The advances made within the Research and Development department of the Black Knights have made a massive leap ever since Silver joined the Black Knights.
His shockingly impressive skill with programming had made all the software that run every single machine belonging to the Black Knights 200% more efficient, including all the knightmare frames. The delay between the input given by the pilot and the output done by the burais have decreased significantly, allowing much smoother movements and quick reaction towards any input given by the pilot.
He had also made changes and improvements to the machinery within the knightmare frames themselves and its weapons, making them more effective in battle and allowing even previously mediocre pilots to gain combat prowess equivalent to the knights of the Britannian Army.
And now, another surge of rapid improvements and advances occurred once more when Rakshata and her team became a part of the Black Knights after India made the decision to become a supporter of the Black Knights.
With more helping hands, resources, and the brilliant minds of a renowned genius and a genius with knowledge of technologies far more advanced than anything that had ever existed in this world, the technological advancement of the Black Knights have increased significantly by leaps and bounds.
And Karen was currently learning and getting used to the new features and upgrades Silver and Rakshata added to her Guren.
As one of the two most powerful knightmare frames within their ranks, the Guren had received plenty of upgrades, including an update on its software mainframe to increase its processing speed, upgrades on its physical parts to increase its strength, durability, speed, and reaction time, and last but not least, a significant upgrade to its main weapon.
The Right-Arm in-built Radiant Wave Unit was the first ever weapon created that employed the Radiant Wave technology. It was an extremely powerful weapon that dealt massive damage onto a knightmare frame upon contact by causing its parts to bulge, expand, and eventually, explode with the violent vibration it caused onto the liquid and minerals within its victims.
But of course, it was not without its flaws. For one, due to the dangerous chain reaction in the Radiant Wave Technology, the Radiant Wave Surger requires ammo to be used in an offensive manner. Without it, further usage of the weapon would potentially cause severe damage of the total destruction of the knightmare itself.
Secondly, and the most glaring weakness of the right arm in-built Radiant Wave Unit, and Guren as a whole, was its short range.
With range only slightly further than an arm's length, the Guren struggled with handling enemies at range. Although this weakness hadn't become a problem yet due to Guren's speed and the battles being mostly short distance confrontations, the fact was that it still existed and needed to be remedied before it became a life-threatening weakness.
Thus, using Excalibur's chest mounted beam weapon and the Luminous Shield technology as inspiration, Silver and Rakshata made a significant upgrade to the Guren's Right-Arm in-built Radiant Wave Unit.
It was now capable of shooting the Radiant Wave Surger in the form of a straight beam or a widespread beam, allowing the Guren to deal with enemies at range and in large numbers.
It was now also capable of creating a shield known as the Radiant Wave Shielding, which was capable of naturally dissolving bullets and even stopping heavy weaponries such as the VARIS, giving the Guren defensive capabilities against long-ranged attacks. After all, although Karen had been doing her best to learn Mordred's skill to cut ranged heavy projectiles such as the VARIS in half, she was still unable to do it reliably. Thus, having this would greatly improve her defenses and survivability in the battlefield.
Karen spent her time making sure she learned every single facet of Guren's new features. And with the help of Mordred, she managed to get used to it very quickly while also enjoying every single second of it.
Though, towards the end of it, she finally realized how close they've been all this time, squeezed into the cockpit of the Guren which was meant for 1 person.
"H-Hey, you're being too close…!"
Her face turned red upon realizing the distance, or the lack thereof, between herself and Mordred and glared at him "threateningly" to move away.
After all, she was sweating from head to toe after spending all these hours in the hangar with the Guren. And, she was also only wearing a tank top and short pants, since it was very hot!
What if she smelled bad? What if he smelled her sweat?! Although she tried to act like she didn't care about appearances, she was, at heart, a young maiden who's still bothered by such things, especially when she's in front of her crush.
Mordred turned to her with an incredulous look. Or at least, that's what Karen assumed his expression was since he was wearing a mask. She herself knew how ridiculous she was for telling him to get away from her.
"How am I supposed to move away…? This cockpit is meant for one person…"
"Kuh… J-Just hold your breath! Don't breathe!"
"Are you asking me to die?!"
Mordred shook his head tiredly and let out a sigh.
"Alright, let's call it here for the day… We've gone through most of the stuff anyway. Do you want to go get a drink?"
"...Sure."
The two exited the cockpit of the Guren and stepped down the ladder to dismount from the knightmare. Then, they made their way to the command center vehicle, which was the only place within their temporary base with air conditioning.
The two entered and found it empty, surprisingly enough. Normally, Zero would've been here for a meeting with several higher up members of the black knights or going through his plans alone. And he was, or at least, Karen knew Zero was here the last time she saw him. But now, there was no one around, despite all the air conditions and machines still running. It was as if someone had just left the command center right before they entered.
"Hm? Where is Zero?"
She asked, turning her attention towards Mordred, who was considered the Black Knight's second-in-command by all the members of the Black Knights.
"He's currently with Ainz, screening some new recruits. I don't know when he'll be back, but I guess that means we got this place to ourselves for now."
"I-Is that so…"
Mordred entered the command vehicle, and Karen followed suit a bit behind him.
He opened up the fridge and pulled out a large bottle of barley tea, and then picked up two glasses from the shelves before going to the living area where Karen was.
"Here you go."
"Ah, thank you."
