Defying Probability

In the world of Ky'lar, inside the forest sealed within a different dimensional space...

[Behavioral pattern analysis: Concluded]

... Facing three Great Elemental Spirits... A machine in constant evolution...

[Adaptive schematic design: In process]

... Was about to play in experimentation.

(¡¡¡FSSSSSSSSSSSSST-VROOOOOOMM-SKRREEE...!!!)

In that manner, with a dull hiss of hyperbaric steam fracturing the brief lull in the clearing, she launched forward.

"Here she comes!!"

The brass valves on Brownie's boots expelled a cloud of white smoke that blanketed the ground in the blink of an eye, propelling her small figure forward in a fluid glide across the charred stones.

[Generating multiple containment and dispersion prototype]

As she accelerated at dizzying speeds, the techno-organic bronze and steel alloy on her back began to reorganize, generating mechanical panels that assembled with a sharp metallic snap, opening small cylindrical compartments.

(¡¡¡CLAC-CLAC-CLK-POPP-POPP...!!!)

Following that, a dozen small spheres of brass and reddish glass sprouted from her back, shooting into the air.

"Now what on earth is she doing...?!"

At the sight, the Great Spirit of Lightning, Volti-Gera, shouted in alarm with extreme caution as the tiny devices hovered for an instant before deploying thin metallic fins and spinning on their axes.

(¡¡¡ZIP-ZUUUUUUUM-FLASH...!!!)

As a result, a lattice of hard-light holograms with real physical density erupted from the drones' lenses.

"... Hey, hey... This has got to be a joke..."

In the middle of the clearing, Brownie's small silhouette multiplied by twelve.

"Is it light...? No, it feels different..."

In the midst of the scene, Lumina-Aura, as the Great Spirit of Light, was able to recognize the use of her element; however, she was also the most stunned, because each projected replica was not a simple optical illusion. Instead, they possessed solid mass, kinetic weight, and brass skates that slammed noisily against the terrain, multiplying the sound of active valves and gears.

"Everyone fall back!!"

Every single replica was real.

(¡¡¡¡¡FSSSSSHHHHHHH-VROOOOSH-SKRREEE...!!!!!)

As a result, the twelve replicas, accompanied by the original Brownie, accelerated simultaneously toward the Great Spirits' position.

"Tch... Damn it, this again!"

From the footwear of every single projection, continuous jets of steam erupted at maximum pressure, creating an impenetrable tide of white smoke that engulfed the clearing in a shifting, blinding sea.

"There are too many of them...!"

Faced with the situation and obeying the fall-back order from Tenebris-Vagrant, the Great Spirit of Darkness, the proud Lumina-Aura cried out, retreating hurriedly while aligning her photonic prisms.

"Don't let them corner you, Lumina!"

In parallel, the reckless Volti-Gera roared, unfurling his four wings of violet plasma before lunging head-on into the surge of smoke, discharging electrical arcs in a circular sweep to intercept the massive charge.

"Wait, do not separate!"

However, noticing something at the very last second, Tenebris-Vagrant warned from the shadows.

Nevertheless...

"Too slow."

It was already too late.

(¡¡¡KRRR-CLAC-CLK-GROMMMM...!!!)

The sharp click of gears snapping under pressure echoed from the heart of the dense mist.

"What...?"

And at that moment, Volti-Gera felt the air around him turn strangely heavy, dense, and impossible to pass through.

"The steam...! It's not just smoke!"

Noticing the danger, Lumina-Aura was the first to react, shouting as she attempted to focus her photonic prisms.

[Integrating dispersed mass: Electromagnetic encirclement configuration]

Before she could react, twelve solid replicas of Brownie crisscrossed through the fog in calculated trajectories, weaving an invisible web.

(¡¡¡SZZZZZZZZ-ZAP-FLASH...!!!)

As a result, the small spheres hovering in the air suddenly emitted a sonic pulsation combined with a high-frequency magnetic discharge.

"Gaaaah!"

Thanks to that, the Great Spirit of Lightning froze dead in midair, feeling the electrical arcs of his body being sucked in and inverted by the force.

"My powers aren't responding!"

Had he understood the principles behind the attack, Volti-Gera, as an entity representing lightning itself, could have easily acted...

"Interesting."

However, unable to comprehend the cause and effect of what was happening to him, he found himself rendered completely helpless.

"I told you, you idiot!"

