Although Neo was confirmed to be safe, the situation was far from over. This truck was still continuing toward its destination.
"Let's get out of here first."
Shortly after Osian said that and disappeared toward the truck's driver's seat, the truck changed direction and deviated from its set route.
Several times, pursuers chased from behind, but it didn't matter. Each time, Osian and Don Quixote stepped up and swept them away. After doing this a few more times, no more pursuers followed.
Finally, the truck stopped after arriving at a secluded place.
The only remaining truck driver, an Alpha team member, raised both hands in surrender. With the squad leader and his subordinates all dead, there was nothing he could do. He had even witnessed what Osian had done through the truck's side mirror.
This insane monster couldn't be defeated even if more than a thousand people attacked simultaneously. Choosing to surrender was natural.
[Please be merciful.]
He had driven the truck to this location as instructed, trying not to upset the other party. He didn't think this would spare his life, but he felt he had to do something.
"What do you want to do with him?"David asked. As someone who preferred thorough preparation, he thought it would be right to eliminate this last remaining enemy. But he wasn't the one to make the decision here.
"Let him go."
"Understood."
As expected. David was surprised at how easily he agreed with himself.
[...Thank you.]
The last survivor of Alpha team responded like that. His mind was probably complicated. After all, if it weren't for Osian, he wouldn't have ended up like this. But it was also true that he survived thanks to Osian's mercy.
Even though he was stranded alone in a remote part of District 49, if he could just reach the border, there would be means of survival. He immediately turned around and ran across the wilderness.
That's what should have happened.
-Whoosh!
Until a blue flash came from somewhere and blew his head off.
"...!"
David and Don Quixote opened their eyes in surprise. The same was true for Osian.
Looking in the direction from which the blue flash had come, they could see something black rapidly approaching through the shimmering heat haze.
"That guy. Did he really follow us all the way here?"
Alpha One, whom they had barely shaken off had recovered his bike and persistently followed them here.
The distance closed quickly. Alpha One stopped near his subordinate's corpse and muttered as if it were pathetic.
[Leaving during a mission is punishable by immediate execution regardless of the reason. Idiot.]
After getting off his bike, he loaded the shotgun that had blown off his subordinate's head. With a clicking sound, a cartridge imbued with bluish magical power was ejected.
"My goodness. A scary person has appeared."
Neo's voice, hiding behind Osian, had a tension unlike his usual self. Alpha One was that dangerous and cruel.
[You've really done it. I'll admit it honestly. No one has ever done this much against us until now.]
Alpha One was furious to the core. All his subordinates were dead. Even the reliable vice-captain, all of them. The mission failed, and his unit was completely annihilated.
It was the first failure he had faced after continuing on a path of success until now. A serious failure from which there was no recovery.
But he couldn't give up here. It was unfortunate that all his team members were dead, but his mission wasn't over.
[Hand over that automaton quietly.]
A demand that was even brazen. This was possible because Alpha One was that confident in his abilities.
He was the leader of a special mercenary unit that secretly handled matters behind large corporations. Excluding the level of strength, he was a specialist when it came to combat. And now he wore the latest suit that compensated for his lack of strength.
He was strong. This was something even Osian acknowledged. That's probably why he could act so arrogantly.
Just as Osian was about to step forward with his sword,
"I'll handle this."
Don Quixote restrained Osian and stepped forward instead, saying he would face that guy.
"Will you be alright?"
"It's a task I failed to complete, so it's right that I take responsibility."
Don Quixote laughed heartily inside his helmet.
"And in front of such an opponent, if I do nothing, how could I call myself a knight?"
"..."
Osian closed his eyes for a moment. Yes. This man was always like this. His life always moved toward a single goal.
So he wouldn't stop him. Osian placed his hand on Don Quixote's shoulder and said,
"If you're a knight, then win without fail."
Don Quixote nodded firmly at those words.
"I will!"
Don Quixote stepped forward, holding his shield and lance. Seeing this, Alpha One snorted inside his helmet.
