It abandoned its job of providing propulsion and become the simple and deadly weapon that was four rapidly-rotating metal panels measuring more than 7 meters long.
As the two connected aircraft slowly descended, Machina jumped into the cargo bay with the Gatling gun in one hand and the rotor in the other.
“…Waaahh!”
She sent the rotor toward Enju’s face.
She switched from the scientific railgun revolver to a much more primitive weapon that tore apart the narrow transport plane’s entrance and was swung toward Enju.
But that was not going to break the golden thread shield that had withstood the sublight bullets. She could still protect herself. However…
“Checkmate.”
The repeated blows from the heavy metal panels kept her from moving, so she could not prevent Machina from aiming the Gatling gun at her.
Machina did not hesitate to pull the trigger.
That machinegun was meant for use against an army or a tank, but it fired on a girl who stood less than 140cm tall. And at close enough range that even the flames bursting from the muzzle reached her.
“Gwah, ow, owww, wait, I said wait!”
Of course, she was not just a girl.
Enju’s body was filled with holes and transformed into shreds of flesh, but only an angel’s flames could kill a demon. The holes would instantly regenerate and the process would repeat.
“Ibekusa, give us a turn.”
Ange and Lucia had hopped into the cargo bay too.
An angel and a demon could do a lot more against a demon than a human from FeTUS. They would be more suitable opponents for the demon girl, but…
“Negative. FeTUS will capture this unit.”
Machina held out a hand to stop them.
And it was true she had saved the other two, so they did not interfere.
“Ah ha ha. Capture me? I don’t think it’ll be that easy.”
“…”
Enju cackled and Machina clearly frowned for once.
The demon girl knew FeTUS techniques and had all the traits of a demon, so it was true FeTUS had the greatest disadvantage against her. Enough so that everything Machina could use against her would be burned away in a ball of fire. At the very least, capturing her for research would not be possible with her current
techniques.
However…
“I will capture you. I will use you for that experiment.”
Machina abandoned the Gatling gun and returned the rotor to the helicopter.
Enju regenerated while forcing out all the bullets fired into her. But before she could stand up, a golden magic circle spread out at her feet.
“Analyzing molecular sinusoid within target space. Confirming presence of particle fluctuation…positive.”
Machina held her hand out toward the opened circle with the coldness of someone dissecting a frog in an experiment.
“The reaction has begun. …Jiyuuni-san.”
“Eh…?”
“Thank you for your cooperation.”
The circle containing the target emitted a pale and still light.
But that was all. The cold light of activation was a standard effect, but there was no other visible change.
There was no sound, smell, wind, or anything else.
“Anti-Metatron Tooclass="underline" Dimensional Transfer…activate.”
Not that anyone could detect, anyway.
If you divided all elements down into their smallest units like molecules, atoms, and leptons, it was said you would end up returning to unobservable quantum fluctuation in the same dimensional space.
The movement of all matter came from that fluctuation. So if you could interfere with that unobservable realm, you could essentially influence another dimension.
In this case, it was unclear if that other dimension was higher or lower than the third, but…
At the very least, it became possible to control the molecular movements in the specified space.
Not even FeTUS had proven this and it was still a theory in the experimental phase.
This was a method obtained during Machina’s training with Ange.
By analyzing the phase difference between the unobservable angel flames and Metatron’s standard flames, she could predict the sine wave of the unobservable fluctuation.
By applying that, she could then control any molecular movement. Theoretically, she could apply a phase transition to a vacuum and create a new three-dimensional universe.
Of course, the equations for that were still unknown and there was no need to work them out later.
She was doing the same thing Ange had. She was applying the formula for the “non-fluctuating” elements within the angel wings that could not be physically interfered with.
“Gh…!”
Enju realized there was something wrong with the space around her, so she turned her body around.
But no matter how much she tried to flee, her body would not move. In fact…
“I’m frozen…? Wah, wahhhh!”
Her body had filled in the holes, but it was too numb to even stand up. Her body felt terribly cold and frostbite visibly spread across the newly-healed skin.
The osmotic pressure of her cells must have changed because the liquid burst from them while half of it froze and half of it vaporized. The vaporized portion froze in midair and sparkled there.
“What is this…? Ah, it’s so cold.”
Ange and Lucia noticed the change as they watched. The temperature in the cargo bay was dropping and fog was forming.
Even though the engine was still spewing flames from its newly-created holes.
“I see. Even an immortal demon requires water and osmotic pressure to maintain the fluidity of their flesh, so extremely low temperatures will cause the cells to necrotize. She can’t create the cells needed to heal her wounds.”
“Wh-what does that mean?”
As a demon, Lucia seemed to understand the principle behind it. And…
“Capture complete.”
Machina calmly summed it up.
What would happen if that space underwent a phase transition that eliminated the elemental fluctuation? The effect was not as great as the complexity of the formulas would suggest, but one result was the elimination of molecular friction.
The concept of heat would infinitely vanish from that space.
“Gh…gwaaahh!”
Enju screamed as she realized she had been closed in a room at absolute zero. She clawed at her chest because the moisture of the oxygen in her lungs had frozen.
No matter how much they hurt her, Machina lacked the power to kill this lifeform.
But she could leave her with an eternally unmoving body.
At some point, humans had reached the point that they could threaten demons, so Lucia gulped.
“…You’re taking Metatron too lightly.”
Even Ange felt a cold sweat.
Machina had called this an anti-Metatron tool, so it was meant to resist angels, not demons.
She could predict what its effect would be. A temperature of less than -300 degrees could easily be negated with their flames, but the problem was the creation of a space without any heat whatsoever. That would block all heat energy, physical or otherwise.
That would likely negate Metatron or even a flame that contained all the energy of the sun.
“At the moment, I have no intention of using this against you.”
Machina maintained a passive hostility.
More importantly…she looked to Enju. That immortal lifeform could regenerate, but she could not recover.
“She should be useful in revealing Kurosaki. Do you mind if FeTUS holds onto her?”
“Hmm? Well, I’m not really interested in those Kurosaki people anyway,” said Lucia.
“You saved me today, so I’ll let you have this one. …But make sure you report on what you find. She looks just like me, after all.”
“Thank you.”
Now that they were all in agreement, they knew what to do with their enemy.
However…
“…Hee hee. No, let me thank the three of you.”
Despite the frozen hell she was experiencing, Enju suddenly gave an eerie laugh.
“Now I know just what you can do. The angels, demons, and FeTUS are all worthy of caution. However,” she grinned. “You do not pose a threat to Kurosaki and their Bioroids.”