Chapter 167: Showdown
As Eli charged toward the two combatants, he fired several shots in succession, forcing them to disengage from their deadlock.
He then surged between them and quickly readjusted his orientation, relying on the GP04's exceptional maneuverability.
"Well done, Kou Uraki! There's no need to talk with this kind of bastard—let's take him down together!"
Two Pegasus-class MS units began pressing the Zeon forces back, gradually closing in their formation. With the support of the Federation garrison near La Vie en Rose, they might just be able to trap these Zeon remnants.
"Trying to win through sheer numbers, huh…"
Gato sneered, his face twisted as he locked eyes with the two Gundams before him.
What an eyesore.
He briefly glanced toward his comrades.
Karius hadn't joined him due to lacking the necessary combat ability.
As for Daryl, who had shown great promise, he was currently being stalled by other units.
"Oi! I can hear it—you've got blues music playing inside your cockpit, haven't you…"
Naturally, the one who had pinned down the Psycho-Zaku Mk-II was Io!
"So damn annoying. I swear I've run into someone like you before…"
Despite his harsh words, Io could tell something was off.
Even though his high-output GM was thrusting a beam saber straight into a Zaku that appeared to lack significant armaments or even extra thrusters, their output was evenly matched—he was even being pushed back at times.
Zeon technology… absolutely astounding.
There's no way the remnants could have retrofitted something like this on their own.
As the beam saber clashed with the heat hawk, brilliant sparks burst forth from the contact point.
But with the enemy refusing to respond, Io eventually gritted his teeth and backed off, abandoning the power struggle.
Just then, two massive beam blasts came from behind his high-output GM—fired from the Fully Armed G-line.
Not only that, but Ed's GM Cannon II launched a barrage of its own, driving off the mobile suits trying to support the red Zaku.
"Gis, listen up! No matter what happens, as long as I'm still fighting, you better keep firing! Don't stop until that thing jams!"
The transmission came from Monsha's GM Kai, which had been assigned escort duty due to its inferior specs.
"Y-Yes, sir!"
Gis straightened in his cockpit and pulled the trigger again, firing another beam.
This time, he successfully hit a Zaku trying to dodge, taking it out.
The explosion lit up the battlefield, revealing the high-output GM and Psycho-Zaku still locked in a standoff.
"I don't know why, but I can't stand the sight of you… I've seen you before, haven't I? Back at Moore's wreckage—that was you, wasn't it?!"
Io roared as he activated every weapon port on the high-output GM.
At this range, even with the enhanced reflexes granted by the Regeneration P-System, it was impossible to dodge entirely.
Daryl reacted instantly, raising the shoulder shield on his right side. But the beam from the large rifle mounted on the GM's back struck his right shoulder dead-on.
The Zaku's entire right arm was blown off—but the enemy somehow managed to stabilize his machine using only his remaining thrusters and AMBAC system.
His left arm's machine gun continued firing nonstop, and he launched an underbarrel grenade as well.
The grenade shot across the battlefield, smashing into the shield Io had just raised for defense, destroying it completely.
But in the blink of an eye, another shield was brought up in front of the high-output GM, repositioned by its robotic arm.
It blocked the Zaku's heat hawk, which had sliced through the smoke in a vicious arc!
The battle here had reached a deadlock, while Arcadia's MS squad, forming a spearhead, successfully split the Zeon forces.
"You've already lost. Are you still clinging to your so-called justice?!"
Having confirmed that the overall situation hadn't gone awry, Eli turned his gaze back to the enemy before him.
The Gundam was currently swinging its beam naginata in a spinning downward arc toward him.
Eli didn't flinch. His long-range beam rifle deployed a beam trident to block Gato's strike.
"Shut up! You turned your back on the people of space—what gives you the right to talk about victory?!"
"Who the hell would understand what you're saying?!"
Eli gripped the shaft of the beam rifle with both hands, pulled it back—and then suddenly thrust it downward!
The beam trident wasn't very powerful, so the stab merely left a small scorch mark on the Gundam's heavy armor.
Then Eli let go of the long-range beam rifle and, in one fluid motion, drew his beam saber with his left hand like a swordsman executing an iai slash. His back thrusters erupted with light, launching his machine into a direct lunge!
"Eh?!"
Gato, taking advantage of the neural link with his machine, adjusted the lower half of his beam naginata just in time to block Eli's slash.
But at that moment, a beam blast from above pierced straight through the Gundam's right hand—the one holding the beam naginata.
Kou Uraki's timely cover fire!
The beam naginata flickered out, and Gato could only glare as Eli's slash came down in the next instant—severing both of the Gundam's legs clean off!
Thanks to the 0.8-second spin rate, Eli was able to immediately turn for a follow-up strike!
But shockingly, the Gundam spun around at the same time, igniting a beam naginata with its remaining left hand.
Meanwhile, Kou Uraki was suddenly engaged by Karius in his Rick Dom II, preventing him from offering any more support.
The two beam blades collided head-on, grinding against each other as they pushed forward.
Eli was relatively composed, putting his full weight on the control stick.
But Gato, due to his direct neural link, bore the full brunt of the effort—his face contorted with pain.
Eli sensed something was wrong.
Gato was significantly stronger now than when they last fought.
Even if it was due to the Regeneration P-System, he was definitely on par with a Gundam pilot now.
If Eli had been piloting the G-line instead, this grotesque Gundam would've likely outclassed him in every way.
Like Io, Eli came to the same conclusion—
There was definitely someone backing these Zeon remnants.
No matter how advanced Axis's "green-skinned" tech was, they couldn't have overhauled these old machines to match Gundams within the current timeline.
But unlike Io, Eli had already identified a prime suspect.
"Anaheim, huh… No wonder they're called merchants of death."
With a grim expression, Eli prepared to finish off Gato once and for all.
"Major, fall back!"
Suddenly, several beam blasts rained down from above!
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