Defeat confirmed. Initializing power boost...

Hans!

Hans, are you all right?!

What the heck is this thing? It's huge...

Stop wasting time babbling, and let's attack it all at once!

*Huff* *huff* *huff*

Is this...Beiorg?

Yeah. He looks bigger than the original specifications we found in the data...

...but his core seems to be the same.

What took you two so long?!

Sorry. I noticed a bit too late...

How did you fail to notice that sound? It was super loud!

Just let it go.

It doesn't matter if we got here in time or not. Hans would've still taken that thing on.

What we have to figure out now is what to do with this hunk of junk.

Further increase in hostiles confirmed. Damage factor too high to engage in battle.

Initializing retreat.

It's gone.

Looks that way. I wanted to take a closer look, but I guess that's not gonna happen now.

...oh! Sorry!

Hans, it looks like you actually fought Beiorg. Are you all right?

No need to worry.

Hans here can handle that much alone. Isn't that right?

But hey, you guys keep calling that creepy thing "Beiorg."

Does that mean you actually found something downstairs?

Yes. Thanks to Hans buying us some time, our research was able to progress somewhat.

The enemy we just encountered is called "Beiorg."

And it's one of the Six Armors created by a scientist from another world.

So it's all true.

But, that didn't look like a normal piece of armor to me...

Ha ha. Actually, that's exactly why the Six Armors are so special.

What do you mean?

The reason why the scientist referred to his creations as "armor"...

...was because it was their duty to serve as guardians according to their own judgment.

The idea was for the Armors themselves to use their own rationale to judge who was worthy of protection, and who wasn't.

So, if it's called armor either way...then does it turn into one too?

Don't ask me. I don't care about that stuff.

The Six Armors have yet another special ability, the ability to self-evolve.

They are all equipped with functions that can strengthen them further according to what situation they find themselves in.

Isn't that a little scary?

Those armors could potentially surpass their creator...

Yes, it's quite dangerous indeed.

Actually, it is believed that the scientist who created them died by their hands.

What was that scientist thinking?!

And what's more, believing that his creator had been abandoned by the world...

...one of the armors classified the world itself as his enemy, promptly going into a rampage in order to destroy it.

That's just crazy...

The scientist states in his log that the very destruction his creation had brought about opened a rift into another world...

...which then caused the Six Armors to be dispersed. He sounded happy about it though...

Anyway, out of all of the scientist's creations, Beiorg was the one which ended up in this region.

And it seems that the scientist himself considered Beiorg the best of the Six armors.

It looks like he was really looking forward to observing his masterpiece in detail.

Which means he followed it all the way here to do so.

That guy was messed up in the head...

I wouldn't claim otherwise...

You're making this longer than it needs to be.

Shouldn't you just focus on telling us the machine's abilities?

Y-You're right... I'm sorry...

The reason why the scientist considered Beiorg his masterpiece...

...was because Beiorg possesses a function that the rest of his creations didn't have.

What kind of function?

The function to learn from the enemies he's lost to in order to become more powerful.

In short, the more Beiorg loses, the stronger he grows.

The truth is that long ago, that scientist was collaborating with the demon who ruled this region...

...in order to build an automated machine in the lab below to help Beiorg evolve.

However, Beiorg destroyed the automated machine...

...and the real demon Beiorg as well.

Sounds like everything this scientist guy did was dumb...

But whatever.

Anyway, what's that Beiorg after anyway?

If that thing is meant to be a guardian of some sort, what exactly is it protecting?

Finally getting back to the point...

Nothing in the records said anything about it...

But as long as Beiorg is still active, it must mean that there's something in this region he's protecting.

I'm sure Beiorg only deems powerful entities that enter this region as his enemies.

Regardless of whether those entities are of human or demon origin.

Which leads me to believe that he's protecting this land from an outside force...

So, he's branded us his enemies too then.

Okay, I think I get it.

It just means that Beiorg is gonna be a pain to deal with.

Wow. You're still completely clueless, aren't you?

Keep your mouth shut!

Anyway, what are we supposed to do now, Paris?

Well, first of all, we might want to get out of this dangerous place.

We don't know when Beiorg might show up again.

And then we should probably head towards that place in the distance that resembles a city for now.

But won't we get attacked again if we keep pressing forward?

Probably.

But we can't turn back now.

And there may be some more valuable information over there as well.

All right. I guess we should start heading over there.

But Paris, can I be honest with you?

Sure.

I'm pretty sure that after this, everyone's gonna end up splitting up.

Because it looks like there will be lots of things to distract you on our way there.

......

But it's fine, no worries.

I'll protect you, no matter what.

Hans, make sure to clear the way so we can get through!

If we're able to make it to the city safely, I'm sure Lugi will reward you well.

Don't get me involved in your crap!