"Enemy MS has reached the ambush point!"
In an instant, all the lurking MS and turrets around them raised their heads.
This place itself had many fortifications hidden beneath it, and now was the time to bring them out.
"Fire!"
Dense artillery fire instantly engulfed the Star-picker.
However, the Star-picker separated once more and began making erratic evasive maneuvers.
At times it stopped abruptly, at times it reversed, and at times it slid sideways to evade.
Those unimaginable movements made it seem as though the Star-picker had thrusters in every direction.
...Well, that was indeed the case.
With over a hundred thrusters, the Star-picker could move in virtually any posture.
It evaded every physical round it could, while the ones it could not evade were sliced apart and detonated by its Beam Saber.
Facing the gathering enemy forces, the Star-picker did not slow down in the slightest and crashed straight into the Black Knight MS formation.
"Damn it—we're not the same as before!"
Rudra stood in the center, with even more support units appearing on both sides.
"The commander units are piloted. All the others are drones," Inori Yuzuriha concluded.
"Ah—"
The Comet Unit's Beam Saber vanished, and then the Comet Unit separated again.
The Star-picker charged toward the Black Knights.
"Foolish, voluntarily abandoning fortress-grade armaments—"
Before the speaking Black Knight could finish, the Star-picker had already drawn a Beam Blade.
Rudra's limbs and weapons were severed in an instant, leaving only its torso tumbling through space.
This was noble close combat!
Without nearly any pause, relying only on the blade in its hand, the Star-picker carved a path through the MS swarm.
Rather than fighting, it was more like an elegant dancer weaving through gaps between explosions and firelight.
Let it be said again: this was noble close combat.