Tengu City, 15,000 ters in the sky.
Through the leisurely, pale blue sky and white clouds, above the cloud peaks, a platinum-colored airship was engaging in a fierce firefight with the Fraxinus.
No, strictly speaking, this wasn't a firefight.
Boom—!
The brilliance of magical energy gathered in the main cannon of the platinum airship. The magic cannon tore through the clouds, blasting towards the Fraxinus.
"Four o'clock direction, deploying defensive Territory, coordinates (72, 46, 55), range 124103."
[Understood. Designating defensive Territory, coordinates (72, 46, 55), range 124103.]
However, just as the Fraxinus was about to be hit, a shield constructed from a high-density Territory appeared at the impact point of the magic cannon. The imnsely powerful bombardnt was entirely blocked; the resulting shockwave rely caused the Fraxinus to shake slightly.
"Tch—"
Sitting in the bridge of the airship Goetia, Ellen Mira Mathers clicked her tongue in frustration.
Twenty minutes. It had been exactly twenty minutes since Ellen initiated a communication that was a negotiation on the surface but a threat in reality.
Hard. That was Ellen's only impression during the attack.
With every attack, the enemy could accurately predict the impact point and concentrate all their Territories in one spot. Relying on this incredibly high defense, they neutralized all of Ellen's attacks ti and ti again.
At first, Ellen thought it would only take three minutes to completely sink this airship.
However, the enemy's counterasures were completely beyond Ellen's expectations.
Defense, and only defense. The Fraxinus showed no intention of attacking Goetia at all. They just stayed perfectly still, deploying defensive Territories to block Ellen's attacks.
Logically speaking, striking first and seizing the initiative is the key to deciding victory in an airship duel. But the Fraxinus gave that up, choosing a reactive defense.
This choice, which originally seed very foolish, was now causing Ellen a great deal of trouble.
Then how about increasing the strength of the Territory and ramming them... No.
This idea was rejected by Ellen herself almost as soon as it surfaced in her mind.
Since earlier, the Fraxinus had been surrounded and protected by leaf-shaped Realizers. Yet, whenever Ellen fired, these Realizers proactively dodged, letting the main ship take the hit.
Their spacing was undoubtedly tighter than Goetia's volu; trying to break through without touching them was impossible.
Although she wasn't sure of the exact purpose of these Realizers, Ellen clearly understood they were 'mines' laid by the enemy.
Ramming into them would be digging her own grave.
The advantage Goetia had over normal airships was ultra-high mobility and extrely short cooldown tis for its magic cannons. But conversely, it wasn't much stronger than normal airships in other areas.
And the enemy, clearly knowing this, made a choice that prevented Ellen from utilizing her airship's inherent advantages.
"Cowardly turtles!"
Looking at this hard to chew bone in front of her, Ellen couldn't help but grit her teeth.
_____________________
"Phew~... That was close, really close. As expected of the strongest Wizard. Both the timing and angle of her attacks are so tricky. Almost couldn't block it."
Inside the bridge of the Fraxinus, after withstanding another wave of Ellen's attacks. Kannazuki wiped the sweat from his head, sighing with lingering fear.
"Don't give discouraging words, Kannazuki. If you miss blocking even one shot, everyone on this airship is done for."
Kotori first strictly reprimanded Kannazuki, then seed to think of sothing in a flash of inspiration. With a lollipop in her mouth, a smile appeared on her face.
"By the way, Kannazuki, if you can successfully block all the attacks, I might consider putting you on the candidate list for my future substitute chair."
"Ooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Leave it to , Commander! I absolutely will not let this beautiful World Tree take any damage!!!!!!!!"
Looking at Kannazuki, who was instantly fired up, Kotori shrugged helplessly.
"I bet DEM's ace Wizard-sama is completely furious right now."
Looking at the platinum airship on the screen that was clearly having a hard ti, Kotori showed a wicked smile.
"But... is this really okay, Commander?" Nakatsugawa asked sowhat doubtfully. "Honestly, in my opinion, the performance of the Fraxinus isn't much worse than the enemy's. Even without using such a conservative strategy, defeating them isn't impossible."
