The girl before me raised her hand, and shot out a laser beam directly towards my head.

Space - Eliminate.

I teleported away just in time. If it wasn't for my quick reactions paired with my ability to insta-cast, I would've been fried right then and there. But alas, there was something that concerned me far more than that.

"Are you...Mei Gui?" I murmured, doubting the words coming out of my own mouth.

"Error: Unknown Term - Mei Gui."

Her mechanical, robot-like tone seemed so distant, yet oddly familiar at the same time. That was what scared me. She then raised her other arm, and shot out another laser beam towards me. I dodged once again with Space Magic, but two Gatling guns popped out from behind her shoulders, and they began firing at me at full power.

Ugh, damn it...Potentia: Celeritas.

I resorted to using this spell instead of Space - Eliminate, since the latter drained mana far too quickly. I could still avoid these Gatling guns with the speed boost - just barely. I remember when I first tried this spell out, I couldn't control it at all, but now, I could, and pretty well at that. Dodging these bullets should be achievable...and even if it wasn't, I kinda had to do it. After all, absorbing them didn't seem to work - I tried a few times amidst my blinks around the room.

I kept running, avoiding all the bullets so far, but...this room was completely empty with the exception of the two of us, so there wasn't any cover to hide behind.

Well...if there isn't any cover, all I have to do is make some myself.

I skidded to a stop, and slammed the floor with my palm.

Level One Earth Magic - Stone Wall.

I settled with using Earth Magic here instead of Glacier Form since I wasn't sure Ice could block the bullets of a Gatling gun, even with my enhanced Chaos magic. Luckily, my ability to insta-cast got rid of the downside of this spell completely - a slightly long casting time. Therefore, I was able to create the wall in time before the Gatling guns rotated in my direction.

I just realized...these walls...are they made of obsidian? They don't appear harmed at all, even after all those bullets hit it after missing me.

But unfortunately, I didn't have the pleasure of just sitting here and thinking about such pointless things. The mecha girl, realizing the Gatling guns weren't going to get past my wall, switched weapons.

ZOOM! ZOOM!

I heard two loud noises, and knew what was coming.

Holy shit...she has missiles?!

Space - Eliminate!

I blinked out of the explosion radius, and watched in shock as my stone wall was obliterated into pieces by the two cluster missiles. The girl then spun around to look at me once again.

"...Annoying. Question: Why have you not died yet?"

I narrowed my gaze at this question, and then smirked. "Kuku...answer: there's someone I'm looking for. Before I find her...the real her...I can't die."

The mecha girl stared at me with the same dead, emotionless eyes, and then flew up in the air all of a sudden, flapping her wings.

"Too bad. You will die here today, target."

The red eye above her suddenly began glowing, as if charging up energy. It began spinning rapidly, and I gritted my teeth from the sudden pressure. I turned to look at the remnants of the Stone Wall I had created earlier, and widened my eyes as I saw the pieces being converted into some sort of energy, and flowing towards the eye. It seemed...this eye was using its surroundings to charge up power.

"As if...I'm going to let you do that...!" I pulled out Ace from its holster, and shot at the eye. But alas, the bullet merely bounced off harmlessly. I tried shooting again, but nothing came out of the chamber.

It's out of bullets?! Now, of all times?! C'mon, ammo pack...ah, shit...it must've fell out while I was running...

As the eye continued to charge, I hurriedly pulled out Ace's Mana Projectile Compactor as a last-ditch attempt to stop her. Luckily, this didn't fall out as well. Stabbing the syringe into my wrist, I quickly pressed down, and a single bullet was created. I loaded Ace skillfully, and took aim.

"Die, target."

Just as the eye finished charging, I shot, and let the bullet fly.

I closed my eyes tightly, bracing for impact...but none came.

CRACK.

I slowly opened my eyes, and saw the girl motionless, hovering in midair. I then moved my gaze upwards, to the red orb that looked like an eye....but not anymore. Slowly, the orb of energy cracked, and a bright ray of light shone through. Then another. And another. And finally, the whole orb exploded, turning the originally black and dark room completely white, shimmered in radiance.

When the light died down, all that was remaining was the girl, kneeling motionlessly on the ground. Her wings had disappeared, and she appeared as if she didn't know what to do - as if her programming had went haywire.

