CH 98

Encounter, the Heavenly Blade 3

Tersis’s vermillion-dyed Zenith, [Van Wolf] blew a big trail of flame as it charged toward Kisei. With it being one of the Nored’s best, the [Van Wolf] is speeding toward him like a cannonball.

“You are specialized in melee, but neglecting long-range weapons is just being overconfident!”

The [Van Wolf] only carries a longsword and a shield. Its appearance doesn’t suggest that it has other built-in weapons either. Many strikers are designed to be specialized in some area but Kisei has never seen one that is so thoroughly specialized like this.

However, that doesn’t mean that he can let his guard down. The reason behind her choice to forego all ranged weapons and pilot such an extremely specialized striker is probably the confidence that she can take down any enemy without relying on one.

“And I don’t have to play by your rules……!”

That being said, he has no reason to fight her at her specialized range. Kisei fired his blaster rifle in rapid succession. While a barrage of green beams flies toward [Van-Wolf], Kisei was retreating at full speed.

“As I thought!”

However, the beams were all blocked by the kite shield. The beams did not even leave a scratch on the hawk emblem painted on the shield. It appears to be quite a sturdy one.

“That peashooter won’t do you any good!”

“An 8.5Mw rifle is supposed to be in the high-power category alright!

While arguing about such a thing, the distance between the two strikers quickly shrank. Even with the disadvantage of moving backward, there’s an unfillable gap between the thrust power of [Caliburn-Revive] and [Van Wolf].

“Let’s see what you’ve got!”

The slash Tersis unleashed was too sharp to be only a test. A half-baked pilot would be cut in half already.

“That was fast!”

Kisei parried it with his photon saber. Even though he properly blocked the slash, the left arm that’s holding the photon saber bounced back from the impact. This shows the tremendous amount of strength behind a blow from [Van Wolf].

“An extra heavy blow huh! Nice!”

“Got you!”

Tersis tries to hit [Caliburn-Revive] when it lost its posture from the earlier blow with her shield but Kisei has already read that and kicked off the shield’s center of gravity to jump up instead.

“Wha……!”

The [Caliburn-Revive] somersaulted in the air. The muzzle of the anti-ship grenade launcher on the [Caliburn-Revive]’s back pointing at [Van Wolf]. Seeing that, Tersis felt a chill run down her back and immediately stepped on the foot pedal. The moment after, the missile from the grenade launcher exploded where the [Van Wolf] was standing and a storm of pebbles struck its vermillion armor.

“Kuh!”

When the [Van Wolf] deployed an anchor on one leg to stop itself from being blown away, Kisei’s wire gun was already hooked on it. Using the reeling mechanism, the [Caliburn-Revive] immediately closes the distance while firing its blaster rifle at [Van Wolf].

“What!?”

Tersis grit her teeth while defending herself from the beams with her shield but she left herself open to Kisei who has already attached a bayonet to his rifle and is rushing at her at full speed.

“Tsk!”

She barely managed to defend herself with the shield again but Kisei has already read that and swings the photon saber sideways at her while softening the impact from the earlier charge with a reverse thruster.

“That won’t work on me!”

The sideways swing came at a moment where one could call it a surprise hit but Tersis managed to catch it with her longsword.

“There’s more where that came from you know!”

Kisei grinned and kicked off the abdomen of [Van Wolf]. No matter how strong it is, it won’t be able to withstand a blow like that while it was off balance from his onslaught. As a result, the [Van Wolf] was blown away with a loud sound of impact.

“Ugh…..not yet!”

However, Tersis is not your ordinary pilot. She immediately fired her thruster and killed the impact. Even so, it’s inevitable that she would be defenseless for a moment. Using that opening, Kisei fired two shots from his blaster rifle at the abdomen of the [Van Wolf].

“……!”

Tersis held her breath at the sound of the beams scorching the paint just below her cockpit. Fortunately, the [Van Wolf] is an extremely specialized melee type, it possesses the strongest armor among the strikers piloted by the 4 Heavenlys.

“So hard! This is getting interesting!”

Kisei ferociously smiled and charged at her again with full thruster capacity. Tersis manages to parry the assault from his bayonet with her sword again but Kisei’s attack does not stop. Even when Tersis tries to fight back, Kisei would move as though he already anticipated what she’s going to do and crush her every attempt. Unable to do anything, the [Van Wolf] is being pushed back.

“To think that he’s this strong!”

However, she did not lose her calm. On the contrary, her expression seemed to be an excited one.

“To push me back to his extent! What a guy!……..What a guy! HaHaHaHaHaHa!”

The laughter from the open channel made Kisei’s smile deepen. She is a combat enthusiast, that much is clear. However, fighting someone like her is more fun to him than chasing someone who’s running away in fear.

“Good! More—”

“Kisei-san! Please come in!”

There, a sudden and tense voice reached Kisei’s ears. It’s a little hard to understand with all the noises but it was Schleer’s voice.

“Our fleet is currently under attack by the enemy main fleet! They can’t repel the enemy by themselves! We must return to the landing point………Please withdraw!”

“What……!”

Even though it was just getting interesting, she completely rained down on his parade. Although Kisei groaned with some dissatisfaction, he can’t just ignore his order and continue the fight here.

“Kisei! Let’s go!”

“Damn it!”

Prompted by Saki, Kisei reluctantly kicked the ground and blew his thrusters to distance himself away from the [Van Wolf].

“Ah, hey, Stop right there! If you are going to withdraw then at least finish me first!”

“Sorry! Let’s do this again next time!”

Saki’s expression turned strange at how Kisei said that like he was saying goodbye to a playmate.

On the other hand, Tersis who was about to chase after him was stopped by a message from Diaroze.

“Good work, they must have withdrawn already right! Right on schedule. You can come back now!”

“But!”

“No but! Are you trying to disobey my order!?”

Tersis tried to protest but Diaroze bluntly stopped her. In the first place, Tersis’s mission this time is to repel Kisei and Saki, chasing after them was not in her order.

“The other 4 Heavenlys are coming. Hurry up and come back for resupply!”

“………..understood.”

Reluctantly, Tersis followed her order and fall back.