Encounter, The Heavenly Blade 2

“Your Highness!”

Over a dozen artillery cannons that were neatly set up in an open basin are being destroyed by just two Zeniths. The strikers operating these cannons as well as their escort strikers are fighting back but they could not put up much of a fight. Within less than 10 minutes, the inside of the basin was transformed into a scrapyard.

“WaHaHa! Big Catch, Big Catch!”

Saki was loudly laughing as she fired her submachine gun at a cannon. The cannon was only equipped with minor debris protection so the 30mm armor-piercing rounds of her submachine gun easily pierced through it.

Its engine was immediately destroyed and the high-voltage capacitor exploded.

“That’s the last one……!”

Almost at the same time, Kisei destroyed another cannon with his anti-ship grenade launcher. The powerful explosion also blew away the striker that was operating it.

“Uwaah!”

“W, Who are these guys…..!”

The pilot of a [Vil] which was a part of the unit escorting the artillery regiment, pulled out a photon saber mounted on its back. With it being a newer model, its speed was considerably faster than the others. Moreover, in addition to the ground warfare specific equipment, the [Jettas] are also providing support fire from behind as she charged at Kisei.

“You are good……but!”

Kisei grinned and stepped on the pedal while parrying the bullets with his photon saber. A trail of blue flame erupts from the thruster and the white giant flies toward the charging [Vil].

“Damn you!”

The [Vil]’s pilot was not surprised by Kisei’s unexpected movement and swung her large-sized photon saber down to intercept Kisei.

“HAA!”

However, Kisei blocked the strike with his own photon saber before piercing the abdomen of the [Vil] that lost its posture. The [Jettas] in the rear started to panic at the [Vil]’s defeat but before they could do anything, [Dainsleif] approached them at full speed by utilizing the sub-thrusters on its cloak-like extra armor and cut them all down.

“Nice Assist!”

“Hell yeah! Who do you think I am!”

Receiving Kisei’s praise, Saki replied with a big smile. Since she was stuck hiding behind cover for the past few days, there’s no way that she would not enjoy this.

“D, Damn it……what do we do!?”

“All of our cannons are destroyed, there’s no use staying here anymore right! Do you think we can do anything against these monsters!?”

After seeing Kisei and Saki casually taking their whole unit out, the Nored side finds it hard to attack them. This is the kind of monster that would wipe the floor with them even if they surround them and launch their attack at the same time. Moreover, after seeing the fate of the [Vil] who attacked Kisei earlier, no one dared to move in and attract attention to themselves.

“What do you want to do, do we cut them all down?”

“With the two of us alone it would be impossible to take them all out. We have to do it moderat–…..Hmm!”

Kisei stopped mid-sentence and looked up at the sky with an elated expression. A vermillion striker which is even redder than the standard paint of Noredian strikers is approaching their location.

“New enemy?”

“Judging from the presence, this once is quite skilled. One of those 4 Heavenlys I think.”

While keeping his gaze on the enemy, Kisei mounted the anti-ship grenade launcher back to the hardpoint on the [Caliburn-Revive]’s back. Instead, he pulled out a blaster rifle and removed its magazine. He then pulled out the particle cable from the extra-large magazine mounted on the sleeve of the [Caliburn-Revive] and inserted it into the rifle.

“Kept you waiting huh!”

The vermillion striker landed in the middle of the basin while blowing its thrusters. The voice that came through the public channel sounded like it belonged to a confident young woman.

“Tersis-sama!”

“She’s here! Our knight is here! The victory is ours!”

The Noredian soldiers cheered. Among the 4 Heavenlys that are known as the Nored’s strongest, Tersis is the most popular one among the soldiers.

“Leave this place to me. You can withdraw now.”

According to Tersis’s words, the Noredian soldiers withdrew without raising any complaints. After all, a monster should be dealt with by a monster. Understanding that there’s nothing they can do here, the soldiers removed themselves from the battlefield.

“You must be the rumored mercenary right? My name is Tersis van Melemheim. One of the 4 Heavenlys, the [Heavenly Blade].”

The red striker unsheathed a long sword from the scabbard on its waist and pointed it at the [Caliburn-Revive].

“That’s right. I’m the one called [Wicked Star], Hokuto Kisei.”

While answering briefly, Kisei inspected his opponent’s striker. While it has the splendor of a knight in full-body armor, the only weapon he spotted on it was its longsword and a large kite shield fixed to its left arm. It is probably a heavy-armored-type striker specialized in close-quarter combat.

“I was expecting you. I heard that you took care of our Lady Nora the other day. Against an opponent who easily repelled someone like her, I do not expect this to be a boring fight. I was actually looking forward to this, you know.”

“Nora? Ahh, that one.”

Recalling the dual-wielding gunslinger striker he fought the other day, Kisei’s grip on the control stick lightly tightened.

“Is she doing well? I was being careful not to hurt her back then.”

“Of course. She is burning for revenge you know.”

“Is that so. That makes it worth letting her go.”

Hearing Kisei’s joyful reply, Tersis’s expression turned elated as she found a person that derives joy from battles similar to her. She then let out a muffled laugh.

“Good…….GOOD. My [Van Wolf] shall be your opponent!”

Without looking away from Tersis’s striker, Kisei who’s burning with fighting spirit speaks to Saki.

“Sorry, but can you watch my back for me? We are in the middle of enemy territory so I don’t know when some nasty reinforcement would arrive after all.”

There are three more in the 4 Heavenlys. Even Kisei would find it difficult to deal with all of them at the same time.

“Can’t be helped then. I got it. I will make sure no one interrupts your fight.”

Against a strong opponent, fighting her together would be better. However, since it seems that their opponent wishes for a one-on-one fight, Kisei is willing to go along with her. Having no other choice, Saki decided to watch his back.

“Ignoring me huh…..don’t blame me if you get cut down when you show an opening alright.”

However, Saki was also irritated at how Tersis completely ignored the [Dainsleif] so she muttered that in a small voice that was not picked up by the microphone.