26 Recovery Battle
Closing the distance.
How will the opponent act?
That determines Jin's response.
Delaying Jin is pointless now that their retreat route is cut.
To escape, they must forge a new path.
The Black Knight at the center howled toward the sky.
A metallic cry.
The sound of ASID—unheard in the vacuum it normally inhabits.
Was that a signal?
All of them moved simultaneously.
Two surrounded Jin; the Black Knight moved alone, increasing distance.
This was Jin's worst scenario.
The Black Knight, a Queen-class unit, could likely break through the convoy’s barrier alone.
If they create an exit while buying time, Jin loses.
"Always taking the most irritating actions..."
He raises the ether dagger, tongue clicking in irritation.
The enemy has not yet seen the deception of range.
The initial strike should have been effective.
A fine, flickering blade.
The blow meant to sever the enemy's head was, however, unexpectedly blocked.
An odd resistance.
The sensation fed back into the frame was unlike anything Jin had experienced before.
What had been done to him.
Jin is confused, unable to understand.
The sudden flash of darkness swung through the air, leaving Jin with nothing but an incomprehensible sensation—no damage inflicted upon the opponent.
What is it? What are you doing?
Processing thoughts.
The moment thought ceases is the moment of defeat.
Simultaneously maneuver the unit.
Two units neutralize each other's slashing attacks.
...No, surely not. Etherfield?
Two major defensive armaments utilizing ether.
Jin recalls another presence, alongside the ether coating.
The reason it hadn’t occurred to Jin earlier was because the Etherfield had a clear weakness.
The amount of ether consumed was vastly greater than that of the ether coating.
Thus, only a ship-class ether reactor could carry it within human weaponry.
And even with human equipment, it required roughly ten times the output of a Leopard-class unit to deploy an Etherfield at sufficient strength.
Jin speculated the enemy’s Etherfield might be more efficiently operated.
“Ah… so this is what it feels like to cut through one.”
He murmured to himself, committing it to memory.
He had no prior experience slicing through an Etherfield during his fight with the worm-type ASID.
It felt like a rare opportunity to learn.
And once understood, countermeasures would be straightforward.
The Etherfield offered greater resistance to ether-based attacks than the ether coating.
Not to block— but to deflect.
The enemy’s attack is deflected by the ether flow, stretched taut like a membrane.
Conversely, it is entirely ineffective against attacks not based on ether.
The ether dagger’s blade vanishes.
Not only that— the thin ether coating covering the机体’s surface is erased as well.
Even if it were not, it would not stop the enemy’s assault.
There remains a risk of damage from debris or structural fragments, but acceptance of that risk is necessary to defeat the opponent before one.
Closing the distance with a机体 that does not cloak in ether.
Assessing the opponent’s membrane.
The sensation of having cut through it several times before.
The pull-like motion caused by the slash being deflected.
From that experience, estimating the membrane’s size.
Breaking through it.
Etherfield’s second weakness.
Once penetrated from within, the membrane renders the机体 completely inert.
The human-sized ASID deploying an Etherfield of identical scale to the Acid Frame surprised him, but once the type was identified, fear vanished.
An Etherdagger adjusted to the length of a short blade, as the name implies, designed for close-combat engagements.
He thrust the blade straight forward, held low at the hip.
Pierced through armor, drove into the abdomen.
Destroyed the human-sized ASID’s Etherreactor in a single strike, disengaged.
The humanoid, deprived of power, exploded, scattering Ether in all directions.
"Seven!"
The flash faded, vision returned.
The remaining unit had already lost sight of Leopard.
He threw the unexpanded Etherdagger at its back.
At the point where the Etherfield membrane was breached, Jin remotely unfolded the blade.
Pierced through the area corresponding to the human cervical vertebrae, the final unit ceased movement.
"Eight units."
The original combat ratio was three to one.
The current battlefield sees the new model Raven, three units operating in concert, barely holding their own against a single humanoid ASID.
