Tempest of the Stellar War

The electrified kusarigama flashed out, tracing a bewildering pattern in the air. It lashed directly forward at the Moonlit Sage Rider, fierce and hurried. The Moonlit Sage Rider lowered its head, and the chain passed over its shoulder. But this chain could not be grabbed. Contact would be rewarded with 200,000 volts of high charge. It was nothing to be played with.

Just as Achilles was about to attack, he sensed danger. Gelun smiled grimly and tugged. The scythe boomeranged back, wrapping towards the Moonlit Rider.

Whirlpool Lasso Constriction!

Gelun’s unique move. Once the electrified chain held you tightly, you would be as helpless as a crab in a fisherman’s net.

BOOM...

The Moonlit Rider rushed to the skies. At the same time, the silver gun fired at the ground, giving it the extra bit of lift to shrug off the confines of the electrified chain, but at the same time, it was struck by the chain.

But a ear-splitting rumble came from the side. The huge Electric Deathlock was already rushing towards the Moonlit Rider. This was too relentless.

At this moment, the Moonlit Rider had started to descend, and Gelun let an excited expression show.

This move was known as scattering the chickens to hit the egg! His other move was just to lead Achilles into a position like this.

BOOM...

The timing was just right, when the Moonlit Rider was just about to land.

Although the silver gun had been hooked by the chain previously, it could still fire. Although the Moonlit Rider was sent flying, he had managed to use the force from firing the guns to dodge the brunt of the blow.

Gelun rubbed his chin. Damn, what a wily bastard. Missed again.

The electrified kusarigama started to rotate again, at the same time charged with electricity. The entire chain was crackling with lightning, and as it spun, a hum could be heard.

“Gelun’s composure seems to be slipping a little.”

“Being played with like that by the Earthlings, it’s to be expected.”

Those who were familiar with Gelun widened their eyes in surprise. Those in charge of recording were even more attentive, because this was Gelun’s unparalleled ultimate move. Gelun was no small fry in the Solar System.

His kusarigama in Manalasuo was the best. Paired with his unique Ability X, he almost seemed like a hacker.

Wielding his electrified kusarigama, the Electric Deathlock stepped towards the Moonlit Rider. His speed was unhurried, almost taunting. But anyone would feel misgivings when faced with the huge reverberations emanating from the kusarigama. Similar heavy type mecha did not have the agility to evade it, whereas scout type mecha would be completely wrecked at the slightest brush with the chain.

A fighter type mech fit nicely in the middle, giving one the illusion of chance. But in truth it was the weakest matchup. It neither had the required speed nor the required defensive capabilities. Its energy shields could not stop such an attack.

The kusarigama’s rotation was so fast that it was beginning to generate static, almost forming a net in the air.

The two mecha were about 10 meters apart. The situation seemed completely in the hands of the Electric Deathlock, while the Moonlit Rider seemed helpless. Against such a ferocious fighter, the Moonlit Rider seemed like a helpless damsel in distress, struggling against a macho villain for emotional entertainment.

“Kill!”

With a violent shrug of the Electric Deathlock’s shoulder, the kusarigama was about to move. But what was surprising was the kusarigama did not attack. In fact, the spasm created a magnetic storm that enshrouded the Moonlit Rider.

Whoosh...

At such a close distance, there was no way out!

Binded!

In a flash, the Moonlit Rider seemed to have been captured by the energy chains. This was Gelun’s Ability X. The reason for his affinity with lightning was an unsurpassed understanding of electricity. Combined with his considerable physical strength, it brought him to stand unflinchingly at the point position in Manalasuo.

The fatal kusarigama flew out at this moment.

BOOM...

Everyone was deathly quiet, stunned into silence by the Electric Deathlock’s godlike power. There was no way out. Contact would mean death, and the Moonlit Rider was trussed up like a chicken with that last move.

Achilles also seemingly had used his full strength. At the crucial moment, the titanium gun moved, blocking the kusarigama, but it was wrapped in the chain.

Gelun exerted furiously, pulling the Moonlit Rider over. At the same time, he gunned his engines. This was a finishing move. Once trapped in his magnetic storm, the energy shields would fail within a minute, while a full frontal collision with the Electric Deathlock would smash the pretty boy to smithereens. As much as he liked pretty girls, he liked crushing pretty boys too.

The enormous Electric Deathlock flew towards the Moonlit Rider like a cannonball. Yan Xiaosu closed his eyes. Fuck, this was too gory. He was too soft-hearted a person to witness such a grisly scene. He might not have seen eye to eye with Achilles in the past, but he was still one of them. To see his battered corpse... what a waste of talent.

Ye Zisu was watching intently. She was not watching the battle outcome, but rather the capabilities of the mecha. In this battle, the Electric Deathlock held all the advantages. The capabilities of the Moonlit Rider were simply insufficient to change the battle. This was a hopeless match.

Most crucially, once hit by the electromagnetic bind, not only would the shields be disabled, but the functional capacity would be cut by half or more. Faced with the ferocious Electric Deathlock, it would not have the power to retaliate further.

