Chapter 100: Lalah's Fear

Chapter 100: Lalah's Fear

At this moment, Eli was still piloting his craft, rushing to the battlefield.

Meanwhile, the fight between Amuro and Char had already reached an intense climax from the very beginning.

Relying on the superior maneuverability of the NT-1, Amuro executed a swift turn while emerging from behind wreckage, raising his rifle in one fluid motion. The crosshairs locked onto Char.

Despite remembering how, back in Side 6, Char had personally crouched in the muddy water to help free his vehicle, Amuro did not hesitate.

Eli had once warned him: as long as the enemy still intended to fight, his top priority must be protecting himself.

Amuro, who had always listened to Eli's advice, naturally wouldn't hold back just because he had some favorable impressions of Char.

"Zzzzt!"

A beam fired straight toward the Brave.

At that moment, Char had just completed his turn to face Amuro directly—only to see the beam already rushing toward him.

With no other choice, Char gritted his teeth and withstood the crushing G-force, forcing the Brave into a backward lean to evade the shot.

At the same time, he quickly righted his mobile suit and fired back, sending a bright yellow beam toward Amuro.

But by then, Amuro had already moved. The shot hit nothing but empty space.

The difference between them was not just about mobile suit performance.

His intentions had already been seen through!

Frustrated, Char fired several more shots at the agile Gundam, but every one of them was dodged with ease.

Amuro's Newtype abilities far surpassed his own.

While Char could only faintly perceive Amuro's presence, Amuro could directly read his hostile intent and predict his attacks in advance.

This realization irritated Char immensely.

Fortunately, he had Lalah.

"Zzzzt! Zzzzt! Zzzzt! Zzzzt!"

Beams fired almost simultaneously from multiple directions, trapping Amuro in a web of energy.

One even grazed the NT-1's right leg thruster, slightly melting its armor.

"Autonomous weapons?"

Though unfamiliar with the concept of funnel units, Amuro instantly recognized them for what they were.

With intermittent bursts from the NT-1's thrusters, he narrowly evaded a series of deadly shots.

"The next one—there!"

Amuro suddenly turned, raising his shield!

The impact sliced off the front quarter of his shield.

But behind the shield—NT-1 was no longer there.

"Again!"

Char, who had just swung his beam naginata, was frustrated as he quickly pulled his control stick back.

He knew that a counterattack was coming.

Sure enough, a beam saber thrust upward from below, aiming straight for the Brave!

The blade sliced through the mobile suit's lower armor, melting the front skirt plate.

Had Char not retreated in time, that stab could have pierced straight into his cockpit.

Both mobile suits quickly disengaged.

Amuro retrieved his shield, reattaching it to his weapon mount.

It was then that Char noticed—the Gundam's beam saber wasn't held in its hand but extended from where its Gatling cannons used to be.

Back when facing the Big Zam, the Gatling cannons had been damaged. Afterward, Amuro had the maintenance team remove them and install beam sabers instead—an idea he had heard from Eli back in Southeast Asia.

Speaking of Eli, where was he?

Eli had nearly arrived at the scene, just now bringing Char into his firing range.

He raised his beam rifle, intending to coordinate with Amuro and take Char down together.

"Zzzzt!"

A sudden beam strike hit the Brave!

Or rather, it struck the Brave's curved shield.

Having just witnessed Amuro's maneuver, Char instantly detached the shield and pulled back.

The shield shattered into pieces.

"Another Gundam?!"

While blocking NT-1's attacks with his beam naginata, Char was already analyzing the situation.

"Lalah, if you can hear me, engage the new Gundam."

The prolonged battle had increased the density of Minovsky particles in the area, interfering with Char and Lalah's direct communication.

But Char believed Lalah would understand his intent!

Just as Eli was preparing his second shot, a sudden wave of panic surged through his mind.

His mobile suit instinctively turned—aiming at an approaching funnel unit!

But before he could fire, another beam from a different direction struck his EZ-SR's beam rifle first!

Eli immediately discarded the damaged weapon, tossing it at the incoming funnel. The resulting explosion engulfed and destroyed it.

Yet there were still seven more funnels around him.

Clearly, Lalah had adjusted her attack strategy.

Rather than firing all funnels simultaneously—making it easier for a Newtype pilot to dodge—she staggered their activation.

Eli had reacted to the first threat, only to be caught off guard by another. That cost him his beam rifle.

"At least I brought a rocket launcher..."

Eli had carried it as a precaution, in case the Elmeth had an unexpected defensive system like an I-field barrier.

But against highly mobile funnels, a slow-moving rocket was nearly useless.

So instead, Eli deployed the EZ-SR's left-hand machine gun and head-mounted Vulcan cannons, using suppressive fire to disrupt the funnels' movements.

Still, this tactic would only last as long as his ammunition held out.

That left him with only one option to break free.

"Got you~"

A voice—like the whisper of death—echoed in his mind.

Without hesitation, Eli instinctively shifted his mobile suit's orientation and accelerated at full speed!

"Ngh!"

At that moment, Lalah's face turned pale.

She hadn't been physically harmed—but what she saw filled her with fear.

Was this… her future?

Trapped under Earth's gravity, forced into that wretched existence...

Panic surged through her, and the Psycommu system registered her distress.

"Zzzzt! Zzzzt! Zzzzt!"

Multiple beams suddenly fired in front of the EZ-SR.

"Stay away!"

Lalah's desperate cry transcended the battlefield, resonating in everyone's minds.

"Lalah, what's going on?!"

"This sensation... is it that person from before?"

In the midst of their duel, Char and Amuro both hesitated, momentarily distracted by the other battle.