"What conclusion? When and where did you come to such a laughable conclusion?" Xia Ya piloted the Unicorn, his dance amid the beam storm growing ever more composed. His voice was filled with unprecedented resolve and strength. "I'm still here, Rau Le Creuset!"
The battle entered an entirely new phase.
As Rau Le Creuset adapted to the Unicorn Gundam's ghostlike mobility patterns, his shooting precision steadily improved. The beams struck from increasingly vicious angles, and the routes they sealed off became ever deadlier. Xia Ya's machine was likewise adapting to the Providence Gundam's suffocating attack rhythm. His evasive maneuvers became more refined, and his counterattacks sharper.
The crimson Unicorn and the gray Providence, two Mobile Suits standing at the pinnacle of the C.E. era, circled each other like twin stars. Fire from the Beam Gatling Rifle and Judicium Rifle crisscrossed through space, setting off chains of explosions. Every clash between Beam Saber and Composite Shield Blade erupted in a flash bright enough to illuminate the entire sector. At times, they rammed into each other at extreme speed, engaging in the most primal, brutal struggle of strength; at others, they broke apart in an instant, opened the distance, and once more drowned one another beneath all-directional fire.
Their battle had risen to a realm that no one else could comprehend, much less interfere with. They had cast aside the chaotic battlefield behind them, the factions they each carried on their backs, and every distracting thought.
At this moment, in this universe stained by hatred, only these two machines remained, endlessly crossing paths, colliding, and fighting to the death. The fated duel had only just begun.
The Mendel sector in the depths of space had completely transformed into an endless hellscape.
The Earth Alliance's mass-produced Strike Dagger formations crashed into ZAFT