Valvrave: The Founding of An Empire

by AJ-Writer

From the writer of Samurai Seed and of Demons and Gods who were so pissed by the ending of the anime. Witness the birth of an empire. HarutoXSaki, L-ElfXShokoXLiselotte? Started from the alternate ep 7 of the anime. Chapter 16 is up and fixed. R&R!

20. Hunter and Hunted Part 3

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Even though it's already a few days late…

And I also notice this chapter is clearly shorter than usual… but I really don't know what else to put.

Well, anyway, with so many things happening, I'm just glad I managed to put up something. Enjoy.

00000000000000

The Hellsing emptied both of his magnums and immediately jumped away just before a giant fireball crushed the spot where he was standing a moment ago. The fireball melted through his volley of Stakes before it ignited on impact, and the resulting thermonuclear explosion barely grazed his foot.

"I'm starting to think this plan isn't very well thought out!" Rapunzel unburrowed herself and fired another arrow. But the arrow barely make it halfway before a pinpoint laser shot it right out of the sky, followed by a hail of smaller beam projectiles. She barely had time to dodge the attack, but her serpents were scorched wholesale by the resulting salvo to protect their mistress.

In contrast to his scurrying opponents, the Valvrave moved little throughout the engagement – though as planned by his adversaries, his feet did not – cannot - touch the ground - yet. Something Red noticed. The Hellsing fired three shells, he blocked two, but one went past his guard and grazed his cheek. The Primate Engine raised one sword to the sky, and multitudes of Rune Bullets formed in the air at his will. The energy projectiles immediately scattered allover the place at blurring speed at a swipe of said sword and automatically home in to the two targets.

Their movements are incredibly haphazard but they inevitably homed in on their targets. Rapunzel didn't even have time to take aim and she hide beneath the ground as the onslaught tore through her serpents to molten slag. Hellsing expertly shot them down, but just as the last projectile was destroyed, his sensor alerted him to a massive power build up. He only saw a glimpse of light and the Valvrave's laser plowed through, but he managed to avoid it at the last second, so the blast only carved the empty cities down below. Seconds later, a trail of massive explosion tore the streets apart along the carved trail, leaving a massive elongated crater in its wake.

For his part, Red still had the time to check the spectrometer – among other things. That blast just now produces as much energy as a hail of Scud! '…the kid has been pouring out this much firepower and he hasn't lost a breath. How can he not run out of energy yet…!?' "Just how many humans have you fed on?"

"You really wanna know?" Haruto grunted then start counting. "…I'd say… 37 people… in this war alone? Discounting the ones I fed from periodically…"

'Wait… did he say… periodic feeding!?' Well, that was unexpected. Having studied his psychological profile, he knew his target was a very humane person. So he had expected two things will happen: 1. He decided to be the self righteous predator and selectively feed on those he deemed deserve to die – childish notions of hero of justice and evil must perish sort of thing. Or 2 – and clearly the one he had chosen: He decided to hell with option 1 and get his hands about as dirty as the rule of war allowed – which in this instance, those 37 people are the poor schmuck who had the misfortune to keep trying to kill him so he kill them right back. But Periodic Feeding!? So… either, he keep a few of victims alive so that he can periodically feed on them… or there are a pack of idiots out there who willingly allow themselves to be eaten by this monster at small bites per day. 'Either way… it simply means he had piggy banked a shit ton of fuel and ammunition.' "I regret I asked."

"You asked." Haruto scoffed. Now then, the situation is getting a bit dangerous. The Hellsing begin to adapt to his attack pattern and his shots are increasingly harder to block and dodge with minimal movements. Not to mention those other Sister Gooses looming overhead still doing nothing. But he didn't let his Valvrave sitting around in one place for no reason…

Because there's a reason why only Valvrave was the only one equipped with Absorb system. The reason is the Behemoth. After Yusuke showed the need for field repairs, the unit 03 was refurbished with additional repair system to support other Valvraves. Thankfully, with the fact it has two pilots, its massive firepower and highly aggressive capability was unperturbed, rather it created an interesting and synergic dichotomy. But that's beside the point. The problem is: the Behemoth's repair system was designed to fix Primate Engines made from largely terrestrial material. The Kagerous, obviously, and unit 03 to 06. But 01? As of right now, 80% of its construction is made of Alien Metal. It made it one of a kind, and while normally it's as 'pliable' as the rest of the Valvrave, which, to be fair, still makes it the toughest thing on the planet, it gets even tougher when the heat is on. Unfortunately, even though it was said to be made on Earth, it was a material that does not come from this world. Literally. As Yusuke would easily testify: even if he could memorize its blueprint down to the last microchip, he can't fix the Valvrave on the account he had no idea what it's made of. It's not like Pino was uncooperative… it's just:

"You mix 10% Zinc, 10% Tritium, 15% Tungstinum, 10% xenium, 20% dioxjenhium, 30% uuyilium, 45% ytdeikfhounium, gsd% of jfe-zzz-xxx. And then you heat it up to 120,000 djfdfjdfj degrees – and then freeze and heat it together in the solar flare of the young and dead sun, and then you fuheuofheuf AND simultaneously YGSGYJIDY it before you scduighfueh-1010101111000 and finally presto! Fresh Deadheat metal!"

Apart from the increasingly impossible and alien terminology – to the point it haywired the writer's computer and brain - Pino also remarked that the full process took at least a decade to produce a single milligram. Not to mention that one milligram will have the price tag of an entire fleet of original Valvrave on it – and for the record, one original Valvrave have the price tag an entire starship fleet. That was the reason why she only had enough to fully reconstruct just two Valvraves with it – the first time she made them. The rest she used to retrofit only the Rave Engine cores of all other Valvraves of the covenant. Thankfully, Deadheat metal is self regenerating and self multiplying. She only needs to produce a single milligram and with enough time and Rune, it will expand and multiply to virtually limitless amount. Time is less of an issue, but the Rune requirement was a demanding glutton. From the Rune to Result ratio standpoint, the multiplication process was grossly inefficient. Hence the absorb system attached to 01 to help feed the ravenous self regenerating alien superweapon. This is a feature currently only the Valvrave, built from mostly said alien material, can do.

And that is also why 01 is the only unit that Behemoth can never fully fix. But as a tradeoff… he won't need him to.

The Valvrave suddenly began to glow again. All energy was then focused on the stump of his missing leg. The stump began to glow red hot, as if it was on the verge of melting. Except what happened was the exact opposite. It's like watching the disintegration process in reverse as the super heated stump extended and the limb began to form. By the time the heat cools down, a new fresh leg had replaced the one he lost.

The two Faux Valvrave pilots, especially Amber, twitched. "…okay, that's fair!" They echoed.

"I don't want to hear that from people who are ganging up on me two to one!" Haruto growled.

The Valvrave rose up from its perching spot. Now that he's back in one piece…

…playtime's over.

The Valvrave instantly teleported multiple times across the sky and headed straight towards Hellsing.

Chapter 20:

Hunter and Hunted: Part 3

Meanwhile, back in the other module…

The resistance forces were still celebrating their first victory on the beach… some are drinking, some even thought of unwinding… but Marie and the Dorssian didn't share in the revelry. Those below still had no idea that Haruto was no longer in this battlefield. If there's a new threat arriving, and there will be, the Fiery Lord's Angel will not be there to protect them – and they still don't know.

There's no way Arus would give up this fight that easily. This is just one battle. If a super power nation can be stymied by just one fight like this, Dorssia would've beaten them a long time ago.

And as expected… "I'm detecting a high energy reading… akin to a Valvrave…" One of the Kirschbaum reported.

"A Faux Valvrave." Marie grunted. Well of course. "Miranda-san, Spike-san! Get the soldiers as far away as possible! There's going to be a Valvrave vs Valvrave battle!"

Down below, the swarms of people had just received the announcement, as evidenced by the fact they stopped frolicking and began running away in terror. Those who were drunk a minute ago sobered up immediately. Some didn't even bother putting their pants back on in their haste to escape as fast as their feet can carry them. The memory of what happened the last time two super robots slugging it out in a deathmatch is still fresh in everyone's mind.

"K-Zwei is about to have a visual confirmation."

"Only a Valvrave can fight a Valvrave!" 'Well… I'm in a mass production model though…'

"Worry not Ma'am. He's not alone. And he only wishes to get a good visual confirmation. He won't engage."

Even though he's inside a Kirschbaum, K-Zwei held no illusion of fighting a super robot, fake or not, but his unit is the closest to the spot… so might just as well gather some intel. Probably take a note on what manner of weapon of destruction this fake Valvrave will bear… But when he finally get there and take a good hard look at the enemy… "…huh?"

The Faux Valvrave is colored in monotonous ash grey and light grey – as if it was fresh out of the factory. The fact it was a faux copy of unit 05 can be seen by the fact it also sports the massive array of the Amber colored Clear Fossil shields on auxiliary arms. Unlike the original version, the Faux Valvrave sports multiple auxiliary arms, three on each shoulder, another three pairs on the waist – though the shield they bear is distinctly smaller than the one unit 05 used to have. Each of these shields looked like segments of pumpkin… but the surface of the shield revealed it to be composed of smaller pieces attached together – segmented, akin to Samurai pauldrons. The shield that cover her lower half also sticks closer to the body, forming a baggy skirt that covered her legs. Apart from the shield, the Faux Valvrave looked… buffed. All original Valvrave's looked like a skeleton, with their limbs having hollow areas inbetween… but this one had hydraulic muscles attached on said hollow area. This gives her a literal muscular beefier feel. The most interesting change was to its head. Unlike other Faux Valvrave that copied the original unit's sense nerve crown, this one's neon purple sense crown did not mimic the original unit 05, but it was now set, in a network of criss crossing weavework, on the peripheral edges of a large circular Radome like structure, placed atop the Valvrave's head like a kasa (Japanese straw hat).

But what caught K-Zwei's attention is not what she came equipped with… it's what she came equipped WITHOUT.

No guns. No rifles. No cannons. No missiles. No explosives. No ranged weapon of any kind, not even the port holes for the CIWS.

All she was equipped with… is a single sword within a sheath held by one large Auxiliary arm on her waist. A single katana complete with an ornate sheath to go with it. Interestingly enough, the sheath also comes with a magazine near the opening with three giant bullets/canister can be seen in it.

"…what the…" rather than feeling at ease, K-Zwei suppressed a bad feeling. "Wait… this… situation… where have I…"

"…a Valvrave with only a single sword? You're kidding me right?" His wingmate scoffed. "Let's go take her out!"

"Wait! We're here just to gather intel!" Not that K-Zwei didn't understand where that confidence came from. Kirschbaum was a Dorssian bleeding edge unit that was designed as a counter to Valvrave… and apart from the fact this fake Valvrave is only equipped with a single sword… there are also three Kirschbaum on their side… that's enough firepower to be a threat to even a original Valvrave, much less one as underwhelming as this one… by all accounts, they're at the advantage… but…

That single sword seems to light up every hazard warning in K-Zwei's nerve. "W… Wait!"

Too late, his two wingmates charged down towards the target…

The Grey Valvrave merely tilted her head slightly up… she grasped the hilt of her katana and slightly clicked it out of the sheath…

As soon as the Kirschbaum raised their arms to take aim… or was it before…? All they know is… The Grey Valvrave simply jumped… jumped so elegantly, so seamlessly, it's like she floated up to perfectly fill the empty space right in-between the two Kirschbaums. In the time it took for their bodies to obey their brain's instruction, in the span of seconds it took for the Kirschbaums to raise their guns to take aim, the Faux Valvrave had already closed the distance between them, and before they can change their mind, the Primate engine was already there… right inbetween them and well within their blindspot. And then they saw a brief glimpse of azure colored light…

And the blade clicked back into its sheath.

