I Became the Golden Sun That Steals the Academy’s Aircraft

009. Mock Battle for Entrance

Gilbert was calmly feeling the afterglow of the Giant God Soldier he had used for the first time in a long time. Although he was not receiving assistance due to the activation conditions of the main skill, it was strange that he was not able to perform this well in the entrance mock battle that was the tutorial.

Achieving 100% of the infamous Tactical Combat achievement for the first time in the world was the result of a combination of his persistent persistence and talent. Gilbert, who had a natural talent for controlling things, was able to eventually rise to the top by pouring his talent and time into a game with an insane level of difficulty.

No matter how long it had been since he had not controlled the Giant God Soldier, that feeling did not easily disappear. For him, steering was something that came into his body as an unforgettable habit, like riding a bicycle.

Gilbert, who had roasted all the Titan Soldiers that came to the vanguard, returned to the base and took his original position as commander. His adjutant, Angelina, was standing next to him aboard the Colossus, and other crew members surrounded him as if to protect him.

He was clearly treated differently than before he went on the field, but he did not point out that. Considering the notoriety that had accumulated over him, he should have been grateful just for being obediently listened to.

[Commander. A message has arrived from Team 4!]

One of the team members who was on guard from afar was seen coming here with a certain giant soldier. Judging by the markings, it seemed like he belonged to Team 4. If it were a real battlefield, their affiliation would be questioned even if there was a mark, but since that was not possible in the entrance mock battle, it was correct to view it as a messenger from the 4th team.

[This is James, the messenger of the 4th team.]

[This is Gilbert, the commander of the first team. Reveal his purpose for coming here.]

As a mock battle was in progress, ostentation and pretense were boldly omitted. He decided that he could not waste time in a situation where he did not know what the second or third team would do.

[Team 4’s commander asked me to find out if the coalition proposal is still valid, so I came here.]

The man who gave his name as James must have been quite strong, but his voice did not tremble even though he was in enemy territory. After all, he wasn’t really on a battlefield where lives were at stake, so it wasn’t unreasonable for him to show that attitude. Of course, even excluding that, it was true that he had a lot of courage.

[Of course it is valid. Is communication currently connected?]

[Connected. The 4th team commander says he wants to break the alliance with the 2nd and 3rd teams and form an alliance with the 1st team.]

[Good. In that case, I would like you to connect the magic channel.]

[I will connect.]

After a short period of time, Gilbert’s communication magic channel and the channel of Team 4’s commander were connected. The face of Team 4’s commander, seen before the mock battle began, appeared on the main screen.

[This is Patrick, the commander of Team 4.]

[Gilbert, commander of the 1st team.]

Basically, the two were legitimate children of the same count family, and their families had similar status in the empire, so there was no way for either one to raise their voice. It was normal for them to use words of mutual respect, but since they were currently engaged in a mock battle, the two spoke comfortably.

[I was so blind that I couldn’t recognize his true skills.]

Gilbert was a little surprised to see this proud countess so obediently acknowledging him. Although he had skills in the game, it was surprising because his arrogance served as a kind of combat power meter that soared through the sky.

In the end, games are games and reality is reality.

Gilbert hid his inner thoughts and shook his head.

[I think it was an objective judgment. Because forming an alliance with Team 1 there was like a gamble.]

[You say something quite interesting. They said he was the count’s bastard. Was that a false rumor?]

It was a statement that seemed to scratch a person’s nerves, but Patrick’s eyes were filled with curiosity rather than contempt for him. It was just that his natural speaking style was sarcastic.

[No. That is correct. Because the count’s shame is mine.]

[hehehe. That’s right. Well, that’s good. Because that’s not what’s important right now.]

Patrick, hiding his slight smile, put aside his thoughts about Gilbert, who intrigued him, and got straight to the point.

[I was informed that the proposal I made earlier is still valid. Is this correct?]

[That’s right. As the 1st team commander, I am requesting alliance with the 4th team commander.]

[Since we have just seen such skills, we welcome you here as well. So, can the duration of the alliance start from when the 2nd and 3rd teams are eliminated?]

[The desired sea.]

[It’s nice because it’s cool. Which side do you plan to attack first?]

[Are you yielding the right to attack me?]

[To be honest, it would be great if you were at the forefront.]

[It sounds like they are openly trying to exploit you.]

[Ahahahaha. That is correct.]

The further Gilbert communicated with Patrick, the more he was forced to admit that he had been looking at him through colored glasses. He wasn’t as narrow-minded as I thought, and his personality wasn’t that arrogant either. Maybe he reacted that way because the main character’s status was lower than that, but he was Gilbert of the Hart family, not the current main character.

