The Halted Dolls

Everything happened in a flash.

Elaine Meredith acted rather than spoke, her eyes glowing red as she moved the escort Dolls.

The heated gazes of the Dolls turned toward their target. Prezen’s death seemed like a foregone conclusion.

Whirrr.

The Dolls' eyes suddenly faded to gray, and they halted their actions. Elaine Meredith tried to manipulate something with a flustered expression, but it was already too late.

At this point, it was a sickeningly familiar entrance.

A Ninja appeared.

It emerged from the wall so naturally, as if it had been there from the very beginning.

It was so seamless that I didn’t even register the Ninja’s presence until it swung an invisible blade and severed Elaine Meredith’s neck.

“Do - mo. I am the New-Mecha Communist Ninja.”

A short chant, and then an execution.

The family head, who had no time to receive the greeting, met her death just like that.

The rolling head of the Ever overlapped with the death of Delmore Meredith, which brought shock to everyone.

But this was different. Even from this close distance, I couldn’t detect the slightest hint of its presence. It was the same for Team Leader Hank and Mr. Eres Shore, not just me.

It was much more stealthy, faster, and more natural. It was as if the family head’s death had been destined to happen that way from the start.

It was because its rank was different to begin with.

“Jōnin… high-ranking ninja!”

It was hard to look straight at the Ninja standing over the corpse of the Meredith Family Head.

I was clearly looking at it with my own eyes, but its form wouldn’t properly register. It was there, yet it felt like it wasn’t. It was like dark paint melting into a canvas if I looked away for even a moment.

At first, I thought it was optical disguise, but it was something different. I didn’t know exactly what, but it was definitely using incredible high-technology cyberware.

The fierce battle with the Communist Mid-level Ninja came to mind.

I had won, but it was entirely thanks to the microchip. If it hadn’t been for that, both Alexandra and I would have died.

That was how terrifying and powerful an enemy it was. Yet the opponent before my eyes went a step further - it was a High-ranking Ninja.

There was no chance of winning. Even with two other bodyguards present, I was certain we couldn’t win.

We had to run. But how?

My body stiffened rigidly under the unfathomable gaze staring blankly in this direction. If I move, I die. It was an intuition that felt like a death sentence.

The high-ranking ninja was different from the mid-level ninja I had faced. I could feel that it was a fundamentally different being.

No matter how much I shouted that I was a worker and not the bourgeoisie, it would be meaningless.

“In the end… has it come to this?”

I wondered if there could be anything more surprising here, with a communist high-ranking ninja suddenly popping out, but there was.

The severed head glowed and opened its mouth to speak. Could someone at the level of the Meredith Family Head stay alive even after their head was cut off?

Perhaps it was an unexpected situation even for the high-ranking ninja, as its inorganic gaze, which felt like facing death itself, turned toward the severed head.

The one holding that severed head was Prezen Meredith. He spoke calmly, seemingly unbothered by this terrifying situation.

“If the family is going to decline anyway, this side at least has a chance.”

“Hah… Fine. I will see how far you can go. Congratulations, you are now… the Meredith Family Head, Prezen de Se Meredith.”

Rather than her being alive after her head was cut off, it seemed closer to the last spark of her life burning out.

Elaine Meredith’s head lost its light and fell silent with those final words. She was truly dead.

Prezen Meredith was pulling out a connection chip from the back of the dead family head’s head in the midst of all this.

What on earth was he thinking? There was a communist High-ranking Ninja standing right there!

The timing of the Ninja killing the family head was indeed exquisite. Had he joined hands with the Ninja?

Was it even possible for nobles and a Ninja to join hands? Even if it were possible…

Srrng-.

Right. Even if it were possible, it would only make sense in a situation where there wasn’t a massive gap in power between them.

In a case like this, there was no way it would work. The transparent blade aimed at Prezen Meredith.

Prezen hastily plugged the chip he had ripped from the family head’s nape into his own body and controlled the Dolls.

“Stop it!”

At the short shout, the Dolls that had halted their activities moved all at once.

The family head’s escort dolls and the regular Dolls that had followed us here fired lasers at incredible speeds and rushed in, trying to block the high-ranking ninja by crashing into it.

And they were sliced apart. Every time I blinked, a Doll was cut by the blade, sending sparks flying.

They were torn left and right, their limbs ripped off, and three or four heads flew into the air at a time, leaving only scrap metal in an instant.

The family head’s escort dolls at least didn’t stop even after being cut, moving grotesquely to grab the Ninja’s ankles, but even that only lasted a moment.

They couldn’t even buy a single second before they all popped like popcorn and turned into leftover chunks of iron.

