Free Web NovelThe mecha engineer's shout brought Julian's thoughts back to the present.
"Go, Young Master."
The old man said.
"Show them the glory of Weber Family."
Julian took a deep breath.
He climbed onto the mecha, sat in the cockpit, and buckled his seatbelt.
The moment the Spinal Interface pierced in, a familiar stinging sensation washed over him.
Then came that wonderful feeling—
The mecha became an extension of his own body.
He could feel every armor plate of the mecha.
He could feel the range of motion in every joint.
He could feel the temperature and pressure of the steam flowing through the pipes.
He stood up.
The mecha's feet stepped onto the concrete ground, letting out a dull rumble.
He tightened his grip on the sword in his hand.
The blade reflected the sunlight, dazzling and sharp.
He walked toward the center of the field.
Deafening cheers erupted from the spectator stands.
"Julian—!"
"Weber—!"
"Iron Cross—!"
Julian's mecha came to a halt in the center of the field.
Opposite him, Conrad's mecha also approached.
That Heavy Swordsman-type mecha was half a head taller than Julian's, and its armor plates were engraved with the crest of House Waldenburg—a hawk with outspread wings, its talons clutching a sword.
Conrad's two-handed steam greatsword rested on his shoulder; the blade was a full three meters long and over half a meter wide.
If that sword were swung with full force, it could cleave Julian's mecha in half from head to toe.
But Julian did not back down.
He raised his own sword and took a combat stance.
Conrad also lowered the greatsword from his shoulder, gripping the hilt with both hands.
The two mechas faced off.
The cheers from the spectator stands gradually subsided.
Everyone held their breath.
A middle-aged instructor in an academy uniform acted as the referee; he stood at the edge of the field and raised the signal flag in his hand.
"Finals—"
His voice spread across the entire training ground through the megaphone.
"Julian von Weber—"
"Versus—"
"Conrad von Waldenburg—"
"Prepare—"
Julian's fingers tightened around the hilt.
Conrad's mecha sank slightly, taking a posture to build up power.
"Be—"
The referee hadn't even finished his sentence.
Suddenly, a sharp whistling sound of something tearing through the air came from the sky.
Everyone was stunned.
Julian looked up.
He saw a point of light appear in the sky.
That point of light was rapidly expanding.
Julian's first reaction was that it was a meteor.
But a meteor wouldn't make such a sharp whistling sound.
The sound was like something tearing through the air, falling from an extreme height at an incredible speed.
The cheering in the stands stopped.
Everyone looked up at the sky.
Conrad also stopped his movements; his mecha turned to face the sky.
The point of light grew larger and larger. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Brighter and brighter.
Julian squinted his eyes.
He could see the outline of the object clearly.
It wasn't a meteor.
It was—
A mecha?
No.
The shape didn't look like a mecha.
It was more like some kind of aircraft.
A streamlined fuselage, extended wings, and brilliant white flames spewing from the tail.
But those flames weren't from thrusters.
They were flames generated by friction.
It was burning.
The entire surface of the aircraft was enveloped in a layer of orange-red fire, like a meteorite falling from the heavens.
"What is that—"
Conrad's voice came through the communication channel.
His voice carried confusion and a hint of unease.
Julian didn't answer.
Because he didn't know either.
He stared at the rapidly approaching fireball, momentarily forgetting to retreat.
Its descent speed was terrifyingly fast.
Julian could hear the screeching of the air being torn apart; the sound grew louder and more piercing, like someone scratching a chalkboard with their nails, but amplified a thousand times over.
And then—
The thing began to transform.
Just when it was less than sixty meters from the ground.
The streamlined fuselage began to split.
The wings began to fold.
The tail structure began to reorganize. freewēbnoveℓ.com
Julian saw those armor plates sliding, those joints unfolding, and the entire shape of the aircraft changing from a streamlined fighter jet into a—
Humanoid.
A mecha.
A burning mecha falling from the sky.
The entire transformation process was as fluid as some kind of precise mechanical dance.
There was no stuttering.
There was no hesitation.
Every movement was precise to the millisecond level.
But it was still falling.
The speed did not slow down.
The flames were still burning.
The mecha's feet were pointed downward, taking a landing posture.
But at this height—
At this speed—
It would smash straight through the ground.
Then Julian saw an even more incredible scene.
