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Hom and Farah moved to the training grounds with remarkable ease. While it was no surprise for Farah, Hom had never piloted a Mecha Soldier before. However, since she shared my memories of piloting Arkecius, she maneuvered her Legion as naturally as if it were an extension of her own body.

“You’re not going straight for close combat, are you?”
“If we did, I would have the advantage, so I believe we should maintain some distance.”
“Nya-ha! You get it. Alright, let’s do this then.”

Their voices echoed through the loudspeakers. I glanced at the monitor displaying Hom inside the cockpit—her expression was close to a smile, yet her eyes were completely serious.

After their exchange, Hom and Farah halted their machines at a slight distance from each other.

“Start whenever you’re ready~!”

Hovering on her broom to get a better view of the battle, Ms. Matilda circled above the two machines and gave the signal. At that moment, both Legions nodded slightly, as if acknowledging the command, before smoothly tilting forward into a ready stance.

“Oh? Already preparing to move?”

Recognizing their postures, Mr. Tanutanu murmured in admiration. Almost in unison, the two machines took several broad steps forward. Their movements were fluid, as though they were confirming how naturally their bodies responded. Just as I felt their motion becoming even smoother, Hom suddenly accelerated, closing the distance toward Farah in an instant.

“Haaah!”

Equipped with knuckles, Hom swung her fists in rapid succession.

“Nya-ha! Knew you’d go for that!”

Farah skillfully deflected Hom’s strikes using the twin short swords she wielded in both hands. She had activated her Magic Eyes, and her movements were sharp, precise, and devoid of waste.

As the two machines clashed in close combat, the impact between the knuckles and short swords sent small sparks flying. The high-pitched clang of metal against metal rang out with each exchange. Hom’s relentless barrage left no room to breathe, yet Farah remained unfazed, calmly deflecting each blow. Everyone watching was mesmerized by the intensity of their duel.

“…Lady Farah is truly impressive,” Isaac murmured, arms crossed as he observed the battle.
“Yeah. Hom is amazing too, but Farah’s precision in piloting is on another level. I have to ask her later how she manages to control a Legion like that,” Romeo responded quickly to Isaac’s remark.

Both of them kept their eyes wide open, completely absorbed in the mock battle, not wanting to miss a single movement.

“Can you really tell just by watching?”

Hom was putting up a good fight, but I didn’t feel like Farah was significantly superior in terms of piloting. It looked like an evenly matched battle—if anything, Farah’s advantage came from her Magic Eyes.

“I am a sucker for mock battles and Mecha Soldier competitions,” Isaac declared.
“The thing is, knuckles and swords don’t pair well against each other,” Romeo added quickly, nodding.
“Generally, short swords are at risk of breaking under blunt force. But look at her—she is using the blade itself to absorb the impact rather than taking it directly. That level of precision is truly something else,” Isaac explained further.

I see. So this exchange wasn’t just about their raw strength or reaction speed. Even with the Magic Eyes, Farah’s ability to control her machine with such finesse was remarkable, just as Isaac and Romeo pointed out.

“To put it another way, Legions are outdated designs—they weren’t built for this kind of fine-tuned movement. If I were piloting one, I’d just rely on its output power and brute force my way through,” Romeo added.

Even though he couldn’t pilot one himself, Romeo had a deep understanding of the machines’ characteristics. Now that I thought about it, the weapons in the arsenal seemed to lean heavily toward massive, weighty armaments like axes.

“Back in wartime, Legions were standard-issue with axes. All they had to do was swing downward—it’s a simple motion that suits their design,” he continued.

That made a lot of sense. If that was the case, then Hom’s choice of knuckles—designed for pure striking power—should give her a significant advantage from the very beginning.

Was it the influence of her Mecha Soldier aptitude, or was she naturally skilled in striking techniques? I couldn’t say for sure.

“Oh! The tide of battle is shifting!”
“Farah’s going on the offensive!”

Isaac and Romeo shouted in excitement, their eyes glued to the fight. Thanks to their commentary, I was able to grasp the situation more clearly.

Farah had been using her Magic Eyes to predict Hom’s attacks, adjusting her machine’s movements in advance to counter them. But that was just a warm-up. The real test of her skill began when she not only read Hom’s attacks but responded with even faster, more precise strikes.

“As expected of you, Lady Farah.”
“Nya-ha! You’re dodging them just fine though!”

Hom relied on her quick reflexes, swiftly maneuvering her machine backward to evade Farah’s strikes. However, she wasn’t retreating to widen the distance—she kept up the close-range exchange, countering while staying in the fight.

“…Kh.”

With Farah shifting to offense, her attacks came in rapid succession, forcing Hom’s arms into a more defensive role. But something caught my eye—Hom had been subtly shifting her weight onto her left leg for a while now.

She must have grown more accustomed to her machine’s balance. Confident in her control, she was likely planning to incorporate kicks into her attacks.

In a battle between knuckles and short swords, the focus naturally centered on upper-body strikes. A sudden kick from an unexpected angle—how well would Farah’s Magic Eyes react to that?

“Haaaah!”

Hom stepped back a few paces, twisted her machine’s torso, and unleashed a powerful strike.

