Murrue Ramius frowned. "A grudge?"
"Yeah," Orga Itsuka replied. "When Tekkadan was first founded, our first job was to escort a young girl to a city in the Earth Sphere under Gjallarhorn's jurisdiction. That Graze Ein was one of the ones who tried to stop us. Mikazuki was supposed to have finished that monster off, but for some reason... it's been resurrected in your world."
Murrue's brow didn't unfurl; she still had many questions. "Then who is this Lieutenant Crank he keeps talking about? He seems obsessed with Mikazuki, constantly ranting about 'sin' and things like that..."
"Crank Zent was a Gjallarhorn MS pilot we ran into just as Tekkadan was starting out. He challenged Mikazuki to a duel. The stake was the life of the girl we were protecting."
"A duel..." Murrue recalled the flashes of images she had seen within Barbatos. There had been such a scene, though the images had flickered by so quickly she hadn't seen them clearly.
"Yeah, you saw it too, didn't you? Mikazuki won, obviously. That Crank guy couldn't accept his superiors' orders but couldn't refuse them either, so he asked Mikazuki to kill him."
Mikazuki Augus cut in, speaking indifferently as he scanned the status monitors displaying the condition of his machine's components. "So I accepted his request. I shot him. It seems that black machine had a close relationship with the old man, so now it hates me."
The descriptions Mikazuki and Orga gave were as brief as possible, but Murrue could almost see it Crank's desperation and eventual release, and the unwavering determination of the children of Tekkadan...
"So... you're going to fight him alone?"
"Yeah. His target is me. If I stay on the Archangel, you'll all be in danger. You heard what we just talked about. I'll get off at that island chain up ahead. Don't worry about me. By the way, could you get some food and water ready for me? About a week's worth."
Mikazuki spoke casually, seemingly oblivious to Murrue's worsening expression.
Murrue was angry not at his stubbornness, but at her own inability to help him. Thinking back, it seemed Mikazuki had always been fighting on his own. He finally noticed something was wrong and asked with a slight frown, "What is it?"
"Nothing... I'll have what you need ready. But... you will come back, won't you? Back here... back to me..."
Murrue revealed a helpless side of herself; she was terrified of losing Mikazuki. She didn't know what she would become if she received word of his death.
Mikazuki blinked, his lips curling into a faint smile. "Where else would I go? In this world, I don't have anywhere else to return to besides here."
Murrue was stunned for a moment, then a beautiful smile broke across her face. "That's true."
The next morning, Mikazuki stood on Barbatos's shoulder, watching the Archangel sail into the distance. Inside the bridge, Murrue watched the image of the machine standing on the empty island and prayed silently. Come back safely, Mikazuki. I'll be waiting for you in Alaska...
Natarle Badgiruel and the others didn't know why Mikazuki was leaving. His reasons had been perfunctory, but they suspected it was connected to that black machine.
After saying his goodbyes, Mikazuki jumped back into the cockpit. He connected to the Alaya-Vijnana System and ate compressed biscuits as he waited. Outside, a torrential downpour began.
Nearly a day passed. Around six in the evening, Orga's voice rang out. "Mikazuki, he's here!"
Mikazuki snapped his eyes open. Barbatos's green eyes suddenly flared to life through the curtain of rain. The kneeling Barbatos gripped its giant pincers and stood. It turned toward the sea, its gaze glinting with cold murderous intent.
Far across the ocean's surface, massive waves erupted. After two more minutes, the storm-darkened night grew even heavier. Barbatos suddenly swung the giant pincers.
Clang!
The massive impact drowned out the thunder. Under the flash of lightning, the giant pincers locked against the enemy. Mikazuki stared back expressionlessly at the red mono-eyed machine.
Graze Ein.
"Mikazuki... Augus!"
A hoarse voice roared. Barbatos kicked the enemy away. Mikazuki said coldly, "If you want to fight, then fight. Stop shouting my name. It's annoying."
Barbatos raised the giant pincers and slammed them down. Boom! The ground shattered, but Graze Ein evaded the strike using its thrusters. Mikazuki's expression remained calm; he had expected this. This was the reaction speed the Alaya-Vijnana System was supposed to provide. If Graze Ein had been taken out easily yesterday, that would have been the problem.
Boom! Boom!
After several exchanges, Barbatos was forced onto the defensive. Mikazuki's face darkened within the cockpit.
Orga's voice was filled with shock. "Are you kidding me? Barbatos has five times its original performance, and it's being suppressed? What the hell happened to that guy's machine?"
"Who cares... Argh!"
Mikazuki grunted, controlling Barbatos to brace its arms, parrying Graze Ein's giant axe. He aimed the mortars on his left arm straight ahead and fired several rounds in quick succession. Thump, thump, thump!
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