—I will kill Izel here.

Having made up my mind, I looked at Avid. To be precise, I looked at the giant battleship it had combined with.

Its surface was battered, with parts of it pierced and exploding.

Even now, red alerts blared inside the cockpit, reporting that various sections were in critical condition. Automated repairs were underway, but they couldn't keep up.

The display indicated extreme danger.

"How dare you break it."

Do you have any idea how much the maintenance costs for Avid's enhancement parts are? You could assemble a decent fleet for that amount.

It's a giant battleship with a transformation mechanism made of rare metals.

With this much damage, the repairs will take several years.

Avid's engine roared.

Simultaneously, a series of items requesting permission appeared on the monitor.

I raised an eyebrow at the contents.

"Is this thanks to the Machine Heart? —Do as you please. I'll help you."

It seemed Avid was even more furious than I was.

It must have been pissed off at Izel for showing off some incredible weapon.

I was angry, but Avid was even more so.

When I gave it permission, Avid purged its connection to the giant battleship.

A hatch opened, and as Avid emerged, I saw Izel's mobile knight, still in the process of destroying the giant battleship that served as its enhancement parts.

At forty-eight meters, it was twice the size of Avid.

It seemed Izel had noticed Avid.

"So you've finally come out."

The fact that he sounded so pleased was infuriating.

What has he done to my toy?

Excess energy was discharging from Avid's joints.

"Izel, was it? Normally, I'd be the one to unleash my fury, but today, I've decided to let Avid have its turn."

"What are you talking about? Are you the sub-pilot?"

He wouldn't be wrong to call me a sub-pilot.

"That's right. This time, I've decided to support Avid."

"Are you running away?"

I scoffed at his provocative words.

"If you were an opponent worth running from, I'd have fled at first sight. Think carefully about why I'm still here, facing you. —It's because I know I can win, obviously."

I am a being for whom victory is assured.

I possess everything needed for it.

As I gripped the control stick, cracks appeared in Avid's armor. A red light leaked from the fissures, looking as if it might blow apart at any moment.

A time limit appeared on the monitor screen.

"Three minutes. I'll kill you in three minutes."

The time limit is three minutes.

Izel's mobile knight aimed one of its weapons at me. It was a sphere that fired lasers. Hundreds of them, all with homing capabilities.

The lasers struck Avid's armor, but they only made it glow red, causing no significant damage.

Still, I had to give it credit for piercing the defensive field and inflicting any damage at all.

"So that's not enough to take you down. That's what makes you worthy prey!"

I'll correct this charging Izel's misunderstanding.

"I'm not the one being hunted. You are."

A magic circle materialized in Avid's right hand, and from it, the hilt of a katana emerged. As it gripped the hilt and drew, a special katana, forged for Avid, appeared.

Izel readied his eight-armed mobile knight, pointing two weapons at Avid.

One was a sword.

The other was a staff.

"That's the spirit! In that case, I shall respond with my full power! This sword, which nullifies all fields, and this staff, which commands an army, will crush you!"

The blade of the sword Izel held began to glow, and the defensive field enveloping Avid dissipated.

Then, the mobile knights of both friend and foe floating nearby began to move, all of them lining up as if to obey Izel.

A sword that cleaves through all.

And a staff that forcibly moves even destroyed mobile knights.

They were all certainly incredible weapons.

—But it's all useless.

When Avid swung its katana, the assembled mobile knights were blown to pieces. Izel must have been surprised to see it.

"You shattered them all in an instant?"

"You said you'd use your full power, but I think it's a bit much to only use two weapons."

Izel must have finally gotten serious.

He readied eight weapons and came at me.

The forty-eight-meter machine closed the distance with Avid in an instant, feeling immense—but that was all.

Avid dodged Izel's attacks by a hair's breadth.

"Are you reading my attacks? But this side—"

"The machine is predicting the future, is it?"

Izel's machine seemed to be predicting Avid's movements with advanced computational abilities. Or perhaps through some more magical means.

"Have you only ever fought enemies you could beat with such tricks?"

Predicting the opponent's movements.

That's a fundamental of the One-Flash Style.

Avid kicked away the lance Izel thrusted forward and cut down the other weapons with its katana.

However, Izel's machine immediately turned to liquid, and the severed parts reattached, returning to normal.

"Self-regeneration."

"That's right. My machine regenerates no matter how many times it's cut. A half-hearted attack won't even leave a scratch!"

Its eight weapons also regenerate, making any attack meaningless.

The performance of this ancient weapon is truly captivating.

No matter how much Avid powered up to kick and slash at Izel's machine, the enemy still had the advantage.

