Editing City Series:Volume5a Chapter8 (section)

===Beretta’s Write Bring: Entry in Heavy Barrel Grazie’s Memory Bank===

<The black Heavy Barrel named Expert de Épée is moving.>

Here he comes! He also charged forward on reflex.

The enemy has a wooden sword. He’s holding it in his right hand. So I circle around to the right.

<Expert de Épée lightly rotates while moving toward me.

Despite his heavy body, he remains oriented toward me and moves forward.>

That takes guts and it is admittedly the right way to fight. I have a spear, so I can’t let him get too close. Because…oh, no!? He’s charging right in.

I make a light thrust to hold him off.

<When the wooden spear thrusts forward, Expert de Épée stops its advance and swings its wooden sword.

With a dull sound, the wooden sword strikes the wooden spear and the spear is knocked from Grazie’s grasp.

Without even taking into account the power restriction, a male Heavy Barrel simply has greater arm strength than a female Heavy Barrel.>

!? I lost my weapon already.

Fall back, fall back, fall back!!

<Expert de Épée crouches low and moves forward.

It pursues me.>

He’s fast.

I can’t escape in time.

<nowiki><I can’t escape in time!!></nowiki>

My will accepted that with a Sign. Since the writing of my will establishes everything here, it’s all over if I accept it before Pointing.

<The swiftly-moving black giant swings the wooden sword up from below.

The sword tip launches a gust of wind.

This attack is meant to settle things.>

Am I going to get hit and that’s that? Of course not!

This isn’t enough to get my will to give up!!

I’ll dodge it.

And there’s only one way: jump over it!

To do that, I move forward.

And I leap. It’s the same thing I did to hide in that mansion’s courtyard.

It’s not the kind of action you expect of a Heavy Barrel and only a Knight Striker can pull it off.

This thing weighs about 20 tons and I’m going to make it soar.

I step forward.

I make the jump with my right foot.

I jump almost straight up. I bend the steel body and control it as if to fly back-first up into heaven.

Of course, Grazie lacks the power of Protected Empress.

<With the power restriction on top of that, this is not an absolute power.>

I’m aware of that.

So I maintain my willpower. I fly instead of jump.

My heart cries out.

What I need here are my emotions. At the moment, I only feel the pleasure of having free control of myself while Write Bringing into a Heavy Barrel. And I use the Over Emblem to make that sweet emotion a reality.

Fly!!

[[Image:City_v05a_289.jpg|thumb]]

<Over Emblem “Ange” partial activation.

The back of Grazie’s armor dress rises up and two angular wings jut out toward heaven.

Similarly, the entire body is surrounded by a bit of skin-like light in order to support those wings.

And Grazie’s face devices are covered by a true face.

A Heavy Barrel combines machine and human and the Over Emblem transforms it into something else. Into the form determined by the Lives in the Emblem.

The Lives forming Over Emblem “Ange” are almost identical to those of an angel.

So Grazie becomes an angel and flies through the sky.>

This isn’t a full activation, but it’s enough.

The body knows how to use the wings and I can leave it to that, so let’s do this.

The wings are fully formed in just an instant. Then they forcefully flap at the wind.

At the same time, I reach out my hand.

I send my right fist toward Philip’s shoulder. I reach for the left shoulder – opposite of the right arm that is raising his sword – and I use that to pull my body up.

<Grazie uses Expert de Épée’s shoulder to do a one-armed handstand in midair.>

I don’t know if you call that jumping over him or climbing over him, but it’s quite a stunt either way.

That leaves landing. Landing a mass of metal weighing more than 20 tons without breaking it requires some delicate movements.

I twist my body around to land while facing him.

OK.

My feet fall first, I work to make sure my heels land last, I bend my ankles, I bend my knees, I bend my hips, I lower my chest, and I have my body sink down.

And just as my heels make contact, I close the wings to flap at the air and leap back!!

<As I move back, Expert de Épée’s wooden sword grazes my chest in a horizontal slash.

It only takes an instant.

