Outside Arcadia, the Kingdom's army had begun to push forward.
The reason being that part of the enemy forces had retreated back into the fortress.
With Leon and the others charging into Arcadia's interior, disorder had begun to spread through the Empire's command structure.
Watching the situation from the bridge, Gilbert immediately coordinated with the allies around him and launched an offensive against the Imperial army.
"Don't let this opportunity slip! Keep pushing!"
Both sides clashed with all their strength, and the attrition rates had reached absurd numbers.
In an ordinary war, both sides would no doubt have already pulled back.
But in this battle, neither side could retreat.
The captain spoke to Gilbert.
"Lord Gilbert, please fall back! You are the heir of House Redgrave! With Lord Vince's safety unknown, we need you to survive at all costs!"
Even hearing that opinion, Gilbert did not back down.
"To flee here would be a disgrace lasting generations. Are you telling me to bring shame upon myself?!"
"There is also shame one must endure!"
"Such a thing is――"
As the two were arguing, a white machine passed by right in front of them.
The way it cut down monsters one after another was truly beautiful――.
"That was my prey! With this, the score is mine!"
"My sword struck first!"
Because the Redgrave family's airship had been refitted, it was equipped with monitors.
Displayed on them were two men wearing strange masks.
However, hearing their voices, Gilbert could guess who they were.
He pressed his forehead and dropped to his knees.
The flustered captain worried for Gilbert's wellbeing.
"Lord Gilbert!"
"N-no problem. More importantly, Captain――can we target those two units?"
"Huh?"
Looking at the masked knights quarreling as they fought before his eyes, Gilbert's face went expressionless.
"Wouldn't just one shot pass as friendly fire?"
"No, that won't do. They're our allies!?"
Gilbert made a bitter face.
"I know that!"
(What on earth are they thinking, showing up in a place like this?)
The two voices came through the monitor.
"You, who the hell are you really?! When we get back, I'll arrest you!"
"It is you who shall regret defying me!"
Sadly, the two masked knights――seemed to have absolutely no idea who the other one was.
Gilbert was getting a headache.
◇
Arcadia's power reactor.
My opponent fighting there was Fin, who had doped himself up the same way I had.
Both of us had pushed our machines' performance to the limit.
Speaking purely of specs――Brave was probably the better of the two?
"That Arrogantz could lose to such an opponent. Not since the old man, the Black Knight."
What I remembered was the Black Knight.
The hero of the former Principality, an old man who had cornered the careless me to the very limit.
Without that experience back then, I would surely have lost to Fin by now.
"I won't let you destroy the reactor!"
When Fin swung down his greatsword and I caught it, I lost the power contest and was slammed into the wall.
As I got embedded in the wall, several red orbs floated up from Brave's body.
From experience, I immediately knew this was bad.
"Luxion!"
"Deploying shield over the armor's surface."
The fireballs released from the red orbs scorched Arrogantz.
Not just Arrogantz――they burned and melted the surrounding walls too.
Thanks to that, it became easier to move.
"I've got reasons I can't lose either!"
"Same goes for me!"
When Arrogantz extended its left arm and generated a shock wave, Fin was blown away.
But perhaps because he had pulled back on his own, the damage was light.
This time it was my turn to go on the offensive.
Fin deflected the greatsword I swept sideways and kicked at me.
"What a foul-footed bastard!"
"I won't lose to you!"
Flying backward from the kick, when I fired a laser, Fin braced his shield and charged forward.
His shield was being burned by the laser, but he showed no sign of caring.
"I'll end this quickly!"
When I pressed the pedal, Arrogantz picked up speed.
Likewise, Brave accelerated as well.
Flapping its bat-like wings widely, it kept chasing after me.
When I fired a laser aiming at those wings, Fin used his shield and greatsword as cover to block.
And then, toward me as I fled, he launched fireballs.
"Homing-type magic. Their number is――eighty-one!"
"Shoot them down!"
Schwert dealt with them using its lasers, but their numbers and size made them hard to shoot down.
Luxion was calculating Schwert's remaining energy as he managed the response, but against Fin the energy was depleting too fast.
