Chapter 282: A Shining Moment 1
Kira and Athrun traded blows back and forth, but neither managed to land a decisive hit.
Still, Athrun's words clearly got under Kira's skin.
Controlling the Sword Strike, Kira punched the Aegis in the face, knocking it flat on the ground.
At the same time, the fallen Aegis finally ran out of energy; its PS armor lost power and turned gray.
Just as Kira was about to raise the anti-ship beam sword to keep pressuring Athrun to surrender—
The unmanned Blitz, missing its right arm, charged toward the Sword Strike with a high-velocity armor-piercing round gripped in its left hand.
Nami even thoughtfully mimicked Nicol's voice: "Athrun, hurry and fall back! I'm coming to save you!"
But in Kira's panicked maneuvering, the Blitz's cockpit was still cleaved open by the anti-ship beam sword.
Thinking he had accidentally killed Athrun's close friend, Kira reacted exactly as he had before—he was so terrified he dropped the anti-ship beam sword entirely and stumbled the Sword Strike back several steps.
Nami didn't forget to shout again: "Athrun, run! Hurry, run!"
Then she triggered the Blitz to self-destruct on the spot, turning it into a cloud of ash.
Seeing the Blitz explode and scatter into ash, both Kira and Athrun were stunned, grief welling uncontrollably in their chests.
Athrun cried out in anguish, "Nicol!"
At that moment, the Buster and the Duel—both of which had fallen into the water earlier—arrived on the scene and saw the instant Nicol was "killed."
"Damn you, Strike! It's you again—go die!" Yzak roared furiously as he raised the Duel's beam rifle. One green beam after another rained toward the Sword Strike.
Dearka joined in with the Buster, firing its beam cannon and scatter cannon in continuous volleys at the Sword Strike.
All Kira could do was defend under the barrage. At that moment, Tolle had Nami pilot the High-Performance Ginn onto the battlefield, opening fire in support of Kira.
Using the beam rifle and rocket launcher mounted on its assault shield, she attacked Yzak, Dearka, and the others.
Seeing Kira refusing to fight back, and the Blitz destroyed, Natarle—though it wasn't technically hers anymore—still couldn't help questioning him with some distress: "Kira, what are you doing? I already told you there's no need to pursue! Fall back immediately!"
Right after that, the Archangel's automated anti-air Vulcan defense system activated again, firing at the Duel and the Buster.
It bought time for the Sword Strike and the High-Performance Ginn to retreat.
"Damn it! I'll never forgive you!"
Watching the Sword Strike withdraw, Yzak shouted in frustration and raised his beam rifle to fire toward the Archangel—
But the ship's automated Vulcan defense guns unleashed such intense fire that he could only lift his shield to block.
Even though the Duel had additional external armor and extra weapons, it had lost its PS armor, leaving it no choice but to defend against solid-ammo fire.
Under the relentless assault, Dearka spoke helplessly: "Forget it, Yzak. Fall back first. I'll cover you."
He made the Buster leap and combine its right-arm scatter-gun with the left-arm high-energy precision cannon, preparing to fire a dispersing anti-armor mist blast at the Archangel.
But before he could fire, the Vulcan fire hammered him down onto a reef.
The Buster had PS armor, but at such close range, it couldn't move under the barrage.
In the end, Athrun, Yzak, and Dearka had no choice but to retreat with their suits, diving back into the sea from the reef.
A few minutes earlier, watching the Blitz explode from afar, Nicol had broken into a cold sweat.
Tolle, standing beside him, immediately said to reassure him, "Look, those two were basically fake-fighting earlier.
Kira could've easily cut the Aegis apart with one swing, but he only sliced its beam rifle.
Athrun too—he could've taken the Strike with a beam saber, but he didn't. Instead he backed off until they were at point-blank range.
He never used his beam rifle properly at all; they were practically just punching each other.
And you saw the Blitz's behavior—it followed the memory exactly.
Honestly, when Kira was standing that far away with the anti-ship sword raised, he was just threatening Athrun. He was never going to actually kill you.
If I hadn't pulled you out, you would've died for nothing."
Nicol lowered his head, silently thinking for a moment, then sighed. "Thanks, Tolle. If not for you, I really would've died.
And you're right. Dying like that would've meant nothing."
He took a deep breath, steadying himself, then asked Tolle:
"So what do we do next? Wait for Athrun and Kira's showdown?"
Tolle nodded. "Exactly. This is the critical moment now. All we can do is wait. I haven't exited the stage yet, so some things are tricky.
Most importantly, we need to protect both of them. Not one of them can be allowed to get hurt. We have to follow the original plan."
"Understood. I'll follow your lead. I'll do everything I can to help you change this world's future—to make it better."
Tolle raised his fist, holding it out as if asking for a fist bump. "Deal?"
Nicol instinctively bumped his fist lightly against Tolle's. "Yeah—deal."