The Mobius Machine Group dispatched from the vanguard to intercept the enemy.
During the time Creuset led his team to repair Zhang Hong and Wang Hu's arrival,
they faced the fierce Yzak, Dearka, and Nicol.
Especially Nicol, who single-handedly accounted for nearly two-thirds of the achievements.
Undoubtedly, the Mobius Machine Group collapsed.
Thus, the three Gundams freed up their hands and turned their attention to Wang Hu, who had just arrived on the battlefield.
"That guy!"
In the Duel Gundam, Yzak's anger surged from the depths of his heart.
Though usually impulsive, he was unexpectedly empathetic deep down, albeit currently limited to those around him.
And Nicol was now one of those around him.
The thought of his comrade, who had always wished to be a pianist rather than a soldier, now transformed into a demonic figure!
"Dearka, let's go!" Calling out to his friend, Yzak made a move to charge forward and take Wang Hu's head as a trophy.
Without rejecting the white-haired one's request, Dearka silently raised his weapon and followed.
The reason he agreed so readily this time, aside from Yzak's proposal aligning with his own intentions, was that the observant Dearka had noticed something else.
Nicol had been missing for a while!
Without needing to ask, Dearka understood—the transformation from a graceful youth to a fearsome demon, and the bond between Nicol and Athrun.
Dearka feared one thing might happen!
"Nicol, don't do anything foolish," he muttered under his breath, his eyes wide as he stared at the empty space around Wang Hu.
He wanted to be the first to support Nicol, who had activated the Mirage Colloid System and was bound to appear near the Qilin.
"Hmm?" While intently dealing with the Mobile Suit group led by Creuset and focusing on finding an opportunity to win,
a sudden electric sensation surged through Wang Hu's mind. His exceptional spatial awareness was warning him in this way!
"Who is it?" Quickly scanning the enemies before him, Wang Hu found that everyone, including Creuset himself, was present.
"Then it must be!" Distinguishing the direction from which the spatial awareness warning came, Wang Hu didn't even need to turn around to identify the intruder.
In a battlefield dominated by neutron jammers, traditional radar detection systems were useless, but humans, as the wisest of creatures, knew how to use their brains!
Using thermal sensing, visual perception—humans still had ways to partially restore the effects of the original radar systems.
To approach so closely without the Qilin's current perception systems reacting at all!
"The Blitz Gundam?" Wang Hu smiled faintly. Very well, he would use it as the key to break the deadlock.
With this thought, Wang Hu pulled the control stick, and the Qilin, with its elegant posture and extraordinary speed, temporarily broke free from the entanglement with Creuset and the others.
With skill that made onlookers' hearts tremble, he skimmed past the enemy's fire net and reached a relatively safe location.
Wang Hu prepared to employ his old trick once more, setting a trap for the Blitz Gundam that attempted to ambush him using the Mirage Colloid System.
However, the unpredictability of events exceeded Wang Hu's expectations. As the saying goes, "One man's desperate courage can overwhelm a thousand."
Once Nicol decided he no longer cared to live, many of Wang Hu's contingency plans seemed almost laughable in such a situation.
He did not deactivate the Mirage Colloid System, even though doing so would prevent the activation of the Blitz Gundam's PS Armor.
The advantage, however, was that it concealed his presence—though this benefit appeared negligible in the face of Wang Hu's perceptive abilities.
Yet, with eyes burning with resolve for death, Nicol stubbornly focused solely on dragging down the man he saw as the greatest obstacle to Coordinators!
"He's coming," Wang Hu sensed the Blitz Gundam closing in rapidly.
"Haven't you learned your lesson? Didn't our initial encounter prove this method useless?"
The four Beam Pods swiveled their muzzles, and Wang Hu pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Eight beams shot forth, streaking toward a seemingly empty expanse of space to the naked human eye.
Here it comes! A jolt of adrenaline surged through Nicol's mind. Ever since surviving the self-destruction at Artemis Fortress, he had replayed countless simulations in his head—how to engage Wang Hu's Qilin in combat.
He had paid a price and exerted effort beyond imagination, all for the sake of killing Wang Hu.
To achieve this, he had even undergone untested experimental procedures from PLANT's technology bureau, repairing his maimed body with machinery to achieve faster data exchange with his Mobile Suit. The result was a MS that moved with greater agility and human-like fluidity!
For instance, facing the trap Wang Hu had laid—a situation where Nicol had suffered twice before in Heliopolis—was now entirely different.
But now!
Raising his shield, the Blitz Gundam blocked two beams. With a swift sidestep and a split maneuver, it evaded four more.
Then, at the cost of expending one missile, Nicol calmly neutralized the final two beams—the most cunning attacks Wang Hu had launched.
Just like that! Piloting the Blitz Gundam, Nicol had closed in to an alarmingly dangerous proximity to Wang Hu.
Since Wang Hu's debut in this world, this was the first time he had felt the palpable threat of death at such close range!
