--Chason Base, Palmian Kingdom. October, 64 A.U.Project Valfreyja--No matter how many times Cpt. Lyto screamed "ABORT" The Pixies just couldn't do it. The captain was late. The enemy's Adders was too close when his message reached.CRACK! PEW! BANG!A miracle happened as all eight shots missed every magic armors. But it was quite possible to be caused by nerves. Here came the next contacts as problems stirred.More on the side of the Fulsts and the Vawln, less on the sides of the Adders.There was no resemblance of teamwork among Team Pixy members. Luckily, the other side also scattered.Pixy 1 was trying too hard to get a proper shot. She was very tense to the point where she wasn't hitting her shots. She wasn't fighting against the enemies' dodging abilities, she was fighting with her own anger.Pixy 2 wasn't eager to do better either. With his massive mana pool and multi-cast power, he sprayed the air space with as much magic as he possibly could muster. So much so that the idea of going for attacks and getting friendly fired made Ames scared.One didn't care about all that magics, though, Pixy 3. His real ability was finally shown to Ames. In exercise, one hit is always a finisher. But Pixy 3's solid unpenetrable defense was his unique power. But it would still run out sooner or later. Sooner, because he received damage not only from the enemies but also from friendly fire."Uh... What should I-"Ames was left stranded on his own. Moving up would be bad, but staying there wouldn't help anyone. He decided to just silently observe the zone.One is attacking! Pixy 1!? Not me?That was a strange target to focus on. Ames wasn't conceited or anything, but he was the one who had the different armor on.Not like the elf's decision was wrong. Pommeline on the team was by far the most dangerous person. Even if her usual performance wasn't shown."Pixy 1!"BANG! BANG!Ames came in between the enemy and Pommeline with some backbone. Both he and the enemy fired at the same time. Both missed.The elves were using a magic riffle almost similar to HAFF's own. The difference was, that most elves joined Pixy 3's faction. Most chose to let their specialty magic be shown.Ames flew closer to where the elf was flown. His best bet at the time would be to dodge incoming attacks while trying to get a lock-on."DIE!" The target herself, Pommeline, left the situation unknown to herself.BANG! BANG!"WAH!"Both shot again. Both hit their enemies.Ames hit the elf right in the head. He lowered the rifle's output, so no explosions occurred. But at such a close range, the thinner armor of the helmet was not helping.The elf hit Ames in the torso. It wasn't fatal as the armor around that part was thicker. But, it threw the magic armor's flying system imbalance. Ames plummeted to the ground, hitting his head.Two bodies fell from the sky.---"...xy 4! ...in! ... Pixy 4! Come in!""Ugh... Yes?"His knees were weak, arms heavy, and vision was blurry. There was a ringing in Ames's head. A sickness in his body, he was trying his best not to throw up in the armor."Where? Uhh... The enemies?""They're taking care of it. You focus on getting somewhere safe!"Fortunately for him, his brave fight gained attention on the battlefield. It even managed to snap the others out of their trance. They were fighting the enemies properly at that moment.Unfortunately for him, the attention wasn't always good. The gate to the base was some distance away from where he landed. In his current condition, he would be able to reach it, slow as it would be. But the situation didn't allow for that.RUMBLEThe rumbling steps of the elven army finally woke Ames fully. The sheer number of them was something that any one human soldier would not want to see."FIRE!"RATATATThe soldiers stationed in the base came in at the right time."Urgh..." Ames's body was broken, but the magic armor let him stand slowly.At the joints of the magic armor, a mechanical magic spell was inserted. The function imbued was a simple [rotate] both in 2D axis or 3D. They work in the same way as human joints do but are controlled by magic.While simple, the magic engineering of the artificial joints was deep. It also didn't provide any physical resistance from the user's physical control. What it meant was the joint would not fight against the user if they moved the joint without magic, normally.At that point, Ames was putting about 75% of his movement loads on the artificial joints' capability."Haa... haa... Front gate?""Copy that, Pixy 4. You are around one kilometer away from the wall.""Yes, thank you..."The enemies... maybe half of it? I can't escape.---"PIXY 4! What are you doing? You need to move!""I can't run! Haa...""Pixy 4! This is your captain, MOVE!""No..."Ames wasn't being stubborn. He knew as soon as he turned his back to run, the elves would torn him up. He was born with a strong instinct. He trusted it. And in this case, his instinct told him he would survive this way.CRACK!He shot into the crowd. Thankfully there were many of them. His subpar aiming was helped."""AAAA"""Several magic spells flew at him. But with the Vawln's thrusters escaping it was easy. Ames moved laterally to escape the attacks while maintaining a steady aim."Aaah-" Ames killed another elf.But running like that would stop working sooner or later. Ames knew that it would come to this.---"HOLD FIRE!""Sir! That one! That's ours?""Yeah, what the hell is that bastard thinking!"Soldiers near the gate had no choice but to stop the attack. Ames just jumped into the the enemies' stack!There were two weapons specifically created for the magic armor. The MR-40 was an upgraded, stronger version of normal magic rifles. But one weapon that was made from scratch for the armors was the "Spellblade".At the top-right of every units' backpack, there was a handle protruding upward. It was angled to the right so pilots could pull it with ease. Once pulled a conjuring spell was activated. A blade made of mana would manifest from the handle. It was specifically made to feed off of magic armors' mana stone."Eeaahh!"SPLATWithout protection magic, an elf provided as much resistance as a sheet of paper.More elves were incoming. With the spellblade in his right hand, he stabbed one in the neck. While his left hand stuck the barrel of the MR-40 right into a face."Ah!-" CRACK!The fear on his face as he stared into Ames's eyes wasn't enough for Ames to stop. He pulled the trigger. The magic missile entered and exited the man's head. It also hit another elf's head behind.I can't stop... Not yet!Ames had been dodging attacks by jumping backward towards the base's gate. He was hoping to slowly get his way back to the base."What!?" Ames missed a shot close range. One of the elves was bright enough to hit his arm's base.TANK!Someone hit Ames in the helmet, It was an earth elemental mage. A rock was thrown on his head. It packed enough strength to leave Ames stunned for a few seconds where he couldn't move place."GET THE TYRANT!"The result was as expected. Ames was surrounded by the elves.VWHiii-He tried to escape upward but failed. A lightning spell hit him before he sailed."AH! Ahhh!" Ames was assaulted by the barrages of spells. He could tell that these soldiers were young and untrained. If real elf mages were to do it to him, Ames's life would already be claimed.Ames still has one more play.He turned the output of the rifle to max where it would explode at contact. If he shot it just a bit further, his armor might be able to handle the explosion.CRACK! BOOM! SPLAT!The spell exploded ten meters from Ames. Almost a dozen of elves died in the explosion. Every person in the melee got pushed by the shock wave. Including Ames."WAH!!"THUDAmes got knocked and hit his head again. The accumulated damage was too much for Ames to stay conscious.---Ames went in and out of consciousness.Ksshh"GET HIM OUT OF THERE!"Ksshh"What about his vitals?""He's fine for now, just unconscious. If you didn't get him out of there, they would attack him, conscious or not... Good job... For this, at least."CLANK CLANK"Quick, HE is the priority, not the armor. Get him out of there!"beep beep beepAmes got saved and was quickly brought to the base's medical wing. He was put as number one on the patient priority lists.Getting him out of the AMK-X0 Vawln and into the treatment room was a fight on its own. His body was almost fully destroyed. Multiple bone fractures, some even pierced his flesh.He got a major head injury from all the damage it took. If the doctors were late to cast the healing magic, the damage would have been a permanent one.Ames recovered in five days.