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Vol. 10 Chapter 10 - Fake
🕑 Added 2022-05-09 09:20:53 +0000 UTCWe're in the process of annihilating the fleet led by Cleo's Peronsal Guards.
Suddenly, an operator at the bridge raises his voice, confused.
“Two mobile knights have been spotted leaving the atmosphere! T-their--!”
The general staff officer yells at the startled operator.
“Hurry up with the report!”
“Their signals match that of Avid's!”
“What?”
Everyone at the bridge turns their eyes on me.
I let out a small breath before standing up.
“They must be the mass-produced models that Calvin stole. I'll go retrieve them.”
As I'm doing a light stretch, Eulisia who's by my side tries to stop me.
“P-please wait. There's no need for Lord Liam to personally head out.”
“Nonsense. Those are mine!”
Orichalcum, adamantite, mithril--the mass-produced Avid models have been crafted with various rare metals, and regular opponents won't be their match.
That said, they're very difficult to operate, not to mention their maintenance is no joke.
There's a good reason why the military aren't using them.
If they were cost effective, the military would've incorporated them into the army by now.
“How clever and thoughtful of Calvin.”
“Eh?”
Eulisia appears surprised that I'm complimenting him.
To set the record straight, I acknowledge Calvin as an enemey.
After all, he has done me in once.
I start to feel a little lonely at the thought of our battle approaching the finish line.
“Get ready to have Avid sortie. I'll test the mass-produced models' specs myself.”
◇
The Cleo Faction had begun to fight amongst themselves near Baron Gurin's home planet.
Marie, who had borrowed a fleet from Liam, was attacking a fleet of 20,000 strong that belonged to Cleo's Personal Guards.
She was taking command at the bridge and mercilessly hunting down the fleeing enemies.
“Destroy them all. Lord Liam wants them annihilated, so we can't let a single soul escape.”
She sat on the seat that belonged to the commander and crossed her legs while staring at the monitors.
Cleo's Personal Guards were in total disarray.
Under the unified attack of the Banfield Family, Cleo's Personal Guards could offer very little resistance and were being defeated one after another.
'Count Banfield, we're your allies! We're His Highness Cleo's Personal Guards! Cease your attacks at once!'
The image of the commander was projected on the monitor, repeatedly yelling that they were on the same side.
However, when Marie heard this, she smirked and laughed.
“That's too bad.--If you wish to blame anyone, blame your master.”
'What do you--'
There was some noise on the monitor, and before long, the screen went black.
With the flagship defeated, chaos ensued for Cleo's Personal Guards.
Marie's lieutenant watched this unfold and commented lightly.
“With this, there's no turning back.”
“Not like we have to. They're the ones that went against Lord Liam first.”
Whatever the reason may be, with Cleo's Personal Guards at the brink of destruction, a wall would be formed between Liam and Cleo.
Marie's lieutenant had also been petrified before and held a grudge against the Empire.
“It's just like 2,000 years ago. This time, the Banfield Family will probably be given the cold shoulder,” she said.
“If that were to happen again, I'll choke the life out of the perpetrators. But it probably won't. After all, the Banfields are about to become the most powerful aristocratic family in the Empire.”
They boasted the Empire's greatest economic and military power.
Furthermore, Liam was about to receive the title of Duke by marrying Rosetta, a member of the Claudia Family.
Status and honor, Liam would have them all.
He had the skill to back them up as well, and he was gradually becoming someone that even the Emperor could not ignore.
Marie clasped her hands together.
“The rest will depend on Lord Liam's decisions.”
Even Cleo's fate would be left to Liam--Marie was showing a carefree attitude, but she straightened her back once she heard a certain report from the operator.
“R-reporting. Lord Liam has set out in Avid. He'll be taking on the fakes, and we've been ordered not to interfere.”
The operator was bewildered, and Marie even more so.
“W-who's he with!?”
“He said he alone will suffice.”
“--H-he's like this all the time! I'm sure he'll be fine. I'm sure he will. But still!”
The commander himself had set out. In other words, they were put in a situation where Liam had to sortie.
Marie stood up and gave her instructions.
“Now that things have come to this, we'll rush to assist Lord Liam after cleaning up the enemies here with haste. All ships, advance!”
Marie decided to quickly wipe out the enemies in front of them so that they could help Liam if he ever needed it.
◇
Inside Avid's cockpit, I grasp the control stick, starting up the monitor which displays our surrounding.
The engine roars, but it's not as fierce as usual.
Rather, I sense a hint of curiosity.
“Are you also intrigued?”
Avid growls in reply, displaying interest toward the fakes, or should I say, its two brothers.
“Let's quickly go face them then.”
Avid moves around in the hangar pretty much without needing my help and positions itself in the catapult, which has been designed to eject us using magnetic force and magic once the permission has been granted.
A small window pops up in the air, and Eulisia, who's taking charge as an operator, appears.
'The commander isn't supposed to head out to the battlefield.'
Eulisia starts complaining, so I correct her misunderstanding.
“Are you dumb? This isn't a war anymore. I'm just playing around. It's not like two Avids can destroy a fleet of hundreds of thousands, right?”
Other than my Avid which has been given a Machine Heart, weapons will eventually reach a limit without proper supplies and maintenance.
This is true even for weapons made of rare metals.
Just think of it as a fruitless struggle of the Calvin Faction.
“Everything's going to be fine. Eject us already. Avid is raring to go.”
'You speak as if it's alive. Please show me some love as well.'
“Well, I find Avid much cuter--”
'Eject.'
