CH 72

The Roar of Heaven 3

“WHO-!”

Inside the black cloud of smoke, a green blade was swung up. The crimson beam that came flying toward Kisei was then batted away like a baseball.

“-DO YOU THINK I AM!”

The beam was hit back and returned to the shooter as if its trajectory was reversed. It collided on the [Zarava]’s right shoulder plate, blowing it away exposing the hydraulic cylinder inside.

“You….Monster!”

However, the [Zarava] is still operable. More importantly, Nora still did not lose her will to fight. She stepped on the foot pedal and plunged herself into the cloud of black smoke.

“You really are the best!”

Kisei welcomed her charge with joy. He throws his photon saber straight up to the air while avoiding the muzzle of the blaster magnum that comes straight toward him with minimal movement. Then, after parrying away the other magnum with his bayonet, he slammed a spare magazine into his rifle.

“That’s a mistake!”

Nora smiles as she activates the anchor on the right foot. Even though she is inside a smoke screen, she can still vaguely sense her target at close range. Since she had many opportunities to fight in this kind of situation, both in training and combat, she has enough experience to put up a proper fight even when she has poor visibility.

“TAKE THIS!!”

The sudden break causes her striker to lose balance. However, that was intentional. Using the centrifugal force, she is performing a kick at [Caliburn-Revive].

“Woah!”

Kisei backstepped and avoided the kick but Nora’s attack was still not over. Using the momentum, she swung her magnum around and pointed its muzzle at him with a flowing movement.

“You are fast, but!”

Kisei kicked the ground. While avoiding Nora’s shot with a high jump which was made possible by the asteroid’s weak gravity, he recovered his photon saber which he threw up earlier with a wire gun.

“That’s still not enough!”

The [Zarava] was about to jump up in pursuit but before it could, Kisei fired his thruster and landed back on the surface.

“Kuh!”

Nora reflexively turned her magnum toward the place he’s landing to make use of the landing momentum to land her shot but she hesitated when she saw the gleam of the green condensed particles blade through the fading smoke screen. She realized that shooting at him without pre-planning will only turn out badly for her instead.

“I have to shoot him from a distance that he won’t be able to swing his sword…..!”

Muttered so, she floored the foot pedal and rapidly accelerated. At the same time, she operates the console panel of the [Zarava]’s grenade launcher to switch the smoke grenade round to AP round.

“That’s more like it!”

Kisei fires his blaster rifle toward the [Zarava] which is closing in on him at the speed of a bullet.

“You can’t take down my [Zarava] with that much firepower [DESUYO]!!”

However, Nora did not move to avoid his shot. The beam impacted the abdominal armor of the [Zarava] and disappeared after bursting on the armor plate. Although the paint was burnt and white smoke can be seen rising from the armor surface, the shot did not penetrate it. Its defense is quite extraordinary.

“Come at me however you want! Hahaha!”

He doesn’t have time to shoot the second shot. In an instant, the distance between the [Caliburn-Revive] and the [Zarava] was so close that even small scratches on their armor plate could be seen. Nora then nimbly swung her magnum like a dagger. However, instead of a slash, what came at Kisei was a beam.

“Haha, So fast!”

The distance is too close for him to use the bayonet on his rifle. The beam fired from the magnum in the [Zarava]’s left hand was evaded by backstepping while another one that was fired from the magnum in the right hand was deflected away by the photon saber. A thick beam was only several dozens of centimeters away from the armor plate as it flew past and the white paint on the [Caliburn-Revive] turned bubbly via the heat from the scattered particles.

“That’s not all [DESUYO]!”

Nora’s finger pulls the trigger. This time it was her grenade launcher. However, at the same time, the two machine guns mounted on top of the [Caliburn-Revive]’s head also started firing. An explosion occurs on the chest of the [Zarava] as the shell was shot down the moment it was fired.

“Ugh!?”

The tremor hit the cockpit and Nora was disoriented for a moment. Unable to miss that opening, Kisei holds the grip of the photon saber and unleashes a straight punch at the [Zarava].

“Damn…..you!”

Seeing the glowing black stakes attached on the [Caliburn-Revive]’s arm, Nora shifted the body of her striker down to avoid a direct hit. The aim of the pile bunker which was supposed to pierce the abdomen of the [Zarava] has deviated and it instead pierced the base of the [Zarava]’s left shoulder.

