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nVolume 4 Chapter 15 Nightmare

nA nightmare had appeared for the Berkley family.

n“You can’t beat me with cheap knock-offs of Avid you fake bastards~!!!”

nThe black aircraft decorated with gold had large shields mounted on both of its shoulders.

nThe unusually large aircraft grabbed one of the Berkley family’s special mobile knights in its hand, using it as a shield as it charged towards a battleship– breaking straight through it.

nThe allied machine was destroyed.

nBut Avid was unscathed.

nWith the battleship exploding right behind it, Avid threw away what remained of the large aircraft like the garbage it now was.

nDolph’s eyebrows furrowed at the sight.

n“So that’s the rumoured Avid?”

nThe new aircrafts from the First Weapons Factory didn’t stand a chance against it.

nAnd on top of that, Liam was piloting it– a person considered an ace even among the best of knights.

nHe was one of the few people who could actually bring out Avid’s performance to its limits.

nDolph proceed to give out orders as the ship shook.

n“Surround him and shoot him down!”

n“I-it’s no good. Our allied aircrafts… aren’t able to keep up with it.”

nAnother video appeared in front of Dolph, showcasing a mobile knight wielding a large hatchet-like weapon in both its hands as it decimated his allies.

nIt moved violently, while a beastly battle cry could be heard in the background.

n“YOU’RE IN MY WAY–!!!”

nBoth the ordinary mobile knights and the special models were scrapped one after another.

n“Shit!”

nDolph wracked his brain on how to handle this situation, but unfortunately, the problem wasn’t going to just let him do that.

n“Enemy aircraft incoming!”

nUpon hearing the sorrowful screams of the operator, Avid violently landed on Dolph’s flagship.

nPart of the ship’s armour was stripped bare, air and various liquids spouting from the gap.

nDolph moved to the front of the bridge, and took in the image of Avid wielding it’s large sword.

n“LIAMMM!!!”

nWith hatred swelling in his heart, the surrounding debris of the destroyed battleships and mobile knights gathered on his flagship.

nWildly attaching themselves to it, eventually they started to take the shape of the upper half of a giant mobile knight.

n“W-what’s happening?!”

nDolph was confused, but the guide standing next to him had a bitter expression on his face.

nHis teeth were clenched, blood was dripping from the edge of his mouth, and he was grasping at his chest.

n“…why won’t you just die already?! Why must you… torment me so?!”

nLiam’s feelings of gratitude were increasing.

nNo, Liam has always been grateful, but the power of it for some reason felt amplified this time, bringing the guide severe pain.

nSqueezing out all he could muster, the guide resolved himself to crush Liam no matter what.

nAs Avid backed away from the flagship, he spread his arms out.

n“So you still had a hidden ace up your sleeve! –looks like it’s finally time for me to use ‘that’!”

nHe seemed happy for some reason.

nDolph and the guide’s voices were one.

n“LIAM, YOU BASTAAAARD!!!”

nManifesting within the guide’s hand was an object in the shape of a heart.

nPressing it against the flagship’s operation panel, cords stretched out of it and started corrupting the machinery.

nThey looked like blood vessels as they spread out, pulsating all the while.

n“With this… you’ll definitely-!!!

nIt was an ancient artifact he found while he was traveling around.

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nWhen the giant mobile knight opened its mouth and roared, the ship began to shake erratically.

n◇ ◇ ◇

nApparently, the Berkley family still had a trump card on them.

nAssimilating the surrounding battleships and aircrafts, they had turned their flagship into a giant mobile knight.

nEven if it was only the upper half of one, it was ridiculously large– the biggest target I’ve ever seen.

n“Last time I couldn’t go all out, so it was an incomplete testrun. Avid… it’s finally time to show what happens when we’re serious.”

nTouching the operation panel, a sound resounded out.

n“–connected.”

nAfter the short electronic message, a large magic circle appeared on Avid’s back.

nFrom there a giant battleship manifested itself.

nNo– Avid’s true body had appeared.

nWhat I was using right now was nothing but the core.

nThere was an idea that the Seventh Weapons Factory had given up on before.

nThey simply wanted to make a mobile knight with the performance and specs of a battleship.

nOr should they make a battleship with the versatility of a mobile knight?

nAfter that, they came up with the idea of combining an unmanned battleship with a mobile knight– and of course, that proposal was obviously rejected.

nIt’s no wonder.

nThat idea was too wasteful.

nBut you see, I was a man who loved wasteful things.

nCords extended from the magic circle towards Avid, energy flowing in with each part attached.

nIt wasn’t just weapons that were housed in Avid magic storage space.