If aiming for a stable win rate, one would desire four or five units.
Jin’s skill, piloting the outdated Leopard and downing ten humanoid units, was beyond normal limits.
Even so, no clear path to victory remained in the surviving unit.
The Black Knight—now the final one remaining.
Queen-class humanoid ASID.
The slow turn of her gaze catches Jin's eye.
(…anger?)
There was no way to read ASID's expression.
Whether emotions exist within them is uncertain.
Perhaps it's just in my head.
Only the anger over having just seen nine companions shot down.
It seemed to Jin that he saw it.
(Mio is protected on the palm of a hand... but even a graze from ether would evaporate a human)
That one must be avoided at all costs.
One cannot expect the opponent to protect themselves.
Still, a close-quarters kill must be achieved.
To avoid involving Mio, aiming for the head is the only option.
……Can it be done? Against that one.
Undoubtedly, the strongest ASID encountered so far.
Whether this plan will succeed remains uncertain.
A harsh rebuke to the self wavering toward doubt.
If one cannot believe in oneself, nothing becomes possible.
Even if it means striking the wrong target, Mio must be saved.
"CP here! Jake Fleet Two! Fourth-years have safely evacuated the combat zone! Status on your end?"
That transmission.
For a fleeting moment, awareness shifted toward it—rare good news in a long while.
Of course, Leopard is a weapon.
Unlike the mechanical lifeforms known as ASID, the pilot and machine are clearly distinct.
Thus, no one outside the cockpit could know that Jin had briefly lost consciousness from the Black Knight.
Yet the Black Knight had exploited that opening.
Coincidence? Or not?
No one could say.
Only that, timing-wise, it was the worst possible moment for Jin.
The blade of the Ether Dagger, raised in defense, vanished instantly against the arc of the opponent’s Long Sword.
Suppressing the urge to shout in disbelief, Jin thrust the机体 backward.
The tip of the Queen-class’s Long Sword carved through chest to abdomen.
Fortunately, the strike had stopped at penetrating the armor.
A faint cough escaped Jin as the scent of burnt air filled the cockpit.
"...Jin?"
Exposure of the cockpit revealed the pilot of the nearby机体.
Mio, surrounded by the Queen-class, seemed to notice as well.
Jin exhaled in relief at the sight of Mio peering out from between his fingers.
"Are you alright, Mio?"
"Uh? I'm fine."
She showed no sign of urgency despite being held captive. Yet, upon closer inspection, she appeared unharmed.
That was the best news Jin could have hoped for.
"Wait there. I'll get you out shortly."
"I don't really get it, but okay. I'll wait."
Mio's quiet compliance on Leo's palm suggested she might be more than just a pawn.
Leopard's armor consisted of nanoskin—self-repairing nanomachines.
Minor damage would be compensated by material drawn from other sections.
Through the narrowing gap, Jin fixed his gaze on the Black Knight.
(……?)
It seemed to have a weakness.
No—his focus was clearly directed at Mio in the palm.
As if struggling to pull her back.
Possibility. This might be a chance.
Yet it was also dangerous.
If he attacked recklessly, and Mio, already unstable, fell, he could not save her.
It was frustrating—but he must wait until the Black Knight securely held Mio.
However—
(Why did he take Mio?)
The question, which had surfaced earlier, resurfaces now.
The way he handles her suggests she is being treated with care.
According to military database records—only available data—this occurred during a conflict on the distant homeworld.
Human beings had once been taken by ASID.
The captured humans had been kept alive solely for reproduction, used as sources of new ASID infestation.
Jin stares at his opponent, unwilling to accept that Mio might be destined for the same fate.
He would never allow it.
Timing.
Decapitation. Limb severance.
One motion, two actions.
When the enemy secures Mio firmly—
Perceive one second ahead.
The moment Jin confirmed the illusion had secured Mio, his leopard surged forward.