“AHH!?”

The left arm was completely blown away, as the hand still held onto a blaster magnum. At the same time, hydraulic oil burst out and soil the armor of the two strikers.

“But…..I got you now!”

In front of Nora is the defenseless [Caliburn-Revive] with its arms outstretched. At this distance, avoiding an attack from her should be extremely difficult.

“THIS IS THE END [DESU]!”

Using that moment, Nora swung down the magnum in the remaining right hand. At this distance, using the bayonet’s blade on her magnum should be faster than firing it as a gun.

“And why do you think I will let you do that!?”

However, Kisei also anticipated this attack. He threw away his rifle and saber and received the bayonet with both hands. A strong impact from the collision of metal hit the cockpits of both machines.

“Tsk!”

Kisei clicked his tongue as the warning alarm pierced his ears. An abnormal amount of pressure is building up due to the hydraulic overload. Both arms of the [Caliburn-Revive] are making creaking noises.

“This is just the power of one arm!?”

The [Caliburn-Revive] was completely pushed back by the abnormal strength of the [Zarava]. The tachometer is already pointing in the red one and even though the engine is loudly revving up, the blade is still approaching him. The other party’s probably trying to rely on this and push through with brute force as well.

“Blame your defeat on that shabby Calencian striker…….!”

“You think I’d lose!?”

Kisei’s finger pulled the trigger. The machine guns mounted on the [Caliburn-Revive]’s head fired at the [Zarava]’s main camera. At the same time, he also relaxed the strength in the [Caliburn-Revive]’s legs.

“Wha!?”

The next moment, the [Zarava] was flying through the air. Nora only realized that she was thrown when the [Zarava] collided with a large rock which completely put her striker to a stop. On the other hand, Kisei immediately retrieves his blaster rifle with his wire gun and shoots it at the armorless right shoulder before Nora could take any evasive action. The unarmored shoulder was easily blown off and the entire right arm of the [Zarava] flew away.

“Both arms!?…..Ugh! But!”

Almost purely on reflex, she pulls the trigger of the grenade launcher, but she was mercilessly greeted with the word [[Launcher Malfunction]] displaying in red on her sub-monitor. It appeared that the launcher was damaged when Kisei intercepted her earlier shot.

“A,…..Ahh!”

As if an ice block was fused to her spine, Nora stiffened. What she sees on the main monitor is the image of the [Caliburn-Revive] which is still mostly intact pointing the muzzle of its blaster rifle at her from a close distance. The image is extremely rough due to the damage to her main camera but that instead amplifies the horror of her situation.

If she stays down like this, she will definitely be killed. The moment she realized that, Nora lost control of her bladder. Her body trembled as she sensed the unpleasant warm sensation at her crotch.

“……it seems someone came to pick you up.”

However, the moment she heard that casual voice, the [Caliburn-Revive] lowered its rifle. At the same time, a black-gold striker armed with a lance landed between the two strikers.

“Sergeant Major Nora, are you okay?”

“Y, Your Highness.”

It was Valentina’s Zenith, the [Ortho-Kratzer]. Without relaxing her guard, Valentina kept the muzzle of the blaster gun on the tip of her lance toward Kisei.

“We’ve rescued the Major General. Your mission is complete, let’s withdraw.”

Originally, Nora’s mission was to stall Kisei. Using that opening, Valentina led a squad through the blockade and recovered the pilot of the [Valizer]. Since the pilot holds the rank of a major general(TLN: can be count as a commanding officer), she could be tried as a war criminal under the Calencian law if she was taken as POW. After all, the Nored empire had been slaughtering civilians in this conflict.

“……understood.”

With his muzzle lowered, it appeared that Kisei did not intend to prevent their retreat. Nora manages to stand up and take off without using the missing arms. Valentina also left immediately after Nora flew off.

Around Kisei, there are no longer Noredian soldiers. It appears that they have already withdrawn ahead.

“Damn it……”

While glancing back at the asteroid which is getting smaller and smaller, Nora swore. There were tears in her eyes. the feeling of cold urine soaking her crotch and the relief that she managed to survive made it feel even worse. This is the first time since she was born that she suffered this kind of humiliation.

“Damn you! Unforgivable! Next time you are dead!”

Nora shouted with large beads of tear spilled from her eyes while messing up her red-tinted gray short hair.

“Absolutely unforgivable…….!”