Chapter 37

Blazing fire lit the horizon. Intense flame dominated the battlefield as several dozen armored tanks stormed across the scorched surface. Not a single unit stood still, in part due to how even the battle seemed. The East faced off against the West. Each side had several dozen Exelia units moving in formation and fighting on the uneven, rocky surface. Several minutes had passed since combat first broke out, yet none of the units had been lost. The battle was far from one-sided, and neither of the two armies succeeded in curbing the other’s numbers. The Akuro mountain region was dotted with flat areas that allowed Bullet Magic to travel with little disruption. The very fact that the battle hadn’t been decided proved that both sides lacked a true trump card. A mage’s Qualia allowed them to evade a bullet moving even at supersonic speeds. No coincidence in the world was enough to let a stray bullet hit an experienced mage. And so, there was only one condition necessary to secure victory for one side—to create an insurmountable advantage for themselves. It was the only way to break this deadlock. However, as the battle between the East and West raged on… “What the hell is that?” …it suddenly appeared. “That unit, it’s…” A particular unit joined the fray, shattering the balance of the battle. It was jet-black, with armor unlike any ordinary Exelia. Upon spotting the unusual appearance of that black unit, everyone froze. That dark-as-night shade wasn’t the color of the special alloy used to mass-produced Exelia. It looked as if it had been dipped in ink to keep any light from reflecting off it, though its most striking feature was clearly its size. It stood twice as tall as a normal Exelia. Everyone swallowed nervously at the sight of the massive, black Exelia. At a glance, one could tell it wasn’t built to move quickly. Thus, it should and would have been at a disadvantage. Ordinary Exelias’ powerful engines, coupled with their light frames, allowed them to move at high speeds, so a heavy Exelia could never move that quickly. But the very next moment… “Ah…!” …that massive unit rushed forward, reaching incredible speeds in the blink of an eye. And using that momentum, it battered the East’s Exelia division. It moved quickly, but not faster than a bullet. Its forward charge, a simple ramming attack with a clear trajectory, attempted to decimate them. Evading it should have been simple. But when the eastern units avoided its charge… “It can’t be!” …the black unit swerved its massive frame, looped back in a perpendicular angle, and rammed itself against a few eastern Exelias that failed to react in time. The air rumbled, and the battlefield itself shuddered under the impact. The units that had been struck burst into piles of crushed metal like rocks split by a hammer. The mages piloting them were reduced to mere red blots on the ground, losing all trace of their human form. One hit, one simple ramming maneuver, had caused untold destruction. And with that, the eerie black unit that had just torn apart several armored tanks… “Ah…!” …changed its trajectory to hunt down a new target.