“Nya-ha! I saw that coming, but damn, you hit hard!”

Farah crossed both arms to absorb the impact. The moment she did—

“…!”

Hom shifted her weight onto her left leg and delivered a sharp kick. Or at least, that’s what it looked like. But the move she executed was completely different from the Hom I knew.

“Whoa, that was close!”

Farah effortlessly read the move and leaped back to evade. It was a good call on Hom’s part to utilize her legs—having more than just her arms at her disposal was an advantage. However, it seemed she still wasn’t fully accustomed to piloting the Mecha Soldier. The disconnect between her own body and the machine’s movements might have been an issue.

If the machine had perfectly reflected Hom’s natural movements, her kick would have been much sharper. It felt like a missed opportunity. Perhaps it had something to do with the Legion unit’s unique properties—I made a mental note to look into it later.

“You’re getting used to the machine too, huh? Time to go all in!”

Farah regained her stance and launched another slash at Hom’s machine.

“Hah!”

Hom defended with a steady rhythm, countering with kicks and punches. Yet, Farah dodged them all with ease.

“Nya-ha! I saw that one coming, too!”

Going for counters wasn’t a bad strategy, but since Hom had to block first before launching her attacks, her offensive output was limited. By now, Farah had probably memorized Hom’s attack patterns, even without relying on her Magic Eyes.

“Alright, this next move decides it!” Farah’s excitement was evident in her breathless voice.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” But Hom wasn’t about to back down either.

Once more, their machines clashed in a furious exchange of blows. This time, Hom threw herself into the fight, ready to take hits if it meant landing a decisive strike.

“What an incredible battle… Truly, the next move will be the deciding one.”
“Aaaah! I can’t believe we’re seeing something this intense in a mock battle!”

Whoever won or lost, there was no doubt that the entire F-Class—and every spectator—would celebrate them both. The kind of fight unfolding before our eyes was one worthy of admiration.

Hom and Farah were almost entirely silent now, save for their heavy breathing echoing through the speakers.

Then, in the midst of the relentless exchange, Hom suddenly twisted her machine’s torso and swung back with a massive, sweeping strike aimed directly at Farah.

“Whoa!” Farah swiftly backstepped, evading the strike with ease.

“Hom!” Alfe’s sharp cry echoed as Hom’s massive punch sliced through empty air. Having missed her mark, Hom was left completely open—Farah wasted no time, thrusting her short sword without hesitation.

“This is the end!”
“I won’t let you!”

Despite appearing defenseless, Hom shouted sharply.

In the next instant, her machine dipped slightly before surging forward—just as Farah’s attack came down, Hom’s seemingly exposed back slammed into her opponent with a powerful body blow.

“Tetsuzankou¹…”

I could never forget that move—it was a technique from Master Tao Ran.

Farah barely dodged the impact, but before she could regain her footing, Hom activated her thrusters and went in for a relentless follow-up.

“Nya!? You can do that?!”

Seeing no way to escape, Farah crossed her short swords in front of her to block. But the sheer force behind Hom’s charge was unstoppable—her blades were knocked away, sent spinning into the air.

With her defense shattered, Farah’s machine toppled onto its back. Hom didn’t miss the opening, delivering a final, decisive strike.

“This is my victory.”
“Nya-ha… I lost.”

Farah’s voice overlapped with Hom’s declaration, and in that instant, a wave of applause erupted from the crowd.

If her attacks kept getting read, then all she had to do was land a blow that couldn’t be dodged, even if it was anticipated. The fact that she incorporated Master Tao Ran’s technique here was just like Hom—an ingenious tactical victory.

“Awesome! You guys are amazing!”

Vannabelle couldn’t contain her excitement, clapping and jumping up and down. Isaac and Romeo, overwhelmed by the intensity of the battle, hugged each other in pure joy.

Not just F-Class, but even the onlooking classmates were buzzing with excitement. Even the students from A-Class, who were practicing their Mecha Soldier maneuvers in the distance, had turned their attention toward them.

This would only heighten the anticipation for the Zersteller—Canalford Cup, set to take place in August. If someone from F-Class were to win, it might just force reconsideration of the demi-human discrimination that Vannabelle had spoken against—at least on the surface.

Of course, deep-seated discrimination based on status wouldn’t disappear so easily. But even so, if this academy could become a better place for everyone, that was something I could definitely hope for.

Legion

The Arcadia Empire’s main combat unit from 200 years ago.

A legendary machine that played a crucial role in the Third Holy Emperor War.

Legion was the first-ever fifth-generation Mecha Soldier, with its development project initiated in the year 601 of the Holy Flower Era under the leadership of Zeonista Heavy Industries and the Empire’s top military engineers.

Equipped with jet propulsion systems and advanced communication devices as standard, it enabled sophisticated group battle tactics. With this capability, the Empire’s forces crushed the Holy Kingdom Army, which primarily relied on land battleships, leading to an unstoppable advance in the war’s opening phase.

By the war’s end, approximately 5,000 units had been produced. Even in the modern era, a small number remain in service, used as training machines in educational institutions and military organizations.

1. TLN: Reference to this

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