Chang Wufei maneuvered his Mobile Suit into a fiery crater, his heart filled with grief and indignation. Three times! This was the third time! How could "Rau Le Creuset" be so despicable!
After the incident at MO-Ⅴ, Wufei had considered the possibility that his opponent might deploy signal flares at the landing site.
However, this time, Wufei was brimming with confidence in his new Mobile Suit, determined to face the enemy head-on—even if he was spotted, it wouldn't matter.
So, when signal flares lit up the sky just moments after landing, Wufei paid them no mind. Even the buried traps beneath the surface—something an experienced pilot like him would naturally detect—didn't faze him.
Perhaps his confidence in the new machine was too great. While Wufei wasn't foolish enough to step into the traps, he planned to ignore them and charge straight for his target.
But the space mines Reid had buried were equipped with close-range automatic targeting systems. That's why they were buried shallowly, making them obvious at a glance. The moment Wufei blatantly ignited his thrusters to take off, he was practically begging to be blown up.
The mines in the ground automatically launched themselves, latching onto Wufei's Mobile Suit before detonating in a chaotic barrage.
At first, Wufei wasn't too concerned. How much explosive could such small mines possibly carry? There was no way they could breach his Mobile Suit's armor.
But the next moment, he regretted that assumption. After the explosions, a flood of green (the color of the adhesive was customizable—Reid had deliberately chosen green) gel-like substance splattered across his machine.
Immediately, alarms blared as the Mobile Suit's joints and attitude control thrusters reported foreign contamination, rendering them immobile.
Wufei had just been about to take off. With the thrusters malfunctioning, his Mobile Suit shot upward like a firework, completely out of control. Left with no choice, he attempted a hard landing while still at a relatively low altitude.
Well, a "hard landing" meant crashing straight down and leaving a crater. At least the new machine was tough, and Wufei himself was fairly resilient.
By now, given how quickly the gel solidified, Wufei had guessed what "Rau Le Creuset" had packed into those mines.
But with all his Mobile Suit's joints locked in place and the attitude thrusters useless, Wufei had no choice but to resort to desperate measures. Using the flamethrower built into the Dragon Fang Extension Arm (this weapon was optional—there was no rule saying the EW version had to remove it), he ignited the surrounding trees and rolled his Mobile Suit into the flames, hoping to burn off the adhesive.
By the time Reid broke through the MD Virgos' defensive line and arrived with the Xia sisters in tow, this was the scene that greeted him.
Reid couldn't help but remark that, whatever else could be said about Chang Wufei, the man was utterly ruthless—especially toward himself.
Rolling his Mobile Suit into the inferno to burn off the adhesive wouldn't damage the machine itself—the Gundarium Alloy of the AC-era Gundams was completely heat-resistant. But this wasn't atmospheric reentry, where the suit would have thermal protection engaged.
To burn away the gel clogging the inner joints and thrusters, thermal protection had to be disabled—otherwise, those critical areas would remain shielded, making the whole effort pointless.
Without thermal protection, the pilot inside the cockpit might as well have been in an oven. One wrong move, and he'd be roasted alive.
Fortunately, the five Gundam pilots of the AC universe all had a bit of superhuman endurance. By the time Reid arrived, Wufei—still alive—forced his Mobile Suit, now mostly free of the adhesive, to stand up defiantly.
At this moment, Reid finally got a clear look at the incoming Mobile Suit. Good grief—it was the Altron Gundam EW Butterfly Equipment, complete with flamethrowers and the Twin-Headed Beam Trident mounted on its back, proving it was the fully armed version. Chang Wufei had really pulled out his ultimate machine from the future.
While Reid was admiring the Mobile Suit, Wufei was seething with rage, shouting through the external speakers:
"Rau Le Creuset! Is this all you've got—cowardly tactics?"
Reid had no intention of answering that question. What was so cowardly about it? It wasn't like he'd poisoned anyone before the battle. They were already on the battlefield—setting up a few traps was perfectly normal.
But even if Reid didn't respond, someone—or rather, something—would answer Wufei's challenge.
As Reid's trio had charged here, the MD Virgos dispatched by the Romefeller Foundation had split up—some pursuing them, while others attacked the castle swarming with Duras units.
Now, the lead MD Virgo had reached Reid's location and fired a shot—only to miss, its Beam Cannon blast veering straight toward the Altron Gundam EW.
Not that the MD Virgo's attack posed much of a threat. Wufei simply raised the Gundam's arm, blocking the beam with the dragon claw. Suppressing his Wrath, he growled:
"Rau Le Creuset! Let's settle this one-on-one! If I lose, I'll take you with me."
This time, Reid responded, chuckling:
"Oh? If you lose, you'll take me away? Then what if I win? I don't want to take you with me."
Wufei answered without hesitation:
"If I lose, you can take my life right here."
Hearing such an unoriginal reply, Reid decided there was no need for honor when dealing with a stubborn opponent. He said:
"Fine. So, is it you versus the three of us, or the three of us versus you? Your choice."