There was no need for him to cut off or push away people who were not hostile to him.

[Good. Attack team 2 first. The attack begins when the messenger returns, and this side takes the lead first.]

[That’s great. Then I wish you good luck.]

That was the end of the communication. Because it was a mock battle, it was a verbal alliance rather than a grand exchange of documents, but that was enough.

With just one show of force, the structure of the hopeless mock battle changed.

From 3 to 1 to 2 to 2.

[Commander. Still, I don’t think you really believe that.]

[Deputy Angelina. Why did you think that?]

As soon as the messenger returned, Angelina’s message came to Gilbert. When I connected, I saw Angelina’s face with her brown, bobbed hair neatly styled on either side of her.

[The alliance beforehand was achieved thanks to the commander’s initiative. Thanks to this, the structure of the mock battle has completely changed, so there is nothing better. But.]

Angelina gave strength to the last word.

[That must have created too high a level of vigilance. The three teams united and sent a vanguard, but he single-handedly destroyed many of the vanguards. So what would happen if I were to remain alone?]

[Good point.]

Gilbert brushed Angelina’s chin with the back of his right hand at Angelina’s sharp judgment. It was definitely a correct point. I overlooked Patrick because he had a better impression than I thought, and I was complacent and wondered if they would unconditionally join forces like in a game.

In fact, putting everything aside, I missed out on the part because I was confident that I could make a mistake if I made a mistake.

[Are you suggesting that the alliance system itself may be a smokescreen operation in the first place?]

[Yes. In the first place, the purpose of the mock battle is to see the piloting skills of the giant soldiers, but now that a commander has been selected, the purpose of conducting the mock battle is to see the cadets’ judgment and political skills, as well as their ability to deal with all possible numbers on the battlefield. In that sense, that is why there are no regulations regarding union. So, can a union that consists of only a few words be called a union? I don’t think so.]

Gilbert also nodded at Angelina’s neat tidying up. He initially chose Angelina as her lieutenant out of consideration for Hans, but it occurred to him that it was Gilbert himself who was lucky with her.

While Gilbert was tapping the control stick and thinking for a moment, a message came in that a messenger from the 4th team had returned to base. Angelina, who was still connected to the communication line, was looking at him with her eyebrows pressed together as if she was giving him next instructions.

[I will leave what remains at the base to Deputy Angelina.]

[I understand. Then what are you going to do, Commander?]

[It is inevitable to take the lead. It is true that we are outnumbered anyway. After reducing the number as much as possible, we break the alliance first.]

[There is no need to even call it a plan. However, if it is the commander from before, there is a good chance.]

[What a useless statement. Then I will sortie.]

With those words, Gilbert ended the communication and led the 1st and 2nd groups, including Hans, and moved the giant soldiers to assume the role of the vanguard. As he went, he didn’t forget to open team communication and boost their morale. Fortunately, their morale had already been fully boosted by Gilbert’s one-man show, so there was no need to do anything.

After advancing to the second team’s base, Gilbert adjusted the formation of his team members.

He formed a delta formation, or pyramid formation, and took his place at the forefront.

Once the general formation was established, the 2nd team’s giant soldiers came out of the base to greet Gilbert’s vanguard. The formation was somewhat uneven, unlike what Gilbert had adjusted, but it held its own. At first glance, it was similar to Gilbert’s formation, and there was one giant soldier in the lead like Gilbert’s giant soldier.

Gilbert didn’t necessarily connect the communication, but he immediately realized that the person inside was the main character, Ian.

‘I guess we should assume that the characteristic skills remain the same.’

I didn’t think there would be any sub skills since the tutorial wasn’t over yet. This was because the status window and skill window were unlocked immediately after participating in the entrance mock battle, so it was impossible to obtain any skills.

Even so, Ian’s characteristic skills are unified.

It was a highly deceptive characteristic that raised the synchronization rate with the giant soldier to the limit, thereby taking the manipulation technique to the next level.

Even Atlantica’s final tech tree, the Giant God Soldier, which was a compilation of magic engineering from the past, had evolved its integration characteristics and could not match the synchronization rate of the aircraft operated by the main character who activated the Oneness of All Things. Even though it was a high-level technology, unless you were moving your own body, there was bound to be some kind of delay.

Gilbert weighed the odds of victory in the battle that was about to begin. Even he, a veteran of Tactical Combat, had never engaged in direct combat with the main character. Because Tactical Combat was about playing the main character rather than choosing or customizing a character, he had never encountered an enemy.

It was only after completing all the achievements that the custom mode was unlocked, creating a situation to try it out, but since he was brought here as soon as he created the custom character, he never had a chance to experience it in the first place.

