Chapter 137 ~ Black Rebellion

"Princess… Here are the set of reports regarding the attacks on the military outpost in the southeastern side of the Tokyo Settlement last night."

"Hah… Yet another one, huh…?"

Cornelia let out a deep sigh as she sat in her office within the Viceroy palace at the center of Tokyo Settlement. To his side, his knight, Guilford, had just given her a file with several pages of documents, detailed reports regarding the attack and the damages they suffered. 

These kinds of attacks, may it be caused by the JLFs, rioters, or rebel groups, had been happening throughout Japan, with areas around Tokyo Settlement being the most frequent. 

With their internal mobilization strategy and advantages in numbers, weapons, and logistics, they were able to fend off the attacks. But not without suffering their own losses. 

And with the frequency in which they're being attacked… some parts of their forces have slowly begun to show some wear and tear. 

"Princess… We know this must be the plot of the Japan Liberation Force and the Black Knights to thin out our numbers. Would it not be best for us to simply launch an assault directly to their base…?"

"We are still unable to confirm if those "bases" we found are the real ones… If we send our main forces there, our headquarters will be vulnerable to surprise attacks. After everything that happened, we only have enough forces to defend against the growing JLF and Black Knights' forces."

"Then… Perhaps we can simply detach an elite task force of the royal guards to strike their base and leave immediately. The Glaston knights who had just arrived could-"

"And what if they encounter that jet-black knight, the crimson red one, or the pilot who managed to stand toe to toe with you?"

"T-That is…"

Guilford lowered his head, stepped back, and reflected on his words. 

"I hate to say it… But those three could easily overwhelm even the Glaston Knights. And if they were to fall… We'd truly be unable to hold our position here."

He clenched his fists at his princess's words, frustrated by the truth of it and how he couldn't see it before running his mouth. 

If he simply thought of it for a moment longer or thought with a clear mind like he normally would, he would've been able to point out the flaws in his suggestions easily. 

However, seeing the distressed figure of his princess, the clear exhaustion and stress in her eyes, he simply wanted to find a solution that could perhaps alleviate her burden slightly. 

But perhaps… The toll on his mind caused by all that has been happening ever since the Special Administrative Zone tragedy had dulled his judgment slightly.

"Please forgive me, princess…"

Cornelia let out a sigh and leaned back to her seat, letting her arms fall down to her arm rest. 

"Don't mind it. We are all tired. But… We simply need to buy some time until my brother manages to convince the Japanese."

"That… My princess, forgive me for saying this but… Is that even an option anymore after that… tragedy?"

"I'm not sure myself, Guilford. With the rise of their military prowess, economy, and unity, and our current situation, it'd be unlikely that they'll willingly accept my brother's terms and be satisfied with just sharing the land."

"Then…"

Cornelia glanced at the reports on her desk. 

The ever increasing number of skirmishes. The loss of several important logistic routes. The decreasing number of knightmare frames at their disposal… And their loosening grips on the various economic structures and influence on the Japanese.

These seemingly natural chain of events that happened due to the tragedy, she knew, were all caused by the JLF, the Kyoto House, and the Black Knights in reality. 

But even though she had tried to mitigate the damage, she still couldn't stop every single one. Especially all the losses Britannia had suffered in the stock market and business sections since then. 

Slowly but surely… It felt as if the ground beneath her feet was disintegrating to dust. 

"My princess…"

"Well that's enough of that. There's still lots to do. How is the mustering of Darlton's army goin-"

"Your highness!!!"

Just then, a loud voice that belonged to a familiar knight resounded from behind the door. 

"What is it?"

Cornelia asked in a stern, yet slightly annoyed, tone from the rudeness they speaker had shown her. 

But soon, her annoyance turned into shock when she saw a blond-haired young man, Alfred G. Darlton, the adopted son of Andreas Darlton and member of the Glaston Knights who had just come from the mainland to reinforce Cornelia, came with a clear agitation in his eyes. 

"Your highness… We have just received word from the scouts on the southeastern part of the outer Tokyo Settlement area. They saw a massive number of Japanese Liberation Forces there, marching in this direction! And there were also… new types of knightmare frames within their ranks we've never seen before!"

"!!!"

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"So it is time…"

Zero spoke under his breath as he stared at the massive screen before him. 

Mordred, C.C, Karen, Silver, Ainz, Rakshata, Ohgi, and all members of the Black Knight's core members had gathered within the bridge of the ship as they flew above the dark clouds. 

To fly above the clouds in such an impressive warship that was far more advanced than anything other military technology in this world was something that would've taken all of their attention and excitement. 

Or perhaps, to some, flying in the midst of such dark, stormy clouds might evoke a sense of fear and nervousness. Even though they knew that the dark clouds were actually a gift from the heavens that allowed them to conceal their presence, it would still be quite scary to fly in a thunderstorm, no matter how strong the ship was.

