"Eh? Father? Why keep it a secret?" Cagalli looked at Uzumi Nara Athha with a face full of confusion.
"Hmph. It doesn't matter whether you know or not," Uzumi replied dismissively. "Given your temperament, if you found out, there's no telling what kind of mess you'd stir up or how much trouble you'd cause others."
"Who would cause trouble?!" While Cagalli was busy arguing, Akihiro Altland, standing beside Mikazuki Augus, spoke up.
"In that case, I'll go along as well."
"No, Akihiro. You stay on Earth," Mikazuki said.
His words didn't just stun Akihiro; even Murrue Ramius, the Uzumi father-daughter pair, and everyone else present were taken aback.
Akihiro's expression turned to one of bewilderment. "Why?"
"The job you accepted was to protect Orb in the event of a crisis. If you leave Orb, you can't do your job. So, you must stay."
"But..." Akihiro tried to say more, but Mikazuki interrupted him.
"Besides, if you go to space too, what about Masahiro Altland? He finally came back from the dead; who will look after him? Then there's Lafter Frankland and the others. Do you... really want to repeat the same mistakes?"
Akihiro's expression shifted, clearly moved. Mikazuki's lips twitched slightly into a ghost of a smirk as he raised a hand and gave Akihiro a firm thud on the chest.
"This is the Commander's order. There's no room for refusal. That's that."
"...I understand. However..." Akihiro turned and looked up at the Gundam Barbatos standing beside his own Gusion. "Take Gusion's equipment with you. It might be of some use, more or less."
"Alright." Mikazuki didn't stand on ceremony. Most of the Gusion's equipment was compatible with his Barbatos.
The two turned to face the Barbatos. Looking up at the towering machine, Akihiro crossed his arms and remarked, "Luckily the frame and armor are fine, otherwise this would have been a real headache. By the way, this is the Lupus form, isn't it? I remember it was just the standard Barbatos the last time I saw it."
"Yeah. I took a trip to PLANT and had Lacus Clyne help me with an upgrade," Mikazuki replied. "It doesn't seem to be Nanolaminate Armor, though. If it were, taking down those battleships shouldn't have been so much trouble."
"Hey, don't joke around. Even with Nanolaminate Armor, you can't expect to come out unscathed under that much concentrated fire. In reality, you only lost some equipment."
"Is that so...?"
"That's exactly how it is. If it had been me, I would've been turned into a sieve long ago."
The conversation between the two Tekkadan members left the others unable to even get a word in edgewise.
Murrue Ramius, along with the rest of the group, could only offer a bitter smile. She went to the jeep and pulled out a fresh towel and a bottle of water.
After wetting the towel, she walked over to Mikazuki and began wiping the bloodstains from his face, ignoring the teasing looks from the people around them.
But before she could finish, Mikazuki grabbed the towel. "I can do it myself."
With that, he gave his face a few haphazard wipes. Once the blood was gone, Murrue reached out helplessly to tidy his hair.
Akihiro's brow furrowed slightly as he saw Mikazuki's face clearly now that the blood was no longer masking it, but he remained silent.
It wasn't until the Barbatos and the Gusion were being transported toward Kaguya that Akihiro, sitting in the back of the military jeep, spoke in a low voice.
"Your eye... Can you not see?"
Mikazuki blinked, looking out the window at the passing wreckage. "Yeah. The right one."
"I remember your eyes were fine before we left. What exactly happened? With your skills, there shouldn't be anyone in this world capable of forcing you to disengage the Barbatos's limiters."
"It was that black guy I took down in Edmonton."
Akihiro's pupils contracted as he recalled the battle from their first time on Earth. "That black Graze?"
"Yeah. I ran into him right after the Archangel left Orb. I took him out, but I pushed the limiters a bit too far. Now, I can't see out of it unless I'm connected to the Alaya-Vijnana System. But..."
"But what?"
"That guy I've killed twice now... He showed up again yesterday."
Akihiro looked startled. "What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what I said. I definitely killed that guy back then, but... he appeared again yesterday."
"You mean, the version of him that was resurrected in this world was killed by you, yet he showed up again when the Earth Alliance attacked Orb yesterday?"
"Correct."
Hearing Mikazuki's confirmation, Akihiro's frown deepened. "Is it possible it's just the same model?"
Mikazuki shook his head. "No, it's him. I couldn't mistake that feeling. It's the same personGraze Ein. Besides, the Chocolate Man once said that Gjallarhorn only ever had one person undergo that specific modification surgery. There are no others."
"You mean... the fact that he was resurrected in this world means he's immortal?" As Akihiro said this, his face filled with horror. Immortal... could such a person truly exist in this world?
The earpiece in Mikazuki's pocket vibrated twice. He pulled it out and handed it to Akihiro. "It's Orga."
Akihiro put on the headset and heard Orga Itsuka's voice.
"He isn't immortal. He only said one thing: 'I am still alive. Countless versions of me exist, and I will keep appearing indefinitely.'"
"Countless versions? You mean that monster has split into many in this world?"
Orga shrugged, though Akihiro could only hear his voice. "Probably. How should I put this... Mikazuki's Barbatos had its performance boosted by a full five times the moment it arrived here.
Then the machine gained all sorts of new functions, and even I ended up existing inside the Barbatos as a support system. To be honest, if there are multiple versions of Graze Ein, I wouldn't be surprised. After all, the fact that wewho should be deadare alive again is already completely unscientific."
🚨 Note: Consider supporting this story on Patreon.com/Flokixy to access 400+ advance chapters and 2 new chapters daily! (Full story bundles also available without a subscription).