“She defended against it?! But why more than just the bridge...? I see, so that’s what it was, Goddess of Dawn!”
She never used her powers to protect herself. But Kotori, Kenji, and a lot of the crew were in the torso of the Blue Knight, so she’d had no choice but to use her powers. That was a large change, as she had never used them for anything but protecting Koutarou. Yet now she was using it for others, be it out of camaraderie or a love for humanity. At any rate, something had changed inside her, and that meant the restrictions on her power were growing lax. In order for the Gray Knight to accomplish his goal, he needed the Goddess of Dawn to fully release her abilities. That meant that the moment he was waiting for was approaching, which was why he was happy despite the chaos being blocked.
“Still, now it’s just a normal bombardment. The ambush failed,” he muttered.
When the attack had touched the rainbow glow, the beam had lost its power of chaos. It had been erased by the power of order, its opposite, which meant the latter had become merely a powerful beam attack. It wouldn’t bring the result he had hoped for.
I can’t just be happy, the Gray Knight thought. I’ll need some other plan to stall them.
He had drawn much closer to his long-term goal, but his short-term goal was now looking unrealistic. He couldn’t dance for joy; he needed to do something to stall the Imperial Army.
Something strange had happened. The Blue Knight had been attacked by a beam infused with the power of chaos. They had hurriedly taken defensive measures but couldn’t fully protect themselves. Frankly, Koutarou had believed they would be shot down, but something nobody had expected occurred. Despite being hit directly, the Blue Knight had endured the attack.
“What happened?” Koutarou was confused. According to Ruth’s report, the effect of the bombardment was less than expected, being nothing more than a powerful beam cannon.
“I don’t know. All of a sudden, I couldn’t feel anything.”
“We didn’t just misjudge it...right?”
“I can’t imagine all three of us and the haniwas misjudging it at the same time.”
Their first thought was that the first ones to discover it had been wrong, which meant the three Sanaes. However, the haniwas and even the Blue Knight’s spiritual energy had detected it as well. They had been, in fact, attacked by the power of chaos.
“Did you not feel it, Satomi-kun?” Harumi asked. She had been thinking about something since the attack had ended.
“Feel what?” he replied.
“Just before the beam hit, a rainbow light mixed in with Signaltin’s mana. But I can’t be entirely sure, since it was just an instant.”
“Really? I didn’t notice.”
“Yes... What was that? Or was I just seeing things?”
When she’d asked about it before, Maki and Yurika hadn’t noticed either. Harumi’s connection to Signaltin was stronger than anyone else’s; perhaps that was why she had been able to sense it. That was why she’d asked Koutarou, who also had a strong connection to Signaltin, but he hadn’t noticed anything either. Harumi was starting to doubt herself.
Having heard Harumi, Kiriha looked over at Sanae-nee, who was looking at Kiriha too. When their eyes met, she nodded and then shrugged.
So, the Gray Knight can launch attacks like that. And Sanae-nee has experience with those types of attacks, but she can’t tell why this one was negated.
That was how Kiriha interpreted Sanae-nee’s gesture. Trying to get any more information would require referencing the Gray Knight’s identity, so Sanae-nee couldn’t say anything else about it. Kiriha also had information that she couldn’t say out loud.
But if this is the same as last time, that rainbow power is... Kiriha had seen the power manifest before. She also knew who had done it, and that person was aboard the Blue Knight right now. She might be reaching her limit. The enemy is wielding powers beyond humanity. At this rate, eventually she’ll...
Great power brought misfortune in any era. Signaltin was a good example of that. Maxfern had killed Alaia’s parents out of desire for that power. That was why Kiriha had kept quiet about the rainbow power, not telling anyone she was keeping it safe. But that was reaching its breaking point now. The enemy was wielding the power of chaos without holding back, and Kiriha was secretly worried that the power of the rainbow, or power of order, would be necessary.
