The battle between number 2<> and number 3<> remained evenly matched.

The vertical descent of the aircraft with its fuselage creaking ended in a painful draw.

At an altitude of around 500 meters, both planes decided that it was too dangerous to continue their descent, and both planes went horizontal at about the same time.

As you can see, the judgment of the piloting golem was also evenly matched.

The two planes were able to fly level at about the same time.

"Well, as expected of a final match, it's a good match.

"......Jin, who do you think will win?"

"Well,...... I can't predict the outcome of this match. So ...... it might be decided by something unpredictable."

"What, that?"

"It's hard to tell. I don't know how to ...... say it, but ...... it might be determined by what happens when you don't expect it."

Like the frost on the windshield last time?

Yeah, yeah. That's it."

While Jin and Elsa are having such a conversation, their eyes are glued to the screen.

* * * * * *

"Well, this video system is amazing. It's just like Jin said.

"Really, my dear.

"The most amazing thing is the control to deploy the reflective field in the right place.

I can't imagine how you do it.

It's a djinn, after all.

Reinhard and Bertsche were also enjoying this final in their own way.

* * * * * *

The battle between the two planes has been going on for about 30 minutes now.

The sun was shining.

"...... clouds are starting to appear," Jin muttered.

Jin mutters.

"Cumulonimbus clouds, maybe?"

It is mid-summer in the southern hemisphere, on the Tropic of Cancer. Evening showers are possible.

But the competition is still on ......?

So far, there seems to be no announcement that the competition will be interrupted. On the contrary,

>

>> he declares.

They have played in the rain in the past.

The spectators' seats will be warded against rain, so they will not get wet.

"This evening shower may be the difference between victory and defeat.

Jin said in a whisper.

* * * *

The two planes repeatedly battle each other in the sky. The altitude is now 5,000 meters. They are now at 5,000 meters, the height of mid-level clouds.

Both Rubina and Goh know that clouds at this height are made of water droplets, and they have determined that ice will not stick to them.

The evening cloud then approached .

* * * * * * * * * *

"Brother Jin, the ray gun you are using in the competition will not be blocked by the clouds, will it?"

"Well, I don't know the details of the specifications, but it seems to be a long-wavelength infrared ray, so it should be quite transparent, right?

"Oh, sure, we've already settled the case in the clouds."

"That's what I'm thinking. I can't say for sure if smoke and smokescreens will block the rays until we try ....... I'm sure it would weaken them."

"Yeah, okay."

* * *

The two planes enter the evening cloud, passing and overtaking each other at speeds in the neighborhood of 600 kilometers per hour.

By the way, "cirrus cloud" is a common name, usually for a cumulonimbus cloud.

They are formed when moist air rises into the sky due to a violent updraft, cools down, and condenses.

The larger ones can reach close to the stratosphere, in which case the tops of the clouds are flattened because they cannot rise any higher, and are called <>.

The upper part of a cumulonimbus cloud is made up of ice grains, and the ice grains become heavier and fall.

However, the falling ice grains are blown up by the violent updrafts, become even heavier with ice around them, and fall down again.

This process is repeated several times, and the ice that reaches the ground without melting is called a hailstorm.

Therefore, the cross section of a hailstone shows a layer of ice.

(A hailstone is a candy that changes color as you lick it.)

In the evening cloud into which the two planes plunged, there were numerous ice particles that were on the verge of turning into hail, floating in addition to water droplets on the cloud itself.

Although they were ice particles of about two centimeters in diameter, the force of their impact at a speed of 600 kilometers per hour would have been considerable.

It is the same thing when you hit an object moving at high speed or an object moving at high speed hits you.

If you kick a styrofoam box lying on the road while riding a bicycle or a motorcycle, you will feel a greater impact on your legs than you can imagine.

Also, if an insect such as a canabu hits your helmet while you are riding a motorcycle on the highway, you will feel a considerable impact.

"Ah, kyaaaaah!"

"Aaahhhh!"

screamed the two men who were sitting in the director's seat and watching the screen showing the view of the piloted golem.

The windshield cracked instantly and shattered in an instant.

Pieces of ice hit the exposed cockpit.

The two planes were flying at 600 kilometers per hour, or over 166.7 meters per second. One second they were breaking through the clouds.

In just a few seconds, <> and <> were seriously damaged.

The windshields were shattered and gone, and the leading edges of the wings were dented.

The fuselage also had numerous scratches and dents.

The windshield was shattered and gone, and the leading edges of the wings were also dented.

"Oh, I knew it was going to be like that!

Jin shuddered.

The collision, which occurred at 600 km/h, caused extensive damage to the two aircraft competing in the final.

But this too happened during the competition.

The competition continued.

The crash was caused by a natural phenomenon, not a man-made one.

"......You're lucky it's a golem you're piloting. ......"

If it had been a human, it would have been more of a crash ...... than a major accident.

"Brother Jin, did you predict this?"

"No, I didn't expect hail, ......."

The evening cloud was now hanging over Onogoro Island, and it was hailing.

Hail was falling in the sky over Onogoro Island. Ice particles as large as three centimeters in diameter were breaking up as they hit the boundary.

"This kind of thing is why it's so difficult to take countermeasures against <>. ......"

Jin also remembers that the first prototype equipped with a <> crashed due to a <>.

Since that time, we have taken every possible countermeasure against <>.

However, since Rubina and Gough are still inexperienced, and since there are competition rules, it is understandable that they were not prepared to deal with bad weather as they did this time.

"This is the second time Rubina has run into a cloud and damaged herself. ......"

Jin tried to imagine how she could have run into the clouds again.

"Probably, she thought she could handle it based on her previous experience and wanted to make a difference to Goh here. ......"

I would have to say that was naive.

"But both of them took damage."

Erza is right. But... ......

What?

There's a crucial difference between the two planes.