I carefully stepped closer to her, and bent down right in front of her. She didn't look up at me, or respond to my actions. So, I reached for the mask on her face, and then pulled it clean off. Her eyes widened, but she still didn't make a move. But I did, after seeing her face.

"...As I thought...there's no mistake. You're Mei Gui," I muttered, then threw the mask on the ground, before stomping it to pieces beneath my boots.

"Mei...Gui..." she murmured quietly.

It seems...she's free from the control of that scientist now, but...her memories still aren't back. For now...let's get her out of here.

And at that moment, the door bust open to reveal Yu An Yan, Obsidia, and Xiang Peng in the lead, with plenty of people following behind.

"Xuan Kai!" Yu An Yan yelled, running over to me. "Are you...okay?"

I sighed. "Yeah...how did you even get in here? Wasn't the outside sealed shut?"

"Yes...but...one of the guys with Old Xia had a Metal Element affinity. It took a while, but he eventually reformed the metal to let us through," she replied.

Oh. Metal Magic...I didn't even think of that. Damn. I could've gotten out all this time? Ah, well...it was good that I got trapped in here, I guess.

"Who's this girl, by the way?" she asked, looking curiously at the girl in my arms.

"Believe it or not...she's Mei Gui," I replied with a deep breath.

"What?! Mei Gui?" Xiang Peng exclaimed, walking over. "No way, doesn't she have red hair and black eyes? What's with this appearance change?!"

I averted my gaze. "It's...complicated. But there's no doubt about it. I feel a connection with this girl - and the only one who has this link with me is Mei Gui. Despite her distinct appearance changes, she's still Mei Gui. I'll explain more later, but for now..."

"...Let's get back," Obsidia finished, and we all exchanged nods.

*****

- Meanwhile, In Another Room Within Exurtra Labs, A Short Distance Away -

"W-W-Wha...n-no way..." a man stumbled backwards from the screen displayed before him, nearly tripping on nothing.

On the screen was the footage of this man's final, ultimate product - the embodiment of his countless years of research - Apoxyia, against a single 14-year-old boy. And it had lost. His greatest invention, the one that would let him reign over the world - lost.

"H-HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!" he yelled in anger, slamming the table with his fists. "How...how did the eye get destroyed so easily?!"

He had specifically made the eye as Apoxyia's ultimate attack. The more enemies around her, the more powerful the attack was supposed to be. This was based on his research on the girl's mana - he had discovered that she possessed a special ability to absorb mana from the outside, and thus constructed this eye using that knowledge, and enhanced it. But what he hadn't expected...was that the boy was completely unaffected by this power. Under normal circumstances, had the boy been a normal kid, he would've found his mana being sucked out of him, but this boy was still perfectly fine, as shown on camera.

Not only that, but he had destroyed the eye. The scientist had designed the eye to be completely invincible to all sorts of attacks - bullets, lasers, magic, explosions. For as long as that eye was there, Apoxyia could constantly regenerate and recover through it's absorption ability. The plan was flawless. The design was perfect. And yet...it didn't work.

The scientist sat down, and clutched his head. He began to think through things more clearly, trying to calm down.

"I saw...I saw that boy try to shoot at the eye. It didn't work the first time, as I planned. But...then he made a new bullet, with his own mana...and that bullet was what destroyed the eye..."

The scientist stood up, realizing what had happened.

"That boy...don't tell me...his mana is also special?"

The scientist walked around aimlessly in the room, thinking.

"Yes...yes...that's the only explanation. The only thing that could destroy the eye created with an invincible power is that very same invincible power. That boy...I need him. I need hi-"

"Need who?" a voice suddenly asked, breaking through the door of the room. They rounded the corner, and walked into the room. It was a girl - a catgirl. She had short turquoise hair, pink eyes, a long furry tail, and cat ears.

"Y-You...where the hell did you come from?!" the scientist exclaimed, fumbling for his gun in his pocket, taking it out, and pointing at the intruder.

"Nya...hm...Xuwan Kwai told me nyot to kill him, but...ah, whatever," the catgirl murmured to herself, completely ignoring the existence of the gun.

"D-Damn you...one step closer and I'll shoot!"

The catgirl turned ever so slightly to look at the scientist, then smiled - and disappeared.

The last thing the scientist heard was the mechanical sound of claws being activated, and everything went to black.