We were in the middle of annihilating the fleet led by Cleo's Royal Guard.

On the bridge, an operator's voice rose in confusion.

"Two Mobile Knights are breaking through the atmosphere! Th-this is..."

The staff officer yelled at the bewildered operator.

"Report, now!"
"I've confirmed Avid's energy signature!"
"What did you say?"

Every eye on the bridge turned to me.

I let out a small sigh, then stood up with a sense of weary obligation.

"It's the mass-produced model that Calvin stole. I suppose I'll go get it back."

As I stretched, Eulisia, who was standing beside me, tried to stop me.

"W-wait, please. There's no need for you to sortie personally, Lord Liam."

"Don't be ridiculous. That thing is mine!"

The mass-produced Avid, built with Orichalcum, Adamantite, Mithril, and various other rare metals, was not something an ordinary opponent could handle.

Of course, operating such an Avid is extremely difficult.

It has maintenance issues, but if it were truly effective, the military would have adopted it long ago.

There's a good reason the military hasn't adopted it.

"More importantly, don't you think Calvin has good taste?"

"Huh?"

Eulisia looked at me with a surprised expression as I praised Calvin, but I acknowledged him as a worthy enemy.

After all, he was the only one who had ever made me taste bitterness.

Thinking that my conflict with such a man was coming to an end made me feel a little sad.

"Have Avid prepped for launch. I'm going to test the specs of the mass-produced model in actual combat."

◇

Around the home planet of the Glin Barony, Cleo's faction had begun to fight amongst themselves.

Marie, having borrowed a fleet from Liam, was attacking the twenty-thousand-ship fleet commanded by the Royal Guard.

From the bridge, Marie commanded the assault, relentlessly attacking the fleeing Royal Guard.

"Destroy them all. Lord Liam desires their annihilation. Do not let a single ship escape."

She sat in the commander's seat, legs crossed, gazing at the monitor.

The Royal Guard was in a state of utter chaos.

Against the well-organized Banfield forces, the Royal Guard could only mount sporadic counterattacks and were being destroyed one after another.

"Count Banfield! We are allies! We are Prince Cleo's Royal Guard. Cease your attack at once!"

The commander displayed on the monitor repeatedly insisted they were on the same side.

But Marie just listened, the corners of her mouth turning up in a smile.

"How unfortunate for you. If you must blame someone, blame your own master."

"What—"

The monitor filled with static, then the screen went black.

It seemed the flagship had been destroyed, plunging the Royal Guard into even deeper chaos.

Marie's adjutant, watching the scene, asked in a light tone.

"There's no turning back for us now, is there?"

"There's no need to. They were the ones who defied Lord Liam."

Annihilating Cleo's Royal Guard, regardless of the reason, would create a massive rift between Liam and Cleo.

The adjutant questioned Marie.

He was a knight who had been petrified alongside Marie, and like her, he harbored a grudge against the Empire.

"Just like two thousand years ago, they might give the Banfield House the cold shoulder again."

"If that happens, I'd love to finish them off for good this time. But that's probably impossible now. The Banfield House is about to rise to become the greatest noble family in the Empire."

They possessed the Empire's greatest economic and military power.

And now, they were set to inherit the ducal title from Rosetta's family, the Claudia House.

With that, Liam would have both status and honor.

Combined with his actual power, he was on the verge of becoming an existence that even the Emperor could not ignore.

Marie clasped her fingers together.

"The rest depends on Lord Liam's feelings."

What to do with Cleo was also up to Liam—Marie had been showing a relaxed confidence, but a report from an operator made her jump to her feet.

"C-Commander! Lord Liam has sortied in Avid. An order has been issued to the entire fleet not to interfere, as he is going to strike down the impostor."

The operator was bewildered, but Marie was just as—if not more—confused.

"What about his escort unit?!"

"He said... one machine is enough."

"—Wh-why does he always... I'm sure he'll be fine, but still! Still!"

The commander-in-chief himself was sortieing—in other words, Marie and the others had allowed Liam to go into battle.

Her earlier composure vanished, and Marie stood up to issue orders.

"In that case, we'll crush the enemy quickly and rush to Lord Liam's side. All ships, prepare to charge!"

To be ready to assist Liam at any moment, Marie decided to annihilate the enemy before her as quickly as possible.

◇

Inside Avid's cockpit.

As I gripped the control stick, the machine activated, and the monitors displayed the surrounding situation.

The engine roared to life.

But it lacked its usual ferocity.

Instead, I sensed curiosity.

"Are you curious too?"

Avid let out a roar as if in reply, seemingly interested in the impostor—no, its sibling unit—that was heading this way.

"Let's go meet it, shall we?"

Avid moved almost automatically through the hangar, heading for the catapult.

The launch system used magnetism and magic to fire the machine, and it would be ejected as soon as permission was granted.

A small window popped up in the air, showing the face of Eulisia, who was handling communications.

"It's not normal for the commander-in-chief to sortie himself."

I felt the need to correct Eulisia's perception as she complained.

"Are you an idiot? This isn't a war. It's a game. Do you really think two Avids can destroy a fleet of hundreds of thousands?"

My Avid, equipped with a Machine Heart, might be an exception, but weapons inevitably need resupply and maintenance to fight continuously.