Regarding this, although the other crew mbers on the airship didn't say it outright like Nakatsugawa, they also showed a sowhat puzzled attitude. After all, choosing to defend like this was equivalent to Itsuka Kotori herself admitting that the Fraxinus couldn't defeat Goetia in a head-on fight.
To her subordinates' questions, Kotori slowly exhaled and answered.
"Well... if we admit defeat, we admit defeat. Maybe acting cowardly before fighting is a bit embarrassing. But—!"
Changing her tone, Kotori spoke to her subordinates with a serious voice:
"Our mission on the Fraxinus is to protect the Spirits, not to compete with the enemy for dominance. Right now, Tohka and the others are all inside the airship. Therefore, everything must prioritize their safety. Do you understand!?"
"Yes! Understood, Commander!"
Hearing her subordinates answer in unison, Kotori secretly sighed in relief.
"Commander, the enemy is making a move again!"
Her subordinate's report made Kotori turn her gaze back to the screen. Goetia had once again finished charging its magic cannon.
"Oh?"
Kotori raised an eyebrow in surprise. This ti, the enemy's target wasn't the main body of the Fraxinus, but the 'Leaves of the World Tree'(Yggd Folium) scattered around it.
"Did she figure out they're acting as mines? The strongest Wizard sure lives up to her na huh?"
Kotori whistled in admiration.
The power of the main cannon shattered the mine-like Leaves of the World Tree within the attack range before they could explode. Taking advantage of the montarily opened gap, Ellen made a prompt decision. She increased the strength of her Territory and piloted Goetia to ram towards the Fraxinus.
"Hehe. Although my order is to defend, I never said I wouldn't counterattack."
Looking at Goetia flying straight in from the "entrance," a hint of a smile appeared in Kotori's eyes. Waving the lollipop in her hand, she shouted:
"Now!"
"Roger. Mystletainn—fire!"
The next mont, the Magic Convergence Cannon aid at Goetia drew a beam of light across the sky.
However, just as it was about to hit, the other party moved like a chess piece shifting sideways on a board. Ignoring the physical inertia of its charge, it instantly changed direction in mid-air, brushing past the Magic Convergence Cannon by a hair's breadth. And just before the Leaves of the World Tree closed in, it accelerated and pulled away from the Fraxinus.
"Tch—she dodged even in that state? Putting aside Ellen's insane piloting skills, that airship is too much of a bug."
The corner of Kotori's mouth twitched slightly. Even though she had understood the situation to so extent from the data provided by Yutsuki and Marina beforehand. But seeing Goetia's mobility firsthand, Kotori still couldn't quite believe her eyes.
In terms of Realizer performance, Ratatoskr was stronger than DEM. However, DEM made up for this deficiency in other ways.
Unlike the Fraxinus, which was controlled through the Realizer system and assisted by the human brain when necessary. Goetia was designed from the very beginning with the human brain's processing functions as the absolute core, creating a pure combat ship capable of highly efficient magic processing. From this perspective, Goetia was actually more like a super-massive CR-Unit.
And such equipnt, coincidentally paired with Ellen, the strongest Wizard, completely turned into a cheat machine that defied common sense.
How did it defy common sense? Put simply.
—Have you ever seen soone enter a normal car race driving a Transforr?!
Even if they managed to barely hold their own by playing smart, she had to admit that purely comparing the performance of the airships, Kotori's side had completely lost.
"Whatever... if we lose, we lose. Let's have a real showdown after the Fraxinus completes its modifications next ti."
Sighing with slight unwillingness, Kotori quickly adjusted her mindset.
High mobility? Then we won't make unnecessary moves. Counter movent with stillness. No matter how they fly, the target they ultimately want to attack won't change.
Short magic cannon charge ti? We won't compete in firepower. Then we'll focus entirely on defense. As long as it doesn't pierce the Fraxinus's Territory, it doesn't matter how many shots they fire, it's all the sa.
"Do not pursue. Our goal is to stall until the enemy retreats on their own! Stay alert for the enemy's next wave of attacks, be ready to defend with defensive Territories at any ti. Rember, right now—we are an immovable hedgehog!"
"Understood!!"
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