Chapter Sixty-Four: Bloody Carnage

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"The generator for the umbrella has been destroyed!"

"What did you say?" The commander looked up at the ceiling.

"Ah! The explosion just now has cracked the wall! We're going to lose air!" Mu, in the lounge, felt the tremor throughout the room and seized the moment to shout wildly.

"Quick, yell—make them open the door."

"Ah!!! Help! We're going to die!" Maryu caught on immediately, her cries mournful and dramatic.

Mu joined in, creating a chorus of desperate pleas for help.

Bakilulu, observing all their antics, twitched her lips; she still couldn't manage the stone-faced composure that Mu and Maryu so effortlessly displayed.

"What happened?" The guards outside the lounge were straightforward, rushing in, only to be knocked out one by one by Mu's swift punches.

"Let's go," Mu gently laid the unconscious guard down.

"Indeed, I don't want a tragic end alongside Artemis," Maryu quipped.

The successive explosions made the Assault stagger, its massive feet stomping around the commander, who was now genuinely terrified—his socks soaked through.

"Wow, that's quite a volume~" Having handed the cockpit over to Kira, a large leap left a crater in the floor.

"Quick, capture him!" Even as he slumped to the ground, the commander managed to issue orders, pointing at Hao Ren and shouting.

As the soldiers, including the horned officer, raised their guns, blood began to spurt from their necks.

"Wha—" The commander stared in horror at the scene before him.

His blood-soaked subordinates seemed to have mastered the art of duplication, each splitting into five, but according to the law of conservation of mass, their combined mass remained unchanged.

So... you understand.

Commander Wuke knew for certain that the three witches, their long hair transforming into blades swirling through the air, splattering bright red everywhere, and the man shrouded in a mist of blood, mocking him with a sneer—this would haunt him for life.

But when he caught sight of his own gluteal cleft, he realized he would never again have nightmares.

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Kira, in the midst of a darkened Assault, froze at the keyboard, his teeth chattering rapidly, his body trembling uncontrollably.

Though he had seen mobile suits blown apart before, much as airmen rarely suffer from war trauma, such bloodless scenes hadn't truly affected Kira. But this—his first real exposure to a killing field. The girls who had been trailing Hao Ren, without a flicker of emotion, executed such carnage—Kira found it hard to accept. The gruesome sight continued to assault his senses and mind, and his gaze towards Hao Ren's back grew increasingly unfamiliar.

Hao Ren turned, facing Assault's main camera, and Kira felt as if Hao Ren's gaze pierced the screen, meeting his own.

Hao Ren raised his right hand, clenched a fist, tapped his chest, and spoke.

Through the screen, Kira read his lips.

"With a clear conscience."

Yes, even if Black Flame's companions were cruel, it was all to protect the Archangel. I believe Black Flame would never harm us. That commander was a scoundrel, taking advantage of the situation—his death was only fitting.

Kira comforted himself thus.

Inside Artemis fortress, the Mobius units were systematically destroyed by the intruding Thunderbolt. Storm and several green Zakus bearing large rocket launchers arrived to reinforce from afar.

These were clearly not the earlier grunt Zaku IIs; presumably, October's Raidin custom high-mobility Zaku II had long since been cracked and mass-produced.

By the way, why is green always the chosen color? Is there some tradition?

"The Archangel is ready and can depart at any time."

Maryu and her companions hurried back, each to their station. The thought of the Archangel dying inside the umbrella was simply unacceptable.

"Report! All civilians and staff have returned to their posts... except for Kira and Black Flame."

"Hmm?!" Though she didn't know the details, Black Flame, that bastard, should be fine. "Where was Kira taken?"

"The commander took him, said he needed access to Assault's system lock," replied Arnold, the helmsman.

"Never mind, Kira will make his own decisions. Escape is the Archangel's top priority now—we must not let ourselves become ZAFT's trophy."

"What about Black Flame?" The helmsman looked puzzled.

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"Let him die!" Maryu's expression was a mix of unease and anger, likely still furious with Hao Ren for leaking personal information earlier.

"Yes!" The helmsman saluted, quickly turning to ignite the engines; he had no desire to incur the captain's wrath.

"This time, be careful with that black mobile suit. If you encounter it, don't hesitate—scatter and flee. That terrifying attack it unleashed before shouldn't be able to repeat so soon. Has everyone understood?" Diego temporarily assumed command.

"Yes," the grunts responded loudly.

"What's this?" Nicol, having barely avoided a slash from the ship-cutting blade, paused, staring at the pitch-black mobile suit. He thought he'd encountered the Black Astray, his whole body trembling involuntarily.

No, this one has no wings, and its movements aren't as agile as that devil.

After all, sensory control and manual operation yield entirely different reaction speeds. When facing the black devil, Nicol felt utterly helpless, as if remotely controlling a robot against a real person—every move was anticipated and countered at the perfect moment.

Yet this black mobile suit before him lacked that strange pressure; its piloting skills didn't seem much better than his own.

"Unit identification: X105, Assault." Are the people at Artemis so idle? They managed to repaint Assault after capturing it for such a short while.

Frightened by the black Assault, Nicol became furious, vowing to take down this imitation enemy.

"Diego! Where are you guys? 'Long Legs' is with me." Nicol fired a triple burst of armor-piercing rounds, which were all cut down by Assault.

Having just destroyed several Mobius units, Diego swallowed hard, not responding to Nicol.

The black-winged demon had returned before them.

"Ah~ ah~ mic check mic check~" Hao Ren's voice suddenly appeared on ZAFT's public channel, and Diego's first reaction was that the channel had been hacked.

"Hey, ZAFT's red-clad elites, enjoying bullying the grunts? Don't forget, Isaac is still in our hands—go back and discuss the ransom terms with your team. Also, the fortress is about to explode. Good luck to you all. Hahahaha~~~" With a brazen laugh, the black-winged demon vanished without a trace.