Chapter 111: The Fall of the Zeong

Chapter 111: The Fall of the Zeong

"Is that... Lalah?"

Amuro suddenly sensed an overwhelming presence.

At the same time, his NT-1 narrowly evaded a beam fired from a pair of wired manipulators.

Instinctively, he prepared to dodge the inevitable follow-up attack from the funnel drones—but surprisingly, they didn't fire. Instead, they hovered motionless in place.

Relieved, especially without his shield, Amuro wasted no time and fired a beam, destroying one of the floating funnels.

Boom—

"Lalah!"

"Ah, I'm sorry, Colonel!"

Lalah furrowed her brow, forcing herself to refocus on the battlefield. She launched another funnel from behind, but only four remained. The rest had already been destroyed by Amuro, who had expertly picked them off one by one.

Behind his mask, Char's expression grew strange.

Just now, both Amuro and Lalah seemed to have sensed something from elsewhere, distracting them for a moment.

It was a feeling Char couldn't grasp himself…

As the Gundam charged toward him again, Char, feeling a growing irritation, prepared to fire the MEGA Particle Cannon from the Zeong's torso.

However, the beam fired was noticeably weaker—its focus and range both diminished.

"Tch, is the output dropping?"

Though the Zeong's reactor had been specially adjusted, the prolonged battle and frequent use of beam weapons had taken their toll, significantly reducing its power.

This meant that future beam shots would be far less potent.

But Amuro faced similar concerns.

The issue was simple—his beam rifle only had limited rounds left, and now, only two shots remained.

Once they were spent, he'd be in a tough spot against the remaining funnels.

On top of that, something seemed to be going wrong on Lalah's side.

By now, Amuro and Char had drawn dangerously close to the surface of the A Baoa Qu fortress.

Both long-standing rivals made the same decision in that instant:

End this quickly!

The massive Zeong unexpectedly lunged toward the NT-1. Understanding Char's resolve, Lalah released all her remaining funnels.

The distance between them closed rapidly until it felt as if they would collide.

Amuro focused on the Zeong's upper body—all of its weapons had been fired from there since the battle began.

The legs, he assumed, were purely for propulsion.

This assumption was exactly what Char intended to exploit.

The Zeong's arm-mounted MEGA Particle Cannons fired once more, and Amuro deftly dodged.

But something felt wrong.

Why is the Zeong tipping backward?

The attack had come from below!

"The legs aren't just for show!"

As the Zeong's massive leg swung upward, it caught the NT-1 squarely, sending it flying. Amuro could barely hear Char's furious shout through the cockpit's alarms.

"Damn it!"

Amuro gritted his teeth against the violent jolt that seemed to rearrange his insides. Instead of trying to stabilize the tumbling Gundam, he aimed his beam rifle at the Zeong's other leg and fired.

The blast struck the joint, a bright red glow spilling out as internal conduits ruptured.

Char's plan to follow up with another kick was foiled.

Without wasting a moment, Amuro activated his beam saber with his left hand and slashed at the Zeong's leg that had struck him, carving a deep gash.

Moments later, both of the Zeong's legs exploded.

Yet through the smoke, another beam shot forth, piercing toward Amuro.

Char wasn't naive enough to believe Amuro would go down so easily, which was why he immediately followed up with a blast from the torso-mounted cannon.

But there was no satisfying hit—only smoke.

Bzzzzzz!

A retaliatory beam cut through the lingering smoke, heading straight for the Zeong.

At this distance, Amuro wouldn't miss.

Though he failed to hit the core, the beam still punched through the Zeong's right arm, the metal melting away under the searing blast.

While the damage wasn't catastrophic given the Zeong's massive scale, it was enough—the right arm's wired manipulator was now unusable.

"Colonel, he's coming!"

Char still relied on visual tracking, but Lalah, with her heightened senses, could already feel the incoming attack.

Through the smoke, a dark shadow lunged forward.

Before Char could react, rapid gunfire detonated the shadow.

Boom!

Amuro had thrown his beam rifle and shot it with his Vulcan cannons, using the resulting explosion as cover.

Without missing a beat, he grabbed the twin super rocket launchers from his back.

As the NT-1 burst through the smoke from the exploding rifle, it dove straight into the pink haze left by the blast.

Bzzzzzz!

The familiar sound of beam fire echoed again in Amuro's mind.

Beams streaked toward him from multiple angles.

But Amuro consciously ignored some of them—strikes to his leg armor and shoulder plating weren't fatal. He focused on dodging the deadly ones.

Before the smoke cleared, he pulled both triggers.

Two rockets blasted out, cutting through the pink mist and heading straight for the Zeong's chest.

At this range, Lalah realized the danger—but it was too late.

The Zeong's front armor took a direct hit.

Boom!

A massive hole gaped where the rockets had struck.

Amuro didn't hesitate. Still charging forward, he fired two more rockets.

But Char wasn't finished yet.

For Lalah's sake—if nothing else—he refused to give up.

The Zeong's head-mounted MEGA Particle Cannon, unused until now, finally activated.

A thin but deadly beam sliced out, its precise movement controlled by the slight turn of the Zeong's head.

It intercepted and destroyed the incoming rockets, then, with the last bit of power, it clipped the NT-1's left arm.

"Tch! The suit's—"

Char yanked at the controls, but the Zeong no longer responded. The damage was too severe.

Fortunately, the Zeong's head was designed to detach and operate independently.

More importantly, the system controlling the remaining funnels was also housed within the head unit.

The last four funnels followed the detached head as it began its retreat, heading toward a maintenance valve blown open by the Federation forces.

Amuro considered pursuing but stopped short.

He hadn't forgotten why he had risked everything for a swift victory in the first place.

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