Arc 27: The Reverse World
Although I was deeply moved by the completion of my long-awaited personal frame gear, now was not the time to dwell on it.
I soar into the sky and open the c.o.c.kpit hatch. The seat smelled brand-new, I sat down, closed the hatch, and placed my smartphone on the console in front of me.
A low-rumbling startup sound echoes, the various gauges awaken inside the Reginleiv. A wide monitor, which offers a considerable field of vision, projects what’s happening on the outside, but it cannot cover my entire surrounding still.
When I grasp the joystick and pour my magic power, Reginleiv starts moving its head according to my will, changing the view. The thought-alignment control is working without any troubles.
As one would expect, confronting an advanced-cla.s.s on my own is a severe venture, but if I have this fellow, the Reginleiv…
「Alright, then shall we do it? First… activate Fragarach!」
『Fragarach, activating』
Alongside the voice from my smartphone, the folded back wings of Reginleiv open up, and board-like crystal feathers come off and line up in rows. There are, in total, twelve long crystal swords floating around the unit.
「Mode Change ・ Sphere」
『Fragarach, switching to the Sphere mode』
The longboards transform into spheres in an instant, and now are floating like satellites around Reginleiv. This is possible thanks to the 【Modeling】 magic and also applied 【Program】. In short, they are the same as those which Brynhilde has.
…Alright, there are no problems. It should be fine.
「Go!」
Like bullets, twelve crystal spheres soar toward the mutated advanced-cla.s.s. Having transformed several of its limbs into swords, the variant tried to cut them down. However, the spheres effortlessly smashed those limbs, and explode on the contact with the variant’s main body of dark gold.
Each Fragarach, which had turned into spheres, had a diameter size of more than a meter. Additionally, they had the effect of 【Gravity】 applied to them as well. As expected, they didn’t have the power of “Brionac” drill bullets, but the variant’s limbs were still no match for them.
Like a sandbag being hit by a boxer, the grotesque-looking variant is floating in the sky while being pummeled by twelve crystal spheres. Its body dented, it started bending just like a car after an accident.
「Mode Change ・ Crystal Blade」
『Fragarach, switching to the Crystal Blade mode』
The crystal spheres immediately alter their shapes to swords. Now those blades are flying around as they please and chop both the feelers and limbs of the variant.
While it’s being occupied, I thrust half of the swords into it, but it seems they were unable to reach the core. Without the transparency of the regular Frazes, it becomes troublesome to locate the core.
「In that case!」
I recall all of Fragarach back, turn them back to their original board-like forms, and make them float in a circle around my right arm.
「Mode Change ・ Lance」
The twelve crystal boards pile up on the arm one after another, forming a great lance before long.
While that’s happening, Reginleiv leaps to the sky and flies towards the advanced-cla.s.s. Unlike Linzie’s Helmwige, this frame gear is able to fly without transforming its body. It’s possible to soar freely as if I used 【Fly】.
「【Accel】！」
With one word, I produce an even more explosive charge with acceleration magic and deliver a blow with the lance to the advanced-cla.s.s. The charge of Reginleiv was like a bullet, I pushed my way through the golden advanced-cla.s.s, shattering it and making a large hole all the while without any slowing down. The cracked body collapses with a clattering sound.
Amongst the golden fragments of one of the collapsed parts, I find the muddy, blood-colored bare core.
「Mode Change ・ Blade!」
The lance instantly changed to twelve swords, and, like guided missiles, they pierce the core which is approximately three meters in diameter one after the other.
A big crack settles in, and the core shatters into many pieces. The next moment, the metal-like fragments of the advanced-cla.s.s melt into a gooey liquid.
I gaze at how the metallic golden fluid starts spreading through the desert from high up.
There is more to Reginleiv than I thought. I can move it just like I move my own limbs.
『Oh, wonderful. How was it, this Reginleiv?』
「It is pretty good. I like it」
『That’s excellent. I’ve implanted many things that were first cultivated in other “Valkyrie” units, after all. I’ve also included a function that will make Touya-Kun surprised』
「… I will ask just in case, but you didn’t put a self-destruct system, right?」
『I thought of implementing it, but I stopped. It would be a waste after I spent so many efforts making it』
Hey, what about me who’s piloting it? Something like self-exploding for duty, I have zero intention to do something like that.
Oh well, I was done with the advanced-cla.s.s anyway. All that’s left is the cleaning battle.
I display the remaining enemies on the nearby monitor. There are many in the north and east. My elder sisters, umm……. they’re going toward the east? Then, I should probably clean up the guys in the north.
The Fragarach change back to the crystal boards, and dock one by one into the back which also serves as a stabilizer, reverting back to the original wing-like state.
「Yumina, girls, please deal with the remaining variants. I will clear up the group to the north」
『Understood. Please take care』
「Ok」
Reginleiv makes a thumb up as I reply to the girls, and then I start das.h.i.+ng through the sky toward the group gathered in the northern part of the desert.
The knights of the Rynie kingdom and the Paluf kingdom are fighting against the Fraze on the northern side.