The appearance and disappearance of the power of chaos had confused the others, but it had become clear that the Gray Knight was leading the enemy fleet.
“I guess Maxfern and Grevanas are too busy, so the Gray Knight scraped together some forces to stall us,” Koutarou said.
Because of that, they were able to get a general grasp of the situation. So far, the Gray Knight had given Koutarou the impression that he was something of a wanderer. Rather than being in any of the main forces, he always seemed to act as backup or as a commando. He was close to something like a lone wolf mercenary. Even this time, he had acted in accordance with Koutarou’s impression of him. Maxfern and Grevanas were working on moving the stronghold, so the Gray Knight had stepped out in their place. But even during the battle, he had used the fleet as a decoy for his surprise attack. It seemed as though he rejected others.
“That power is well suited to diversions and covert operations,” Kiriha agreed.
The Gray Knight was a powerful fighter, but the power of chaos stood out even more. The power to make things vague could be used for not only attacking, but also confusing and hiding things. So his abilities made him suited to his role.
“But this time, it backfired,” Sanae declared with confidence.
Sanae-chan and Sanae-san had become one, and she was sitting in her personal seat, opposite the two haniwas, who were connected to a seat. It was a new piece of equipment that would enhance Sanae’s psychic powers.
“No matter how much you hide, you can’t escape our friendship power, ho!”
“On the surface is one thing, but there aren’t enough places to hide in space, ho!”
Sanae and the haniwas had known each other for a long time now, so they had an easy time syncing, which in turn powered Sanae up even more. The haniwas could also integrate the information from sensors and radar to display what Sanae was seeing on the monitor, so one could say it was a feat made possible by their friendship.
“I can see him; he’s running along this route!” Sanae announced.
“I will show it on the star map, ho!” Karama said.
“The accuracy is only ninety percent, ho! He’s a tough one, ho!” Korama said.
The haniwas displayed what Sanae was seeing with her Spirit Vision on a star map. On it was a solid line showing the route the Gray Knight had taken, along with dotted lines for his continued course. However, the Gray Knight wasn’t just running away. He was using the power of chaos to hide his traces, blurring the actual route.
“So he’s not going to group up with the ground forces?” Koutarou muttered.
The Gray Knight’s path wasn’t headed for the fortress where there was currently a battle going on. Even considering the extreme possibilities, he would need to make a drastic change of course or he would end up somewhere completely different.
“He is probably considering being caught in a pincer attack,” Kiriha said.
“I see. He knows we’re chasing him, after all,” Koutarou replied with a nod.
Like Kiriha said, if their opponent was to join the ground forces, Koutarou would hit them from behind. With the Imperial Army in front of them and Koutarou behind them, the outcome was clear. The Gray Knight was landing somewhere else to avoid that, or perhaps trying to make it look that way. It was a gamble to keep the Blue Knight from making an immediate move.
“He would also want to lose his pursuers,” Clan added while adjusting her glasses. She believed that the first thing he would do would be to properly get away.
“Now that you mention it, if Sanae loses sight of him, it’ll be dangerous no matter where he goes,” Koutarou said.
Once the Gray Knight got far enough away to escape Sanae’s Spirit Vision, it would be very difficult to detect him again, since the surface was full of life. If he then headed for the Liberation Army, it would work out better for him.
“We have no choice but to go back up the fortress. I don’t like this,” Shizuka said.
“And we’ll have to go help even though we know the Gray Knight will attack from behind,” Alunaya added.
Neither of them was very happy with that outcome. They would have to fight knowing the Gray Knight could attack from behind at any time. Since it was Shizuka and Alunaya’s job to run rampant, the situation would make it very difficult for them to move. That sensation was even stronger because of the previous ambush. The Gray Knight’s talent for gambling was considerable.
“Um, Satomi-san, can I say something?”
“What is it, Yurika?”
“In that case, wouldn’t it be better to let Mackenzie-san and the others get away?” Yurika asked.