not even consider the worst case scenario.

I won’t lose anyone else.

“Nuh…gh…”

The salamander thing restores its balance, not even caring about the wounds left by Ruri and Christina, and then it starts wiggling its body.

“Nughhhhhhh.”

It starts to roar as copious amounts of mucus get flung around, all of which explodes against the barrier I barely create at the last second. I had a hunch that was the same liquid that came off Plum’s hands. The explosions don’t spread too far, but their power is comparable to medium level spells.

At least I can hold out for a bit longer. Just as I’m catching my breath thinking that, an enormous front leg hits the barrier.

“Ah, damn-”

I don’t even get time to curse properly as the barrier shatters like glass and the leg prepares to swing again.

“Dodge that, you two!”

I turn around as I shout that, but Christina and Ruri have already jumped back.

I expected that much from Ruri, but seeing Christina react so quickly was a bit unexpected. I guess it’s Olivia and Amy’s effect on her. I also join them, dodging at the last possible moment. The fat leg strikes the ground with a thunderous sound. But Ruri, Christina, and I are all safe.

“We need to stop it from moving somehow.”

I doubt my nerve threads will be of any help even now though. So instead I take out Black Hawk and start shooting at the salamander’s legs, hoping to seal its movements.

“Pierce and tear like an arrow, Ugachi!”

Ruri creates multiple streams of water that flow in spirals, drilling into the salamander’s legs.

It loses its balance and its enormous body tips over, but it recovers almost instantly.

“Huh?”

All of our attacks had clearly pierced into its white flesh, but all traces of that vanished soon after. Enemies that heal any damage almost instantly are a common trope in games or anime, but witnessing it with my own eyes feels a bit absurd. On top of that the enemy has such a large body that makes it feel even more unfair.

I look up just in case, and see that the wounds from Ruri and Christina’s initial attacks on its head have also vanished.

“Nughhhhhhh.”

It groans again as it starts to spin around. The mass of its body and its speed made that simple act carry over an incredible amount of force.

I can feel the air pressure as its tail gets close, swung like a sledgehammer. We dodge it and retreat behind a container box. But the salamander easily crushes our hiding spot, before spewing more explosive liquid.

“Natalia, I’m sure that’s a White Salamander now. They live in lakes of volcanic areas, and have the highest regenerative abilities amongst salamanders. I’d wager the Sorcery Core was made with their heart or bone marrow, and now their regenerative power is manifesting itself.”

We continue dodging the attacks while Christina explains that to me.

“A salamander?”

I knew salamanders as lizard-like amphibians in my past life, but also as powerful spirits of fire. Thinking of both of those, it made sense that White Salamanders could heal a lot while also producing that explosive liquid.

All of its flesh was regenerated from the Sorcery Core, and it’s using Plum’s Steel Silk as bones and nerves.

“But the habitat of White Salamanders is so restricted that they’re a rare species, and hunting them is forbidden.”

So the Platiboros Company was likely also guilty of poaching. But that isn’t important right now, I need to think of a way to save Plum first.

“What should I do to defeat a White Salamander then?”
“That’s… either use multiple powerful attacks until it can no longer regenerate, or destroy its heart which provides all the mana it needs…”

Sadly my gun’s fire is too focused to cause enough large scale damage to exhaust its regenerative abilities.

“Christina, would you happen to have any large area attacks?”

I ask her, but she just shakes her head apologetically.

That much was expected. Christina has always excelled at precise control more than firepower. She’s the most proficient in earth magic, which doesn’t have as many large area spells as fire or lightning magic.

Then, the other option…

“Ah, me? Nah, forget it. I can only use a handful of basic spells, and I don’t even have my katana here.”

I turn to look at Ruri who had tagged along so far, but she instantly declares she’s useless.

That only leaves one more option to try.

“So we have to destroy its heart. Which in this case would mean…”

The White Salamander’s flesh had all come from the Sorcery Core. That was not exactly a heart or some other organ, but a plentiful source of mana.

“Yes. We’ll have to destroy…Plum1.”

Those were the words I wanted to hear the least. But Christina’s voice was filled with resolve.