A blue rinsing flash expanded from the faux Valvrave and passed through their chests soundlessly in a circular motion before it dispersed into a flock of fluttering blue butterflies, scattering away soundlessly.

As the Grey Faux Valvrave landed elegantly, whilst the two Kirschbaums crashed to the ground, the upper portion of their chests had been cleaved clean open.

"Y… You…!" K-Zwei gawked. For his part, the Faux Valvrave didn't even move that fast that he can't see it happening. She's quick. But not so fast as to be supernatural… it's… the unnatural convenience of it all. An opening that his comrades didn't have the time nor the skill to cover and she just… strategically and accurately place herself there. Like a well oiled clockwork. It was so ephemeral… so gentle… so elegant and entrancing… K-Zwei didn't even know an engine of war can be so graceful. And there's the insane speed of her attack: He didn't even see the blade leaving its sheath, but he knew it was the famed and dreaded Quickdraw technique. To his amazements, his two wingmates survived. They climbed out of their exposed cockpit, having been sliced open so accurately as to miss the main reactor, and the actual heads of the pilot, by a millimeter. They were so scared out of their wits, they looked like they don't even know if they're dead or alive… once they realize which is which, they quickly ran as far away from the Grey Valvrave as fast as their feet can take them.

"…this… fighting style… I've seen this before…"

"zz… zzz… tings…"

"Huh?"

"Greetings, O brave warriors of Dorssia." An elegant woman's voice hailed him from open channel.

The Grey Faux Valvrave took a few steps forward and then stopped. And for a moment, K-Zwei thought she made a gesture of bowing. "I spared your comrades as a warning. But now… the circle of death has descended." The Grey Valvrave clicked out her sword, and in another blue flash, a circle has been drawn on the ground with the Faux Valvrave at the center. Again, K-Zwei didn't see the blade coming out. "Within this circle is now certain doom. If you choose to come unto this circle, then I shan't hesitate to bring you death. But if you choose to walk away… I will not chase you. But if I may ask a favor: Summon the greatest of your ranks. I wish to have the honor of challenging your champion in single combat."

"…" K-Zwei knew right away this is way out of his league. His Kirschbaum landed and grabbed his two comrades in his hands before he flew away from the Grey Valvrave who, as she promised, did not chase him. But she did give him her message:

"Tell your champion… to come whenever. Grey, the First Lady of the Six Sense and her Princess of Cinders shall wait here."

00000000000000

On another Module…

"Well, I'll be damned. There really is something here." The Dorssian pilot gawked.

Yusuke was the one who noticed that they were being watched. The onlooker was quick to disappear, but Yusuke was quick to pick up the trail and followed it to this place. That's when he found this massive facility and realized it was too vast to be investigated on foot, he went back and get some really big help. "But this… this looks like those old plantation facility?"

"You mean the place from which they planted all these trees?" Raizo gestured to all the trees around them. The facility itself looked like they've been abandoned for quite a while. The massive overgrowth of untended wild flora had completely overwhelmed the site being the proof. The manmade facility had long since become practically part of the forest itself.

"Well, it is a rainforest module. If they're looking for a place to hide, they hit a jackpot." A senior Dorssian pilot answered. "This place is as hot as oven. Thermal sensor won't do us much good here."

"I kinda disagree. Valvrave has a very distinct heat signature. I'll give you the data as a reference."

"Thank you, Yusuke-san. This will be useful."

"Granted, there's a chance I made a mistake. And it may just be a false alarm, but… let's just check this place out first, yeah?"

"Agreed. Shall we spread out?"

There are 1 Valvrave, 3 Kirschbaum and 4 Ideals. They split into teams of 5: the Valvrave on its own, each Kirschbaum and Ideal will pair up, and one Ideal will be on the lookout in the sky.

"Just remember, be careful when you guys saw something resembling us." Such was Yusuke's warning before he cuts the transmission.

"Right, right." The veteran Dorssian pilot nodded.

"This is interesting. He really did give us the Valvrave data." His wingman smirked. "We can use this."

"For what exactly?" The Veteran easily guessed the wingman's intent. "It'll do you no good."

"What do you mean it's useless? This data might be an important cornerstone for when we fight those things?"

"Fight? You really think you had a fighting chance against THAT?" The Veteran snorted as he motioned Behemoth's huge form still visible even at this distance – not to mention that yellow color. "Did you forget that he already kicked ALL our asses? And he wasn't even trying."

"Uh…"

"The yellow one… and the others too. Red, Green, Blue, Purple… etc… I've heard all Valvraves are colored in those gaudy colors. The kind of color Dorssia would never think of using. Such brightly color would just made them targets. And yet why do you suppose they do that?"

"Uh…" Again, the junior had no answer.

"Because they've realized that each and every one of these Primate Engine is an Apex Predator. The summit in the super weapon technological food chain. When you're already the strongest there is… why bother hiding?"

00000000000000

Rapunzel's hydra hair brought out another projectile: another serpent arrow crawled out from one of the serpent's mouths for her to shoot. But in all honesty, she was starting to feel slightly agitated. This is her twelfth arrow she's about to shoot. The first was her biggest and only success, annulled by that annoying alien tech regeneration. But it was enough for the target to be wary of her. The next ten was treated like a joke that already runs its course. He either slices it or shoot it down midflight. She went from primary danger to slight annoyance at best. "…"

This is good. She's being underestimated. And that is an advantage she will capitalize. Insofar though, the only thing that is well outside their projection is just how durable the Valvrave really is. "This is gonna be a long day." She took aim and waited for her opening.

Hellsing raised both Harker and Morris before firing multiple times in a series of loud bangs, but the Valvrave easily dodged the barrage, even sliced some mid air. Thinking quickly, Red changed tactics. He put Morris back on his shoulder and pull out another gun, this time from his knee. The one with the name Holmwood emblazoned on it. At first glance, it looked similar with the first two guns, only it's bigger and longer. "Holmwood, Rapid Fire mode!" The magnum rifle Holmwood switched forms. Its massive single barrel expanded into four separate parts, each with a smaller caliber barrel extended out. And then the barrel extended out just as the frame receded back. The Magnum rifle turned into a 4 barrel Gatling gun. Hellsing briefly reattached the transformed gun to its waist port, something attached, and when he pulled it back out, an ammunition belt attached to its bullet feed. The transformed gun barrel whirred and opened fire.

The Valvrave immediately reacted and moved to this change in attack pattern. He flickered on and off the sky more often amidst a hailstorm of bullets. To make matters worse, the Hellsing shoulder opened up, unveiling missile pods, wasting no time discharging 6 missiles, armed with different payload. The first to explode was a flash bang, blinding the target. 3 explodes into spheres of superheated thermal plasma that linger for a while like a superheated artificial sun, 2 with fragmentation warhead unleashed a payload of mini micromissiles, saturating the sky with explosions. Unbelievably enough, the Valvrave flew through the hazard laden sky, barely reducing his speed. But that was never Hellsing's intent. He just harried the prey where he wanted him to go. Right into the shooting range of his magnum… AND Rapunzel's arrow.

The Valvrave made one wrong turn and he landed right in Hellsing's crosshairs. With a loud boom, the Harker fired a stake. Haruto sensed real danger for the first time and broke form to block the stake… but as soon as he did, Rapunzel's serpent arrow is right at his nose.

CLASH!

For a moment, everyone saw the silhouette of the Valvrave with the serpent projectile had pierced through the Valvrave's head. But upon closer inspection… the Serpent… did hit his head… it ripped off his mouthguard and exposed the serrated teeth underneath which it now used to bit the wriggling serpent in place.

"…" Red and Amber were virtually speechless. Why on earth did you put a set of teeth on a 22 meter tall machine? They all think that.

Haruto was also thinking that, but right now he's more grateful than confused. "But this is getting dangerous…" The Valvrave tightened his bite as the serpent wriggled more desperately… its shell began to crack under pressure.

Amber growled. "Tch!" She pressed a button, and the bitten serpent began blinking quickly…

BOOM!

The massive explosion engulfed the Valvrave's head. And for a moment, the smoke engulfed the upper portion of the alien machine… But Red somehow knew it's not gonna be enough… based on the lower half, it's still standing proudly.

His curiosity was answered when he saw the Sense nerve lit up, crowning the silhouette of the still very much intact Valvrave… sans a permanently broken faceplate, giving everyone a good display of those snarling teeth. And Red realized the situation was about to get worse. A LOT worse. Black and Crimson Rune energy particles began to flow out of nowhere and converge upon the Valvrave's form like streams of blood. Parts of the Valvrave began to smolder and lit up, the edges of the sense nerves began to catch on fire, cinders start scattering about… and the two katanas lit up red and burns as if it was fresh from the furnace. When he floated out of the smoke, parts of his body glowed orange hot, and fire seems to glow behind his serrated teeth.

Red recognized this state from the record of Blue's fight. "…stage…2."

Hellsing fired three times and the Rapunzel loosed her arrow. All they succeed in hitting was a scattering crimson mirage of the Valvrave. When Red noticed nothing happened to him for one full second, Red instantly realized the true target. "AMBER! HE'S COMING FOR YOU!"

Amber's eyes widened, but too late. The Valvrave burst through from her flank. Before she can react, the Valvrave's foot hit her face HARD. It shattered all her Sense nerves and pulverized her face. The Rapunzel was kicked back into her snakes who immediately swarmed allover her form to protect her. True enough; the Valvrave didn't immediately flew away, and the serpents tried to get him… but they burned before they can even get close.

"!" Red's eyes widened.

And finally, as if to make sure, for the first time in this conflict, the Valvrave landed on the ground. The serpents burst forth to welcome him only to be burned upon contact to molten slag, splashing the now burning earth. His footsteps even left behind fiery trails.

Red swallowed a gulp. "Stage 2, and it's already like this? Amber, status report."

"I'm fine, but all my cameras, even backups, are shot." The Valvrave was actually aiming for her optics all along. She's the sniper, and a sniper's main tool of the trade is their eyes. "I've already begun applying the Second Wind Nanomachines, but the damage is extensive." The residual embers from the Valvrave's superheated foot stamp complicate matters a bit. She can still see through her snakes, and they're still very much in play. "But don't expect an accurate sniping as before."

"I think that's enough sniping from you."

"WHAT!?"

"I miscalculated. I thought he'd had to get to at least stage 3 to be at this point, but not only I've miscalculated how much energy he stockpiled… I didn't expect stage 2 to be this powerful… Amber… I'm sorry I've made your sister fought something like this alone."

"RED, I-"

"I'll take it over from here. You recover!"

Once the transmission was cut, Kon punched her static monitor in frustration. This is not what she wanted. To hand over everything to someone else, even if it's Red. Her sister's vengeance is hers and hers alone!

Hellsing charged towards the Valvrave this time, opening fire with both magnums and missiles. The Valvrave blocked the stakes with a swipe of his red hot katana. The firestorm that followed the blade's arc wiped out the remaining missiles. "Didn't your parent ever taught you to never hit a girl in the face!?"

"Didn't say anything about kicking." The Valvrave's fiery power claw unleashed a volley of rune lasers. The heat that he generated enhance the power of the lasers, the serpents slightly grazed by merely its flaming crimson aura were instantly incinerated.

"That is some manners." Red gawked. The Hellsing dodged all lasers and still closing in. similarly, he saw the Valvrave are also closing in. "Your wife must be quite a saint."