Gilbert watched the two teams of giant soldiers gradually increasing in size and gave the order to charge without wasting any more time.

At the same time, it lunged at the protagonist’s giant god soldier at high speed.

Chaeng!

I swung the giant sword, but unlike before, Ian blocked Gilbert’s sword with his own sword. It didn’t look difficult, as if the title of protagonist wasn’t a given.

Chaeng! Visor! Visor!

It was definitely different from the cadets I faced earlier. Ian, who blocked a series of attacks following a high-speed maneuver, counterattacked and began to pressure Gilbert.

Gilbert also easily blocked, but he felt a little sick when he realized that his machine reacted slower than the opponent’s machine. He didn’t know when he used Unity, but when he was hit in the opposite direction, there was no skill that caused as much anger as this.

Meanwhile, Ian gritted his teeth, surprised by the fact that his opponent’s skills were beyond what he had observed using communication magic. He already knew that he possessed a characteristic skill, and he had developed that skill by operating a giant god soldier with the support of his family.

Aside from his talent for characteristic skills, he also had an outstanding talent for manipulating a giant god soldier. He was not far behind the level 5 knights in the territory, so he never even thought that there would be someone of his age who would surpass him.

The current clash was the same.

I realized after a few clashes that the aircraft’s reaction speed was clearly higher than Gilbert’s due to its characteristic skill. It was noticeable that if it was short, it would move half a beat later, and if it was long, it would move about one beat later.

Ian saw the difference with his own eyes and had no doubt about his victory. He moves a giant soldier that is not his own body, and the difference in reaction speed means that he has no choice but to move slower than his opponent.

Even if you could see it with your eyes, it was natural that you wouldn’t be able to stop it if the giant god soldier couldn’t follow you. That’s why Ian was fully aware of how blessed he was with the characteristic skills he had.

However, the more he faced off against Gilbert, known as the count’s bastard, as a giant soldier, the more he could not shake the feeling that something was wrong.

It would have been right for him to not be able to keep up and be roasted, but for some reason, Gilbert was following Ian’s every move.

No, it wasn’t just about following along. High-speed movement using instantaneous magical power boosters often exceeded Ian’s expectations, and countless cold-blooded attacks struck his blind spots.

Hmph!

The iron sword that narrowly grazed the chest cockpit was just such an attack. It was a dangerous moment, as if it had been even a little late and a direct hit had been made, the magic barrier could have almost reached its bottom.

“What on earth happened!”

He pulled the lever, screaming in frustration and anger over something he had never experienced before.

Ian’s giant soldier raised his iron sword coming down from both sides of the island and hit him on the shoulder at a speed faster than the others.

And that was the trick Gilbert was aiming for.

The moment he felt the recoil of being lifted up, Gilbert manipulated the control stick and performed an acrobatic evasive maneuver that tumbled the giant soldier back.

There, Ian was astonished, and Gilbert smiled. Although it was a technique that was not difficult once you got used to it, it was an original technique used frequently by the enemies in that it was easier to catch the opponent off-guard and startle them than expected.

The gigantic giant soldier’s easy back tumbling evasive maneuver followed by a high-speed movement combo was a kind of performance, but it was also a dagger that caught the opponent off guard.

He jumped out in an instant using a magic booster, raised his iron sword, and delivered an intense stab. The enormous physical quantity contained in it reduced Ian’s magic battery remaining power to zero and caused him to be roasted.

“Pfft!”

Ian slammed the control stick as he watched the screen begin to blink and go dark. This was his first time being helplessly defeated, and he burned his fighting spirit as Gilbert advanced to face his enemy again.

With the determination to win next time.

The battle between Gilbert, who was released from the main character Ian, and the 4th team, who are now joining and pushing the 2nd team, is starting to get more and more intense.

In particular, Gilbert’s performance was dazzling as he demonstrated an evasive maneuver that did not seem to belong to a cadet who had just entered school.

Next to him, Team 4’s commander Patrick also showed maneuvering skills that were unusual for a freshman, but it was true that he was lacking compared to Gilbert.

Chaeng! Chang! Bang!

30 Minutes since the battle started.

Gilbert cut down the enemy giant soldier in front of him with a quick diagonal slash.

[Admission Mock Battle 2nd Team Roast of all Giant God Soldiers. Team 2 was eliminated from the entrance mock competition.]

The public announcement rang as if Gilbert’s attack was the last attack.

He let out a long sigh, wiping the sweat from his forehead at the fact that the battle with Ian and the melee that immediately followed was over.

Now, only teams 3 and 4 remained.

***

Mock battle for admission.

The second team was eliminated.

Remaining teams.

Team 1, Team 3, Team 4.