"Mikazuki!"
Just as everyone thought the Barbatos had been destroyed, the flames of the explosion dissipated. The Barbatos appeared before everyone's eyes, completely intact.
Under the gaze of the crowd, the katana and the smoothbore gun fell into the sea, shattered. The only reason the Barbatos had not been destroyed just now was thanks to Mikazuki using those two weapons to block the impact.
The mortars on both arms had also slightly melted and deformed from the high temperatures while blocking the blast. Other than that, there were only a few scorch marks on the armor; nothing was seriously wrong.
Orga quickly patched through to the Barbatos' communication line. "Mika, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Mikazuki wiped away the nosebleed caused by releasing some of the limiters just now. Then, the Barbatos charged out once more.
The scene of him wiping away the blood happened to be captured on the screens in the Kaguya Command Center.
Murrue's voice shook. "You call that fine? Don't joke around, Mr. Orga! Tell him to come back immediately!"
"It's no use. Even I can't make him stop now. He's already... off the leash."
"Off the leash..." Murrue murmured, dazed.
"Report! Another signal from the Pacific Fleet has vanished outside our territorial waters!"
Orb's detection system was manufactured by Morgenroete, Inc. It was far more advanced than anything carried on the Earth Alliance warships. If it weren't, they wouldn't have been able to discover the Archangel so far beyond their territorial waters and dispatch a fleet in time.
Seeing the Barbatos take down a warship with its bare hands, the crowd no longer knew how to express the shock in their hearts.
"Wait, the Barbatos' eyes have changed! Hey, Orga-whatever, come out and explain! Why have the Barbatos' eyes turned red? They turned red the first time it fought that black machine, didn't they?"
At some point, the Barbatos' eyes had turned a deep crimson. Cagalli thought back to the footage Lowe from the Junk Guild had brought backthe Barbatos' eyes had been red then, exactly as they were now.
"It's fine. Those guys are nothing but trash anyway... right, Mika?"
Inside the cockpit, Mikazuki's face remained expressionless. His deep blue eyes were filled with a rational brilliance that seemed completely at odds with his violent actions.
He muttered quietly to himself, "Three more ships. At this distance... the fuel... is only enough to take down three more?"
The fleet's first wave of gunfire had stopped, and the surrounding airspace had cleared. Thanks to their own attacks earlier, Mikazuki had been hammered quite a distance. He stepped onto a Strike Dagger floating on the sea and lunged toward another intact Earth Alliance vessel.
The Barbatos drove a fist into the ship's bridge. The mortars fired their final rounds, and immediately after, the deformed right-arm mortar exploded.
Fortunately, Mikazuki managed to eject the right-arm mortar in time, tossing it onto another warship. The deck of that ship was crowded with fighter jets that had just landed. They were caught in the explosion and began to ignite. Flames swept across the entire hull as it slowly began to sink into the sea.
Mikazuki didn't even stay to confirm the kill. He ignited his thrusters, stomping hard on the deck of the ship whose bridge had just been destroyed. He leaped high into the air, landing on the nearest aircraft carrier.
The mortar ammunition was empty, leaving the Barbatos with no weapons left to use. However, that was not enough to stop Mikazuki from continuing his battle.
The Barbatos spread its arms downward and grabbed the ship's bridge, which was roughly as wide as its shoulders. The fingers of the Lupus form were incredibly sharp, piercing through the bridge's armor as easily as claws.
"What is he trying to do?"
Everyone was stunned by the Barbatos' movement. Erica, who had stopped her work to watch, cried out in a trembling voice. "Is he... is he planning to rip the entire bridge out?"
As soon as she spoke, Murrue and the others nearby all showed expressions of absolute horror.
Just as Erica said, that was exactly what Mikazuki intended. The Barbatos leaned its body back.
Creeaaaak!
From the points where the Barbatos' claws had pierced, the outer walls of the bridge's armor began to deform and snap. The bridge, which was as tall as a Mobile Suit, was suddenly wrenched completely off the hull by the Barbatos.
Aboard the flagship located furthest away, Muruta and the Captain swallowed hard as they watched the brutal scene on the screen.
"A... monster. Keep attacking! We can't let him stay here!"
The Captain felt the same way, shouting urgently, "All remaining ships, attack that machine! I don't care if you fire every last shell!"
The people on Orb's side felt their skin crawl. This was far too dominant; he wasn't even treating those warships like warships anymore.
Only Murrue and a few others looked on with worry as the Barbatos was once again engulfed in a barrage of fire. This time, the Barbatos retreated from the area covered by the barrage in a timely manner. It headed back toward Orb instead of chasing the Earth Alliance forces, which had already fled far beyond Orb's territorial waters.
Murrue was the first to rush out of the command center. Cagalli followed her, and the rest of the group trailed behind.
Ledonir Kisaka walked to Uzumi's side and asked, "Lord Uzumi, shall we continue preparations for the Kusanagi?"
"..."
Uzumi looked at the machine on the screen, stained by the soot of gunfire. After a moment of silence, he spoke. "Continue the preparations, but abandon the plan we designated in such a hurry. We can take more time to verify our supplies."
"Understood."
As Kisaka withdrew, Uzumi murmured to himself, "Tekkadan, huh... What an unbelievable boy. It looks like I might be able to live a few years longer after all."
Unconsciously, a smile tugged at the corner of Uzumi's mouth, hidden behind his thick beard. But the smile vanished quickly, replaced by a trace of hesitation and struggle.
"Perhaps... it really would be better to tell her."
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