‘Surprise’ (Second Update)

"Very good! Those guys from the Liberation Front weren’t completely useless after all."

Having confirmed that the main forces of the two armies had fallen into chaos, were mutually damaging each other within the thick fog alongside the Liberation Front, and had their communications cut off,

the urgency in Lelouch’s heart completely eased. He now had more time to deal with Cornelia and could handle things with far greater ease.

Cornelia was indeed highly capable, but the flaws in her personality were far too obvious.

As the commander, she had actually taken the lead herself. That had given him this heaven-sent opportunity!

Especially since there were a few people within the Liberation Front who understood his plan and were helping tie down the guard unit. Was that the legendary Todo? He truly lived up to his reputation…

At this moment, Cornelia’s guard unit was being besieged by several Burai Kai, while four ordinary Burai belonging to the Liberation Front’s Reincarnators provided support from the side.

The people piloting the Burai Kai were Japan’s most renowned resistance figure, Todo, along with his four subordinates whose combat strength could serve as trump cards—the Four Holy Swords.

They were not the least bit disadvantaged against Cornelia’s guards. Aside from the captain of the guard unit, the other guards had all been pushed back. The time they bought was what gave Cornelia a chance to retreat.

Originally, Lelouch had planned to work with Kallen to launch a decapitation assault against Cornelia and her guards.

He had initially intended to rely entirely on a local numerical advantage and Guren’s performance. Now, seeing the Burai Kai locked in an even fight with the guard unit, Lelouch let out a slight sigh of relief.

It was fortunate that something had gone wrong with the main force over there, and fortunate that the Liberation Front had several capable fighters. Otherwise, even if they had managed to surround them and win, the losses would have been devastating, wiping out all the foundations he had built.

But now, it was time to draw in the net!

Only Cornelia remained. You have nowhere left to run!

Inside one of the Burai accompanying Lelouch in the encirclement and pursuit of Cornelia, Hyena, his face stained with a little blood, revealed a bloodthirsty smile.

The corpse of a Black Knights member was also lying inside the Burai’s cockpit. Hyena had gone to great lengths to find an opportunity when the man left the cockpit, kill him, and take his place.

Knightmares were indeed powerful, possessing overwhelming strength against infantry armed mainly with conventional firearms. But unfortunately, the weakness of the pilots themselves could not be changed. He merely needed to find a way to settle the fight outside the Knightmares.

Now that he had entered the most suitable battle formation, he could advance and attack Area 11’s new governor, or retreat and attack the man called Zero. Everything was under control. At this moment, I have seized every advantage!

He had lost an opportunity to assassinate the Third Princess, but gained an even greater opportunity before him. This time, he had made a profit.

"Just the Liberation Front! Just the Black Knights! Dammit!"

Under the desperate cover of her guard unit, Cornelia relied on her superb piloting skills to weave continuously through the mountain forest alone.

Yet her retreat route always seemed to be anticipated by the enemy, who then intercepted and outflanked her.

Zero, was it? I truly underestimated you.

"Hmph. The more sophisticated your formation, the easier it is to read your thoughts, Cornelia. You have nowhere left to run."

As he continuously arranged the Black Knights’ Knightmares to block her path, Lelouch felt immensely satisfied. To forcibly create an opportunity from such a disadvantageous situation, he had already created a miracle!

On the bridge of the mobile fortress G1, Euphemia was somewhat hesitant over Suzaku’s request to deploy. Everyone around her opposed sending out the Specially Dispatched Officer, believing that a single Knightmare would not be of much use.

But just as Euphemia was about to relent and withstand the pressure to send Suzaku out to rescue her sister, Xu Yue took the initiative to send a connection request to headquarters.

"I already know Governor Cornelia’s location. I’ll handle it. Please rest assured."

This interruption directly stopped Suzaku’s request to deploy…

"We have to snatch at least one of the Princess’s guards’ heads. They’re worth at least a C-Rank Plot. If we can get that captain, we might even get a B-Rank Plot!"

Four Burai were prowling around the perimeter, watching the Four Holy Swords and Todo engage Cornelia’s guard unit in a fierce fight.

The guns in their Knightmares’ hands seemed to tremble slightly.

There was no need to take any risks. They only needed to be accurate enough. Just one shot—one shot that hit the enemy Knightmare’s cockpit would be enough.

As members of the Shogunate Gate, they were both fortunate and unfortunate. Unfortunate because they were practically restricted to joining forces in Area 11; fortunate because they could join a top-tier resistance faction like the Liberation Front!

Since this was a mecha-type space, they had managed to learn the basics of Knightmare operation during this Promotion Mission because they had saved up money for emergencies. This was absolutely a stepping stone. As long as they could get Knightmares of their own, they would immediately become highly valued in the legion!

"Beep beep~"

A warning appeared on the friend-or-foe identification radar. An enemy Knightmare was approaching!

It put several Reincarnators, and even Todo’s group that was conducting the siege, under some pressure.

However, after discovering that the signal wavelength matched Sunderland’s reflection parameters, everyone relaxed. Todo then issued an order to them through the internal communications.

"You handle the reinforcements. Take him down!"

Beep~ Trigger Mission accepted: Repel the incoming enemy. Capture or kill the incoming enemy to obtain substantial rewards. Perfect completion reward: 1 S-Rank Plot Point.

Todo’s order had suddenly triggered a mission, making the several pilots feel as though a pie had fallen from the sky.

There was actually a Trigger Mission? They were so lucky—this was amazing!

Compared to the guard unit, a Sunderland was undoubtedly much easier to deal with. It was four against one. This was practically free points!

Lord Todo had triggered such a mission for them. They absolutely loved him!

A legendary Trigger Mission! There would definitely be at least some Plot Points to earn.

Let’s see what the reward is…

The blood-red S-Rank prompt assaulted the four men’s fragile, tightly strung nerves.

Wasn’t this pie a little too big?

Why did it feel somewhat unreal?

Was this really the space they knew?

Since when had the space become so generous?

An S-Rank mission? They had heard that not even the legion had a single spare one!

If it had been something like a B-Rank Plot Point, every one of them would certainly have been fired up.

If it had been an A-Rank mission, they would surely have wailed like ghosts and howled like hungry wolves.

But S-Rank…

Why did they inexplicably not feel very excited at all…

Boom—

A Knightmare descended from the sky and landed heavily in the center of the field, kicking up a cloud of dust.

A Sunderland that had braced itself against the ground with one hand to cushion the impact slowly rose. For some reason, everyone, even through their Knightmares, felt an unprecedented pressure.

It was as if some prehistoric beast were hidden beneath that Sunderland’s armor…

Note: Like the anti-money-laundering and gifting mechanisms, Trigger Missions also had an anti-farming mechanism. They were judged directly based on the Reincarnators’ subjective awareness.

Second update. There will be one more today.