The dual-layer defense of the battle suit and cape wasn't very effective; after all, Kaidou's weapon, the Wolf Fang Club, had a much stronger armor-breaking impact than swords.
Even though the battle suit temporarily shielded him from Yamato's cold attacks, the sheer force still penetrated his defense and struck his body. Judging from the body's feedback, his rib was definitely broken.
However, at the moment he was hit by Yamato, his gunstock also smashed into Yamato's shoulder, but the sensation felt off—he seemed to hit an iron lump instead.
Crack...
The sound of shattering reached Judge's ears, as the surface of Yamato's body began to crack from the shoulder, spreading in cracks all over, finally shattering like ice crystals.
"The Boundary Mountain"
This was an ice armor she had created with her own ice, providing all-around defense against most attacks.
Feeling the pain from his chest, Judge's battle boots ejected air to lift him into the sky. It was clear from previous events that Yamato seemed unable to fly, while Germa's battle boots were equipped with both levitation and acceleration devices.
Using these devices, they could fly freely. Temporarily safe, Judge pressed a button on his battle suit, causing the suit to lock and immobilize his broken bones. A painkiller was also injected into his body.
"An ability user... Miss... It seems you're not some artificial creation. I knew it, Queen couldn't create something this perfect."
Queen's reference to Yamato combined with her performance led him to overturn his previous assumptions, which actually comforted him a bit. At least it showed he wasn't technologically outmatched by Queen.
While he was pondering his next move in the sky, a sudden rushing sound reached his ears, followed by a claw slashing towards him.
Although he blocked the attack, the force numbed his palms slightly, and the huge GT-8 appeared in his vision.
The scarlet eyes flashed red, and the cannon on its back looked extremely threatening. If it weren't for Genesect's enlarged stature, making it impossible to aim the cannon at Judge, he would have experienced a cannon in the face.
If Yamato's identity was a misunderstanding, then the artificial aura on Genesect was too obvious, and he recognized it as the monster that had previously disrupted his legion.
Looking at the distant battlefield, Germa's legion had shifted from attack to a standoff, while under Genesect's lead, the Kogia Kingdom's defense had launched a counterattack.
The position of No. 8 was Germa's weak point in the attack. Once it deemed no further need for its presence there, it switched to Yamato's side.
Subsequently, GT-8 temporarily disengaged from fighting Judge and transformed into a saucer form in front of Yamato.
"Lady Ghost Princess, please, hop on. I'll be your mount."
"Oh, thank you!"
Yamato jumped onto GT-8's back and flew towards Judge, while the light cannon at GT-8's back began charging. Once the distance was right, Judge reentered its firing range.
...
In the sky, Judge slashed at Genesect's body with his gun blade, but against the Arceus Steel-made weapon, the heated and electrically charged blade only left a shallow mark.
Faced with Arceus Steel, Judge, who relied solely on his weapon, was at a disadvantage.
Seeing the opponent's transformable combat mecha and his own gun blade unable to scar its sturdy alloy shell, Judge suddenly felt something amiss.
Was he ultimately being crushed by Queen's technology?
This thought, once it appeared in his mind, became uncontrollable, and along with it, news about Queen emerged in his mind.
Just like when he was relieved to find Yamato was not an android, he could more readily accept being overpowered by sheer strength rather than technologically.
He decided not to dwell further; with the current situation, he didn't have the time for this. He had lost the aerial advantage and now even had a numerical disadvantage.
His goal in attacking Genesect was to deprive Yamato of aerial capabilities, as her lack of flight ability was evident in the ongoing battle.
However, there was nothing he could do. Yamato not only engaged in aerial combat using Genesect but they even coordinated together.
When Yamato used Genesect as a stepping-stone to leap, Genesect would shift back and engage in combat. When her air time was about to run out, it would return to its flight mode, armed with formidable and bizarre cannons.
Genesect models GT-6 to GT-10 were essentially weakened variants. Their cannons couldn't switch attributes, but retained fearsome power, lacking only some specificity.
Though Judge was unwilling to concede, the thought that mechas are correct inevitably crossed his mind.
Both his own battle and that of the clone legion were at a disadvantage. Judge had no desire to continue fighting, as he had already obtained the data he sought.
Now finding himself unable to best the opponent, he believed he had glimpsed some technological thresholds, wishing to wait for a technological breakthrough before exploring other possibilities.
After issuing a retreat order to the clone army using special methods, his sons began withdrawing to Germa's fleet, and Judge started pondering his escape plan.
The clone soldiers' way of covering the retreat was through suicide attacks, their only means of slowing Genesect.
Despite heavy casualties, Yamato was not foolish enough to stop the allies' attack out of pity for enemies. The Genesect, created by Arceus, was viewed as life by her, far more critical than the enemy.
She despised Judge's disregard for his subordinates' lives, but understood that war invariably involved casualties. The best way to minimize loss was to quickly defeat the enemy's main general.
The clone soldiers couldn't fly, and their weapons couldn't lock onto Genesect, but someone else assisted Judge at this moment. Several CP0 agents in white suits appeared suddenly.
Their target wasn't Judge; at this time, the Germa Kingdom was still a World Government member and there was no reason to attack. They were targeting Queen.
Being a prime suspect of the World Government, it didn't miss this opportunity. This CP0 unit was executing another escort mission nearby but received intelligence, passing the original mission to CP9 and shifting to this new capture plan.