Chapter 68: A Bitter Repulse

Clang! Clatter! The golden armor hit the bare rocky ground, making a loud noise.

I thought El Dorado had self-destructed, but my eyes widened when I saw the machine in front of me.

Surprisingly, El Dorado had shed its golden armor, leaving its frame exposed.

“Armor Purge…?!”

From behind my surprised self, the Main-Gauche flew back into El Dorado’s hand with a hyun.

『This is El Dorado’s [Conquista Mode]. Here I go.』

With a hyut sound like cutting wind, El Dorado closed in on me in an instant. Fast?!

I caught the downward slashing short sword with my Kodachi and barely avoided the horizontally sweeping Main-Gauche.

However, under the second and third continuous sword strikes hammered into me, my defense was gradually pushed back.

“Kuh…! Asterisk!”

The Asterisks that had circled behind El Dorado fired a volley of magic bullets. El Dorado dodged them with a sliding motion.

That movement just now…!

Looking closely, there are small wheels attached to the heels of its feet. The same high-speed mobility wheels as the Dragon Knight Dragoon in front of the ‘School’s’ school gates!

The Asterisks continued firing at the fleeing El Dorado.

However, they were unable to capture El Dorado, who moved freely—forward, backward, right, and left. Kuh… Its movements are hard to read…!

It dodged the magic bullets as if it were dancing. It’s nasty because it flies wind blades from wind magic in the intervals.

By purging its armor, its speed might have increased, but its defensive power should have dropped sharply.

If only I can definitely land a single blow… But how?

With that speed, even if I use [Zero Gravity], there’s a risk of being countered. That’s bad. If I mess up, I’ll be heavily damaged.

While worrying, I suddenly remembered the words Lara told me during training. Come to think of it, I was taught an unexpected way to use the Phantom System.

“Let’s give it a try…!”

I increased my speed towards El Dorado. Even if it purged its armor, in terms of acceleration, Lucifer is still superior.

However, in terms of turning a tight radius, the other side has the advantage. It tries to toy with me using movements like sudden stops and sudden turns. I have to stop those movements no matter what.

When I faced El Dorado head-on, taking this as my chance, I activated Phantom and poured a massive amount of magic power into it with all my might. Eat this!

『Wha, so bright…?!』

As a result, due to a secondary effect of Phantom, Lucifer emitted a dazzlingly bright light. Like a flashbang, it seemed to have burned the main camera of El Dorado, who was right in front, pure white for just an instant. Now!

I swung my right Kodachi straight down at the top of El Dorado’s head from the very front. Gotcha! …Eh?

“Wha…?!”

My Kodachi, which I thought would definitely split its head in two, slipped away just before hitting the head, and went down as is to bite into El Dorado’s upper arm.

The biting Kodachi tore right through El Dorado’s unarmored arm, and the severed right arm fell to the ground.

What was that just now?! I looked carefully at El Dorado’s main body, and a defensive membrane of wind was flowing from a crystal near its chest to its head and body surface. Is that it? Was the blade’s trajectory bent by that wind?

Even though it purged its armor, it protected itself with a wind magic defensive membrane, and furthermore, its speed increases due to that wind. How many trump cards does this guy have?

El Dorado retreated using the wheels on its heels. Since it seems to be looking this way, has the burn-in on its main camera already recovered?

『A blinder… To have even prepared a technique like that, aren’t you too shrewd…!』

“I don’t want to hear that from you.”

How many times have I thought I finished him? To be frank, he’s stubborn. He’s the type who definitely survives on the battlefield. That’s probably why he was entrusted with the scout role, though.

『I never thought I’d end up having to use my final trump card. Prepare yourself this time.』

Damn, does he still have something hidden up his sleeve?!

Against El Dorado, who took a step forward, I lowered Lucifer’s hips, Kodachi at the ready, so I could move immediately.

How will you come…!

Suddenly, a massive amount of white smoke was spat out from the air intakes on both of El Dorado’s chests. A smokescreen again?!

No, there’s no way his so-called ‘final trump card’ is just a smokescreen. It might be something dangerous that messes with the operating systems.

I made Lucifer retreat and glared at the swirling smokescreen.

Thinking that blades of wind magic might fly out again like before, I pulled the Asterisks back to my side just in case. In an emergency, I’ll deploy [Shields] to defend.

I stared intently into the smokescreen. Tense time passed by. Just one minute felt like tens of minutes. Having sharpened my nerves that much, I glared into the darkness of the smokescreen to not miss El Dorado’s first move.

Unexpectedly, a wind blew with a hyuu, easily scattering most of the smokescreen. …………Huh?

In the place where the smokescreen had thinned, El Dorado’s figure was gone. All that was left was the severed arm. Eh, where did it go?

I looked around kyoro-kyoro, turning Lucifer’s head, but there was no sign of El Dorado.

When I looked at the search monitor, I saw a red dot moving away at a tremendous speed.

Umm… He, ran away…?

“He ran away?!”

That guy! Even while spouting nonsense like ‘final trump card’, he ran away?! You tricked me?!

