Free Web NovelChapter 328: Chapter 320: Divine Statue Gabriel (2)
[Runic Armor: Three-Layer Stacked Spell Formation]
He had nearly demolished his runology lab to make it a reality.
He abandoned the idea of stacking on thick armor, instead using a highly magic-conductive material for the outer shell for the first time. On the Golem’s surface, he had used a micro-engraving process to etch three interlocking layers of Runes.
Bottom Layer (Foundation): Structural Reinforcement and Repair Runes. These grant the highly magic-conductive Magic Material a hardness and resilience approaching adamantine, while also bestowing self-repair capabilities.
Middle Layer (Operation): Energy Guidance Runes. These precisely transmit the spells compiled by the Heart Core to the limbs, wings, or weapon interfaces with zero loss.
Surface Layer (Reactive): Triggered Defense Runes. Upon detecting an attack, they automatically generate a localized, reinforced AT Field—a newly developed AT Field technology that possesses a degree of damage-reflection capability.
Even if the armor was damaged, as long as its Magic Power wasn’t depleted, the Runes could absorb ambient magic from the environment to "redraw" themselves.
This was what an unscientific creation of a Wizard should be.
[System self-check complete.]
[Energy Core: Dual Singularity Engine Mk. II. Status: Normal.]
[Rune Heart Core - Chanting Core: Online. Rune Board slots 12/12 loaded.]
[Three-Layer Imprinted Rune Matrix: Integrity 100%.]
Allen looked up at the 24-meter-tall white divine statue. Its eight wings fanned out behind it like a peacock’s tail, creating a brilliant golden curtain of light.
His Mechanical Mind operated with cold precision, yet his fingers tightened slightly.
’It wasn’t nervousness.’
’It was the irrepressible, almost reverent, impulse a craftsman feels upon seeing their highest technical achievement come to life.’
"Begin flight test."
[Acknowledged. Anti-Gravity Rune activated. Propulsion Runes engaged.]
Golden ripples spread across the ground beneath Gabriel’s feet, and the massive Golem lifted off the ground without any warning—no jet streams, no engine roar, not even a gust of wind.
The 24-meter-tall, several-hundred-ton white colossus hovered in midair, as light as a feather.
"Not enough space in the hangar. Go outside."
Gabriel ascended through a spatial rift into the skies of the material plane. Its eight wings folded back as the white figure shot toward the clouds.
Three seconds later, the speed reading jumped past the sound barrier.
There was no sonic boom; the "Negation" Runes on its main wing-feathers completely dissipated the shockwave.
[Current Speed: Mach 1.7... Mach 2.4... Mach 3.2...]
[Main wing design cruise limit reached. Engage propulsion boost?]
"Engage."
The eight wings snapped back flat, and streams of golden light erupted from the tips of the feathers.
[Mach 4.1... Mach 4.8... Mach 5.2. Maximum design speed reached.]
Mach 5.2.
The Freedom Gundam’s top speed was just over Mach 3.
Allen hovered above his workshop, remotely observing the streak of golden light that cut across the sky through his Demon Eye network.
Speed data, engine load, Rune Matrix temperature, structural stress—all parameters were within safe thresholds.
He issued the first command.
"Combat test. Form One."
Gabriel halted in midair. The eight wings on its back instantly broke apart, shooting out as eight homing blades.
[Form One: Eight-winged Judgment. Use of this form will reduce the Golem’s flight capabilities.]
In this mode, each wing was equivalent to a homing missile, capable of using magic sense to find the weak points of enemies or giant beasts. It was suitable for clearing the field or inflicting heavy damage on massive targets.
"Form Two."
A hundred kilometers away, over a barren wasteland, Gabriel hovered as its eight wings retracted, then spun and intertwined before it.
A sixteen-meter-long golden spear gradually took shape.
The Runes of a seven-fold chain spell lit up one by one along the spear’s shaft, like seven slowly opening eyes.
[Form Two: Holy Lance Longinus]
"Target: the mountain directly ahead. Throw."
Gabriel drew back one arm, its eight wings fully spread. The Golem’s posture was like that of an Angel from a classical mural, about to deliver Divine Punishment.
The spear was thrown.
A streak of golden light pierced the heavens.
Fifty kilometers away, a 300-meter-tall stone mountain was pierced through its center.
Immediately after, the seven-fold spell detonated in sequence inside the mountain. First, lightning-like paralysis patterns crawled over the rock walls, followed by bursts of flame, ice crystals, and shockwaves. Finally, a muffled explosion rumbled from the mountain’s core, and the entire peak collapsed from within, turning into a sky full of rubble and dust.
[Holy Lance Longinus test complete. All seven chained spells triggered normally.]
