Inside Atalante's cockpit, Emma was sweating cold as she battled the Gold Racoon, which had replaced its lost arms.

The reason was a miscalculation in the timing of entering Overload state.If she had realized Sirena was holding back, she wouldn't have played her trump card at the wrong moment.Adding to her woes, her right arm, broken by Sirena, was trembling.

(I could endure the pain, but the fact that I can't put as much strength into it as usual is bad.)

Atalante was a mobile knight that overreacted to even the slightest movement of the control stick.Only Emma could pilot it, but her broken right arm limited her ability to perform delicate maneuvers.This wouldn't be an issue for a general knight, but against an opponent like Sirena, it was a problem.And Sirena, the very person who broke her right arm, was keenly aware of Emma's weakness.

"Oh? Your right arm isn't moving so well, is it?!"

Reacting to Atalante's Overload state, the Gold Racoon attacked with sharp claws.Atalante mounted its multi-purpose rifle on its back and gripped a pistol in its right hand.

"Even so, in this state, I won't lose to you!"

Emma tried to use her speed to repeatedly launch hit-and-run attacks, but Sirena seemed to have prepared countermeasures.

"Did you think the same fighting style would work forever, little girl?!"

The Gold Racoon effectively utilized its long arms, spinning like a top to deflect Atalante's attacks.

"Guh!"

Emma fired her pistol, but the shots merely ricocheted off the Gold Racoon's armor.

"It's useless!"

The moment Atalante closed in, the Gold Racoon slowed its rotation at just the right timing and delivered a punch.The blow, amplified by Atalante's speed and the Gold Racoon's rotation, was like a hammer strike.It seemed to penetrate deep into the mobile knight's frame, violently shaking Atalante's cockpit.

"Khakh!?"

Shaking violently, Emma spat out a mouthful of saliva, her consciousness flickering for a moment.Sirena didn't miss that opening.

"Ahahahaha! —Die, you starry-eyed brat!!"

She opened her fist and thrust sharp claws at Atalante.Atalante sacrificed its right arm, using it as a shield.The Gold Racoon's sharp claws easily pierced and tore through Atalante's right arm.

"I've taken your right arm. Next, I think I'll take your left!"

It seemed she had decided on the next part to destroy, in retaliation for what had been done to her.Emma felt a strange sense of persistence from Sirena that she couldn't have imagined before, but she had no time to dwell on it.

"Don't get greedy, you—!!"

The moment she uttered those rough words, Atalante's left leg delivered a sharp kick to the Gold Racoon's hip joint.Many of the male pilots watching the battle seemed to let out a collective gasp of 'Hnngh!', but Emma paid them no mind and pressed her advantage.Sirena seemed to be in considerable pain, her cockpit violently shaking from the upward attack.

"For a naive girl who aims to be a knight of justice!"

"I won't lose to someone who only knows how to mock others!"

Emma quickly checked the mobile knight's status: her left leg was now as useless as her destroyed right arm.She had forced the kick on the Gold Racoon, rendering her left leg unusable.

(If this continues, I'll lose... But I absolutely cannot lose to this one!)

◇

Inside the Gold Racoon's cockpit, blood dripped from the corner of Sirena's mouth as she faced Atalante.She seemed to have bitten her tongue during the violent shaking.

"It's laughable that you think you can beat me. Have you forgotten that I broke your arm?"

Sirena wiped her mouth, taunting Emma.But inwardly, a complex swirl of emotions was rising within her as she faced Emma.

(Why can't I win against such a lowly existence?! How much time have I poured into modifying this mobile knight, just to defeat her... and yet, why won't you fall?!!)

She launched attacks with her newly replaced arms, but Atalante stubbornly endured.Its fighting style lacked any elegance befitting a knight; it was simply unrefined and awkward.However, Atalante radiated a fighting spirit that proclaimed it would not lose.

"I may lose in person, but in a mobile knight battle, I have no intention of losing. I — I am confident I've surpassed you."

"—Confidence is wonderful. But too much of it is just pathetic."

"For all that, you haven't defeated me, have you?"

The person she had looked down on until recently was now provoking Sirena.A deep-seated discomfort swelled within her.At the same time, a premonition struck Sirena.

(If I don't finish her here, she will truly become someone who can stand alongside me. Before that happens, I have to finish her now; it's too dangerous.)

Emma, whose strength grew with every encounter, was like a knight undergoing a growth spurt.However, her rate of growth was far beyond that of a normal knight.She was rapidly growing stronger, and her momentum never wavered.While most would have settled and compromised somewhere, Emma greedily pursued more strength.Sirena found that terrifying.

"You little brat, getting so full of yourself—"

"—Sorry, but I'm no longer a 'little brat'."

Even as they exchanged insults, the two mobile knights relentlessly chipped away at each other, leaving both machines battered.And then, Sirena realized something.

(When it comes to piloting mobile knights, I still hold the advantage... But the performance difference between our mobile knights...)

