4

I tighten my guard as Fortze’s machine suddenly starts belching white smoke.

“Watch it. When that white smoke rises, things go strange. Even the squad leader and Captain Jahn got caught by it.”

Looking at Fortze’s machine coughing out smoke, Captain Remi calls out a warning. Well, that’s obvious enough to see. From my talk with Rayla, it’s clear this is Fortze’s machine’s hidden trick.

I stare hard at Fortze’s machine, trying to figure out what that smoke really is.

Fortze did register a few ice-element spells onto his machine, right? So this must be fog?

But the fog’s too thin to make a proper smoke screen. And it doesn’t feel like a move that’d cause the kind of erratic behavior we’re seeing. So there’s gotta be something else going on.

I’d have liked to watch a bit more closely, but Layra wouldn’t let me.

Coming at me straight with one arm gone—her motion was a whole lot faster than before. This is—

“Full manual?”

“Can’t be the only one who’s got the skill, now, can it?”

Makes sense, losing an arm like that. I keep an eye on Forze’s movements while parrying Layra’s strikes. Then, the Forze unit moved.

It crouched lower, leaning forward so much it looked like it was about to walk on all fours. And then—whole body surging forward—it shot ahead in a single burst.

Faster than full manual. A speed beyond what I’d seen before.

Still low to the ground, the Forze unit closes in on Lieutenant Remy’s machine. Remy’s Grondia Army is built for mid-range magical combat—so getting this close, it can’t really bring its strength to bear.

Of course, Remy backs up. Edgar’s unit steps forward to cover him.

Edgar’s machine’s clear—built for close combat, its main weapon a rapier. Fast, precise, aiming straight for the cockpit. But against this Forze, it might be a bit too much.

Need to jump in early.

That means—

“Rayla, finish this quick.”

“Sorry, sweetie. I’ve no intention of fighting fair.”

Rayla’s machine suddenly spins around—then charges straight at Edgar’s unit, just like the Forze did.

“What?!”

“Tch. Cold-hearted.”

Edgar’s captain spots Rayla rushing in from the side and dodges the attack. He counters with a lunge of his rapier—then Rayla slips past it like smoke.

From above Rayla’s machine, the Forze leaps out.

“Got you both!”

Seeing the two machines together, Lemy takes the opening and unleashes flames from both arms.

The Forze uses Rayla’s shoulder as a spring, leaping higher to dodge the blast. Rayla, meanwhile, throws up her magic shield—fully open—and takes the fire head-on from both sides.

Even with the shield fully activated, it doesn’t nullify all magic.

Flames that breach the shield scorch the machine’s surface, searing hot—paint peeling away, melting into nothing.

Meanwhile, the Forze machine swings its arm down from above toward the Edgar unit—there’s a massive claw growing from it. That’s some kind of weapon close to the Remi unit, isn’t it?

“If I just knew the spot…”

Edgar’s captain raises his rapier toward the Forze machine overhead, as if preparing to counter the claw.

“Edgar captain, get back!”

But I shout at Edgar captain without thinking, already charging forward, eyes locked on the Rayla unit bursting from the flames.

The Rayla unit’s already battered beyond recognition. Still, the blade extending from its arm stays sharp—proof the damage’s only on the surface. Edgar’s machine jerks back at my warning, but it won’t make it in time to dodge.

Just before Rayla’s blade pierces Edgar’s cockpit—I swing my sword upward, like pulling someone from the dirt, and barely nudge Rayla’s thrust away from Edgar’s machine.

The blade slices through, smashing and shattering the head of Edgar’s machine.

But I can’t breathe easy. He’s still up there.

I whirl Artifigouge, sending both Edgar’s machine and Rayla’s flying apart. Then I catch the claw descending from above—my sword meeting it with a jolt.

“Haha! Guess one arm still knows how to handle things, huh?”

“Enjoying yourself, are you?”

“Why not? It’s war! What’s not fun about that?”

“I’m not having fun.”

I grit my teeth, trying to pull the Forze machine away. But it’s stronger. I can’t budge it. If anything, I’m being pushed back.

“Huh? What’s that?”

All the output, fuel supply, even center-of-gravity adjustments—everything’s manual, fine-tuned to the optimal setting. So for something like this to just… get shoved aside like that? Doesn’t make sense.

