Limiter Release, and its Aftermath
「I will definitely kill you. 『Fire of Prometheus』activate!」
Miles declared with conviction.
The entire body of the Corvus began to glow red.
–10–
「Fire?!」
A palpable sense of tension assaulted me.
It undoubtedly released its limiter.
Usually, a Familiar needed to sacrifice itself to activate the limiter release. But I had no idea what the Silhouette before me would actually sacrifice.
–9–
I couldn’t even blink.
The Corvus was already right in front of me.
Before I could draw my sword, I had already been cut.
–8–
「Kuh.」
Unit 5’s additional armor exploded and was purged.
Kou managed to purge the armor before it exploded completely.
The power of the slash unleashed against Unit 5 was terrifying. It easily cut right through the additional armor and even managed to tear a bit into Unit 5’s chest armor.
Kou purged all unnecessary armor from Lanius Unit 5.
It now transitioned into the Lanius C High Mobility Type.
However, it couldn’t use its prized mobility straight away.
Due to the impact of the sword slash, Unit 5 was forced back and dropped to one knee.
–7–
「I can do this!」
Miles was convinced of victory. Unit 5’s sword was still inside its scabbard.
It was a pity that the additional armor prevented him from deciding the match in a single blow, but the opponent should no longer have any more ability to resist.
It couldn’t react to his Corvus that’s activated Fire of Prometheus. It couldn’t even draw its sword.
It probably wouldn’t be able to mount a proper counter-slash.
–6–
「It’s over!」
Convinced of his victory, Miles raised his sword once more and closed the gap.
Lanius drew its sword.
–5–
The Corvus was supposed to vertically split Unit 5 in two from above.
However, its slash was blocked.
「Guuh!」
Miles let out an anguished groan after facing Unit 5’s unexpected move.
Kou’s move was an iai technique — a sword-draw parry.
A flexible willow branch can withstand the weight of snow and not break.
One simply needed to grip one’s sword. Without attempting to perform a slash of his own, Kou simply withdrew his sword and parried the incoming slash.
It was a feat made possible by Kogetsu that was an electric blade made akin to a flexible katana.
–4–
With smooth, flowing motions, Unit 5 switched to holding its sword with both hands, brought it over its head, and unleashed a head-on downward slash against the Corvus.
It was another iai technique called koranto.
「!」
But then, Kou encountered something unbelievable. Shivers ran down his spine.
It didn’t feel like he slashed a Silhouette. The opponent’s toughness was actually akin to a Fortress Area’s shelter or an Ate’s armor plate.
It was impossible to inflict critical damage on it.
Kou couldn’t hide his agitation.
However, the strengthened Corvus was still unable to avoid Unit 5’s slash.
No matter how tough the Corvus had become, it wasn’t like Miles’ body was reinforced along with it.
Even though the Corvus was able to avoid suffering critical damage due to Whis reinforcement, its chest armor still got a shallow cut. It formed a cross-shaped gash together with the cut that resulted from the earlier diagonal slash. The machine itself was also nearing its limit.
It frantically slipped around Kou’s machine and took distance.
–3–
「Please, Fennel!」
A desperate scream rang out.
The Corvus ended up overshooting. Miles wasn’t able to properly handle his machine which was near its limit.
His senses were also enhanced after activating Fire of Prometheus. However, compared to his senses, his body’s reaction speed was simply too slow. He wasn’t used to the sensation at all. So, of course, he’d eventually messed up.
After finally stopping its momentum, the Corvus quickly closed in on Unit 5 once more. This time around, it approached from the flank.
Unit 5 still maintained its previous position. It was still on one knee. Kou judged that there wasn’t any time to have Unit 5 properly get up and transition to a defensive stance.
If so, how exactly can he win?
Kou inwardly asked himself. His opponent’s speed made it next to impossible to mount a proper counter. And its armor was also really tough.
Kou quickly thought of suitable countermeasures.
The Corvus would surely attack him from the side. Will it attack from the right? Or perhaps the left?
–2–
「Just three more seconds!」
Miles’ eyes were bloodshot.
At this moment, the Corvus had already circled around to the right flank of Unit 5 and was about to swing its sword once more.
However, Unit 5 used the momentum resulting from the motions required to stand up in order to unleash a tornado-like spinning slash. It used its right foot’s tip as a pivot, and its armor muscles and actuators groaned loudly from the effort.
It slashed the enemy machine’s body horizontally in two from the right.
The upper body of the Corvus flew off into the air as a result. It was a combination of Kou’s mental predictions and pure intuition.
「Uroko-gaeshi.」
Kou softly muttered.
Kou staked everything on the move that cut the enemy’s torso from the right side.
The force resulting from Unit 5 twisting its body made it possible for the slash to cut the tough enemy in two.
The Corvus moved as Kou predicted, and it jumped straight into Unit 5’s kill zone.
Kou had precisely aimed for the already damaged part of the enemy machine’s body.
–1–
Kou remained alert as Unit 5 stood motionless. Unit 5 was now looking down on Corvus’ severed upper body.
「That damned fool.」
Bardo spat out.
The battle was over. He had no further words for his subordinate who lost even after using his trump card.
Miles let out a muffled scream.
He looked at the lower half of his machine that was displayed on the cockpit screen in utter shock.
「Please!」
Miles’ expression was stained with fear.
His thrusters were still working. He can still fight! Even with just the upper body, he can still–
–0–
『Negative.』
Miles’ MCS responded mercilessly.
The red aura surrounding the Corvus converged, and the upper body’s armor began to froth like boiling water.
The machine emitted a flash and finally exploded.
It wasn’t even able to retain a semblance of its previous form. Its greatsword also exploded along with the rest of its upper body, so it seemed that every part that Whis flowed through in a machine would explode.
Only the lower half of the Corvus was left standing.
Unit 5 looked down on the machine’s remains as if pitying it.
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