"My good Sir, 'Saint' is the last word Saki would use to describe herself, all things considered." She would not be offended by this and that's a fact.

Before they knew it, the distance between the two Primate Engines had shrunk in a blink of an eye. The Hellsing just raised his gun when the Valvrave's katana pierce through. He's not giving him the time to aim – the weakness of guns. But the Hellsing gently took a small sidestep, and the blade pierced harmlessly beneath his armpit, upon which the Hellsing immediately trapped the Valvrave's arm – his armpit began to glow from overheat. But he forgot the Valvrave's wing mounted larger auxiliary arm that came crushing down unto his shoulder. The superheated power claws are chewing through his shoulder armor as it crumpled beneath the pressure. The Hellsing raised his second gun and fired so quickly, the stake pierced through the Valvrave's left thigh. Thankfully, before he can loose another shot, the Valvrave stabbed his biceps. The heat pushed the blade and was on the verge of slicing through it, but the Hellsing immediately bring up his knee. Specifically, the gun mounted on his knee. The knee mounted Magnum (Seward) flipped up and opened fire upward at point blank. The stake barely grazed the Valvrave chin. In response, the Valvrave raised his own knee and struck the Hellsing's waist. The shock from the impact loosened everyone's grip and created some distance for the two machines. In their screen, both sides are just full of openings. "URAAAAAAAHHH!" Both pilots roared and opened fire with viable weapons… in this case, their respective Variable Vulcan CIWS, both on their heads and chest. The bullets bounced impotently allover their armor, leaving dents and scratches, but a bullet cracked one of Hellsing's lenses, and one lucky potshot from the Hellsing's chest entered the gun barrel on Valvrave's chest CIWS. The ammunition storage exploded and cratered a small chink on the dorsal armor. On reflex, the two pilots came to the same conclusion on what to do next. The Hellsing swing his leg just as the Valvrave stomped. The two primate engine kicked each other at the exact same time, and the distance between the two widened once again. The Valvarve flapped his wings and took to the sky again, the Hellsing transformed into his gunship and flew away.

Haruto looked at all this red warning signs allover his screen, and Red saw something similar in his. All this damage from one exchange. "He's good." The Valvrave had already begun self repairing the damage but it'll take a while and even it has limits. The only reason the damage was 'only' to this extent is because his unit is still superior over his copycat. Which means the Hellsing's pilot's skill was good enough to overcome the difference in machine performance.

Red had an all around similar idea looking at the extent of the damage on his Hellsing and then some. '…well, that's extensive.'

"…Verdant… you better be ready."

00000000000000

"I first met her in Arizona. I led a 12 men team, full gear. One of us even carried a god damn minigun. Our mission was to infiltrate, capture and hold on to a critical listening outpost. We did our job, took the base and then we hold the line."

"Arus tried to take it back of course, they sent a battalion of tanks, we welcomed them with tripwires and mine field so tight, they never made it past the first click."

"Then they send a swarm of infantries to unearth the minefield and tripwires. They did that, after which we reward them with a shower of bullets and overhead hail of grenades for their effort."

"Then they sent the airforce, we shot them down with Javelin rockets and SAMs. Piece of cake."

"…then the Regnant International came. And they sent… her."

"By her own admission, she's the vanguard. Her duty was to cut open a path for the army that will come after. That wasn't a deliberate metaphor on my part: she literally cut open a path. She didn't bring a tank, or an aircraft, not even a handgun… she only carry a single Katana."

"6 men were taken down in less than 3 hours as she took down the last of our SAMs. And then Y-Drei unloaded his minigun at her general direction, emptied the whole ammo pack, and then he was bisected… picture this: a 7.5 foot man, bisected in half, head to crotch, gun, man, ammo pack – the whole set. Bisected."

"…we set up a killbox in a closed narrow corridor with every semi automatic rifle we got pointing at her. At the end of the day, I was the only one left –sans an eye. The only reason I got away was because I was buried unconscious beneath all the bodies. When I woke up, she was long gone."

"Back then… she was only 14… I think? And naturally she didn't pilot a giant super robot… but… that's her."

With all that in her mind, Marie sit still in her Kagerou, and the Faux Valvrave, clearly the Cinderella, stood on the opposing side. And K-Zwei was right… it was unbelievable, but that thing really did come equipped with only a single katana.

And the unbelievable thing is, having heard all that scary stuff from K-Zwei, she still resolve to refuse any backup, telling them instead to back away and let her handle this alone.

"Where in the galaxy did I start growing that kind of balls?"

Maybe it's because of all the battles she had endured up until this point. This is not baseless bravado. Haruto had taught her well, and she was a good student. There has been many missions she went through solo, without Haruto as her backup, and those missions are not exactly a walk in the park. This battle at the beach was also one such mission.

A lifetime ago she wouldn't even dream of being able to do half the things she did in the last couple of weeks. Maybe that's why her confidence is soaring through the roof. But here, and now… standing before her is a truly strong enemy that will test this conviction.

So now, her mind is in a bit of a conflict: one side was the confidence she built for herself, the other, the wariness and doubt whether this will be enough.

"Zzz… May I have the honor of your name?"

Her train of thoughts was cut as soon as she heard that soothingly calm voice. "M… Marie Nobi."

"Honored to meet you." The Cinderella made a gesture of bowing. "This one go by the Codename of Lady Grey of the Six Sense."

Right. She's definitely giving of the vibe of the Sub Boss. Which means it's her job to deal with her. Her Kagerou is still equipped with the Yashagarasu and the Blackrose, and considering her opponent, it seems appropriate she put the blade to good use now. The Kagerou pulled out the giant two pronged Oodachi and place it before her in a combat stance.

Noticing the unsheathed blade, the Samurai-esque Faux Valvrave made a gesture of nodding. "Ah, I see you are also a user of the blade. Splendid then." The Cinderella merely placed one hand on the katana's handle. "Shall we dance?"

Marie wasted no more time talking and charge forth. She starts with a simple overhead slash. The Cinderella remained immobile up until the last moment the blade was right on her face. She only took a simple side step and literally dodged the blade by an inch. Marie quickly back away and returned with a quick lunge for a stab. Again, she dodged it by a hair's breadth, it's like she's dancing. But then Marie switched the stab into a sudden quick side swipe, only to find she sliced thin air. Thinking quickly she looked up and there she is, having jumped right on top of her. The Kagerou slides back as the Cinderella landed, but Kagerou quickly lunged back in, this time juiced up with Rune Tech Overcharge. The Kagerou turned into a blur and the blade sliced so fast, the edges burned due to friction.

CLANG!

And there it is. The Blackrose dual black blade finally met with the enemy's blade. For the first time ever, the black and red two pronged Odachi finally struck something it cannot cut off so easily. It was a beautiful normal sized katana that glow bluish white, a perfect contrast with Blackrose's pitch black color. Furthermore, to match Blackrose flaming rose hamon, the Cinderella's blade's hamon was a beautiful pattern of fluttering butterflies that runs across the surface, emanating gentle blue coloration. The design of the butterfly was so lifelike, it was as if actual butterflies are flapping its wings when the blade was swung, leaving dissipating trails of Butterfly mirages.

"Hm." Cinderella calmly snapped her blade and pushed the Odachi, and the wielder, back, causing the Kagerou to stumble a bit. It was just a simple parry but how can it be so strong!? The Kagerou staggered a bit… but in that critical milliseconds, Marie saw the opponent very quickly put her blade back in the sheath. The instant that click sound can be heard, a fluttering of blue butterflies burst forth and filled her sight. The invisible blade… or rather, the flock of butterflies came swarming towards her. Towards her chest, her cockpit. "GRRHH!" The Kagerou moved the Blackrose just in time. The two weapons clashed yet again. Marie's fingers get goosebumps from the sheer shock, and the Kagerou was stunned in place by the impact for one full second. She barely had the time to recover; she noticed the Cinderella already move to the next stance, with the blue blade is hanging overhead, preparing for a one hand overhead slash. The Kagerou stomped the ground hard and moved back just in time. The vertical chop grazed her chest and almost chopped her leg. But as soon as Kagerou found her footing again, the Cinderella came charging with a horizontal slash. Kagerou responded with a quick two hand low slash as well to welcome the attack… and to her disbelief, her guard was almost broken. She was pushed back involuntarily and her legs stumbled several steps backward, but thinking quickly, Marie transferred the momentum of the slash and turned her staggering into a proper backstep before she absorbed the last of the excess momentum into her reins, and then into her blade. After a backspin, the Kagerou took a step forward and brought up her blade overhead and hammer it down. Perhaps this caught the Cinderella by surprise – or not, but she welcomed the powerful blow with her sword in one hand guard. The thunderous clang erupted as the ground beneath Cinderella's feet cratered when the black nodachi and her Katana made contact and sparks flies on the point where the two blades grinded against each other.

"Hmmm… Self taught. And not half bad." There was no sarcasm in her praise. "Very excellent sense of judgment as well. I haven't had anyone seen let alone block my blade in a very long while." Why did she left her channel open the whole time!?

The thing is… Marie is slamming a significantly bigger sword with two hands… and she's blocking it with a normal sized sword with one hand – and she didn't budge an inch. Point in fact, Marie just noticed this circle Grey had cut on the ground earlier, with her as the center. She hadn't moved a step from where she's standing.

Just as Marie was still trying to digest how is this possible, the Cinderella tilted her blade and the Blackrose slide to the side. Moments before the blade slide clear off her katana, she flicked her katana up and the Nodachi snapped away in a very violent yank, staggering the Kagerou and catching the pilot off guard. At first Marie was too concerned about the blade, she was shocked when the butt of the katana's grip slammed her cockpit. The Cinderella struck the Kagerou's chest with the butt of her katana's handle, pushing the Kagerou back. "You're skilled… but you sadly lacked proper training." She already re-sheathed her Katana for another quickdraw. Marie noticed the blade was about to click in. The moment it did is the moment death comes. For one brief moment, Marie thought she's about to see her life flashing before her eyes. But she roared and immediately activates her Iron Skin before that blade and sheath clicked. It'll took a full 2 seconds before the iron skin envelop her whole body… and she had less than half. Click. The blade was holstered properly, and only her knee was coated in protection. Marie didn't have time to think, she lifted her knee and covered her chest with it.

Sparks lit up as the blade made contact with the hardened knee. Cinderella's quickdraw, which had been so fast that even a Magius enhanced sight can barely see, was finally slowed for… just a bit as it had to take its time to grind something harder and tougher than usual. But even with that, the blade still cuts through the Kagerou's armor, and sliced through, slowed and reduced in lethality, but still just as destructive. At the first impact, Marie felt like she just got hit with a giant mecha's equivalent to a freight train. The blade sliced through the knee armor, completely avoid the chest but it still struck the Kagerou's head, slicing deep into one of her optics, leaving a terrible gash. The residual force of the slash still had enough energy to toss the Kagerou spiraling into the air. Losing an eye, Marie can still see the world spin through the other one. She landed not so gently several meters outside Cinderella's circle. When she get back up, curiously, the Cinderella just stood there in her circle.

Stabbing the Blackrose to push herself up, Marie was slightly disoriented at first, what's with how she's now an eye short. Marie growled and charged in full force, dragging the giant Blackrose across the ground. Chunks of the earth broke off and the Kagerou swing the blade forward, hurling at least three huge rock slabs at the enemy. The Cinderella remained calm and readied her sword. She easily sliced each and every one of the impromptu earthen projectile. When the last rock was slashed off, the Kagerou came charging through the pieces full speed with a stab. But Cinderella parried the stab to her side. Cinderella snapped the Blackrose to the side, but she immediately switched the stance from blocking to an overhead downward slash. But the Kagerou seem to have predicted this and used the recoil from that block to add to her own momentum. This added with a full charged roundhouse slash that went straight to Cinderella's throat at speed and power beyond anything that came out before.

