CH 275

The Great Melee 2

Cooperating with the surrendering Noredians is fine and all but their current problem is the poor visibility. In this almost complete darkness, it’s very difficult to distinguish between friend and foe. Naturally, both sides are war veterans so they can still tell who’s who when they are within sword reach of each other.

“There!”

Meanwhile, Kisei was the only one using a blaster rifle. Every time a green streak cut through the darkness, you can hear the sound of a [Renion] collapsing to the ground.

“W, we can barely see but……you can still shoot?”

Diaroze asked with her face twitching. Even with night vision on, the visual is not that reliable because of all the dust and windstorms. If she had to be honest, watching him from the backseat felt like he was reflexively attacking anything that moved.

“I just have to aim at the strikers with still navigation lights right? It’s easy enough.”

“Umuu, since it’s you I think I can trust your skills but…..huh?”

Diaroze shrugged. Then, a striker rushed at them with a trail of thruster flames behind it, the charging striker has the same paint color as the [Renions] but its figure is clearly not the same. It’s a Zenith-type.

“Nuooo!? That surprised me!”

The Zenith appeared out of nowhere. Perhaps it has been running cover to cover, hiding in the shadow of the rocks in the area. When Diaroze jumped in surprise, the white blade of the Zenith was already closing in on them.

“That won’t work on me!”

However, no surprise attack would be able to catch Kisei with his guard down. He took out his photon saber at the last second and parried the Zenith’s downward swing. Sparks began to fly and a violent shock shook the cockpit. The leg anchors slid across the surface of the ice leaving a jagged trail as his striker was pushed back.

“So heavy…….!”

For a one-handed strike, the power behind it was unbelievable. A smile floats on Kisei’s face.

“That must be Therese Gwenrant. She’s one of the Imperial Guard captains…….her Zenith is called [Areos]. It’s a machine specialized in melee combat.”

When it comes to the aces of the Imperial Guards, Diaroze knows everything about them from their profiles to their striker’s specifications. Naturally, she recognized their attacker.

“……she’s good you know. You should dispatch her quickly.”

“Roger that!”

If it’s a close-range type Zenith then it would have a great advantage over the long-range type in an environment with such poor visibility. If they let someone like Therese roam free then there’s no doubt that she will cause major damage to their ally. That’s the reason they should be the ones to take her down.

“You’re good, White one!”

Probably did not expect that her surprise attack would be parried, a voice came through the open channel.

“Even like this, I’m still the Federation’s top ace you see…….!”

“A man? I see, you……..you’re the mercenary who deceived Her Highness right!?”

The enemy pilot, Therese, shouted with a voice filled with hatred. She must have watched the ‘That Video’ as well. The following moment, she launched a powerful thrust at Kisei.

He sidestepped and avoided the tip of the blade that was thrust at him with the speed of a bullet.

“The Deceived Princess is also here you know! I’m already head over heels for this man. Nored can go eat sh*t for all I care.”

Diaroze immediately provoked her. Because of Diaroze’s delivery, Therese was confused and her movement was slowed for a moment. Kisei did not waste that chance and fired his thruster to close in on her striker.

“Sh–.”

With not even time for her to scream, Kisei’s pile bunker roared and an iron stake was thrust into her striker. With a devastating sound of metal being crushed and bent, a large hole formed on the abdomen of the [Areos]. The Phase Transition Turbine broke down and hydraulic oil spewed out as Kisei retracted the iron stake.

“……I have my qualms with winning like this you know.”

After he saw Therese’s movement, he acknowledged that she has a considerable level of skill. If it’s a proper fight then even Kisei would need some time to take her down. However, winning like this still felt rather disappointing for him.”

“We can’t afford to waste our time with someone like her. Sorry, but you will have to give up your fun time. If it’s a one-on-one duel then I will be your opponent as many times as you want after the war is over. Be patient until then.”

Diaroze said while proudly sticking her chest up. As an enemy, Diaroze hated the idea of confronting Kisei directly but a mock battle is a different story. She knows that she stands no chance against him but if she can be crushed completely by his prowess then that’s exactly what she wants.

“S, Sure……”

If he has to be honest, his opponent just now was definitely tougher than Diaroze but naturally, he hesitated to say such a thing directly.

Ignoring the twitch in his facial muscles, Diaroze waves her hand dismissively.

“Anyway, securing the Empress is our top priority right now!”

“The Empress huh? Seriously, where is she now…….”

Even with Kisei’s supernatural sense, it’s still impossible for him to detect someone he has never met before. Right now, they have no choice but to search around the battlefield themselves.

“There’s been no report from our recon units about the [Odelcrois] so far. They would definitely not miss that gigantic monstrosity so it’s likely that the [Empress] is on a striker right now. Let’s look for her with that assumption.”

“Finding the Empress’s striker in a situation like this huh……..how unreasonable.”

Kisei could only smile wryly at the absurdly difficult task.