You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

Chapter 455 His thirteenth marriage proposal.

"Then goodbye."

"Want to escape?"

"There's nothing I can do if you think that way, but sooner or later... when the time is right, I will give you that opportunity, Aizen-kei."

As she spoke, the space around the princess in military uniform began to dissipate like bubbles. Countless tiny crystals were separated, revealing a void passage that seemed to connect to an unknown place. It was as if an unseen behemoth had opened its maw, swallowing her and the silent King of Sorrow into it.

Immediately, the space returned to calm, and the two figures disappeared from sight, leaving only a light, lingering voice:

"Compared to here, it seems there's some kind of riot happening on the other side of the city. Don't you want to go check it out?"

"...I don't like this guy."

Watching Altair leave unscathed, Celestia deflated and sheathed her longsword, muttering angrily, "His tone was so dismissive of people, treating us like idiots. He thinks he can recruit us with that attitude? He's far too arrogant!"

"Perhaps that's how it's 'set' up."

Meteora remained calm: "Our personalities and behaviors are all arranged by the creators."

"I know... but the thought of it just makes me even more annoyed."

Ceresia pouted.

When she suddenly learns that everything about her is "words in a novel," decided on a whim, she inevitably experiences a huge sense of absurdity and severe rejection.

No one likes to be controlled, not even one's closest parents. If they want to make decisions for their children, they will be resisted, let alone the author's design of the characters—this is the relationship between gods and humans.

Although Meteora and her friends refer to the creators as "parents," this is just a more palatable way of putting it; in reality, there is no loving parent-child relationship between them.

Correction: It may not exist.

Admittedly, many authors write stories with love for their characters, and you can feel that passion and affection in their writing, but this emotion usually fades away over time.

Ultimately, humans are not creatures with excellent memories, at least not good enough to completely preserve "their former selves".

Therefore, many comics and light novels become casual and disorganized in the latter half, giving the impression that the author is carrying a heavy burden... Of course, this is no one's fault.

This is already considered a relatively good situation; some works seem to be written specifically to take revenge on society!

There is absolutely no sense of the author's love for the characters; one can even see that the author is manipulating them with immense malice, hurting the characters by digging into their own dark side, and also hurting the fans—such works are countless.

Calling this one-sided dominance relationship "father and son/mother and son" is a stretch; in reality, it is the relationship between a deity and its created beings.

Of course, once the characters are in the real world, the roles of offense and defense will change!

At the very least, authors like Xu Yuyuan, Jian Chuang, and Teng Shu must be trembling with fear.

Matsubara Takashi is somewhat better; he's just a normal light novel author who hasn't done anything too abstract. Celestia, as the heroine in his story, is an upright female knight who wouldn't resort to violence against him.

"anyway……"

Ceresia suddenly realized a problem she had overlooked: "Matsuhara...where is my creator?"

"When I came back, I hung him on the lightning rod so as not to interfere with the battle."

Iori pointed her finger upwards, and everyone immediately fell silent.

"I'll apologize to him when he gets back."

After a long while, Kubo Hide muttered in a low voice, as if feeling guilty, "I'm sorry, my child has caused you trouble... and so on."

"Let's ignore those trivial matters for now."

"A small matter?!"

“That woman—what Altair said really bothered me.”

Iori stood at the edge of the wall, which had been mostly demolished, and looked into the distance.

"I can indeed feel strong magical fluctuations. It seems that new [characters] have been summoned here and are fighting each other."

"Want to go over and take a look?"

……

The battle between Bashu and El was extremely fierce, and in just a few minutes the entire street was riddled with holes. Fortunately, both of them consciously refrained from unleashing their power into the nearby buildings, keeping the battlefield confined to the deserted intersection.

This is a very busy area even in the whole of Tokyo, so such a commotion naturally attracted attention from all sides. Fearless reporters came to within 500 meters and used their cameras to record this news that was destined to shock the world, while helicopters were already circling high in the sky.

In contrast, the demolition of the tower on the other side of the city received less attention.