CLASH!

At the last second, the Cinderella had switched her stance and blocked the slash that would've decapitated her, holding her katana with her two hands for the first time throughout the duel. And what's more, the sheer force of the impact was powerful enough to forcibly push her off the center of the circle; her feet carved the ground for quite a distance from her previous spot.

"My, my…" Cinderella recovered her form as she flexed her two hand grip on her katana. "I haven't been thrown around like that in years…" And then, she changed her stance. Holding her sword with her two hands, she placed her sword in front of her, the sword diagonally placed towards the enemy, its tip aimed at Kagerou's heart. The purest, most basic stance of Kendo.

Instinctively, Marie also set her Kagerou to grab her giant sword with two hands…

The swordman Valvrave curled down slightly… and the next instant, she was already right in front of Kagerou's nose! It took everything Marie had to get into a blocking stance in time. Cidnerella's blue blade two handed downward slash slammed against the Blackrose with all the force of a falling mountain. This was immediately followed by a horizontal slash, almost breaking her guard. The last one was a second, more powerful, downward slash. Kagerou managed to block this, but such was its power, it completely broke her guard, not to mention its sheer power pushed her back, now it's her feet's turn to carve the ground back. The Kageoru barely recovered when her one eye notice another thing:

Cinderella just placed her katana back in her sheath in a click.

The quickdraw was so fast, the usual blue butterfly effect only had a moment to materialize before being dispersed by a blue sharp shockwave. It capsized the ground by the sheer shockwave. This amazingly, Marie still managed to block, but the power was too much, it send her spiraling uncontrollably to the sky. Marie only saw the world spin again with Kagerou's one eye. But she also saw a glimpse of the Cinderella had just jumped and chased her to the air, closing the distance between them for the final killing blow with another slash.

"DON'T FUCK WITH ME!" Marie roared in anger. Putting everything she's got, she forcibly corrected her body stance – less on landing properly and more on delivering a proper blow for once. She grabbed the Blackrose with both hands and hold it aloft over her head – like an upside down overhead stance. The next time her screen flicker, the upside down visage of Cinderella is literally right in front of her nose and her Katana has been properly resheathed. Marie wasted no more time thinking, she brought down her Nodachi with everything she's got just as the enemy unleashed hers.

A resonant ringing can be heard echoing for miles. Even in that awkward position, the two blades clashed at a single point, sparks burst where the two grinds against one another. The shockwave from that one moment blasted the clouds above, the dust and particles on the ground was also dispersed away from the center of the impact, and for a moment, it looked as if the two combatants will be locked in that position forever… but then the aftershock kicked in and the two were forcibly parted to opposite directions.

The Cinderella crashed not so gently the first time and bounced up, but she quickly recovered and landed gracefully on her two feet. She had to plant her sword to the ground to absorb the remaining momentum, but it cost her. When she finally stopped and pulled the sword out she noticed her katana is damaged beyond repair. Chips and cracks marred the now fractured butterfly decorated blade – the souvenirs from its many clashes with its black red rose adorned counterpart, especially that last blow. "My, my…" There's only a hint of disappointment in Gray's tone. In fact, if anything she sound elated.

The Cinderella flicked a switch in her katana's handle, the mechanical sword guard opened up, loosening its grip and the broken blade snapped clean off the handle and shattered to the ground like glass. She put the bladeless handle back into the sheath. One of the slugs on the sheath's magazine slide into the chamber. A brief whirring sound can be heard before the smoking slug was discharged out. When the Faux Valvrave pulled her sword out, behold, a new identical blade had replaced the broken one.

On the other hand, the Kagerou's landing was less controlled. Less on landing, more like crashing. The Kagerou carved the earth violently and bounced once off the air. She still had enough momentum to smash through a small hill before finally landing in an explosion of dust, shattering the land.

The dust barely settles, a burst of pressure erupted and the mountain of dust whirled away as the Kagerou charged through. Particles of rune energy covered her dirty figure, sweeping the dirt away as the Mecha dashed so fast, she was glowing hot red, leaving after images behind her. The vast distance between the two mecha rapidly vanished. The Blackrose grinded the earth as it did, between the speed and the friction, the blade was glowing red hot and even smolder with flame – though nowhere near as ferocious as the original.

The Cinderella was unfazed and had prepared to welcome the attack. The Kagerou is right in front of her with another overhead slash. 'Did she not learn her… oh!?' The Cinderella welcomed the attack with a quick powerful slash… but the blade went through the enemy without any resistance, as if she was slicing thin air. The mirage dissipates, leaving nothing but lingering haze.

At the last moment before impact, the Kagerou had taken a back step. This was no ordinary backstep, this is an Overcharged backstep, performed right in the middle of an Overcharged forward lunge. A backstep at super speed that left behind a mirage that kept going forward. The real Kagerou had moved away, barely decreasing her speed, and zig zagging in a violent and sharp angle vector thrusting before closing the distance right at the enemy's blind spot, right when her katana is still outstretched. She sent a slash right at the opening while she was still caught unaware…

Or not.

"…!" Marie couldn't believe her eyes. The Blackrose was inches away from Cinderella's waist… but it won't budge any further on the account of the Faux Valvrave's grip on the two pronged blade was rock solid. She just pulled out a perfect one handed shirahadori (Blade catch) that the blade didn't even scratch her palm. Adding insult to injury, the Faux Valvrave's head barely shifted, she didn't even bother turning her head to see the attack coming.

Wait. See?

Marie suddenly remembered one last minor detail that K-Zwei told her last.

"Anooo… is this alright? I know this is rude but… I really need to ask…"

"Yes?"

She doesn't seem to mind… so Marie stuttered:

"…are you really… blind?"

Inside her cockpit, Lady Grey's lightless and glazed grey eyes hardly twitched at the question. In fact, her reply came straight away without any trace of malice whatsoever: "Why, indeed I am. Is something the matter?"

"…" If she's not getting her ass handed to her by one right now, she would never believe something so absurd is actually possible.

The Cinderella let go the Blackrose as the stupefied Kagerou staggered back a few step.

The Faux Valvrave slowly turned and faced her proper, as well as to let Marie know… she's clicking her katana into her sheath again. Which means…

"Oh… shit!"

And the next flurry of blue butterflies cometh…

00000000000000

Meanwhile…

The Dorssian's Kirschbaum moved quickly but delicately in the narrow spaces of the factory while the Ideal hover gently overhead. Their optics swivel around the room, scanning the area for any signs. Insofar, they found nothing. Veteran's pride say this is a wild goose chase of a false alarm. Dorssian discipline says leave no stone unturned. Insofar, Dorssian discipline won.

But still…

"This is weird." The Ideal pilot asked.

"What is?"

"The enemy is a copy of that big yellow guy right? That thing is over like… 26, 30 meters tall? Arms and all? How the heck did they hide something that big?"

"Optical camouflage, radar jammer, heck, our Kirschbaum also had that."

"Yeah, but even with optical camouflage, there would be something. Anything. Heat signatures, environmental displacement… insofar we haven't found anything. What do you think?"

…

"…hello?" The Ideal turned around… and found his partner wasn't paying attention. He was looking at him intently.

"What?"

"Hold still."

He quickly surmised he wasn't looking at him… he was looking at something on him. "What is it?"

The other pilot narrowed his eyes and zoomed into the object of interest. At first glance, it's the red marking on the mecha's decal notes… some random red arrow to point at some maintenance paneling… but as he closed in further he noticed… it's an red laser dot.

"CONTA-"

A stream of laser instantly shot through the Ideal then the Kirschbaum, generating a small crater on their sternums. Both mech fell dead down with molten sludge poured out of the holes on where their cockpits had been.

In another place…

The other pair of Kirschbaum and Ideal had yet been made aware of the fate that befell their comrades. They went through the same routine as the first pair, scanning every inch of the place for any signs of hostility.

Somehow, they didn't realize hostility is already there with them.

It crawled slowly, its targeting reticule is already aiming at its prey.

"…I'm still getting nothing. Team 2, you get anything?"

Static…

"Team 2, respond! Team 2?" Team 2 just happens to be the first team sniped to death. But the Kirschbaum pilot didn't know that yet. "Alpha Team, I lost contact with Team 2… Alpha team?" Suspicion nags the pilot then he start contacting the others. "Team 4! Team 5…?" Whichever team he called, static was all he get. "Hmm… not getting anything. Could it be the building? Hey buddy, check the coms yeah?"

"…"

"…oi! Didn't you hear me?" The Ideal pilot didn't respond. The Kirschbaum finally turn around to see the Ideal… only to find a giant whirring chainsaw sword lodged unto his chest. He didn't hear it happened because it happened so quickly. That and the chainsaw seem to appeared out of thin air, half materializing. But then, he noticed this very subtle air displacement forming a silhouette which quickly unravels… revealing a mechanical cable attached to the chainsaw. He traced that cable slithering upward… until it dropped the camouflage of a quadruped tank walker, no bigger than your average tank, hanging upside down on the ceiling on giant suction pods on its four legs, the cable linked to the turret at its head.

"CONTACT!" The pilot screamed as loud as he can yell whilst raising his finger guns. The gun discharged twice, but hit nothing but empty ceiling. The tank very quickly slides away from view as quickly as it ripped his chainsaw out of the neutralized Ideal.

Not wasting time mourning his dead comrade, the Kirschbaum quickly scanned the surrounding and tried desperately to contact his other teammates to fill them in. "Enemy contact! Enemy contact! Enemy had optical camouflage! I repeat! Enemy had camouflage! Do you read!? Someone! ANYONE!?"

Static. EM Jammer. He's being isolated. He imagined something similar is happening to his comrades.

He frantically looked everywhere at gunpoint. He even stretched both hands to cover more grounds. He narrowed his eyes, hoping to catch glimpse of some displaced details…

"…show yourself…"

Then he caught it. A mass of displacement that distort the space, forming the now familiar shape of that chain saw wielding lizard tank… The Kirschbaum pilot smirked. "I got you now…" He pointed both finger guns at the distortion…

…until another pop out right next to him. Looking at him straight in the face.

"…a caterpillar (the insect) tank, on a caterpillar (the thread) tracks with a… flamethrower?"

While the pilot is still questioning the designer's aesthetic sense, a dark purplish blaze spewed out from said flamethrower and engulfed his entire screen.

The Kirschbaum was taken aback and flailed backward with its head on fire. The black purplish flame kept burning explosively even sticking to the surface of the mech's surface. Which means it's some kind of Napalm compound… just… they've never seen a napalm that can burn hot enough to melt through armor. The Kirschbaum trashed around violently trying to put down this flame while the rest of the body flailed blindly, its elongated arms obliterating everything in its way. In his blind rampage, the large mech didn't notice his foot just stepped on a laser sensor – which immediately triggered a series of explosions in a circular pattern with the Kirschbaum at the center. The ground collapsed, and the giant mech fell into the chasm. It landed in a way an 80 ton plus mecha shouldn't, resulting in its legs broken beyond repair and one of its limbs crushed upon landing. The pilot recovered his wits from the sudden predicament around the time the flame died out. The Kirschbaum's charred head looked like a half melted candle, with all but one of its optic remained intact. Through it, the barely conscious pilot can somewhat see something looming at him from above.

"…is that a… cat?"

Before he can even comprehend this, the chainsaw from the Lizard tank came crashing through his monitor and blood splattered allover the cockpit before everything was torn to pieces.

