Chapter 46: Kidnapping XXII - 

Half of the knight mech’s shield blew apart, exposing a part of its armor to the Guards’ firepower. Taking advantage of her well placed shot that cracked open the knight’s defenses, the Guards concentrated their attack on the frame of the mech itself, striking down the mech much like they had its partner.

Panicked, the knight began to fly toward the ground, unwilling to risk losing power so high in the air. It did its best to hide behind its shield, but Belevere had no intention of letting him go so easily, even as the Guards began to redirect their attention toward the mechs on the ground.

Her next shot smashed into the knight’s right leg and it began to tumble as its leg threw it off balance. Just as it corrected, she destroyed its remaining leg. As the mech tumbled, it briefly exposed its front.

Belevere’s round smashed into the side of the armor plate, the imbalances of the force sending the knight into an uncontrollable spin. Another round hit, spending the knight on a spiralling trajectory straight at the ground. 

She aimed a finishing shot right below the knight mech’s cockpit, but belated realized that her magazine was empty. Damn it. This isn’t enough...

Her current state of synchronance was nowhere near enough. The state she was in felt familiar—she had entered it once before for a moment before she oversynchronized remotely. Perfect synchronance.

Whereas before, perfect synchronance was just a point she briefly hit before conquering it, this time she was stuck, unable to progress any further. Although perfect synchronance was already desirable to many mech pilots, they were doomed to mediocrity if that was all they reached for.

Belevere was not like them—she was not satisfied with mere perfection. She couldn’t afford to. A mech pilot in a state of perfect synchronance was in the end only mortal, constrained by mortal limits.

Just this isn’t enough. I need to go further, or I won’t be strong enough to protect Anne. Something like that stupid knight should have already been destroyed if I had been in a state of oversynchronance!

Inkbird, is this all you have? Why did you call out to me? Give me more!

But no matter how hard she called out to her mech, it refused to reply. In the end, it was only a machine—to the Inkbird, she had already given her pilot all she had, one hundred percent of her performance. She couldn’t go further.

She was already in perfect sync with her pilot, so what more was there to ask for?

Shaking her head in frustration, Belevere reloaded her gun. By then, the knight had already righted itself and was steadily racing toward the ground. From that height, even if the knight lost all power, the pilot will no longer die.

Nonetheless, Belevere did not care. As long as the knight was still intact and had the slightest chance of becoming a hindrance, even if it was doing its job and protecting its comrades from her, she would show no mercy.

Two rounds later, a lump of metal that was once a mech crashed into the ground, unable to move unless it received an extensive repair programme that would cost nearly as much as the mech itself. 

Next is Ares Synton, the leader of this rabble.

As the leader of this mercenary group, he held the most responsibility for causing all this. He had accepted this mission. 

As such, his death... or possible retirement was long overdue. Her gaze chilly, Belevere raised her gun. But before she could fire, she realized that most of the mech that she had been targeting was underground. It wasn’t that she couldn’t hit him. Once she decided to blow that mech apart, there was little anyone she could do to stop her, except for one thing.

The swordsman mech looked up at her, straight into her sights. The mercenary leader’s voice came through the public wave, prideful and full of gloat.

Just a second earlier, he had dropped one of those burrowing bombs into the tunnel. The tiny robot didn’t need to dig in completely and instead drifted over the surface of the tunnel, wrecking the tracks and turning over the ballast as it went. Regardless of its method of locomotion, it was out of sight, and unless Belevere could shoot through meters of dirt, stone, and concrete, there was nothing she could do against it.

Even without Ares Synton saying anything, she knew what the move implied, but victory was practically assured for Synton, so how could he pass up this chance to show off?

“Hahaha! I won this time! If anything happens to any of my men past this point, I will regard this as an act of hostility and will have no guarantee on retaining control of the bomb! Annabelle Florent is merely a hundred meters into this tunnel. The bomb is already close enough that the shockwaves reflected in the tunnel will kill her instantly!”

The leader’s voice reached everyone present. Although Belevere had closed off the platoon channel, Maxwell was doubtlessly ordering his men to stop. Almost simultaneously, the Guards stopped their bombardment. However, the Riders showed no intentions of stopping as lasers incessantly shot up, forcing the Guards to keep dodging with no chance of retaliating.

Angered, Maxwell returned to the public wave. “Synton! Don’t push your luck! I won’t allow my men to die like this. If you do not stop, then you’re dead, hostages or no hostages! Besides, you can’t kill Annabelle. She’s your employer’s daughter!”

Synton laughed. “You know who my employer is. Failure is not tolerated, and if I fail here, I and all my men will receive a strike on our records and we’ll have to move out of the star system! You might as well consign us to death or piracy! Besides, I will not kill her. It’s merely an accident. Want to test it, Captain?”

Nonetheless, the laser fire from the Terror Riders ceased.

There was no need to drive Maxwell in a corner. When one person was driven into a corner, the other person must give way, but if both sides were mutually cornered, it was anyone’s game, except the numbers favored the Guards now, and even more so later. 

The only hope they had of getting away without sustaining too much damage was to leave with Annabelle as a hostage. Or was it?

