Chapter 137 ~ ck Rebellion
<span style="font-weight:400">“Princess… Here are the set of reports regarding the attacks on the military outpost in the southeastern side of the Tokyo Settlementst night.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hah… Yet another one, huh…?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Cornelia let out a deep sigh as she sat in her office within the Viceroy pce at the center of Tokyo Settlement. To his side, his knight, Guilford, had just given her a file with several pages of documents, detailed reports regarding the attack and the damages they suffered.
<span style="font-weight:400">These kinds of attacks, may it be caused by the JLFs, rioters, or rebel groups, had been happening throughout Japan, with areas around Tokyo Settlement being the most frequent.
<span style="font-weight:400">With their internal mobilization strategy and advantages in numbers, weapons, and logistics, they were able to fend off the attacks. But not without suffering their own losses.
<span style="font-weight:400">And with the frequency in which they’re being attacked… some parts of their forces have slowly begun to show some wear and tear.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Princess… We know this must be the plot of the Japan Liberation Force and the ck Knights to thin out our numbers. Would it not be best for us to simplyunch an assault directly to their base…?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“We are still unable to confirm if those “bases” we found are the real ones… If we send our main forces there, our headquarters will be vulnerable to surprise attacks. After everything that happened, we only have enough forces to defend against the growing JLF and ck Knights’ forces.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Then… Perhaps we can simply detach an elite task force of the royal guards to strike their base and leave immediately. The ston knights who had just arrived could-”
<span style="font-weight:400">“And what if they encounter that jet-ck knight, the crimson red one, or the pilot who managed to stand toe to toe with you?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“T-That is…”
<span style="font-weight:400">Guilford lowered his head, stepped back, and reflected on his words.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I hate to say it… But those three could easily overwhelm even the ston Knights. And if they were to fall… We’d truly be unable to hold our position here.”
<span style="font-weight:400">He clenched his fists at his princess’s words, frustrated by the truth of it and how he couldn’t see it before running his mouth.
<span style="font-weight:400">If he simply thought of it for a moment longer or thought with a clear mind like he normally would, he would’ve been able to point out the ws in his suggestions easily.
<span style="font-weight:400">However, seeing the distressed figure of his princess, the clear exhaustion and stress in her eyes, he simply wanted to find a solution that could perhaps alleviate her burden slightly.
<span style="font-weight:400">But perhaps… The toll on his mind caused by all that has been happening ever since the Special Administrative Zone tragedy had dulled his judgment slightly.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Please forgive me, princess…”
<span style="font-weight:400">Cornelia let out a sigh and leaned back to her seat, letting her arms fall down to her arm rest.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Don’t mind it. We are all tired. But… We simply need to buy some time until my brother manages to convince the Japanese.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“That… My princess, forgive me for saying this but… Is that even an option anymore after that… tragedy?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’m not sure myself, Guilford. With the rise of their military prowess, economy, and unity, and our current situation, it’d be unlikely that they’ll willingly ept my brother’s terms and be satisfied with just sharing thend.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Then…”
<span style="font-weight:400">Cornelia nced at the reports on her desk.
<span style="font-weight:400">The ever increasing number of skirmishes. The loss of several important logistic routes. The decreasing number of knightmare frames at their disposal… And their loosening grips on the various economic structures and influence on the Japanese.
<span style="font-weight:400">These seemingly natural chain of events that happened due to the tragedy, she knew, were all caused by the JLF, the Kyoto House, and the ck Knights in reality.
<span style="font-weight:400">But even though she had tried to mitigate the damage, she still couldn’t stop every single one. Especially all the losses Britannia had suffered in the stock market and business sections since then.
<span style="font-weight:400">Slowly but surely… It felt as if the ground beneath her feet was disintegrating to dust.
<span style="font-weight:400">“My princess…”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Well that’s enough of that. There’s still lots to do. How is the mustering of Darlton’s army goin-”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Your highness!!!”<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">Just then, a loud voice that belonged to a familiar knight resounded from behind the door.
<span style="font-weight:400">“What is it?”<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">Cornelia asked in a stern, yet slightly annoyed, tone from the rudeness they speaker had shown her.
<span style="font-weight:400">But soon, her annoyance turned into shock when she saw a blond-haired young man, Alfred G. Darlton, the adopted son of Andreas Darlton and member of the ston Knights who had juste from the maind to reinforce Cornelia, came with a clear agitation in his eyes.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Your highness… We have just received word from the scouts on the southeastern part of the outer Tokyo Settlement area. They saw a massive number of Japanese Liberation Forces there, marching in this direction! And there were also… new types of knightmare frames within their ranks we’ve never seen before!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“!!!”
<span style="font-weight:400">--------------------------------X--------------------------------
<span style="font-weight:400">“So it is time…”
<span style="font-weight:400">Zero spoke under his breath as he stared at the massive screen before him.
<span style="font-weight:400">Mordred, C.C, Karen, Silver, Ainz, Rakshata, Ohgi, and all members of the ck Knight’s core members had gathered within the bridge of the ship as they flew above the dark clouds.
<span style="font-weight:400">To fly above the clouds in such an impressive warship that was far more advanced than anything other military technology in this world was something that would’ve taken all of their attention and excitement.
<span style="font-weight:400">Or perhaps, to some, flying in the midst of such dark, stormy clouds might evoke a sense of fear and nervousness. Even though they knew that the dark clouds were actually a gift from the heavens that allowed them to conceal their presence, it would still be quite scary to fly in a thunderstorm, no matter how strong the ship was.
