NIKKE, When the Milky Way Blossoms

The moment Arrigant heard the operator say, "Commander Phoenix has explicitly requested the transfer of command to Niki," his heart plummeted from heaven to hell.

Transferring command during an exhibition match?

This kind of weak behavior is a disgrace to the great group of commanders.

"We are all commanders, we should be on the same side, how dare he try to take advantage of me?!"

He... he's betraying humanity on Ark! He's insulting the sacred title of Commander!

I'm going to take him to a military court!!!

Amid Arrigant's almost hysterical growls, on the other side of the corner, Teresella and Morm leaned on each other's shoulders, looking down at the guns in their hands, their expressions indifferent, and tacitly remaining silent in the face of comfort.

Everyone's used to it.

They were used to the arrogance and contempt these new commanders showed towards Lecher before their first battle.

They were also used to the panic they felt after successfully surviving their first battle with Lecher.

If this guy hadn't forcibly interfered with their retreat plan, Ningya wouldn't have been ambushed by those mechanical tentacles, and Sapol wouldn't have been abandoned for covering his retreat.

Now, this idiot is blaming the instructor's support troops.

The whole world is wrong.

He is always right and never wrong.

"coward."

I recalled Ningya's radiant smile and Sabor's amazing magic show. Then I thought of their desperate cries and pleading eyes, begging not to be abandoned, just half an hour earlier.

Teresella felt like she was going to vomit, both physically and mentally.

The intense resentment towards humanity finally shattered the wall of NIMPH's control at this moment, allowing the girl to successfully violate Niki's code of conduct.

"Coward! You're just a clueless, self-righteous coward! Idiot!!!"

Even if... even if you just followed behind without saying a word, we wouldn't have ended up like this..."

"Tressera!"

Hearing his friend's out-of-control words, Morm quickly grabbed his hand, stood up in alarm, and completely shielded his friend behind him.

The purple-haired girl explained nervously, "Commander, Teresella was insulting me just now. She's emotionally unstable, so..."

"you?"

"Coward, idiot," Niki's words pierced Arrigant's ears, stimulating his already taut nerves.

Why did she yell at you?

The rookie commander, his face gradually contorting into a grotesque expression, widened his bloodshot eyes, looking like a demon crawling out of hell. He gripped his commander's pistol and pointed it at Morm's abdomen.

"She's insulting me! A mere Niki dares to insult the Commander? Fine, very well..."

"So what if I curse you! The rescue hasn't arrived yet, do you dare to kill me?"

Since the two sides had completely broken off relations, Teresella, resigned to the fact that she was going to die anyway, gently pushed aside Morm's cover and pointed at Arrigant's nose, uttering a sarcastic remark.

"You wouldn't dare, would you? Are you afraid of running into Lecher before the rescue arrives?"

Are you worried that no one will cover your retreat?

If you're so afraid of dying, why didn't you just obediently follow behind the first squad in the beginning...?

Snapped.

The moment the words "First Squad" escaped from the girl's lips, Arrigant's rational nerve snapped.

He stormed forward, completely forgetting Niki's true weight, and raised his right leg, kicking without thinking at Morm, who was trying to stand between the two...

Gudong.

The clown, his face flushed with rage, plopped down on the ground and immediately raised his gun, pointing it at Teresella's face, and began to hurl insults at her like a madman:

"First squad, first squad, first squad! It's that bullshit first squad again!!!"

What's so great about that madman?! Didn't you see he brought two extra Nikis in?! Anyone can rack up points with those two Nikis, right?!

He's just a crooked nepotism hire; only you bunch of Nikis actually consider him a decent person!

Maybe the person backing him up is a seventy-year-old woman.

spit--!!!"

"You...how dare you insult the instructor!"

Teresella, who was still a beginner in swearing, also became furious after hearing the other party insult the instructor without cause.

In her view, the current conflict and infighting are entirely an internal matter within their own team and have nothing to do with the Phoenix coach.

Therefore, when Teresella heard Arrigant change his tone and begin to insult the instructor, the enraged girl grabbed a handful of pebbles from the ground and threw them at the bastard's shin.

Even so, NIMPH assumed that this action would harm the Commander and immediately modified Teresella's throwing motion until her palm was facing down before allowing her to spread her five fingers.

Splash splash splash splash—

A large number of pebbles were thrown to the ground, making a fairly pleasant, soft clattering sound.

Startled by Niki, Arrigant instinctively moved back, but then quickly realized how ridiculous and cowardly his actions were.

The emotions of fear and anger fluctuated wildly, like a rollercoaster, eventually eroding the last remaining rationality of the person involved.

"You dare attack me?"

Emboldened by the courage given to him by NIMPH, the mad coward finally unleashed his ruthlessness, no longer caring about what would happen next.

"You dare attack me!"

With his thumb off the safety, Arrigant aimed the gun at the girl's forehead, right in front of Teresella's dazed eyes.

boom! ! !

Then a gunshot rang out!

The right arm holding the gun broke off on the spot and flew two or three meters away.

Then, amidst pitiful screams of pain, several more large-caliber armor-piercing rounds pierced through the walls of the ruins.

The two girls, still in shock, instinctively turned around and looked in the direction of the gunshot.

next second.

Boom! ! !

A male arm suddenly blasted through the white wall, then retracted back outside the wall.

Immediately afterwards, a pair of tourmaline eyes, brimming with murderous intent, peered out like a ghost from the bowl-sized hole in the wall.

He then read it aloud in his hoarse voice:

"Here's the stuff~"

"..."

"..."

Confusion, accompanied by someone's old-fashioned humor, left the Nikis speechless.

Phoenix, who hadn't gotten the intended fun from the meme, pouted in disbelief, circled around from behind the wall to the entrance/exit, waved to Teresella and the other person, and said:

"What are you standing there for? Come out."

"Well……"

The wounded on the ground continued to wail, while Teresella, who had been helped to her feet by Morm, pursed her lips and walked step by step out of the cover to the instructor's side.

Snapped.

The man's hand gently stroked the girl's head, and a strong sense of security, like warm water, melted away Teresella's long-suppressed grievances.

Faint sobs began to echo in everyone's ears.

“Ningya…and…and Sapol…are gone, instructor.”

As Teresella poured out her sorrowful story, the man gently stroked the girl's golden hair, and his previously mild expression returned to calm.

Where did they end up?

"Eh?"

Upon hearing someone's words, Niki, who was sobbing against the instructor's chest, suddenly raised her head in surprise, her tearful eyes filled with astonishment.

"Wasn't it said that one was missing and the other was abandoned?"

Phoenix patted the back of the silly girl's head in an annoyed tone and said:

"Hurry up and lead the way. Don't worry about the outcome. Killing a few Lecher squads is the way to avenge this."

"……Um!"

……

……

"commander."

Seeing that Phoenix had calmed Teresella down and was planning to return along the same route the Fifth Squad had taken, Marian had no objections. However... she was a little worried about the life of the wounded soldier in the bunker.