00000000000000

"Oh shi~IIT!"

This is NOT a good day for Red. Grey had stressed time and again that she did not like this new contract they've taken. But he took it anyway because… well, reasons.

A massive laser stream swiped down from the burning charred sky, wiping out entire rows of city blocks before the fiery Valvrave land down in a tirade of slashes and firestorm. Most of the slashes missed, but the Valvrave quickly vanished in a blur as the Hellsing opened fire futilely. This routine had been happening multiple times already.

In an old earth Video Game, there were always the Boss characters that waited in certain points in the game on the path that the hero would take. The Hero who would on the offensive, and technically the bosses will be the powerful foe which will guard the stage they've set to welcome the Hero. This means the Boss is always somehow more powerful than the Hero because they have the home field advantage, which is why, sometimes by tradition; it's always 1 boss against multiple characters. Of course certain game, like Dxxk Sxxls and etc, up the ante by dropping two (or more) insanely powerful bosses on the lone hero.

The Mechanical snakes still try to fulfill their purpose, but nothing can get through. They were burnt to a crisp the very moment they unburrow out of the ground anywhere near the Valvrave. In fact, their built in thermostat start measuring the fact the ground's very temperature is climbing at a dangerous rate, it's literally cooking the burrowed serpents inside their hole.

Let's face it, reality is very rarely so convenient or kind but technically speaking… that's what Red was trying to do really. He set the stage for him waiting for the lone hero to come to his element… and then he kinda broke the rule by ganging up on the hero.

But… apparently… now he realized everything kinda go the other way around on his end.

A rain of fireball fell, they exploded into massive pillars of fire that scorched the skies upon impact. The Hellsing had to switch back and forth between humanoid and gunship mode to barely avoid it.

Because… the Hero is… actually the Boss… no, worse than that…

HE is THE Last Boss.

The Valvrave vanished from his sight – no doubt using that high speed movements technique again – and the next thing he knew, he appeared right next to him in a blaze of fire and went on a roaring rampage of inferno. Every swing of his smoldering blades launched firestorm after firestorm that extends the range of his slashes to incredible length. The ground had been largely cleared of the snakes, all reduced to charred slags. The entirety of module 010's original status as the module for Executive government building had all been reduced to nothing but an unrecognizable infernal wasteland.

The Hellsing tried to open fire several times. The Valvrave easily slapped them away with his burning blade. Two bullets managed to slink past the fiery sword dance, but the Valvrave disappeared yet again before the projectile made contact. The next thing he know, the Valvrave reappeared right on top of him, bringing both of his swords crushing down in a double stab. He managed to avoid the twin stab with a jump, but quickly transformed into gunship mode to outrun the mini-thermo-nuclear explosion that followed.

When he landed, every inch of Hellsing is smoking… and it's won't stop smoking. When the explosion died down, the Valvrave stepped forth, parts of his body on fire, his every step left a crackling footprint, bursting with flames. The tips of his two flaming swords carved the cracked and charred earth, leaving a red hot trail of smoldering fire as their bearer pushed forward.

Yep. Definitely last boss.

"Verdant. Are you there? Are you ready?"

"I'm here and I'm ready. Are you sure you want to proceed with this?"

"Please, you'll do me a favor."

"Wow. That bad, huh?"

The Valvrave start running towards him. Any second he'll immediately closed the distance with that teleport move.

"Hurry up, babe!" Red barked his request part in anger, part in panic.

"Morpheus system: TRANSMIT!"

"LIMITER RELEASE!" At the same time, Red pressed the big red button on his console.

"Wait, WHhAaaa~aaaTttt~tttt~….." Verdant apparently didn't see that last one coming. Her comment became distorted and elongated in Red's ears.

Hellsing's multiple scope optics suddenly turned from purple to neon yellow – matching the Valvrave's blazing sense nerve. Red and black rune energy also pulsed across his frame.

And not a moment too soon, the Valvrave also vanished from his sight in a burst of flame.

What happened afterwards goes as simple as this: The Valvrave swing his blade in an overhead slash towards the Hellsing's head and the Hellsing expertly dodge the slash by a millimeter.

The thing is… this simple event happened in a speed so fast, everything else from the particles of smoke, lingering embers, and even the flickering flame looked like they were frozen in time.

"What?" The Valvrave looked at the Hellsing and noticed the changes in his optics. But he realized this is more than that. 'What is this?' The pause caused the time to move again momentarily, but then the Valvrave start attacking again with a flurry of sword slashes at that Rune enhanced super speed. The Hellsing immediately responded by blocking the slashes with his guns, matching the attacker's pace. The world around them ceased to move, but the two Primate Engines trade blows completely undisturbed by the phenomena. At one point, the Hellsing opened fire… but the stake flew out of his gun barrel so very slowly – easily dodged by the Valvrave, who then slice it in two before leaving it behind his back as he keep up the pressure, sending another sweeping strike at the Hellsing who immediately jumped away and landed a distance away. Once they stopped moving, the time flows again as normal. The sliced bullet regained its original speed and momentum before its two halves zoomed forth, obliterating whatever caught in its now split paths.

The Valvrave looked at Hellsing and observe the changes on his Copycat's form. Particularly that familiar red and black energy particles bleeding out throughout his form…

It's not like they slowed time. The Valvrave had been using Overcharge to move at super speeds, this makes their surrounding looked like in slow motion while he move in real speed. The only reason his enemy can now move like he did in that 'world'… is because he managed to move at the same speed he did. But Overcharge is a technique that he developed only recently, there's no way Arus stole that too. "…what did you do?"

"This thing…" Red pointed at himself, or rather, the Primate Engine. "Is an absolute monster you know that? Which is by definition, because as we both know, my Hellsing is a copy of yours… your machine is a monster."

From that comment, somehow, Haruto began to see where this is going. "It was never meant to be piloted by a mere human. All manner of safeties and limits were removed… this thing completely disregards pilot safety to achieve the absolute peak of performance."

Hearing it directly from the original just made the point all the clearer. "And you really think I would subject my girls to that?"

"I imagine you don't."

Like hell he will. When Red first read the performance specs for the Primate Engines, he questioned the sanity of the engineers. Seriously, if they want him to commit suicide there are less expensive way to do it! But then, he realized they didn't make this thing, they stole it. They had very little idea on what kind of monster they have in their closet. Hence why, all Faux Valvrave had their performance downgraded to make it manageable for human pilots. Just to be on the safe side, some of his girls are cybernetically enhanced, so they can take in more punishment well above the average of normal human. In all fairness, it still made their mechs some of the most powerful weapons in the world, second only to the originals.

But out of curiosity, Red asked the Engineers to… make Hellsing as closely to the original spec as possible – same machine output and all.

When he woke up from a week long near fatal coma after that 5 minute test run, he had more life support attached to his body than said body had scars. Grey was so angry, she made him swear to never use that kind of output again.

'Sorry Grey… you can chew me all you want later.'

Blood trickled down the corner of his lips and nostril. That small exchange felt like minutes, but in real time, he had just used Hellsing: Full Burst mode for only 5 seconds… and already he can hear all his bones creaking in pain. Well, that's 5 seconds off his 5 minute limit.

"I imagine, you put limiters in your Fake Valvrave. Limiters you just took off a while ago… so now, in terms of machine performance, we're equal. But…" Haruto had deduced at least this much. "A Valvrave burst of super speed takes more than just machine performance. And right now… your unit is glowing… glowing with the glow of runes… to be precise…" Haruto would know that color of runes. "That's MY runes… You- oh… now I see."

"…"

"That Faux Valvrave… it's being powered by a Mirror Rave Engine. Mirror rave Engine works by essentially sharing its energy from the main original Engine. So your Valvrave is basically leeching off mine." Haruto narrowed his eyes, first to the Black and Red Rune energy and then to his own heat gauge… "…except… they've tweaked that too? Boost up the drain rate… You're not just leeching… your machine is trying to drain me dry. And I'm supposed to be the Vampire here."

"You gotta admit, as far as poetic justice goes, those ARUS engineers really had a nice sense of humor."

"I'm not laughing. And neither should you." Haruto frowned. "Didn't they tell you what Rune could do to you? Rune is memories. What you're exposed to is a chaotic cocktail of amalgamated memories from several people I've drained. Their whole lives, their memories, forcefed into your brain - Don't tell me it won't drive you crazy, I know I did."

Point in fact, in those 5 seconds, Red had images of getting a pet rabbit, eating breakfast, getting bullied in a prom, celebrating birthday whilst simultaneously relieving the final moments of at least 5 different people at the same time. And none of those people are him. "Well… I guess I better enjoy it while it last."

The Hellsing then pulled two guns: Holmwood and Seward, and then he infused the Runes into the guns… and they began to change and fold. Seward's barrel extended and its grip folded down beneath its main stock. The underside of Holmwood's barrel opened up like a gaping maw whilst the barrel itself splits right down the middle, revealing a hardpoint for the transformed Seward to attach into. The scopes on the two guns slide together, forming a larger targeting scope. The two guns merged together in a telltale interlocking click into a massive rifle almost 2/3 of the wielder's height in length, and a new name emerged from the now much larger weapon's extended barrel: Westenra.

Once the Westenra clicked one final time to signify the completion of its assembly, the red and black energy particles around the Hellsing's body whittled away, all the drained energy was channeled into the massive buster rifle, building up dangerous amounts of energy. In less than a second, all the particles had been absorbed and Hellsing wasted no time pointing the business end of his weapon towards the Valvrave. Once the trigger is squeezed, a massive pillar of red and black energy mass erupted from the barrel, closing the distance towards the Valvrave at incredible speed. Even using Overcharge, the Valvrave would have a hard time dodging it. The blast obliterated everything in its path, and when it died down, it left a large conical swath of charred earth extended forth from where the now overheated rifle barrel had fired, accompanied with bolts of residual energy still coruscates on the obliterated landscape.

All the light show and destruction… and Red knew it was pointless.

The Valvrave readily stand behind Hellsing, not even a scratch can be seen. With a speed of a thought, his swords burst into flames and he quickly brought them down upon the Hellsing. The Hellsing turned around just as quickly and brought up the Westenra to block the attack. Contrary to one's expectations, the buster rifle successfully blocked the two flaming swords, because the underside of the now conjoined weapons had opened up, folding out a massive superheated razor blade that ran almost the entire length of the rifle's elongated frontal barrel.

While the two weapons are still interlocked, Hellsing quickly pulled out another Magnum and fired a shot at this point blank range. It hit nothing but air as the Valvrave already slides away safely and came charging back in with a flurry of slashes. The Hellsing deftly used the Westenra Buster Lance to block the attacks. In all that time, Haruto also noticed the opposing mech is also slowly being dyed with red and black again. He's draining the runes from his machine at a furious rate, and then he'll use that collected energy to power the Buster Rifle. The process was quite fast. In just 3 seconds, the Buster Rifle is once again fully charged, and already the Hellsing took aim.

