As the Nahel Argama charged into the Foundation fleet, using its thermal-fusing ram to crash through recklessly, the standoff between the Unicorn, the Providence, and the Cal-re.A also broke.
"Release the Dragoons, surround him!"
Looking at this machine that had frustrated him time and again, Orphee intended to go all out from the very beginning.
Eight Dragoons flew out from the wings of the Cal-re.A, transforming into streaks of red light as they flanked the Unicorn. Brilliant red light wings unfurled behind the Cal-re.A, the Voiture Lumiere propulsion system driving the machine rapidly toward the Unicorn.
"Tsk... too reckless!"
Seeing the aggressive attack launched by the Cal-re.A, Rau Le Creuset's expression darkened. After all, he knew that as long as the Unicorn captured a single Dragoon, it could hack into the Dragoon's local network and seize control of them.
Watching the Dragoons closing in, Roz had no intention of playing around with them. He subconsciously glanced at the Machine Spirit Miss floating beside him in his field of vision.
The Machine Spirit Miss said nothing, only smiled gently and nodded.
Roz calmed his heart slightly and looked at the Dragoons nearing him, and the Cal-re.A that was currently charging toward him.
"Let's go, Unicorn!"
----------------------------------
The Unicorn's two Armed Armor DEs are classic Psycommu weapons, and the Unicorn is naturally biased toward being compatible with a Psycommu operating system.
However, the remote weapon technology of SEED is the Dragoon. This type of weapon, which relies heavily on processor performance, is a completely different style from Psycommu weapons.
But this raised a question: how would the Unicorn deal with the enemy's Dragoons, or even control them?
After pondering for about half an hour, Roz had come up with a rather blunt solution.
Under the dual influence of Roz and the Machine Spirit Miss, the NT-D—no longer the "Newtype Destroyer System," but the "Newtype Drive System"—activated.
In the sight of Le Creuset, Orphee, and Ingrid, the armor plates on the Unicorn unfolded piece by piece, revealing the Psycho-Frame within that emitted a blue glow.
The Armed Armor XC on the Unicorn's backpack flipped up and unfolded, revealing the blue Psycho-Frame inside, resembling a lion's mane.
"Blue? What the hell is it doing now?"
Watching the Unicorn, which first emitted blue flames and now revealed a blue internal structure, Orphee narrowed his eyes.
Roz piloted the Unicorn, calmly extending his right hand toward those Dragoons, flipping his palm upward. Then, he clenched his hand into a fist.
As his fist clenched, a powerful blue shockwave emerged from the Armed Armor XC, spreading across this sector of space.
The moment they made contact with this blue shockwave, the Dragoons belonging to the Cal-re.A, which had been maneuvering at extreme speeds, all halted their momentum and stopped quietly in place.
"What happened? Why aren't the Dragoons moving?!"
Seeing the scene before him, Orphee instinctively questioned Ingrid behind him.
"I don't know, such strong interference... No! The Unicorn is seizing control of the Dragoons!"
At that moment, Ingrid hammered away at her keyboard. Watching the Dragoons on her screen being hijacked one by one by the Unicorn right before her eyes, her eyes widened instinctively, and cold sweat began to pour from her forehead.
"The Dragoons have been taken by the Unicorn, watch out!"
"I see it!"
Watching the cockpit screen as his own Dragoons turned around and flew toward the Cal-re.A, Orphee instinctively pulled back on the control stick.
The Cal-re.A narrowly dodged two red beams, followed by a backflip to evade a collision from a Dragoon that had deployed its side beam saber.
Compared to the somewhat conventional style when he and Ingrid used the Dragoons, these Dragoons under the Unicorn's control appeared fierce and cunning.
"How could the Dragoons be stolen by someone else?! What on earth happened?"
Facing Orphee's urgent questioning—his tone irritable from the constant maneuvering to dodge the Dragoon attacks—Ingrid gritted her teeth while looking at the information on her screen.
"The Dragoons' firewall was breached—it was that blue shockwave from earlier!"
Now, unable to reclaim control of the Dragoons from the Unicorn, Ingrid couldn't help but grow anxious.