Noticing the danger, Tenebris-Vagrant shouted, hastily extending his shadowy appendages from the ground to try to drag Volti-Gera back into the dark.

"It's a trap!"

But before the shadows could reach the lightning spirit's body...

(¡¡¡CLANK-CLK-CLK-GROMMMM...!!!)

From the wall of smoke, the real Brownie emerged mere inches away from him.

"?!"

Her delicate arms shifted once more; as a consequence, two gigantic magnetic vices of bronze and brass assembled over her shoulders, spinning in opposite directions to create an electromagnetic vacuum.

(¡¡¡SZZZZZZZZ-ZAP-FLASH~!!!)

Immediately after, the electromagnetic vacuum generated by the vices on Brownie's shoulders completely stifled the last sparks of plasma from the avatar forming Volti-Gera's frame.

"Temporary neutralization completed."

And upon finishing, the little girl's voice announced—cold and steady—as the gigantic structures on her back began reconfiguring once more.

"Initiating phase two: Experimentation with thermal and photonic vectors..."

But before Brownie could finish her report...

"Let him go, you heap of junk!"

... From high above, radiating murderous intent, Lumina-Aura screamed.

"Wait, don't rush in!!"

Unable to comprehend the principle by which her companion's energy had been smothered, the Great Spirit of Light acted, blinded by emotion.

(¡¡¡FLASH-ZUUUUUM-SHWIIING...!!!)

Because of that, ignoring her surroundings in her blind fury, her crystal body blazed violently, generating dozens of concentrated golden light beams that rained down in a devastating barrage, seeking to impale the seemingly human little figure.

[Response analysis: High-density photonic beams]

Unfortunately...

[Deploying angular reflection counter-shield]

... Without even breaking her skating rhythm, Brownie extended her left arm toward the sky.

(¡¡¡CLANK-CLK-CLK-GROMMMM!!!)

Immediately after, the matter of her limbs flowed instantaneously, transmuting her arm into a colossal, curved shield of polished brass and interlocking prismatic mirrors that spun rapidly on their axes.

(¡¡¡BOOOOOOMM-CRASHHH-FLASH~~~!!!)

As a result, when Lumina-Aura's photonic discharge struck the structure head-on—with power capable of disintegrating everything in its path...

"What...?! My light can't pierce that metal?!"

Instead of the expected destruction, she found her attack incapable of penetrating the metal as the light was redirected and decomposed into hundreds of harmless beams that bounced off in every direction, illuminating the dense steam like a display of useless sparks.

"Impossible..."

That attack possessed colossal power, a pure destructive force that absolutely no one in the world had ever been able to resist or block.

[Response analysis in process...]

Yet, for that very reason, Lumina-Aura did not even bother to think further.

"...Tsk... Not yet...!"

Had she possessed superior tactical mastery, she could have seized control of the surrounding sparks and flashes to redirect the power of her attack into concentrated points, striking from all directions. Or, she could have leveraged her own photonic speed to leave her opponent without an angle to react.

"Analysis completed."

However, despite being one of the most powerful spirits in existence, she completely lacked real combat experience.

"Lumina, move away from there!"

Until this exact moment, absolutely nothing and no one had ever been able to withstand the devastation of her light...

"I'll finish her this time!!"

... And because of that, she was complacent.

"You idiot, it's a trap!!"

Owing to that, the Great Spirit of Darkness shouted his warning—acting out of pure cunning accumulated over centuries—as he realized the true intent behind the girl's movement.

"Too late."

But it was already too late.

(¡¡¡FSSSSSSSSSSSSST-VROOOOOOMM-SKRREEE...!!!)

Before the Great Spirit of Light could act, the brass valves on Brownie's skates detonated in a deafening hiss of hyperbaric steam, closing the distance in a fraction of a second.

"What...?! She's advancing right through my own flash?!"

At such an action, Lumina-Aura screamed in panic, watching the young girl's silhouette push through the rain of reflected sparks without slowing down a single millimeter.

(¡¡¡CLANK-CLK-CLK-GROMMMM...!!!)

At the same time, in midair, the metallic plates on Brownie's right side burst open, deploying a set of three refractory brass panels with jagged edges that began to spin at extreme revolutions.

"I won't allow it!"

However, in response, Tenebris-Vagrant roared from the ground. Utilizing the shadow cast by the mass of steam, the Great Spirit of Darkness made dozens of dense shadow spikes erupt upward, seeking to impale the girl's torso and arrest her kinetic momentum.

