“Looks like my sister drew the short straw. I really don’t stand a chance in situations like this.”

Road had conquered the other two slums.

However, there were no casualties.

He had meticulously investigated the presence of resistance fighters without resorting to pointless slaughter.

Then he secured the slum dwellers and ordered them to be treated as 3rd Class Earthguard Citizens.

The powerless residents of the slums had no choice but to be taken away by the Earthguard soldiers.

It all happened so swiftly that the slum folk couldn’t even comprehend what was going on.

“Well then, shall we get moving too?”

That worst of enemies began his advance.

The undefeated commander, ruler of the world.

He had never known defeat, not even once.

The genius who had driven the European Union to the brink of annihilation.

Road Earthguard headed toward the battlefield where Kenya Mikazuki was fighting.

…

“Hey, Jilian. Are there really any resistance fighters out there? No matter how many we kill, more just don’t show up.”

“Some of them are wearing military uniforms. I’d say it’s about time for those captured KOGs to appear… Oh, speak of the devil, one just popped up right behind us.”

A single KOG appeared before Yumir, who had been carrying out her massacre.

Since it wasn’t emitting the identification signal for friendlies, Jilian immediately recognized it as an enemy.

“Inferior species piloting a KOG, huh? That’s a weapon way beyond your capabilities. Oh?”

A transmission came in via open chat from the KOG standing before her.

“I have a question for you all. Why are you killing them? They’re just civilians.”

The pilot was Kenya.

He directed the question at the imperial princess Yumir.

He kept his anger in check, striving to remain as calm as possible.

Soldiers should be prepared to die, and since they were opposing each other as resistance fighters, he didn’t deny the need to fight.

He could even understand the reasons for killing in battle.

But.

The view from the cockpit.

Bodies littered the field of vision, and at the sight, Kenya’s face twisted in bitterness.

“Was there any reason to kill unarmed civilians?!”

“How amusing. Your perception is fundamentally flawed. You’re inferior species. Pigs wearing human skin. Do you need permission to hunt pigs?”

“We’re humans too. No different from you.”

“Sigh, you’re impossible to reason with. Must be because you’re inferior. I wish you at least had the brains for basic communication.”

“I see… Enough.”

“Huh?”

“Shut… up already!”

Keeen!

In an instant, Kenya closed in right before Yumir’s KOG.

Then he swung down with his massive sword.

But the attack was deflected by the blade of another KOG that had intervened.

“Lady Yumir, please step back.”

“Drag it out without killing it, Jilian. I’ll have to educate it myself.”

“My apologies, Lady Yumir. Hah!”

Jilian flicked away the sword with force, and Kenya took a slight step back.

The Empire’s Holy Knight Captain Jilian assumed a stance, staring straight at Kenya.

Sweat beaded on his forehead.

“Doesn’t look like he has that kind of leeway.”

And so the two clashed.

Jilian understood immediately.

This enemy was strong—perhaps too strong, even if he fought with everything he had.

“No way…”

Yumir couldn’t believe the scene unfolding before her.

She piloted a KOG herself and possessed a certain level of skill.

Not on par with a properly trained knight, of course, but she could operate one and hold her own to some extent in combat.

That’s why she knew Jilian’s strength and trusted him completely.

She had never seen him struggle in actual combat.

Yet here he was.

“What the hell?! What are you?! I’m the Holy Knight Captain! The top of the Empire!”

“Holy Knight Captain? Even among Holy Knight Captains, strength varies, huh.”

(Zeke was far stronger. I wish I’d fought him back in his prime. He must’ve been even more incredible then.)

The once-calm Jilian began to show signs of panic.

With every clash, the gap in skill became painfully clear.

Each exchange left damage somewhere on his machine.

“Wh-what are you doing, Jilian?!”

“Damn… it all!!”

“Getting the idea now?”

The metallic clang echoed across the battlefield.

The giant swords collided—one gripped firmly, the other sent flying through the air.

“No… Am I… going to lose?”

The sword soared far into the distance before embedding straight into the ground.

“The feelings of the weak, the feelings of those trampled by violence!”

Then Kenya’s blade flashed once, cleaving Jilian’s KOG in two.

The severed machine ignited, exploded, and fell silent.

“My apologies… Your Majesty…”

“Huh? Jilian? What are you doing? Jilian?”

Yumir couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

She spoke to the charred, motionless KOG.

“What are you doing? He’s just an inferior species! There’s no way an Earthguard would lose! Jilian?!”

“You’re a pitiful one too, huh. A poor imperial princess brainwashed by the Empire.”

Kenya’s KOG advanced toward Yumir.

Slowly, steadily closing the distance.

Dragging its massive sword, scattering the sound of death.

“D-don’t mock me! I’m Yumir Earthguard! Ruler of the world! One of the strong! Survival of the fittest is the law of nature! Why won’t you obey?!”

Yumir backed away.

Feeling some indescribable something from the machine before her.

She didn’t know what that emotion was.

She had always been on the side of the strong, bending the world to her will.

She had even thought the world was hers.

So what was this feeling?

“Obey me! I’m a princess! Stop! Halt!!”

The princess’s machine tripped over debris while retreating and fell flat on its rear.

“That’s fear. The thing you carelessly inflicted on others, the thing you stole from them. It’s the natural human emotion for protecting what’s precious.”

Kenya’s blade severed both legs of Yumir’s KOG.

The immobilized machine could only flail pathetically in place.

“Me? Fear? Die? I’m going to die?! No, no, no!! I want to kill more! I want to take more! Stop!!”

“That’s your belief, right? Survival of the fittest. No complaints then. Admit you’re one of the weak and die!”

“Nooooo!!!”

Kenya’s blade bisected Yumir’s machine.

Or so it seemed.

Keeen!

The sound of crumpling metal rang out around them.

“Huh?”

Yumir, her hair disheveled and soaked in sweat.

Yumir, her hair falling out from terror, laid eyes on a silver KOG.

Speckled with faint pink, like cherry blossoms resting atop snow—a beautiful machine.

“This machine… No way.”

Kenya, blinded by rage, hadn’t noticed it.

But he understood from the voice transmitted via open chat.

“Lady Yumir, leave this to me and escape. Lord Road has arrived.”

“Y-yes! Well done. Well done! You, what’s your name?!”

The cherry-colored KOG raised its massive sword toward Kenya.

It was a familiar voice.

A soothing, monotone voice she heard every day.

But the blade it aimed at him carried no doubt.

True hostility, something she had never directed at him before.

“Reina. Reina Silfield of the 13th District Military Academy.”

Killing intent.