Chapter 14: The Ice and Fire Tournament (Part Nine)

Chapter 14: The Ice and Fire Tournament (Part Nine)

"Whirr... Rumble... Whirr..." The live broadcast screen was increasingly filled with static, drowning out the commentator's voice with a hissing noise. Amidst the cacophony, an eerie buzzing grew louder and more distinct.

The audience instinctively sensed that something had gone awry, holding their breaths as they watched the screen in anticipation.

In the next instant, a burst of light flooded the screen.

The camera was focused on Rong Mi.

On the already distorted screen, purple radiance outlined the mecha around her. Every spirit energy slot on the frame was filled to the brim, transforming the once-black armor into a deep purple hue.

Without any warning, the thrusters beneath Rong Mi's mecha roared to life, propelling it upward.

Simultaneously, the faint humming from the screen swelled a thousandfold, echoing like a thunderclap.

Rocks shattered as a brilliant red beam shot abruptly from beneath Rong Mi's feet.

Resembling an erupting volcano, a crimson beam shot towards the heavens. Initially as thin as an arm, it swiftly expanded in diameter.

The beam spread outward, becoming massive and robust. The mountain's rocks and soil melted into large, brownish pools under the red glow, subsequently evaporating within the red radiance.

Yet, the object closest to the red light remained untouched.

A deep purple barrier, resembling burning flames, enveloped the mecha's exterior, incinerating the crimson energy threads that dared to touch its surface.

Rong Mi's mecha leaped upward, bending at the waist as he stretched out his hand. The mechanical hand pressed against the top of the red beam, and simultaneously, the purple spiritual energy erupted in a sudden burst.

The deep purple stream of spiritual energy spread horizontally, targeting the peak of the red beam. Like flowing flames, they formed a descending net, swooping down upon the red light.

Around Rong Mi, a purple hurricane swirled in mid-air.

"Run—"

The mental energy vortex had erupted the instant the red light appeared. It surged outward, sweeping away the white warships behind and the scattered mechas across the forest, pushing everyone away to safety.

The sudden upheaval caught the mecha pilots in the woods off-guard. However, as they were lifted into the air and pushed outward, they instinctively activated their mechas' thrusters. Amidst the chaos, they frantically tried to stabilize their mechas while subconsciously gazing at the mountain peak where the red and purple lights intertwined.

There was no mountain peak left.

In mere seconds, the mountain, the forest... everything had been obliterated by the breathtakingly powerful energy waves.

The ground, now devoid of its peak, was sinking, forming a massive crater.

The chasm seemed to delve deep into the planet's core, reaching the unfathomable mysteries hidden within the heart of the star. The soil churned, and an unusual, pale blue hue began to spread from the dark depths of the hole, freezing the flattened earth. Upon this icy blue crust, thin, crimson lines rapidly emerged and snaked across the surface.

The mecha pilots, still suspended in the air, instinctively climbed higher and scattered even further away.

At the center of the collapsed mountain, a purple spirit energy flame, suffused with red light, burned fiercely, emitting a terrifying hissing sound as it ultimately dissolved the crimson beam of light.

Rong Mi's mecha somersaulted backward, stabilizing itself mid-air. The mecha's arm rose horizontally, and a slender line of spirit energy emerged from his palm, forming a long, narrow, and colorful blade.

In front of him, the deep pit buzzed as a colossal high-rank Ice Butterfly ascended, its wings flapping.

Its expansive wingspan stretched toward the sky, nearly filling the entire horizon and obscuring the pale sun high above. Its vivid red body was thicker than the previous red beam, resembling a small hill made of steel.

Like the low-rank Ice Butterflies, it also bore horizontal stripes on its abdomen, though these were severed in the middle, causing the insect's carapace to split open on both sides.

Revealing within its embrace a humanoid form.

A creature with pale pink skin, completely unclothed.

It emerged from within the icy butterfly's insectoid body, shielded by the external hard shell. It had yet to develop limbs, with red insectoid legs still attached to its abdomen. Yet, at the top of its body, its head was perfectly human in shape.

