15 Trust

It felt like a long time since he’d taken a direct hit properly.

……Mainframe is yellow. Spine’s bad.

The damage from that strike—small frame though it was—was unbelievable.

Had he not had the additional armor from the orbit package on his chest.

He might have been crushed completely, cockpit and all.

He exhales in relief after confirming the special equipment on his back is intact.

Even if only for a moment, he lost consciousness—still, a significant lapse, Jin chastises himself.

Fast……!

Don’t shoot recklessly! We’ll hit each other!

Golden repeats the same simple motion—dodging and striking without pause.

Hit and run.

Mobility that never stays in one place for even a moment, and a frame only half the size of an assault frame.

An ASID of such a configuration. It had been registered in the database, yes.

There should have been something resembling this shape, encountered long ago on the home planet—but whether it was related remained unclear.

One thing was certain: it was a formidable opponent.

Hitting it with ranged ordnance would be impossible.

Golden moved through the gaps between the Ravens, always positioning herself in front of another unit’s frame.

It might be possible if fratricide were acceptable—but such a decision could not be made.

“Form shields! We’ll finish it in close combat!”

Even so, the risk of fratricide remained—but it was preferable to using rifles.

All units raised their Phalanx Packages as shields and launched thrusts powered by Ether Lance.

The Ether Shields, synchronized and boosted in output, formed a surface meant to be impenetrable.

The force of ten Ravens being struck full-on at maximum power pushed them back five meters.

What kind of movement is this? That thing.

He has no extensive experience fighting opponents of similar size—only about half his own.

Thus, his offense and coordination must have flaws.

It exploits those flaws with precision.

Once, Jin had defeated the Black Knights by leveraging their combat experience.

Now, the situation is reversed.

Unbelievable. The accumulated combat experience displayed in that golden form.

It is broader, deeper, than Jin’s own.

The way it handles such attacks—almost as if it has deflected them countless times before.

Skill is superior.

Raw specs—perhaps equal to, or even exceeding, the Black Knight’s.

That mismatched fist.

The distortion around it is not an optical illusion.

Space itself is warped.

Spatial interference weaponry.

The weight of a mere fist being that great was now understandable.

A formidable opponent.

This was always the final destination.

Jin had no intention of holding back any longer.

"Code Triple Six. Unlock all ether reactor limiters. Redirect ether output to thrusters. Coating strength at minimum."

Entering defense would mean being eliminated.

That single unit possessed the force to annihilate them entirely.

Jin felt it instinctively and severed all additional armor.

The Phalanx Package was now nothing but obstruction.

He retained only the minimal Astral Package, discarding all defense.

Cruising speed in space—four kilometers per second.

Achieving maximum acceleration in an instant, he leapt before the Golden.

Ether daggers gripped in both hands.

He swung them alternately, but the opponent easily evaded.

To avoid being left behind, he immediately closed the gap.

Eightfold weight disparity forced into output, compensated by brute force.

The scream of the whirling机体, covered by ether coating, forced into silence.

Through relentless close-quarters combat, Jin succeeds in subduing the opponent.

"Captain!"

"You two, handle the disc-type!"

The corridor Jin and the others penetrate.

Other corridors exist as well.

From every direction, the disc-type units—previously fought extensively—pour in like an avalanche.

Division of labor.

Only Jin can suppress this Golden.

He cannot simultaneously engage multiple disc-types.

Thus, the others must hold back the disc-types.

"Processor units detected. Total: six! All processors located!"

A single piece of good news.

Jin thinks: all that remains is to destroy them.

Destroy them? The Golden right in front of him?

(…Can it be done?)

Still, no attack has landed on the opponent.

Even after mere minutes of defense, Jin’s breath is labored.

He has avoided every incoming strike—but how long can this continue?

No, that is secondary. The reactor limiter has already been disabled.

It came at the cost of operational time.

Now, more than ever, the reactor is drawing maximum output for mobility and frame reinforcement.

The limit is approaching quickly.

The vibration beneath the seat ceases.

There is no mistaking it—the reactor has reached its end.

Once the remaining ether in the frame is exhausted, movement will cease.

Normally.

“Reactor reload!”

Jin inputs the taught command, praying the system responds.

The reactor in the abdomen is ejected.

The disc on the back rotates—like the cylinder of a revolver.

A new cylinder is slid into the space where the reactor was housed.

Immediately, a reliable vibration returns.

The ether supply resumes.

Without waiting for confirmation, Jin again releases the reactor’s limiter.

This is the new device, conceived in a drunken moment by Jin, meticulously designed by Sharon.

A reactor loading function, intended to support the strategy of exhausting Jin’s reactor.

The reactor output increase via Code Triple Six proves effective against strong opponents.

Yet the stronger the opponent, the more intensely the reactor is strained, and the shorter its operational duration becomes—proportionally.

A contradiction: longer operation times are needed against stronger foes, yet the reactor degrades faster.

One solution to this is this system.

If a replacement can be prepared promptly.

Six reactors are exchangeable within this system.

Including the original reactor mounted on the frame, that makes seven.

Seven times the normal operational duration becomes available.

Operational costs are also seven times the usual.

A resource-hungry indulgence, usable only in such a decisive confrontation—but precisely because of that, Jin remains able to continue fighting.

(Used another one already!)

The rate of consumption exceeds expectations.

At this pace, even seven times the normal duration will be exhausted soon.

And yet, no solution presents itself.

Thus, facing one another in direct confrontation, certainty settles in.

The opponent’s skill level surpasses his own.

Every slash from Jin is effortlessly deflected by a single arm.

No opening appears to exploit.

No sign of hesitation, even against the deceptive feints that, in a humanoid form, would be laughably predictable.

The difference in tactical refinement is undeniable.

If anything, Jin feels the one being ensnared.

Though the Black Knight seems unable to see a second ahead, still—

Jin barely maintains balance, relying solely on predictive calculation to sustain this precarious standoff.

One conclusion closes in on Jin.

(——Cannot win!)

No chance of victory in a one-on-one confrontation.

That certainty is new to Jin.

A strange sense of realization emerges—this is what defeat feels like.

Not so weak as to be paralyzed by such a shock, but unease remains.

A breakthrough must be found before time runs out.

But how?

Even if numbers increase, he will only be manipulated again.

An opponent of comparable skill, capable of coordination—such a convenient ally does not exist.

Aether bullets streak across the back of Jin’s Raven’s neck.

A glancing shot, grazing the surface of the armor from behind.

He did not notice.

He did not sense the sniper until the projectile passed.

The same was likely true for the opponent.

Golden barely blocked the incoming strike, arms crossed in defensive formation.

That was the block. No room for evasion. Hit.

Who could it be? A marksman who managed to strike Golden—already difficult to hit at such close range and high speed—under these conditions.

Before the question could resolve, another shock.

Golden evaded Jin’s slash.

As if targeting that exact evasion point, a new slash descended.

The opponent’s left arm severed.

Ether convergence.

Jin understood: the hyper-thin, sharpened ether dagger had pierced through the defense, pushed to its extreme.

The same technique.

He would not mistake a skill he had taught.

‘This one’s dangerous. Never seen an instructor use this old trick before.’

‘You’ll fall fast if you get cocky, Kou. Watch yourself.’

Never before had he felt such relief at the sight of friendly reinforcements on the battlefield.

The Third Fleet has several aces, but no one else shares this moment of quiet camaraderie, shoulder to shoulder, with such unspoken ease.

‘Good to have you here. Lieutenant Sasamori. Lieutenant Nastin. This one’s a hard one. Help me out.’

‘Of course!’

‘Yeah, leave it to us.’