"What an interesting human. Looks like you weren't surprised by the launch of that hydrogen bomb~"
For most of the past day, Eli had spent his time inside the mobile suit, with the maintenance crew bringing him his meals.
After all, Zeon's counterattack was not something they could afford to take lightly.
And since he spent so much time alone, this "Grim Reaper" often came to visit him.
"M'Quve is that kind of person. Or rather, all of Zeon is."
Eli answered the Grim Reaper's question in a cold tone.
The Grim Reaper stroked Eli's cheek, watching him shiver before breaking into a mischievous smile.
"So, are you going to stop it?"
"..."
Eli fell silent for a moment, turning his head away from the Grim Reaper floating beside him.
"I can't."
"Can't do what?"
Suddenly, the cold feeling vanished. Eli saw Sayla standing in the open cockpit hatch.
Just after Bright received an urgent message from General Revil, he and Amuro had immediately returned to the hangar.
Eli raised his hand to take the energy supplement Sayla offered him, leaned back in his seat, and drank it.
"You heard what they said. To stop the hydrogen bomb, you have to precisely cut out the warhead. Is that really something a human can do?"
A moment earlier, M'Quve had threatened to use the hydrogen bomb, claiming that Zeon would launch it if the Federation Forces continued their advance.
But General Revil was still General Revil. With a mere wave of his hand, he decided that the Federation would press on.
As a countermeasure, General Revil had entrusted the White Base, the ship that had worked miracles time and again, with the daunting task of destroying the hydrogen bomb.
"If humans can't do it, then becoming a Newtype would make it possible, wouldn't it?"
Sayla stared into Eli's eyes, hoping to see some possibility reflected there.
Eli quickly looked away.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something like, "I'm not a Newtype."
But the voices growing clearer in his ears lately made it impossible for Eli to keep deceiving himself.
He was someone with the potential to become a Newtype.
In fact, in a certain sense, his potential was considerable.
After all, he was the man chosen by the Unicorn! (Literally.)
Joking aside, Eli truly didn't believe he had the ability to do something like that.
The voices in his ears faded whenever he left the mobile suit. Even the Grim Reaper's figure would disappear from the corner of his vision.
Only then did Eli realize just how powerful the system's 30% bonus was in actual combat.
By comparison, Amuro, who had only just awakened his Newtype abilities, was already formidable. He had even surpassed Eli, who was aboard his mobile suit.
But the Grim Reaper didn't seem to want anything to do with Amuro, so Amuro hadn't noticed the lookalike floating beside Eli.
In the Grim Reaper's words, "His sense of right and wrong is far too simple. A soul without inner conflict bores me."
So did that mean I'm actually full of inner conflict...?
"Sayla, you'll pilot the G-Sky and carry the Gundam into the air. Stay ready to deal with the hydrogen bomb alongside Amuro. I'll break through the enemy troops trying to intercept us on the ground."
Hearing Eli's plan, Sayla frowned slightly.
"You're going to do this again? Taking every hardship onto yourself..."
"No, I'm not. Ryu and Kobayashi will help me, won't they? The key to this battle is destroying the hydrogen bomb. Amuro is the only one who can do it."
Eli leaned out slightly. His gaze wasn't drawn to Sayla's skirt, though she stood above him; instead, he looked toward Amuro, who was replenishing his energy nearby.
Noticing Eli's gaze, Amuro waved at him.
"Eli, do you really trust Amuro that much?"
Watching the two of them interact, Sayla finally asked him.
"If this world needs a Newtype, a savior, then Amuro is the best person for the job."
Eli held out his hand, gesturing for Sayla to help him up.
"Why did they design the Ground Type Gundam's hatch to open upward? What a pain."
After muttering his complaint, Eli climbed onto the armor of the Ground Type.
"Even when he was young, Amuro had the courage and ability to take responsibility for other people's lives. When he truly becomes an adult, he'll be able to save Earth."
"That's a bit much, isn't it? Saving Earth and all."
"Who knows? Maybe he'll push away a falling asteroid or something."
"Hahahahahaha! I didn't know you had a talent for telling jokes."
Hearing Eli's outrageous comparison, Sayla finally dropped her forced bravado and laughed freely.
Eli laughed along with her, then took her hand and helped her onto the ladder so she could climb down safely.
"Sayla, I don't want to see Zeon win. The consequences would be beyond imagining."
Sayla's foot paused on the ladder. She turned to look back at Eli.
The easy feeling she'd gained from his joke vanished, and her heart tightened.
Did he know?
Sayla stared into Eli's eyes for a long time, but couldn't detect anything.
She nodded, then turned around, pressing a hand to her chest.
I'm a daughter of the Deikun Family...
But the Zeon led by the Zabis was already nothing like the Zeon her father had hoped for.
"Eli!"
Sayla suddenly turned around and called out to Eli as he was about to return to the cockpit.
"I want to defeat Zeon too!"
Whether out of a sense of duty as one of Deikun's surviving family members seeking revenge, or as Sayla Mass, a member of White Base's crew, she made her declaration.
Whether Eli knew who she was no longer mattered.
"I can't believe you dared to show your face, Black Tri-Stars!"
On the ground, Eli faced off against Gaia's Dom.
The two "aces" fought in an open area at the center of the battlefield, while the Guncannon and Guntank fought on either side.
Eli also noticed some GMs on the outskirts of the battlefield, holding back enemy troops trying to come to their allies' aid.
That was right. War had never been a game of individual heroism.
At Eli's opening jab about the Black Tri-Stars, Gaia flew into a rage and drew his Heat Saber.
"So what? The anger I feel over my comrade's death is burning inside me!"
Just as Gaia said, the Dom swung its Heat Saber with ferocious force, leaving Eli with no choice but to defend himself for the moment.
"Is that so? So you know how to spell revenge too."
At that, Eli could only scoff.
"Then stay right there and take this! Take the fury of thirty million of my countrymen from Island Iffish, all of them seeking revenge!"
Gaia's Heat Saber slowed with shock when he heard the name Island Iffish. Eli dodged it, drew his Beam Saber without hesitation, and ran it through him in a single strike!
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