4
I led the black Armunale through the woods, guiding it smoothly toward the valley. If I could’ve just shoved it straight down, I would’ve—but judging by how slick the other pilot is, that’s not gonna happen. Guess we’re going to end up fighting it out, Armunale against Armunale.
“Hey, you gonna give up already?”
“Give up? You’re the one who should quit.”
“Command’s orders. Can’t disobey, you know.”
“Then why the hell are you even riding that thing?”
I could’ve threatened him into submission while he was up in that Armunale—his whole squad too, all mine. But honestly, the real surprise is that the captain’s not even in one. I mean, really? That much faith in me? Or is it just that the captain’s a terrible pilot? Either way, I’ll admit—this guy’s good. Real good.
"Supplies, maintenance—leave all that to the crew. Betray me, and you’re done for. But if you don’t, I’ll give you a hell of a fight. No reason to turn on me, right?"
"Fighter fanatic!"
"Love that line. From now on, that’s my name. Ferzé, the fighter fanatic—take care of me 'til the end."
"Me? I don’t do introductions."
"Know that already. Eld-kun!"
Ice spears rise around Armunale—dozens of them, each one a monstrous five meters long. Even a glancing hit would turn flesh to pulp in an instant.
Well, it’s magic built for Armunale, so of course it’s brutal.
"Go!"
"Damn it!"
Zudon! Zudon! Ice spears rained down into the woods, snapping ancient trees like twigs. One massive trunk came crashing straight toward me, blocking the path.
I leapt skyward to dodge.
“Finally got you in sight!”
Armunale reached for me. If I stayed put, I’d be caught—but I wasn’t about to go down that easy.
“Air Block, Quintiblue Setup. Go!”
Blocks formed beneath my feet, then floated into the air. I used them as stepping stones, skittering away from Armunale’s grasp with the Aero Slasher.
To him, I must’ve looked like I was running on air.
The man named Feltze let out a sharp breath.
“Amazing! Seriously, amazing! I’ve never seen anyone dodge like this before!”
“Would you expect anything less when you’re running for your life? You don’t get this far by half-measures!”
“Haha, so keep running a bit more, huh!”
“Sorry, but hide-and-seek’s over!”
Finally made it.
I’m falling through the air, twisting my body, glaring at the black Armunale, and declaring it.
“This is where the real fight begins!”
“Ah… I see.”
Feltz suddenly froze, something dawning on her, stopping the Armunale’s foot.
I kept falling—straight down into the valley.
Adjusted my descent with Active Wing, aiming for the machine I’d finally gotten to stand yesterday.
Mid-fall, I used a pinpoint cyclone to slow myself, then jumped straight into the cockpit.
“Sorry for the sudden real battle—but hang in there.”
Closed the cockpit hatch, flipped the fuel valve, pressed the start button.
All gauges normal—fuel at ten percent. Monitor’s got a few dead spots, but since they’re on the edges, like the shoulder and toes, it won’t matter much in combat.
Would’ve loved all joints green, but nope—everything’s yellow. Monitor’s Armunale showing full-body stability in bright, solid yellow—though!
“Armunale, activate!”
Stomp the pedal, rev the generator, press the start button home.
Armunale wakes up, joints creaking as it bends its legs wide, groaning like it’s been asleep for years.
“Let’s go!”
Channel all my strength into the bent leg, launch myself skyward with everything I’ve got. Just a jump. But with Armunale’s height, that’s enough to grab the cliff’s edge.
Grab the rock with my right hand, hook my foot, push off again.
The cliff crumbled apart, shoving my machine higher still.
Sky. That’s all I saw—no more of the usual cliffs, not on either side of the screen.
Below, spread out before me: a vast forest. And black Armunale, watching from beneath the machine.
I kept falling, aiming straight for it, then kicked out.
The black one sidestepped—backpedaled like a pro.
“Finally, I can fight!”
“Is that your machine? The one the captain’s been hunting after all this time?”
“I rebuilt it from scratch! You think I’d hand it over to scum like you?”
“Then I’ll take it by killing you.”
The black one lunged with a sword—aimed straight at the cockpit. I barely—
“Didn’t we say *capture* alive?!”
“Once we’ve got the machine, the captain’ll cut us some slack.”
I dodged the thrust, stepped in close, closed the gap.
No weapons on this machine? Then we take one.
Reaching for the spare sword mounted at the opponent’s hip—my hand slices through empty air.
“Oops, dangerous. Not letting you have that.”
“Tch. Knew it, huh?”
“Magic on the machine doesn’t seem to go that deep. Better finish this quick.”
“Like hell I will.”
They’ve got two swords. I’ve got one bare hand. In a game, I’d call that impossible and just give up. But this isn’t a game. No, if I don’t find a way through, this whole thing’s over. Game over.