Terrorists bombing buildings is common, but a mobile Gundam is truly a rare sight!

The Japanese obsession with giant robots is self-evident, so it's no surprise that the media used this place as the site of their instant fame.

Incidentally, the government's response to the news came a few minutes late, following the media campaign.

The police arrived quickly, but looking at the street from afar, which seemed to be the site of a small war, the police, armed only with small-caliber pistols and riot shields, and perhaps a bulletproof vest at most, were unwilling to step forward. They even stayed further back than the reporters.

Are you kidding me? 300,000 yen a month? What kind of life are you living for that?!

Their judgment was correct: small-caliber firearms could not harm the two sides engaged in combat, and although the two were trying to avoid affecting the surrounding area, they would not stop if anyone intruded.

After all, they are all tough guys who survived the battlefield of Shura - although El is a bit cute, he is undoubtedly a knight among knights!

Orcs are a race that is basically immune to magic, but as compensation from the heavens (the creators), they produce many powerful warriors, and Ba Xiu is one of the best among them. As a young man who is not yet thirty years old, he has been given the title of "hero" that only appears once every hundred years.

Orcs cannot understand the value of strategy; all honors and rewards are related to military achievements. Under this system, the top cultivator who climbs to the top can be considered the number one person of the race.

His ability to fight the Phantom Knight with his own flesh and blood is proof of that!

The two sides were completely disproportionate in size and weight. In fact, Ba Xiu was knocked away more than once, but his strong physique allowed him to stand up each time, and his steel-like bones never broke.

The greatsword in his hand was not something a human could wield, but he could unleash high-speed slashes that left no afterimages. Combined with his swift and aggressive movements, he slashed the armor below the left knee of the Phantom Knight to pieces, completely exposing the crystalline fibers, alloy skeleton, and power magic stone inside.

This is a standard tactic when facing large targets. Their massive mass makes them unstoppable on the battlefield, but it also makes them extremely vulnerable. Once their support points are destroyed, their weight becomes a deadly weapon!

In addition, the larger the body size, the more energy is required to move.

Therefore, damaging the opponent's Achilles tendon and ankle can deprive them of mobility to a certain extent. And as long as the wound is deep enough, blood can be continuously drained to wear down the opponent through a protracted battle.

As an orc, Ba Xiu wasn't particularly bright, but his hunting skills were inherited from his bloodline, and his execution was quite astonishing. If his opponent were a demonized mammoth, a red dragon, or even an ordinary phantom knight, he would definitely win the battle.

Unfortunately, however—

call!

The hot wind pushed Ba Xiu several meters away, his clothes clinging tightly to his body, highlighting his solid, metallic muscles. But at this moment, he opened his eyes wide, unsure of what to do.

—Igarka took flight!

This completely overturned his worldview!

The other world is not without flying units: succubi, harpies, flying subspecies of insectoids, and even epic overlord creatures like dragons!

However, without exception, they all rely on wings or magic to fly, while there is no trace of magic on Igalka at all... Although there are indeed intense magical fluctuations, they are directly sprayed out from the strange device on his back.

It's like pointing a cannon at the ground... How can it even fly?

"It's unbelievable that a solid block of iron can go into the sky."

Ba Xiu shook his head, hoisted the heavy greatsword onto his shoulder, and began to ponder his next move—

Run away!

Orcs despise cowards, but that doesn't mean they won't run away. In the face of a battle with absolutely no hope of victory, it would be shameful to waste one's life on the battlefield.

Faced with the ghostly mechs capable of flying into the sky, Ba Xiu quickly made a judgment:

There's absolutely no chance of winning!

Even if he could split a giant rock in two with a single sword strike, or even cut off a dragon's head, it would be meaningless if he couldn't touch it!

If you can't hit them, you just can't hit them. That's the helplessness of the warrior class when facing an opponent who can fly.

If he had a mage unit by his side to assist him, he could try to hunt down the enemy, for example, using tactics against dragons. But he was alone now, so he had no other choice.