It was obvious who the next target of the communist high-ranking ninja, who had ground up all the Dolls, would be.

The face of the previously relaxed Prezen Meredith stiffened rigidly for the first time.

Other Dolls came running from the corridor, firing lasers, but that much wouldn’t be enough to stop it. In the end, he shouted in an urgent voice.

“If I die, you are next! Just for a moment, you just need to stop it!”

It was utter bullshit, but he wasn’t wrong.

It was a brutal truth: if Prezen Meredith fell, Alexandra Schneider would be next.

There was no way the Communist Ninja, hell-bent on purging The Deep-rooted evils of capitalism, would be satisfied with killing only the Meredith People.

The high-ranking ninja’s blade couldn’t be dodged, and we couldn’t run away. I could only hope that Prezen Meredith, who had planned this situation, had some way to stop it.

Team Leader Hank shot a firm look and dashed out. Having finished his judgment in a brief moment, he rushed in to block the high-ranking ninja!

Mr. Eres Shore fired off pursuit drones in step with him, and I, whose physical strength had reached its limit and could no longer use the microchip, just blindly ran for now after Team Leader Hank.

Ping-!

Would it look like this if the blink skill from famous games were used in reality? Or would it be like a movie ghost getting closer every time the corridor lights flickered?

The Ninja drew closer with a flickering texture. Its speed didn’t seem incredibly fast, but somehow my eyes couldn’t keep up with it.

Seeing that the Dolls' lasers were also missing their target, I realized that it didn’t seem to be a problem only I was experiencing.

In the end, it felt like there were two, no, three Ninjas approaching.

I wanted to rub my eyes and look again, but I couldn’t, feeling like the raised blade would immediately sever my neck if I did.

Team Leader Hank pulled out a massive firearm from a hidden space in his lower prosthetic body and fired.

Tremendous firepower. A Shockwave and flames poured out with every single shot. It was a High-Firepower Rifle that looked like it could grind up anything if it could just hit. If it could hit, that is.

The Ninja melted into the air while separated, tearing apart the aiming drones with its blade as it leaped over our heads. It was a relaxed movement, as if it didn’t care at all about the bullets being fired.

Team Leader Hank didn’t back down and followed with a leap that surpassed human limits, but something was sliced off by a single Invisible Blade Attack.

He tried to cling on tenaciously but was deflected and plummeted. The Floor/Ground rang loudly as if it were going to collapse.

A truly anticlimactic knockout.

There was no time to worry about Team Leader Hank’s safety. I was next, and then Prezen behind me!

Eres Shore’s transparent drones fired bullets from the air, dizzying the vision by creating false information with Optical Disguise. Some flew in haphazardly like Kamikazes and caused an explosion.

All of that only managed to halt the Ninja’s footsteps for about a single second.

As if equipped with flame immunity, the Ninja lightly pierced through the flames and swung its arm. Even though it was quite a distance away, a horrifying sensation accompanied a tremendous impact that struck my waist.

“Keuhuk - !”

Even with the Kinetic Drive turned on, I couldn’t even react. If it hadn’t been for the Nanotech Suit, my upper and lower body would have been separated right then and there.

Watching me get pushed back ungracefully, the reaper tilted its hard-to-perceive head.

This was a reaction I often saw. It seemed puzzled that I wasn’t sliced in one go. Usually, from here, it would follow up by aiming for the soft outer part instead of the hard shell - the head.

Swish.

A transparent and light line, feeling closer to a monomolecular wire than a blade, aimed for the nape of my neck. Then, it was caught by the tough fibers of my forearm, densely wrapped in nanotubes, and slid off.

I blocked it, but I didn’t consciously block it. I had merely predicted it and crouched down, wrapping my arms around my head in advance.

The problem was that the Ninja’s goal wasn’t me in the first place.

Without a sound or sensation, the Ninja vaulted over my body. In the midst of that, the diagonally thrust blade aimed for my wrist outside my sleeve this time. Even though I hastily shook my arm off, it ended up grazing me, and as blood poured out, I shouted urgently.

Now, if ever, it’s now!

“Do - mo. Nice to meet you. I am Aaron Nakamura!”

The Ninja, which had reached right under Prezen Meredith’s chin, momentarily stopped its movements. Then, it looked back toward me with an empty gaze.

It gave a short nod. It was returning the greeting according to the Ninja Code. That was all. There was no dramatic change.

But I had bought some time, to some extent.

In that brief moment, the newly arrived Dolls moved Prezen to a safe location according to their orders and swarmed in like a barrier to block the High-ranking Ninja.

It was a moment to catch our breath, but it was too early to be relieved. Just this much wouldn’t be enough to stop the High-ranking Ninja.