(¡¡¡SHWIIIIING-CRASHHH-BOOOOM...!!!)

But in response, Brownie didn't even bother to dodge.

[Activating defenses]

Instead, the brass and reddish-glass spheres still hovering in the clearing swooped down, aligning themselves before the shadow spikes.

[Processing: Defense successful.]

Upon contact, the drones' lenses emitted a high-frequency infrared beam that destabilized the penumbra's density, turning the solid mass of shadows into simple, inert gas that dissipated harmlessly against the machine's fuselage.

"My darkness... was neutralized?!"

At that sight, Tenebris-Vagrant's eyes dilated in absolute incomprehension.

"Commencing experimentation."

In parallel, the girl's voice expressed absolute coldness as her mechanical hand opened, revealing a hollow bronze cylinder in her palm.

"Initiating extraction and compression phase."

And immediately before Lumina-Aura could ascend or reorient her light...

(¡¡¡ZIP-ZUUUUUUUM-CLACK...!!!)

The cylinder in Brownie's hand generated a targeted magnetic suction, trapping the Great Spirit's photonic prisms inside an invisible cage isolated within a force field.

"A-Ah...! She's dragging me in!"

As a result, unable to resist, the Great Spirit of Light...

"Temporary neutralization completed."

... Was sealed away.

"Lumina!"

However, as the last golden flashes were imprisoned inside the miniature spherical field, Tenebris-Vagrant acted, enraged by the consecutive capture of his peers, unleashing his shadows...

(¡¡¡SZZZZZ-VOID-UMBRAA-SWISHHH!!!)

From the girl's own shadow and the fractured rocks, hundreds of tendrils of pure darkness erupted simultaneously, rising like bloodthirsty spears to impale Brownie's silhouette in midair.

[Report: Detection of penetrating attacks in proximity]

Yet in a fraction of a second, the mass on her back transmuted once more, generating a pair of colossal mechanical wings composed of articulated brass panels and braided steel feathers that unfurled with a thunderous snap.

(¡¡¡FSSSSSSSSSST-SKRREEEEEEEEE-ZIP-ZUUUUUM...!!!)

And combining the flap of her new mechanized wings with precise bursts of high-pressure steam expelled from her skates, Brownie began executing razor-thin evasive maneuvers in three dimensions.

[Trajectory prediction: Completed]

Her body performed impossible spins, sharp-angled tilts, and instantaneous accelerations—dodging every single penumbra spike by mere millimeters, like a hummingbird dancing through a rain of needles.

[Calculating probability of victory...]

Among all the "babies" that made up Mireya's group, Brownie was, indisputably, the weakest.

[Report: Probability of victory in direct combat is 4.27%.]

Unlike her sisters, she had not been created with overwhelming raw power of her own or massive destructive force in herself, beyond her basic operational function.

[Announcement: Statistical calculations place the probability of success at 6.5%.]

For that very reason, the little girl in Victorian attire was fully aware of her limitations.

(Although the enemy possesses a numerical and energetic advantage, their attack pattern is not perfect.)

She knew perfectly well that upon initiating that battle, the odds were stacked drastically against her; therefore, her very first action was the gathering of information.

(They are inexperienced.)

Regardless of the speed of her calculations and the precision of her analysis, in a direct war of attrition she stood to lose everything.

[Notice: The estimated success rate for this strategy is 7.12%.]

That was why her objective was never to win...

(¡¡¡SHWIIIIING-CRASHHH-BOOOOM!!!)

... Instead, her objective from the very beginning was to buy time.

(Silver still seems capable of resisting losing control.)

While executing her razor-thin evasive maneuvers in midair, moving with the precision of high-complexity clockwork, the little girl continued to defy probability.

(Goldie appears to have lost her rationality. However, she is still embroiled in battle.)

From the very first millisecond the multilayered barrier isolated the forest, her primary goal was to buy time—allowing events to unfold and conclude with the most optimal outcome...

(... Mama is still outside the calculations.)

Therefore, she was fully aware that if she allowed any of the three Great Spirits constraining the area to roam freely, their interference would drastically alter the battlefield's equilibrium, completely ruining the progression of the main stage.

(... In that case... The one who can interfere right now is...)

And Brownie—steeped in her cold yet insatiable curiosity to observe how events played out—simply would not tolerate anyone or anything ruining the show...

"I am very curious... Flora..."

... The girl expressed from high above, brimming with anticipation.