Chapter 68: CH 65

「If you link your Silhouette’s Fennel OS to the Fortress Area control center’s AI, you can engage in mock battles through simulation.」

「Understood.」

Kou boarded Lanius and moved to the place designated by Kurt.

Jenny and the others went to the control room in order to watch the simulation battle.

The two’s fight will be displayed on a monitor in real-time just like a live video recording.

Aki was assigned as the operator and wore a small microphone.

The moment Kurt’s machine appeared on the field, Kou felt chills.

It displayed a sense of power and intimidation different from all the Silhouettes he’s fought so far–

Its appearance was like a jet black suit of medieval armor. On its back was a two-handed sword that was even larger than what Unit 5 was equipped with, as well as equally large vector thrusters. It featured an intake hole that was shaped like a short gun barrel.

However, overall, its atmosphere was pretty similar to TSW-R1.

「I’ll tell you beforehand. Your machine is the TSW-R1 Lanius. Mine is the KSR-19 Wurger. It’s technically your Lanuis’ brother machine.」

Kou was lost for words. He gulped audibly. It was the brother machine of Lanius. His opponent revealed something totally unexpected.

「When I first made this machine, we lacked the technology for compound drives. I and Hyoue-san exchanged technological know-how while developing our machines. I gave him the technology for making artificial muscle compound drives. Hyoue-san gave me the technology for making limb drive systems in exchange. And so, we each completed our ideal machines.」

The opponent machine was born through a technological exchange with Lanius which specializes in wielding a sword.

Limb drive system and compound drive technology. Kou was reminded of the slight sense of suspicion he had when he reviewed Lanius’ design.

In other words, Kurt, who he was currently facing, can be said to be one of the main designers of Lanius.

「Kou, Wurger is actually the German word for “shrike”.」

A transmission came from Aki. They even had practically the same name–the same overall concept.

「They have the same initial concept, but the direction taken is a little different for the two machines. Lanius emphasizes mobility and I placed importance on the armor. It’s just the general direction, so depending on the pilot, they might not even notice the difference.」

The connection between the two machines was initialized.

The simulation was about to start.

「You are using a prototype greatsword. I am also using a two-handed greatsword, the zweihander. Well then, let’s end the boring explanations with this.」

The simulation finally began.

「Let us have a fair fight.」

Kou muttered such words. It was just a mock battle, but his heart still pounded in excitement.

Unit 5 lowered its waist and observed the opponent from a distance while staying in a waki-gamae stance.

When Kou saw Kurt’s machine, he groaned involuntarily.

「That’s……」

Wurger was also in a waki-gamae stance.

No. It did look somewhat similar, but it was not completely the same stance. The tip of the opponent’s sword seemed to be placed much lower than Kou’s own.

「Don’t tell me that’s……」

「You recognize what’s going on, Fuyuki!?」

Jenny and Fuyuki seemed to be playing along with the situation in the control room and were performing a lively commentary.

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They also didn’t want to miss such an event. They would even pay money to watch it if need be.

「It’s a German swordsmanship style. It’s the swordsmanship style used by medieval knights that, although thought to be lost in the early modern period, was revived in the 20th century.」

「A knight’s swordsmanship. How romantic.」

「Kou might be at a disadvantage. After all, his opponent’s style was developed for use by fully armored knights. In terms of converting the techniques to a Silhouette’s movements, it’s arguably better than Japanese swordsmanship.」

Unit 5 picked up their commentary.

It was valuable information.

Japanese swordsmanship also has techniques developed for use when wearing armor called Kaisha Kenjutsu. But they are deemed unorthodox techniques and are not taught in 21st century Japan.

「Can’t Kou-kun counter it with his iai?」

「It’s no good. Modern iai was developed during a relatively peaceful period in Japanese history. It’s not suitable for this kind of battle. It’s a quickdraw technique, but it’s very difficult to match the speed of a sword being swung down from above. And the act of pulling out one’s sword itself presents a disadvantage. Due to the need to pull out one’s sword from the sheath, you always have to perform one extra step compared to the opponent, so the practitioner needs to be considerably skilled to make it work.」

Kou inwardly chuckled as his mouth curled into a strained smile. It was exactly as Fuyuki said. Iai did necessitate performing one extra move compared to other styles. Hence, it was only natural that some iaijustu schools prioritized speed above all else. It’s to make up for said disadvantage.

However, its advantages lie in disrupting the enemy’s sense of distance and the capability to freely change the trajectory of a slash due to the act of drawing the sword from its sheath. But since it wasn’t possible to perform a proper sword draw with a Silhouette, the overall effect is minimal even after perfectly replicating the movement patterns.

Hence, the confrontation between Kou and Kurt was like a duel between their two martial styles. The sense of tension was palpable. It was enough to make one forget that they were only having a mock battle through simulation.

The two slowly but surely closed the distance between them. And in a split second– The backs of both their machines unleashed fiery plumes.

In the blink of an eye, the two machines went past each other and swapped positions. They kept running forward to keep a distance from one another and fixed their stances in positions further out than their initial ones.

An explosive boom belatedly echoed out. –It was a battle that surpassed the speed of sound.

The armor of both machines suffered cracks. Although both hadn’t landed clean hits, they still couldn’t completely avoid each other’s huge greatswords. Here, the more mobile Unit 5 displayed its advantage. Kou’s machine suffered less damage.

Kou had his machine perform a high-speed turn and quickly got the Wurger back in his sights. Wurger, on the other hand, made small and measured steps as it tracked Lanius’ movements.

「The same general concept and even similar tactics! Just what is that booster……? It’s not a detonation engine like mine.」

「Kou, that’s a ducted rocket engine!」

Aki’s frantic warning got transmitted through the comm.

「It’s a variation of a ramjet engine. However, regular ramjets can’t get activated at less than supersonic speeds, but it can. It can even activate at zero airspeeds.」

「I came across it during my research…… It’s used in anti-aircraft missiles, right?」

「Yes. You can’t really control your speed when using it. The opponent makes turns solely using its engine. It’s the same general concept as your machine’s detonation engine, but can be said to be even more extreme.」

「So it’s not good at performing tight and precise maneuvers huh. Yeah, that makes sense.」

As expected of a pioneer of sword-wielding Silhouettes, Kou inwardly praised. He somehow felt that he could understand the reason why his opponent went for such a design.

Kurt was also currently drenched in a cold sweat.

The opponent’s machine’s acceleration was even faster than he expected. And it was also quite stable.

He had wanted to settle the match with a single attack. His intention was to instill a sense of awe in the novice Development Engineer to encourage him further. However, it was him instead who was nearly defeated in their earlier exchange.

「Those variable speed vector thrusters…… They are quite impressive. You’re truly a great Development Engineer, Kou-kun.」

Its speed probably still couldn’t compare to the Wurger that’s equipped with a ducted rocket engine. However, the opponent machine should be capable of performing nimble three-dimensional maneuvers for brief periods of time.

This meant that the Wurger’s initial velocity was higher. However, Lanius had better sustained performance.

Despite his advanced age, Kurt couldn’t control the excitement rising from his chest. He surrendered himself to the sense of joy that came from the bottom of his heart and laughed fearlessly.

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