Using the Armed Armor XC to release a powerful data stream condensed from spiritual energy, planting a pre-prepared Trojan horse into the Dragoons, and then hacking in via the Big Haro located far away on the Nahel Argama to seize control—this was the optimal solution Roz had devised for weapons like Dragoons.
Seeing the scene of the Cal-re.A being besieged by its own Dragoons, Le Creuset sighed; evidently, he had already foreseen such an outcome.
The Dragoons, fitted with cables, were released from the pod on the back of the Providence, flying toward the Dragoons controlled by the Unicorn.
Red and yellow beams flew across this small area, once again turning it into a forbidden zone that ordinary soldiers could not approach.
Not that those ordinary soldiers were thinking of approaching it anyway.
Roz naturally noticed the wire-guided Dragoons released by the Providence. Clearly, for these Dragoons that directly shut down their wireless networks and switched to wire control to escape external interference, the data stream released by the Armed Armor XC had no effect.
But since they couldn't be hacked, then simply destroying these Dragoons would suffice.
With that thought, Roz released the two Armed Armor DEs from the mechanical arms on his back, letting them gallop through this part of the universe trailing blue exhaust flames.
-----------------------------------
The Dragoons, controlled directly by Roz's brainwaves, attacked the Cal-re.A from various treacherous angles—either firing upon it or charging fiercely, intending to slice the Cal-re.A with the red wing-like beam sabers on their sides.
At this moment, Ingrid, sitting behind Orphee, was the most desperate person on the battlefield. The reason the Cal-re.A utilized a tandem cockpit was the necessity for one person to pilot the machine while the other controlled the Dragoons to achieve maximum combat power. Now, with the Dragoons seized, Ingrid could only watch everything unfold helplessly.
However, no matter how good Orphee's piloting skills were, he was no match for Roz, who was a student of Amuro Ray.
After all, few people could endure the combat intensity of performing high-speed maneuvers with Funnels while simultaneously engaging in close-quarters combat against someone with Amuro's superb technical skills.
Finally, as Orphee exposed a flaw, a Dragoon used its left beam saber to slice through the Cal-re.A's left leg.
"Ugh... Not good!"
Feeling the impact transmitted through the machine and the resulting distortion in its movements, Orphee instinctively tried to make the Cal-re.A counterattack. The muzzle of the Hyper Impulse Gun "Adro Onzi" on the abdomen lit up, but in the next second, a Dragoon with nearly exhausted energy crashed directly into the Cal-re.A's torso.
A red beam fired at point-blank range, and with a violent explosion, both the Hyper Impulse Gun and the Dragoon were destroyed, sending the Cal-re.A flying backward from the blast.
"Ngh..."
Ingrid gripped the armrests of her seat, watching the scene before her. She knew she was going to die.
Sure enough, from the thick smoke generated by the previous explosion, the silhouette of the Unicorn suddenly emerged, wielding a thick white beam saber.
Seeing the Unicorn at point-blank range having broken through the smoke, Orphee glanced at the status of his severely damaged machine. It was as if his entire body relaxed, and he slumped back into his seat.
"It's over... everything is over..."
Orphee looked up and caught Ingrid's eye through the rearview mirror. "I'm sorry. It looks like the two of us will have to die here."
"...I don't mind."
Though she knew the coming event would be cruel, Ingrid accepted the conclusion. "Regardless, whether it's our past duties or this sorrowful life, it is time for it to end."
"Tell me... if there is an afterlife, what would you want to do?"
"Open a flower shop, I suppose. I'd quite like that."
"That sounds nice..."
The beam saber pressed forward relentlessly against the chest of the Cal-re.A, easily melting through the torso armor and plunging inside. The torrent of white light completely destroyed the Cal-re.A's cockpit, and the last two Black Knights of the Kingdom of Foundation vanished from the world.
-----------------------------------
Roz did not linger. He kicked away the nearly exploding Cal-re.A and turned to dodge two yellow beams.
The Providence was seen controlling eight Dragoons, managing to sneak a shot at Roz even while besieged by seven of the Cal-re.A's Dragoons and two Armed Armor DEs.