For an instant, I thought about using [Zero Gravity] to chase after him and beat him to a pulp, but I somehow held myself back.

My role is gathering information on the enemy camp. Besides, there’s no guarantee this isn’t a trap. If I chase him and end up surrounded by multiple enemy reinforcements, that would be the worst.

Kuh, since I couldn’t defeat him, I didn’t get the map data either. Next time I find him…! No, it’s impossible in that state. He’s definitely going to switch with a reserve.

…In other words, practically, it’s my win!

Forcing myself to believe that, I looked at the search monitor and the red light dot suddenly vanished. Did he go out of search range?

I could see him fleeing all this time, but I wonder if the concealment function was on the golden armor?

He ran away towards the northeast, but I wonder if the ‘Home Base’ is over there…?

“Ah, jeez, it’s all sticky…”

I peeled the Asterisk stuck with birdlime off the ground. It’s not broken, so I can still use it… right? I’ll sprinkle some sand on it just in case to eliminate the adhesiveness.

El Dorado’s purged armor is scattered here and there. Can’t I use this for something… I guess that’s impossible.

“Oh.”

A Round Shield was also lying around. I might be able to use this. With my spoils of war in hand, I wrapped the discarded Hide Cloak around me once more and activated Phantom.

There’s no time. If the sun sets, Phantom will become unusable. Or rather, not unusable, but it will become useless.

I moved Lucifer to a place higher than the middle of the mountain.

The time has come to use the telephoto lens camera handed down from the seniors.

While keeping the machine hidden in the shadow of a rock, I gazed down at the mountain region where reddish-brown rocky surfaces continued.

“Zoom in the main camera, and…”

Hmm, I can’t see anything… It would have been great if I could even find the ‘Home Base’. I guess things aren’t that convenient.

It might be beyond that small hill. I guess I can’t see it from here. Hm?

I can see something. It’s faint, but it’s moving. It only looks like a dot, but when I zoom the camera in, it’s small but unmistakably a Frame Gear. Three of them.

Blue, purple, and white… huh? Blue and purple are clearly visible, but white is the same color system as the rock surface, so it’s hard to distinguish.

Are those three machines heading this way?

“Blue, purple, and white… these guys, huh.”

I checked it against prior information and identified the Frame Gears heading this way and their pilots.

■ Lobelia tel Panaches

・ From the Panaches Kingdom

・ Boarding Machine:

Custom Frame ‘Blau Lanze’

・ Position: ‘Striker’

■ Balanga

・ From the Curiela Kingdom

・ Boarding Machine:

Ritter Frame ‘Brandish’

・ Position: ‘Striker’

■ Tiris Lugit

・ From the Ramissh Theocracy

・ Boarding Machine:

Mystic Frame ‘Lumiere’

・ Position: ‘Freelancer’

Ge. This Lobelia guy in the blue machine is rank number two, isn’t he? The white machine Tiris is number six, and the purple machine Balanga is number nine, huh…

Our members who are heading toward this highway are Rizlet and Hatoba.

This is bad… We’re losing in numbers. With just Rizlet and Hatoba, they’ll probably lose. I have to send at least one more person around.

I called up Carrol’s number from my smartphone’s address book.

『Nero, did something happen?』

“I’ll keep it brief with just the information. On my end, encountered their scout. It turned into a battle, but I repelled him. Damages are minor. On the South route, the ‘School’s’ rank number two, six, and nine are approaching. Please be careful. I will now head to the Central route to reconnoiter. That is all.”

『…Roger. I’ll send Pearl to the South side. I’m counting on you to continue searching just like that.』

I ended the call.

She’s sending Pearl this way, huh. In that case, can they manage somehow? If they can each bring it into a one-on-one…

Rizlet’s Balrog possesses speed on par with a Lightning Frame, so against Ritter or Custom opponents, she should be able to fight advantageously.

Hatoba’s ‘Linddrake’ has power, and I think it can go toe-to-toe with other Customs and Ritters.

The element of concern is the opponent’s Mystic Frame, but if I recall, it was a Light attribute magic type. Can Pearl, who also has Light attribute magic, handle it?

Well, I don’t know if they will end up matched against that opponent, though. If Rizlet or Hatoba clash with a Mystic Frame that uses magic, it might be a bit tough.

Well, it can’t be helped even if I worry. I was lucky enough to repel the opponent’s scout. While I have the time, I must also grasp as much of their information as possible.

As expected, I probably won’t discover things like the ‘Home Base’ or the ‘Crown’, though.

I don’t intend to charge in alone that deeply, either.

Giving a sidelong glance at the opponent’s Frame Gears, which still looked like grains of rice, I decided to head Lucifer towards the next highway.

I wondered if it was okay to turn off Phantom, but there’s no guarantee the Flashy Guy is their only scout. Let’s be doubly careful. As for magic power, it’ll recover if I rest a little.

I also gave Lucifer’s condition a quick check. There’s a little damage on the right ankle… Is it the recoil from when I landed the ‘Heaven-Crushing Heel’? I hope it doesn’t affect me later.

I fully opened the thrusters on the back and headed towards the next reconnaissance point.