Ch.179179. The Battle of Obitus Workshop

Ian tensed up as he saw Horizon’s bright red giant mech. Though he had been fully focused on his sword technique moments ago, it stung that he hadn’t noticed the approach.

If Horizon had chosen to attack Ian’s mech instead of blocking the sword energy at that moment, he would have been helplessly blown up along with his mech.

The thought made Ian shudder slightly. It felt like he had just stepped on death’s doorstep and returned.

[Don’t worry! If that had happened, I would have stepped in.]

“Fresia?”

[Who do you think I am? I can move the mech without your permission.]

Ian remembered something important from Fresia’s words.

The autonomous function of mechs through artificial spirits.

While standard artificial spirits provided by the Academy required the pilot’s command to execute autonomous functions, Fresia, as a super artificial spirit, had no such limitations.

With her autonomous will, she could make her own judgments and, in emergencies, directly control the mech.

If Horizon had launched a direct attack, Fresia would have moved the mech herself. This realization made Ian feel more secure.

[Cadet Ian.]

“Horizon…”

[Show some respect. I shall soon be called the Lion King. Your manner of speech is disrespectful.]

Ian frowned again at the arrogant communication. Horizon used to speak with a friendly tone like a neighborhood grandfather.

But now, returning as the leader of the rebels, he was addressing Ian with an imperial tone, as if everything was beneath him. His attitude suggested everything was under his feet.

Ian found it extremely irritating.

“The rebel leader seems to be getting too greedy.”

[Child. You’re the one showing arrogance with your insignificant abilities. Your talent might be somewhat superior to others, but to me, you look like a lucky brat. Without Fresia, your abilities would be nothing anyway.]

“What did you say?”

Ian was shocked.

Horizon knew about Fresia’s existence, which Ian had never revealed to anyone. This raised his alarm. He had a very bad feeling about this.

“How do you know about her?”

[Why wouldn’t I? Do you truly think I wouldn’t know about the Lion King’s artificial spirit? How foolish.]

Though Ian was irritated by Horizon’s mockery, he suppressed his emotions. More important was how Horizon knew about Fresia’s existence.

“I asked how you know.”

[I have no obligation to tell you. How could I explain everything to someone so foolish they can’t even understand what’s happening around them? Cadet Ian, as your former teacher, let me give you one last piece of advice: check inside first, not outside.]

“Stop talking nonsense and tell me the truth!”

Ian finally lost his patience and burst out in anger, but Horizon merely let out a vile laugh, as if saying, “What can you do about it?”

[I have nothing more to tell you. Rather, it’s time for you to hand them over. The Lion King’s sword and Fresia originally belonged to Lion King Terodamas. It’s time they returned to their rightful owner.]

[Ian, move back!]

Ian reflexively pulled the control stick at Fresia’s urgent cry.

The rapid evasive maneuver made him feel nauseated from the acceleration.

But unconsciously following Fresia’s words was a stroke of luck.

The spot where Ian had just been was now completely devastated.

Even the medium-armored mech standing at a distance had dents all over despite blocking the flying debris with its shield. The debris contained magical energy that could pierce through magical barriers.

Ian glared at Horizon’s mech with a pale face.

Despite the sudden attack, its power was superior to other mechs.

This was proof of how exceptional the red mech’s performance was.

[Not bad. Quite excellent for entertainment. However, I don’t have time to play now.]

Horizon was clearly an outstanding magician, but also an excellent swordsman. Having lived for many years, he had learned various skills, including swordsmanship.

And the sword technique he had mastered was the Lion Sword—the same technique that Terodamas had used.

The sword technique that Ian was still training in, Horizon had already mastered.

[First, I must neutralize you!]

The red mech slid toward Ian. He tried to block the approach using all the sword and control techniques he knew, but it was futile.

While Ian’s control technique was smoother, he was outmatched in every other aspect.

He could only hold on thanks to Fresia’s assistance. If Ian had been alone, he would have certainly been lost in the initial battle. That’s how big the gap was between them.

[Focus. You can win. His mech control technique has flaws, even if other technical aspects are superior. You can overcome this.]

“That’s easier said than done!”

Magic and swordsmanship.

Horizon, who had applied these to his mech, was a difficult opponent.

Ian knew well that while Horizon’s control technique was excellent, it was somewhat lacking compared to his magic and swordsmanship. Thanks to this, they could maintain this precarious standoff.

But he couldn’t help feeling anxious. While Horizon, the enemy’s greatest force, was focused here, the situation was improving elsewhere on the battlefield.