Finding such a shooting opportunity was no easy task. After the Cal-re.A was destroyed, Le Creuset had to face Roz in his "complete form," and the pressure from a total of nine remote weapons was immense.
The only good news was that the Cal-re.A's Dragoons were running low on energy due to the previous combat, causing their mobility to drop significantly. However, under Roz's control, these Dragoons remained cunning and fierce.
More than once, they tried to lead Le Creuset—who had not yet fully acclimated to the wire-guided Dragoons—into a chase, attempting to lure the units until their cables became hopelessly tangled.
Seeing the Unicorn charging at him with its beam saber, Le Creuset didn't care if his machine's right leg suffered the same fate as the Cal-re.A's, turning the two machines into "broken-leg brothers." He raised his beam rifle to fire at the Unicorn.
From an unknown position at Le Creuset's flank, an Armed Armor DE appeared. The mega particle cannon at its tip fired a high-speed three-round burst at the beam rifle held by the Providence. The blue spheres of light struck the rocket-launcher-like beam rifle in an instant.
While Le Creuset was momentarily distracted, the remaining seven Cal-re.A Dragoons crashed into the Providence's wire-guided Dragoons. Beam sabers sliced through the wired units until both sides dissolved into a sky full of debris.
As for the Providence's last surviving Dragoon, it was struck by the sharp tip of a high-speed Armed Armor DE and torn in half by the massive impact.
Le Creuset tossed aside the nearly exploding beam rifle and reached his left hand toward the Providence's knee, intending to draw his beam saber. But at that moment, driven by eight high-power thrusters, the Unicorn's beam saber reached the Providence's right waist first.
Armor melted, and the machine's structure was sliced through as the Unicorn's thrust cut a massive hole into the Providence's right side.
A sudden chill surged from behind Le Creuset—so piercing and snake-like that his survival instinct screamed. Almost subconsciously, he pulled the ejection lever between his legs.
The escape pod, which had been retrofitted at Le Creuset's specific request, launched from the chest of the Providence. Small thrusters at the rear ignited, and it even deployed two small wings.
Le Creuset instinctively looked back, seeing the Unicorn—gripping its beam saber hilt in a reverse-hand position—pierce through the space where the cockpit had originally been.
Looks like I've escaped death again... Le Creuset thought.
But another impact occurred, even more powerful than the shock felt while inside the MS, nearly causing Le Creuset to black out. An Armed Armor DE had smashed into the thrusters of his cockpit-turned-escape-pod, shattering the two small wings in the process.
A pair of giant hands appeared on the screen in front of Le Creuset. The Unicorn reached out and grabbed the escape pod, holding it like a basketball.
"Zzzt... Zzzt-zzzt..."
Seemingly realizing his end was near, Le Creuset gave up his resistance and instead began fiddling with the communicator in the cockpit. Likely to satisfy his curiosity before death, he very much wanted to have a chat with the "Amuro" inside the Unicorn to see what he was actually thinking.
----------------------------------
Looking at the basketball-like cockpit in his hand and the short-range transmission the Unicorn had been receiving from it, Roz paused for a moment before opening the communicator.
"...You are finally willing to speak with me, Amuro."
Seeing the connection established, Le Creuset found a comfortable position and leaned back in his seat. Now that he was the fish on the chopping block, he might as well make his end a bit more comfortable.
"I have always wanted to know—what exactly are you trying to do by triggering miracle after miracle?"
Le Creuset's voice carried a certain magnetic charm. He was intensely curious about the man on the other side of the channel, the one who had drawn him in and caused him to abandon his struggle with Mu.
"Appearing like a saint before the world time and again... do you wish to become a god to all people?"
"I have my own purposes."
Roz's tone was very calm; it was the first time Le Creuset had heard Roz's actual voice.
"But humanity—whether Natural or Coordinator—has no need for the existence of a god."
It had to be said that this tone caused Le Creuset to momentarily sense a slight "divinity" in him.
"But there is no doubt that even if you are unaware of it, by inducing various miracles time after time, you have already begun to be deified in the eyes of others."