The Valvrave closed the distance to prevent him from firing, but the Hellsing deftly changed into his gunship mode to widen that distance in a heartbeat, before transforming halfway midflight and opened fire with incredible accuracy. The Valvrave was barely able to dodge the blast and it tore a chunk off his shoulder. "This is really annoying…" Haruto groaned. 'But… he also made a mistake…'

When Hellsing drain away his runes, his body became immersed with the distinctive particle of Valvrave's runes. The amount he had absorbed can be easily measured by observing the concentration of the particles marring his figure. And with it, he can measure when he needs to be wary of the rifle and when it will be fired. 'His Hellsing seem had the ability to pull out the same machine performance as that of the Valvrave, but it's still made from Earth materials. There's no way it can contain that much energy for long. Hence, that Buster rifle was designed as a way for him to discharge that excess energy. The first blast took 5 seconds of accumulation, the second was in three. Pilot safety notwithstanding, he must've considered the first one was a bit much… or he was just testing the new weapon…'

However, it gave him some idea on how and when to anticipate the next attack. He just kept watch on the accumulated black and red particles, and once it reached a certain threshold… The Hellsing aimed the Buster Rifle at him again. The Valvrave easily dodged the blast and immediately closed the distance while skimming the edges of the blast. Before long, the energy stream died down, and by then, the Hellsing is already well within the Valvrave's striking range.

CLASH!

The Valvrave's beam coated katana was stopped short with the appearance of another weapon. Holding the buster rifle in one hand, the Hellsing other free hand pulled out another magnum, the Seward. And it had changed shape. The gun handle folded backwards, straightening the gun into a baton like form. Then the gun barrel opened up down the middle, revealing transparent lens at the center. In half a second, an energy beam erupted and formed a narrow edged blade. In comparison to the Valvrave's katana, the beam blade is only half the length, making it a short sword, but by no means was it less powerful than the full length variant. Holding the Beam dagger in a reverse grip, the Hellsing blocked the longer sword, with energy sparks mark the spot where the two weapons meet. The stalemate lasted for a bit before he skillfully parried the Valvrave's blade off his, and then, in one swift motion, changed his grip with a spin to a forward grip before he swing it to the Valvrave's throat in a flurry of slashes. The Valvrave responded by pushing himself backwards, the series of slashes from the shorter, nimbler blade were mere inches away from his cockpit.

The flurry of slashes momentarily ended, and Haruto thought of taking a moment to fix his form, but no, he immediately realized this was a trap. The flurry of slashes was meant to momentarily rob him of the freedom to move, putting him in a position where it would be hard to block what comes next. Which in this instance; is a point blank full blast from the Buster Rifle.

Haruto slammed his controller and dodged the attack with all his might. The main blast missed him by the inches, but the energy shockwave still grazed him and tore his armor to shreds.

History began to repeat. The Deadheat metal endoskeletal true form of the Valvrave began to show in all its pitch black darkness and crackling fire, and they're smoldering; like steel heated to its critical point but won't melt.

Furious now, the Valvrave charged back in and send in a slash before the Hellsing can get away. The blade carved through his shoulder and sliced deep into his chest. Red's monitor was sliced in half and he can actually see the Valvrave past the crevice of his cleaved torso. The flaming blade actually missed him by the inches. Thankfully, he still has control, and with that control he dashed away to widen the distance again. Thankfully, the Valvrave had the same idea and pulled back. That's their second clash… and this make the damage from the first looks like child's play. Worse, at this point, he had used Full Burst for 2 minutes out of his allotted 5.

Blood had yet to stop flowing from Red's mouth and he suspected some of his ribs had snapped. But that's the least of his worries. The Hellsing is virtually covered in black and red particles… and as Haruto had warned, Red began to feel the side effects of Rune powered war machine.

"Now, let's sing the anthem together-!" "The lunch today-' '-IED took my god damn legs-' '-the stock price for today is-' '-take note of the gradual-' All these buzzing like bees swarming through his ears and boomed into his head. Even more annoying, even when he immediately transferred the energy into the Westenra, the buzzing didn't really go away.

But Red was no ordinary soldier either. He had been well informed of the side effects of Rune energy from its source. Hey, he even dared himself to actually take a sip of that muck. The fact he hasn't gone crazy from the mixed memories prove his mental fortitude was a cut above the rest. This was nothing new to him, he already trained his mind to immediately compartmentalize all these noises away and keep his focus on his own thoughts.

"When I absorbed people's memories… I took them in one by one. Disperse them bit by bit so I can take em in safely. You… You're getting them all in one package." Haruto commented. "You're holding out well, anybody else would go crazy by now… but this is painful to you."

"Red, he's right. Stop this! Your vitals… they're-" Verdant was screaming in the coms.

Red immediately turned off the open communication and contacted Verdant personally. "Why isn't the Morpheus system working yet?"

"It is working! It's just… at least… I think, it should! I… don't understand! Any normal people would be comatose by now!"

"Hahaha… did you forget, Verdant? We're not fighting normal people."

On the other side, the Valvrave landed not so gently and fell on his knees. And when he did, the ground beneath him cracked and burned by the sheer temperature he's emanating.

In his cockpit, Haruto HAD to take off his helmet and a splash of sweat streamed out from his face. He grasped his slick temple, trying to alleviate the pain. It's like his head on fire. And this… headache… This is no normal headache… was that headshot earlier haven't fully healed yet!?

Make no mistake, Red survived this long against him is more than luck. As far as skill went, he's probably even better, FAR better, than L-Elf. The fact Haruto is now superhuman in a vastly superior machine is the only reason he was able to push him around as far as he did. Of course, the fact that Hellsing is actively draining him dry to use his own power against him was unexpected… but he had no illusion that someone of Red's caliber would be so easily confused by the experience. Even if it did, Haruto figured the man knew the risk when he activated this damn vampiric system, and thus already calculated how long he would last. Probably only a few minutes at best. The question is… will he physically last that long? A better question: will Haruto himself last THAT long?

Even though it seems he had the upper hand, beneath the surface, Haruto was struggling too. His body may be okay, but his mind was being torn apart. His memory palace is being set on fire, with burning pages falling off the shelves. Of the memory Bank A, B, and C, he had burnt out C and B is halfway gone. He had to finish this before it began to touch on A.

With that resolution, Haruto gripped his controller tight. In response, the Valvrave tightened his grip on the katanas and the fire burst more violently from its edges. His wings flapped once, and with an eruption of firestorm, the Valvrave took to the sky on his flaming wing and headed straight towards the Hellsing.

Red watched in horror as the flaming bird like meteor that is the Valvrave is coming at him full speed. The second wind nanomachine didn't have the time to fix half the damage on his unit. Apparently, his opponent had also decided he would rather finish the fight quickly rather than fixing damage. 'That is a good decision.' "Verdant… up the output on Morpheus."

"Give me a minute."

"You got it." That'll be one out of his last 3 minutes of life. The most expensive one minute of his career.

The Hellsing pointed his Westenra again at the approaching Valvarve and opened fire. The distance between them was pretty close, the Valvrve won't have time to dodge… except he wasn't dodging. The two power claws on his wings bursts with energy and open fire, unleashing his own massive energy streams, joining together to create a massive laser blast rivaling the Westenra's blast. The two energy streams meet dead center, grinding each other for dominance and the shockwave pushed all the dust and fire away from the epicenter.

The two Primate Engines struggled to maintain the connection as they poured no small amount of energy into the stream. Haruto increased the amount runes into his beam, and likewise, the Hellsing drained no small amount of energy from the Valvrave for the Westenra to maintain its output and more. It felt like a standoff…

Except the fact this was torturous for the human participant.

To make it more obvious, the Hellsing began to falter. The beam from the Westenra starts to flicker and weaken. The mass of energy where the two streams collided began to get pushed back towards the Hellsing. And then there's that noise. '-15% sale-' '-let's go crazy-' '-I need some ketchup-' '-it's TOUCHDOOOOWN-' '-and with His strong right hand he shall smite-' The more rune he drained from the Valvrave, the louder the noise. What started as a buzzing of whispers had escalated into a cacophony of screams and incoherent shouts. He even began to have all these hallucinations and delusions overtaking his vision. Even with Red's fortitude… this is getting a bit too much.

"And unfortunately for you… I think the noise is actually the least of your worries." Haruto growled: "My rune BURNS."

It was then Red noticed something else: the temperature. Not the enemy's. His. Red was so focused on burying away the noises, he didn't realize he was sweating buckets. And like Haruto mentioned… this was the least of his worries… His computer is screaming warnings of the integrity of his primate Engine failing at a drastic rate.

This one minute just gets more and more expensive by the second…

00000000000000

She's perfect.

There are no two ways to say it, Marie admitted, Grey is truly the perfect warrior.

For a start, let's take a look at her unit: the Cinderella, the Faux Valvrave of Amon Ra. At first glance it seems like a poor replication, as is the trend so far for all Faux Valvrave… But is that really the case this time?

The Primate Engine looked like it had received various major modifications. The Valvrave's skeletal form was covered in what looked like bundles of carbon fibre muscle slabs giving it an extra layer of Reactive armor to protect against blast.

And then the shield system. It doesn't have the complicated Scarab Drone shield system or even the original giant shield, but they split it into smaller pieces and attached it around her body, providing a more versatile and thorough defense system – or just their pitiful compromise in comparison to the original. In her defense, these shields aren't poor quality either. Its surface is composed of multiple smaller plates attached atop a tensile manipulator arms that buoyed reactively to impacts, blunting powerful attacks.

Thusly, to the ignorant, it may seem like they're trying to create a compromise between the first two versions of Amon Ra defense system.

But for someone like Marie, who's been fighting this thing blade to blade, she sees it differently.

Between the Hydraulic reactive armor and this CF shield system, the Faux Valvrave must've carried immense weight – probably three times the weight of even the original unit. One gets the impression it would be incredibly cumbersome and slow. And yet… there she was, jumping and dashing at incredible pace – and with such elegant finesse. The reactive armor slabs weren't armor… they're hydraulic muscles. They're not there to give her extra defenses… they're there to enhance her already prodigious strength.

But that's not all. Hidden beneath the shields are small boosters. That is what gives the Cinderella its immense speed despite its bulk. Such a mass travelling at such speed – the Cinderella's very own body is already a potent weapon. But neither the hydraulic muscle nor the booster shield was meant for some simple mindless brute force. No.

Ever since she found her proclivity with Katana, Marie started doing some self study into the art of Kendo. She managed to develop her own self taught fighting techniques – not half bad, as Lady Grey herself profess. But from all her studies, she understands this much: a katana's destructive power is less about the strength of the weapon itself, more of the technique of its wielder. Having a good blade also helps, no doubt, but in the case of Kendo, it's about putting the weight of the wielder onto the blade. That's why such a thin blade that is Katana can cut even boulders in half. And this is talking about normal sized katana. It's not the weapon. It's the skill of the user.

Lady Grey had managed to translate that skill perfectly unto her Faux Valvrave, and the Faux Valvrave Cinderella is a tool which had been fine tuned to be the perfect medium to support the application of Grey's superlative sword skills. The hydraulic muscle system on its body contract and relax in accordance to the will of the pilot, perfectly mimicking the musculature of human muscles. All this to better channel the distribution of their body mass into the blade. The Pumpkin shield system spread all over her body is not for defense or speed booster… they're weight distribution system. The manipulator arms holding each piece of shield moved delicately in accordance to the primary movements of the Muscular main body, shifting the counter weight to further enhance the balance of the Primate Engine as it execute various kendo techniques. The boosters gave the weight that extra oomph to push them around when sudden and quick burst of explosive speed are needed.

All in all, Cinderella is a conceptual antithesis to the original unit she copied. Amon Ra maximize defense to support its diverse set of weapons to deal with all manner of situation that may arise – to hold the line. Cinderella on the other hand, was not to hodl the ground, but to carve open a new one. The shields system that are not meant to be shields, the boosters to aid in powerful but precise movements, and so is the pneumatic muscles that amplify its sheer brute strength…

Look at it another way there's actually no defensive feature on this ultra offensive type Faux Valvrave at all. Every equipment it bears are all support system to unleash the full power of the only weapon this thing has and needs, the one element that made all this work: Lady Grey's superlative swordsmanship welding that damn sharp Katana. The one weapon its pilot had truly mastered to its absolute extremes. So much so that it explains why she really didn't need any other weapons. Amon Ra's greater than average load bearing strength was focused to the absolute limit into offense. That's the power to pierce through any defensive line, no matter how thick.

