"Did fate choose me?"
There was no triumphant ecstasy from the victor over the comms, only faint disappointment, as though he had long since grown tired of this same old routine.
That sigh, like watching a defective product being destroyed, hurt Mu more than any high-voltage shock ever could.
At that moment, when all hope seemed lost, he could only watch helplessly as that point of light grew brighter and brighter.
"—What?"
In the instant before the trigger could be pulled, a trace of startled confusion, like static, suddenly entered that previously unruffled voice.
As though he had sensed something utterly terrifying, the Gates tilted its head slightly to the side.
Mu, too, felt a pure sense of oppression howling in from the far end of this sector of space at incredible speed.
"Mr. Mu!"
The girl's heart-wrenching cry exploded through the communication channel.
Before her words had even faded, a beam like divine punishment sliced across the battlefield, as precise as a scalpel cutting out a tumor.
The rifle in the Gates' hand, already poised to fire, exploded under the beam's impact before it could discharge, instantly becoming a blinding fireball that scattered in all directions.
"Freedom Gundam!?"
This was the first time Rau Le Creuset had cried out so wildly during this battle.
The white figure was like an angel tearing through the heavens. Its iconic wings were fully spread behind it, like a war god descending upon the mortal world.
Even with his weapon destroyed, the red-clad elite commander's reaction speed remained terrifyingly fast.
Rau Le Creuset did not even glance at the destroyed weapon on his right arm. His machine twisted through the air in a maneuver that defied physical common sense, its left shield flipping again as the deadly beam claws sprang back out, ready