Even when its torso was sliced open by Avid, Izel's machine regenerated instantly.

I felt the sensation of slicing through the cockpit.

I thought it had naturally reached Izel himself—but it seems he's been modified as well.

"You've been assimilated."

Izel's mobile knight struck a pose.

It gave off the air of a sacred, multi-armed sculpture.

"Wrong. I assimilated it. This machine has assimilated and killed many pilots before. But I am here because I subjugated it."

It seems he regenerates too, whether he's cut or shot.

He's become a part of the machine.

—It seems he's quite strong himself.

Less than two minutes left on the clock.

◇

Watching Izel's success in piloting the ancient weapon, the Guide was waving his hands and cheering.

"Go! Right there! Finish him!"

Next to him, Gudwar was also cheering, waving his tentacles. The two of them together had the air of a couple of old guys watching a fighting match.

"Izeeeel! More power!"

Gudwar lent his power to Izel, and Izel's mobile knight's output increased even further.

Izel's machine, which had been on the defensive against Avid until just a moment ago, now began to overwhelm it in both power and speed.

As Avid was gradually pushed back, Izel grew excited.

"I'm stronger today than I've ever been! Is this what it feels like for one's heart to dance in the face of a powerful foe!"

In his high-strung state, Izel was demonstrating power beyond his normal capabilities.

But even so, he was still one step short of defeating Avid.

The Guide's palms were sweating.

"Just a little more! Just a little more and Liam's life will be within my grasp! I can't give up here! Please, you're my only hope!"

The Guide lent his remaining power to Izel.

That power transformed Izel's machine.

The multi-armed machine began to radiate a divine aura, and the ancient weapons in its hands demonstrated a higher level of performance.

The mobile knights that had rushed to help Liam were sent flying, and the battleship's attacks all dissipated before they could reach their target.

No one could intervene in the battle between Avid and Izel's machine; they could only watch.

Izel transcended humanity, stepping one foot into a higher plane of existence.

Gudwar was also greatly excited.

"Ooooh! A being that transcends humanity is about to be born from my own pawn!"

Overjoyed to witness this moment, the Guide cheered until his voice was hoarse, not caring about anything as long as Liam was buried.

"Please! Finish Liam off!"

—However.

"Avid, less than a minute left. Switch."

Liam was about to get serious.

◇

On the cockpit monitor, Avid displayed a refusal, as if to say it could still fight.

It probably didn't want to admit it needed to switch with me.

But—

"I said switch. Don't make me say it twice."

When I conveyed this in a slightly lower voice, Avid obediently entrusted all control to me.

"Now then, shall I deal with you?"

The so-called ancient weapon before me seemed to be glowing.

Its form was truly divine.

"It's useless. It's too late to get serious now. I have—transcended humanity."

Izel was mass-producing a past he'd rather not remember, but when you thought about it, he had no future, so he was free to embarrass himself as much as he wanted.

He could act as cocky as he liked.

"A human transcending humanity? Are you an idiot? What do you plan to become after transcending humanity?"

The moment Izel's machine vanished, I moved backward and swung the katana sideways, clashing with the lance and sending sparks flying.

The katana Avid held was shattered to pieces, but it immediately began to regenerate.

It was a mechanism that produced new blades one after another, like a box cutter.

"I will transcend humanity and become a god of war. That is my desire."

I burst out laughing at those words.

"A god of war?! You? Someone of your level, a god of war?! Does the title of 'god of war' get cheaper on an intergalactic scale?"

Perhaps angered by my words, Izel unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks.

I dodged, cut, and dealt with them all, then spread Avid's arms wide.

"You, who cannot even surpass the likes of me, are not permitted to call yourself a god of war."

"I have already surpassed you! My piloting skill and my machine's performance are both superior!"

To correct that misunderstanding, I had Avid rest its katana on its shoulder.

Izel was bewildered by my wide-open stance.

"Are you admitting defeat?"

"Is that what you think, given the current flow of conversation? —As I thought, the title of 'god of war' doesn't suit you. That magnificent machine is crying."

The ancient weapon was certainly magnificent.

But—it wasn't something I desired.

"What—"

The next moment, all the multi-arms of Izel's machine were torn to shreds, scattering and turning into liquid. They then gathered to begin regenerating.

In that time, I had Avid ready its katana.

"I enjoyed that, Prince of the Hegemony Kingdom."

Making the current Avid reproduce the One-Flash would be a great strain, but I trusted it could endure and muttered.

"One-Flash."

Immediately after I muttered the word, Izel's machine distorted.

