Free Web NovelTo be honest, this feeling was quite new to Pavela.
She sat in the cockpit, feeling the signal feedback from the Spinal Interface, while simultaneously mobilizing the power of the Path of the Tower.
Two completely different powers intertwined in her consciousness.
On one side was the mecha's steel body, heavy, solid, and full of mechanical power.
On the other was the crimson light of the Path of the Tower, light, violent, and filled with an impulse to destroy everything.
They should have clashed.
But inside this mecha, they blended together surprisingly well.
"Coo."
The pigeon on her shoulder cooed.
Pavela turned her head to look at it.
"Hmm, it's really different from usual,"
she said.
"Normally, using the Path of the Tower is like—how should I put it, it's like touching something with your own hand, directly feeling its texture, temperature, and hardness."
"But now, using the Path of the Tower through the mecha is like touching it with gloves on."
"You can feel it, but there's a barrier."
"Coo coo?"
The pigeon tilted its head.
"The precision isn't a problem," Pavela thought, "it just feels a bit, how to describe it, like through a veil?"
"Coo coo coo?"
"Yes, that's what I mean."
She nodded.
"But it's not a big issue, I'll get used to it."
Another loud crash came from outside.
The cluster of vines slammed into the golden light screen again.
The light screen vibrated but didn't shatter.
Pavela glanced at the data on the display; the defense of the Path of the Magician was still stable, and mental energy consumption was within a controllable range.
"Coo?"
The pigeon cooed again, its tone rising as if asking a question.
"Not yet," Pavela said, "wait a little longer."
"Coo coo coo coo—"
"I know you're in a hurry, but they haven't run far yet."
Pavela manipulated the mecha to step back twice, dodging the giant's kicking left foot.
The movements looked a bit clumsy, but they were entirely within her control.
"Look at that woman, she's smiling so happily right now."
Her tone was somewhat gloating.
"Let her be happy for a little longer."
"Coo."
The pigeon's voice sounded a bit helpless.
"Don't look at me like that," Pavela said, "I'm protecting my teammates."
"Coo coo?"
"Really."
"Coo coo coo."
"I swear."
"Coo—"
The pigeon drew out its coo, sounding full of suspicion.
Pavela pouted.
"Alright, alright, I admit, I do want to see her expression change later, just a little bit."
"But mainly it's to protect my teammates, and Victoria."
She added.
"Really, that's the main reason."
"Coo coo."
The pigeon's voice sounded like it was laughing.
Pavela ignored it.
She glanced at the display again, this time at the external environment monitoring screen.
Victoria, Charlotte, Frederick, Reinhardt.
The four of them had already rushed out of the gate.
Their distance from the manor was about—
Thirty meters.
Fifty meters. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Still running.
"Coo?"
"Soon," Pavela said, "ten more seconds."
She manipulated the mecha to retreat a few more steps, this time forced back by the giant's consecutive punches.
The scene appeared perilous.
Outside, that woman was already smiling.
Pavela could see her expression.
It had become confident, composed, and even tinged with pity again.
She now looked at Pavela as if at a trapped beast.
"Seven seconds."
Pavela began to count down.
"Coo."
"Six seconds."
"Coo coo."
"Five seconds."
The mecha's ankles were entangled by tree roots again.
Pavela shattered them with the power of the Path of the Tower, but new roots immediately replaced them.
"Four seconds."
"Coo coo coo—"
The pigeon's voice sounded excited.
"Three seconds."
In the monitoring footage, the four people had already run over a hundred meters.
That was enough.
"Two seconds."
"Coo!"
"One second."
"Alright."
Pavela said.
"We can begin."
She closed her eyes.
In the depths of her consciousness, she touched the familiar Way Back.
The Path of the Tower.
That path leading to destruction.
That path «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» she had walked countless times.
But this time, there were some differences.
This time, she wasn't walking alone.
Beside her was a mecha.
A mecha specially designed for her, capable of bearing the Return Power.
She could feel that power beginning to surge.
From within her body, from the depths of her consciousness, from the point connected to the primordial sea, from the very essence of the Path of the Tower.
Crimson flames began to burn in her consciousness.
Then, through the Spinal Interface, through those intricate connection devices, through every neural conduction line of the mecha, they spread outwards.
Outside.
The woman's smile froze once more.
She saw that the white mecha, which had been almost completely entangled, suddenly erupted with a new kind of light.
Far more violent and scarlet than the crimson light from before.
The tree roots wrapped around the mecha's legs instantly exploded.
Immediately after, six crimson light bands unfurled from the mecha's back.
Their shape resembled wings, but not those of birds; rather, they were a more abstract form, closer to a concept.
Each light band subtly trembled, its surface flowing with crack-like patterns that continuously extended, branched, disappeared, and regenerated, as if demonstrating the process of all things moving towards destruction.
The Six Wings unfurled.
Crimson light illuminated the entire manor.
The trees, vines, and roots converging on the mecha, the moment they touched that light, were as if eroded by some invisible force, and began to show fine cracks.
In the cockpit.
Pavela had opened her eyes again.
Her pupils had completely turned scarlet.
But her expression was calm.
"Coo coo coo!"
The pigeon on her shoulder chirped excitedly.
"Don't rush," Pavela said, "there's one more step."
She raised her right hand.
As she raised her right hand in the cockpit, the mecha's right arm also synchronously rose.
Then, she clenched her fist.
No, it wasn't clenching a fist.
She made a gesture as if to grasp something.
Then, crimson light began to converge.
From the Six Wings, from within the mecha's body, from the surrounding air, all the light surged towards the mecha's right hand.
It swirled, compressed, and reorganized in its palm.
Then, it condensed into a weapon.
It was a Long Spear.
A very unusual Long Spear.
The spear shaft was straight, about seven meters long, entirely condensed from crimson light.
But that light was not uniformly distributed; instead, it presented a twisted spiral structure.
Like countless fine threads intertwined, or like the bones of some living creature.
The spear shaft's surface was covered with crack-like patterns, which resembled characters or some more ancient symbols, continuously flowing, changing, and reorganizing. Each change caused a subtle distortion in the spear's form.
The strangest part was the spearhead.
It didn't have just one tip, but three.
Three spear tips branched out from the main shaft, evenly distributed at 120 degrees. Each tip was slightly curved, and the edges of all three tips trembled, emitting a faint, almost inaudible hum, a sound like metallic resonance, or perhaps the wail of some dying creature.
The entire spear didn't look like a weapon.
It looked more like an implement for some ritual.
Or rather, a tool for executing some inevitable fate.
Held in the mecha's hand, it exuded an indescribable sense of oppression.
As if the very existence of this spear represented the concept of "ending."
It seemed that as soon as it appeared, certain things were destined to be destroyed.
Unstoppable, unchangeable.
Pavela gripped the spear shaft and slightly turned her wrist.
The spear shaft cut an arc through the air, and the crack-like patterns immediately became brighter, as if responding to her movements.
This feeling was good.
Very good.
"Coo! Coo coo coo!"
The pigeon was practically jumping.
"Alright, alright, I know you're happy."
Pavela's lips curved upwards slightly.
"Then—"
She looked ahead.
At the woman staring at her with wide eyes.
At the giant formed by the entire forest.
"It's my turn."
She said softly.
