The battle was progressing in Elexis's favor. The reason for that was the giant that Elexis was using.
“Kuh, it's tough!”
“Of course. I made it just to defeat you after all”
Despite the fight having just started, Koutarou's armor had already taken a lot of damage. Koutarou was stuck on the defensive and under a fierce attack. Because Koutarou was wearing his armor, he was stronger than the last time they had fought. Yet, he was at a disadvantage. That was just how strong Elexis was.
“And these robots' movements are completely different from before!”
“It took a lot of time before I was able to get them like this”
The steel giant Elexis was riding was a new model that had been overhauled using the data Elexis got from Koutarou during their last fight. On top of the overall improvements, this giant that had been named Warlord, had one more unique feature to it: to fight in cooperation with the Motor Knights.
Battles in modern Forthorthe consisted mostly of how to break through the opponent’s barrier. In their last fight, Koutarou had practically launched a surprise on Elexis, so Koutarou hadn't used any defenses. However, knowing that there would be a battle beforehand, Koutarou would definitely have a barrier. That's why a means to break through it needed to be prepared.
And that was when Elexis thought of a synchronized attack. While single attacks wouldn't breach Koutarou's defenses, a simultaneous attack might. If several attacks hit at the exact same time, it should be difficult to maintain the barrier. However, a combined attack like that was impossible for humans. That's why the Motor Knights had been created.
Motor Knights could cooperate with one another at quite a high level, but their true power was only unleashed when they were with Warlord. The high-end strategy support computer that Warlord had calculated at what timing each of the shots had to be fired, and sent instructions to the Motor Knights. With this, the Motor Knights attacked in sync with Warlord. Because the Warlord's attack was powerful enough on its own, this synchronized attack became very dangerous. And because the Motor Knights changed their weapons constantly on Warlord's command, their attacks were varied and hard to predict. It was a problematic enemy for Koutarou who was fighting on his own.
Truth be told, Warlord itself hadn't gotten much stronger. On its own, it wouldn't stand a chance against Koutarou. The same was true for the Motor Knights. However, even if their individual strength isn't enough to reach Koutarou, if they all worked together as a single unit, they should be able to win. At the same time, Elexis devised his strategy in a way to hold Koutarou's power back, and turned the victory condition into something simpler. This was the plan Elexis had come up with in order to beat Koutarou.
“All for one and one for all, don't you think that's fitting for a knight?”
Elexis's voice came from the speakers installed on Warlord's face. In contrast to his calm tone, his attacks were fierce.
With a loud boom, the large caliber beam shotgun that Warlord was holding in its left hand roared. The fired beams spread out over a wide area and assaulted Koutarou.
“Tsk!”
Koutarou tried to evade, but it was difficult avoiding a blast from a beam shotgun designed to cover a wide area. On top of that, with the Motor Knights getting in the way of his evasive maneuvers, Koutarou wasn't able to fully avoid the attack even with the help of his armor.
“Distortion field load increased. Alert message. Due to continuous damage, the distortion field will exceed tolerable levels within a minute. Continuous battle is dangerous, immediate withdrawal is advised”
“I know! But I can't fall back, so do something!”
“As you wish, my lord”
Having been hit by the shotgun, Koutarou's armor was letting out screams. Damage was reported one after another, and only ominous forecasts were given. Koutarou's roaring had shut it up, but he felt the same way the artificial intelligence did.
Warlord had been made just to fight against Koutarou. In order to hit the fast Koutarou, it came equipped with lasers that moved at the speed of light, shotguns that covered a wide area, guided missiles and more. Since they were weapons that prioritized accuracy, it had less power than mobile weapons of the same class. However, they had enough power to deal with Koutarou. Moreover, the Motor Knights would support Warlord and launch synchronized attacks if needed.