Chapter 47: Nero's [Floating Sword] 'Fragarach'

“That’s the additional armament, right?”

“Probably… Are those Nero’s [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’?”

“They have quite an unusual shape, don’t they…”

Sherry, Carrol, and Lirisha voiced such impressions one after another while looking at Nero’s Lucifer displayed on the video monitor.

Beside Lucifer standing on the snowfield, there are two small objects spinning kuru-kuru.

They are based on a hexagon, shaped almost like snowflakes. Combined with this snowy landscape and the silver coloring, it creates a rather fantastical atmosphere.

“Is that shape a striking type [Floating Sword] ‘Fragarach’…?”

“If it’s a striking type, it looks a bit light~. Don’t tell me it’s a self-destruct type~?”

Sana and Sharon also formulated their own predictions looking at Nero’s [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’. Zelda was looking at the video monitor as if observing intently.

“Are those the [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’ Lara made?”

“Yes. Borrowing the power of senior acquaintances, I completed it super-express. It’s the versatile [Floating Sword] ‘Fragarach’, ‘Asterisk’!”

“…Versatile?”

At Lara’s smug declaration, everyone present formed questioning expressions, thinking, ‘Isn’t that an exaggeration?’.

However, Lara treated such reactions as if they were the wind blowing somewhere else, her gaze directed at Lucifer on the screen.

And finally, the referee’s voice commencing the match flowed from the video monitor, and the two confronting Frame Gears began to move in the snowfield.

◇　◇　◇

“Go! ‘Asterisk’!”

I fired the Asterisks floating on my left and right toward Pearl’s black machine, Aegis.

The hexagonal snowflakes rotated with a roar, flying straight at Aegis.

One headed for its neck, but this was blocked by the shield. And the other completely missed the machine, flying off behind the opponent.

Kuh, faster than I thought! Well, that’s a good thing, though!

I manipulated the strayed Asterisk, sending it toward Aegis again. Simultaneously, I fully opened Lucifer’s thrusters and drew the two Kodachi sheathed on its back with both hands.

First, a downward slash from the right. This was blocked by the shield. Next, a horizontal sweep from the left. This too was stopped by the Assault Lance.

Up to here is within expectations. As if pressing the attack, the two Asterisks I controlled attacked from behind. She won’t be able to dodge this.

“Wha…!”

Suddenly, the sound of metal clashing consecutively gagan! echoed, and the Asterisks were repelled.

To my surprise, the shield equipped on Aegis’s back, which I thought was a spare, floated into the air and repelled both of my Asterisks.

Wait a minute?! Is that a [Floating Sword] ‘Fragarach’?! A shield-type [Floating Sword] ‘Fragarach’?!

『Manipulating just one [Floating Sword] ‘Fragarach’ is not difficult.』

At the voice heard from Aegis, I, who hadn’t anticipated that, cursed my own carelessness.

That’s right, why did I think I was the only one who could use [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’? There was plenty of possibility the other side would use one too!

But there’s only one shield. Then I’ll compete with numbers!

“Asterisk, [Barrel Mode]!”

At my voice code, short gun barrels folded inside the hexagons stood up, and six muzzles pointed at Aegis.

The Asterisks began to spin kuru-kuru, taking aim at Aegis.

“Fire!”

Magic bullets were fired from the Asterisks like gatling guns with a barararararararat! sound.

Since they aren’t live ammunition, they don’t have that much power, but with my magic capacity, I can fire a decent amount of shots.

『Kuh.』

Aegis readied its shield to protect its upper body. It blocked the attack of the other Asterisk that had circled to the opposite side with the shield [Floating Sword] ‘Fragarach’.

Is that okay? Devoting completely to defense…!

I temporarily stopped the Asterisks’ attacks and charged Lucifer toward Aegis, which was entirely on the defensive.

Slipping past Aegis’s defense, Lucifer’s Kodachi hit its flank. It shaved off a part of the armor.

Damn, tough as expected! It’s not doing decent damage…!

I deactivated Barrel Mode and returned the two Asterisks, docking them on both of Lucifer’s hips.

Exactly three seconds. Having replenished magic power from the machine, the Asterisks floated into the air again.

The rapid consumption of magic power is the drawback of Barrel Mode…

Not missing the opening when my attacks stopped, Aegis rushed toward me.

Hah! Slow, slow! Such an attack is easily dodg…

With a don! raising a cloud of snow, Aegis suddenly accelerated. The sudden sharp acceleration delayed my reaction for an instant. I couldn’t see it because of the shield, but did it have acceleration thrusters equipped on its back?!

I fired the suspension verniers to perform a sudden evasion, but the tip of Aegis’s thrust-out Assault Lance grazed the main wing of the thruster on Lucifer’s backpack, chipping a part of it.

Bad! The main and tail wings on the backpack are necessary parts for accelerating over long distances, including [Zero Gravity].