Got some new system hooked up? Or is that fog involved somehow?

“Eld Captain, get back!”

I leap backward hard at Remi Captain’s shout. Right after, a Grondia Army claw comes flying in where I’d been standing.

The claw latches onto the Forze machine’s arm and leg, trying to pin it to the ground.

“Pathetic, aren’t you?”

But the Forze spins on the spot, wrapping the Grondia Army’s arm around its own claws and tearing it clean off.

Then it charges straight at me again.

I pull out the harmonica pistol and fire at the approaching Volzey unit. But it dodges every shot with tiny, precise movements—just a flick of the wrist, and they’re all wide.

But I get it now. That’s the trick.

I toss the harmonica pistol aside, yank my sword from the ground, and brace for the attack.

“That magic’s on the joints, isn’t it?”

“Haha! Finally figured it out! But you can’t do a thing about it!”

Yeah. For offensive magic, a magic shield can dampen it—or cancel it clean. But there’s no way to cancel magic already bound to your own body.

But—

“I know how to fight it.”

Maybe it reduces friction, but it doesn’t eliminate it entirely. Not quite.

When I landed at the base, the machine was already falling apart—proof it’d been pushed past its limit, wearing down bit by bit. So, I’d just have to buy time and wait for my opponent to tire.

I changed my fighting style to defense-first, dodging and blocking attacks with as little movement as possible.

I’ve still got plenty of concentrated mana fluid—Hyimagia Liquid—so I’ll save it. Better to keep it for when I’m ready to strike hard later.

But apparently, that didn’t sit well with Forze.

“What’s this? Fighting like this? Then I’ve got a plan of my own.”

Forze shifted his aim from me to the wounded Remi unit.

Remi’s arms were torn off. Not exactly battle-ready.

I lunged between the two of them, pinning down the Forze unit.

“Remi Captain, fall back. You’re just in the way right now.”

“Aw, you say that? But it’s sounding pretty true. Sorry, I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“You’re not.”

“Wha—!?”

Just as the Remi unit started to pull back, a Rayla unit slammed in from the side.

Shouldn’t it have been fighting Edgar by now? Where’s Edgar Captain, anyway!?

Checking the camera feed, Edgar’s unit was buried in the hangar wall, just getting back up.

“Edgar Captain, what in the world are you doing!? That’s my classmate you’re fighting!?”

“Hmph… losing your grip, are we…?”

“Don’t be silly—you’re not even that old!”

Remi Captain throws in a jab, but I’m thinking the same thing.

Edgar’s only in his mid-thirties, right? Not exactly the age you start calling “frail,” is he? So… did he actually get taken down by skill? Wait—by Rayla, with one arm?

Rayla’s assault’s shifted the balance just a bit too much to our side. Edgar’s rig’s still holding, sure—but if she’s pushing it like that, we’re not gonna get much out of it.

“Fortze, time to go.”

“Yeah. We’re about done too. Then—”

Rayla’s signal. Fortze moves, like they’ve just agreed on something.

Both machines pivot—aiming straight at Edgar’s rig, just getting back on its feet.

They’re going to crush it—clear a path all at once, huh?

“Not gonna let that happen!”

If Edgar’s rig goes down now, I’ll be stuck handling these two alone.

Then I’ve got no choice. Gotta protect Edgar’s rig.

I charged forward at full speed, cutting straight through between the three of them. But I should’ve noticed—how could I have slipped in between them when there was a Force machine with better specs than mine?

By the time I realized it, both machines had locked onto me completely.

Laira lunged from the side, aiming for my mech’s arm. From the front, the Force machine’s claw came at me fast.

“So that’s how it is!”

I blocked Laira’s blade with my own, kicked the claw away with a desperate twist.

The awkward move barely kept the claw from my cockpit—still, it clipped Artifigoj, slamming into it hard.

Then, without pause, the left arm shot out, piercing clean through my mech’s right leg.

A jolt—crack, snap—my leg tore off.

“Shit…”

I jammed the Artifigoj into the ground, using it as a crutch, and checked the two machines retreating behind me.

They’d already reached the base wall, about to unleash their magic.

The Forze unit fired an ice spear—crack!—shattering the wall, then the two bolted toward the town.