When I cut down one fireball that was circling around with the greatsword, my movement stopped, allowing Brave to catch up.
"Tch!"
When I kicked Fin as he closed in, he grabbed Arrogantz's leg with his left hand.
"Oh n――!"
By the time I noticed, it was already too late, and Brave destroyed Arrogantz's leg.
"Purging the right leg."
"That bastard, he really did it!"
Looking at Brave's surface, blood vessels were throbbing as they surfaced.
"You injected Brave with the drug too?!"
"No, the pilot is linked with it and seems to be affected."
He must be pushing himself considerably. He's directing tremendous focus at me.
And then, one possibility came to mind.
I turned my gaze toward the reactor.
"――Sorry, but the terrain favors me."
Fin, chasing after me, seemed unable to see much of his surroundings, perhaps due to the drug's effects.
"Leon! I'll finish this!"
Flames erupted from the greatsword Fin held, converging and growing even larger.
Brave, swinging it around, drew close.
"Whatever, just shoot something at him!"
"Roger!"
As I fled while firing lasers, the surrounding scenery streamed by at incredible speed.
Both of us flew around the cylindrical space, waging fierce combat.
Without drug enhancement, I surely wouldn't have been able to keep up.
Fin clung onto me as I ran, no matter where I went.
"Fin――you were stronger than me."
It's just――you pushed yourself too far.
When I was cornered, Fin raised the burning greatsword he held――and brought it down without hesitation.
"This ends it now!"
"Partner, don't!"
Even Brave's attempt to stop him came too late.
"Th-this is――!"
Fin must have realized too, and tried to stop the greatsword――but I used my left arm to forcefully bring it down.
I grabbed the halted greatsword with my left hand and forced it down.
"Fin――your mistake was not investigating that drug's effects. Your field of vision was a little too narrow!"
The drug Fin used certainly had its effects.
But, it narrowed his field of vision.
He had focused too much on me, his enemy, and lost sight of his surroundings.
Since he was linked to a magical creature, that effect appeared in the magic armor as well, and even his partner Brave was slow to notice.
The place where I had been cornered was the very pillar of the reactor itself.
Fin's greatsword pierced into the reactor, and perhaps because the heat had reached the interior, the pillar began creaking.
Cracks formed, and a strange sound could be heard.
It sounded almost like a scream.
"Master, the destruction of the reactor is not complete."
Hearing Luxion's voice, I pushed aside the stunned Fin and thrust my own greatsword into it.
"Do it!"
"Yes!"
A shock transmitted from the right arm to the greatsword, and an explosion occurred inside the reactor.
"More!"
"Even the Adamantis greatsword cannot withstand this."
"Go all out! We're completely destroying it here!"
"――Roger!"
The right arm generating the shock waves burst into flames, and the greatsword shattered as well.
But, it had succeeded.
The pillar swelled from within, and split open at the place where the crack had formed.
Red particles gushed out forcefully, and Arrogantz was blown away by the resulting wind.
The pillar that had swelled red began melting away as it was.
Everything around dyed red, I couldn't see anything.
"What happened?!"
"Destruction of the reactor has succeeded. However, the reactor is melting down. It's dangerous to remain here!"
"Then let's evacuate immediately――ugh!"
When I covered my mouth, along with a cough, I spat out a large amount of blood.
"Master! The neutralizing agent――"
It hadn't even been ten minutes since I was injected.
There were still several minutes left, but it seemed my body gave out first.
"Haha, I should have trained harder."
"I request the use of the neutralizing agent!"
"Sorry, Luxion――it's impossible."
Gripping the control stick and moving Arrogantz, a greatsword was swung down at the spot I had been.
Brave, with Fin aboard, was leaking fluid from its twin eyes as if shedding tears.
"Leon, how dare you――"
"Fin――I win."
"Uwaaaaaa!"
To escape from Fin charging at me while screaming, I moved upward.
Luxion explained the status of the weapons.
"The right arm is inoperative. As for the left arm, the part that generates the shock waves has been burned and cannot attack. Master, this is the limit. Administer the neutralizing agent!"
"It's not over yet!"
I had Schwert fire its laser, opening a hole in the ceiling.
After making several holes, the sky became visible.
