"Hey, Boss... am I seeing things, or did the Prime Minister just get wiped out by the Supreme Teigu's attack?"
Leone stared blankly at Najenda as she spoke.
The Teigu Users of Night Raid, who had been charging toward the Supreme Teigu moments before, now stood frozen in place. None of them could believe what they'd just witnessed. The Prime Minister—whom the Revolutionary Army had always viewed as their greatest enemy—had just been obliterated in an instant. It was almost comical in its absurdity.
"I think so, but... huh?"
Najenda replied uncertainly. Though clearly shaken, she kept herself relatively composed and looked in the direction from which the two red beams had come.
There, not far from the Royal Palace, a golden barrier shimmered like a steel fortress, shielding an entire mansion. From a distance, it looked like an impenetrable wall of light—an invincible dome that had deflected the Supreme Teigu's attack without so much as a scratch.
But that wasn't what grabbed Najenda's attention.
The moment she recognized the mansion, her expression shifted dramatically. Without a doubt, that was Haruki's estate—and the glowing barrier was unmistakably the result of the Sun-Eating Grand Array activating.
For everyone in Night Raid, Haruki had long been a taboo subject—a shared nightmare they'd all rather forget.
At first, they had felt somewhat relieved not to encounter Haruki or his allies during the assault on the palace. Some even naively hoped he had sensed the tides turning and fled the capital.
But now it was clear.
Haruki was still here. And judging by what had just happened, he possessed something that rivaled, if not surpassed, the Supreme Teigu in power.
A cold sweat broke out across Najenda's back.
...
Meanwhile, back at Haruki's residence—
"Uh... Brother, did I just see the Prime Minister get blown away?"
Chelsea, her face a mix of confusion and disbelief, turned to Haruki as they watched the scene unfold from the estate.
Everyone else was just as stunned.
"Can't blame us. That was just his bad luck."
Haruki shrugged, clearly as baffled as the rest of them.
Even he hadn't expected Honest to be unlucky enough for that to happen.
Earlier, while the young emperor recklessly fired the Supreme Teigu at the city—likely due to his inexperience and inability to control it properly—two beams of energy had veered off course and struck Haruki's estate.
Naturally, the Sun-Eating Grand Array activated automatically. It was midday, the formation's power at its peak. Not only did it block the Supreme Teigu's attacks effortlessly, it even reflected them perfectly back to their source.
It was pure coincidence... but Honest had happened to be standing directly in the path of one of those redirected beams.
...
Back at the palace, the atmosphere was anything but calm.
Unlike Haruki's group, who watched the chaos unfold from a distance, the people inside the Royal Palace were on edge. The Prime Minister's sudden death had been a shocking, if welcome, turn of events.
But the towering threat of the Supreme Teigu still loomed before them—and no one could afford to let their guard down.
"Ah! Prime Minister! Damn it, it's all your fault! You filthy rebels—all of you deserve to die!"
The young emperor staggered to his feet while still piloting the Supreme Teigu, screaming with rage. Despite how the Prime Minister had used him all along, he had always treated the young emperor kindly on the surface—otherwise, he would never have earned such trust.
With each step the Supreme Teigu took, the ground trembled violently, its massive form shaking everyone to their core. The sheer force it exuded left the surrounding soldiers with a deep sense of helplessness.
Boom! Boom!...
The Prime Minister's death had sent the young emperor into a frenzy. And now, seeing the rebel army break through the capital, he understood—despite his age—that if the empire, handed down through countless generations, were to fall in his hands, it would be a disgrace to his ancestors.
Consumed by desperation, he lashed out wildly, launching devastating attacks at the rebels. In a short time, his rampage inflicted heavy casualties.
"We can't let this go on! We have to stop it!"
Seeing how quickly the allied forces were crumbling, Najenda turned to the others in Night Raid.
"Susanoo, do you know any way to bring down the Supreme Teigu?"
As a Teigu himself, Susanoo had existed for over a thousand years. Though much of that time was spent dormant, his experience still far exceeded that of ordinary people.
"Every object has a weak point, even the Supreme Teigu is no exception. I hadn't noticed its flaw before—but when the attack was reflected earlier, it gave it away. Look—most of the cracks on its body are shallow, but there's one that runs deeper than the rest. That has to be its weak spot. If we concentrate our attacks there, we can take it down."
He pointed to the area where the reflected blast had struck earlier.
"Right! That makes sense!"
Tatsumi's eyes lit up in realization. During their training, Susanoo had taught him that everything in the world has a weakness, and striking it would always produce greater results with less effort.
"Alright! Mr. Susanoo, Leone—let's move! Mine, provide cover from a distance. Sheele, stay by the boss and protect her!"
Without another word, Tatsumi charged forward.
Unlike in the original story where Tatsumi fought the Supreme Teigu alone, this time he had backup—Susanoo and Leone fighting alongside him, Mine attacking from range, and Sheele guarding Najenda. The Supreme Teigu was also already damaged, giving them a critical advantage.
Thanks to that, they didn't suffer the heavy losses of the original timeline. After all, back then, Tatsumi had nearly exhausted himself just figuring out the Teigu's weak point.
"Damn you all! Traitorous scum!"
The young emperor roared in fury, his voice filled with fear and anger.
As Tatsumi and the others focused all their strength on the spot Susanoo had identified, the Supreme Teigu began to crack open. A large fissure formed across its armor, and then—finally—it collapsed to the ground.
Those who had joined in the assault walked away with only minor injuries.