Taking example of Mrs. Blue, she's a pilot clearly trying to adapt to a weapon she weren't suited to… even Valvrave original pilots took some time… but Lady Grey?

She was born to pilot a Valvrave like a skintight surgery glove suits a surgeon.

This just might be an example of the fake actually being MORE powerful than the original.

And speaking of that pilot…

"I was born blind." Grey nonchalantly admitted. "But, in all honesty, it never bothered me. Human perseverance is something. Take out one sense, and the rest was bolstered."

It's been 15 minutes since their battle started. The Kagerou's body is now covered with multiple slashes and gashes. In stark contrast, the Cinderella remained unblemished. Their fight was that one sided.

"You can't fight her head to head like this, she'll tear you apart!" Delphi warned her.

"I'm still… standing!" Marie grunted as her Kagerou had to use the Blackrose to push herself up.

"Not for long you're not. Judging by the statistics of your skills compared to hers, your chance of victory is 1 against 18,000,000."

Marie sighed. What was she thinking?! Grey's a pro - scratch that - a grand master, while she was just an amateur who just got good at best.

But…

"Win…"

"What?"

"1 in a 18 million… not zero. That means there's still a chance I can win this, right?"

"Illogical! You-"

"I don't care if it's insane or impossible or whatever…" Marie sighed. "If there's even the slightest chance… I'm going to take it."

"…if that's how it is… I had an option."

"Yeah? How?"

"Give me 40% control of the Kagerou."

"What will that accomplish?"

"I've just finished analyzing her attack pattern and developed maneuvers for possible counter measure. Interested?"

"Counter measures? And… how exactly is this going to work?"

"The Kagerou will move on semi automatic mode. You will still input minimum commands, and you will still need to perform the necessary Rune Techs, but then the Kagerou will move in preset maneuvers. I will also continue to analyze the target's attack patterns and bring up a list of possible counters. Would you like to try?"

The option on her screen turned to Yes or No. Marie was somewhat apprehensive. She wasn't exactly certain on what she's agreeing to… In fact, a part of her voiced her immense disapproval over what Delphi is suggesting…

But then…

"Marie-chan!? Marie-chan can you hear me!?"

"Spike? What's wrong!? You're not supposed to be here!"

"I wish the same… but we can't finish the evacuation!"

"What?"

On the other side of the module, the Resistance Fleet was still trying to leave the continent, but alas, another fleet of droids twice the number they just decimated are coming from a different direction, barring their way free. Here's the rub… they're not doing anything. They just… stood there, surrounding them, creating a blockade they cannot penetrate.

Marie looked accusingly at Grey. "You… Did you do this?"

"I'm afraid I had to. We are two opposing sides in this conflict. If neither of us had nothing to lose or gain, what meaning will this duel have?"

"…if I win… you will leave them alone?"

"And surrender this module, naturally."

"Just like that?"

"You brave ones had spilled so much blood to earn it, no?"

"And if I lose?"

"Then… even if I do so with a heavy heart… I must honor my contract, to prove I still worth my price."

"All that graceful words doesn't make it mean any nicer, does it?"

"I'm afraid not, my dear."

"So be it." Marie didn't hesitate anymore, and she made her choice.

The Mirror Rave Engine within the Kagerou hum as it builds up power, and so is the Mirror Rave Engine in the Yashagarasu. Neon green circuitry crept from the power claw, covering around 40% of the Primate Engine's body by the left side.

And from there, the Kagerou's movements changed drastically. She moved as fast as before, but something's different.

"What is this?"

She slashed the Blackrose in a vertical chop, speed and precision amplified tenfold, and Cinderella blocked it. But as soon as the blade made contact, one of Kagerou's hand let go and punched past her guard straight into her rib several times. The Cinderella back away, but the Kagerou opened fire with her CIWS and the Yashagarasu twin Volc Arms. The first time the Kagerou actually used her ranged weapons to attack. The barrage from the CIWS was aimed at her head, and the barrage from the volc arms target her chest. Cinderella used her katana, and only her katana, to stop all the bullets cold. She didn't even use her CF shield armor.

"Calculating blade velocity and trajectory… altering algorithm, preparing countermeasures."

The Kagerou maintained her barrage, but this time Delphi made some altercation. The L-Elf based AI made a trillion calculation and recalculation in a span of milliseconds, measuring the placement of each projectile accurate to the last millimeter. One projectile from the volc arm was blocked by Cinderella's katana, but then another projectile, placed right behind it, push through, accurately targeting her joints. It caused some damage but before further damage can mount, subsequent bullets were blocked by Cinderella's katana slashes. Throughout their fight, for some reason, the Cinderella never bothered using her shield to defend. Her katana seems to be her only method of offense AND defense.

"Calculating blade velocity and trajectory… altering algorithm, preparing countermeasures."

The Kagerou charged forward while maintaining barrage. Cinderella saw this but such was the intensity and accuracy of the barrage she was locked in place. The barrage let up for a second only to allow kagerou to raise her sword over her head in a powerful, and perfect, two hand slash. This time, the difference in power due to the differing weapon shows. The heavier weapon pushed back the lighter one, knocking the Cinderella off balance. Before Cinderella recovered, Kagerou opened fire with Volc Arms, lightning fast and deadly accurate.

Amazingly, Cinderella partially recovered her balance just as the first bullet flew out of the barrel, and she managed to block the projectiles with her katana swishing around her in beautiful arcs. However, Delphi had calculated his algorithm in such a way, arranging the placement of every bullet to be accurate down to a millimeter to deal with this situation as well. One bullet was blocked, another placed right behind it streaked through and scratch the muscle strand on Cinderella, and then yet another bullet pushed through, hit the previous bullet and push it further in to shred a strand of the muscle. Amazingly enough, the Cinderella's blade is still fast enough to block at least 80% of the projectiles sent her way, the shield system handle the remaining 15%, and the last 5% only cause minimal damage. "The hesitation and the impurity you've had in your movements disappeared…" Grey commented. "…but this… this is… A Machine? AI?"

Somehow, hearing her tone in such a calm and solemn manner jabbed something in Marie's chest. It would've been better if she had poked her with some insult or sarcasm. But her voice is so gentle… it hurts.

"Enemy integrity down by 2%. Countermeasure effective, improving algorithm."

The Delphi-Kagerou pushed forth swinging down the Blackrose in a series of offensive strikes. Delphi began to take note that Cinderella had changed her stance. Now, she took a more defensive style, she kept moving back, step by step, gently weathering and swaying each and every bladestrike away. Her blade also began to move faster, adapting to the Kagerou's use of firearms. When Delphi tried the same trick, no bullet can come through this time.

"Enemy defensive capability up by 60%, countermeasure ineffective, altering algorithm."

Suddenly, Kagerou changed his move mid slash, shifting quickly into a stab. The fork like Blackrose trapped the blue katana inbetween its two blades, and with a twist, he broke the blade. Before Cinderella can react, Kagerou's lightning fast powerfist came hurtling forth. This time she had no choice but to use her Pumpkin shield and she also jumped back just at the moment of impact for good measure. Between this and the reactive shield, the damage was significantly reduced, but it was still powerful enough to send her flying off the ground. And as if that was not enough, Kagerou followed the punch with a barrage of hardlight projectiles from the Volc Arms. This time, Cinderella had no sword to block and all projectiles hit her full. She landed not so gently on the ground with several peels of her shield blasted off at its joints. But she quickly get back on her feet and pulled out a fresh blade.

"Enemy integrity down by 13%. Countermeasure effective, improving algorithm. Continuing the assault."

The Kagerou kept charging while maintaining fire with Volc Arms. Cinderella blocked every single projectile until their distance closed. And their swords clash yet again.

00000000000000

Meanwhile, even with four of his comrades eliminated, the Ideal in the sky still had no idea of everything that is happening down below for some reason. But not for the lack of trying.

"Hey! Can someone answer me?" The Pilot had been asking more or less the same question in the last 15 minutes, and all he get was static. "Where is everybody?"

The Ideal flew allover the sky, changing his location several times just to make sure he get a better signal… but after a while, he realized: "I'm being jammed." So he switched his target. Now he's looking for whatever jammed his signals. The point of signal jammer is that the opposing side sent out a radio wave that cancels out his. So to find the jammer, he just needs to find the matching jammer and track the radio wave back to its source. And in warzones, people made it a point to keep the Jammer as well hidden possible. But by rule of a thumb, you can't put a jammer under a roof if the idea is to affect a huge area, especially outdoors. So… judging by the extent of the jammer, unless it's using some kind of super alien tech, he should be seeing towers of them everywhere… but…

Here's the headstumper: he couldn't find it anywhere. He's been circling the skies for minutes now, he should've seen it!

"I don't get it." He had used all the Jammer scanning technique in Dorssia military book: switching signal frequency, searching for heat signature (because a military radar jammer is no small machine), any cables for coolant, and naked eye search. And when one talking an area this big, one is clearly not enough. Yet there's not a single one can be seen.

Unless…

"Unless… the problem isn't the jammer… am I being… hacked?" Looking at monitors in his cockpit, the instruments told him that everything is normal. But let's assume for the moment that his very own machine is compromised, that would mean all these data from his instruments are no longer valid. Against his better judgment, he landed on the rooftop and climbed out of his cockpit. He carefully and quickly checked every nook and cranny of his mech… seems nothing… until he noticed some dust floating in the air… forming a silhouette of something. He narrowed his eyes… that silhouette formed a shape… something that look like a rabbit… is latched onto the back of his Ideal the whole time.

Before he can react, he finally saw this shadow of a giant tophat behind him. The next second, a beam saber vaporized him right where he stands.

0000000

The last pair of Kirschbaum and Ideal had yet to realize their teammates had been taken out, but they have pretty much realized they're being exterminated one by one and understand they might be on their own.

That's what they pretty much surmised when a flamingo shaped attack drone suddenly opened fire with a plasma energy blast with enough output to melt off a quarter of the Kirschbaum's lower half. When the Kirschbaum returned fire with his chest cannon, a turtle tank jumped in and its shell dispersed the blast. What is this, a zoo!?

Their only chance for victory is to alert the biggest gun in their ranks so that they can solve the issue.

But all manner of digital communications are jammed. There's only one thing to do.

"Go old school. Reach to the sky!"

The Kirschbaum and Ideal armed their weapons and point it to the rooftop, but before they can open the signal fire, a slice of strawberry studded tart… a rocket propelled glaive looking like a slice of a strawberry spike studded tart slice impaled the Ideal right in the cockpit and sent it crashing unto the Kirschbaum, ripping off his one arm and a wing.

The critically damaged mech crawled desperately to find the way to escape whilst his menagerie of animal assailants are closing in. The Flamingo loomed as its head mounted cannon is fully recharged, its tortoise companion closing in; shield's up, and that array of Strawberry Tart slices descend from the sky before forming a full tart that attached themselves on a backpack of a humanoid mech, armed with a pair of knives from its arms.

Their intent was quite clear: they are trying to finish the job before their target escapes.

The Kirschbaum pilot laughed. The thing is… he knew he will never escape. He wasn't trying to survive to begin with. "You assholes never understand. There's no defeat in Dorssia military. Only degrees of victory!" and with that, the pilot pushed the big red button:

EMERGENCY SELF DESTRUCT INITIATED. Good Day.