"Nicol?" Dearka's jaw dropped in disbelief. He had been ready to provide cover, never expecting his comrade to exhibit such formidable strength.
After witnessing Nicol's flawless response, Dearka even began to think that the current Nicol surpassed Captain Creuset in ability!
"Nicol!" A profound sense of frustration welled up inside Yzak. He had always believed himself the strongest among the four, yet now, seeing his comrade display such transcendent skill—pushing the seemingly invincible Wang Hu to the brink—shook him to the core.
"I am the strongest!"
The Duel Gundam accelerated further. Yzak wasn't trying to steal glory; he simply refused to believe that Wang Hu could be defeated by Nicol!
Hmm? Wait…
Yzak's thoughts seemed to take a subtle turn…
"Come to hell with me!"
Gazing at the Qilin now within arm's reach, Nicol manipulated the Blitz Gundam to spread its arms wide.
Yes, you read that right.
Nicol chose neither his gun nor his Beam Saber, instead charging straight ahead to embrace Wang Hu in a mutual descent to the underworld.
Perhaps for him now, every second of existence in this half-mechanical, half-flesh body was agony.
Rather than endure such torment, mutual destruction with the enemy seemed the only righteous path.
"..."
Unbeknownst to Nicol, his simple suicidal charge had completely unnerved Wang Hu.
Had the enemy come at him with guns or blades, it would have been manageable—whatever method chosen, there would always be a tell.
The split-second draw of a weapon would have granted Wang Hu enough time to react.
But...
What did it mean to spread your arms wide for a crushing embrace?!
Staring speechlessly at the Blitz Gundam splayed across his display, occupying an alarming portion of the screen,
Wang Hu knew that at this proximity, no escape route would clear him from the enemy's radius before impact.
The Qilin would inevitably be struck by the Blitz Gundam's limbs or torso.
The enemy Blitz might survive, but Wang Hu would face certain destruction—mecha and man alike!
The Beam Pods adjusted their aim, unleashing rapid fire at the Blitz Gundam's flanks and rear.
To any observer, Wang Hu appeared to have only one choice:
Either blast the Blitz Gundam with beam attacks, or let the Qilin be crushed in its deadly embrace.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Five or six fiery explosions erupted across the Blitz Gundam's frame.
What went unnoticed by most was Wang Hu's precise targeting—
most shots aimed at the attitude control thrusters and main propulsion systems dotting the Blitz Gundam's body.
The close range left Nicol's Blitz Gundam with no room for evasive maneuvers.
But Nicol within the Blitz no longer needed to dodge. Staring down the seemingly cornered Qilin,
he held firm, like a passionate lover eagerly moving to embrace his beloved.
"You've misunderstood one thing."
Just as everyone anticipated Wang Hu's demise—even Creuset widening his eyes in anticipation—
Wang Hu's voice suddenly echoed through the public comms channel.
"Though I've never used the Qilin's 75mm Linear Cannon, that doesn't mean I don't know how to fire it!"
His long-standing reliance on Beam Pods in combat had cultivated a potent misconception, now bearing fruit.
Having never witnessed him deploy the Linear Cannon,
most had unconsciously overlooked the substantial firepower housed within the Qilin's frame—
firepower capable of piercing the armor of both the Gene and the CGUE!
"What?!" Yzak roared upon hearing Wang Hu's calm transmission, furious at how deeply the bastard had concealed this trick—
and how insidiously he'd planned it!
Were it not for Nicol's desperate charge, who knew who might have been the next victim?
"Useless!" Nicol exclaimed, hands poised to crush Wang Hu, momentarily startled but then dismissive.
"The PS Armor can withstand your Linear Cannon. Come with me, Captain Wang Hu of the East Asian Army."
"True, it can't pierce your PS Armor. But..."
When the Blitz Gundam was merely a paper's thickness away from crushing Wang Hu, he calmly pulled the trigger of the Linear Cannon.
Consider this: at such close range, even if the kinetic energy of the Linear Cannon couldn't penetrate the PS Armor-protected Blitz, the thrust generated by the kinetic energy would still push the Blitz Gundam backward, wouldn't it?
"Why?" Nicol's eyes were filled with doubt and anguish. He had exerted immense effort, bringing him to the brink of victory's dawn, yet it remained as elusive as a sheet of paper—just beyond his grasp.
The Blitz Gundam's lone hand slowly withdrew from Wang Hu's Qilin. A mere fraction more time was all it needed! Wang Hu would have been doomed...
But under the relentless barrage of Linear Cannon rounds, while the Blitz Gundam resisted the armor-piercing damage, it couldn't withstand the impact and vibrations from the kinetic energy.
Nicol had tried his utmost—he truly had. Yet, Wang Hu's minor adjustments beforehand thwarted Nicol's desperate charge to seize that glimmer of victory, rendering even this small wish unattainable.
"Boom, boom, boom."
Round after round exploded against its frame, and with each detonation's tremor, it drifted further away.
"Wang Hu! Wang Hu!"
(End of Chapter)