Perhaps the scorching heat had already maxed out Wufei's rage meter. Or maybe he'd simply grown accustomed to his enemy's underhandedness. In any case, he calmly pulled out a glowing red orb from his chest and declared:
"Hah, I knew it would come to this. That's why I came prepared."
The moment Wufei finished speaking, Reid felt the space around the Altron Gundam tremble slightly. Then, two massive 20-meter-tall spheres of red code materialized in midair.
A second later, the code dissipated, revealing the two Mobile Suits inside—Ovv-af Danazines.
This was the first time Reid had witnessed a time-space jump from a third-person perspective. That was unmistakably the Transcendent Impact ability of Codename: Amelia S—summoning Mobile Suits straight from the AGE universe.
However, Reid sensed something off about the pilots' mental signatures—they were far too Tranquil, and their psychic strength was weak. Just like in the game, they were probably standard cloned bio-androids.
Yet these pilots and their machines seemed to bolster Wufei's confidence. He declared boldly:
"Rau Le Creuset, now it's three against three. Oh, and your jamming won't work on me or the units I summoned. At last, we fight on equal footing!"
Reid didn't know what to say to Wufei's naivety. The Danazines might look intimidating, but in terms of actual combat capability, they were nowhere near the Mystic Lightning or the NT-X2 Gundam.
Moreover, there were now troublemakers to deal with.
The conversation between Reid and Chang Wufei had only lasted a minute or two, interrupted by the otherworldly summoning of Transcendent Impact.
By now, the MD Virgos had completed their encirclement of the six Mobile Suits from both sides, all raising their weapons for another barrage.
Reid immediately issued his orders:
"Yufang, test their strength. He also wields a twin-headed trident and is skilled in martial arts. His Mobile Suit's dragon heads can extend to clamp enemies and spew fire. There's also a twin-linked Beam Cannon on its back with a 360-degree rotation."
"Yulan, handle the surrounding MD Virgos. Keep them from interfering in our fight. I'll deal with those two dragon-type Mobile Suits."
With that, Reid moved immediately, his Mobile Suit taking off first to draw some of the MD Virgos' fire skyward, easing the pressure on the ground.
Seeing his target trying to "escape," Chang Wufei quickly maneuvered his Mobile Suit into the air, commanding the two Danazines to pursue while shouting,
"Rau Le Creuset! You're not getting away!"
However, the moment the Altron Gundam EW took off, a Beam Trident thrust straight up toward its cockpit from below.
Chang Wufei didn't dare hesitate, drawing his Twin-Headed Beam Trident from the rear waist of his Mobile Suit to block the strike.
But in doing so, the Altron Gundam EW lost its chance to pursue the Hermes Zero and was forced back to the ground.
Seeing the opposing Mobile Suit wield an identical Twin-Headed Beam Trident with practiced ease, Chang Wufei knew he was facing a skilled opponent. The fact that the other Mobile Suit wasn't joining the fight only stoked his fighting spirit. Activating his external speakers, he declared,
"Good. Very well. You'll make a decent warm-up."
With that, he charged forward, swinging his Twin-Headed Beam Trident.
Xia Yufang wasn't about to back down either. The new Psycommu System allowed her to control the Mobile Suit with her mind, masking many of her weaker piloting skills.
The two Mobile Suits clashed head-on over a dozen times, testing each other's power output.
Once Xia Yufang felt she had gauged enough, the NT-X2 Gundam suddenly shifted tactics. With an unusually graceful sidestep, it dodged the Altron Gundam EW's thrust and used the shaft of its trident to block the follow-up horizontal sweep.
Of course, Xia Yufang wasn't just defending. Having followed Reid for so long, she had seen firsthand how little her master cared for "honorable combat."
As the saying goes, "A crooked stick will have a crooked shadow." In a one-on-one duel like this, Xia Yufang had no qualms about using ranged weapons.
While blocking the sweep, the NT-X2 Gundam's back-mounted Rocket Bits rose and leveled.
Then, as the NT-X2 Gundam pivoted from the block, two large MEGA Particle Cannons fired point-blank, sweeping horizontally toward the Altron Gundam EW.
Chang Wufei sensed something was off the moment the cannons leveled. He immediately forced the Altron Gundam EW into a backward sprawl, narrowly avoiding the Beam sweep.
But the sweep was followed by a downward thrust—the Rocket Bits' attack didn't hinder Xia Yufang's control of her Mobile Suit's arms.
Fortunately, the Altron Gundam EW's Butterfly Pack was more than capable, allowing it to skim the ground at high speed. A burst of acceleration carried it out of range of Xia Yufang's thrust.
The two sides stood their ground once more. The brief exchange had proven that neither was to be underestimated—this battle was entering a stalemate.
However, just then, another unexpected participant arrived.
Rewinding slightly—while Xia Yufang was engaged with Chang Wufei, Reid was also in the air, toying with Danazine in his Hermes Zero.
