Purge

While Kisei was locked in a fierce battle with the Wibel Hounds, Saki and the others who headed to their objective first were also in the middle of a battle.

“Damn it………as expected, this is not going to be easy huh!”

While shooting down the approaching [Jetta] with her submachine gun, Saki bitterly grumbled.

Saki and the others chose a route that’s clear of enemies but it is still impossible for them to completely avoid detection. Eventually, the Noredian detected them and they are now forced to fight their interceptors.

“That might be a Zenith but what can you do with only 3 strikers!?”

A [Vil] in with a longsword, its tri-camera gleaming at them. It was a decisive and crisp assault. Saki can tell from her instinct that she’s fighting a veteran pilot.

“Kuh!”

She can’t intercept the [Vil] in time. Because of that, Saki immediately decided to abandon the ride booster. After that, she let go of the submachine gun and readied the [Dainsleif] to draw its sword.

“Take this!”

She performed an electromagnetic slash at the [Vil] but it managed to catch that with its longsword before her attack could reach its abdomen. The longsword was cut through but Saki’s blade just barely grazed the [Vil]’s armor.

“TOO SHALLOW!”

The [Vil] abandoned its damaged sword and pulled out a photon saber stored on its back. However, due to the motion of the electromagnetic slash, the [Dainsleif] is unable to defend itself.

“Tsk!”

Reflexively, Saki pulled the trigger. The head-mounted machine gun spewed bullets on the [Vil]’s thick armor. However, 12.7mm bullets are too weak to pierce through a striker’s front armor.

“Oh, can’t let you do that!”

Just before the blade of the photon saber reached the [Dainsleif], the [Vil] was hit by a beam from above. After a beat, the shot caused a small explosion and the debris slammed on the armor of the [Dainsleif].

“Thanks!”

“You owe me one!”

Eleanor replied happily with her long barrel blaster rifle in hand. Perhaps it should be expected of one of the 4 Heavenly, even in this turbulent battlefield, Eleanor did not let her guard down at all. Since she unintentionally held her breath earlier, Saki breathed out in relief.

“…….sorry, Saki-chan.”

Frea muttered from the special seat. Her expression was extremely haggard.

“It, it’s okay, that was my fault earlier. Your Highness Frea doesn’t have to feel bad at all……”

Saki hurriedly said as she thought that Frea is blaming herself because Saki can’t go all out with her here.

However, Frea shakes her head sideways.

“It’s, it’s not that……”

“Not that?”

“M, my pee, it leaked a little.”

Saki’s expression looked as though she had just taken a mouthful of something extremely disgusting.

“NO ONE WOULD KNOW IF YOU DON’T SAY IT SO PLEASE JUST STAY QUIET!!”

The pilot suit is completely airtight. The cockpit is equipped with a toilet but it is rarely used and the suit also has a diaper function in case you are locked in a long battle. Even if you peed yourself, no one would notice it if you don’t say anything.

“I, I see…….hahaha……..”

With her face deep blue, Frea let out a dry laugh.

“I’m glad I didn’t ride with Kisei…….”

Nothing would be more embarrassing than peeing yourself in front of her own fiance.

With her eyes a little dead, Frea turned to look at the main monitor while feeling relief that at least she did it in front of someone of the same sex.

“Geez!”

Saki wants to say more to her but she can’t afford to do that right now as the cockpit was filled with a lock-on warning alert. She reflexively performed an evasive maneuver and a beat later, several thick beams flew past the place the [Dainsleif] used to be.

“Mid-range artillery huh!”

When she looked for where the enemy fired at them from with a sensor, she detected multiple heat sources a distance away. They are not within the range of the weapons she has on [Dainsleif]. Their only option is probably to avoid their shots and close in.

“It would be bad if we let them snipe at us like this. What do we do?”

“Leave them to me.”

With a longsword in one hand, Tersis responded. Like it was soaked in blood, the dummy exterior of the [Van Wolf] was covered in oily substances. She has already cut down more than ten strikers here.

The [Van Wolf] fully accelerated and approach the enemy position like a shooting star. They tried to intercept her using large-caliber cannons but Tersis casually avoided everything and their shots simply disappeared into the void.

“Uwawawa! Get away!”

“Hmph, naive!”

With its monstrous instant acceleration, the [Van Wolf] quickly arrived at the enemy position and started cutting down the enemy [Jetta-Cannones], the Noredian specialized model of [Jetta] which was modified to focus on providing fire support.

The [Jetta-Cannones] tried to keep [Van Wolf] away by using their machine guns at it but with Tersis’s maneuvering skill, it was meaningless. Within a few minutes, all [Jetta-Cannones] were cut down.

“With just a sword? What’s up with that……..”

“It’s like we are fighting the Heavenly Blade herself……..no way!?”

Although it’s a big universe, there are not that many pilots who only fight with their sword. Seeing Tersis’s performance, the Noredian pilots are looking at the [Van Wolf] with awe and suspicion.

“Hmm, I guess it’s about time huh.”

Although she’s not as sensitive as Kisei, Tersis also felt the turmoil from the enemies. She had her striker disguised to keep the enemy in the dark about the eventual betrayal of the Melemheim fleet but if they are already this deep in then it should be fine to lose that disguise. Thinking so, Tersis glanced at the tactical map.

“If it’s here…..they should be able to see the signal flare. Your Highness Frea, I suggest we purge the dummy exterior.”

“Ah, yeah, it should be okay now right?”

Frea, who was suddenly talked to, replied in a hurry. He is the highest-ranking person here but Frea is merely a logistic officer. It’s only reasonable for her to leave the detailed command to a person who’s used to the field.

“Finally! I’ve been waiting!”

Eleanor, who thinks of the dummy exterior as nothing more than a dead weight, immediately rejoices. With no hesitation, she raised her fist and slammed it down on the purge button on the console.

The explosive bolts activated and the dummy exterior covering the [Parfeel] was purged. What came out was, of course, the magenta-colored Zenith she was accustomed to.

“!? T, That’s, isn’t that’s the [Parfeel]…..!”

“That’s the [Van Wolf]! Seriously…….!?”

The 4 Heavenly are the symbol of Nored’s strength, it’s natural that they are well known among the soldiers. The strikers that they have seen in numerous propaganda media are now right in front of their eyes. This sent waves of turmoil to the Noredian soldiers.

Then, the [Van Wolf] fired a small rocket from its shoulder. The rocket soared up while spewing smoke and burst into a green flash after a few seconds. A beat later, countless cannons opened fire at the Noredian strikers.

“W, What!? What was that!?”

“UWAHHH!”

The Noredian troops which were suddenly attacked from a direction where their allies were supposed to be immediately screamed. None of them performed an evasive maneuver and a number of strikers were swallowed by the bombardment and exploded. The strikers that escaped that bombardment started flying everywhere as they have no idea where they can escape to.

“Umu…..there you are, my fleet…….!”

Tersis muttered with a grin.

Her eyes proudly turned to the direction of the gunfire.