The wings on my back vanish and the Over Emblem is removed. My power drops somewhat.>

I can’t believe this. You turn around way too fast, Phillip. You should’ve still had your back turned, so I really am impressed.

But fine. I have a weapon now.

<A wooden spear falls from the sky. It is the one the Expert de Épée knocked away earlier.

I grab it out of the air and lightly spin it around to hold it at the ready.

I can hear the cheering crowd.

I don’t know if that is for my acrobatics or for catching the spear.

But I can hear them cheering all the same.>

The battle continues.

I make a sudden jab.

<Expert de Épée does not dodge.>

Eh?

<With a high-pitched sound, the wooden spear jabs into Expert de Épée’s chest and splits the armor.

But Expert de Épée moves forward.

It does not stop.

It holds Grazie’s spear in its left hand and charges forward.>

Idiot, why would you charge for-

<Expert de Épée raises the wooden sword in its right hand while its chest is shattered.

With the spear in its left hand, there is nothing Grazie can do.>

Oh, no! At this rate…

<Expert de Épée is starting to activate its Over Emblem.

Glowing ether surrounds the pitch-black Barrel and begins to take form.

The light is scarlet.

The color of fire.

That light covers Expert de Épée’s entire body as it charges forward.>

I need to dodge…but I can’t!?

<Just then, Expert de Épée trembles for just a moment and then blood erupts from its entire body.>

Eh?

<No.

What looks like blood is heated oil.

The black oil erupts from the gaps in Expert de Épée’s armor and from its various motors and it does not stop.>

…Don’t tell me…

<The Barrel is old and has not been used for over a decade, so there has apparently been a conflict with the modern parts used when making repairs. The constant and intense movements in Full Drive and the attempt to activate the Over Emblem in response to the Write Bringer’s will widened the scars of that conflict.

The wound instantly throws off the body’s balance of strength and it is torn apart.

The Write Bringer’s own abilities would have played a part, but the most likely reason Expert de Épée attempted a quick resolution was because he was aware of the Barrel’s limits.

But Expert de Épée is still moving.>

He’s still moving? But he can barely gather any strength now. What does he hope to accomplish?

<Expert de Épée dropped its wooden sword to the ground.

The light surrounding the pitch-black Barrel has disappeared.

While wet oil sprays out into the sunlight, the Barrel stands before Grazie and slowly…>

You idiot! I won’t let you collapse!!

I wrap Grazie’s arms around his back as if in an embrace and I support him.

…I will support him.

<Expert de Épée is limp within Grazie’s arms.>

You can probably still move, but don’t force yourself here, Phillip.

I understand now. Or I think I do, anyway.

I understand just how desperate you are to stop me. I can think about why later on. But not right now.

I support his body and slowly carry his giant form over to the mock battleground’s wall.

<A voice escapes Expert de Épée’s speaking device.

“Sorry I couldn’t win.”>

I sat him by the wall without responding. We could talk this out later.

At the moment, I apparently didn’t have time for a break.

<The eastern hangar door opens and a new Heavy Barrel steps out.

It too is pitch black.

Everyone knows its name. That is Rot Löwe, Barrel of Army Lieutenant Colonel Heinz Berge.

The Emblem on the right shoulder is the person mark of a German Infantry Division Heavy Barrel Platoon. The Emblem on the left shoulder is the roaring face of a red lion to match its name. It already holds a large shield in one hand and a long wooden sword in the other.>

So he’s already ready to do this. I’m in Full Drive and as ready for a fight as I’ll ever be. Now’s the time to do this. And I’m sure he feels the same way.

He probably came out now because he’s in top form at the moment. And he’s history’s strongest Knight Striker.

Let’s take a look at his strength. It’s not about whether I stand a chance against him or not. I’ll see what he can tell me about Knight Strikers and Heavy Barrels.

I’ve already seen a lot.

Rosetta waving at me over there is already becoming human.

Phillip showed me one form of a Knight Striker as a French Lourd de Écrivain.

So what will the Germans’ greatest Panzer Kavalier be able to show me?

And I…