Having become stronger by abandoning his humanity, Creuset smoothly fought his way to Wang Hu's front.
Kira's previous restraining attacks were completely useless, utterly insufficient against the current Creuset.
Revealing two pairs of beam claws that looked terrifying just by their appearance.
Creuset's hatred for Wang Hu couldn't be washed clean even with all the water from the five lakes and four seas.
Around the Prototype Chaos Gundam, it seemed as if a substantial, distorted, dark hatred was spreading.
"Die, Wang Hu!"
For the first time in his life, Creuset felt the opportunity to take Wang Hu's head was so close.
And why wouldn't it be?
Wang Hu was still entangled with his Dragoon Pods, having lost his body and directly connected his brain to the mobile suit.
Achieving the feat of man-machine unity, Creuset eliminated the physical intermediary.
How fast his reaction speed in controlling the Dragoon Pods was!
Even an Ace like Wang Hu was somewhat unable to keep up with the speed of the Dragoon Pods.
In Creuset's view, even in the worst-case scenario where Wang Hu could react and take measures to block his beam hook claw,
It would only be a brief struggle before he would be shot down by his Dragoon Pods.
And the actual development indeed temporarily matched what Creuset had envisioned.
"Crunch!"
The sound of the mimetic Lightning Z Gundam's arm being severed echoed in the cockpits of the few on this battlefield.
At the critical moment, to avoid Creuset delivering a fatal blow, Wang Hu had to choose the lesser of two evils.
Temporarily letting go of the troublesome Dragoon Pods, he chose to raise his arm, sacrificing it.
Watching helplessly as the Lightning Z Gundam's arm was delivered into Creuset's tiger mouth.
"Hmph, Wang Hu, feel the hatred of all the Coordinator soldiers you've shot down before!"
Merely cutting off one of Wang Hu's mobile suit's arms could never satisfy Creuset's appetite.
Having made such great sacrifices, even at the cost of becoming like a certain brain in a jar from the Iron-Blooded Orphans...
Creuset, who remained loyal even with only his brain left, wanted Wang Hu's life.
His consciousness, converted through the mobile suit into electronic signals controlling the Dragoon Pods.
The pods, already circling and entangled around Wang Hu's mobile suit, turned.
Four pod cannons attacked the Lightning Z Gundam at almost point-blank range.
Naturally, facing such a close-range attack, unless a god arrived, there was no saving him.
And Wang Hu was clearly not a god, even if he was truly powerful...
"Brother Wang Hu!"
Watching the Lightning Z Gundam sparking all over under Creuset's attack,
Kira in the Freedom Gundam couldn't believe that the seemingly omnipotent Brother Wang Hu from his memory would fall?
"This kid, he's in trouble now!"
Kira was too concerned and lost his composure, but Mu managed to maintain some calm.
Zooming in on the screen in his cockpit, Mu carefully assessed Wang Hu's current situation.
Thank goodness, thank goodness.
His anxious heart was still hanging, but as long as Wang Hu wasn't dead, there was still hope.
Even if his current state looked miserable!
"Wang Hu, you're really hard to kill!"
At this point, Creuset's expectations began to deviate. The brain in the vat within the Prototype Chaos Gundam trembled incessantly.
It was clearly enraged—the close-range firing of the Dragoon Pods had taken effect.
Yet, it wasn't quite what he had imagined!
To save his life, Wang Hu continued the strategy he had employed earlier: sacrificing an arm to appease Creuset's tiger-like assault.
For Wang Hu in that moment, nothing was too precious to abandon if it meant survival.
He vividly recalled how Creuset had once blocked an attack from the Beam Pods of the Aegis—a mobile suit Wang Hu had piloted before—by discarding a rifle and relying on the heavy rifle's explosive detonation.
Facing a life-or-death crisis, Wang Hu didn't hesitate for even a moment. He immediately replicated a move his enemy Creuset had used in the past.
First, he hurled all his Beam Rifles at the approaching Dragoon Pods of the Prototype Chaos Gundam. Seizing the instant the rifles exploded,
he managed to momentarily halt several Dragoons, buying himself the critical time needed to escape.
Crouching low and curling into a ball, the Lightning Zeta Gundam burst out of the encirclement in an undignified manner.
But he didn't truly escape. After all, Creuset's Dragoon Pods were immensely powerful, and their brainwave-controlled agility was beyond belief.
Noticing Wang Hu's maneuver, Creuset manipulated the Dragoon Pods to execute an abrupt about-face.
They unleashed a rapid barrage of fire at the fleeing, balled-up Wang Hu.
This was the origin of the fiery explosions Kira had seen erupting around the Lightning Zeta Gundam earlier.
After a flurry of lightning-fast exchanges that left onlookers dazzled, Wang Hu managed to preserve his life, but the mobile suit he piloted was severely damaged.
One of its arms had been severed by Creuset's Beam Hook Claw, and all its Beam Rifles had been destroyed by Creuset's Dragoon Pods.