“H-hey you!”
Before I could finish saying that Avid is cuter, we get ejected.
The surrounding scenery immediately changes to that of outer space, and Avid activates the thrusters to head toward the fake.
It seems to be in a hurry, much like me.
“Who are the pilots?”
It's difficult to control Avid, so the enemies might have implemented a system that assists them.
Nevertheless, our opponents this time are like siblings of Avid, which has monstrous performance.
Without a decent level of piloting skills, they won't be able to move aircrafts properly.
Eager to face off against strong pilots, I look around for enemies, only to have them notice us as well.
Two white Avids are chasing my fleet around.
“Pretending to be allies of justice, are they? Let's try to establish contact.”
I try to communicate with them, but I don't receive any response.
Instead, the two aircrafts start shooting toward us with tremendous speed.
“Huh?”
Feeling that something is off, I frown.
Avid deploys magic circles behind it, intending to test the waters with long-range attacks.
A number of missiles get shot out from the magic circles, but the white Avids respond in kind by deploying their own circles.
The two aircrafts intercept Avid's missiles back to back, as if they share the same mind.
I've heard of stories where veterans pilots that have been partners for a long time do incredible moves, but that shouldn't be the case for the ones before us .
Avid attempts to close the distance between us by unleashing its laser blade, but the two aircrafts also reveal blades that look like swords.
I quickly seize the control sticks and pilot the aircraft myself, having Avid retreat after perceiving the faintest sign of a slash being fired.
“They can imitate the One-Flash?”
After taking control, I observe the movements of the two aircrafts while having Avid fly backward.
There aren't any signs of pilots inside the two Avids, and that's when I come to a certain realization.
“Ahaha! Calvin, I don't dislike that side of you!”
◇
Three trails of light were intricately interwined in space, with one aircraft fleeing from the other two as they danced around the battlefield.
The Banfield Family's fleet was watching from the sideline, and the Guide was spectating on top of one of the ships, swinging his fist in outer space.
“That's right! Go get 'im! Destroy Liam!”
The white Avids approached Liam.
Though there were some differences in performance level between the original and the imitations, they were the best they could offer for now.
As if responding to his prayers of at least inflicting some artificial injuries on Liam, the white Avids began radiating heat as their armor plates slid past one another.
This was their ace in the hole.
It put a lot of stress on the aircrafts, but it provided them with explosive strength.
In other words, it was a double-edged sword.
Calvin wasn't naive enough to think that he'd win by just preparing imitation models of Avid, so he had prepared several trump cards.
The white aircrafts approached the original Avid while emitting a pale, flame-like light.
“Blow yourselves up if that's what it takes to bring him down!”
The artificially controlled white Avids threw caution to the wind and concentrated everything on their attack.
Their battle generated a blinding light that covered the area surrounding Avid.
“FUAHAHA! No matter how powerful you are, you're bound to have suffered some injuries!” the Guide exclaimed.
There was a translucent dog behind the Guide who was ecstatic to have injured Liam.
While maintaining a low posture, it growled at the Guide, not hiding its anger.
Suppressing its urge to jump on the Guide, the dog turned its gaze toward Liam who was fighting.
He was its master, and he had loved the dog dearly.
Unfortunately, his life was made miserable after being spotted by the Guide.
The dog was supposed to pick Liam up after his death in his previous life, but the Guide had intercepted it.
“Fantastic! I'm sure that would've done some damag--eh?”
However, something happened that exceeded the dog's expectations.
Amidst the explosion, a giant made of light had appeared behind Avid.
Its figure was greater than even Avid's, and it represented the manifestation of Liam's power.
Both the Guide and the dog could hear Liam laughing inside the cockpit.
'Not bad! You two will be perfect souvenirs for my junior disciples! I'll be your master from today. Avid, discipline your younger siblings.'
At Liam's command, Avid's eyes glowed red, and it grabbed the white aircrafts with each of its hands.
The two aircrafts struggled, but against Avid's power, their struggles were in vain.
“W-what are you doing!” the Guide shouted, attracting the attention of the Light Giant.
“Hiii!?”
He'd be forced to take on Liam's gratitude if he were caught, so the Guide quickly fled while holding his hat.
The dog made a spitting gesture, showing its disgust at the Guide.
Then, it turned toward Liam with an indescribable expression on its face.
Light emerged from the arms of Avid, and it began entering the two aircrafts.
Liam was in a good mood.
'Calvin, you're a man of vision. I'll give you credit for relying on artificial intelligence. However, you'll need more than this to defeat me.'
The two aircrafts stopped struggling once they were put under the control of Avid's Machine Heart.
Watching the aircrafts that have stopped struggling drift about in space, Liam expressed his gratitude toward Calvin.
'Thanks, Calvin. I'll consider these my wedding gift!'
It's fine and all to give the captured aircrafts to your junior disciples, but can you really call that a wedding gift, the dog wondered.
After all, they would have nothing to do with Rosetta.
The dog began to question its master's attentiveness.
'Now, it's time to deal with the fun post-war procedures.'
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Brian (´；ω；｀): “Wedding gifts that are meant for his juniors? Lord Liam, that seems a bit inappropriate. It's painful all around.”
Brian (｀・ω・´): “Anyway, please show Volume 3 of 'I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire!' much love. Please toward forward to seeing Lord Liam's glorious victories. He's even stronger in the light novel. --Where's the young'un Wakagi, you ask?”
Brian ( ´・ω・｀): “She was taken away by an elf. --Next time she makes her appearance, she'll no doubt be even better at advertising than before.