nThe rest of Avid itself was there.

nAvid was then sucked into the battleship that had manifested from the magic circle.

nStoring Avid into its center, the battleship transformed and changed itself into a humanoid.

nSo wasteful. This was an overwhelmingly wasteful function.

n“How is it?! This is a weapon created from the blood taxes squeezed from my territory!”

nThe monster in front of me was probably created from an artifact similar to my alchemy box.

nBut it was useless.

nI’ve been vainly searching for ways to increase my power.

nAs a result, I had arrived at the extremity of wastefulness– transforming a vessel into a humanoid form, creating a mobile knight with the full power and specs of a battleship.

nThe enemy might’ve been a little bigger, but I didn’t care about that at all.

nI mean, the Seventh Weapons Factory was full of idiots who loved to make things like this.

nA battle between super huge mobile knights.

nI’ve always wanted to experience this at least once!

n“Avid, let’s show them your full power!”

nAs I grabbed the control stick like a new toy and stepped on the foot pedal, Avid seemed to roar in agreeance.

nIt might’ve just been the vibration from the engine or power reactor, but this was a matter of feelings.

nAvid’s giant arm collided with the enemy’s arm– smashing it into smithereens.

n“How’s that?! All of this was created using rare metals! A lump of second-class metals like that could never beat us!”

nAfter destroying and tearing off one of the enemy’s arms, the surrounding debris started to gather together to restore it.

n“So it has a restoration function? –then it should try its best to entertain me.”

nThen that meant this was my chance to try out everything I could.

nThere were a lot of things I wanted to experiment using.

nAvid’s cannons began firing at the enemy, gradually wearing away at their surface layer.

nI’d peel parts of it off, blowing other parts away– those parts would then restore themselves, and the process would repeat.

n“It’s useless.”

nThe enemy rampaged and tried to swing its arm at me, but a large blade emerged from Avid’s hand and slashed it off.

nUnfortunately, it was impossible to reproduce the One-Flash like this.

nThere was also the fact that it seemed to restore cuts easier.

n“Missiles.”

nAfter launching missiles from various parts, the enemy was shrouded in a cascade of explosions.

nEven so, it amazingly continued to restore itself even after that.

n“That ability of yours to collect trash is interesting, I want it.”

nAvid’s chest opened up and a bright light started to build up in the center of it.

n“A main gun holding a ridiculous amount of power is a man’s romance. –don’t you think so as well?”

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nFiring the main gun at the enemy that didn’t answer me, the surroundings were enveloped by light.

nThe think light burst through the enemy, burning it out faster than it could restore itself.

nIt tried reaching its arms out in protection, but those were burned away as well.

n“You’re done for!”

nSeeing the enemy gradually fall apart while unable to sustain itself was really satisfying.

n“If I just wanted to shoot the main gun, there’s no real point doing so in human form.”

nI was just restating the obvious.

nBut useless features were awesome.

nI expanded Avid’s visual feed.

nThere, the image of the enemy’s flagship emerged.

nIt was beaten and tattered, not likely able to move anymore.

n“…they sure are troublesome.”

nI directed Avid’s hand to grab the flagship’s bridge.

n“Lord Liam, the enemy has begun to withdraw.”

nJust when I was about to crush it, I froze after hearing Tia’s message.

n“So we finished this battle following the textbook examples then?”

n“I think fighting like a champion suits you far better, Lord Liam.”

n“The flattery is nice, but since we’re already doing it, why don’t we just follow the textbook this time? All forces are to charge. Don’t let a single one get away.”

nIt would be annoying if any escaped and started resisting, so I’ve decided to thoroughly crush the Berkley family.

nHowever, their family tree was large.

nThere’s no way I’ve gotten them all with just this battle.

n–considering how I wanted to kill them all to the last man, I couldn’t help but lament how troublesome this was going to be.

n◇ ◇ ◇

nFalling to the floor on his back, Dolph laughed as blood spilled from his mouth.

nBlood was flowing from an abdomen wound he was pressing his hand against.

n“…so I was right afterall.”

nDespite losing, Dolph happily burst into laughter after hearing the conversation between Liam and Tia.

n“I knew assault tactics were utter nonsense. Defense oriented maneuvers are better, since those are only effective after the enemy formation has already collapsed! You may have won Liam, but at the same time you’re practically admitting your mistake!”

nAssault tactics had lost.

nDolph knew he was right, he had believed this ever since the simulator battle back when they were still cadets.

nStaring at the looming ceiling above him, Dolph continued to laugh as Avid’s hand moved to crush the bridge.

n“I WASN’T WRONG!!!”