Space warped slightly, and the machine was caught in the distortion, twisting into a grotesque shape.

Because of that, its regeneration failed, leaving it in a contorted form—it couldn't pull itself together and ended up as a hideous mess.

On my end, Avid's joints were screaming.

The Machine Heart was attempting to self-repair, but it couldn't keep up.

"This is the result of a single blow. No, should I be glad I could reproduce it even once?"

Izel's machine regenerated into a distorted form and, unable to move, began to crumble.

It must have regenerated incorrectly, causing some kind of error.

A small window appeared on the monitor, showing a man who I assumed was Izel, coughing up blood and looking at me.

"—Magnificent. I have lost. I'd like to talk, one last time."

"Do as you please."

Looking around, I saw that with Izel's defeat, the Hegemony Kingdom's army had lost its commander-in-chief and its morale had plummeted. No, they were ceasing combat and retreating.

They were surprisingly graceful in defeat.

"The universe—is vast. To think there are still powerful people like you out there."

"Of course. My master is even stronger."

"—That's nice. I would have liked to meet him once."

Seeing Izel cough up blood, I was certain that wish would not come true.

It seems that when the machine is destroyed, he shares its fate.

"W-why didn't you fight seriously from the beginning? You would have been stronger fighting in that form, without combining, wouldn't you?"

Izel seemed to have realized that Avid was stronger without using the giant battleship enhancement parts.

There are various reasons, but the main one is—

"I was playing."

"Playing? Haha, I see—the universe truly is vast. I never expected to meet someone who could say they were just playing against the Hegemony Kingdom. Next time, let's fight in person—"

As Izel breathed his last, his machine turned to liquid and scattered.

Wanting to fight until the very end... what did this guy think life was?

Well, he was a man who couldn't help but fight, and it seemed dying on the battlefield was his heart's desire.

"—Hmph, what a troublesome bunch."

But he had stuck to his own selfish will until the very end.

I don't know if he was an evil lord, but I'll give him credit for that.

Avid could barely move, and with the time limit up, it became incapable of combat maneuvers.

Still, it moved with a creaking sound and raised its katana.

"The enemy general, Izel, has been struck down by me, Liam Sera Banfield!"

As soon as that information spread throughout the armies, the Hegemony Kingdom's forces began to retreat.

I wanted to pursue them, but my fleet was too small and unreliable.

The Banfield family's Royal Guard gathered around Avid, protecting it.

"Lord Liam, are you unharmed!"

"You're late! Hurry up and retrieve Avid. And collect all the liquid that was Izel's machine, too. I'll have the Seventh Weapons Factory analyze it."

"Y-yes, sir!"

I may have destroyed it, but we should be able to extract some information from it.

◇

Izel was defeated.

Gudwar, who had been watching, was in a daze.

And the Guide, having exhausted his power, had reverted to being just a hat.

The Guide was trembling.

"Warping dimensions... that's just cheating."

The Guide couldn't stand such a terrible conclusion: 'I defeated the ancient weapon by warping dimensions!'

Izel was undoubtedly one of the strongest humans.

His piloting skills were high, and his machine's performance surpassed Avid's.

But Gudwar was even more enraged than the Guide.

Gudwar grabbed the hat-shaped Guide with a tentacle and squeezed.

"Hey, what was that?"

"W-what do you mean, 'what was that'?"

"How did you raise him to be like that?!"

"E-even if you ask me how, I'm in a position where I'd like an explanation for why things have turned out this way myself."

Gudwar threw the Guide aside.

The hat was crumpled and distorted.

"H-how cruel."

Gudwar thrashed his tentacles in a rage.

"I'll kill him. I'll kill him myself! I'll make him pay for killing my favorite, Izel! I swear it!"

Gudwar was now seriously aiming for Liam's life.

Seeing this, the Guide grinned—or he couldn't, but he was grinning in spirit.

(Hehehe, I may have failed this time, but Gudwar has gotten serious. With this, Liam's life is forfeit.)

Liam was not grateful to Gudwar; in fact, he didn't even recognize him.

Unlike the Guide, Gudwar had no fear of receiving Liam's gratitude—making him a formidable enemy for Liam.

Avid (´・ω・｀): "I got scolded."

Wakagi-chan (；゜Д゜): "Th-that's rough."

Wakagi-chan ( ゜∀゜): "More importantly, Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs Volume 6 is now on sale! Also, chapter 23 of the manga adaptation will be updated this week, and Volume 4 will be released, so be sure to check them out!"

Avid .・゜・(ノД`)ヽ(゜Д゜ ) Brian