What had not exactly been a difficult battle, but certainly a troublesome one, ended with startling abruptness. Every force on the enemy side—the Federation, the Mars Successors, the Founding United Nations, and Amalgam—had more than ninety percent of its combat strength utterly crushed by Xiao Ran's single strike, as thousands upon thousands of rays of light descended from the sky like divine radiance and filled the world.
As for the insignificant remainder, some stood rigid and did not dare move even slightly, fearing that any improper action might provoke the incomparably terrifying Xiao Ran once again. Others quietly slipped away beneath the countless curtains of mist, rapidly distancing themselves from Yajenar.
Countless figures emerged from the water, while countless small boats and rafts appeared across the sea. Those who surfaced began swimming rapidly toward them. They all looked utterly bedraggled, their faces filled with fear, relief, reverence, confusion, and all manner of other expressions.
Everyone watched with their own eyes as the seemingly godlike machine slowly withdrew its Wings of Light and descended into Yajenar. Then, under the direction of Yajenar personnel, rescue efforts began for the greater number of people still in the surrounding waters.
Cruze watched the machine slowly land before him. With a faint smile, he controlled all the GN Dragoons to return to his machine, shrugged, and said, "That is truly disheartening. Even though we are at the same level, the gap between us is still considerable. If I had been dealing with that bunch, I could not have done it as simply and directly as you did."
There was no arrogance or conceit in Cruze's claim that he could have dealt with the overwhelming enemy force from before. As an A-Class Pilot who had likewise mastered a trait, Cruze truly possessed the ability to wipe