The timeThe time Alunaya had bought them hadn't been all that much. However, that small amount of time was enough to change Theia and the others’ fate. The Blue Knight's generator that had shut down was now back online, and the ship's functions were reviving one after another. The places that had taken damage were given up on. Ten seconds after the generator started up, the energy pool filled up, and it became possible to use their weapons and barrier again. Thanks to Alunaya, the Blue Knight had regained some of its power.
“Koutarou, you control the hull! I will be in charge of attacking!”
“Got it!! What should I do?!”
“Ruth!”
“Yes! Satomi-sama, please stand on top of the glowing floor over there!”
Koutarou followed Ruth's directions and headed towards the circle glowing on the floor. It was the place where the armor had been stored before Koutarou wore it.
“Maneuver suit, mode change! From attack mode to control mode!”
As Koutarou stood above the glowing floor, Ruth operated the panel by her seat. As she did, several holograms appeared around Koutarou. They all contained various information needed to control the ship.
“Satomi-sama, your body is going to float!”
Next, Koutarou floated up from the floor by about ten centimeters. At the same time, Koutarou's limbs moved on their own and changed position.
“Ruth-san, what is this?”
“The posture you're in right now is the posture the Blue Knight is in! Now all you have to do is move, and the Blue Knight will copy!”
“Alright!”
Koutarou tried moving his limbs a little as a test. As he did, the hologram of the Blue Knight moved in the same way.
“So that's how it works... but the movement is kind of slow. Can't we do something about this, Ruth-san?!”
However, his body didn't move as fast as he wanted. It felt like he was moving his body inside a pool of water. As Koutarou confirmed his dull movements, he turned to face the enemy fleet. The enemy was gradually recovering from the panic of Alunaya's appearance. The decisive battle would soon begin.
“We can't do anything about that. This ship can't move at such speeds.”
Ruth showed an apologetic expression. The reason for the problem was that the ship couldn't move as fast as Koutarou could, and with their movements linked, his moments felt sluggish.
But the next moment, Ruth found something abnormal in her computer.
“...Wait a moment, some kind of code is being executed in the Blue Knight's main system without permission... This is?!”
“Damage has exceeded the set threshold. Confirmed the ID of the maneuver suit wearer, Reios Fatra Bertorion. Verifying combat data. Voice-print confirmed. Welcome back, your excellency Blue Knight.”
Surprisingly, the Blue Knight's system was changing its settings right in front of Ruth.
This is a program that's been installed into the Blue Knight from the very beginning!! Having Satomi-sama come into contact with the ship during control mode must have activated it!! Then, this is―
Just as Ruth understood what had happened, Elfaria appeared on the front monitor. In comparison to Ruth who was surprised, she had a somewhat happy smile.
“Long time no see, Reios-sama. This message has been set to activate if you are in danger even after entering control mode.”
“It really was her majesty's doing!”
“Mother?! And, Reios-sama?!”
Ruth and Theia let out cries of surprise. Though they were surprised by different things, their surprises were equal in measure. Amongst them, only Koutarou had a dumbfounded expression on him.
“...Elle, you haven't changed your way even after 20 years. Seriously... So, what did you do?”
“This ship was constructed using the combat data on Reios-sama that I received from Clan-sama 20 years ago. But because your way of fighting is so offbeat, a normal person wouldn't be able to control it. This should be true for you when you first met Theia as well. So I've held back the Blue Knight's true power by using a large amount of safety devices.”