Chapter 115 ~ Advancement

Chapter 115 ~ Advancement

The advances made within the Research and Development department of the Black Knights have made a massive leap ever since Silver joined the Black Knights.

His shockingly impressive skill with programming had made all the software that run every single machine belonging to the Black Knights 200% more efficient, including all the knightmare frames. The delay between the input given by the pilot and the output done by the burais have decreased significantly, allowing much smoother movements and quick reaction towards any input given by the pilot.

He had also made changes and improvements to the machinery within the knightmare frames themselves and its weapons, making them more effective in battle and allowing even previously mediocre pilots to gain combat prowess equivalent to the knights of the Britannian Army.

And now, another surge of rapid improvements and advances occurred once more when Rakshata and her team became a part of the Black Knights after India made the decision to become a supporter of the Black Knights.

With more helping hands, resources, and the brilliant minds of a renowned genius and a genius with knowledge of technologies far more advanced than anything that had ever existed in this world, the technological advancement of the Black Knights have increased significantly by leaps and bounds.

And Karen was currently learning and getting used to the new features and upgrades Silver and Rakshata added to her Guren.

As one of the two most powerful knightmare frames within their ranks, the Guren had received plenty of upgrades, including an update on its software mainframe to increase its processing speed, upgrades on its physical parts to increase its strength, durability, speed, and reaction time, and last but not least, a significant upgrade to its main weapon.

The Right-Arm in-built Radiant Wave Unit was the first ever weapon created that employed the Radiant Wave technology. It was an extremely powerful weapon that dealt massive damage onto a knightmare frame upon contact by causing its parts to bulge, expand, and eventually, explode with the violent vibration it caused onto the liquid and minerals within its victims.

But of course, it was not without its flaws. For one, due to the dangerous chain reaction in the Radiant Wave Technology, the Radiant Wave Surger requires ammo to be used in an offensive manner. Without it, further usage of the weapon would potentially cause severe damage of the total destruction of the knightmare itself.

Secondly, and the most glaring weakness of the right arm in-built Radiant Wave Unit, and Guren as a whole, was its short range.

With range only slightly further than an arm’s length, the Guren struggled with handling enemies at range. Although this weakness hadn’t become a problem yet due to Guren’s speed and the battles being mostly short distance confrontations, the fact was that it still existed and needed to be remedied before it became a life-threatening weakness.

Thus, using Excalibur’s chest mounted beam weapon and the Luminous Shield technology as inspiration, Silver and Rakshata made a significant upgrade to the Guren’s Right-Arm in-built Radiant Wave Unit.

It was now capable of shooting the Radiant Wave Surger in the form of a straight beam or a widespread beam, allowing the Guren to deal with enemies at range and in large numbers.

It was now also capable of creating a shield known as the Radiant Wave Shielding, which was capable of naturally dissolving bullets and even stopping heavy weaponries such as the VARIS, giving the Guren defensive capabilities against long-ranged attacks. After all, although Karen had been doing her best to learn Mordred’s skill to cut ranged heavy projectiles such as the VARIS in half, she was still unable to do it reliably. Thus, having this would greatly improve her defenses and survivability in the battlefield.

Karen spent her time making sure she learned every single facet of Guren’s new features. And with the help of Mordred, she managed to get used to it very quickly while also enjoying every single second of it.

Though, towards the end of it, she finally realized how close they’ve been all this time, squeezed into the cockpit of the Guren which was meant for 1 person.

“H-Hey, you’re being too close...!”

Her face turned red upon realizing the distance, or the lack thereof, between herself and Mordred and glared at him “threateningly” to move away.

After all, she was sweating from head to toe after spending all these hours in the hangar with the Guren. And, she was also only wearing a tank top and short pants, since it was very hot!

What if she smelled bad? What if he smelled her sweat?! Although she tried to act like she didn’t care about appearances, she was, at heart, a young maiden who’s still bothered by such things, especially when she’s in front of her crush.

Mordred turned to her with an incredulous look. Or at least, that’s what Karen assumed his expression was since he was wearing a mask. She herself knew how ridiculous she was for telling him to get away from her.

“How am I supposed to move away...? This cockpit is meant for one person...”

“Kuh... J-Just hold your breath! Don’t breathe!”

“Are you asking me to die?!”

Mordred shook his head tiredly and let out a sigh.

“Alright, let’s call it here for the day... We’ve gone through most of the stuff anyway. Do you want to go get a drink?”

“...Sure.”

The two exited the cockpit of the Guren and stepped down the ladder to dismount from the knightmare. Then, they made their way to the command center vehicle, which was the only place within their temporary base with air conditioning.

The two entered and found it empty, surprisingly enough. Normally, Zero would’ve been here for a meeting with several higher up members of the black knights or going through his plans alone. And he was, or at least, Karen knew Zero was here the last time she saw him. But now, there was no one around, despite all the air conditions and machines still running. It was as if someone had just left the command center right before they entered.

“Oh? So you know this, but still asked me to help you~?”

His words struck her right in the heart with guilt perfectly. S-She didn’t really consider at the time that Mordred would also need time to get used to his own knightmare since the Excalibur also received quite a lot of upgrades. She just wanted his help and his presence there to boost her confidence and do her best to get used to her new Guren as quickly as possible.

Only after they were done did she remember, and guilt began to creep up in her heart.

Yuuji saw her guilt-ridden expression and decided to stop teasing her.

“I was kidding. You don’t need to feel guilty.”

“Eh?”

Karen looked at him in shock.

“I’ve already gotten used to it since I’ve also been working closely with Silver during its development. So, I’ll just need a bit of time, maybe an hour or two, and I’ll be fine.”

“...Really?”

Yuuji nodded and patted her on the shoulders.

“Really. Also, I enjoyed the time we spent together. It’s more fun doing that kind of thing with someone else instead of being on your own.”

“Nn...”

Karen fell silent for a moment, before a look of determination, and a blush, appeared on her face.

“T-Then, I’ll return the favor and accompany you too!”

Her heart beated rapidly as she looked at the man before her nervously. She was extremely embarrassed for even saying those words... After all, she was essentially asking him to spend some time together again! And for a moment, she regretted saying it since she was afraid he’d reject her offer.

But before such negative thoughts took root in her heart, she heard his answer.

“Sure. I’d love to. Thank you. ”

Her expression immediately brightened up, and no matter how much she was trying to hide her smile, subtlety was never her strong suit. Her beautiful, bright smile of happiness that rarely appeared even before the people closest to her, was on full display for the man that had stolen her heart.

“Y-You’re welcome.”

Yuuji felt his heart melt when he saw Karen, the usually tsundere and fierce girl, being so cute.

He just wanted to pull her into his embrace. But just then, Karen’s handheld transceiver blared with a familiar voice.

“Karen! Come to the second warehouse now! And bring Mordred if he’s with you! There’s something big happening!”

The voice belonged to Ohgi, and Karen and Yuuji immediately went into high alert.

She picked up the transceiver hurriedly and pressed a button to respond.

“Alright! We’ll be right there!”

She placed the transceiver into her pocket, and the both of them stood up immediately.

“Let’s go!”

“Yes!”

Yuuji quickly made his way to the second warehouse. And he couldn't help but get the feeling that the next arc would be starting soon.