Five streaks of light moved in a complex pattern on the battlefield—the trails of the four white mobile knights chasing the fleeing Avid.
House Banfield’s fleet watched them, and the Guide did likewise, perched atop the bridge of one of the fleet’s ships. Out there in space, he swung his fists around, cheering the white mobile knights on.
“That’s it! Yes! Finish him off!”
Two of the white craft pursued the Avid while the other two hung back, providing support fire. At first glance, they appeared to have the Avid cornered.
The Guide clasped his hands as if praying. “Ooh, it would’ve been perfect if 3588 were here to crush him with the other four!”
Unfortunately, the Gerbera wasn’t present. It was supposed to lead the other four craft in crushing Liam, but that hadn’t worked out, since 3588’s capabilities had gone unappreciated.
“In any case, the way Liam is now, those four should be able to take him out! It was a mistake to come out on the battlefield so certain that you’d win, Liam!”
The Guide had been right to think that Liam might come out to see the Avid’s successors himself if they were placed in front of him. He still didn’t feel that he himself could beat Liam, but that was if they fought one-on-one. On the battlefield, things were different. Even if Liam was setting foot into the realm of the more-than-human, he was still fragile enough to be vaporized like anyone if a ship’s cannon hit him. A space battlefield spelled certain death for Liam—without the Avid, at least. There was almost no chance that Liam would come out here without the Avid, but the Guide still saw a path to victory.
“You underestimate the battlefield because you have the Flash, Liam. Sure, your Flash has surpassed the human realm, but have you realized the strain that puts on your tools?”
Liam’s Flash, which had brought G’doire to the brink of destruction, was more powerful than ever. It had evolved into a technique so strong that the Guide considered it entirely unreasonable, but that strength came with its own flaws. Liam’s Flash was too powerful.
“Sure, you’ve polished your Flash into a sublime technique, but do you think there exists a mobile knight that can weather the strain of it?”
If Liam tried to replicate his Flash in the Avid, there was a good chance the machine would self-destruct, unable to bear the move’s current strength. The Avid’s piloting mechanism was incredibly sensitive and difficult to manage, but a skilled enough pilot could reproduce their own movements with it perfectly. If Liam maneuvered the craft exactly as he wished—if he made it perform his perfected Flash—he could push the Avid beyond its limits. The Guide felt that, since the Avid would destroy itself if it attempted the Flash, the craft only hindered Liam as he was now. Thus, on a battlefield like this, the Guide had a chance to beat Liam.
After all, although Liam couldn’t use the Avid to unleash his Flash, he couldn’t leave the craft either. Even though using the Flash from inside the Avid’s cockpit would likely cause the mobile knight to burst from strain, Liam would be as good as dead if he lost the Avid out here.
…Of course, all that was a matter of possibility. The Guide’s current state demonstrated all too well how slim a chance he was clinging to. Even assuming that Liam would choose to go fight the four mobile knights in his Avid had been a gamble.
From his very soul, the Guide cried out, “You’ll cause your own defeat, Liam!”
The Avid couldn’t even slash at the two craft it was fighting at close range; the gunfire from their supporting craft deflected its attacks. The Avid was struggling, and at this rate, the white mobile knights might beat it. Or would Liam get impatient and try to use his Flash, destroying the Avid?
“Mwa ha ha ha! Kill Liam and take the Avid down with hiiiiim!”
The Guide spread his arms, dispersing black smoke through the area. This smoke coiled around the white mobile knights, giving them power. The ominous negative energy the Guide had given them made the white mobile knights’ camera eyes flash, sinister, as their attacks on the Avid intensified. The Avid’s surface armor became more and more damaged, and the four enemy craft all attacked simultaneously as if to strike the final blow. Assailed from four directions at once, the Avid was engulfed in flame.
The Guide cheered, “Yes! Yes! That should do some dama—huh?”
Behind the fireball engulfing the Avid, a giant made of light had appeared. This being, even larger than the Avid itself, was a manifestation of Liam’s power. It looked like the top half of a naked man wearing a warrior’s mask, and the air of a god of battle. This giant embraced the Avid with both arms.
“Wh-what’re you doing?!”
Light flowed from the giant into the Avid. The craft’s eyes flashed, and Liam’s voice reached even the Guide. “Nice work, Nias! These things are definitely powerful enough to be called the Avid’s successors! They’ll make a good souvenir for Ellen and my sister apprentices.”
To the Guide’s eyes, glowing lines of gold appeared to run across the Avid’s surface as the craft took in the giant’s power and made it its own.
“N-n-no way! That thing can tamper with a mobile knight directly like this?!”
The giant of light was manipulating reality. It was using the same type of power the Guide possessed, but it employed virtuous energy that was the opposite of the Guide’s.
When the Guide yelled in surprise, the giant’s eyes flicked over to him, as if it had finally noticed him.
“Eep!”
If the giant discovered him, it would hit him with Liam’s gratitude, so the Guide held his hat to his head and fled.
“This can’t be! Gratitude that can influence reality simply cannot be! How much do you need to torment me before you’re satisfied, Liam?!”
Oblivious of the Guide’s pathetic, sobbing escape, Liam was in a great mood in the Avid’s cockpit. “Relying on AI was the right choice, Calvin. I think you’ve got good taste—and a compliment from me means a lot, you know? Still, there aren’t quite enough of these to beat me!”