Hearing Roz's words, Le Creuset laughed instead. "But... looking at the world as it is now, how do you feel? Lord God, you seem to have achieved nothing; everyone is still slaughtering one another."
"I have no intention of being a god. I am just an ordinary human."
Roz maneuvered the Unicorn to turn around. The Armed Armor DEs that had been loitering nearby flew back to the machine's mechanical arms.
"An ordinary human with many flaws."
"Then, Mr. Ordinary Human, how do you intend to stop what comes next?"
Seemingly seeing something within the cockpit, Le Creuset enlarged the image slightly and began to laugh.
"Three lights are about to appear. Do you think they are the lights of world destruction, or the radiance of creation?"
At that moment, the voice of Big Haro came through the built-in headset of Roz's helmet.
"This is bad, Roz! Three high-energy reactions detected! It's those superweapons from earlier!"
Big Haro sounded anxious. "Retreat, quickly! Or we won't make it in time!"
Retreat? But retreat to where?
Such powerful killing intent, emotions that nearly desired the destruction of everything... Even from this position, Roz could clearly feel them.
What should he do? What on earth could be done?
Beads of sweat formed on Roz's forehead. He racked his brains but could not think of a solution.
Just then, the Machine Spirit Miss placed her hand over Roz's. Roz turned his head to look at her beside him. It seemed that as their spiritual fusion grew tighter, the Machine Spirit Miss no longer felt illusory; she felt as if she truly existed.
"Do it just as we have done before, Roz."
The Machine Spirit Miss's voice rang in Roz's ear. "I will not leave you."
Hearing her words, Roz calmed down from the chaos. He quickly made a decision.
"Haro, send me the intersection point of the three attacks."
"Eh? EH?!"
Seemingly completely unprepared for Roz to say such a thing, Big Haro froze for a moment.
"Don't just stand there, there's no time! Send me the coordinates!"
As Roz's words fell, Big Haro, who was always obedient to him, subconsciously sent the coordinates over.
"Wait, no!"
Only after sending the coordinates did Big Haro realize the problem. It let out a wail and frantically tried to contact Roz again.
But by then, Roz had already closed the communicator.
"Le Creuset, the world will absolutely not be destroyed because of this. Keep your eyes wide open and watch..."
Taking a deep breath, Roz stepped on the pedals and flew toward the intersection point of the three superweapons marked in the panoramic cockpit.
"These miracles are not triggered by me, or by any one individual."
"They are the radiance triggered collectively by every person who longs for peace and yearns for the war to stop—the resonance of their hearts and souls!"
-----------------------------------
To be honest, Roz had absolutely no confidence in whether he could block the attacks of three superweapons simultaneously.
Even in the original story of the Unicorn, Banagher had only blocked Gryps 2. This time, Roz had to face Gryps, GENESIS, and Requiem.
But if he did nothing, according to the projection sent by Big Haro, PLANT, Earth, and Orb would all be struck by these attacks. The war would become even more brutal, and in the end, nothing would change; the world would continue its slide toward destruction.
Roz could clearly hear the wailing of souls that had just perished still permeating the battlefield.
It cannot go on like this.
With this thought, Roz arrived at the coordinates marked by Big Haro. At this moment, Big Haro was still incessantly sending communication requests to the Unicorn, but Roz ignored them directly. After all, what he was about to do might be considered a bit treasonous in Big Haro's eyes.
Sorry... if I die, go find the next executor. I'm truly sorry for being so selfish and wasting so much of your time.
Murrue, Badgiruel, Christina, Marvin, Kira... like a revolving lantern, figures flashed before his eyes. Everything about them echoed in Roz's mind.
Though he felt regret and apology in his heart, under the gaze of the Machine Spirit Miss, the corners of Roz's mouth curled into a slight smile. Perhaps it was the expectation that everyone could live safely after everything ended? Roz couldn't say for sure.
"What are you trying to do?"
Watching Roz's actions with great interest, Le Creuset's expression suddenly changed. He took off his helmet, coughed, and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
The body has already reached its limit...