Sirena knitted her brows at the conclusion she had drawn.Indeed, Emma possessed talent in piloting mobile knights, and her growth rate was astonishing even to Sirena.Nevertheless, Sirena had prided herself on being superior due to her greater experience.The problem was the mobile knight's performance.The Gold Racoon wasn't a bad mobile knight, but it paled in comparison to Atalante.No matter how much she modified it, Emma was piloting a custom-built machine.

"You're just being helped by the difference in machine performance."

"If it means winning, I'll do anything."

Sirena flinched for a moment at Emma's desperate determination to win.

(When did she get so strong...!? Damn it!)

It was truly only a slight difference.Because Sirena hesitated for just a moment, Emma pushed forward, getting inside the Gold Racoon's guard and plunging the pistol's blade into its abdomen—beneath the cockpit.Emma mercilessly pulled the trigger, unleashing a barrage of shots, forcibly tearing it open.

"You monster."

"...It's over."

By the time she realized it, Atalante's Overload state had ended, but the Gold Racoon, with its lower half severed, was losing its balance.With the pistol's blade thrust into its cockpit, one more push from Emma would decide the victor.—Sirena had been defeated by Emma.

"For me, of all people, to lose to a starry-eyed brat. Impossible. Absolutely impossible!"

"No, I won. With this, our karmic entanglement—"

But the scales of victory tipped in Sirena's favor.Warning shots were fired at Atalante from above.

"We are the Imperial Regular Army! Mobile Knight of the Banfield family, disarm yourselves immediately and surrender!"

Both were so engrossed in their battle that they hadn't noticed the approach of allies.Since they were identified as allies, Emma's alarms likely hadn't sounded either.As the allied mobile knights approached Atalante, the Racoon Squadron, deployed from Merea and barely having received maintenance, attempted to defend her.

"You'll never lay a hand on our captain!"

However, Emma seemed to accept her defeat.

"...Doug, that's enough. Disarm yourselves."

Seeing Atalante lower the pistol it had been pointing, Sirena felt a surge of relief.And then she felt disgust at her own relief.

"I was relieved to survive? ...Don't screw with me!!"

Sirena slammed her fist onto the armrest.

"I... I couldn't lose to her... I never wanted to lose to my past self, never!!"

Inside the cockpit, Sirena cut off her comms and cried uncontrollably.

◇

"Hurry up and move!"

Kicked by an armed soldier, Emma fell to the ground.After dismounting Atalante, she was surrounded and apprehended by Imperial Regular Army soldiers.A military officer, who seemed to be their commander, knelt down and spoke to Emma.

"Don't think a subordinate knight who defies the Imperial Army will get off scot-free. What awaits you now is an environment where even hell would be mild. Regret what you've done, to your heart's content."

Emma, still on the ground, ground her back teeth in frustration.

(...In the end, I wasn't strong enough to see my will through. So, my dream ends here.)

For the sake of a single knight, and a knight who had caused trouble at that, the Banfield family would not intervene to protect her.Especially now, during such a crucial period.Considering that, handing Emma over to the Imperial Army was the logical choice.

Just then, Tim arrived.

"I gave the order. If you're taking someone, take me."

"Commander? Wh-why..."

As Tim offered himself to the soldiers to protect Emma, the commander scoffed.

"Are you an idiot? Then we'll simply apprehend both of you. If we forgive this one who ran rampant, the nobles' resentment won't be appeased."

Tim's face contorted bitterly at the commander's words, when something appeared, casting a shadow that blotted out the star's light.

"Is that... the Val?"

Not only Emma and her allies, but even the Imperial Regular Army was bewildered by the appearance of the flagship Val.Mobile knights launched one after another from the Val, descending and immediately subduing the Imperial fleet and mobile knights.The commander protested, looking up at the sky.

"What are you doing! We are allies!!"

Responding to him was a hologram projected above—Klaus, the Acting Commander-in-Chief.

"Your actions are too egregious. Therefore, we have decided to apprehend you."

"A-are you insane? We are the Imperial Army!"

"It doesn't matter. More importantly, suspicious points have become apparent since the fortress capture. It has been decided that this matter will be transferred to the capital system. All of you are to immediately accept apprehension and proceed to the capital system."

Transferred to the capital system—meaning a military tribunal awaited them.As the commanders collapsed onto the ground, a small craft descended from the Val and landed.Tim immediately realized that a noble presence was aboard the small craft.

"The flagship itself came all the way to this small battlefield, huh?"

As the marine detachment soldiers disembarked and rescued Emma, Claudia appeared last.

"That was quite an ordeal, Lieutenant Rodman."

"Instructor Claudia... Ah, Her Excellency, Brigadier General Claudia."

Emma tried to stand and salute, but realized it was impossible while restrained.Claudia gave a wry smile at her appearance.

"Still the same, I see. Now, more importantly, we have a discussion with the inhabitants of this planet. Lieutenant Rodman, you should come along too."

"Huh?"