One meter...

Suddenly, the fated-to-die Moonlit Rider grabbed the chain and charged towards the Electric Deathlock. He twisted the chain lightly. Such fearsome momentum could be easily borrowed and turned.

But in the moment he twisted, the chain fell on the Electric Deathlock. Gelun was taken aback. Grimacing, he poured on the power. He had no idea how his opponent had shrugged off the bind, but for a little weasel like the Moonlit Rider to have trapped his own Electric Deathlock, how unbelievable was that!?

BOOM!

At that instant, everybody’s eyeballs almost fell out of their sockets.

As though the Moonlit Rider had grown roots, the enormous Electric Deathlock had been knocked upwards, speeding up by about 15 or 16 times. Gelun’s face was flushed, and blood spurted from his mouth and nose, and his brain was on fire.

The huge Electric Deathlock had been trapped in the air, and the Moonlit Rider fired a shot. From the start of the battle, this had been the only worthy attack that Achilles had made.

Somehow, this one shot made the Electric Deathlock look weak, incapable of locking down anything, and nothing more than a brittle-skinned toy.

BOOM...

It was over...

The broken shell of the enormous Electric Deathlock was slumped over a single shoulder of the Moonlit Rider.

The shot was good.

The Electric Deathlock crashed to the floor, sparks flying from its chest, just millimeters from the cockpit.

The titanium guns retracted with a flip, suave and composed. This was how Achilles, the Sun God, always was.

Solar System team, Achilles WIN.

The paramedics rushed in to extricate Gelun from the cockpit. His injury was mainly due to the sudden reversal of his momentum being dragged back. It had scrambled his internal organs. This guy clearly had guts. He had not fainted, but was holding on, staring down at the pretty boy. He would destroy his pretty face with just one hand.

Achilles shook his head slightly. “Looks like the reputation was undeserved.”

The entire spectator crowd was silent until the elevator returned. Achilles sauntered back, face unflushed, and heart still. He had a smile on his face.

At this moment, the Solar System team erupted into shattering cheers. Although the battle had just begun, this fight had broken their gloom.

The Caragal Republic team was shocked as well. Since when had the Solar System become this good?

Max and his teammates exchanged glances. This did not seem right. Could they really pull an upset?

The fearsome strength needed to single-handedly take down the beastly Electric Deathlock. He had actually managed to shrug off the energy bind. Did the Moonlit Rider have such capabilities, or was it his Ability X?!

Manalasuo’s faces were no longer as relaxed. A loss did not mean much by itself, but more importantly, it was indicative that their opponents were serious business.

This was an undisguised call out. Unbearable!

Who would go for the second round?

“Raslei!” Vincent commanded solemnly. Before the match, they had roughly gone through the Solar System team lineup. This Achilles had the biggest reputation amongst them, nicknamed the Sun God. They had thought him a puffed up brat, but had not expected him to be this good. Strength-type and specialty Ability X user?

Although this could not have been foreseen, a physical ability and specialized ability were often incompatible. Even Gelun had been through three rounds of physical strengthening. This was biological engineering rather than genetic modification. It could increase a soldier’s strength output manifold. Of course, some physical conditions had to be met, and it had a chance of failure.

But this Achilles...

But neither side could dwell over much on this. They had to get on with the battle.

For the second round, Manalasuo’s choice was a prime fighter, Raslei. Looking in the IG, this was one of the strongest leads. Formerly the captain, he had ceded the role to Vincent for unknown reasons, although this by no means meant that Raslei was weak. In the last iteration, his performance had been stupendous, losing only to the Atlantis team. But this iteration, he had come back with a storm to take the championship!

On the Solar System side, it was time for King Lear to make his appearance. It was time to see if he was a dragon or a worm.

Raslei was filled with arrogance. As the Vice-Captain of Manalasuo, and a participant in the last iteration of IG, his influence in the Manalasuo military school was considerable. He had to give it to the Solar System. Their Achilles had performed at an unprecedented level in the first round, and this tempered Raslei’s attitude a little.

... The problem was that tempering your attitude in no way meant that your opponent had to temper his as well. As Lear took the field, he merely glanced at Raslei. He took no further interest in the Manalasuo vice-captain, who had stepped two paces forward only to pause, embarrassed.

Lear chose his mech, an assassin-type mech from Earth’s Chronos family: Unbounded Sky Chains.

This mech had been produced by Chronos for more than a decade, but its capabilities were average. This was a scout mech, and had a certain degree of agility. But in truth, its defenses were too weak. As a humanoid scout mech, his agility and speed could not compete with beast-type mecha. Most crucially, it came with titanium swords. Normally, higher class assassin-type mecha chose curved blades, but this mech had purposely been equipped with standard, titanium swords.

In a world where beam sabers and titanium blades were favored, titanium swords had already been out of the meta. Just their contour alone was unsuited for battle. It was rumored to be the Chronos family’s aesthetic indulgence. As the family name grew, one unpopular mech meant little difference.