Too damn intense, isn’t it?
Dodging the sword aimed straight for the cockpit, I think—what’s the way through?
First things first—pin down their sword, hit the machine hard enough to force a retreat. We’ve been putting on quite the show, haven’t we? Anyone down in the village’s gotta be watching. Once we push them back, that’s it. No second chances.
If there’s a second time, it’ll be full war with the army and those black bastards. They wouldn’t be that stupid, though.
“Guh…”
The blade glances off my right arm—armor peels away like old bark. The machine won’t do what I want. Not just because it’s my first time piloting—those joints are creaking like a broken gate.
A little lag’s building up in the controls.
“Tough going, isn’t it?”
“Emergency repairs, remember?”
“Just give up already.”
“No way.”
“Stubborn. I’d rather end this stupid fight quick, you know?”
I dodged the thrust, but another blade was already closing in.
Too late to dodge.
I gave up on avoiding it entirely and dropped low, just enough to keep my head from being split clean off. The top section and the movable monitor went straight to hell.
"Come on, isn’t there *something*?!"
Thanks to the old man’s rambling about the village’s past, I knew this machine was from the time of the north-south war. If it was built for fighting, it should’ve got at least a few attack spells written into its guts, right?!
"If you don’t wanna sleep again, show some spine!"
As I heaved the machine back upright, I charged straight at the black one and slammed it with a shoulder tackle.
No way it’s dodging *that* after swinging both arms right in front of it.
We crashed through the trees together, limbs snapping, two Armunale bodies tumbling into the woods.
"Ow, damn it!"
"Try telling that to *me*!"
The seatbelt’s leather’s rotted through—no way to hold myself in. Fell like that, face slammed straight into the monitor. Probably bleeding from the nose, but who cares about that now.
Got in a last-ditch tackle, managed to pin him down. Can’t let this chance slip.
Reaching out with my right hand, I grab his head and yank hard.
A sickening *giggle-grind*—the tube connecting his head snaps clean off, torn past its breaking point.
Now the camera’s a dead weight, just like him.
Before I can even think it through, a jolt from the left knocks my machine sideways.
"Aww, gonna get chewed out by the captain, aren’t I?"
It was the punch from the black one—dumped his sword, but still packs a wallop.
No left arm to block with. Can’t guard like I used to. But you can’t cry over missing parts. If it’s gone, you fight differently. That’s all there is.
I kicked the black bastard’s leg out from under him as he lunged down with his left sword.
He regained his footing, but that gave me time to rise too.
The sword he’d held in his right hand had fallen where I’d tackled him—knocked loose by the impact. No need to worry about it springing into use all of a sudden.
“Time to get serious. If you survive, I’ll praise you.”
“What?”
As he raised his sword, flames crackled along the blade. Ice spears—just like before—appeared around the machine.
So this is what serious means!
I closed the distance in an instant. Those ice spears were straight-line, no lock-on—just aim and go. So long as I kept my eyes on the tip, I could dodge. All I had to do was pin that sword down.
As expected, the ice spear shot past the machine’s side and plunged into the ground behind it.
I fixed my eyes on the rising blade, read its arc clean, and lunged forward.
The machine’s arm slammed down like a stopper, pinning the opponent’s wrist. But that wasn’t enough. Their right hand was still free.
Just as I figured, the right hand swung in, aiming a punch at the cockpit. I kicked it aside with a knee.
My machine leaned sideways from the imbalance, but I held on tight with the opponent’s left arm, bracing the weight. The opponent dug in to avoid being pulled down, so the follow-up was slow.
The arm I’d kicked back came down again—but weakly. The armor didn’t break.
A dull thud rang through the frame. That was all.
“You fight in such a fun way! Nothing like those clowns shooting spells back and forth!”
“Aw, thanks! Can’t use magic myself, you see!”
Armunale’s magic worked one of two ways: some fired with just a button press, others needed the right sequence.
Simple stuff—like sound collection or microphones—was safe no matter how you triggered it, just a tap and done. But things like wrapping flames around a blade, or conjuring ice spears around the frame? Those could damage your own machine, depending on how you used them.
So, to stay safe, they were restricted.
Right now, in close quarters like this? No ice spears. With an arm pinned down, the enemy’s stuck to physical moves—no fancy tricks.
And magic meant for people? Too weak for this.
I adjust the machine’s balance, shift my right hand outward, and let go—slipping clear of the enemy’s downward swing. At the same time, I shove my free hand into the gap in their chest armor.
“What are you—!?”
“Take this off, and you’re wide open, aren’t you!?”
“Not happening!”
They toss their sword and grab my machine’s shoulders with both hands.
