Editing City Series:Volume1 Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 5===

Two ships of the Bladlikburg fleet moved forward and they continually fired red hot Bogen.

The Kaiserburg had been waiting until it was closer to fire its Finster Kunst, but it did so now as a barrier. The emblem was instantly drawn in the sky and became a giant sphere of gravity.

The Bogen could be heard bursting on the other side of the gravity sphere.

Aboard the Kaiserburg, Walter scratched his head in the gunner’s seat.

“Ahh, ahh. What a shame. It takes time, skill, and motivation to fire a Kunst.”

“I don’t think motivation has anything to do with it.”

“So what are we going to do? Run away?”

“If we run here, they’ll just pursue us again. I’d like to settle it here.”

Walter sounded confident, but Else did not see how they could fight any more than this. They were currently only avoiding or hiding from the enemy attack.

Once they left the shelter of the gravity sphere, they would be hit by concentrated fire and the gravity sphere would eventually vanish on its own.

She heard several loud noises beyond the gravity sphere. They reverberated in her gut and sounded like splitting stone. A few shots seemed to have missed their mark and fallen to Berlin.

“Hmm. This is a problem. I don’t want the military to destroy Berlin like this.”

“Oh? You can be surprisingly reasonable sometimes, Walter.”

“Of course I can. If it was me, I’d find a more artistic way to destroy the city.”

“Do you have any idea what you’re saying?”

“C’mon, Else. Is there anything more beautiful than wanting it all to yourself?”

He may not have been all that wrong.

Else found herself looking up toward the heavens, but…

“Hey, Walter. The Kunst is about to disappear.”

“That isn’t good. Should I fire another one?”

“That wouldn’t change our situation in the long run and the third engine isn’t showing any sign of running.”

That meant they would not reach the next evolution doing this.

After a short silence, Paul spoke.

“Walter, let’s try out the Panzer Emblem. We have a perfect target in front of us.”

“That would be best, given the situation.”

“Eh? What are you two doing?”

“Quiet, young lady. And stay seated.”

After Paul’s comment, the Kaiserburg moved back a little.

“Once the Kunst vanishes, we’re going to activate the Panzer Emblem, break through one of the big ones, correct our lowered power output, and then escape.”

“C’mon, let’s go all out.”

Walter sat back in his seat, quickly moved some of the controls in front of the seat, and then hit the control panel. Else heard something fit into place.

He began hitting and stroking the four metal spheres on his armrests with a set rhythm.

Similarly, Paul moved the control stick.

“dp-XXX Kaiserburg Form Two – Eiskalt Königin. Activating Panzer Emblem,” muttered Walter. “Professor, I’m going to sync the power release and ether release in five seconds.”

The sound of the Bogen striking the barrier shook the ship.

“Understood. Panzer Emblem Form Two – Eiskalt Engel. Activation preparations…complete.”

Paul’s words coincided with the Finster Kunst barrier vanishing.

The blue sky opened up before their eyes.

But that sky was obstructed by the next Bogen flying in from the Bladlikburg. They were fast.

“Now, then.”

As she watched the flaming shells approach, Else heard Walter take a breath.

“Here we go!”

She felt a sudden lurch.

She could not even comprehend the instant that they began to fly.

“Kyah!”

An impact seemed to throw her backwards and the acceleration was great enough to sweep her short hair backwards. This was likely the first inertia she had felt from the Kaiserburg’s movements.

They were racing along.

The sky outside the cockpit window seemed to be blowing backwards.

Light reflected from her eyes that she somehow managed to keep open. That light was entering through the window because the entire ship was glowing.

…''Is that ether?

The emblems carved into the ship’s outer paneling were gathering ether from the air and forming a powerful field.

Ether was the element that made up all things and the arrangement of the emblem was using ether to create a certain form. What could be seen as fire, ice, lightning, or weight wrapped around the ship, materialized, and turned the ship into a giant bullet.

This was a Panzer Emblem.

The Bogen flying their way collided with the glowing ether armor and were destroyed in an instant. They did not even produce any noise.

…''!

They accelerated further and she heard Paul speak.

“We’ve reached Form 2’s estimated maximum propulsion of 9.3 times gravitational acceleration! We’re going to hit!”

Else saw a large mass of metal.

Before she could recognize it as a Bladlikburg, they collided with it.

At that moment, Else was not watching the radar in front of her. If she had, she would have seen a single dot of light rapidly approaching the Kaiserburg.