Chapter 661: Difficulties (2/2)

ζ

Crack! A red light fired from Xiao Han’s rifle and killed another beast. His mecha staggered dangerously and nearly fell. The last one had clipped his left leg and nearly toppled him over.

He gulped great breaths of air within the cockpit even though his lungs felt like they were on fire. His heart beat so hard it threatened to burst out of his chest. He knew it meant his energy was depleted, and his body was close to collapse. Both he and his mecha were drained, but he didn’t let up. Only one final regret nagged at him.

His life’s greatest regret was losing to that fat-ass from National Eastern University. All his hard work since has been to strive for another chance – to get revenge. Now it looked as though he would never get the chance. Fat bastard, he snarled inwardly, if I die I’ll be a hero! How about that?!

“Classmate, be careful!” His mecha’s comms lit up as someone called out to him.

He snapped back to reality and urged his suit to duck, just in time to avoid an alien’s swipe. But the move put too much weight on his suit’s damaged left leg and it gave beneath him. He hit the ground.

A mecha suit out of control was no help to anyone. Aside from Su He’s own, Xiao Han’s Sovereign-class mecha had killed more aliens than anyone. It had also sustained a great deal of damage.

He slapped the eject button, just like Su He. Fearing death wasn’t going to help anyone. So long as he fought to the end, he would be dying a man’s death!

Bang! There was a screech, a shock, and Xiao Han spat out a mouthful of blood. The ejection mechanism failed! Just as he was prepared to fire out an attack from one of the aliens damaged the exit point.

It’s over! His mind went blank, focused on that one thought. Once he hit the eject button he’d lost all control over the suit and the systems died. He was a sitting duck, an alien’s meal wrapped up in a pretty metal coffin.

Boom—! He felt the ground shake as a thunderous blast tore through the area. He and the suit were thrown up into the air and hit the ground again with bone-jarring force. Then everything went dark as he lost consciousness. When he came to, he was surprised to find he was still alive. His vision cleared, and through the mecha’s eyes he could see a large metal figure – one could almost say portly.

Vicious spikes bristled all along its body, and a spiked mace cradled in hand lashed out fierce as a tiger. Any alien daring to get to close was crushed beneath its weight.

Was this…? Xiao Han couldn’t remember any classmates with powers like this. The metallic aura that surrounding him pulsed with powerful Discipline. He used his mace like a meat grinder, opening up a wide area carpeted by the remains of aliens.

The fat mecha leapt into the air and the spikes around it fired off in all directions. Tens of the creatures unfortunate enough to be in the blast radius were impaled and killed outright.

The aliens were corrupted versions of local wildlife, so their weak points were similar. Once the spikes found their target, they disappeared only to reemerge from the fat mecha’s body.

Then, an even stranger scene was revealed. The brawny mecha squatted and all at once became a giant metal sphere covered in blades. It lunged forward, spinning on an axis. He’d gone from using a meat grinder to becoming one. The aliens caught in front of it were effortlessly swept away. The students in a hundred meters around the metal orb had some room to recover.

Then, one after another silhouettes descended from overhead. The earth shook as they made landfall. Scores of well-equipped mechas drew their weapons and shored up the students’ defensive positions. The aliens who’d threatened to destroy these beleaguered students half a moment before were mowed down like paper tigers – like they had no means to defend themselves. The mechas moved like one entity, intuitively knowing where they were needed. The aliens couldn’t advance an inch.

Reinforcements had arrived! Xiao Han fell back in his seat and sighed in relief. What incredible reinforcements they were! None of these pilots could have been anything less than Sovereign-class, he determined, and strong Adepts to boot. What were those insignias on their breastplates? A flame? What did that mean? They were damn fine pilots!

Another mecha with the flame insignia appeared in front of Xiao Han’s mangled mecha. It used its two large blades to carve open the ejection chute. Xiao Han had by then recovered, and clambered out into the fresh air.

“Are you alright?” The pilot asked in an alluring voice.

A female pilot? Xiao Han couldn’t entirely hide his surprise. “I’m fine. Who are you guys?”

“We’re Star Division from Skyfire, here to save you. Relax, you’re safe.” The pilot ended their conversation by leaping back into the fight.