Value (Third Update)

"Sir Gilbert, it seems you’re locked in a hard fight. Need reinforcements?"

The undisguised voice came over the public channel, and the weight in Gilbert’s heart abruptly lifted.

Back when Xu Yue had first proposed breaking through the tunnel ahead, Gilbert had strongly opposed it. But after witnessing those horrifying, terrifying maneuvers, he understood. His mech-piloting skills might surpass Xu Yue’s by miles, but when it came to the physical conditioning needed to withstand such maneuvers, he probably would never catch up in his lifetime!

Having acknowledged Xu Yue’s abilities, receiving his support now inexplicably made Gilbert feel secure and reassured.

Even so, he spoke solemnly.

"Forget about me. Her Highness retreated toward three o’clock. Go cover Her Highness’s withdrawal!"

"Doesn’t matter. They’re just a few small fry. They won’t take much time."

Xu Yue flexed the mech’s hand, drew the MVS Sword he had obtained from the Special Dispatch Team, and assumed a suitable stance.

"Small fry? I can’t pretend I didn’t hear that!"

Senba Ryoga of the Four Holy Swords was instantly enraged by Xu Yue’s words. He abandoned the Imperial Guard he had been fighting and charged straight at Xu Yue.

"This is a diversion! Don’t let the Imperial Guard break through!"

Todo’s first thought was that the enemy was employing some sort of scheme, but the activated Senba Ryoga had already nearly reached Xu Yue.

At this point, the four Reincarnators had also snapped out of their daze after nearly being crushed to death by that pie, each of them wearing savage expressions.

This opportunity was completely worth risking their lives for!

A rumored S-rank mission! The entire corps didn’t even have a single unclaimed S-rank mission!

Just selling this one to a big shot would be enough to turn them into beings nearly comparable to Elite Reincarnators.

"No matter why this is happening, and no matter how strong he is, one of the Four Holy Swords has already gone in. We need to follow!"

The Four Holy Swords were true ace pilots, the Liberation Front’s pillars second only to Todo.

They were even piloting upgraded Burais. With such a big shot leading the charge and the four of them backing him up, no matter how skilled the enemy pilot was, taking down a Sunderland should have been easy—

The upgraded Burai, cut into a limbless stump with its cockpit automatically ejected, knelt on the ground. Behind it, the four Burais whose thoughts had yet to finish mechanically advanced forward, utterly unable to believe what they were seeing.

A mighty member of the Four Holy Swords, a mighty ace pilot, piloting an upgraded Burai, had been cut into a limbless stump by a Sunderland in less than five seconds?!

This was the triggered mission the space had given them?

That old bastard Todo was trying to get them killed!

"Thankfully, he only attacked nonlethal areas. Otherwise, Senba Ryoga probably wouldn’t even have had the chance to eject his cockpit, and we wouldn’t be out of danger either…"

The next instant, the cockpits of all four mechs were pierced almost simultaneously by the two MVS Swords…

The Four Holy Swords were, after all, Lelouch’s future core team and still had some use. As for a few small fry piloting Burais, forget it.

Hm?

There was actually a space notification. They were Reincarnators, too.

Sorry, I couldn’t tell at all…

On the other side, Todo and the other three members of the Four Holy Swords all felt their entire bodies stiffen.

In the span of a single distracted moment, in the blink of an eye, Senba Ryoga had been taken down?

By a Sunderland?

You had to be kidding, right?!

Was he piloting a toy mech or something?

Those had to be fake Four Holy Swords!

The members of Cornelia’s Imperial Guard, who had suffered greatly at the hands of the Four Holy Swords and knew their strength, likewise stared wide-eyed.

Holy shit, those guys had just been terrifyingly fierce. Their mechs were stronger on average than theirs.

Yet they had been instantly killed by a single Sunderland.

It was utterly incomprehensible, unbelievable!

But someone like that was their ally. That was just fantastic!

"Mm, now it’s your turn. Learn well."

Xu Yue glanced at Todo and the others, who had stopped their assault, but he had no intention of letting them go.

Defeating the Four Holy Swords and Todo with a mech should earn some kind of achievement mission reward. If he wanted to ultimately grind out an S-rank evaluation, he couldn’t pass these up.

He drew his sword and slashed!

Breaking past the mech’s speed limit so violently that its armor groaned all over, he struck Todo’s upgraded Burai squarely on the weapon in its hand.

Todo, with his superb piloting skills, barely blocked it!

But now that Todo was facing this monstrous Sunderland head-on, he truly understood the difference in beast-like physical conditioning.

If not for the Sunderland’s own limitations, he would not have been able to block that charge-assisted strike!

If it had been an ordinary Burai, if the weapons had been ordinary weapons, they would likely have shattered in a single blow!

"Oh? Even with the charge, I couldn’t take it down. The upgraded Burai’s performance is better than I expected."

Xu Yue paid no attention to the Sunderland’s shortcomings. Instead, he was somewhat surprised by the opposing mech’s performance.

Still, the movements a mech controlled by an ordinary human could make were far too limited.

The next moment, sparks flew as their MVS Swords ground against each other. Xu Yue followed through with a pull, throwing his opponent off balance while simultaneously swinging horizontally at Asahina Shogo, one of the Four Holy Swords who had rushed over to support him.

Asahina Shogo, charging too quickly, hurriedly raised his weapon to block. Yet while the enemy was in the middle of a full-force slash, he somehow changed the angle of his attack in an incomprehensible fashion, forcibly turning it into an upward cut.

It was like a sports car traveling at 280 kilometers per hour suddenly slamming on the brakes and coming to a dead stop.

An ordinary person simply could not withstand that inertia.

Yet the enemy could still control his mech with ease in such a state.

Unable to perform the same maneuver, Asahina Shogo could only watch as the enemy knocked aside his guard with one hand, while the other sword-wielding arm cut him into a limbless stump.

By the time Asahina Shogo followed in the same footsteps, his mech kneeling on the ground as its escape pod ejected, Todo had only just recovered from losing his balance.

The remaining two members of the Four Holy Swords had only barely completed their encirclement.

But Xu Yue was not alone. The Imperial Guard, now freed up, displayed their own "value" as they frantically closed in on the Four Holy Swords.

Before they could finish surrounding them, however, Xu Yue had already stomped the last upgraded Burai beneath his feet.

Achievement unlocked: Capture Todo and the Four Holy Swords alive!

"I’ll leave the rest to you. I’m going to check on the governor’s situation. These people will be more useful if we capture them and execute them publicly."

As he spoke, Xu Yue flashed his taillights and, with the aid of the auxiliary wheels, drove that Sunderland down the mountain like a wild horse.

Looking at the mech wreckage on the ground and the escape pods that had ejected, the Imperial Guard exchanged wry smiles. All right, guarding them really was their value…

Third update complete… Tomorrow’s Monday again. I feel like I’m about to explode.

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