Chapter 281 - 275: The Price
Chapter 281: Chapter 275: The Price
A piercing alarm once again shattered the tranquility of the workshop’s Meditation Room.
"Alert. Demon Eye IV, Node 03, has detected an anomalous high-energy signature," Jarvis’s voice said, flat and emotionless.
An image materialized in mid-air.
The clouds high above were violently torn asunder by a powerful current, and a blurry afterimage ripped across the sky at a terrifying speed.
[Target Magic Power Fluctuation: 5400.]
[Threat Level: Red - Difficult-Class.]
[Wingspan: thirty-two meters. Possesses a leonine torso and draconic wings. Biometric comparison complete: Lion-Eagle Winged Beast.]
[Current Speed: Mach 1.9.]
[Trajectory Projection: Will pass over the Magma Lake Workshop in Zone 18 in thirty-seven minutes.]
Allen’s gaze instantly locked onto the Magma Lake on the sand table.
The volcanic magic power furnace there was currently operating at full capacity, and over a hundred Golems of various types were waiting to be charged.
The volcanic magic power furnace supplied 83% of the Golem Legion’s energy, making it the very heart of Zone 18.
If the magic power furnace were destroyed, the zone’s entire defensive line would collapse from energy depletion within days.
’It can’t be allowed to get any closer.’
"Freedom Gundam squadron, all units, launch. Set the intercept point at the zone’s outer perimeter," Allen commanded immediately.
In the sky, six Steel Giants on patrol elsewhere immediately changed course. Their Anti-gravity Arrays flared to life, spewing streams of faint blue particles as they instantly broke the sound barrier.
...
「Ten thousand meters up, the air was thin and cold.」
The two sides met in the airspace four hundred kilometers from the Magma Lake Workshop.
"Engaging the enemy. Initiate a probing attack with the Dragon Cavalry system."
A subroutine of Allen’s mind took control of the battlefield.
The wing-like thrusters on the backs of the six Gundams unfolded, releasing sixty Dragon Cavalry units that howled through the air. They quickly fanned out, forming an immense, spherical network of fire.
Beams of high-energy Magic Power rained down from all directions, cutting off every possible escape route for the Lion-Eagle Winged Beast.
The Lion-Eagle Winged Beast let out a shriek that pierced the heavens.
It made no attempt to dodge. The scales on its body flashed with a blinding cyan light, and a tangible shield of high-pressure wind enveloped it completely.
As the beams struck the wind shield, the high-energy rays were violently deflected by the turbulent wind elementals, refracting in all directions. The few beams that managed to penetrate the shield and strike its scales left only faint white scorch marks.
Its defenses were completely unbreached.
[Magic Shield energy level is extremely high. Conventional beam weapons are ineffective.]
"Units Two and Three, prepare the Titan’s Roar. Predict its flight path and execute a crossfire," Allen ordered, immediately switching tactics.
Two Gundams hovered in mid-air, aiming their massive, shoulder-mounted cannons as the energy-focusing Runes lit up in sequence.
Lock on. Fire.
Two pillars of destructive light, wreathed in crimson lightning, ripped through the sky, aimed directly at the Lion-Eagle Winged Beast’s predicted path.
The instant before the beams were about to connect, the Lion-Eagle Winged Beast abruptly folded its draconic wings.
Its massive body executed an impossibly sharp turn in mid-air. Its speed plummeted, and it shot upward and to the side at nearly a right angle.
The beams grazed its afterimage and blasted into the distant clouds, dyeing the entire sky a brilliant red.
They missed.
[Target exhibits extremely fast reactions and special flight techniques. The Titan’s Roar cannot achieve a target lock.]
Allen’s brow tightened. ’This beast isn’t just fast; it has an exceptionally keen sense for danger.’
"Draw blades. Close in for melee."
The Dragon Cavalry units returned to their docks, replaced by six fifteen-meter-long Ship-Slicing Blades. High-frequency vibration Runes activated, and the blades emitted a piercing hum.
The six mechs pushed their engines to maximum output, surging forward from six different directions in an attempt to corner their target.
But the Lion-Eagle Winged Beast refused to engage, seemingly aware of how formidable the Steel Giants were.
With a powerful flap of its wings, its speed soared again, easily surpassing Mach 1.8. It weaved nimbly through the air, always maintaining a safe distance of over five hundred meters from the Freedom Gundams.
When the Gundams advanced, it retreated. When they tried to surround it, it climbed higher.
It was pulling away, kiting the Gundams.
As it created more distance, the Lion-Eagle Winged Beast opened its massive maw.
It spat out torrents of cyan, high-pressure air imbued with wind-aspected Elemental Magic Power, which sliced toward the pursuing mechs like razor-sharp blades.
Unit Four, unable to evade, deployed its AT Field.
BOOM! The blast of air slammed into the Force Field, creating a violent shockwave that sent Unit Four plummeting nearly a thousand meters.
’Can’t touch it, can’t hit it. What a troublesome beast.’
The seconds ticked by. The battle in the sky raged on, but the combat zone was steadily drifting closer to the volcanic mountain range.
"Warning. Twelve minutes remaining." Jarvis’s speech cadence quickened. "Target is about to enter the thirty-kilometer warning perimeter of the Magma Lake Workshop."
"Can the ’Big Boy’ score a hit with an airdrop?" Allen asked.