However, at this moment, all eyes were locked onto the massive screen at the forefront of the bridge. 

Even Rakshata's team, Ohgi, Naomi, Yoshitaka, Kento, and Tatsuya, who were sitting behind the control panels that controlled Amaterasu's various weaponaries and movement systems and preparing for their launch, stopped and watched as the scene unfolded before them. 

There were only a few minutes left before the start of the JLF's assault on the southeastern part of the Tokyo Settlement. 

And on the screen, they could see the main force of the JLF's army preparing to sortie. 

Though the sky was dark with storm clouds looming over the entire Tokyo Settlement, four white, knightmare frames with crimson red accents through its body shined with iridescent light as they stood before an army of thousands of foot soldiers, hundreds of tanks and heavy weaponaries, and hundreds of JLF burais and the new type knightmare frame, Gekka; a knightmare frame first developed by the Black Knights and later mass produced by the JLFs with the help of Kyoto House.

The four white knightmare frames named Akatsuki slightly resembled the Guren in terms of appearance, which it was based on along with its technologies. However, it didn't have Guren's large right hand. Instead, they were all equipped with two shoulder-mounted machine guns, a revolving blade sword, arm-mounted Radiation Wave missiles, and an arm-mounted, two barreled handguns in addition to a Hien Souga-type Slash Harken. 

While standing before the four Akatasuki was a cerulean blue knightmare frame with silver linings across its chest, arms, and legs that glimmered under the light of the sun. In its left hand, it held a massive, long samurai sword, a nodachi, that surpassed even its height and towered over all the other knightmare frames. 

It was the newly fixed and completed knightmare frame that Rakshata's team found within the depths of the Amateur's secret hangar. 

The Susanoo, currently piloted by Tohdoh to spearhead the JLF's attack force against Britannia. 

They all watched in bated silence, and soon… war ensued. 

The JLF launched their offensive with Tohdoh and the Four Holy Sword as their spearhead against Britannia's fortification and reinforcement. 

However… Soon, they could clearly see that the "war" had quickly turned into a one-sided annihilation in favor of the JLFs. 

With Tohdoh's skill and the Susanoo, along with the Akatsukis and Gekkas, the Britannians were now tasting how the Japanese felt when they were facing enemies with far more advanced weaponries in the past. 

But, it was still far from over… 

The Britannians, who had been holding on to their grounds by being defensive, managed to buy time for reinforcements to come.

"Zero! Britannia's main forces are coming as reinforcements!"

"It seems like Darlton and the rumored Glaston Knights came to defend it, as expected."

"Well, against an army this big with Tohdoh and the Four Holy Swords leading them, the Britannians knew they can't just send out a few battalions."

Zero nodded at Mordred's words. 

With how sudden the JLF attacked, it was quite impressive that they managed to respond and send in a massive division so soon.

"The main army must've been on stand by as well, which made sense. They knew we're gearing up for a massive offensive, after all~"

Rakshata commented as she stood with a pipe in her hand. 

"Though, I doubt it'd still be enough to stop my beautiful Susanoo and the other children for long~"

Her red, luscious lips curled into a wide grin as her eyes narrowed at the figure of the cerulean knightmare culling through multiple sutherlands with a single swing of its giant sword. 

Ohgi and the others, seeing how the Akatsukis, and even the Gekkas, overwhelmed the Britannian forces, they had no choice but to agree with Rakshata's words.

But, having experienced how powerful the Britannian army was, they held themselves and did not celebrate yet. For if they were to be complacent, they could easily lose this chance to regain their lands and nation from the Britannians. 

And soon, they were proven right not to be complacent. 

The moment Darlton and the main division of the Britannian Army, which included the Glaston Knights, arrived, the JLFs finally met some resistance that stopped their avalanche-like advance into the Tokyo settlement. 

"Well then, I'll go be on standby now."

Mordred turned from the screen and looked towards Zero, who nodded to him.

"Alright. I will follow you soon.

"Sure. Let's go, Karen."

"Mm."

He turned towards C.C for a moment and locked gaze with her. He nodded, and C.C responded back with a nod and a faint smile, and he left the bridge with Karen. 

Yuuji had spent the entirety of last night with C.C and made a promise to return to her side when this was over. And although she was still worried, she still decided to trust him. 

"I'll keep him safe. Don't worry."

Karen approached C.C and smiled with determination in her eyes. 

She won't let anything happen to Yuuji.

"Mm. You keep yourself safe too."

"Thank you."

Karen then followed after Yuuji. 

And before they left, Yuuji also approached Ohgi, Tatsuya, and Satoru.

"I'll be leaving the Amaterasu to you. I know we're in a storm, but the ship is strong enough to withstand it. Don't crash it to the ground on its maiden voyage."

"Y-Yes! Of course!"

"I won't. You should be careful as well."

"I'll do my best! Mordred, good luck."

"Yeah. Let's end this war."

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