"I can't hit it... I can't hit it... What the hell are those two shields that can fly around without any visible propulsion?!"
Watching their vanguard comrades being treated like helpless children before the Unicorn, one of the Black Knights in the rear guard frantically pulled the trigger at the Unicorn.
A Funnel Shield appeared in front of him. After deploying its beam shield, it strafed with an incredibly erratic, supernatural speed, blocking every red beam fired toward the Unicorn.
The other Funnel Shield retracted its beam shield, revealing the twin beam Gatling guns mounted beneath it.
The barrels spun relentlessly, spitting out a barrage of short pulse beams that hammered into a Black Knight.
At first glance, it seemed these beams were being stopped by the FT Armor; in fact, this was the only weapon the FT Armor could successfully intercept when facing the Unicorn.
However, a piercing alarm soon wailed inside the cockpit, causing the Black Knight pilot—who had just breathed a sigh of relief—to tense up again.
He looked at the source of the alarm: a status display panel where warnings of "Armor Overload" were flashing continuously.
No matter how high the beam resistance of FT Armor was, it would eventually overload and fail under the dense, sustained fire of beam Gatling guns.
Once the FT effect was lost, a massive amount of beam fire struck the Black Knight's armor, blooming into a series of brilliant sparks.
"Uwahhh..."
The violent vibrations caused the pilot's face to contort into a grimace of agony, and he let out a guttural, wretched cry.
"Get out of the way! Your armor can't take any more!"
Seeing the armor of the Black Knight under Gatling fire being blasted into fragments, the pilot of the other Black Knight—who had been providing cover fire—widened his eyes in shock.
"I'm... trying!"
Seemingly jolted awake by that shout, the Black Knight under fire finally snapped out of it and slammed down on the foot pedals.
The Black Knight finally managed to break away from the Gatling guns' line of fire.
It was only then that the true state of this Black Knight was revealed to everyone.
The once-smooth armor was riddled with holes of various sizes; many sections had been blown open entirely, exposing the mangled internal framework. The armor protecting the cockpit area, in particular, had received "special attention."
One could say that this Black Knight's armor was now completely useless.
"Thank god, hurry and withdr—"
Before the pilot who gave the warning could relax, he saw a white shadow trailing a yellow streak of light, flying directly toward the heavily damaged Black Knight.
The Funnel Shield that had just been using its beam shield to block fire suddenly retracted the barrier. It accelerated at extreme speed, smashing through the Black Knight's armor like a heavy truck, crushing directly into the cockpit.
Before the pilot could even make a sound, he realized with despair that the reinforced cockpit was being deformed by the Funnel Shield's impact, pressing in toward him.
The twin beam Gatlings, pressed right against the warped cockpit, began to spin. With nothing left to block them, the beams tore into the Black Knight's torso.
Under the gaze of everyone present, the Black Knight was blown apart from the inside out into a pile of debris.
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In the area where the Unicorn was fighting, if the Funnel Shields gave the Black Knights a sense of "eeriness," then the Armed Armor VN felt purely "vicious."
The pilot of the last remaining Black Knight vanguard grew desperate. He discarded the shield on his left arm and drew the heavy slashing sword that had been docked within it. This Black Knight charged toward the Unicorn, dual-wielding heavy slashing swords.
"You... it's all because of you... everyone is dead!!"
The pilot of the dual-wielding Black Knight screamed into the public channel, sounding as though he had suffered a breakdown, trying to vent his inner terror and resentment.
Unfortunately, Miss Machine Spirit had deactivated the unit's communication devices—or at least, she ensured that the public channel signals would not reach Roz.
Despite performing multiple sharp-angle turns, Roz felt none of the G-force or discomfort he usually experienced when piloting the Unicorn. In fact, it didn't even feel like he was fighting; it felt more like watching a first-person movie. Miss Machine Spirit had specially diverted some spiritual energy to cancel out the G-forces, preventing Roz from being shaken apart by her maneuvers.
Deploying the Armed Armor VN and micro-adjusting the thrusters, the Unicorn strafed to the right side of the Black Knight.
The left hand, shrouded in yellow flames, seized the Black Knight's right forearm as it raised its heavy sword. The power output, enhanced by spiritual energy, was so immense that it caused the Black Knight's right forearm to deform under the grip.
The Unicorn's left leg lashed out; before the Black Knight could counter with the heavy sword in its left hand, a massive, powerful roundhouse kick slammed into the Black Knight's waist.
The FT Armor failed to perform its intended function. The right arm and torso were torn apart by the colossal impact, sending various parts flying through space.
"Gwahhh..."
The violent force was so great that even the armor around the Black Knight's waist suffered severe deformation.
The Unicorn did not let this opportunity pass. It continued to swing the Armed Armor VN, striking the Black Knight with sweeping blows from every angle. Parts were systematically destroyed by the VN claws, spraying out from the Black Knight's body.
Even though his left hand still gripped a heavy sword, the transmission components had been wrecked by the Armed Armor VN. The pilot sitting in the cockpit could only watch in despair as his Black Knight was stripped into a "mobile suit stick."
The final blow was an attack resembling a "Shoryuken" uppercut. Swinging the Armed Armor VN claws from bottom to top, the Unicorn sent the immobilized Black Knight flying.
But when attention shifted back to the hand of the Armed Armor VN, a ripped-out cockpit was suddenly revealed to everyone.
Without a second thought, the Unicorn crushed the cockpit. The sudden compression caused mechanical parts and blood to erupt from the pod, drifting aimlessly into the void of space.
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"...It's no use, we must withdraw first!"
Watching the Black Knight squad he had brought with him dwindle from twelve units down to four, the Kingdom of Foundation officer—who had originally sat on the bridge of the Drake-class looking calm and in control—began to beat a retreat.
"...As long as the green hills remain, there is no fear of lacking firewood... Fleet, turn about! Begin departing the Mendel airspace!"
After a moment's thought, the Foundation officer made his decision.
"The remaining Black Knight units will provide the rear guard. We're leaving!"
The two Drake-class ships began their turn, preparing to evacuate the airspace of the Mendel colony.
But clearly, things would not go that smoothly.
"Ship's nine o'clock! A new battleship has appeared... it's moving so fast!"
The radar controller discovered the anomaly and shouted the report.
"Based on trajectory predictions, it's going to collide with... Drake-class No. 2?!"
A ramming prow glowing with a dazzling orange-yellow heat emerged from the asteroid belt, slamming directly into one of the Drake-class ships and shattering the unlucky vessel into a heap of fragments.
At that moment, the Nahel Argama, having just used its thermal ram to crush a Drake-class, appeared before everyone's eyes.
"Coming and going as you please... there's no such thing as a free lunch."
Watching the destroyed Drake-class, Murrue Ramius, acting as the current captain of the Nahel Argama, finally breathed a sigh of relief now that they had reached the battlefield.
"Pre-heat weapons! Take down the last Drake-class!"
.............