<span style="font-weight:400">However, at this moment, all eyes were locked onto the massive screen at the forefront of the bridge.
<span style="font-weight:400">Even Rakshata’s team, Ohgi, Naomi, Yoshitaka, Kento, and Tatsuya, who were sitting behind the control panels that controlled Amaterasu’s various weaponaries and movement systems and preparing for theirunch, stopped and watched as the scene unfolded before them.
<span style="font-weight:400">There were only a few minutes left before the start of the JLF’s assault on the southeastern part of the Tokyo Settlement.
<span style="font-weight:400">And on the screen, they could see the main force of the JLF’s army preparing to sortie.
<span style="font-weight:400">Though the sky was dark with storm clouds looming over the entire Tokyo Settlement, four white, knightmare frames with crimson red ents through its body shined with iridescent light as they stood before an army of thousands of foot soldiers, hundreds of tanks and heavy weaponaries, and hundreds of JLF burais and the new type knightmare frame, Gekka; a knightmare frame first developed by the ck Knights andter mass produced by the JLFs with the help of Kyoto House.
<span style="font-weight:400">The four white knightmare frames named Akatsuki slightly resembled the Guren in terms of appearance, which it was based on along with its technologies. However, it didn’t have Guren’srge right hand. Instead, they were all equipped with two shoulder-mounted machine guns, a revolving de sword, arm-mounted Radiation Wave missiles, and an arm-mounted, two barreled handguns in addition to a Hien Souga-type sh Harken.
<span style="font-weight:400">While standing before the four Akatasuki was a cerulean blue knightmare frame with silver linings across its chest, arms, and legs that glimmered under the light of the sun. In its left hand, it held a massive, long samurai sword, a nodachi, that surpassed even its height and towered over all the other knightmare frames.
<span style="font-weight:400">It was the newly fixed andpleted knightmare frame that Rakshata’s team found within the depths of the Amateur''s secret hangar.
<span style="font-weight:400">The Susanoo, currently piloted by Tohdoh to spearhead the JLF’s attack force against Britannia.
<span style="font-weight:400">They all watched in bated silence, and soon… war ensued.
<span style="font-weight:400">The JLFunched their offensive with Tohdoh and the Four Holy Sword as their spearhead against Britannia’s fortification and reinforcement.
<span style="font-weight:400">However… Soon, they could clearly see that the “war” had quickly turned into a one-sided annihtion in favor of the JLFs.
<span style="font-weight:400">With Tohdoh’s skill and the Susanoo, along with the Akatsukis and Gekkas, the Britannians were now tasting how the Japanese felt when they were facing enemies with far more advanced weaponries in the past.
<span style="font-weight:400">But, it was still far from over…
<span style="font-weight:400">The Britannians, who had been holding on to their grounds by being defensive, managed to buy time for reinforcements toe.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Zero! Britannia’s main forces areing as reinforcements!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“It seems like Darlton and the rumored ston Knights came to defend it, as expected.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Well, against an army this big with Tohdoh and the Four Holy Swords leading them, the Britannians knew they can’t just send out a few battalions.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Zero nodded at Mordred’s words.
<span style="font-weight:400">With how sudden the JLF attacked, it was quite impressive that they managed to respond and send in a massive division so soon.
<span style="font-weight:400">“The main army must’ve been on stand by as well, which made sense. They knew we’re gearing up for a massive offensive, after all~”
<span style="font-weight:400">Rakshatamented as she stood with a pipe in her hand.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Though, I doubt it’d still be enough to stop my beautiful Susanoo and the other children for long~”<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">Her red, luscious lips curled into a wide grin as her eyes narrowed at the figure of the cerulean knightmare culling through multiple suthends with a single swing of its giant sword.
<span style="font-weight:400">Ohgi and the others, seeing how the Akatsukis, and even the Gekkas, overwhelmed the Britannian forces, they had no choice but to agree with Rakshata’s words.
<span style="font-weight:400">But, having experienced how powerful the Britannian army was, they held themselves and did not celebrate yet. For if they were to becent, they could easily lose this chance to regain theirnds and nation from the Britannians.
<span style="font-weight:400">And soon, they were proven right not to becent.
<span style="font-weight:400">The moment Darlton and the main division of the Britannian Army, which included the ston Knights, arrived, the JLFs finally met some resistance that stopped their avnche-like advance into the Tokyo settlement.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Well then, I’ll go be on standby now.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Mordred turned from the screen and looked towards Zero, who nodded to him.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Alright. I will follow you soon.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Sure. Let’s go, Karen.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Mm.”
<span style="font-weight:400">He turned towards C.C for a moment and locked gaze with her. He nodded, and C.C responded back with a nod and a faint smile, and he left the bridge with Karen.
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji had spent the entirety ofst night with C.C and made a promise to return to her side when this was over. And although she was still worried, she still decided to trust him.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’ll keep him safe. Don’t worry.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Karen approached C.C and smiled with determination in her eyes.
<span style="font-weight:400">She won’t let anything happen to Yuuji.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Mm. You keep yourself safe too.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Thank you.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Karen then followed after Yuuji.
<span style="font-weight:400">And before they left, Yuuji also approached Ohgi, Tatsuya, and Satoru.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’ll be leaving the Amaterasu to you. I know we’re in a storm, but the ship is strong enough to withstand it. Don’t crash it to the ground on its maiden voyage.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Y-Yes! Of course!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I won’t. You should be careful as well.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’ll do my best! Mordred, good luck.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah. Let’s end this war.”