I charged headlong toward the Ogre God Nation’s Humanoid Fighters.
Isaac, the Proone student from the Academy, trailed close behind me.
"Grand Duke! Your orders!"
"Just sync up with me! Attack however you feel like!"
"That’s way too vague!"
"I can’t help it! The battlefield changes in real-time! Look, as long as you don't shoot me in the back, I’ll forgive you!"
And so, our cooperative battle began.
"Don't blame me for whatever happens next!"
Isaac fired his rifle.
His tactical style leaned closer to Eddy’s.
But the Ogre God Nation was full of veterans.
They raised their shields to block any attacks they saw coming...
That was where my charge came in.
Basically, as long as the attack wasn’t something they expected, it worked.
I dove in, fully prepared for a stray beam to hit my back.
Isaac, naturally, fired away without mercy.
It would have been a disaster if he’d lost his nerve and stopped shooting here.
Hahaha, talk about trust!
"What?! He’s charging straight in!"
Just as the enemy panicked, I flicked the controls, sliding my machine to the side.
In that exact moment, a rifle beam streaked through the space where I’d just been standing.
Nice timing!
The enemy scrambled to defend.
I took that opening to strike with my blade!
I severed the machine's wrist.
Since this was a match, that was my win!
"Wh-What... You’ve got to be kidding me! These guys... they aren't normal!"
Our coordination was high enough to leave even the Ogre God pilots shell-shocked.
While evading Isaac’s covering fire, I unleashed strikes that the enemies couldn't possibly react to.
"Focus on Big Brother Leo—Guaaaaaaaaah!"
Bad move.
The second they fixed their sights on me, Isaac nailed them.
As expected, the enemy was unable to evade Isaac’s fire and was rendered incapacitated.
Man, teaming up with people like Ren, Claire, or Isaac makes life so much easier.
I charged in further, intentionally telegraphing an easy-to-read attack.
"Hah! I'll parry that with my shield and—"
As if I'd let you!
The moment our weapons made contact, I relaxed my grip and flicked my wrist.
The shield he’d tried to bash me with swung through empty air.
The moment an opening appeared, I delivered a heavy kick.
Isaac shot the enemy as they slid away from the inertia, leaving them dead in the water.
I used the momentum from the kick to go Vernier Full Throttle.
I closed the distance to the final enemy in one fluid motion.
"W-Wuaaaaaaaaah!"
The enemy frantically tried to brace for the blow with his shield.
And there it is—itsuki.
The first one to stop loses!
I ran up the surface of the shield.
Then, I smashed his head—Chesto!
Camera Lost. That was my win.
Matches really are great. There are fewer of those absurd developments like omnidirectional beams.
I slowly decelerated and waved my hand at Isaac’s machine.
"Nice assist!"
Isaac flew into a rage.
"Your movements are monstrous! How is that even possible?!"
"You’ll be able to do this much if you just keep repeating the sims."
"That’s not the point!"
"You’ll get used to it~♪"
"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Why was he having a total meltdown?
"I’m starting to understand why Proone suffered a total defeat... No, I thought I’d accepted it after reading the records... but this is an absurdity that goes far beyond the data..."
He was muttering something under his breath.
"I'm always just choosing the options that minimize damage, you know."
"Those options are way too high-risk!"
Geez, he’s so serious.
If something unexpected happens, you just deal with it on the fly.
Think after you act!
"The brake on his sense of fear is totally broken..."
"They say overcoming fear is what growth is all about."
"I'm saying you don't feel enough fear to begin with!"
"Hahahaha!"
"LISTEN TO MEEEEEEEE!"
Anyway, I had to regroup with Katori-sensei.
As we moved forward, Katori-sensei’s machine appeared on my radar.
"Sensei, I’m here~."
"Oh, you've arrived."
The surrounding area was littered with the wreckage of Ogre God Nation Humanoid Fighters.
Rescue ships were already gathering to recover the pilots.
Wow, every single one of them had been taken out with a single, decisive strike.
"Leo, who’s that behind you?"
"My guard. An ace from the Academy. Go on, say hello."
"Imperial Officer Academy Chronos Branch School! Student Isaac!"
"Hmph, I'm Katori. Nice to meet you."
It seemed Katori-sensei was famous enough now that even Isaac knew who he was.
"Isaac, you should have Katori-sensei give you some pointers sometime."
I gave him a bright smile.
"I would be honored, but... Grand Duke. Do you have some other ulterior motive?"
"Nooooot at all."
"Isaac, don't worry about it. Half of what comes out of his mouth is nonsense. Just remember: if you actually start listening to him, you’ve already lost."
"I will take your advice to heart."
Wait... were they ganging up on me?
Am I the one in trouble here?
Suddenly, I felt a chill. Ah, bloodlust.
"Leo... they're coming."
"Yeah. It's a fight to the death this time, so Isaac, stay on standby. Don't get caught up in the crossfire."
"Hey, I'm coming too!"
"Standby. That’s an order."
"...Dammit."
Good boy, Isaac. Stay put.
There’s no reason for a student to get involved in a lethal struggle.
I truly, sincerely meant that.
The thick aura of bloodlust was coming from the Parcion machines.
Now then, shall we get started?
"Katori-sensei."
"We're moving."
Katori-sensei and I relocated to an area clear of rescue operations.
We waited for the Parcion units.
Five of them.
Likely their elite.
Alright, cameras on.
Now, let us fight fairly... and they immediately opened fire.
"I knew they'd shoot!"
"Now things are getting interesting, Leo!"
Katori-sensei laughed boisterously.
"You know the plan, right?"
"We beat them so thoroughly that they never dare bare their fangs at us again, right?"
"Bzzzzt! Wrong! The plan is to bait them into committing fouls! I’ve already got evidence that they’re using performance-enhancing drugs."
"So you're telling me to pull my punches?"
"Just don't finish them in one hit. They'll resort to some cowardly trick eventually."
In the first place, it wasn't even considered 'cowardly' for them to gang up on me in this format.
It was likely the same for Katori-sensei.
Thinking about it calmly... 'cowardly tricks' were actually kind of hard to define here...
Well, whatever.
If they did something, I’d just keep calling them cowards until the end of time.
Swordsmanship + Piloting Skill + Off-board Tactics = Power.
I was going to hammer that reality into them!
As it turned out, my concerns were entirely misplaced.
They immediately launched missiles.
I mean, it’s not like they were strictly forbidden.
But for a pilot skill competition? Really?!
That was their opening move.
Alright! Intent to foul confirmed!
I’m going to dodge every single missile while baiting them into making even bigger fools of themselves!
Hehehe!
I’ll make them realize that picking a fight with me was the biggest mistake of their lives!"}