n◇ ◇ ◇

nFrom outer space, the guide silently watched as Dolph got squeezed to death by Avid’s hand.

nGripping the brim of his hat with both his hands, he was trembling.

n“How am I supposed to win?! How the hell am I supposed to defeat you, Liam?!”

nHe had done everything he could.

nHe had even used his trump card.

nHowever, it was all for nought.

nAt that moment, Avid collected the heart-shaped device that was drifting in space.

n“Oh, this thing gives off a somewhat different feeling. Should I try showing it to Brian?”

nLiam was in good spirits.

nThe over three hundred thousand ships of the Berkley armada were scattered by the Banfield fleet’s assault.

nBeing chased down by the regular army, they were easily sunk without much effort.

nAnd as for those of them who tried to surrender– they were mercilessly shot down.

nThe guide reached out towards Liam– who was still in good spirits.

n“LIAMMM!!!”

nBlack smoke shot out towards Liam, but it couldn’t reach him.

nHe seemed to be protected by something invisible.

n“Wait, that’s it!”

nThe guide immediately started searching for something.

nIt wasn’t the eldest son of the Berkley family who tried to flee but was caught.

nAll the other people were useless as well.

nThe guide finally found them while he was clenching his teeth.

n“Yes, there’s still one person here who can overturn this situation!”

nIt was someone stationed right by Liam’s side.

n–Eulisia.

n“For the revenge you’ve sworn to enact against Liam, I’ll give you all the power I have!”

nThe guide shared his power with Eulisia.

n“Go out there and stab him already!”

n◇ ◇ ◇

n–After hearing the results of the war, Cashmiro had a burnt-out expression on his face.

n“So we lost?”

nIt was their complete defeat.

nThe son who had entered to give a report was pale.

n“Father, things are only going to get worse if we don’t run away! Although the regular fleets have withdrawn, the Banfield house’s army is heading our way! If we don’t escape quickly, we’ll be killed!”

nWhen his eldest son was captured and presented to Liam, he was immediately executed on the spot.

nLiam was serious about this.

nHe had absolutely no intention to negotiate.

n“Contact the imperial capital. We need the Empire to act as mediators.”

nThey were still guaranteed to lose a lot, but it was better than nothing.

nJust when he had decided so, a communication monitor opened up.

nBut it wasn’t just one.

nSeveral more followed right after.

n“T-the hell?!”

nIn front of the panicked Cashmiro were multiple lords of the imperial nobility.

nHowever, it wasn’t the people that he usually made deals with.

nOne of them– a man who had his grey hair slicked back, called out to him cheerfully.

n“Hello, master of the Pirate Nobles. How about that economy, huh?”

nAnother one– a man with a muscular build and wearing an eyepatch, scoffed at Cashmiro in a disdainful manner,

n“The pirates have recently been incited to attack us. Now Cashmiro, would a bastard like you know anything about that?”

nAll of them were lords that were Cashmiro’s enemies, the ones who chose to support Liam.

nThey might look a little rough, but they were all prime examples of what imperial nobles should be like.

nAmong them was Baron Exner.

n“Baron Berkley. Your companions have told me that you instructed them to attack us.”

nThe aristocrats who sided with Cashmiro were their opponents.

nBut when they heard that Liam was the victor– they all immediately surrendered.

nThe eyepatched man crossed his arms.

n“It was really refreshing to crush them!”

nThe grey-haired man added on,

n“…by the way, how do plan to compensate us for all the damages you’ve caused?”

nBut before Cashmiro could say anything, an alarm resounded throughout the mansion.

nAnd another call came in from one of his subordinates.

n“Lord Cashmiro! T-thirty thousand of the Banfield house’s ships are invading us!”

nOpening a nearby window and looking up at the sky, enough battleships to cover the sky had appeared.

nThey were descending one after another while releasing ground troops.

nThe territory’s interception systems were quickly destroyed, and the land squadrons began to enter the mansion.

nHis son was crying.

n“Father! They’re coming!”

nCashmiro lost all the strength in his legs and collapsed to the floor.

n“…cut off my head. Take it so you can start negotiations with the head of the Banfield house.”

n“U-understood, father.”

nCashmiro’s son took out his gun to shoot him with trembling hands.

nBut that’s when infantry soldiers in powered suits burst into the room.

n“Don’t move! If you resist, no mercy will be shown!”

nIt was a knight who was leading them.

nSeeing the state Cashmiro was in, he immediately kicked armed son away.

nCashmiro was then taken into custody right after.

n“Follow!”

nWhile being violently pulled, Cashmiro called out to the knight,

n“…with the kid– no, I want to begin negotiations with the head of the Banfield house.”

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