The Delusional Knight's Fall
"Alas, Sancho! To leave my side once more like this!"
Don Quixote's voice rang out in exaggerated tones.
"Sancho, Sancho... my friend, my brother... how many is this now, my Sancho?"
It was slightly unhinged. I turned my focus back to Don Quixote, leaving the burning Burro behind.
"It was because I could not tolerate injustice that you got dragged into this with me. But you, who blocked my efforts to right these wrongs—you are injustice incarnate! I shall have my revenge!"
I wondered if he ever got tired of talking like that. Gripping my Big Shot, I accelerated toward Rosinante. Rosinante responded in kind, flames spewing from its lance as it charged. It was the exact same pattern as before.
It'd hurt if it hit dead-on, but I just need to dodge a bit.
The predictability made it boring, so I absentmindedly loosened my grip on the tension—
Bang!
Suddenly, Rosinante burst out of its charge, veering off course.
"...?"
My head was sluggish; I didn't grasp what it meant right away, and my reaction lagged just a fraction.
Thud!
That let Don Quixote slam into my Nexus's side with a direct lance thrust. Scraaaape!! Only after hearing the armor crumple deeply did I burst away from his path.
"Like an enraged bull! Charging blindly without understanding human tactics—you truly are a beast, aren't you?"
His words made my head heat up a little as I glared at Rosinante. I hadn't fired the charged Big Shot yet. There was some distance, but I pulled the trigger anyway.
Boom!
Rosinante stiffened massively as the lethal round hurtled toward it.
"I won't fall for your tricks again!"
Don Quixote took a couple hits, his durability dropping sharply, but he burst diagonally toward me and thrust with his lance again. He wasn't some laughable lunatic. No wonder he'd climbed into the rankings.
Bang, thud!!
Like a game of gun kata, we'd separate, then close in. Up close, we mixed feints in a subtle battle of wits, like a card game.
Screeech—
Right after his lance grazed obliquely, I whipped around and fired the Big Shot.
Bang!
Rosinante had already burst to the side. It scattered missiles to cover its flank and raked me with its submachine gun. Rosinante hesitated as it tried to exploit the gap with its lance.
> Left Arm Armament Ammo: 50%
I narrowed my eyes at Rinne's alarm. A one-shot wonder with such low ammo capacity? No more wasting it. I readjusted my grip, aiming the submachine gun forward.
"Not your average scrub, eh! You remind me of the Silent Knight I fought once. Come to think of it, you even look like him—both so taciturn. Haha!"
Silent Knight... Right, in the game, after Don Quixote loses to the player, he sends a message like that.
Chapter 1's over, so he's probably fought the player once.
But Don Quixote fighting the player—and surviving defeat—only happened in one mission.
Huntland Protest Suppression...
A hidden mission that appears if you meet conditions in Chapter 1's first route branch. Don Quixote shows up as defense for the Huntland protesters. No way a ragtag protest group could afford a Nexus pilot, so he must've volunteered.
Anyway, he survives defeat there and reappears later...
Just triggering that mission meant something. Huntland Protest Suppression wasn't like the normal endings or plain routes—it only popped up when you met complex conditions to unlock the third route.
So this player went that path...
I sighed softly, feeling a pang of trouble. Predicting his moves just got harder.
"Your shield is down!"
"Ah..."
Anyway, I shoved that aside and refocused on the fight with Don Quixote. Like medieval knights in a joust, we kept crossing paths.
"As a wandering knight roaming the world, I've come to realize something whenever I see folk like you. Care to guess what?"
Thud!
An explosion at the lance tip rocked both Rosinante and me. Yet Don Quixote's voice stayed steady.
"Why do brigands like you wield such power? Your hearts rotten with evil—you should lose to the good-hearted by all rights, yet this world ain't fair."
Thud, boom!!
Missiles from our backs exploded midair. We circled apart, probing for openings.
"You! Why not use that fine strength to right the world's wrongs alongside me, Don Quixote? You'd find your heart renewed. Such power's wasted!!"
Aye, aye. Don Quixote nodded along to his own words, clapping in agreement solo.
"What do you use that power for? What do you fight for?"
"Hmm..."
Act crazy and do crazy gags. Quit with the weird deep talk.
"Ah, let me sing you a tune. In a distant future shrouded in grim darkness~ A honed blade wanders aimlessly~"
I charged at Rosinante. It reacted instantly, dodging the clash and maneuvering sharply up close.
"Not a bad tale! Money's tight, wandering's tough, but thinking you're rooting out injustice makes it all worthwhile!"
Don Quixote seemed to glean some trick from my maneuver.
Bang!
He charged me in turn, slamming that heavy frame into mine. Four-legged, mid-heavy class at lightest. But a super-heavy with a lance? My actuators froze for a moment. My head rang as reality snapped back. Ironically, pain sharpened my senses.
Whirr—
I charged the Big Shot.
"Egad! No talking sense with you. Anyway, I've pondered: the good should win by right, so why do I keep losing? Do the wicked triumph? Then I realized—those who beat me were all good folk ensnared by wicked sorcerers' spells."
Win and you're wicked; lose and you're a good guy cursed. Self-justification doesn't get more twisted.
"This vast farmland? Rather than fatten brigands who only steal, shouldn't we share with the starving? People are dying!"
Solid, universal goodness. Don Quixote was a good soul, no doubt.
"Ever think that if you steal and redistribute, it'll just get stolen again?"
"...Oh! Such a lovely voice. Almost mistook you for some fair maiden. But I shan't be fooled."
Don Quixote said something random.
"Demons take the fairest forms and voices to beguile. I wondered if you were human, but now I see I can drop that thought. Taste justice's blade!"
"Hmph."
I coolly met Don Quixote's intensified assault. For the first time, I tweaked my patterns. This time, I wouldn't charge. I just calmly sidestepped left and right to evade his lance as Rosinante bore down.
Bang—
Flames grazed by; both Nexuses parted unscathed. I fired the charged Big Shot into his back.
Crunch!
The round hit dead-on, small fires sparking across the frame. Armor pierced, damage seeping into the internals. His durability was critically low.
"Hmm, you asked if it'd just get stolen again. But what's the issue? Stolen by the wicked? Reclaim it—that's all."
"Steal, get stolen from. Forever?"
"Forever!!"
Contradiction city. Far more deaths than planned. Don Quixote was good-hearted, but his rigid goodness blinded him to reality. An idealist.
"I like that heart of yours."
Idealists weren't bad. But this was reality. Rosinante's durability: 30%. NOUGHT's: 60%.
"Praise from a demon? Makes me doubt if my path was wrong. But Don Quixote regrets nothing. Dying to thwart injustice? An honor."
Thud!
The two machines tangled again. No more cautious probing—I just rammed straight in.
The lance is efficient weaponry.
Cruel, too. Instead of grinding actuators, it pierced straight for the cockpit to kill the pilot. Point-focused firepower did that.
Groan—
Armor buckled. But so did his—my Big Shot spewed flames point-blank. The round would shred right to the cockpit.
As blue fire flashed, Don Quixote spoke.
"Truth is, my homeland isn't La Mancha."
"...?"
Thud!!
A flash erupted from Rosinante, flames bursting forth.
Don Quixote, Nexus Rosinante — DEFEATED
The pathetic knight met his end like that.