"Lord Ezelkanta, the Gundam AGE..." Zannald, piloting the Sendrham, approached the Gundam Legilis and asked in a low voice.
"Don't mind them. Focus on surrounding Yang Hui and the other two. Make sure they don't escape again!" Ezelkanta commanded fiercely.
"Understood."
The warships dispersed, and all MS units were deployed without leaving any reserves, forming an ironclad encirclement around the three Gundams.
Moreover, a portion of the warships were positioned behind the front lines, precisely in the direction where the Gundam AGE-2 and Gundam AGE-3 were retreating.
If Yang Hui and his team dared to infiltrate the Second Moon to rescue Kio, they must have had a warship hidden somewhere.
Although it was unclear how Yang Hui managed to conceal the warship from VEGAN's detection, it didn't matter anymore.
As long as Yang Hui and his team didn't leave, the warship wouldn't either. If it did leave, it would be even better—Yang Hui and his team would be trapped like fish in a barrel.
While they didn't need to worry about the warship and the Gundam AGE-2 breaking through, they still had to guard against Yang Hui and his team attempting to escape in that direction. In the previous defense battle, the engine overload of the Baize had nearly ruined their otherwise foolproof ambush.
The Gundam Legilis and the Sendrham stood behind the front lines, watching as their forces surged like a tide toward the Dawn Gundam, the Flag Gundam, and the Luna Gundam. They could only watch helplessly as the three Gundams cut through the waves, slaughtering their comrades.
As a seasoned fox, Ezelkanta, despite his confidence in his piloting skills and the Gundam Legilis's performance, wouldn't recklessly charge into the front lines to engage the three Gundams.
He was waiting—waiting for the three pilots to exhaust their stamina. That would be the moment to strike and claim their heads.
"Zannald."
"Lord Ezelkanta."
"You will personally command the sniper fleet. Not only must you cut off Yang Hui's retreat, but you must also prevent anyone from outside from breaking the encirclement."
"Yes!"
The Sendrham departed, leaving the Gundam Legilis alone, arms crossed, overlooking the three Gundams struggling against the "tide."
"Soon... it will soon be over... the nightmare of decades..."
...
Although many of the Dawn Gundam's Funnels had been destroyed, its combat effectiveness hadn't diminished. With reduced firepower, it shifted to high-mobility shooting tactics.
The Dawn Gundam, with its remaining Funnels, and the Flag Gundam transformed into two phantoms, weaving through the ironclad defenses. Their cannons fired in unison, their beams sweeping across the battlefield, leaving behind a trail of explosions wherever their afterimages lingered.
The Flag Gundam was no different. Graham's chest was filled with burning determination. In MA mode, he charged and fired, then suddenly shifted to MS mode, drawing his blade before immediately reverting to MA mode to evade incoming beam attacks.
"Hah... Hah... Didn't they say physical performance wouldn't decline? Why am I already tired after such a short time?" Graham complained, feeling the weakness creeping over his body like vines.
"Of course! You've been pushing your Limit Graham Maneuver non-stop. Are you trying to kill yourself?" Yang Hui scolded over the comms.
"Tch, guess I need to work on my fitness."
"Even with better physical conditioning, you're pushing too hard! Take it easy, we're buying time!"
"Got any more tricks up your sleeve?"
"Of course! Without a backup plan, would I dare to stay behind with you to cover the retreat?"
"Heh, I'll be watching then."
With a chuckle, Graham reduced his piloting intensity, ensuring he wouldn't be shot down while still taking out enemies. Although his efficiency dropped significantly, it was a safer approach, and his stamina consumption slowed considerably.
"Hmm?" Yang Hui, in the midst of his assault, noticed the Gundam Legilis lying in wait and cursed under his breath, calling it a crafty old fox.
"Yurin, coordinates A12, concentrated fire!"
"Understood!"
Receiving the order, the Luna Gundam shifted its gun barrel, abandoning the previously locked enemy and aiming directly at the Gundam Legilis.
"Beep beep beep..."
"Hmph! Damn it!"
Hearing the alarm, Ezelcant was momentarily stunned. The next second, he saw a barrage of pink beams tearing through the front lines, heading straight for him.
The Gundam Legilis immediately ignited its thrusters, attempting to evade. But just as it dodged a long-range sniper shot, the next beam was already upon it.
Raising its shield to defend, the Gundam Legilis was pushed back by the immense impact.
Once it started, there was no stopping it. The beams formed an endless line, cutting through the battlefront and piercing through space. Before one shot had even lost its momentum, the next one hit the same spot.
"Damn it, [Moon Angel]! Interrupt her!"
"Yes, sir!" XN.
Following Ezelcant's command, the VEGAN MS units disregarded their encirclement formation and recklessly charged toward the Luna Gundam.
"Tch."
The Luna Gundam glanced at the Dawn Gundam's position, retracted its long-range sniper rifle, and refocused on the incoming enemy units.
The Funnels returned, forming a protective barrier around the Luna Gundam.
"Mirror System activated..."
The surfaces of the Funnels shimmered with energy, quickly forming an array under Yurin's command.
Inside the cockpit, the display locked onto all surrounding enemy units. Yurin's eyes darted back and forth, her hands moving swiftly as she planned their sequence.
"Mental Link restriction lifted, Level 1."
The Luna Gundam raised its gun and fired. A pink beam quickly struck the surface of a Funnel, refracting toward another direction, piercing through two enemy units before hitting another Funnel, refracting again, and piercing through more enemies...