This was the throwing mode for the multi-purpose wings. In this form, the entire spear was a "magic-breaking seal." If it pierced a Magical Beast, it would release a seven-fold chain spell within its body:
1. Paralyze Nerves, 2. Scorch Flesh, 3. Freeze Bodily Fluids, 4. Shatter Bones, 5. Dispel Regeneration, 6. Mark Coordinates, and 7. Detonate Internal Magic Power for secondary damage. It can only be retrieved after the enemy is killed.
"Continue. Form Three."
SWOOSH! The wings retracted, hovering behind it.
Gabriel brought its arms together, palms facing, as the Chanting Core operated at full power, linking the Heart Core with the eight wings.
A low hum, like a holy chant, emanated from deep within the Golem. It was the resonance produced by the Chanting Core amplifying the vibrations of the released Runes. The wing-feathers vibrated in unison, the harmony growing louder and more solemn.
[Form Three: Ranged Bombardment - Angel’s Chant]
A white Magic Beam, over ten meters in diameter, erupted from between its clasped palms and shot straight across the wasteland.
The ground grazed by the beam was instantly melted, leaving a vitrified trench several kilometers long, glowing with orange-red embers.
[Angel’s Chant test complete. Magic Power reserves have bottomed out. Spell system entering a 60-second cooldown.]
Allen didn’t even blink.
The test data compiled in his mind. Flight performance: exceeded expectations. Attack power: met design specifications.
The three-layer imprinted Runes sustained zero damage throughout the test, and the Chanting Core’s Rune Board compilation speed was 0.3 seconds faster than his theoretical estimate.
"Final item. Form Four."
Gabriel’s wings wrapped snugly around its body, encasing it like a giant golden cocoon.
A Freedom Gundam fired from a distance, but was completely unable to breach its defenses.
[Form Four: Feather Mantle]
The wing-feathers cover the entire body, forming a protective membrane of spell power that clings to the armor and releases a reinforced AT Field.
The Feather Mantle’s defense has a "deflection" property. It is less effective against physical impacts but can withstand and redirect attacks, making it extremely effective against energy attacks like breaths or beams.
[Test complete. Commencing return trip. Overall combat assessment: Perfect.]
Allen looked at the data provided by Jarvis, the fervent glow in his eyes gradually fading, replaced by his usual cold rationality.
’Perfect?’
The manufacturing cost was 9 million Low-Level Magic Stones per unit, with R&D costs exceeding 17 million.
Even with his current financial resources, he could only afford to build a single prototype for now.
Even more fatal were its flaws.
In planes with low levels of Magic Power, it would struggle to draw magic from the environment, and could only sustain high-intensity combat for twenty minutes.
And...
Its close-combat capabilities were extremely low.
During the year-long development process, Allen had become fanatically obsessed with exploring Rune technology and the systems of Witchcraft.
Inspiration had burst forth in a continuous stream, causing him to pour all his resources and available space into the Chanting Core and spell-based armaments.
The highly magic-conductive materials made Gabriel’s close-combat abilities even worse than the previous generation’s Freedom Gundam.
If a close-combat expert of the same tier got near it while its spells were on cooldown, its perfect, marble-like body could do nothing but take a beating.
According to the original plan, the Guard Series was supposed to be an all-purpose ultimate weapon.
Gabriel had become severely specialized.
But he didn’t change it. He couldn’t change it. He didn’t want to change it.
Gabriel was the crystalized form of his technological breakthroughs in the field of runology.
The Chanting Core, the imprinting process, the spell-powered wings—every one of these technologies was proof of his breakthroughs in Alchemy Technology.
To neuter these groundbreaking designs just to compensate for its weakness in close combat?
That would be like throwing away a watermelon just to pick up a sesame seed.
Allen flew down from outside the workshop. The sound of his boot heels clicking on the metal floor echoed through the vast, empty hangar.
He looked up at Gabriel, which had just returned to the workshop.
Its eight wings were spread, bathing its body in a golden-white light. The milky-white glow from the T-shaped visor stared at him calmly.
"From now on, you’ll be responsible for long-range suppression."
Allen turned and walked toward the back of the hangar.
There stood a single isolation door that led to another, separate assembly workshop.
During the later stages of Gabriel’s development, he had realized it was straying from his original vision. Unwilling to turn back, Allen had taken advantage of his multi-threaded R&D capabilities to start a second ultimate weapon project.
The isolation door boomed open before him.
The lights flickered on.
The silhouette of another Golem emerged from the darkness.
Its presence was completely different from Gabriel’s.
There was no angelic grace, no golden radiance.
Only pure, oppressive, instinct-repelling—
Massiveness and violence.
"Jarvis."
[Here, Commander.]
"Pull up the other technical report."
The corners of Allen’s mouth curved up slightly. "Let’s see how that big guy is coming along."