He poured her a glass of ice cold barley tea and then one for himself as well, before sitting down on the couch along with her.
A comfortable silence fell between the two as they leaned back onto the couch and rested.
Karen was especially exhausted mentally after concentrating on learning as much as she could about the new features of the Guren for so long.
So much so that she forgot the state of her outfit right now.
A mere thin crop top, hot pants, and underwear she wore underneath those thin, minimal clothes were far from enough to hide her curvaceous, womanly body, dripping with sweat. And although she was merely stretching her arms and body, releasing the tension and relaxing her muscles after the long hours of work, the mere act of doing so was akin to a devilish temptress' seducing dance to Yuuji.
Just a simple glance of her exposed, smooth, slightly sweating, skin was enough to make his heart skip a beat. And even if he were to avert his gaze, the prevalent scent of her pheromone and fragrance, which had been enhanced by her sweat, would still fill his nose, which was made worse by his keen senses.
If not for his stone will and control over his libido that he had practiced vigorously just by living with his beloved mother, sisters, aunt, Aika, and C.C, just a whiff of her sweet scent and sweat was enough to cause his dragon rod to rampage and burst through the synthetic fiber material of his suit.
Even now, his dragon rod was already making a massive bulge on his crotch area. It was a sight that would've caused an innocent, young maiden like Karen to yelp in shock and stare at it in both wonder and amazement at the same time if not for Yuuji using his space manipulation magic to warp the space around his crotch to bend the light, creating an illusion that nothing was amiss.
Hah…
He let out a tired sigh inwardly. Sometimes, he wondered why these girls would smell so fragrant and sexy… Was it because they were "characters" in an anime? Was it the effect of his [Divine Physique] the keen senses it came with?
Hah… I need to distract myself… I don't want my horniness to ruin my relationship with them.
Yuuji quickly shook away his horny thoughts and remembered why he fell in love with Karen in the first place.
He didn't fall in love with her solely due to her beauty. He fell in love with her determination first, and the bravery she showed by fighting in the front lines against the oppressive Britannian empire despite only being a highschool girl.
Then, he fell in love with the kindness and innocence she showed underneath her tough exterior.
He opened his eyes, glanced to his side, and looked at the gently smiling girl enjoying the refreshing barely tea deliciously. A smile appeared on his face.
"Hey, by the way…"
"Hm?"
Yuuji snapped out of his daze and saw Karen now wearing a slight guilt on her expression.
"I'm thankful that you're helping me, but didn't Excalibur also receive some upgrades? Is it alright for you to help me instead of getting used to your own knightmare?"
Yuuji titled his head in confusion for a moment.
He had spent some time in the morning before his meeting with Karen to get used to the new additions Tatsuya and Rakshata made to the Excalibur. It didn't take that long since Tatsuya had told him most of the things they'd added to the Excalibur in private as the development progressed. He knew full well the extent of the features and upgrades, so all he had to do was experience it in real life to get used to it. And, with his accelerated learning speed, he was able to grasp every single new feature quickly and get used to the controls in minutes.
But then, a thought struck him which made him realize why Karen had a guilty look on her face.
"Oh? So you know this, but still asked me to help you~?"
His words struck her right in the heart with guilt perfectly. S-She didn't really consider at the time that Mordred would also need time to get used to his own knightmare since the Excalibur also received quite a lot of upgrades. She just wanted his help and his presence there to boost her confidence and do her best to get used to her new Guren as quickly as possible.
Only after they were done did she remember, and guilt began to creep up in her heart.
Yuuji saw her guilt-ridden expression and decided to stop teasing her.
"I was kidding. You don't need to feel guilty."
"Eh?"
Karen looked at him in shock.
"I've already gotten used to it since I've also been working closely with Silver during its development. So, I'll just need a bit of time, maybe an hour or two, and I'll be fine."
"...Really?"
Yuuji nodded and patted her on the shoulders.
"Really. Also, I enjoyed the time we spent together. It's more fun doing that kind of thing with someone else instead of being on your own."
"Nn…"
Karen fell silent for a moment, before a look of determination, and a blush, appeared on her face.
"T-Then, I'll return the favor and accompany you too!"
Her heart beated rapidly as she looked at the man before her nervously. She was extremely embarrassed for even saying those words… After all, she was essentially asking him to spend some time together again! And for a moment, she regretted saying it since she was afraid he'd reject her offer.
But before such negative thoughts took root in her heart, she heard his answer.
"Sure. I'd love to. Thank you. "
Her expression immediately brightened up, and no matter how much she was trying to hide her smile, subtlety was never her strong suit. Her beautiful, bright smile of happiness that rarely appeared even before the people closest to her, was on full display for the man that had stolen her heart.
"Y-You're welcome."
Yuuji felt his heart melt when he saw Karen, the usually tsundere and fierce girl, being so cute.
He just wanted to pull her into his embrace. But just then, Karen's handheld transceiver blared with a familiar voice.
"Karen! Come to the second warehouse now! And bring Mordred if he's with you! There's something big happening!"
The voice belonged to Ohgi, and Karen and Yuuji immediately went into high alert.
She picked up the transceiver hurriedly and pressed a button to respond.
"Alright! We'll be right there!"
She placed the transceiver into her pocket, and the both of them stood up immediately.
"Let's go!"
"Yes!"
Yuuji quickly made his way to the second warehouse. And he couldn't help but get the feeling that the next arc would be starting soon.