I wanted to give chase, but my machine was missing a leg. Even with its already shaky balance, losing one leg meant I could barely stand.

Remi’s unit had lost both arms, and even Edgar alone would just get cut down trying to follow.

No way those Armunale guards in town could stop them.

They’d escaped clean.

“Damn it…”

For the first time, I slammed my fist into the control lever, furious at my own failure.

Layla and the others made it out of the base safe and sound, broke through the main street with ease, scattered Armunale guards defending the town, and then slipped out of the capital itself.

Straight ahead now—where they were heading, as planned, was the rendezvous point.

It was half a day’s journey by Armunale, but that was pushing it hard for Layla’s group right now. For one thing, if they ran into any other Armunale units, they’d be chased down for sure. Layla’s mech was missing a whole arm. And Fortze’s? It could stop working at any moment.

That’s how wrecked they were.

With the remaining concentrated mana fluid—Hyimagia Liquid—unreliable, too, they’d been cutting systems left and right to keep moving.

“Fortze… you okay?”

“Tough….”

It wasn’t just the machines that were falling apart.

Fortze himself was worn to the bone—body and mind alike, battered by repeated brutal battles and the strain of using the Limitia Perfesii.

Now he was slumped against the back of the pilot seat, barely holding on, guiding the machine only by foot pedals.

Limitia Perfesii pushed the machine beyond its limits. But that meant demanding the pilot push beyond their own limits—requiring impossible focus and control.

Originally, the system was installed just so the machine could handle the kind of overwhelming concentration Fortze was capable of when he awakened. That meant the cost was anything but light.

“Can’t… go on… feels like my mind’s slipping away…”

“Just hold on till we meet up. After that, I’ll guard you.”

“Huh… yeah.”

Compared to the wrecked state of Fortze, Layra still had some juice left.

Sure, her left arm was gone—but that was just a matter of swapping in a spare part. Her own exhaustion wasn’t that bad.

She’d been tense fighting Eld, but now that Eld couldn’t chase after her right away, her nerves settled. Less fear, faster recovery.

“This is it. War’s starting. The people won’t stay quiet after the king’s dead. Especially not the townsfolk who’ve been getting favors all along. And once the front lines move, the borderlands’ll feel it too. Whether the Empire pushes or the Kingdom pushes, the battlefield’ll focus on key strongholds and towns. No more petty squabbles over villages. We’re past that now.”

“So, Layra—what’s your move? Stick with the Empire? Or go back to the Kingdom?”

"Do I even get a choice in this?"

"Nope."

As a member of the Elshard Mercenary Company, I’m stuck siding with whomever Elshard chooses.

I hated the Empire that attacked the village just as much as I hated the Kingdom that made that situation possible.

To Layra, it didn’t matter how much either side suffered. The winner wouldn’t come until both were utterly worn down.

And besides—

"My place isn’t there anymore. I destroyed it myself. So I might as well go wild."

I’ll make sure neither side comes out strong. I’ll do my best to make the war hurt as much as possible.

"Nice. That kind of reckless, don’t-care attitude? I love it."

"You just like fighting, that’s all."

I like fighting, sure—but I like people who fight with everything they’ve got, too. They glow. The moment they scatter their light, that’s when I love it most. It’s beautiful. Like sparks flying in the dark, the brilliance of Armunale bursting from them, scattering into nothing. That instant—there’s nothing more stunning than that.

Folzé spoke with a thrill in his voice, and Layra listened, eyebrows knit tight.

“I don’t get what you mean.”

“Everyone says that. What I see—only I can see it. But I don’t mind. That’s the point. It’s mine alone.”

“Mm.”

“The moment you fall… you’ll be the most beautiful, I think.”

A shiver ran down Layra’s spine at those words. She swallowed it down. Forced calm into her voice.

“I’m not planning to die just yet. Not getting stabbed from behind, either.”

“Haha, even if you do, you won’t see the pretty light. That only shows when you’re giving everything—sacrificing your life, heart and soul.”

“Then I suppose I’ll have to wait a while to see it.”

“Yeah. But when you do die, make sure you fight with everything you’ve got. Then no matter where you fall on the battlefield, someone’ll see it.”

“From the start, that’s exactly what I’ve planned.”

That opponent—probably—

She pictured his shape. Her grip tightened on the lever.