With this broken, I can’t generate stable charging power.

Kuh… Maybe I need a function to fold them during normal times…! I’ll consult Lara after the match.

While I was worrying about that while taking distance from Aegis, the round shield, spinning, flew rapidly from the side as if to decapitate Lucifer.

“Kuh…! Asterisk, [Shield Mode]!”

The two Asterisks flying around me expanded invisible hexagonal shields from their centers, repelling the incoming round shield [Floating Sword] ‘Fragarach’.

This is Asterisk’s third form, [Shield Mode].

By imparting my Null Magic [Shield], they can also be used as shields.

Lara named this Asterisk a ‘Versatile Type’, but originally this falls under the ‘Transforming Type’.

Normally, a ‘Transforming Type’ would have inferior durability due to the extra gimmicks attached, becoming something that gets destroyed by a little damage. However, in Asterisk’s case, because my [Shield] is constantly deployed, its defensive power is also quite high, so it doesn’t break that easily.

Utilizing the hard [Shield], they can be used as striking type [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’, or by transforming the [Shield] to be thin and sharp, they can be used as weapon type [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’ for thrusting.

In that sense, Lara calling it ‘Versatile Type’ might not be entirely off the mark.

Having its shield [Floating Sword] ‘Fragarach’ repelled, Aegis stopped moving as if surprised.

『Invisible shield…! That’s nice…!』

“I won’t let you!”

Closing in on Aegis, I swung the Kodachi in my hand. Simultaneously, I erased the Asterisk shields and directed them at Aegis, but they were stopped by the opponent’s shield [Floating Sword] ‘Fragarach’.

Even though I have two [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’, the target is always Aegis’s main body. So since they know where the attacks will come, they anticipate and repel them.

The swung-down Kodachi was also stopped by the shield Aegis held, and conversely, I was kept in check by the Assault Lance pointed at me.

Damn, I knew it, but it’s tough!

No matter where I attack, it gets blocked or repelled. Even if it gets through, it doesn’t do that much damage. This might become a prolonged battle…

However, because Lucifer has low durability, it’s not suited for prolonged battles. This is quite disadvantageous.

If the other side lands even one good hit, the paper-armored Lucifer will quickly be forced into function cessation.

If there’s a way to break through… there’s ‘that technique’ I came up with after discussing with Lara, but…

All or nothing…! Let’s try it!

I pulled the [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’ back to my waist again, taking distance from Aegis while replenishing magic power.

I readied the right Kodachi in front, laying the tip flat.

The flat thrust taught by Sana-senpai. Originally a technique for aiming at the gaps in armor when fighting an opponent wearing it.

That technique works on Frame Gears too.

“Here I go, Lucifer. [Zero Gravity]!”

I made Lucifer, whose weight was reduced close to zero, charge with thrusters fully open.

Lucifer was launched like an arrow at super-speed, but due to the damage to the main wing earlier, the aim couldn’t settle well.

Because of that, the speed dropped slightly, and Aegis’s readied shield made it in time to the aimed neck area… but that was exactly my aim.

“Right here…! [Zero Gravity] deactivated!”

I can’t use [Gravity] well to increase weight. However, I can deactivate what I lightened with [Gravity].

What if the weight of Lucifer, lightened and accelerated to the limit by [Zero Gravity], suddenly returned?

It’s like a rubber ball thrown with all one’s might suddenly turning into an iron ball.

“Take this! [Zero Impact]!”

『?!』

Taking the strike from Lucifer which had returned to its original weight, Aegis was blown backward along with its shield.

At the same time, the Kodachi I held in my right hand shattered into pieces.

Uwaa, even though Sana-senpai kindly gave it to me! I guess it really couldn’t withstand the impact of [Zero Impact]…

Glancing at the damage monitor in the cockpit to check the machine’s state, my right wrist is also damaged by about 30%. Nuguu, I should have reinforced just the wrist here…

Due to the load of [Zero Gravity], my whole body has taken decent damage too. But I can still keep going with this much. I only used it for a few seconds.

Returning my eyes to the main monitor, I saw Aegis, which had been blown away, stand up from the cloud of snow.

The round shield in its left hand is crushed and gouged out by about two-thirds. That probably won’t be usable anymore. It was worth sacrificing one Kodachi.

Well, it still has the shield it’s using as a [Floating Sword] ‘Fragarach’, so it won’t be that easy… Huh?

Aegis discarded the unusable shield, and took the sub-weapon Iron Hammer from its back waist into its left hand.

Huh? Looking closely, that’s not an Iron Hammer…?

Something like a handle, or a lever…

『Disarm, [Shieldify Escudo]』

Just as Pearl’s voice echoed from Aegis, the armor on the machine’s shoulders and waist detached, scattered into the air, and successively combined with the Iron Hammer held in its left hand, transforming it into a massive black shield.

Wait a minute?! Is that allowed?!