188: Chapter 186

"Watch me! Aries Charge!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, breaking into a run and actually charging toward the Mechanical Kitty Cat! Her steps were a bit clumsy because the "Cloth" was somewhat in the way.

The Mechanical Kitty Cat seemed to be drawn by this "glowing little squirt." It let out a low-pitched "Meow?" and raised a massive metal claw, swiping down at Kang Hye-won!

Kang Hye-won shrieked and quickly rolled to the side (the movement wasn't exactly agile, but she barely managed to dodge). The giant metal claw slammed into the ground with a dull "thud" (sound effects plus vibration).

"Hye-won Unnie! Watch out!" everyone cried out in alarm.

Kang Hye-won scrambled up, her heart still racing. Aside from glowing, this "Cloth" didn't seem to add any defense or attack power! Furthermore, while the Mechanical Kitty Cat wasn't particularly fast, its attack range was huge and its strength (seemingly) formidable. She could only dodge pathetically, completely unable to fight back.

"This can't go on!" Kwon Eunbi said anxiously. "Hye-won is in too much danger alone!"

As if hearing her thoughts, several spotlights on the set suddenly swiveled in unison. The beams converged, landing on another person—the sagittarius Star Envoy, Lee Chaeyeon!

Lee Chaeyeon was slightly blinded by the lights, and an ominous premonition immediately welled up in her heart. Sure enough, the production crew's prompt boards followed her like a shadow:

[The Aries Charge requires long-range support!]

[Please, sagittarius Star Envoy Lee Chaeyeon, summon your Zodiac Divine Artifact!]

["Free Sagittarius" Cloth!]

[Please shout loudly: "Free Sagittarius! Combine!"]

Lee Chaeyeon was weeping internally: Shibal, I knew I couldn't escape~! The assisted aiming earlier was humiliating enough, and now I have to "combine"?

But looking at Kang Hye-won, who was in a perilous situation and being chased all over the place by the Mechanical Kitty Cat, Lee Chaeyeon gritted her teeth and accepted her fate.

"Fine... fine!" She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and shouted with a bit more momentum than Kang Hye-won (but still with total embarrassment):

"Free Sagittarius! Combine—!!!"

Following the same process, the staff quickly rushed forward and fitted Lee Chaeyeon with a set of foam board "armor" primarily in dark green and brown. It included a chest plate, arm guards, leg guards, and a helmet decorated with feathers (plastic feathers). On her back, she also carried a... toy plastic bullet gun? (It seemed to be a sponsorship from a certain toy brand?)

The "Cloth" similarly lit up with green LED strips.

Lee Chaeyeon looked at the flimsy plastic gun in her hand, which probably had a range of no more than five meters, and then at the three-story-tall Mechanical Kitty Cat made of metal. Her sense of despair deepened:

"Can someone tell me... how am I supposed to fight this Kitty Cat with a plastic bullet gun??!!"

However, the "combination" was complete, and she was forced to "join the battle." She tried to raise the plastic gun, aimed at the Mechanical Kitty Cat, and pulled the trigger.

"Biu~ biu~" The plastic bullets shot out weakly. They hit the Mechanical Kitty Cat's metal shell without leaving a single mark before bouncing off.

The Mechanical Kitty Cat didn't even notice this feeble "attack." Its attention was still primarily on chasing that glowing, scurrying "little sheep," Kang Hye-won.

Thus, a scene like this appeared on the field: the red-glowing "Blazing Aries" Kang Hye-won was being chased by the massive Mechanical Kitty Cat, running for her life and occasionally dodging giant claw swipes by a hair; the green-glowing "Free Sagittarius" Lee Chaeyeon was futilely shooting "biu-biu" with her plastic gun, her face written with helplessness and a look of "what am I even doing."

The scene was simultaneously "perilous" (in a performative sense) and... ridiculous.

The others watched anxiously, not knowing how to help. Elemental advantage? Fire beats Metal? But Kang Hye-won's flame bowling ball and "Blazing" Cloth seemed useless. Use other sacred objects? They didn't even know where to start.

Just as things seemed to have reached a stalemate—with Kang Hye-won once again narrowly rolling away from the edge of a giant metal claw and Lee Chaeyeon nearly out of plastic bullets—the aquarius saintess Jang Wonyoung, who had been frowning and observing the battlefield closely, suddenly had a flash of inspiration in her beautiful eyes!

(Could it be that thinking while balancing the "400,000 Aquarius" really does boost intelligence?)

She snapped her head up, her gaze quickly sweeping over the Mechanical Kitty Cat, the disheveled Kang Hye-won, the anxious group, and the props scattered at the edge of the field—including the flame bowling balls Kang Hye-won had used earlier and some miscellaneous filming supplies.

"Ah! I've got it!" Jang Wonyoung suddenly cried out, her voice crisp and loud, drawing everyone's attention.

"Hye-won Unnie!" she shouted to Kang Hye-won, who was catching her breath in the middle of the field. "Give me a bowling ball! Quick!"

Kang Hye-won was dizzy from being chased. Hearing Jang Wonyoung's shout, although she didn't understand what was planned, she trusted the maknae (who, despite being young, sometimes had a powerful aura). With a "desperate times call for desperate measures" mindset, she unhesitatingly rolled her last flame bowling ball toward Jang Wonyoung with all her might!

The bowling ball rumbled toward the edge of the field.

An Yujin (capricorn), who was closest, reacted extremely fast. She lunged forward and steadily caught the rolling bowling ball.

Jang Wonyoung also quickly ran to a prop box filled with clutter by the side of the field. After rummaging through it, she actually pulled out a large, mesh bag made of thick knitted yarn (perhaps it was used to hold the Soft Baby sponge blocks earlier?).

"Yujin Unnie! Give me the ball!" Jang Wonyoung shouted.

An Yujin immediately handed the bowling ball to Jang Wonyoung. Jang Wonyoung took the ball, quickly stuffed it into the large yarn mesh bag, and then grabbed the two long strings at the opening, tying a firm knot. In this way, the flame bowling ball became a giant, swaying "yarn-ball bowling ball"!

"Yujin Unnie, let's do it together!" Jang Wonyoung handed one end of the knot to An Yujin. The two of them stood side-by-side, gripping the rope like they were in a tug-of-war. Then, they simultaneously exerted force, rolling this peculiar "yarn-ball bowling ball" toward the Mechanical Kitty Cat with everything they had!

Rumble, rumble, rumble—!

The massive, fuzzy, brightly colored sphere (with the bowling ball's flame patterns faintly visible through the mesh) rolled toward the center of the battlefield at a speed that wasn't fast, but was clearly aimed at its target.