Night fell.
As usual, Ask dined in the Tokyo Settlement.
Monica, Leila, and Origami sat beside him.
Anya had also woken up and joined them for dinner.
After an afternoon of rest and the application of some mild medication, the painful places no longer felt as though they were being torn apart quite so intensely.
At least, moving around normally was no longer much of a problem.
Gazing at the sunset and savoring the food, everything felt so peaceful and beautiful.
Yet this was only the calm before the storm.
A new round of war was about to descend upon Area 11.
Transport aircraft of various sizes landed one after another on the Government Hall's landing pad.
Numerous soldiers disembarked, along with large quantities of new weapons and Knightmares.
These were part of Ask's "precious assets" in the EU.
That morning, at the same time Origami captured V.V, he had contacted General Bartley and ordered the resources transported to Area 11.
General Bartley believed it would be safer to remain in the EU, since that was Ask's headquarters.
But that was precisely why Ask had chosen Area 11 as his battlefield.
First, he did not want the thriving metropolis he had worked so hard to build reduced to rubble.
Second, if he stayed in the EU, Charles would probably refuse to attack him head-on.
A man capable of becoming Britannia's emperor was no fool who knew only how to charge blindly ahead.
With Ask out in the open and his opponent lurking in the shadows, an endless stream of underhanded schemes would put him at a serious disadvantage.
Besides, if the Military Factory were damaged, the losses would far outweigh any gains.
By staying in Area 11, he could use himself as bait, giving his opponent the false impression that