The Black Knights officially launched their assault on the Tokyo Settlement.
The Settlements in other regions erupted in unrest as well.
Although the unrest elsewhere mostly involved civilians, large numbers of troops were still needed to keep it under control.
Area 11's existing forces were stretched thin.
Thus, the battle for the Tokyo Settlement would determine the course of the entire war.
Cornelia had stationed a formidable force here.
Even with Zero leading them and Tōdō directing the battle, the Black Knights could not break through Britannia's defenses in the short term.
Then Zero pressed a button, and the structural supports beneath the Tokyo Settlement's Government Hall suddenly fractured and collapsed.
It was like an earthquake.
The Britannian troops guarding the main entrance were wiped out in an instant, and even Cornelia was caught in the collapse.
The battle became one-sided.
Fortunately, her exceptional piloting skills allowed her to leap back up, stepping on falling rubble and hooking onto the walls.
From the ground, she launched an attack on the airborne Gawain.
"As expected of Cornelia. Even with her machine a full tier below ours, she can still put up a fight. But... that's all she can do."
Lelouch sighed in admiration.
He only needed to operate the Druid intelligence analysis system, leaving control of the mecha entirely to Qianzhi.
Among the Black Knights' female pilots, she was second only to Kallen.
She destroyed the lower half of Cornelia's mecha with the Hadron Cannon, severed both its arms with retractable claws, then fired a missile at point-blank range, leaving it completely unable to resist.
Cornelia crawled out of the wreckage, covered in blood.
"Wait here."
After giving that instruction, Lelouch climbed down from the Gawain alone and walked over to Cornelia. He cut off communications, made sure only the two