[Have you gone senile? You're no match for me. You should know that.]
The suit's output, combat techniques, and experience. Alpha One was superior to Don Quixote in everything.
Alpha One had spent all his years killing enemies in battle. In contrast, Don Quixote was just an old man wearing an expensive suit. Even if Don Quixote had lived longer, Alpha One had an overwhelming advantage in the density of experience needed in this situation.
It was a fight that couldn't be established from the beginning.
Nevertheless.
"No knight fears defeat and refuses to fight."
He stepped forward and stood before a dangerous enemy.
Perhaps if he had been alone, he couldn't have done this. But now he had reliable knight comrades. And above all.
He wanted to show Neo, who had saved and raised him as a child. He wanted to tell him that the child you taught has grown up like this and become a proper knight.
Although he couldn't reveal it right now, it didn't matter.
He still remembered. In the cold that cut through his skin, the warmth of being wrapped in a blanket and embraced from behind. Those stories told as if delighted while looking up at the stars in the sky.
The starlight that was clearly engraved deep in his heart during childhood. The dream of becoming a knight that was engraved like that. How could he forget?
So he tried hard. Even if everyone pointed fingers. Even if they laughed and called him crazy.
"Endlessly strive and finally grasp the stars in the sky."
So he couldn't lose. Because knights don't lose. Because they never yield.
"I, Don Quixote, Knight who chases stars, will punish you directly."
[Crazy bastard.]
Alpha One thought further dialogue was useless. A madman needs discipline. If he crushed that knight suit he was so proud of and broke his limbs, he would belatedly realize reality.
Alpha One extended his loaded shotgun. Blue flashes were fired along its trajectory.
Don Quixote raised his shield at an angle. The strands of mana that collided with the shield split into countless branches and scattered in all directions.
Dust rose everywhere. Taking advantage of the momentary obstruction of vision caused by the rising smoke, Don Quixote charged.
-Chiiik!
The suit, with its output increased, emitted white steam. His lance, filled with propulsive force, was thrust toward Alpha One. Alpha One had already read the attack. He discarded his firearm and drew a chain sword from his waist.
-Clang!
The swung chain sword slid along the lance. Don Quixote rotated his body while retrieving his lance. Following the trajectory, his shield came along and aimed for Alpha One's side.
Alpha One skillfully retrieved his chain sword, holding it vertically to block the shield.
[What do you think you can do with a partially destroyed heat weapon?]
Alpha One's chain sword was powerful. On the other hand, the heat weapon that could barely match it had its tip cut off, so its output wasn't what it used to be.
With a clicking sound, a handle popped up above Alpha One's shoulder. He gripped the handle with his left hand and pulled it out strongly.
-Swish! Click!
A whip divided into numerous segments combined into one and took the form of a blade. It was a whip sword, also called a four-part sword.
-Swish!
The whip sword, with its segments separated, became a whip and was swung. Its trajectory was too irregular and dazzling. It was difficult to read easily, so Don Quixote was busy blocking it with his shield.
Alpha One closed the distance. He took advantage of Don Quixote covering himself with his shield to penetrate his blind spot.
-Kak-kak-kak!
The end of the shield was cut off by the chain sword. Beyond it, Don Quixote's surprised appearance was visible. The light inside his helmet shone.
Don Quixote tried to thrust his lance. But it remained only an attempt.
"...!"
The whip sword was tightly wrapped around his lance blade. The whip sword, made of special material, didn't easily break even under the steam suit's output.
-Bang!
Before he could even react, the chain sword knocked away his shield. The abdomen he had been covering with the shield was completely exposed. Don Quixote realized his mistake. He had been distracted by the whip sword.
Alpha One kicked him in the abdomen.
-Crunch!
The lower abdomen of the steam suit crumpled. Don Quixote exhaled and flew backward. After rolling on the ground several times, he quickly got into position. But he staggered and couldn't easily get up.
It was because the impact, which even the sturdy suit had difficulty withstanding, had shaken his insides.