The explosion obliterated the entire compound, and most definitely, drew Yusuke and Raizo's attention.

"What was that…?"

The Behemoth walked out of the building they were checking to see the giant flaming smoke erupting from the distance.

"Contacting all teams… team 2 do you see that? Static… team 3 do you read? Team 4? Team 5?" Static. Radio silence. No one answered.

Yusuke and Raizo immediately guessed the worst and take to the sky. The Ideal that was supposed to be their eye in the sky was gone. No sign of the other teams too… except that gigantic smoldering crater where a Kirschbaum clearly had self destructed, judging by the pieces. And the fact none of the Kirschbaum comrades are swarming the blast zone to see what happened simply prove to them that the Behemoth are the last survivor.

The Behemoth landed near the crater and scanned the wreckage. It was easy for them to pick up traces of battle preceding the explosion. They were ambushed… pushed back so badly they had no option left but self destruct.

"What the hell are we fighting here…?"

And while the Behemoth pilots are still wondering about this, another mech materialized from thin air with blurring speed, carrying a sword and shield, lunging towards them from the top, stabbing sword first.

The sword landed squarely right on the space inbetween the Behemoth's forward and rear heads.

Except the sword couldn't penetrate the Iron Skin covering the Behemoth. This time, Behemoth definitely noticed. The rear arm grabbed the straggler by the back before tossing it straight to a building allowing the two headed Valvrave to finally get a good look at their quarry.

It's… tiny. Well, like, head and shoulders shorter than even your average Kagerou. In comparison to the hulking Behemoth, it looked like a little girl. Slim, lean, and thin. Point in fact, it doesn't look like a Valvarve… it doesn't look like a super weapon at all. It's like a giant mechanical mannequin doll. And as for its equipments… the designer seems to focus more on aesthetics over function. Someone had crossed a Knight armor with a purple maid dress, complete with sword and shield. And because the dark thruster studded frilly mini skirt isn't girly enough apparently, the petite girl like head is also adorned with blonde hair. Well, not hair per se but rather innumerable number of yellow cables that crowned her head. And to top it off, adorning that petite girlish head is… a pair of flipping bunny ears.

"If this is supposed to be our copycat, I think we had every right to be pissed." Raizo raised an eyebrow. "Do we… have the right to be pissed?"

"It's not exactly bad looking. Rather cute actually." Yusuke scratched his head in confusion as well when Raizo gave him the stare. "To a disturbing degree."

Either way, the Rabbit Knight start squirming out of the crater. As soon as she broke free she immediately charged towards the Behemoth.

"Here she comes!"

And as can be expected… she's fast. One second she was charging from the front, and the next instant she was moving to their side, and then from below the next second, all this while unleashing a tirade of rapid slashes. However, the Behemoth had two heads and four primary arms covering 360 degree, all thickly armored. The attack was practically pinprick, but they're quite annoying… what's more, it became obvious that the Rabbit Girl is accurately aiming at the openings on their joints. And she's getting faster and faster as the time goes. The Behemoth retaliates with a wild swing from one arm, unleashing a swathe of lightning in the process. The actual wild swing missed the Rabbit Knight by the inches as she jumped away, but the burst of lightning zapped her briefly. She was slightly disoriented but she managed to land safely on her feet. But electricity jolts inbetween her fingers. She swished it off and dashed away again. Behemoth immediately fired bolts of lightning from his finger cannons, blasting swathes of surrounding area with thunderstorms.

Fast as she was, there's no way she can move faster than lightning. So she didn't run. She blocked it with her buckler. The shield sprang open with receptors, and the lightning was clearly absorbed by it. Yusuke was the first to notice this. "Raizo! I think we should stop!"

"Huh?"

But when Raizo stopped squeezing the trigger, the Rabbit Knight shield clamped shut, filled to the brim with electricity. It surged from said buckler, across her body, and then into her sword. She promptly pointed the sword towards the Behemoth before it transforms, its blade opened up revealing a rectangular cannon barrel fully charged with energy – which it immediately discharge. The bolt travelled at the speed of lightning, and as mentioned before, that speed was impossible to dodge.

The Behemoth was struck with all the energy they've discharged in one blast. That's enough power to actually sent them spiraling off the ground before they cratered a wall. Coincidentally, that's the exact same crater where they sent the Rabbit Knight flying the first time.

"Owww…" Yusuke hold his brows. "That actually hurts."

The Behemoth stood back up and the Rabbit Knight approach them warily, sword and shield at the ready.

"Okay… So we can't use lightning, AGAIN." Raizo groaned, suddenly reminded of their annoying experience with the Goldilocks. "We need to melee her… but she keep moving."

"Then let's try to grab her!"

"At our speed? I don't think so!" Even if they shut down ironskin, they're still too slow.

"No… Actually, do shut it down."

"Now that you mention it…" Raizo quickly caught on.

The Behemoth briefly glowed off, a sign the pilots had removed Ironskin and the Rabbit Knight came charging in, aiming for the joint… except this time, the Behemoth didn't block her. He actually let her in, all the way in. the moment the blade tip touch the joint, said joint detached and let the sword pass. Before she can pull her sword back, the pieces came back together. "A~and put the iron skin back on for good measure…" Before she caught on to what's happening, the Rabbit Knight had her whole sword wielding arm trapped inside the Behemoth's reassembled right shoulder.

The Rabbit Girl tried to pull away to no avail. Before she can squirm any further, Yusuke had already grabbed her with Behemoth's first set of hands. "I'm so sorry about this…" Yusuke was genuinely apologetic. "We finally caught you, you slippery jumpy bitch!" At the back, Raizo smiled like the devil as the Behemoth's rear arm actually cracked his knuckles.

As soon as the Behemoth raised his giant fist though…

CRASH!

An axe came down from the sky, forcing Raizo to stop the intended punch and block instead. "Who is it this time… huh?"

The wielder of the axe is another pipsqueak Valvrave… but if the first one looked like a Knight, this one look like a Queen. It came complete with a crown and some gaudy mechanical dress and all… and it's carrying a pole axe.

And she's riding a mechanical gryphon.

"…what is this… seriously?" They really wished they could say they've seen weirder but… alas, they didn't even have the time to understand what manner of nonsense they're seeing.

A salvo of missiles, streams of flame and laser blast rained down upon the Behemoth, covering him in explosions. Before the explosion subside, the chainsaw blade slither in to lodge itself on the spot where the rabbit knight was trapped, right in the seams. It managed to pry the joint open and finally let the Rabbit girl go. The shock of the explosion also briefly disorient the Behemoth, causing him to back away a few steps, straight into a set booby trap of explosions and mines, igniting right beneath their feet. "Whooaaaaa!" They barely recover from the ordeal when another 'something' fell right on top of their heads. Again. Still blinded and bewildered by the explosion, the Behemoth can only flail impotently as that something opened fire at their heads with its Gatling gun, and even stabbed them several times with what appear to be beam saber. Their iron skin holds against gatling guns, but that beam sword is corroding it at an alarming rate. When their optics finally clearly slightly, they took a glance of another mech… that was designed to look like a gentleman with a tophat, armed with a beam sword cutlass on one hand and the smoking Gatling gun barrels were his fingers. When Behemoth tried to grab the Tophat assailant, it already jumped away, but not before unleashing another hail of missiles upon them from that Top hat. Some of them landed on them, but the rest hit the ground around them in specific points. The ground beneath the Behemoth collapsed and the Primate Engine fell into the crevice on their back. They didn't have a chance to get back up when slices of rocket propelled Strawberry tart fell from the sky and impaled all four of their limbs to the ground.

The Knave, the Turtle, and the Flamingo had survived the self destruct from the Kirschbaum, though clearly not unscathed, as the Knave is missing an arm, and the Turtle shell is smoking allover.

The Mouse, the Dodo, the Lizard, the Caterpillar, and finally the Cat also made their presence known. A rabbit like walker drone appeared out of thin air and perched itself cuddly atop the Gentleman's top hat. An entire army of small mechs, led by the Rabbit Knight, close in and surrounds their humongous prey.

Seeing all this menagerie of weirdly designed mechs, Yusuke's mind suddenly travelled to the strangest of memories. Namely… that time when Saki asked him to bring some kids book from the shop. One title struck him in his mind, especially given these circumstances. "…Wonderland."

"What?" Raizo blinked.

"We're inside Alice in Wonderland." The rabbit knight is clearly Alice… and the rest were the cast and characters of that story. "…why in heavens name did they pick THAT as a model?"

"I think we have bigger problems!" Raizo struggled to move his controllers… he can't. The Pies nailed their limbs tight.

Meanwhile, the Wonderland menagerie is closing in, the lizard's chainsaw buzzed loudly, as if heralding their impending doom.

Yusuke think quickly. "I had an idea… it's a bit crazy, but it's all we got."

"I like crazy. Do it!" Raizo didn't even waste a second.

"Ooh, you might gonna regret this… I know I will."

Yusuke's idea… turn into an Eldar Volfrans Magius and give the Behemoth just a little smidgen of Quickening.

The Behemoth's chest instantly jerked as if its rave engine was trying to jump out of its chest. It unleashed a surge of electric shock. The shock was enough to blast away the Pie Slices nailing their limbs, and even powerful enough to push the small army of mechs back a step. The surge released a flash of light bright enough to momentarily blind everyone's vision.

When they regained their sight again, the first they saw was Behemoth hand rising up and clawed out of the crater. Yellow electrical energy burst from the many seams of said limb. When the Behemoth crawled out of the crater, his whole body is surging with barely controllable energy. Electricity coruscated across his body, and violent yellow colored energy flared out from the many seams of its multi jointed body. The neon green crown on his head is starting to turn gold.

"Alright! This is awesome!" Raizo cheered. Unlike the case with Goldilocks, everything remained seemingly normal within the Behemoth dual cockpit.

"I had no idea what was going to happen… But I'm glad it worked out." Right now, the Behemoth is in that sweet spot between its normal combat mode and its Jibaku state. Not as explosively powerful as the latter, but very much more powerful compared to the former.

The Wonderland menagerie crawled back, stealing a brief glance at the Rabbit Knight for her decision. She raised her sword as the answer.

And then, one by one, the Wonderland Menagerie gathered towards the Rabbit Knight Alice and transformed accordingly. With the Rabbit Knight as its core, the smaller mechs attached themselves unto every part of her body, enclosing her like a suit of armor. The Dodo and the Caterpillar turned into boots for her feet, the Dormouse and the Chesire Cat turned into her knees. The Lizard transformed into her rear waist armor, whilst the Hare covered the forward skirt armor section. The turtle and the flamingo turned into right and left Spaulder armor respectively, each supporting a shield and a buster rifle. The Knave and the Queen turned into her Left and right gauntlet. The Gryphon, the King, transformed into a full suit of chestplate with the Gryphon's head as the centerpiece that covered the frontal half of the upper body, as the Gentleman with the Mad Hat transformed into a backpack that covered her back. The Tophat popped open and receded, releasing the rear part of a head just as the Gryphon head on the chest release the frontal half. The two components joined as they enclosed the Rabbit Knight's head, crowning it into the form more resembling a Valvrave with its neon purple Sense Nerve crown.

The end result is a giant of a Valvrave, largely purple with gold trimming, easily rivaling the Behemoth in size and weight.

But then, they notice something about the design of the Faux Valvrave's head:

It's NOT the copy of their Behemoth.

Yusuke and Raizo merely gawked. "Isn't that Akira's Valvrave?"

00000000000000

00000000000000

00000000000000