The Luna Gundam no longer unleashed high-intensity concentrated fire, but its kill rate increased rapidly. No matter how fierce the enemy's assault, it effortlessly cut through the waves.
Once locked onto by the Luna Gundam, every enemy was forced to follow the sequence Yurin had arranged, heading toward the other side of life.
...
The terrifying sniper barrage from the [Moon Angel] finally ended, and Ezelcant breathed a sigh of relief.
He was also grateful that he hadn't joined the battle from the start. He had always known that the [Federation's Three Archangels] were fearsome, but he had only understood this through reports and battle records.
This was the first time he had experienced it firsthand, and now he truly understood just how terrifying "terrifying" could be.
But Ezelcant had barely relaxed for a second when the alarm blared again.
"Beep beep beep..."
"What the..."
In his line of sight, the Dawn Gundam had already closed in on the Gundam Legilis. The cold gleam of its blade aimed directly at the cockpit. Even through the thick armor, Ezelcant's skin prickled from the chilling aura.
Instinctively, the Gundam Legilis raised its hand and drew its Beam Saber, holding it horizontally in front of its chest.
"Bang!"
It blocked the thrust from the Dawn Gundam, but the immense force sent the Gundam Legilis flying backward.
"Ugh... ah!"
The tremendous impact pressed against Ezelcant's chest, almost crushing his internal organs.
Yang Hui didn't know his condition, nor did he care. In fact, he wished he could just crush him to death right then and there.
The Dawn Gundam didn't let up, pressing its advantage. It closed in with relentless shots, slashing down with its Beam Saber again and again, forcing the Gundam Legilis into a continuous retreat.
"Old bastard, it seems your confident machine isn't as powerful as you thought!" Yang Hui taunted over the public channel.
"Don't get... too cocky! Bit (Cone Cannon)!"
As it retreated, a gap opened in the Gundam Legilis's shield, from which a yellow glow radiated. Dense, tiny yellow light points scattered in all directions.
"Danger!"
An intense sense of danger flooded Yang Hui's mind. The Dawn Gundam reversed its thrusters, quickly backing away.
However, Yang Hui underestimated the speed of the bits. Unable to dodge in time, his Beam Submachine Gun was still hit by several of them.
"So fast!"
Yang Hui acted decisively. The Dawn Gundam immediately discarded the Beam Submachine Gun, which melted and exploded the next second from the attached golden light points.
"So this is the Bit (Cone Cannon), huh?"
A small number of beam particles, encased in a special force field, formed tiny beam spheres. Upon contact with the target, the force field transformed from a sphere into a spiral cone, injecting energy directly into the target's interior to cause destruction—truly deserving of the name "Cone Cannon."
"An X-Rounder exclusive weapon... no, it should be similar to Funnels, one of the psychically controlled weapons. No wonder it's one of the technologies that were destroyed. Then..." Facing the incoming bits, the Dawn Gundam chose to confront them head-on, "...let's see what else you've got!"
With a spiral maneuver combined with instant acceleration, the Dawn Gundam broke through the bit's blockade and once again closed in on the Gundam Legilis, slashing down with its Beam Saber.
The Gundam Legilis raised its arm to block, while its chest began to glow, charging its Beam Cannon.
The Gundam Legilis was fast, but the Dawn Gundam was faster. As the Beam Saber came down, the high-output Electromagnetic Cannon on its waist deployed, and with the acceleration of the electromagnetic rails, the shell was instantly fired, striking the Gundam Legilis's chest.
The Dawn Gundam used the recoil to flip backward, simultaneously dodging the bits attacking from behind, quickly creating distance, narrowly avoiding the subsequent Beam Cannon.
The Gundam Legilis retracted its raised tail, smoke billowing from its chest. Its armor was deformed, and cracks had appeared in the chest Beam Cannon, with arcs of electricity dancing across it.
"Failed to penetrate the external armor, not even a crack. Initial assessment: twice as durable as a mass-produced MS. The Beam Cannon generator is directly destroyed, with extremely low defensive capabilities," Yang Hui muttered to himself, dodging the Gundam Legilis's attacks while analyzing its performance.
"Mobility is slightly higher than the Dawn Gundam, comparable to the Flag Gundam in MS mode. Firepower..."
At that moment, a Beam Cannon shot came in. The Dawn Gundam didn't dodge but instead controlled its remaining Funnels to overlap in front of it, forming a shield to block the attack.
The yellow beam collided with the shield formed by the Funnels, struggling to break through initially. However, the Funnel's defense only lasted a few seconds before being penetrated. The beam pierced through four Funnels before its energy was finally depleted.
"The mirror reflection system has exceeded its load limit. It penetrated four Funnels. The handheld Beam Rifle now possesses the power of a cannon..."
The Dawn Gundam maintained a distance of about 1 kilometer from the Gundam Legilis, preventing it from closing in and gradually increasing the gap.
"The maximum effective range of the bits is 10 kilometers, with the optimal control range being 7.5 kilometers..."
Yang Hui observed that the performance of the Gundam Legilis truly lived up to the word "excellent." Its mobility, defensive capabilities, and output power all reached a B+ level. Combined with the most threatening bits, it was nearly on par with an A-grade unit. However, due to Ezelcant's piloting skills, its full potential was not fully realized.
Especially the bits, which were an outstanding weapon. Perhaps with some improvements to the energy output system and the psychommu operating system, it might be possible to achieve truly infinite Funnels.
But that was something to be researched slowly in the future. For now...
"It's about time."
--Support me in Patreon for more chapters 35+ chapters in there
patreon.com/TLGod
Thanks!