His attention kept drifting to Gilbert, who had led the vanguard. Gilbert’s exploits were being reported in real-time through the alliance communication channel.

[Raiding the artillery unit! Commander Gilbert has opened the way!]

[Requesting artillery support for the rear bombardment unit! We can’t miss the opportunity Commander Gilbert has given us!]

He tried not to pay attention. He tried to focus solely on Fresia’s briefing, but his concentration was scattered by the constant mentions of Gilbert’s name.

Even with full concentration, he couldn’t guarantee victory against the opponent before him.

What would happen if his mind wandered elsewhere in such a situation?

– Crack! Boom!

“Ugh!”

[Ian!]

The mech, with both legs cleanly severed, collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud. This was the price for missing Horizon’s movement for just a moment.

Ian’s mech flailed helplessly with its legs cleanly cut off. He pulled the control stick, but it only resulted in meaningless struggles.

While mechs are certainly formidable magical weapons, they are modeled after human structure, so when the legs are destroyed, they lose most of their mobility.

That’s why many mech manuals state that the simplest way to neutralize a mech is to attack its legs.

Horizon crushed the flailing arms and legs of the mech as if it were an insect.

Even after all four limbs were destroyed, the mech continued to move, so he destroyed the head as well.

Only then did Ian’s mech shut down due to extreme damage to the machine.

[To be distracted during battle—you must have thought little of me. But this works out well. There’s no need to waste more time.]

“Damn it!”

Blaming Gilbert again, Ian looked up at the dark ceiling of the cockpit with trembling eyes.

With the mech shut down, the luminous magic engraved on the runewords inside must have been shattered, as only red emergency lights illuminated the interior.

[Ian! Stay calm!]

“Damn it all!”

Ian pounded the control stick in frustration, not even hearing Fresia’s voice.

Always living in Gilbert’s shadow.

Horizon’s sudden interference.

The reality of being defeated again without accomplishing anything.

All sorts of negative thoughts and emotions swirled in Ian’s head. Everything that had sustained him until now collapsed in this moment.

His endless confidence and boundless self-love.

With all that stripped away, all that remained was a pathetic Ian.

– Crack!

There was a sound of something breaking outside, as if trying to tear open the cockpit.

Fresia was shouting in the emergency, but Ian just stared blankly at the ceiling.

She clicked her tongue. For some reason, Ian had given up on everything. She didn’t know why, but she needed to take some action as he was in danger.

“Huh?”

Ian, who had been in a daze, came to his senses as the surroundings suddenly brightened.

His unfocused eyes became clear, and he looked down at Fresia.

“Fresia?”

[Ian. Go ahead and wait for me.]

Ian had regained his senses, but the emergency teleportation magic had already been activated. If he had come to his senses a little earlier, he might have been able to teleport while holding her core.

In that moment, Ian reached for her core as he realized the situation, but the magic had already activated. Fresia remained alone in the cockpit, bathed in red light.

– Crack!

As the outside of the cockpit was torn open, sunlight leaked in.

Fresia quietly observed the situation and made plans for the future.

It was unexpected that Horizon knew her identity. Being called the Sage of the Continent, he must have found some ancient records about her.

Since he knew her capabilities well, if she fell into his hands, it wouldn’t be easy to escape.

The only hope was for the Successor Alliance to win and for Ian to reclaim her.

However, it was uncertain how this war would unfold, and even if they won, there was no guarantee she would safely return to Ian.

It was a troublesome situation in many ways.

But what did that matter?

When had she ever spoken such weak words?

Her noble pride raised its head.

Had she been influenced?

Because Ian had shown weakness, she too had started to speak weakly.

Fresia widened her eyes and straightened her weakened heart. It was like a high, sturdy castle wall that would not collapse.

Eventually, the cockpit was completely torn open, and bright light poured in. Without actual eyes, she wasn’t dazzled by the sudden flood of light.

Therefore, she could only burst into hollow laughter when she saw the mech outside.

[Gilbert?]

[An arrogant artificial spirit all alone. How unusual.]

Outside the torn cockpit, contrary to Fresia’s expectations, was a mech with Gilbert’s identification code.

***

Gilbert noticed Ian’s situation because of CT-777’s mention. Despite his excellent spatial perception, Gilbert and Ian were at least several hundred meters apart.

Even Gilbert couldn’t pay attention to a situation so far away while in the middle of enemy territory. Only a fool would focus on something distant rather than their immediate surroundings in such circumstances.

