Thirty seconds of preparation time was neither long nor short, but it was enough for Sousuke Sagara and the other two. As the sniper, Cruz was the first to swiftly turn his AS around and head for the forest beyond the base training ground. He never even considered turning back to attack Xiao Ran's M9.
As the one being trained, Sousuke Sagara firmly remembered that he was the one receiving instruction. Whatever the instructor said went. The moment Xiao Ran finished speaking, he followed behind Cruz and ran out of the empty training ground without hesitation.
Only Melissa Mao, who had just shouted for them to attack, stared in astonishment as her two teammates vanished without a trace. Her face immediately flushed red, and she shouted angrily, "Sousuke Sagara, Cruz, you two spineless bastards, just you wait!"
"Twenty seconds remaining."
Xiao Ran showed no reaction whatsoever to the trio's absurdly uncoordinated behavior. After calmly reminding Melissa Mao, he unhurriedly gripped the control stick and noted the directions in which Sousuke Sagara and Cruz had departed.
"I know!" Melissa Mao shouted irritably. "It's three against one. You should be the one hiding for the remaining twenty seconds."
Xiao Ran completely ignored Melissa Mao. Although he had taken hold of the control stick, he did not make the mecha move at all, simply leaving the M9 standing blankly in the center of the training ground. Melissa Mao likewise made no move, and her AS stood facing Xiao Ran's.
At the exact instant the final twenty seconds ended, Melissa Mao's AS suddenly moved. She flung aside the machine gun in her hand, drew out the massive saw sword, and activated it. The chain saw spun rapidly along the blade's edge with a buzzing whine. Gripping the sword in both hands, she charged at