Chapter 26: Seniors' Battle

『Here I go~!』

With a strangely relaxed voice, spike-like objects were fired all at once from the round shields on [Wandia]’s shoulders. Missiles? No, those are…!

“Those are [Floating Gun Turrets] ‘Gunslingers’, huh.”

Beside me, the boy named Keel murmured while looking at the screen. Hovering in the air, the [Floating Gun Turrets] ‘Gunslingers’ drifted around [Wandia] as if standing guard. On the opposite side of the spike shape, the muzzle of a Spell Caster was attached. The system is probably the same as the [Floating Sword] ‘Fragarach’, but one, two, three, four… how many are flying out there?! Six from one side alone, so that’s like flying twelve [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’?! Can she control that many?

『Do it~!』

Again with a relaxed voice, the twelve [Floating Gun Turrets] ‘Gunslingers’ flew toward the approaching Cavalry units. The [Floating Gun Turrets] ‘Gunslingers’ circled into the Cavalry units’ blind spots and unleashed gunfire from the Spell Casters. Against magical gunfire coming from various angles, the Cavalry units were unable to defend themselves. The power of the [Floating Gun Turrets] ‘Gunslingers’ isn’t that high, so they can’t finish an opponent in one hit, but hitting them multiple times should be enough to take them down. Even so…

“Her accuracy has dropped. I guess even for Sharon, controlling twelve [Floating Gun Turrets] ‘Gunslingers’ is tough.”

Principal Quun analyzed the situation while watching the screen. Is that so? Come to think of it, Carrol mentioned that the [Witch of the Blue Storm] controls seven [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’. So she’s controlling five more than usual. No wonder she lacks her usual brilliance. Indeed, looking closely, she’s missing quite a bit. Rather than each unit moving independently, it feels like they are moving in groups of two or three, showering concentrated fire simultaneously. Still, the number of Cavalry units is steadily decreasing. However, there are some precarious moments too. I could spot scenes here and there where she hurriedly shot down Cavalry units that had slipped through the rain of fire from the [Floating Gun Turrets] ‘Gunslingers’. Ah, another one got through. This time the [Floating Gun Turrets] ‘Gunslingers’ won’t make it in time. Will she get hit? In the next instant, the Cavalry unit that swung its sword down at [Wandia] was blown backward as if repelled by something. Looking closely, ripple-like light was emitting from the round shields on both shoulders.

“What is that…?”

“That’s a [Force Shield]. It can block physical attacks with a gravitational field created by magic. It consumes a tremendous amount of magic power, so it can’t be deployed constantly, and its strength is unstable as it depends on the user’s magic power.”

Something like the Null Magic [Shield]? If she has something like that, long-range attacks won’t work either… The [Floating Gun Turrets] ‘Gunslingers’ focused their fire on the repelled Cavalry unit and took it down. Even though the enemy wasn’t moving, a few shots missed. I guess controlling twelve [Floating Gun Turrets] ‘Gunslingers’ really is difficult… If those could move independently and freely, aiming precisely at weak points, the match would be decided in an instant. Assuming I had to fight her, how could I win? Fortify defense and charge… no, maybe move faster than those things? In the end, a turret is just a turret. Whatever it shoots won’t necessarily hit. Unless it’s point-blank range, there’s a slight time lag between firing and reaching the machine. I just have to dodge during that time. Constantly confuse her with unpredictable movements, close in, and land a critical hit. Is that it? Well, whether I can actually do it is doubtful, though. Although there were some shaky moments, Sharon-senpai somehow managed to annihilate the group of Cavalry. The outer wall of the Frame Unit returned to transparency, the front hatch opened, and Sharon-senpai climbed down.

“Good work. Seems you struggled quite a bit.”

“No, no~, twelve is impossible, you know~.”

Sharon-senpai pouted and retorted to Principal Quun’s words. Well, it’s understandable she’d want to say that.

“Oh really? I heard Father flew twelve [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’ freely on his first try. And right after that, he manipulated forty-eight [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’ like meteors.”

“Fo… forty…?!”

At Principal Quun’s words, all of us were left speechless. Twelve is already ridiculous, but forty-eight…?! The First Sovereign King really is a monster…!

“You didn’t use magic, did you?”

” ‘Urd’ said we could do it without magic, so I didn’t use it~.”

Hmm. Does that mean Sharon-senpai wasn’t going all out? If she had used ‘Gear Spells’, maybe she would have finished it faster. While I was groaning internally, Rosetta-san called out.

“Synchronization with [Swordia] is complete-desu. We can go anytime-desu.”

“Then next is Zelda.”

“Yes.”

Oh, next is Zelda-senpai. Let me see the [Sword Empress]’s fighting style up close. Zelda-senpai spoke with the pseudo-personality installed in [Swordia] for a while, but the pseudo-personality’s tone sounds different from the one Sharon-senpai had earlier. Does it change to match the rider?

“We have the pseudo-personalities ‘Urd’ for [Wandia], ‘Verdandi’ for [Swordia], and ‘Skuld’ for [Windia] assigned to them. This part-time job includes encouraging their growth, so please talk to them a lot.”

“Growth of pseudo-personalities?”