[Gil. Ian Tigris Linebarrel’s mech has been lost.]

“What?”

Gilbert, who had just deflected a barrage of metal bullets from the mech in front of him with a magic discharge, made a dumbfounded sound.

While it was true that Ian hadn’t fully developed, Fresia was by his side. She could sufficiently compensate for his shortcomings, so it was incomprehensible that he would be defeated so easily.

Well, it doesn’t matter.

He had given up on expecting anything from Ian long ago.

The fact that Ian was defeated so quickly even with Fresia’s assistance only proved that his judgment wasn’t wrong.

Gilbert dismissed thoughts of Ian and focused on the approaching mech.

Even if Ian’s mech was lost, there was no need for rescue. As long as the cockpit wasn’t immediately cut through, he could escape using teleportation magic.

[Gil. The teleportation magic hasn’t activated.]

“What did you say?”

How many times was he going to be surprised?

Gilbert grumbled.

For whatever reason, if teleportation magic couldn’t be used, Gilbert had to step in.

Regardless of his feelings toward Ian, ignoring an ally in danger went against Gilbert’s values.

“Brynhild.”

[Speak. I’m listening.]

“I need to go support a lost mech where teleportation magic isn’t activating.”

[Go ahead. I’ll handle things here.]

“Understood.”

After a brief communication with Brynhild, Gilbert checked his magic battery’s remaining charge. Having used quite a lot of magic to establish dominance early in the battle, he had about half of his magic left.

There were hundreds of mechs between Gilbert and the destroyed mech. Considering the remaining magic battery, he needed to move more efficiently to reduce magic consumption.

Avoiding combat as much as possible, Gilbert began high-speed movement and quickly arrived at Ian’s mech. He rammed into the red mech that was trying to tear open the cockpit and hurriedly tore open the cockpit area himself.

[Gilbert?]

“An arrogant artificial spirit all alone. How unusual.”

When Gilbert tore open the cockpit, Ian was gone, presumably due to the teleportation magic activating. The strange thing was that Fresia’s artificial spirit core remained, but that wasn’t the important issue right now.

Gilbert quickly left the control to CT and opened his cockpit. Regardless of the situation, he needed to recover Fresia’s artificial spirit core.

The New Resistance mechs fired at his sudden intrusion, but he somehow managed to withstand it by pouring massive amounts of mana into his magic barrier.

Meanwhile, Gilbert exited the cockpit and picked up Fresia’s artificial spirit core.

“Where’s Ian?”

[I teleported him out.]

“I see. Understood.”

After recovering Fresia, Gilbert immediately boarded his mech. He saw the magic battery level decreasing in real-time. Seeing it had dropped to half of half, Gilbert clicked his tongue.

[Gil. Only 20% of the battery remains.]

“I know.”

Enemies were everywhere, and the red mech that appeared to be the leader had also risen. In the midst of this, with little battery remaining, it was truly a dire situation.

But Gilbert didn’t feel a sense of crisis. He had just acquired an excellent means to overcome this situation.

“Cooperate, Fresia.”

[What? Suddenly that’s… Hick!]

[Characteristic skill “Your Mech Is Awesome” is activating.]

[Special conditions for characteristic skill “Your Mech Is Awesome” confirmed.]

[Skill Limit Break activation… Confirmed.]

[Skill White Beast acquisition status… Confirmed.]

[Compatibility with super artificial spirit Fresia… 60% confirmed.]

[Some special conditions for “Your Mech Is Awesome” have been met, partially unlocking higher characteristic skill ???.]

[Checking conditions for skill White Beast. Partially unlocking higher skill ???.]

Gilbert swapped CT-777’s core with Fresia’s core and activated his characteristic skill along with Limit Break.

As he had felt when using “Your Mech Is Awesome” on Fresia before, his characteristic skill seemed to have some hidden function.

Whether Fresia was the trigger for this function or not, abnormal phenomena always occurred when he used his characteristic skill on her. Feeling the need to research his characteristic skill soon, Gilbert gripped the control stick.

[You, doing strange things to me again! Ugh!]

Gilbert shook his head at Fresia’s groan. It was simply amusing that the characteristic skill had such an effect on her.

At this rate, I’m no different from Golden Sun, am I?

Gilbert almost burst into laughter. He couldn’t shake the thought of how ridiculous his situation had become.

“I don’t know what’s happening. Let’s focus on getting out of here first.”

Gilbert collected himself and pulled the control stick. Whatever the case, it seemed he could gain a significant advantage in this battle.