"Negative. A high-altitude target moving at Mach 1.8 cannot be hit. If detonated in the target’s vicinity, its speed is sufficient to escape the absolute kill radius before the crystallization wave can envelop it."
Jarvis paused for an instant. "Commander, the enemy cannot be effectively intercepted. Core assets are at risk of destruction."
The red dot was steadily closing in on the Magma Lake Workshop.
Allen’s eyes deepened. At that moment, his Mechanical Mind spun up to full power as countless streams of data converged, collided, and annihilated within his thoughts.
’Crystal Micro-Dust Bomb? No, the wind speed is too high for it to coalesce.’
’A decoy? Its objective is clear; it won’t be diverted.’
’Ground-to-air interception? The Crimson Lotus Magic Missiles aren’t fast enough, and the Demon Eyes lack the firepower.’
’Every conventional tactic has been ruled out.’
’Only one solution remained.’
Allen paused.
1.7 seconds.
It was the longest he had paused since acquiring his Mechanical Mind.
Then, with brutal efficiency, his Mechanical Mind severed all traces of human sentiment.
"Unit Five," Allen’s voice was devoid of any warmth. "Disengage engine output safeties."
[Command confirmed. Unit Five’s singularity engine limiters have been disengaged.]
"Execute suicide attack."
Unit Five was the only mech carrying a "Big Boy."
High in the sky, Unit Five suddenly broke from formation.
The singularity engine in the mech’s chest erupted with a blinding light.
With its safeties disengaged, the energy conversion rate instantly surpassed the critical threshold.
Surging Magic Power flooded into every one of the mech’s conduction circuits like a burst dam.
Unable to withstand such terrifying energy, the surfaces of the Dragon Cavalry wing thrusters began to glow a dark, angry red. Rune Arrays across the mech’s frame ruptured in succession, spewing dazzling light.
It was on the verge of self-destruction.
But the price was paid in ultimate speed!
The Dragon Cavalry wing thrusters and the Anti-Gravity Rune Array on Unit Five’s back simultaneously overloaded. The streams of faint blue Magic Power particles erupted into a blinding, pure white.
A chain of sonic booms exploded around the mech.
Mach 1.8.
Mach 1.9.
Mach 2.1.
Unit Five became a white meteor, hurtling straight for the Lion-Eagle Winged Beast at a speed far beyond its design limits.
Terror flashed in the Lion-Eagle Winged Beast’s slitted pupils as Unit Five closed in.
It sensed a mortal threat. It beat its wings desperately, trying to climb and evade, all while frantically spitting a dense barrage of wind blades from its mouth.
"Deactivate the AT Field. Divert all Magic Power to the propulsion system," Allen issued the final command.
"Roger that, Commander. Man, I’m really flying now."
Unit Five abandoned all defense.
A blade of high-pressure wind sliced off its left arm.
Another wind blade struck its chest, tearing away the outer armor and exposing the engine housing within.
It didn’t slow down.
The loss of weight only made it faster. It plowed through the storm of wind blades and shattered the cyan wind shield protecting the Lion-Eagle Winged Beast.
BOOM!
The eighteen-meter-tall Steel Giant slammed viciously into the Lion-Eagle Winged Beast’s torso.
Unit Five’s intact right arm and legs locked in a death grip around the Magical Beast’s neck and the base of its wings. The tremendous kinetic energy sent them both tumbling through the air.
The Lion-Eagle Winged Beast let out a piercing shriek. It thrashed wildly, its talons tearing at Unit Five’s back armor, desperately trying to throw off the searing-hot hunk of metal.
"Detonate."
On Unit Five’s chest, the thirty-six Crystal Amplification Arrays on the "Big Boy’s" casing activated instantly. Within a tenth of a second, the high-purity crystallization-seed ore inside released all of its energy.
A brilliant, multicolored wave of light bloomed at an altitude of twenty thousand meters, expanding rapidly in a perfect sphere.
The wave of light swept over the entangled mech and beast.
Time stood still.
The Lion-Eagle Winged Beast was frozen in its tearing motion. Its scales, its tough muscles, even its flailing feathers—the very material form of its being was forcibly rewritten by the absolute law of crystallization.
Unit Five’s burning engine went out. The red-hot glow of its Titan Magic Steel Armor faded as it, along with its internal circuitry and singularity engine, was transformed into a pure white crystalline structure.
The multicolored halo dissipated.
High in the sky, a massive crystal statue—a fusion of steel and flesh—now hung suspended.
Under the pull of gravity, the crystalline sculpture began to plummet toward the earth.
CRACK!
During its descent, the crystalline structure could not withstand the atmospheric resistance.
Fissures spread across its surface.
SHATTER.
The priceless Gundam and the once-unbeatable Magical Beast shattered into a sky full of white crystal fragments, which rained down upon the wasteland surrounding the Magma Lake.
Back in the Meditation Room, Allen remained seated cross-legged on the floor.
[Unit Five signal lost.]
Jarvis was still dutifully reporting the outcome: [Threat to Magma Lake Workshop airspace has been neutralized.]
Allen didn’t move, but his slender fingers slowly clenched into a fist.
Through the high-altitude Demon Eye, he watched the ground become littered with crystal fragments. Within them were the Runes he had personally carved, the engine he had tuned day and night—all of his painstaking work.
His Mechanical Mind continued to operate, maintaining his absolute rationality.
But beneath that layer of cold logic, a frigid, surging killing intent could not be contained.