CH 5

The Wicked Star

“Seventh!”

The stake made out of special alloy found its way through another red striker’s abdomen. Just like a marionette with its strings cut, the enemy striker collapsed on the asphalt-paved road.

The battlefield has changed from a reddish-brown wasteland to an urban area. It appears that the evacuation was already completed and there’s no need to worry about civilians here.

“Concentrate your Fire! Overwhelm that striker with firepower!”

Several [Jettas] aim their machine guns and blaster rifles at Kisei. At the same time, the [Gradius-kai] kicked the ground and its blue thruster exhaust burned the afternoon sky above the city.

“Do you think!”

The enemy opened fire. Thanks to his prompt evasive maneuver, most beams and shells cut through the empty space and destroyed the uninhabited buildings. However, the strikers wielding machine guns which have a high fire rate still track the [Gradius-kai].

“You can take me down!”

A large number of 30mm shells flew toward Kisei who warded them all off with his photon saber. The sound of blaster beams burning the atmosphere and the sound of shells being evaporated mixed together and created a nightmare concerto. The metal shells which were mostly turned into steam generated black smoke and fell back down to the city.

“With this much firepower!”

While literally mowing down the bullets flying toward him, He quickly approaches the shooters.

“Tsk! Damn you!”

One of the [Jettas] throws away their machine gun and pulls out a photon saber from its shoulder rack. However, faster than the blade could be formed, a powerful kick hits the Jetta’s arm. The photon saber was sent flying and the pilot could only stiffen at her imminent death.

“I won’t let you!”

Her wingman stepped in with a thrust from her own photon saber and prevented Kisei’s pursuit. She thrust her photon saber out with all her might to protect her comrade but that left her thruster wide open.

“You’ve got guts!”

Kisei shouts with a ferocious smile. He twisted the body of his striker to avoid the beam blade. At the same time, he also grabbed the wingman’s striker’s arm and planted his striker’s feet on the ground. He then activated the anchor mechanism on the sole of his striker’s feet and a pair of steel claws dug into the asphalt.

“Uwah!”

The Jetta whose charge vector was beautifully redirected was blown away and collided with the first Jetta. Both strikers rolled on the ground with a loud noise.

Without caring about those two strikers, Kisei floored the pedal again. This time a stream of flame was instantly discharged from the thrusters, accelerating [Gradius-kai] away as if it was caught in an explosive blast.

“You bastard! Doing whatever you want to our unit!!”

A [Jetta] pointed its rifle to the [Gradius-kai]. However, the [Gradius-kai] planted one of its feet into the asphalt with the anchor again and spun itself using the momentum.

“Ugh….!”

With his entire body attacked by the G-force, Kisei grits his teeth. Then at the same moment the red beam flew right past his striker he re-accelerated. His pile bunker ruthlessly pierced the enemy Jetta before it could react.

“….! Haa…..”

He finally breathed out and took a deep breath as he made the Gradius-kai kick the ground. Igniting the thrusters, he flew to the sky again.

“Orah!”

Just like that, he accelerated the Gradius-kai at full power. His target is the enemy striker that is about to get up. The enemy Jetta which received a kick with the full weight of Gradius-kai to the chest was slammed to the ground with a tremendous force, breaking its main camera.

“Ugh……!”

On the other hand, Kisei, who performed an Ukemi and landed, casually stood up. His pile bunker was then driven into the defenseless abdomen of the[Jetta] that had stopped moving due to his earlier surprise attack.

“Alright!”

After that, he proceeded to give the finishing blow by driving his pile bunker into the last remaining [Jetta]. It was a one-sided game.

With the combat finally over, Kisei turned off the photon saber. After watching the beam blade dispersed, Kisei stored the grip into the compartment located at the clavicle of Gradius-kai.

“No enemy detected.”

The AI stated with an inorganic voice. It appears that all enemy strikers that descend to this area were completely wiped out.

“Th, Thanks for your work?”

Schleer said that as if she just managed to form her determination to speak.

“Y, You were……much wilder than I thought? Kisei-san.”

Her first impression of Hokuto Kisei was that of a small fragile boy. The fact that she just saw him yelling his warcry and went on a demonic rampage earlier came as a surprise to her.

“No, I mean, you know……if your fighting spirit is less than your opponent, then you can’t win the battle right.”

After taking a deep breath, Kisei replied.

“The 3 most important things to rely on the battlefield are first your guts, your luck, and finally your pilot skills. That’s my motto.”

“Are you sure that you didn’t mistake your order?…….”

“Well…..it’s true that I can get very loud. I’m sorry.”

Saying so, Kisei turned to Schleer and smiled. She could not feel any trace of the demon she saw earlier at all. If anything, his smile just made her want to protect him instead.

“Uuu…….”

With her heart racing faster, Schleer turned away to hide her flushed face.

“N, No, It’s me who should apologize. It’s pathetic of me for putting a beautiful man like you on the battlefield….! This is completely due to my inability.”

Being called a beautiful man, Kisei’s cheeks cramped.

“Uhh, I’m a mercenary so I am fighting on the battlefield with my own volition though……”

“This is a matter of pride! I………This Schleer Henrietta swears as a knight that I will become a woman who can protect you!”

“It’s not something that you should swear about though.”

Kisei rolled his eyes. He also has his pride as a pilot. There’s no way that he’s happy to be told something like that. It’s true that he’s pretty much helpless once he gets off a striker though……

“Well, more importantly.”

While ignoring Schleer as she muttered ‘If only I have Mistilteinn with me…..’, Kisei states his plan.

“There are still enemies left so I’m going to get them next okay.”

“Enemies? You want to go to another theater?”

“The noisy ones are still active after all. Let’s go silence them.”

Saying so, he pointed at his destination——the sky.

“Up there……? Don’t tell me, you plan to stop the orbital bombing?”

Certainly, the thunderous sound from the orbital bombardment can still be heard from here.

“I brought an anti-ship grenade launcher for that purpose after all. Is there any Ride Booster lying around here? Please show me.”

Schleer lost her words at Kisei who said that as if it was the most natural thing to do.