“Enemies approaching!”
To the south of Lassei, an army of Kyklops was about to climb onto land from the coast near Isengard. Linze, who had been patrolling the coast with Helmwige, changed direction and flew toward the allied positions the moment she spotted them.
“It isn’t just the Kyklops! There’s a colossal unit I’ve never seen before among them!”
“I can see it from here too. It really is quite big, even larger than the Overlord... More than two times bigger, actually.”
The first to respond to Linze’s report was Leen, who spoke from inside her Grimgerde. The unknown unit was smaller than the Gigantes, the ancient weapon they had once fought, but it still seemed close to one hundred meters tall, and it was headed in their direction. Like the rest of the Kyklops, it only had one eye, but there was also something on its chest that resembled one too—most likely it wasn’t just a design, but some sort of weapon.
“Mother, it being big doesn’t mean it’s better. Each frame has its own appropriate size. There’s no point if it’s so big that it slows down its movements or puts strain on the joints and engine,” Quun commented from behind her. Leen could tell without even turning around that her daughter had a smug look on her face.
“I can’t say how much strain is on its joints, but it does seem to be walking fine.”
“Of course it is. If it couldn’t do that, there’s no way they’d send it out for battle. Either they’re using some kind of seal magic that lightens its weight or they’ve strengthened its durability. With something of that size, though, even its weight becomes a weapon, so I don’t think they’d try to lighten it... Actually, wait, if they could freely make adjustments to its weight with [Gravity] depending on the situation, then...”
Leen left Quun to mutter away to herself as another transmission came from the Helmwige.
“The Kyklops in the rear have fired divine venom into the air!”
A sound akin to fireworks exploded in the sky, and suddenly there was gold powder being scattered above them. The girls had made sure to get changed into their battle suits already, so they didn’t suddenly feel unwell, but the problem was the effect it had on their Frame Gears...
“Heh heh heh... Don’t think the same trick will work twice. War is a back and forth battle of arms development. Know that those who fail to prepare countermeasures will become the losers!”
Quun operated the console at the back of Grimgerde and confirmed the frame’s output. After a moment, the result was displayed on the monitor.
“Output decreased by eighteen percent! Take that! We managed to get it under a twenty percent decrease! That is a victory for the research squad!”
Quun let out a shrill laugh of joy. Leen let out a small sigh at her daughter’s bizarre behavior. To have managed to bring it down to such a percentage after what was previously a forty percent decrease was definitely something to be happy about, but she did wish Quun would calm down a bit.
Letting out another sigh, Leen opened up the channels to the rest of the Valkyries.
“Is it all right if I start how we always do, with a little Full Burst from Grimgerde?”
“Yes, please. It would do wonders if you could thin them out a bit,” Yumina responded.
“Indeed. We will take over while Grimgerde is on cooldown,” Sue reassured her.
Grimgerde was a heavy ordnance unit, so the strength of its Full Burst was at the top with the Overlord, but it required a several-minute cooldown period in which it was left vulnerable following usage of the weapon. As such, Grimgerde’s role in battle was to begin it with Full Burst, enter cooldown, and then once it was back up, support everyone else from the rear.
This time too, Grimgerde was standing right in front of the incoming enemies, all weapons deployed.
“Eat this. Full Burst!”
A storm of phrasium bullets flew into the Kyklops in front of them. Usually, they would’ve been hit by the bullets and their numbers would greatly decrease.
“Huh?”
And yet, several Kyklops lined up in a row, acting as a shield for the Kyklops behind them as they took all of the rounds.
Naturally, those Kyklops that stood in front were full of holes in seconds. But even once their functions had stopped, they remained in place, ensuring none of the remaining bullets made it through to those behind them. Or perhaps it was more correct to say that the Kyklops that were both beside and behind were supporting them to make sure that they didn’t fall; they were quite literally using the Kyklops at the front as a shield, allowing them to withstand the Full Burst.
Thus, the Grimgerde only managed to defeat a dozen or so Kyklops with their initial assault. That was less than a third of what it usually managed to clear.
A puff of white smoke containing traces of the glistening ether liquid released from Grimgerde as it came to a stop. Overlord and the Chevaliers immediately stepped in front to protect the vulnerable frame.
“I’m shocked. Who knew they could manage to team up like that?”
“Could it be that even though they look the same, what’s inside is different?”
Elze and Linne—who’d swapped with Elna—observed from inside the Gerhilde.
The battle between the Nereids and the Kyklops in the sea had already begun. Sometimes, columns of water would shoot up into the air due to the torpedoes released by the Nereids.
“No, more than what’s inside...it’s like the chain of command is different. Before, their commander used to give them simple orders like ‘Advance’ or ‘Fight,’ but now that commander is gone, and there’s a new commander who’s able to give them more precise commands like ‘Advance while protecting the others’ and ‘Start attacking from whatever looks weakest,’” Quun responded from within the immobile Grimgerde. “They may be using a command system that’s even better than the Soldats. If so, should we expect them to move differently than before? Because of their new commander, they’ll be able to fight in a more skilled and logical manner, just like a real army... They could control multiple Gollems as if they’re their own limbs and—”
“Basically, this won’t be as easy as it has been in the past,” Leen swiftly said in conclusion, cutting off her daughter’s long-winded rambling.
“Put simply, yes, that is correct...” Quun relented with a pout.