Roz did not reply to Le Creuset. Instead, he maneuvered the Unicorn to hold Le Creuset's cockpit firmly, like holding a basketball with both hands.
Thick spiritual energy precipitated from the azure Psycho-Frame, forming a blue spherical shield. The two Armed Armor DEs also orbited and drifted outside this sphere, acting as relay stations to condense a larger, pale blue protective barrier.
Just as Le Creuset watched all this and was about to say something, three thick beams—so massive they seemed to consume his entire vision—were fired from the three superweapons, striking the outermost blue barrier.
In less than a second, the blue barrier shattered. The Armed Armor DEs acting as relay stations were also swallowed by the white light, vanishing within the beams.
Immediately afterward, the three beams struck the blue shield formed by the Unicorn itself.
The impact, like successive blows from a heavy hammer, nearly caused Roz to faint. Several small cracks appeared in the shield, and thin rays of light pierced through, grazing the Unicorn's body.
In a daze, Roz caught a glimpse of the Machine Spirit Miss beside him. An expression of extreme agony appeared on her face; clearly, she was also enduring immense pressure.
"Ugh, AHHHHHH!!"
Under Le Creuset's gaze, Roz let out a furious roar. The shield that had been leaking everywhere began to repair itself, but under the powerful impact of the beams, it remained teetering on the edge of collapse.
At this moment, Roz's physical condition was poor. He felt as if time had lost its meaning. His brain felt as if it were being struck repeatedly by a red-hot iron hammer, as if it were about to catch fire.
Is it going to end?
Just as Roz thought this, a pair of somewhat youthful hands appeared from his side, grasping Roz's palms which were clenched in pain.
"You've worked hard, Big Brother Roz."
A voice with a heavy electronic tone rang in Roz's ear. "Please leave the rest to us."
"No... I can't..."
Roz struggled, squeezing out these few words through the pain.
"Do you remember what we said, Big Brother Roz?"
The somewhat familiar boy, whose face was obscured by electronic, glitch-style mosaics, walked in front of Roz. "We are already remnant souls. Our names, our appearances—everything is gone..."
"We originally wanted to hate this world, but we saw you, Big Brother Roz. No matter how much despair was in your heart, you still wanted to save us, to change this world."
Saying this, the boy reached out and placed his hand over the spot where his "heart" had long since vanished. "So, I think... I, we, can perhaps love this world one more time."
"So, please lend your body to us. Use our power, Big Brother Roz."
At this point, the boy's electronic voice seemed to carry a hint of a smile. "Don't be sad, Big Brother Roz. We will sing a song of triumph for you in the universe."
Soul after soul poured from the Psycho-Frame into Roz's body, and through Roz's spiritual link, they transformed into surges of spiritual energy, flooding into the precarious blue shield.
"Hmm? What's happening?"
In a daze, Le Creuset seemed to hear a faint singing. "A song... why is there singing?!"
Then, he saw it.
An emerald-green aurora emerged from the Unicorn's Psycho-Frame, dyeing the entire machine and erupting continuously from its body, replacing the blue on the shield.
"An aurora..."
Seeing the scene before him, Le Creuset's eyes widened slightly. This was the first time he had seen the "Miracle of the Aurora" from such a close distance.
But even though the emerald aurora had saturated the entire machine, the shield remained in a critical state under the attack of the three superweapons.
Crack... crack...
The sound of something shattering came from behind Le Creuset. He instinctively turned his head.
The Unicorn's armor was gradually breaking. Strands of crystal-clear green crystals suddenly seized the pure white outer armor, appearing in this sector of space. They formed geometric crystal structures resembling electrical circuits, stretching out wantonly.
The shield, which had been on the verge of shattering again, became increasingly solid after the appearance of the crystals, even showing a trend of expanding.
Seeing such a spectacular sight at close range, Le Creuset was speechless for a time, not even noticing the song that was becoming clearer in his ears.
The crystals grew wildly, and the scale of the green shield became larger and larger.
Until finally, the three beams gradually dissipated.
Leaving behind only the crystallized Unicorn and that dazzling aurora.
....
For advance chapters: [email protected]/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)