Inside the suit, Don Quixote was an ordinary old man. From this impact alone, he would need weeks of recovery.
"Sir Don Quixote!"
David urgently tried to step forward, but Osian stopped him.
"David. Stay put."
"But if we leave him like this...!"
"It's his fight. Do you intend to dishonor him?"
"...!"
At Osian's firm words, David bit his lip tightly. Alpha One, who had overheard their conversation, sneered.
[What a predicament. It seems your comrades have no intention of saving you. I suppose they've judged you to be useless.]
"Cough! Khe. Very grateful indeed."
[What?]
"They've given me the opportunity to claim victory entirely on my own, without anyone's interference. Doesn't that mean they believe in me?"
Alpha One was momentarily silent at Don Quixote's words. That old man truly believed what he was saying. It irritated Alpha One.
[Don't overdo your mental gymnastics. You're just a crazy old man wearing an expensive suit.]
Alpha One approached slowly, holding the whip sword in his left hand and the chain sword in his right. Although he could have quickly ended it by cutting off his neck, he didn't. He wanted to see this old man give up just before dying.
[Then what can you do? Is there any way other than being helplessly beaten by me while stuck like this? You're just a boaster with a big mouth.]
"You talk too much. Does your precious suit also have a feature that improves your eloquence?"
Don Quixote took position. His abdomen was still sore from the impact, but it was bearable because his spirit wasn't broken yet.
"I'm still alive. Standing on two legs, facing you like this. Why should I, in such a state, give up?"
Don Quixote dropped his lance and reached out toward the void.
"A knight! No matter what happens! Never gives up!"
Alpha One couldn't understand this sight. It was nothing but defiance.
Power, technique, sense, experience. Alpha One was superior in everything. For an old man with not many days left to live, he fought quite well in a suit, but that was all.
It wasn't an equal match from the beginning. Yet, Don Quixote remained consistent even in a situation where he might die.
That was the cry of a fool. It was the desperate struggle of someone still steeped in fantasy, unaware of the ways of the world. But why?
Why, when looking at that figure, did the image of defeat appear in his mind, even though it shouldn't be possible?
"Weapon change!"
The lower part of Rocinante's back opened, and a weapon was shot out with a thud. Just as the shadow, backlit by the sun, was about to fall toward Don Quixote's arm, Alpha One swung his whip sword and caught it in midair.
[Advertising that you're changing weapons, this is why fools are...]
Alpha One didn't finish his sentence. What he thought was a weapon and caught was a compressed log that catches fire easily.
A decoy? By the time he realized this, Don Quixote had already picked up the lance from the ground and was charging toward him.
[This...!]
Alpha One exclaimed as if surprised at having his weak point targeted.
[...is what you thought I'd say?]
Unfortunately, Alpha One had already anticipated Don Quixote's attack. The trajectory of where and how that lance would stab was completely mapped out.
[This insignificant fight has dragged on. Let's end it now.]
He would dodge the incoming lance and then cut off that old man's neck. Just as he thought this, Don Quixote stopped in his tracks right in front of him.
And then Don Quixote revealed his hidden trump card that he had been concealing until now.
-Bang!
The conical lance, cut diagonally, flew like a missile toward Alpha One, emitting white steam. Alpha One was taken aback. He hadn't expected the lance blade to fly separately.
-Boom!
The lance blade exploded, and hot heat enveloped Alpha One.
[Even so, with this kind of attack...!]
The heat resistance of his suit was by no means weak. It might have been what he considered his best shot, but Alpha One was fine.
"I know that. Do you think I wouldn't know such a thing?"
Don Quixote didn't mind. He even smiled. With his final move gone, his hands should have been weaponless. That's what Alpha One thought.
"Knights, originally, duel with swords rather than lances."
The sharp blade hidden inside the lance gleamed keenly.
The lance was merely a weapon for efficient use when mounted on Rocinante. The true necessity for a knight engaging in close combat was none other than a sword.
-Slash!