Now it’s just brute strength—no fancy moves. And I’m the one missing an arm. I know that.
But that’s the point.
They yank my machine hard—black pulling, pulling, pulling. I use that force, lean back with all my weight, and send the machine toppling backward.
No need for balance control. Just falling—back-first, like a tree. But that’s exactly when you can put everything into it. All my weight presses down through the hand jammed into the armor’s gap.
And that’s when the effect kicks in.
“Wha—!?”
“Operation successful.”
Armor’s strong against impacts from outside—because it’s fastened from the outside, that’s how it holds. But from the inside? Surprisingly weak. Same with my machine. I already knew that, given how the basic design diagram for Armunale, straight from the textbook, was almost identical to my own. The way the armor’s mounted? No real difference.
The black piece hooked onto my finger—its armor couldn’t take the weight of an entire Armunale. It snapped clean off. The shock rattled my machine’s fingers, three of them gone. Can’t be helped.
Now the exposed inner frame’s revealed—sphere-shaped cockpit, generator, all laid bare.
“Should let regular magic through, then.”
Armunale’s armor deflects magic. But just one layer down? A flimsy iron plate, barely a centimeter thick. And beyond that—monitors lined up like teeth.
No weapons on my frame. So if I can’t get through, I’ll just rip their armor off and get through myself.
“Pilot seat’s exposed, generator’s bare. Fight like this?”
“Ah, man. Gonna get chewed out by the captain…”
“Guess it’d be better than nothing.”
“Yeah, I suppose. But I’m taking my armor back first. Without it, I’ll be in real trouble.”
Black takes advantage of the distance, launching ice spears and pulling even farther away.
Can’t really fight as Armunale—might as well say I’m useless in battle. But if I land even one hit on their generator, their whole machine’s done for. They’re smart enough to avoid that risk, though.
Once I’m sure I’ve put enough distance between us, I move to where the armor’s fallen and pick it up. Then I start gathering swords, broken heads—one after another.
“Meh, that’ll do.”
“Then get out of here already.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m going.”
I back away slowly, inching toward the village. But I don’t take my eyes off their machine.
The village’s getting close now, so I zoom in on my monitor and scan the scene inside. There, Ange’s fighting the captain and a few others.
“Ange, what the hell are you doing!?”
“Eld, is it over already!?”
“Ferzé, what’s that machine? And what’s your status?”
“Sorry, Captain. I’m down. Fighting on any longer’s not a good idea.”
She says it, then points with her machine’s hand at her own belly—carefully, neatly.
The captain was stunned, even through the monitor—right there in the exposed generator inside the peeling armor.
“Captain, I recommend withdrawal.”
“Can’t help it. Anyone still awake, pull back. If someone’s asleep, grab ‘em if you can! They’re not gonna chase us, anyway!”
At the captain’s command, the armored men all began pulling back at once—trained thieves, so it was a clean exit.
Left nothing behind that could be theirs. If a comrade looked hopeless, they took only the sword and helmet, then headed home.
“Don’t go after Ange.”
“I know. That’s not the point—Eld’s in worse shape! He’s bleeding from the nose!”
Ange climbed up the flare booster to the cockpit. She opened the hatch. Once inside, she gasped at seeing me.
Well, I was running through the woods at full tilt, rolling over the ground and all that.
Clothes are torn to shreds—got cuts all over.
Huffing out a big breath, I slump back into the seat. Honestly, I’m wound tight and exhausted. Just wanna go home and sleep.
“Just scrapes. They’ll heal in no time.”
“Yeah, but… don’t scare me like that again.”
“Sorry. Though, if you’re gonna say that, why’d you go and fight like that, Ange? I told you to stay put at the village chief’s place.”
“B-because…”
Ange puffed out her cheeks and turned away, stubborn as ever.
I reached over and poked her cheek—let the air out.
“Alright, I won’t be mean anymore…”
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
I tilted my head, watching her freeze up.
“Eld-kun, your eyes are open.”
“No, if you’re awake, your eyes just stay open.”
“No, I mean—really open. Wide awake, like someone just snapped them open!”
“Wait, seriously?”
I touched my face—my eyelids were definitely wide open.
This is—
"Maybe it’s just the thrill of piloting the Armunale."
After all, it was my first full-power start-up, and real combat to boot. Now that I think about it, a bit of fear’s creeping up, but back then I was completely wound up. Might not be able to talk about Feltz at all.
"Still, it’ll probably go back to normal after a day."
"No way! You should keep it like this! Way cooler!"
"Really? It’s just my old man’s gaze, you know?"
"Nah, Eld-kun’s eyes feel really gentle to me."
"Guess I can’t do much about that."