No matter how many rare metals are used, they will eventually reach their limit.

This was nothing more than a last-ditch effort from Calvin's faction.

"Just launch me already. Avid is getting noisy."

"You talk about it as if it's alive. You could show me a little affection too, you know."

"No, Avid is cuter—"

"Launching."

"Hey, you—!"

Before I could finish saying Avid was cuter, I was launched.

The surrounding scenery immediately changed to outer space, and Avid fired its thrusters, heading toward the impostor.

It seemed to be in quite a hurry, but so was I.

"Now, who's the pilot?"

Avid's controls are notoriously difficult, but the enemy might be using an assist function.

Still, this was a sibling unit to the machine known as a wild mare.

The pilot would need to have at least some skill to control it properly.

As I searched for the enemy, hoping for a strong pilot to emerge—it seemed they had noticed me too.

Chasing my fleeing fleet were two white Avids.

"They look just like heroes of justice. I guess I'll open a channel."

I tried to hail the enemy to talk, but there was no response.

Instead, the two units came charging toward us at incredible speed.

"What's this?"

I furrowed my brow at the slight sense of unease, and Avid deployed a magic circle behind it.

It seemed it intended to use long-range attacks first, perhaps to gauge their strength.

As numerous missiles were fired from the magic circle, the white Avids—the white ones—also deployed magic circles.

But the two machines moved as one, back-to-back, and began to intercept Avid's missiles.

I'd heard that when two veteran pilots have been partners for a long time, they can perform acrobatic maneuvers.

However, the white ones in front of me were different.

When Avid drew its laser blade and tried to close the distance, the two also drew katana-like blades.

I instinctively grabbed the control stick, seizing control, and made Avid retreat.

Then, I visually confirmed the faint trace of a slash that had been unleashed.

"Did it just imitate the Flash?"

I took control from Avid and continued to fly backward, observing the two machines' movements.

Watching the two units, from which I couldn't sense any pilot's presence, I realized something.

"Ahahaha! Calvin, I don't dislike you at all!"

◇

Three tails of light were intricately intertwined on the battlefield.

One machine was fleeing, while two pursued it, the three lights darting across the battlefield.

The Banfield fleet watched over the scene—and in a way, the Guide was watching too, riding on one of the ships.

In the vacuum of space outside the ship, he was swinging his fists.

"There, go! Charge at Liam!"

Two white Avids closed in on the Avid piloted by Liam.

Although there was a performance gap, they were the best machines that could be prepared under the circumstances.

The Guide prayed they would at least inflict a wound, and in response, the white Avids began to slide their armor plates open to vent heat.

It was a trump card that explosively increased performance but also placed a heavy burden on the machine.

A double-edged sword.

It seemed Calvin hadn't thought he could win just by preparing Avids; he had included various trump cards.

The white machines, emitting a pale blue, flame-like light, closed in on Avid.

"Just self-destruct while you're at it!"

The two white Avids, equipped with artificial intelligence, began their attack with everything they had.

As Avid's surroundings were enveloped in the light of battle, the Guide screamed.

"Fuhahaha! Even you can't escape unscathed from that!"

Behind the Guide, who was rejoicing at having damaged Liam—was a translucent dog.

It was crouched low and growling, a clear sign of its anger toward the Guide.

Forcing itself to hold back the urge to leap and bite, the dog turned its gaze toward the fighting Liam.

Its former master, who had once doted on it.

A man whose life had been twisted by the unfortunate circumstance of being targeted by the Guide.

Originally, this dog was supposed to have met Liam when he died in his previous life.

It was the Guide who had interfered with that.

"Yes! Yes!! This should do some damage—huh?"

However—an event that surpassed even the dog's expectations occurred.

Avid had been caught in the explosion, but a giant of light had appeared on its back.

Even larger than Avid, this figure was the materialization of Liam's power.

Liam's laughing voice from the cockpit reached both the Guide—and the dog.

"I like them! They'll be perfect souvenirs for my junior disciples. Your master from today onward is me! Avid, discipline your little brothers."

At Liam's command, Avid's twin eyes glowed red, and it grabbed each of the white machines with one hand.

The two machines thrashed about, but they were no match for Avid's power and could not escape.

"Wh-what are you planning to do?!"

As the Guide shouted, the giant of light turned its face toward him.

"Eek!?"

If he were found, Liam would force his gratitude upon him, so the Guide clutched his hat and fled.

The dog made a spitting gesture, showing its utter disgust for the Guide.

Then, it turned its nose toward Liam—and made an indescribable face.

From the hands with which Avid gripped the two machines, lines of light began to emerge on their armor.

That light began to consume the two machines.

Liam was in high spirits.

"Calvin, you have a good eye. I praise you for relying on artificial intelligence. But it wasn't enough to defeat me."

As the Machine Heart installed in Avid brought the two machines under its control, their artificial intelligences ceased their resistance.

Facing the two machines, now motionless and adrift, Liam offered his thanks to Calvin.

"Thank you, Calvin. I'll be taking these as a wedding gift!"

The dog thought.

It was fine to give captured Mobile Knights to his junior disciples, but could one really call that a wedding gift?

Since Rosetta had nothing to do with it, the dog found itself slightly questioning its master's sensibilities.

"Now then, time for the fun post-war cleanup."