Activation Requirement
「What just happened……?」
Kou was unable to comprehend what happened right in front of him, and Unit 5 stood silently with its sword still drawn.
「He just went and died on his own……」
Kou couldn’t figure out exactly what happened.
He did understand that his opponent managed to gain tremendous power. However, it was only for a measly 10 seconds. In Kou’s mind, that was far too short.
「That idiot. I warned you several times not to use it.」
Bardo spat out in consternation. He couldn’t do anything but feel pity for his foolish subordinate.
「What the heck was that?」
「 As if I’d tell you– is what I’d like to say. But it’ll leave a bad taste in my mouth if you ended up using it as well. That’s a kind of limiter release called『Fire of Prometheus』.」
「A limiter release that makes a Silhouette self-destruct? I’ve never heard of such a thing.」
「Well, you have now. Our mercs were the first to discover it. Our side did send a lot of mercenaries to their deaths in order to take over Fortress Areas. We really just discovered it by chance.」
「Was it that hard to discover?」
「One of the activation conditions is for a machine to take critical damage. Once that’s fulfilled, you can lock on to the enemy you wanna defeat. Then, the output of your machine’s reactor will rival that of an A-Carbuncle’s for ten seconds, and your machine’s armor will become as tough as a Fortress Area shelter.」
「Seriously?」
It was something that even A-Class Development Engineers like Hyoue hasn’t heard about.
「It only lasts for ten seconds. If you don’t destroy the enemy’s MCS within 10 seconds, your machine won’t be able to withstand the increased reactor output and explode. But once you destroy the enemy machine’s reactor or A-Spinel, the Fire of Prometheus function will be forcibly stopped. I don’t know exactly which bastard installed this kind of function, but…… it gives you a good shot at defeating an enemy you absolutely wanna defeat. It’s that kind of function.」
「Just 10 seconds huh?」
「If a machine has two pilots, it’ll increase to 20 seconds. Moreover, the Whis output increase will get doubled. However, if the guy in the rear activates the function, he’d have to take full control of the machine, and he’ll lose consciousness after ten seconds. It’ll take one day for him to regain consciousness. If they mess up, they’d die. All that for a measly 20 seconds.」
「You sure have found out a lot about it. –How many died?」
「Heh. Can’t let anything past you, huh? Thirty people died, including those working directly under the Stones.」
「I see.」
Verifying the 10-second limit couldn’t have been easy.
Hence, Hyoue already had an inkling about the price of such information.
「Takaba, make sure you don’t use it. It’s one nasty function.」
Bardo didn’t want to settle things with Hyoue using such a function. That’s why he taught the other party everything he knew about Prometheus Fire.
「Right back at you. A limiter isn’t normally supposed to be deactivated after all.」
Hyoue displayed a wry smile.
Limiters were installed precisely because a limit shouldn’t be exceeded. It’s not supposed to be some sort of hidden card or power-up device.
Once released, things would go out of control, and one would have to pay the price. That’s the purpose of a limiter.
「Shall we continue?」
「Sure.」
There was no deep hatred between the two men.
They managed to switch gears quite quickly. If one observed from the side, one would even think that the two men could actually work out their differences by simply talking to one another.
Kou kept alert, but he decided to watch the two fight.
The shock of his opponent’s Silhouette exploding had not yet completely dissipated.
Kou thought the idea of such a function was silly, but he was shocked by the fact that it actually existed.
He speculated that Fire of Prometheus was another function that got recently unlocked just like Spirit Link.
「Hey, Prometheus. Spirit Link and Fire of Prometheus…… We really didn’t need these things.」
Kou complained about the unwelcome “gifts”.
Hyoue and Bardo faced one another once more.
There was still some distance between them.
Their battle was fundamentally different from a one-on-one confrontation in the flesh.
Since there was no sensation of pain, aiming for an opponent’s arms, legs, and head, wouldn’t be fatal, and three-dimensional maneuvers were also possible. Of course, there were also railguns, missiles, and other projectiles to take into account as well.
It goes without saying that both men’s machines were top-of-the-line.
Thus, one’s experience in piloting humanoid weapons played a critical part in these battles. In this aspect, Hyoue did not hold an absolute advantage.
Bardo was the one who made his move first.
His liquid metal sword was stretched out, but he didn’t attempt to attack from afar. He should have realized that something like that wouldn’t work anymore against his opponent.
He set his machine’s thrusters to maximum and instantly closed the gap.
Hyoue made his machine go up into the air. In the air, up and down vectors were added to left and right.
As if predicting such a move, Bardo’s machine rose up as well. He only moved at minimum speed. He hadn’t accelerated yet so he could respond to his opponent’s moves easier.
Hyoue smiled happily. He felt elated that his opponent was someone who could keep up with him.
The Accipiter piloted by Hyoue raised its left arm and quickly swung it down.
It threw its wakizashi-type electric sword.
「Don’t underestimate me!」
Bardo didn’t even try to avoid it and sped forward. After all, projectiles that weren’t reinforced with Whis weren’t much of a threat.
However, the short sword accurately pierced Corvus’ shoulder joint. If Bardo was piloting a regular Silhouette, there was a good chance its entire arm would have flown right off.
In fact, the Corvus’ arm actually did nearly get sliced off. It was just barely hanging on due to some un-severed armor muscle strands.
If one zoomed in on the short sword, they’d notice that a thin wire was actually attached to its pommel. Hyoue threw it in order to hide the wire with the sword guard.
Bardo cut the wire with the Corvus’ left arm.
「Mere tricks!」
He retreated a bit and landed his machine. The Accipiter also landed back on the floor.
「Now we’re even, right?」
Hyoue laughed teasingly.
Corvus raised its remaining left arm and slashed at the Accipiter. It was a one-handed downward slash.
Hyoue, who held his remaining sword with both hands, unleashed a counter slash.
The moment the Corvus’ sword was swung down, the Accipiter’s katana clashed with it and eventually reached its target first.
The Corvus’ head was split in a straight line, and its chest armor was also torn open.
「Guuh! Of course, you’d go for a kiriotoshi!」
Bardo had previously experienced such an attack already.
「Hee, you’re familiar with it eh? You’ve met with a pretty decent master.」
Hyoue was strangely impressed. One of his hidden techniques was negating the momentum of his opponent’s sword swing and making use of it to unleash a straight downward slash.
Hyoue hadn’t only mastered Niten Ichiryuu swordsmanship.
His earlier move was part of the one-sword style that his grandson Shuuji practiced.
「Tsk!」
Perhaps realizing that he had no chance of winning, Bardo fired up the Corvus’ thrusters to the maximum.
It then jumped toward the ceiling with incredible momentum, passed right by the Accipiter, and began to run away.
Hyoue sheathed back his machine’s katana and picked up the short sword he threw earlier.
He didn’t have any intention of chasing after Bardo.
It could be said that he let the other party off in exchange for the information about Prometheus Fire. Bardo might have also expected Hyoue’s decision. That’s why he freely told Hyoue everything he knew.
「I don’t exactly hate your style, kid.」
He’d have another chance to face the other party again as long as Bardo remained alive.
Hyoue truly enjoyed these types of life-and-death fights that he couldn’t experience as a company chairman or Development Engineer.
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