Compared to the knights of the Paluf kingdom, the knights of the Rynie kingdom were slightly better after all. Though Rynie were fighting while skillfully supporting them, it seems they are overwhelmed with the large numbers, which could be expected.
Under my eyes, I could see a frame gear of Paluf lying down, it was about to be fired at with lasers by an the intermediate-cla.s.s mantis and its pair of sickles.
「Mode Change ・ Reflector」
The twelve crystal boards separate from Reginleiv, fly before the frame gear of the Paluf knight and join together to form a big wall.
The laser hits the wall, gets reflected at randomly chosen an angle, and disappears in the sky. I would reflect it toward the opponent if the shooter wasn’t a Fraze though.
The mantis intermediate-cla.s.s that shot the laser, I cut it in a single stroke in two with the katana hanging on my back. I cut the core in half even without aiming, and the intermediate-cla.s.s crumbles in the desert with a clattering sound.
「Mode Change ・ Dagger」
Once again the wall that was made of the crystal boards split into twelve parts, with each part splitting into four more pieces. Each one is then changed into the form of a dagger. In the end, the twelve boards change into forty-eight daggers.
The daggers are circling around Reginleiv. Alright, here we go!
「【Gladius】」
The forty-eight meteors flew in the sky while drawing tracks in every direction, piercing the cores of nearby Fraze one after another. Penetrating then seeking the next prey, the swords glittered like a meteor shower.
An omnidirectional simultaneous attack by a great number of Fragarach, that is 【Gladius】.
Originally, I would have to manipulate all Fragarach swords by myself. Although there’s a support system to some extent, the upper limit would be four to six swords. The accuracy drops with bigger numbers, the swords could hit each other in the worst case.
However, Reginleiv is capable of utilizing the thought acceleration granted by 【Accel】. As a result, I can operate forty-eight swords at the same time and guide them to their targets.
Of course, I could miss if I lost focus. At first, I intended to use the “Target Lock” function of my smartphone, but this would make possible to adjust the course of just one sword at best while it’s flying, and feints would be impossible to include in the attacks or react to what’s happening in real time.
Therefore it’s quite troublesome, but honestly, I feel like that even forty-eight swords are too much. In addition, it would be seriously bad if I neglected to pilot the main body while in the middle of using the swords. Well, I suppose it should be fine to reduce the number depending on the situation.
A lower-cla.s.s’s core is smashed with just one sword, while an intermediate-cla.s.s requires multiple swords to fuse into a longsword to penetrate its defenses.
The meteors are freely flying across the battlefield and defeat almost 500 or so Frazes in the vicinity before I know it.
All of the “Star swords” return to me and start once again start orbiting around me like satellites.
「Fuu……」
“Uooooooooooooooo!” While hearing the cheers coming from the surrounding knights, I relax in my seat and breath a breath of relief.
It was quite tiresome, it really was…
However, it’s not over yet. The battle is still going on. I have to go and provide support in other locations… When I thought that, I heard the sound of something shutting down. What’s happening? As I’m wondering about that, the lights in Reginleiv gauges in front of me gradually weaken.
“Kyuuuuuuuuuun….” Along with the tone down sound, Reginleiv starts to descend. The “Star swords” return back to the crystal board form and store themselves in the back.
「What’s going on!? What’s wrong!?」
『Don’t panic. You’ve just exceeded the operation limit』
「Operation limit?」
To the words of the professor whom I hear through the smartphone, I unintentionally let out a funny voice. What operation limit?! It’s the first time I heard of this!?
Reginleiv kneels on one knee in the desert and stops moving so that I could manually open the hatch and get out. The suffocating heat of the desert enters the c.o.c.kpit.
『Reginleiv is different from other frame gears, it moves by absorbing your magic power directly. However, Reginleiv is still not able to endure the full amount of your magic power. It will forcibly stop before it becomes like the Dverg. Well, this part still has room for improvement』
「Eeeeh…」
So I cannot operate it for more than ten minutes! Nah, it’s much better than the engine blowing up like what happened to Dverg. I couldn’t laugh at an exploding myself by causing it myself.
I wonder, if it can move with saved magic power, could it last for a longer time to some degree?
Oh well, the others should be able to defeat the rest of the Frazes together, but it might’ve been dangerous if the operation limit was reached before the advanced-cla.s.s appeared.
This is the type of frame gear whose activation has to be thought upon carefully. It’s quite likely for the following scenario to happen: we expect an advanced-cla.s.s to appear so we prepare for it and then it just doesn’t appear! Likewise, it also possible that even if two advanced-cla.s.ses are to appear like today, things will be troublesome if there is a time lag between their appearances.
I remove my smartphone from the console, come out from the c.o.c.kpit, and get on the Reginleiv’s shoulder. The blazing sunlight is as severe as ever.
「At any case… Thanks, Reginleiv. Take care of me from now on」
I look at the profile of the frame gear that became my partner. Oops, I should move the now free frame gears piloted by Rynie and Paluf knights to other locations.
I place Reginleiv in 【Storage】 for now and send everyone to another battlefield.