A torrential rain of light poured down. The Unicorn Gundam once again became a sprite dancing on a needle's tip, weaving through narrow gaps between beams. Every step skimmed the edge of destruction, every evasive maneuver accompanied by the shrill sound of its metal armor being scorched by energy aftershocks. He had only one goal—close in on the Providence Gundam itself. Because he knew that only close-quarters combat could limit the DRAGOONs to the greatest extent.
Beams fired by the DRAGOONs, bursts from the Providence Rifle, Beam Cannons on the composite defense shield... the entire universe had become a hostile existence. Every inch of space was filled with deadly danger, madly pouring its desire for destruction upon the red MS that dared defy the will of God.
Xia Ya abruptly swung the Gundam around, aiming the Maglin Rifle at a group of conical DRAGOONs flying along the flank. However, Rau Le Creuset reacted faster. One thousandth of a second before the beams could strike, those DRAGOONs suddenly scattered like a living school of fish, evading every attack in elegant yet deadly arcs.
"—!"
It was that brief instant of distraction caused by aiming.
Newtype instinct frantically sounded the alarm for Xia Ya. A chill came from behind him. At some point, the Providence Gundam had silently circled into his blind spot. Its Beam Saber, brimming with terrifying energy, had already been raised high and aimed at the Unicorn's neck. Xia Ya instinctively slammed the pedal, and the machine lurched forward, barely avoiding the killing blow.
Yet this was precisely the trap Rau Le Creuset had prepared for him. The position Xia Ya reached after evading the slash happened to be the very center of a firepower encirclement formed by DRAGOONs that had long been deployed on the other side, waiting