Belevere seethed. There was no benefit to killing Annabelle. If the Terror Riders left now, Maxwell won’t be too hard on them and will likely let them leave in peace, since Maxwell was fair. All that’ll happen is that they’d fail their mission.

On the other hand, if they killed Annabelle, then all that would happen is that they’ll take massive damage during their escape, and whether they could escape was a whole other story.

Was Synton betting on the chance that Annabelle will capitulate, then?

Synton switched off the public wave and instead turned on the loudspeaker on his mech. This far away, Belevere could only vaguely pick up what he said with her sensors.

“Annabelle Florent! I am Ares Synton, leader of the Terror Riders under the Florent Group’s employ, here to save you from your kidnappers and return you to your esteemed mother. However, if you do not comply, then for me and my men’s sake, you will need to die.”

Naturally, Belevere was too far to catch Annabelle’s reply, but the way that Synton spoke filled her with both relief and worry.

Annabelle is safe! But can I allow her to be taken away right in front of me? But if I make a move, those damn mercenaries will kill her.

Worse, she couldn’t predict what Annabelle was going to do. On one hand, Annabelle was never the suicidal type. On the other hand, Annabelle had just told her hours ago all about what she had gone through while trapped under Vesmelda. Would Annabelle truly be willing to go back to that hellish place after finally being able to escape and experience freedom?

If she was Annabelle, which would she pick? She didn’t know. What she did know was that she would much rather Annabelle keep living. No matter what Annabelle became, Belevere thought that she would only ever have eyes for her. Even if she became broken.

If Annabelle died, then it was all over. Even if she killed every Terror Rider here in revenge, it would still not be enough. Even Vesmelda’s death wouldn’t be enough. Annabelle was priceless.

Even though her selfish self urged her to hurry and open her mouth, to tell Annabelle that she was here, to not do anything reckless, she closed her eyes and held both hands to her mouth to prevent even a single sound from leaking out. This decision was Annabelle’s to make, and Annabelle’s alone.

Laughter soon came from Synton’s swordsman mech as the mech knelt down and placed one hand on the ground. “Very well, I promise you!”

Belevere’s heart twisted. Promised what?

Regardless of what concessions Annabelle managed to coax out of Synton, it likely wasn’t much. Annabelle accepted Synton’s proposal. 

He had lowered his mech in order to allow Annabelle to step onto its hand so it could carry her away. Once Annabelle was on his hand, there would be nothing anyone could do.

How could she just watch as Annabelle was taken from her again, this time right in front of her eyes? Who knew if she would ever see Annabelle again after this. Sure, she could swear up and down that she’d definitely save Annabelle, but was she really strong enough to fulfil that promise without someone like Annabelle at her side?

What should I do? There are no good options. Tears dripped down her cheeks. Anne...

She stared through her mechs eyes, watching the tunnel closely. She breath caught in her throat as Annabelle staggered out, supported by two people she had never seen before. Her heart twisted at the sight of her lover.

Blood stained clothes, bruised and swelling faces. She walked with a limp, wincing each time her bare feet touched the ground. Anne...

Next came the little robot bomb that followed after Annabelle, inching along, following at a distance. Although that robot was small, the bomb it carried was potent. If only that bomb didn’t exist, Annabelle wouldn’t be stuck in this dilemma.

This moment might be the last time she ever saw Annabelle. She didn’t want that.

Anne... Annabelle. I am weak, but I don’t think I can spend the rest of my days without you. I don’t deserve you. I am helpless to prevent them from taking you, nor can I gain the strength to save you without you by my side. 

Will you forgive me if I gamble with your life...?

I am a terrible person, a terrible human, and a terrible lover.

As she watched Annabelle walk step by step toward the held out hand, Belevere stirred.

She decided to gamble everything in a single bullet.

The first gamble: that she had the skill to kill Synton in one shot.

The second gamble: that the bomb will not blow up if Synton dies.

The third gamble: that the rest of the Terror Riders won’t kill Annabelle in revenge. She would much rather they target herself instead.

If any of these gambles fell through, Annabelle’s life was forfeit. Therefore, her own life was considered forfeit as well. She’ll dedicate her life to killing Vesmelda Florent, even if it meant her own death shortly after.

To prevent any of that from happening, this single round chambered in her rifle must destroy Ares Synton in one shot. There would be no second chance.

Synton’s mech was kneeling and leaning forward, full of opening as he couldn’t imagine that anyone would dare shoot him. Bent over as he was, the back of his mech was rounded, exposed to where Belevere’s mech hovered. The armor on the back of the swordsman was thinner than that of the front, so even if her shot couldn’t pierce through the front, it could easily smash through the back.

Before, she had never targeted the cockpit of anyone even when she had the chance to, but this time was different. The cockpit of Synton’s swordsman mech was likely just below the place she usually shot, buried below the chest. 

Belevere stilled her quivering body and trained her sights on the spot on the swordsman mech’s back where the cockpit would be located. 

Can I...

Before she could doubt herself, she took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. And with the sound of thunder that would roll across the land long after the result of her deed became clear, the high-caliber round sprang out of the barrel, spinning as it flew toward its target.

The swordsman mech twitched as its sensors detected an incoming around, but the reaction was way too slow. A second later, the back of the mech splintered into a thousand fragments of metal, and perhaps, a hint of blood.