Furthermore, the enemy's artillery fire is formidable. Previously, they were only able to dodge it because of their small size and speed, but now they are in a state of being unable to retaliate and can only take hits. If they are shot at from the sky...

"I lost."

Ba Xiu readily admitted defeat: "I take back what I said. It seems I am not qualified to propose to you."

"..."

The Phantom Knight, suspended in mid-air, paused, its magic gun poised to fire froze, and then El's voice rang out.

"So you were serious after all..."

"There's no reason for me to joke around; I've always been serious."

Ba Xiu shouted, "I will run away next, but if you choose to pursue me to the end, I will not be like a rabbit to be slaughtered!"

This overly frank attitude made El hesitate for a moment. To be honest, he could now see that Ba Xiu was not a beast driven by desire, and he probably had no intention of attacking humans before. His killing intent towards Ba Xiu greatly diminished.

Moreover, judging from the current situation, he seems to have returned to Earth piloting the Phantom Knight, which is naturally extremely shocking for a transmigrator. At the same time, an emotion that has been suppressed for twenty years surged within him—

I really want to go to Akihabara to see the new robot anime and official models!

As a complete and utter robot fanatic, he's a "pervert" who can teach himself how to build Gundams in another world, and a genius who loves reactors more than women.

As the childhood friend from another world has already said, El-kun just loves cold and hard steel~

What? A sweet and soft girl?

—Is he as good-looking as her?

Although they might not seem like bad people, we can't let such an anomaly roam freely on Earth. It's better to get rid of them completely—that's what El thought.

It's definitely not because I'm in a rush to buy a model!

"It seems they don't intend to let me leave unscathed."

The tyrant seemed to sense something as well, and he switched to holding the greatsword with both hands, ready for battle.

He planned to try a dragon-hunting method that had appeared in orc legends. Although it was extremely dangerous, it was still effective even against targets in the sky, so it was worth a try!

boom!

A bolt of lightning struck, scorching the ground black from the explosion, and both Ba Xiu and El became alert.

"who is it?!"

"A passing knight!"

At this critical moment, a stern and resolute female voice rang out: "Gentlemen, stop for now!"

Tap, tap, tap—!

As if blending the mechanical engine and the sound of horses' hooves together, a thunderous roar reverberated across the battlefield, and a female knight, riding a steed and brandishing her spear, charged in amidst flashes of lightning!

Without fear, he thrust himself between the two, and the heavy, metallic lance slammed down.

The ground shattered instantly, and countless arcs of electricity burst forth from it, making the female knight the center of attention.

"Gentlemen, calm down! We are all strangers who have wandered here to this place. We have no reason to kill each other!"

Charging into the battlefield with a powerful lance, physically separating Bashu and El, was a female knight exuding a noble aura.

With long golden hair, emerald green eyes, and a heroic face, he exuded an unwavering and resolute expression of unwavering faith in justice.

Wearing heavy armor and wielding a large lance that would intimidate even men, she truly deserves the description of being awe-inspiring.

It is worth mentioning that the horse she was riding appeared to be some kind of mechanical construct, rather than a real mount.

And on the back of this steel warhorse, a pink-clad girl is now clinging tightly to it—the magical girl Mamika.

However, Mami, who usually enjoys flying freely in the sky, couldn't adapt to the female knight's maneuvering style for some reason. Her face turned pale, as if she had just ridden a roller coaster, and there was a faint bluish-black aura between her brows. She lay on the mechanical warhorse, still unable to recover.

If this were in her animated film, her eyes would probably look like mosquito coils by now.

This strange combination left El bewildered and simultaneously dispelled the magic from the gun's muzzle, while Ba Xiu—

"Please marry me and have my children!"

Totally irresistible!

This blonde female knight with her broad frame, strong body, and voluptuous figure is totally Ba Xiu's type!

The child born will definitely become the king of the clan!

"……what?"

The blonde female knight froze, and the words she was about to say were immediately swallowed back down her throat.