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“Hom!!”

Breaking free of Lady Alfe’s ice magic restraint, Lady Farah’s Lesvahl closed in. Lady Alfe had set up only a single Linear Accel magic circle. But even with just that, it was enough to launch me forward.

“Haaaahhhhhh!!”

I shot through the Linear Accel and leapt straight toward Lesvahl. My sweeping kick was easily parried by Lady Farah.

“Looks like it won’t work unless you create some distance.”

She had already spotted the weakness of Linear Accel. A single circle’s worth of boost was not enough to damage Lesvahl.

“And nowwwwwww!! Lesvahl is on the moveeeeee!! It’s closing in on Altered, choosing close combatttttttt!!!”
“Altered! Altered!”
“Lesvahl! Lesvahl!”

At this range, even if Lady Alfe set up another circle, I wouldn’t have the space to dash through it. Lady Farah’s twin swords began pressing in, steadily hemming me in. It wasn’t a barrage of fierce strikes, but I couldn’t afford to relax. She was probing for the means to bring Altered down. Cutting off Lemures’ support with melee pressure was only her first step.

“Nya-ha. Since you can’t use your dominant arm, your attacks are fewer.”

All I had left were my left arm and both legs. Using Altered’s head wasn’t exactly realistic.

“Could this be the damage to the right arm showing its effectttt!?? Altered is on the defensivvvve!! Being driven back, little by little!!”

At my feet, the water Lady Alfe had summoned rippled and splashed. Using the spray for a diversion, like Numelin’s sand attacks, would probably be meaningless. Lady Farah would see through every drop. She could easily knock aside my kicking leg with her twin swords—or sweep away my pivot leg. I truly couldn’t move carelessly now.

At this distance, there were no blind spots. Even as I closed in, Lesvahl’s viewing board surely had a perfect read of Altered’s movements.

If I launched an attack and got countered, it would be over. But if I stayed purely on the defensive, I could never win. To win, I simply had to avoid giving her the chance to counter.

“Lady Alfe! Please freeze the water!”
“Oh, that trick won’t work anymore.”

Hearing my voice, Lesvahl leapt almost at the same instant as my preparatory motion. That much was within expectations. In that brief window, Lady Alfe swung Lemures’ magic staff, freezing the water that flooded the grand arena.

“Unbelievableeeeee!!! The waterlogged Colosseum has suddenly turned into an ice skaaating rinkkkkkk!! Once again, a chantless spell has explooooded forthhhhhh!!!”

Both Altered and Lesvahl landed, their impact shattering the frozen arena floor into jagged cracks. Lady Alfe had deliberately not frozen all of it.

“What—!?”

The unforeseen turn threw Lesvahl off balance. This—this was the opening I had been waiting for.

“Haaaahhhhhh!!!”

Pivoting on Altered’s left leg, I launched a thrusting kick with the right.

“It’s herrrrre!!! Altered’s ferocious assault!! A blinding flurry of hundred-fold kicks explooooding forthhhhhh!!!”

I knew Lady Farah would block with her twin swords. She would never allow me to gain distance. That was why I kept shifting the striking points up, down, left, right—aiming only at the blind spots her blades could not reach.

“Nyaha! Not bad!”

Lady Farah looked positively delighted. With her Magic Eyes, she could read every attack. Unless something utterly unpredictable came at her, she would never be caught off guard.

“And Altered shows no sign of stoppinggggg!! What staminaaaaaa!!! And all of it—every last strike—is being blocked by Lesvaaaaaaahl’s twin swordssssss!! Incredibleeee!!! What an astounding duel between these two mechs before our very eyessssss!!!”

The impact of my kicks drove Lady Farah’s Lesvahl back step by step. On the treacherous ice, where no footing was secure, I felt fissures spiderwebbing deeper and deeper through the arena floor.

“Unya!?”

Lesvahl’s leg was caught in a large fissure, opening the slightest gap between it and Altered. At this distance—

I brought Altered’s legs together, dropped into a crouch, and lunged forward, slamming shoulder-first into Lesvahl’s back.

“As I thought you would!”

*—It had been read!*

Lesvahl flared its thrusters in a short burst, slipping away across the ice.

There was no time to hesitate. I had to unleash the next strike immediately.

“Oooohhh! Did Altered just lose its balance!?”

It hadn’t lost balance. I had lowered Altered’s stance, switching into a sweeping kick. The moment my leg scythed across the ground, Lesvahl leapt upward.

“Not yet!”

I drove Altered’s remaining left arm into the ice and fired its thruster, launching myself upward in pursuit. I swung down a crushing heel kick.

“Hom!!!!”

Lady Farah’s voice reached me for just an instant. One of Lesvahl’s twin blades, struck by my kick, snapped apart.

Using the broken sword as a foothold, I kicked off and tried to widen the distance. Lady Farah, of course, would not let me escape.

“This is my win, Hom!”

Her voice brimmed with certainty. The power to read every move, the skill to command her mecha soldier—she was not someone I could defeat alone.

“Altered in huge troubleeee!! A maaaassiveeee, MASSIIIIIVE CRISIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!!!”

Lady Farah shifted into a stance ready to intercept me. It was a gesture of respect, too. She, too, had grown stronger in those days we had spent pushing each other to greater heights.

*—And I felt joy.*

A strange sensation. More joy than fear.

I was happy. At this moment, nothing frightened me—because I had a dependable comrade at my side.

“Lady Alfe, now!!”

Even if I were to be shot down here, I had no regrets. I had placed my faith in Lady Alfe, entrusting everything to her strike.

“Meowhat!?”
“O thunder, spear of violet lightning, pierce mine enemy! Lightning Phalanx!”

Lady Alfe’s chant rang out like words of salvation. The lightning magic she unleashed rained down like countless spears, surging toward Lady Farah’s Lesvahl without leaving the slightest gap.

“Here it isssss!!! A devastating barraggggeee!!! Lesvahl has no escapeee!!! This is—this is utterlyyyy—UNAVOIDABLEEEEEEEEE!!!!”

If every move was being read, then the answer was to overwhelm her with an attack beyond evasion. Lady Alfe’s wide-ranged Lightning Phalanx was utterly impossible to dodge.

“You’ve gotta be kidding meeee!!!”

And yet, that was what made Lady Farah who she was—she never ceased her evasive maneuvers, no matter how hopeless. But her movements gradually slowed, until finally Lesvahl fell silent.

“Direct hit by the thunder spellllll!!! Lesvahl is completely disableddddd!!! By judgment of a shoot-down—Reinforce has seized ittttt!!! An upset!! A glorious, come-from-behind VICTORYYYYYYYYY!!!!”¹　

The declaration of victory echoed across the arena. The ice beneath my feet cracked apart, and for a fleeting moment it felt as though the unit was sinking—then glittering shards of ice floated up into the air.

“Congrats, Hom.”

Ah… that was Lady Alfe’s blessing to me. Even though it was thanks to her that we had won, how kind she was to share the moment with me.

“Congratulations to you as well, Lady Alfe.”

Joy welled up inside me, so strong my eyes burned with heat. This was a victory our team—bound firmly together by Master—has won with its own strength.