“Just like how Golems with personalities are, talking with people allows pseudo-personalities to develop their own individuality. Depending on that individuality, various types of Golems are born. If those pseudo-personalities grow, I think we’ll be able to install them into more suitable Frame Gears.”

Seeing me tilt my head at the Principal’s words, the boy Kou Shirogane from the ‘School’ explained it to me. Umm, so that means these pseudo-personalities weren’t made for this machine, but are being raised to be used in future machines…?

“Well, that’s the gist of it. Though I’m not the one making them.”

“Ah… is it the Doctors?”

“Right. They pushed it onto me saying ‘since you’re at it’.”

Doctors? I don’t really get it, but it seems the developer of the pseudo-personalities is someone else.

“Or rather, you’re quite knowledgeable, aren’t you?”

“Uh… well, I have an acquaintance who is very knowledgeable about such things…”

Kou averted his eyes and gave that reply. Hmmm, this guy is suspicious… Like he’s hiding something, or rather, he’s strangely calm. He seems close with the Principal too… Is he a rich kid from a high-ranking noble family? Maybe a son of a feudal lord from Eashen…

“Launching [Swordia].”

The outer wall of the Frame Unit carrying Zelda-senpai clouded over, and [Swordia] appeared on the large floating screen.

“A desert stage, huh.”

“This looks tough. If you’re careless, you’ll get bogged down in the sand.”

Keel and Kou were having that conversation while watching the screen. [Swordia] stood in the desert. Further in front of it, just like before, dozens of Cavalry units were lined up. No? Aren’t they slightly different from regular Cavalry units…?

“Huh~? Isn’t it cheating for only them to have desert specifications~?”

“It’s an experimental test including that, so it’s not cheating.”

The Principal lightly brushed off Sharon-senpai’s protest. I see, Desert Type Cavalry units. Looking closely, their feet were slightly larger, joints had dust-proof treatment, and filters seemed to be attached to the air intakes.

『Here I go.』

The daggers on [Swordia]’s legs detached and floated in the air. Are those [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’? Furthermore, she drew the two swords at her waist, four blades glinting in the scorching sun. She slashed the leading Cavalry unit charging at her diagonally with the sword in her right hand, and in that opening, pierced the cockpit of another attacking Cavalry unit with the sword in her left hand with precision. The [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’ kept approaching machines in check, preventing her from being surrounded. Meanwhile, [Swordia] kept moving, taking down the oncoming Cavalry units one after another.

“The brilliance of the [Sword Empress]’s technique hasn’t changed.”

“She beat us single-handedly in last year’s inter-school match. I want to get revenge somehow this year.”

Inter-school match… the competition between the ‘School’ and the ‘Academy’ that happens in summer. I heard Zelda-senpai participated last year as a second-year and played a huge role. Only the top twelve first-years, including reserves, can participate. Currently, I am within those twelve among the first-years. But that ranking was a lucky break because that Dread woman was an idiot; from now on, it will shift to a ranking based on true ability. I have to cling to the top ranks no matter what. To do that, I must learn more from the fighting styles of those ranked even higher. I returned my attention to [Swordia], which was defeating Cavalry units one after another with efficient movements. The movement is just amazing. She’s dashing through with exquisite balance even though it’s on sand. The [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’ were providing support so accurately it was like she had eyes in the back of her head. Is she flying those on instinct? Or can she really see? Her swordplay is also incredible. Slash up, slash down, thrust, kick away. Every movement is fast. And all of it is accurate. That’s not a Clock Frame, right? Suddenly, [Swordia] tossed the two swords it held in its hands straight up. Eh? What is she…?! Without pausing, she grabbed the greatsword on her back, spinning it around her shoulder as a fulcrum, and gripped it with both hands. Then, with a single horizontal flash of the greatsword, she cut several attacking Cavalry units in half, top and bottom. Immediately returning the greatsword to her back, she caught the two falling swords in her hands and began slashing at the Cavalry units again. What was that?! How can she do something like that?! Before I knew it, only [Swordia] was left standing in the desert. Annihilation in the blink of an eye. I mean, whether it was helpful or completely unhelpful is…

“Good work. Doesn’t seem like there are any problems.”

“It was a machine similar to Astraea, so not particularly. Conversely, the response was too good, so there were times my senses felt off. I think I’ll be fine once I get used to it.”

The hatch of the Frame Unit opened, and Zelda-senpai came down without a single drop of sweat. As expected of Rank 1… She’s no joke…!

“Now then, next is Nero’s turn.”

“Yessir.”

Urged by the Principal, I entered the transparent Frame Unit. When I sat on the large seat, it automatically shrank to match my size. Ooh… it fits quite snugly. When I lightly flowed magic power, machine data and equipment were displayed on the visual panel of the outer shell.

『Nice to meet you, Nero-san. I am the pseudo-personality “Skuld,” here to support you. Let’s do our best.』

A voice of a girl slightly older than me flowed from the speaker next to the seat. Is this the pseudo-personality in charge of this [Windia]?

“Nice to meet you, Skuld. For now, can I ask for a brief explanation of this machine?”

『Understood. First, this [Windia] is capable of high-speed movement due to the main thrusters on its back. Also, by using magic power…』

While listening to Skuld’s explanation, I pondered how I would fight with this machine.