"Found it, the lounge."
Mikazuki finally located the lounge. Although it wasn't far, he had to take a roundabout route due to heavily guarded areas, eliminating most of the Earth Alliance soldiers along the way before reaching it.
After thoroughly clearing out the Artemis Earth Alliance soldiers in the corridor, Mikazuki stepped into everyone's view, his green coat and face... his entire body stained with fresh, crimson blood.
The assault rifle in his hand was one of many he'd snatched from the Earth Alliance soldiers he'd killed.
Kira and the others stared, stunned, at the blood-soaked Mikazuki.
"Mi... Mikazuki?"
Mikazuki saw Miriallia's arm being gripped by a lecherous-looking man, raised his rifle, and fired a shot.
"Ah!"
Gerard, who hadn't fully recovered from the shock of Mikazuki's sudden appearance, screamed as blood splattered from his thigh, causing him to fall to his knees. His adjutant cried out in alarm,
"Fire! Kill him!"
Bang!
However, it was Mikazuki who fired again. The target was the arrogant adjutant, specifically his head. A single shot killed him instantly, sending the civilians in the lounge, especially the women, into screams.
"Behave yourselves, or the next shot will be your head."
Gerard clutched the wound on his thigh, cold sweat beading on his forehead as he stared at Mikazuki.
"How... how did you appear here?"
"Huh? Oh, I went all around the Archangel, killing all your people before coming here. Took quite a bit of effort."
"Killed them all? What kind of joke is that? I sent over two hundred men to secure a single warship. You, a mere kid..."
Bang!
Another shot. This time, it hit his right shoulder.
"Shut up, you're too noisy."
Mikazuki threw a remark at the prostrate Gerard before turning to the remaining Artemis soldiers in the lounge.
"Hey, you guys. If you want your superior to live, throw down all your weapons."
The Earth Alliance soldiers exchanged glances, hesitating. So Mikazuki, without emotion, fired another shot.
Bang!
"Ah!"
Another bullet hole appeared in Gerard's left arm. With snot and tears streaming down his face, he yelled at the surrounding soldiers,
"You idiots! Do you want me to die?! Listen to him! All of you, listen to him!"
Only then did the soldiers obediently drop their weapons.
Gerard's voice trembled as he spoke,
"We've done exactly as you said. Can... can you let me go?"
Mikazuki stepped on Gerard's thigh, and Gerard screamed, throwing his head back, then fainted.
Everyone in the lounge was terrified by Mikazuki's methods, or rather, they had been stunned the moment he appeared.
Miriallia, clutching her bruised arm, stared blankly at the blood-covered Mikazuki walking towards her.
"You..."
"Are you okay?"
Mikazuki's words somewhat dispelled Miriallia's fear of the boy before her, and her previously panicked emotions calmed down.
"It's just bruised. It's fine."
"Is that so?"
Mikazuki nodded, then tossed an assault rifle to Arnold, saying,
"Hurry to the bridge and prepare to activate the Archangel. I'm going to find your captain."
"Eh? You, alone?"
"Mm. What about it?"
Mikazuki, his face streaked with blood, tilted his head. Arnold shook his head.
"No... nothing. Please be careful."
"Mm... Oh, I didn't go to the hangar, so there should still be people there. You guys can handle it, right?"
Kojiro immediately stepped forward, picking up a discarded assault rifle. "Don't worry, that's our maintenance bay's territory, and this guy's still here."
Saying this, Kojiro kicked Gerard on the ground.
"Oh, then I'll see you later."
"Also, your mobile suit mysteriously disappeared."
"It's fine, it'll appear soon."
Mikazuki, carrying a fully loaded assault rifle, departed. He could have used Gerard as a hostage, but unfortunately, Mikazuki had no idea who Gerard was.
After Mikazuki left, Kojiro and the others also headed separately for the bridge and the hangar.
Along the way, the sight of the corpses lying on the ground sent chills down their spines. He had actually eliminated over two hundred soldiers who had seized Artemis.
Having killed so many people, even being thoroughly covered in enemy blood, yet remaining utterly expressionless—that boy could no longer be described as merely terrifying. He wasn't human.
Many of the civilians in the lounge clutched their chests and bent over, vomiting.
A red-haired girl, her face pale, covered her mouth and whispered to Sai, Kira's friend and her boyfriend, beside her,
"That red one... he's a child, isn't he? Why... why is he so cruel?"
Sai, facing the ruthless Mikazuki from earlier, also had an unpleasant expression. He didn't answer Flay, but instead looked at Kira beside him.
Among their group, Kira had spent the most time with Mikazuki.
But Kira didn't understand him much more than they did, only by a few hours. He too wore an expression of disbelief at the scene before him.
"Just what is Mikazuki...?"
In the space outside the Artemis Umbrella, the Gamow, carrying four captured Gundams, made a retreating maneuver, but secretly released the Blitz.
The Blitz activated its unique Mirage Colloid system, which allowed the mobile suit to become invisible for a certain period, and its radar would also be unaffected.
At the fortress control console,
A radar monitor personnel reported to Vidar,
"Major, the ZAFT warship has retreated and is outside attack range."
"Retreated? Excellent. As per the Major General's orders, once the ZAFT ship leaves, immediately shut down the defensive umbrella. Don't waste energy."
The Artemis Umbrella wasn't something that could be kept active indefinitely; it consumed a great deal of energy.
But these personnel had no idea what had happened to their Major General on the Archangel, nor did they know that the Gamow's retreat was merely a diversion.
The Blitz had successfully reached the fortress surface, and at the same same time, Mikazuki found where Murrue and the others were being held under house arrest.
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