It had also lost both legs, with armor damaged in multiple places. More critically, the thrusters on its back had caught fire.
If he couldn't return to the mothership Zhu Long for emergency repairs promptly, even if Creuset ceased pursuit,
the burning Propulsion Nozzles on Wang Hu's back alone would be enough to ignite the Lightning Zeta Gundam, causing it to explode.
Just like the enemy mobile suits Wang Hu had shot down before, it would burst into a firework display in space.
As the saying goes, "Strike while the iron is hot." Creuset, who harbored deep hatred for Wang Hu, would certainly not let this opportunity slip.
He launched another attack.
Fortunately, at this moment, Kira and Mu finally arrived.
The two promptly positioned themselves between Creuset and Wang Hu.
After all, Kira—the protagonist of the original timeline—and Mu, Creuset's nemesis in that same timeline, were not merely idle bystanders.
Their inability to assist in the previous attack was somewhat understandable, as both Kira and Mu had been caught off guard at the time.
Firstly, they were shocked by Creuset's current appearance, and secondly, they hadn't expected Wang Hu to actually be defeated.
But now things were different. With Wang Hu so badly beaten, how could Kira and Mu afford to dwell on Creuset's altered state?
"Mu, you failed creation, how dare you stand in my way!"
"And Kira, you who understand nothing, have still devoted that talent everyone envies
to the battlefield. Truly, no matter when or where, humans only bring destruction and ruin to this world!"
Had it been under normal circumstances, seeing these two individuals with deep connections to him blocking his path...
Creuset might have been somewhat inclined to engage with them under different circumstances.
But now his focus was entirely on Wang Hu, who was barely clinging to life.
He deliberately chose the public communication channel to deliver a series of provocative remarks.
Then, seizing the moment when Kira and the other were stunned by his words, he accelerated and swerved past them.
Without looking back—if Creuset even had a head to turn—he charged relentlessly toward the Lightning Z Gundam.
"What did you say about a failure?!"
Creuset's words had some effect, but only on the young Kira.
Kira was indeed momentarily confused by Creuset's cryptic statements, but Mu, seasoned by battle and worldly experience,
remained largely unaffected.
However, Mu understood that even Wang Hu's skills and the capabilities of the Lightning Z Gundam had been outmatched by Creuset's new mobile suit.
A direct confrontation with Creuset would likely end badly for him.
So, Mu cunningly pretended to fall for the deception.
The moment Creuset breached their defensive line, Mu had been waiting for this opportunity.
He swiftly turned the Strike Gundam, aligning Creuset's unit perfectly in the sights of his Beam Rifle.
And to ensure accuracy, he thought: if Creuset could disrupt us with trash talk,
why couldn't I do the same to throw him off his game?
So, besides retorting to Creuset's earlier remarks, Mu dug deeper with words meant to strike at Creuset's core.
"Even if I am a failure, I'm still alive and well, a complete human being!"
"What about you, Creuset? Nothing but a brain floating in a jar!"
"In that case, rather than me being the failure, you're the one who's destined to be used and discarded!"
As Mu finished speaking, Kira finally snapped out of his daze from Creuset's earlier words and witnessed another shocking scene.
Creuset, who had seemed solely intent on targeting Brother Wang Hu, abruptly halted in his tracks because of Lieutenant Colonel Mu's words!
"Opportunity!"
Though unsure why his words had such a devastating impact, causing Creuset to make such a grave mistake on the battlefield,
Mu didn't dwell on the reasons. He seized the golden chance.
Overjoyed, Mu pulled the trigger, aiming squarely at Creuset in his sights.
The beam shot from his rifle swiftly—and to Kira's horror—
easily struck Creuset's Prototype Chaos Gundam!
"How can this be?!"
Staring at the Prototype Chaos Gundam, now missing one of its Dragoon Pods, Kira found it utterly illogical.
How could Lieutenant Colonel Mu achieve what even the formidable Brother Wang Hu couldn't,
merely by exchanging some trash talk?
"No!"
Shaking his head, Kira hurriedly raised his Rainbow Cannon. Now was not the time to ponder such questions!
He too wanted to contribute, to defeat the enemy before them and avenge Brother Wang Hu!
"A failure? Ah, you mean I'm a failure of your father, Al Da Flaga?"
Before Kira could press his advantage and launch an attack against Creuset, the latter—piloting the Prototype Chaos Gundam—unexpectedly abandoned Wang Hu once again.
He turned and charged toward Mu.
"Mu, look closely! In what way am I a failed product of your father, Al Da Flaga?"
A dragon has reverse scales—touch them and it will strike back. For Creuset, his identity as a clone was precisely such a reverse scale.
Thus, when Mu inadvertently struck this sore spot, Creuset abandoned Wang Hu without hesitation, determined to seek justice for his long-tragic life!
"Such an intense reaction?"
Mu was equally astonished. It was just a piece of trash talk, after all.
For seasoned veterans like them on the battlefield, why react so strongly?
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