Despite Danazine's decent speed and mobility in its dragon-like MA Mode, it was no match for the Hermes Zero.
The twin Danazine cannons couldn't land a single hit on the agile Hermes Zero, and even at maximum speed, Danazine was effortlessly outmaneuvered.
Reid executed a simple cobra maneuver, effortlessly positioning himself above the two Danazines. Their acceleration had been too reckless, leaving them unable to turn or decelerate in time.
Then, Reid maneuvered the Hermes Zero to stomp directly onto the back of one Danazine, pressing both hands against its spine. Using the Lambda Driver, he instantly fried the living CPU inside the Mobile Suit.
To Reid's surprise, however, the system did not register the unit as salvageable. Instead, the pilotless Danazine visibly exploded into a burst of red code before dissipating into the air.
Unnoticed by Reid, a portion of that red code briefly flickered green before vanishing entirely.
By then, the second Danazine had finally managed to turn around, extending its Beam Stingers from its arms to thrust at the Hermes Zero.
Reid could only sigh at such a mindless attack. Just how brain-dead were these living CPUs? Knowing the vast gap in mobility, they still resorted to such a straightforward assault.
With a quick aerial acceleration and a flip, Reid dodged the strike effortlessly. Mid-roll, he drew his Beam Saber and cleanly bisected the Danazine diagonally from above.
Like its predecessor, this Danazine didn't explode into debris—only another burst of code before vanishing from this world that wasn't its own.
For Reid, though the Transcendent Impact units couldn't be captured, they weren't particularly troublesome to deal with. He had barely broken a sweat.
But just as he prepared to descend and assist the Xia sisters in ganging up on Chang Wufei—
A familiar killing intent locked onto him. Simultaneously, his Mobile Suit's alarms blared—a high-speed target was closing in.
Reid glanced over—it was the Epyon Gundam in MA Mode, charging toward him at speeds exceeding Mach 1.
There was no need to guess whose murderous aura this was. After annihilating Treize's personal guard and downing the Wing Gundam, Reid was undoubtedly an enemy in Heero's eyes.
Moreover, Heero must have already fought at the castle—otherwise, he wouldn't have abandoned it under siege by hordes of MD Virgos just to come after Reid.
Through Reid's Newtype senses, Heero's psyche felt abnormally agitated and chaotic.
The Epyon System's "Zero System" bore no resemblance to the traditional Zero System.
Dubbed the Epyon System by fans, its effect was akin to a Newtype's ability—reading the emotions and minds of those on the battlefield. However, it indiscriminately flooded the pilot's mind with raw data, regardless of whether they had the aptitude to process it.
Truly, none of the Gundam systems in the AC universe could escape the label of being crude killing machines.
Heero's mind was nearly driven mad by the residual "voices" lingering on the battlefield.
All he knew now was kill, kill, kill—any Mobile Suit was his enemy, and he particularly despised the blue machine in front of him.
However, Heero still retained some unpleasant memories. Noticing that the Hermes Zero had detected him, it transformed back into MS Mode from a distance, then swung its twenty-meter-long Beam Saber and accelerated instantly to slash at him.
The Hermes Zero's speed in MS Mode wasn't fast enough to completely overwhelm the Epyon Gundam, so after dodging a few strikes, Reid judged that he wouldn't be able to evade the next one.
Thus, he maneuvered the Hermes Zero to raise its left arm, activating the Beam Shield and Lambda Driver at full power to block the Epyon Gundam's downward slash.
The Beam Shield held strong, stopping the Epyon Gundam's super Beam Saber, but the Hermes Zero was still forced downward toward the ground under the sheer force of the attack.
Reid wasn't about to just take it, though. With his right hand, he fired several shots from the Electromagnetic Rifle, amplified by the Lambda Driver, aiming at the Epyon Gundam's waist.
However, the Gundarium Alloy of the After Colony era was incredibly tough, and the Epyon Gundam, being a melee-specialized machine, had thicker armor than most Mobile Suits. As a result, Reid's shots only managed to blast off a section of the waist armor.
Still, the attack forced Heero to abandon his attempt to suppress the Hermes Zero with the super Beam Saber. While he, as a standard reinforced human, wasn't bothered by the vibrations, having a chunk of armor blown off meant that continued attacks could breach the cockpit—and even a reinforced human couldn't withstand direct cannon fire.
Fortunately, their battle had already shifted from high altitude to low altitude. Chang Wufei, though unaware of the situation, saw that a Gundam had driven the Hermes Zero down and immediately broadcasted:
"Gundam pilot, this is Chang Wufei! Lend me a hand!"
However, Heero was currently in a berserk state. Upon seeing the Altron Gundam EW, his reaction was the same as when facing the Hermes Zero—the super Beam Saber extended once more, this time into a thirty-meter-long blade, and he swung it down at the Altron Gundam EW and the NT-X2 Gundam locked in combat below.
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