That One has Already Fallen, So There’s No Problem Taking Him Down

 

Uriel charged. A low-stance tackle.

「Come at me!」

Arthur spread his arms wide, ready to receive the tackle.

「Cut it with a counter.」

Kou said mercilessly.

「With Flack and me, Uriel is nothing to fear!」

「That’s true, but… this isn’t pro wrestling. There’s no need to take every hit head-on.」

「That’s a strange dilemma, Kou.」

Asia couldn’t quite grasp the torment Kou was feeling.

「Don’t underestimate me!」

Uriel attempted a takedown from low posture, slipping out from Arthur’s arms to get to the side—only to be firmly caught.

Arthur didn’t budge.

「What!?」

Uriel deemed the position disadvantageous and broke away.

「Then how about this? DDT—」

The next aim was the upper body: Arthur’s head and neck. Structurally the most vulnerable parts.

「Hmph!」

As Uriel stepped in again, Arthur moved with fluid motion—lifting Uriel’s body and pivoting sideways, hurling Uriel through the air.

「That was a uki-otoshi. Nicely done.」

「Was Uriel trying to shout out the name of a move just now?」

「Didn’t catch it.」

Kou feigned ignorance, though he knew exactly what Uriel had tried to do. Kotodama—the power of words—could be terrifying.

「Flack is using judo techniques, but Uriel’s move just now isn’t in wrestling. Must be from some other martial art.」

That wasn’t a lie.

「This isn’t even silhouette combat anymore.」

Asia sounded exasperated.

「These Mythology Weapons really do as they please, huh.」

Kou felt the same. Pro wrestling moves, seriously?

Though she refrained from saying it aloud, Asia thought Kou, who introduced swordsmanship into Silhouette combat, had no right to talk.

「This is the strength of me and my contractor. You cannot win, Uriel.」

Arthur declared to Uriel.

Uriel dropped to one knee, adjusting his stance with a glare.

「If this were a versus diagram, it’d be ten to zero. Flack is strong.」

Kou let out a small chuckle.

「I taught him iai. Yasuyuki and the others taught him kendo and judo. From Fuyuki, he learned combat engineering. The Familias drilled logistics into him. He’s a professional when it comes to combat.」

Flack admired Kou. Though Kou wasn’t one to formally teach, he at least passed on the basics. After that, he’d consulted with experienced warriors like Kurose and Takaba Hyoue when they came to the Astraea, and dojos had been established throughout the ship and Fortress Areas. The Therianthropes were eagerly joining them.

Despite being a young boy, Flack worked the logistics in the frontlines, and also trained in kendo and judo with the Pleiades Squad and Kurose. His earnestness made him popular even among the female troops.

「A product of gifted education… but is that really okay? I can’t help but curse my own helplessness.」

Asia couldn’t take pride in a system where minors could become combat professionals. She felt ashamed.

「I understand your wish for him to live in peace, but it’s not your fault, Asia. More than anything, it’s what he wants. As long as the MCS responds to core stability, and if the Sylphium OS functions the same way, Uriel—without a pilot—has no chance.」

Kou glanced toward Uriel with something like pity.

「Arthur weighs nearly 100 tons. Unit 5 doesn’t even weigh 30. If Uriel is based on an Antique Silhouette, he is probably lighter than modern models. That kind of weight difference in hand-to-hand combat is fatal. Add pilot skill on top of that…」

Kou recalled what Aural once said: the performance of Mythology Weapons varies depending on whether they have a contractor.

That meant Arthur—with Flack inside—was overwhelmingly superior. In a close-quarters duel with equal weight, even minor performance differences tilted the scale in Flack’s favor.

「Arthur’s heavy. Must be due to that ultra-dense material from the Pioneering Era.」

「It’s a material we can’t replicate. Most of the armor parts we were able to recover from Yōnātl Tepatztl’s remains were mainly repurposed for the legs.」

In silhouette combat, the legs were critical. Both Arthur and Yōnātl Tepatztl had had their legs destroyed before becoming Mythology Weapons—that said it all.

Naturally, the cockpit area needed to be the most durable, but after that, the legs were crucial. Since they contained joints, their structural integrity was inevitably lower.

「Flack could probably win even piloting the Caledonia Crow. That one’s built for melee combat.」

「Yeah, it’s got armored muscles. I bet it could even pull off submission holds.」

「No, that won’t work. The output’s different. The hold would get broken.」

「That’s true for Arthur and Uriel too.」

「When Uriel tried that takedown, Arthur could’ve just punched him. The duel might’ve ended with just striking techniques.」

As the two discussed literal hand-to-hand Silhouette combat, they noticed something off about Flack.

「Flack should’ve been able to counter that easily. Is something wrong?」

「Looks like he’s gone defensive.」

From the rear seat inside Arthur, Libya also sensed something off with Flack.

「What’s wrong, boy? Why do you hesitate?」

Flack kept his eyes on Uriel, answering hesitantly.

「Well… Uriel’s the gatekeeper of Tartarus, right? He’s supposed to be watching over Typhon. It just feels… wrong to beat someone like that.」

「……」

「……」

Arthur and Libya were stunned. They hadn’t considered that possibility.

「……」

「……」

Kou and Asia exchanged glances, equally speechless. They hadn’t thought that deeply.

Flack really was earnest.

「Indeed… his role is essentially the same as mine. As expected of my contractor. How wise!」

「The boy’s logic is sound. Should we really take him down here? That might be exactly what Echidna wants.」

Libya ground her teeth. This could be a win-win for Echidna.

「Good of you to realize that, boy. Just like Arthur here, Uriel was originally a sealing mechanism for Typhon-sama. Go ahead and destroy him.」

Echidna smiled provocatively.

「What do we do…」

Uriel edged closer. He was calculating—trying to determine what kind of technique would be effective. Assuming Arthur was willing to grapple, he’d figured that damaging a joint could still work.

「That one has already fallen, so there’s no problem taking him down. Defeat him!」

Asia shouted.

「Huh? …Okay. Got it.」

Flack nodded, and Arthur resumed a battle stance.

「Is that really the issue here?」

Kou thought the reasoning was a bit harsh.

「It is. If he’s fallen, he’s basically a demon now. In fact, it’s better to free him from his current corrupted state.」

「I see…」

Kou wasn’t fully convinced. Was it really okay to destroy one of the ancient seals from the Interplanetary War Era just because of that?

「Eh…」

「That’s the reasoning?」

Echidna and Libya were both left speechless.

「Besides, we’re not enemies with Typhon, are we?」

Asia was certain of her good relationship with Arima.

「Now that you mention it, that’s true. No problem, then. Flack—go.」

「Yeah!」

Maybe they’d been taking the whole ‘sealing’ thing too seriously. As long as they were friends with Arima, there was no issue. With Kou’s permission, Flack was finally free to go all-out—and he was glad.

 

 

 

AN:

A literal melee fight between Silhouettes. From the beginning, Whis had set the precedent that punching could be more effective than a poorly-aimed autocannon round, but this is the first actual close-quarters combat scene.

Uriel was simply up against the wrong opponent. Still, in some scenarios where ammo runs dry, or in emergencies, melee with fists or blades is part of the intended repertoire.

Also, due to the effect of Whis, it was early found that sharp compact blades were more effective than rifles alone—hence why rifles for Silhouettes come standard with bayonets.

Among the Quattro Silhouettes, large claws are popular—likely due to their Therianthrope pilots. Those have already appeared in the story.

Next time: the conclusion of the Uriel fight!