They were so close that Rong Mi could clearly discern its exquisite features.

It possessed a pair of vibrant red eyes, identical in hue to the butterfly's body, framed by long, curled lashes.

Its skin was fair, lips were crimson, and a fine face was adorned with delicate, azure tresses that fluttered like butterfly wings.

This visage resembled an exquisite doll-like beauty.

...If only it weren't larger than Rong Mi's mecha head.

The advanced Ice Butterfly, having evolved into humanoid form, understood human aesthetics.

It lifted its gaze, its scarlet pupils reflecting the image of the black mecha.

An eerie energy fluctuation rippled through the air around the mecha, tinged with the bright red of the Ice Butterfly's venom.

Simultaneously, its broad wings enveloped Rong Mi, severing all space around the mecha. Red threads danced upon the ice-blue wings, shooting out to entangle the mecha's limbs.

It opened its mouth, devoid of a human tongue; instead, hundreds of red, needle-sharp tendrils protruded. Filled with poison, they burst forth, aiming to pierce through the mecha's armor, skewering Rong Mi like a sieve... before devouring him!

Rong Mi: "That won't be necessary!"

From his hand, a long blade sang aloud.

An explosion of intense mental energy ignited into a vast sea of flames.

The core of the mecha revolved rapidly, channeling Rong Mi's mental power to every corner of the machine. The excessive energy transfer caused the outer shell to tremble, emitting creaking sounds. Excess mental power, unable to be contained by the mecha's spirit slots, spilled out, forming powerful whirlwinds.

Rong Mi calmly gazed at the bizarrely shaped insectoid before him.

He knew this was not his customized and most suitable mecha, the one that had been improved time and again.

The C-class mecha he was currently piloting had a brittle exterior, prone to shattering under his attacks. Its core endurance was also lacking, with energy draining at an alarming rate.

The spirit slots could accommodate too little mental energy, leading to wasteful consumption.

As a result, the mental energy blade in his hand was not as solid or sharp as it should be.

But it was sufficient.

The toxic red mist belonging to Ice Butterfly crystallized from the surrounding air, consumed by the fiery inferno of mental energy.

Wings encircled him from all sides, obscuring his vision and blocking any possible evasion routes, pushing towards the center.

From within the icy butterfly's wings, a crimson tendril shot out, piercing through the sole remaining gap like an elongated hand reaching from the depths of death.

Rong Mi swung his blade only once.

A dense purple saber descended from midair, its curved blade extending far beyond the length of Rong Mi's own saber, unleashing a monstrous energy that surged forth fearlessly!

The saber's edge blazed in the sunlight, plunging deep into the ground below like a gale-force wind or a frenzied flame, tracing a sweeping arc as it howled forward.

It sliced through the red mist, severed countless tendrils, and broke free from the encirclement of the wings, charging directly at the High-Level Ice Butterfly's crimson body.

"Buzz—"

The High-Level Ice Butterfly immediately began to retract its wings. The shattered ends dripped with bright red blood, but they remained broad, firmly shielding the butterfly's body.

Its steel-like, crimson insectoid form closed in, enclosing the human-like torso tightly within.

And its humanoid appearance was not as fragile as a true human's. Its fair human-like skin was equally hard, completely encapsulating the deadly soft flesh beneath the twelfth and thirteenth horizontal stripes. Over the course of multiple evolutions, the once-vulnerable flesh within the insectoid body had gradually shrunk, ultimately forming a human-sized heart right at the center of the chest.

Only by destroying this insectoid heart would the High-Level Ice Butterfly truly meet its end.

Otherwise, it would have ample time to regenerate new bodies, tentacles, and butterfly wings.

Yet, these barriers, as sturdy as they were, proved no match for Rong Mi's blade.

The youth's mental energy was unleashed and consumed without reserve, funneling all power into a single strike.

The mech's palm began to melt under the intense heat, its outer shell fragments floating up only to be indiscriminately crushed by the purplish mental energy.

And from his hand, that one stroke of the blade cut through with unstoppable momentum.