"Did I make it outside?!"
"Arcadia, output is dropping. Beginning to fall."
From the hole we had burst out of, fire was erupting.
Brave, with its armor scorched, emerged from there.
I apologized to Schwert.
"Thank you for everything until now. ――I'm sorry, Schwert."
Luxion sensed what I wanted to do, and detached Schwert, sending it toward Fin.
"Purging Schwert. Remote operation."
Schwert picked up speed, charged into Brave, pierced through its torso, and flew off as it was.
Brave let out an anguished scream, but it wasn't from its own pain――it was for its partner.
"P-partneeerrr!"
"Gah!"
Schwert's tip had pierced through the magic armor's torso section.
The pilot wouldn't come out unharmed.
Brave crashed into a building on the deck, and once stopped, seemed unable to move anymore.
Arrogantz landed on Arcadia's deck and approached Fin.
With only one leg, Arrogantz hovered unstably, wobbling.
"Master, already over ten minutes have passed. Administer the neutralizing agent!"
Hearing Luxion's frantic voice, I again covered my mouth.
I vomited a large amount of blood.
"Master!"
"D-don't panic. The neutralizing agent――hurry――"
◇
He couldn't see what state he was in.
But there was no mistake that what he had spat from his mouth was blood.
Fin heard the footsteps of Arrogantz drawing closer.
His eyes were blurry and he couldn't see well.
"――Kuro-suke, are you alright?"
When he spoke, Brave's voice was tearful.
"I'm sorry, partner. I――couldn't protect my partner."
To Brave, who sounded regretful, Fin smiled and expressed his thanks.
"You fool. It's thanks to you that I was able to fight this far. I――am grateful to you, Kuro――Brave."
When he called him by name at the end, Brave broke into tears.
"Call me Kuro-suke! ――Partner?"
Fin remained smiling, but could no longer make a sound.
He saw his life flash before his eyes.
Terribly nostalgic scenes came into view.
It was his little sister from his previous life――her distinct figure.
(Ah, that's right. This was her face. Her smile was cute, and she looked truly happy whenever I came to visit.)
He had thought his sister's atmosphere resembled Mia's, but their appearances were also very similar.
And then a single tear rolled down Fin's cheek.
(I――lied again. I'm sorry, Mia. For not being able to keep my promise――)
When the light vanished from Fin's eyes, Brave wept.
"Paaartneeerrr!!"
◇
When I approached Brave, Fin already seemed to be dead.
Red tears flowed from Brave's twin eyes.
Luxion called out to such a Brave.
"――Are you still going to fight?"
Brave seemed to have no will to fight.
"How could I fight without my partner. Besides, I'm already――done――for."
Brave's body was gradually crumbling.
And then, Brave conveyed Fin's words to me.
"Leon, a message to you from my partner. My partner said――he wouldn't hold a grudge even if you killed him. Said it goes both ways."
"I――see."
I couldn't speak well.
Even after using the neutralizing agent, my body was in tatters.
As he crumbled, Brave spoke.
"It's too early to relax. After all, the core that manages Arcadia is still intact. Though I hate that thing."
What Brave pointed at was a greatsword rolling on the ground.
Understanding what he meant, I picked it up.
Looking at Arrogantz's form, Brave smiled.
"Partner――I too am about to――join you――over there――"
Brave, having turned gray and crumbled, left nothing behind when the wind blew him away.
Fin's body was gone too.
"――Fin."
Tears came out.
Even though I had no right to shed them.
Luxion warned me as I was.
"Master, it's not over yet. If what was said just now is true, Arcadia's core remains. I don't think it can regenerate, but destruction takes priority. We should inform our allies."
All that's left is to destroy the core, and no problems will remain.
"――That's right. Let's end this quickly."
Just as I was thinking everything would be over with this, from the hole we had burst out of, the light of red particles was streaming off somewhere.
It wasn't being carried by the wind――it seemed to be drawn toward something.
"――There is an individual rapidly absorbing magic essence."
I had Arrogantz's left hand grip tightly the greatsword obtained from Fin.
"The enemy really doesn't know when to give up either."
It seemed this battle wasn't over yet.