A golden light screen suddenly appeared beneath the mecha's feet.
The light screen was thin as a cicada's wing, translucent, and shimmering with a soft golden glow.
It appeared out of thin air, like some kind of magic.
The mecha's feet stepped onto the light screen.
Crack.
The light screen shattered.
But the mecha's descent speed slowed down a bit.
Just a bit.
Then a second light screen appeared.
In the same position.
The same golden color.
The mecha stepped on it again.
Crack.
It shattered again.
The speed slowed down once more.
A third one.
A fourth one.
A fifth one.
Each light screen appeared out of thin air beneath the mecha's feet, and each one shattered the moment it bore the impact.
But each shattering reduced the falling speed of that mecha.
Julian couldn't count how many light screens there were.
Ten? Twenty? Thirty?
They spread out in the air like stairs, yet shattered one by one like glass.
Golden fragments danced in the air like some kind of brilliant fireworks.
But it still wasn't enough.
The mecha's speed was still too fast.
Even with the buffering of those light screens, it was still falling at a lethal speed.
Conrad clearly realized something as well.
His mecha began to retreat.
"Damn it—its landing point is right here—"
His voice came through the communication channel, filled with obvious panic.
His mecha turned and began to run.
The heavy mecha's running speed wasn't fast, but Conrad was doing his best.
Every step his mecha took pounded deep footprints into the ground, and steam gushed out from the cooling fins.
But it was too late.
The mecha's descent trajectory—
Was exactly above Conrad.
Another light screen appeared.
This time, the light screen was larger than all the previous ones.
Much larger.
Its diameter exceeded ten meters, and its thickness was at least three times that of the previous ones.
Golden light spread out in the air like a massive mirror.
The mecha stepped onto this light screen.
BOOM—
This time, it wasn't a crisp shattering sound.
It was a dull thud of impact.
Like someone hitting a bell with a giant hammer.
The light screen didn't shatter immediately.
It held.
At least for a split second.
The mecha's feet sank deep into the light screen, and countless cracks appeared on its surface, spreading outward ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) from beneath the feet like a spiderweb covering the entire screen.
And then—
CRACK.
This light screen also shattered.
The mecha fell through the shattered light screen.
Golden fragments danced around it.
The flames were still burning, but they had begun to die out.
Its feet were straight down.
"No—"
Conrad's voice came through the communication channel.
It was a roar of despair.
BOOM—!
The entire Third Training Ground shook.
The concrete ground buckled and shattered at the moment of impact.
Countless cracks spread outward from the impact point like some kind of twisted pattern.
Dust and smoke soared into the sky.
Grey smoke instantly enveloped the entire impact zone, obscuring everyone's vision.
Then came the wind pressure.
A massive shockwave of wind pressure expanded outward from the impact point.
The wind pressure was like a solid wall, carrying a scorching temperature and a pungent burnt smell as it swept across the entire training ground.
Julian's mecha was pushed back two steps by the wind pressure.
He had to plunge his sword into the ground to steady himself.
People in the spectator stands covered their faces; some were even blown off balance by the wind pressure, falling back into their seats.
The dust was slowly clearing.
Julian squinted, trying to see the situation within the smoke.
He saw Conrad's mecha.
Conrad's mecha was still sprawled on the ground, motionless.
The back armor was completely caved in, and steam hissed out from the damaged pipes.
And above Conrad's mecha—
The mecha that had fallen from the sky stood up.
One of its feet was planted on Conrad's shoulder.
Conrad's mecha let out the sound of overburdened, twisting metal beneath its foot.
The dust cleared completely.
Sunlight spilled over that mecha.
Julian finally saw its full appearance.
A slender figure, fluid armor lines, and wings folded behind its back.
The white paint reflected a dazzling light under the sun.
The layer of fire enveloping the mecha hadn't completely gone out; orange-red embers danced on the armor's surface like something alive.
The mecha's head—
A halo emerged behind it.
Golden light wove into a perfect circle in the air, floating behind the mecha's head and slowly rotating.
The halo emitted a soft and holy glow, like the aura above a deity's head in some religious painting.
A white mecha.
A golden halo.
Stepping on a fallen enemy.
Descended from the heavens.
In that moment, only one term came to Julian's mind.
Demon God.
This was a demon god, descended from the heavens.