I kind of thought it’d fade if I just slept on it. But honestly, I don’t know what to do about it.
"Eld-chan! Ange-chan!"
"Eld! Ange!"
"Both of you!"
Just as my eyes and Ange were going back and forth, a voice called out from far away—calling us.
Looked over, and there they come—my dad and the others, sprinting this way. Seems they were watching from the house as those guys cleared out.
And that means...
Eld, get down here and sit right there!
Ange’s in the same spot too!
Goodness, I’m glad both of you are safe.
My father, with a sword glare sharp enough to kill, demanding I kneel—Ange’s mother, face twisted like a demon, making Ange kneel—village chief sobbing uncontrollably, and my mother, and a whole crowd of others, all weeping.
I’m beat, so I just wanna go home and sleep… yeah, well, I reckon I won’t be resting anytime soon.
A broken Armunale and a group moving through the woods.
Their steps were heavy, the air thick with gloom. Only Felt, tucked in the pilot’s seat, wore a grin, bright and cheerful as ever.
The captain, come to hear the whole story, twisted his face when he saw it.
Funny how you’re having such a good time, even though it’s a mess.
This mission’s reward? Zero, and then some. Not to mention the cost of this Armunale damage. Concentrated mana fluid—Hyimagia Liquid—is already absurdly expensive. Just keeping one unit running costs a fortune. Fill the fuel tank to the brim, and you could buy enough food to feed Eld’s whole village for a year.
This mission’s a total loss. A proper, no-turning-back loss.
Ferzé kept grinning, even under the captain’s icy stare.
“Yeah… didn’t expect to have this much fun.”
“Didn’t think you’d get that thoroughly trounced. Was the other machine really that good?”
Felts got the machine because she was head and shoulders above the rest when it came to piloting. I’d seen that for myself in every Armunale battle we’d fought. So the idea that she’d be taken down—well, I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
“Honestly, the machine’s a real bottom-of-the-barrel mess.”
Her left arm was gone, severed at the shoulder—magic that wouldn’t spark. Every joint looked like it was falling apart. The controls lagged, like the signals were getting lost somewhere in the wires.
If the opponent had just been some regular pilot, trained the usual way in Armunale handling, they’d have taken that thing clean, without so much as a scratch.
But they didn’t. Not because they couldn’t. Because of Eld’s piloting.
"Was it Eld, you said? He knew how to fight with the Armunale. Like a veteran knight who’s survived a hundred battles—really, truly using the Armunale to its full. That kind of fight."
"Got taken by that?"
"Didn’t think I lost. If we’d kept going, I reckon we’d’ve won. Sure, we’d’ve damaged the generator a bit, I suppose."
"Calling that a win? No."
"To me, surviving the fight is winning. That way, you can fight again."
Ferze’s smile flickered—like remembering the last battle—and slowly melted into something dreamy, distant.
"The Armunale’s a machine. So you can’t treat it like a person. Even if its arm’s cut off, it’ll still fight. Even if a finger’s broken, it’ll stay calm."
Eld went for the head—just like he’d known he couldn’t avoid it—and took the hit full on, turning the worst into the least.
That wasn’t just ordinary.
“Where to sacrifice. How much damage to take and still keep fighting. Only when you’re thinking that way does Armunale truly show its strength.”
“Even that brat could do it?”
“Could do it? That’s not even the word for it.”
Even through the monitor, the thought of letting a blade cut right into your face—madness. Even Eld himself couldn’t say for sure if he’d have reacted the same way. In that one instant, he knew, without a doubt, he’d be beneath Eld.
And that’s why he couldn’t stop laughing.
“He’ll definitely become a knight, that one.”
Knight—only given to those who ride Armunale and their squads.
"Captain."
"What?"
"Let’s leave Fatal and head to the Overd Empire. This debt’s gotten a bit too big. If we join the Empire’s direct mercenary corps, we can at least cover the repair costs."
"Hmm…"
That’s exactly what the captain had been thinking. This country—Overd Empire, right next to Fatal Kingdom. Always eyeing Fatal’s land, always skirmishing. And to keep their forces strong, they had a special system: taking in mercenaries as full-fledged troops, without breaking their mercenary status.
If we bring Armunale to the Overd Empire, we’ll be welcomed with special treatment—repairs, fuel, all taken care of.
It doesn’t break the Du Librep rules.
But it does mean we’ll have to fight for the Empire now.
After a brief pause, the captain made up his mind.
"Alright, let's accept Feltze's proposal."
"Got it."
"But next time, you win. Lose, and I'm tossing you out of the machine."
"Leave it to me. Oh, I'm already looking forward to it. I'll kill you for sure, Eld-kun!"
Captain sighed, watching Feltze beam with a grin, then stepped down from the Armunale.