(Chapters combined)
A "Meteor" trailing a red waterfall plummeted from the sky, its blazing breath tearing through all obstruction.
At the peak, those blood-colored eyes had just one target, the young boy at the very depths of the cave below.
Shura... is that you?
This weak yet clear voice rang out both at the bottom of the pit and within the cockpit.
As the voice sounded, the falling speed accelerated once more, like a massive blood arrow piercing the sky!
The black palm slightly curved, and four blood-colored light darts suddenly appeared in hand.
As the Red Flame "Meteor" was about to crash into the earth, Shura’s arm flicked lightly, and the four blood-colored darts separated from his body.
Those light darts, accelerated by the falling speed and extremely diminutive, went virtually unnoticed.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!
The four light darts directly embedded themselves into the canyon walls.
Shura Order—Guard!
Muttering that phrase, Mu Fan’s consciousness was once again engulfed by endless darkness and a storm of Fiery Fire sweeping across the sky.
He did not know that the four blood-colored light darts, flickering in and out of brightness, had already formed an array around him for protection.
When the four darts fully embedded into the earth, countless dazzling lights sprang to life.
And just then, Black, whose emotional logic was in utter chaos, suddenly swept away that nihilistic state of mind, instantly fixing those errors.
The voice it had been calling out ceaselessly also stopped in Mu Fan’s ears.
Everything was just because of that phrase spoken by Mu Fan...
Shura? Shura!
Even this word was enough to cause a momentary pause in Black, the intelligent life.
That Autonomous Consciousness Mecha, brimming with presence and desire to kill, capable of destroying heaven and earth?
That Mecha Body with so many secrets it could perfectly shield against any invasion attempts?
That mysterious Mecha Body connected by bloodline to Mu Fan, even capable of communicating across dimensions!
Now...
Had it returned?
Just like that moment on Loga Star.
The crazily spinning metal ball in the virtual space settled down completely.
Black’s murmuring monologue also echoed in the virtual space; at this moment, without Mohandas lurking in the darkness, Black’s voice sounded particularly clear, and especially lonely.
But within that tone was an endless hope!
"Shura, though I really don’t like you, this time... please."
Above the four light darts deeply embedded in the rock, a faint light screen suddenly appeared...
A pale red light screen sketched with just the right curvature completely enveloped the Extreme Special Soldier’s cockpit.
The flickering glow was as if it were breathing, alive.
And at this moment, the "Blood-colored Meteor" traveling faster than thirty Mach was finally approaching the earth.
The observing Mechas in the distance retreated further outwardly at this moment!
No one dared to test the true power of a Meteor striking the ground.
No one wished to find out if the shockwave might extend to reach them.
In this moment between heaven and earth, the focal point was the blood-red Meteor in the sky.
The black palm repositioned upon the saber handle, the four engines at the back still roaring without any intention to stop.
This ancient warrior-like black Mecha,
It was born with two purposes only, guardianship and killing!
Since its birth, it had been given a name from among the most revered in the clan.
It possessed a unique Autonomous Consciousness in the universe, the most honored warrior throughout the clan’s history... a collective of blood and belief.
It came from mountains of corpses and seas of blood and would eventually return to the endless domain of death.
Where it passed, the ground burned and the planet cracked.
Where the Blood Prison Blade pointed, all things perished.
"My name... Agasura!"
The deep, coarse, yet murderously intense voice at this moment...
Sounded like the clear echoes of morning bells and evening drums, resonating powerfully in one’s heart, instantly spreading across the entire sky!
The countless people following the battle inside, whether ordinary spectators or professional Mechanical Masters and Observers, were all stunned.
This abrupt voice emerged without warning in their ears.
Even those in the sky like Ruan Xiongfei, Andumari, the Ran Family, Naden...
They all heard this ancient-sounding speech clearly.
The voice seemed to belong to an old samurai who had lived through one or even several centuries, issuing its sound to countless people.
The voice was cold, detached, as if it were merely declaring its own name.
"Whose voice is this?"
"The radar? Where is the source of the voice?"
"Why is there suddenly a man’s voice, what’s happening!"
The audience aboard the Sky Mother Ship and the countless viewers online were frozen at the same moment.
Because even the host had become completely stupefied.
This inexplicable voice emerged so suddenly without any sign.
But just hearing this voice made one’s skin crawl with fear!
Exactly who is speaking?
Within the surveillance rooms of the two major powers, there was a flurry of activity in an instant.
However, in the surveillance room of the Federation Military Department, Colonel Li Shen from the War Department clenched his hands over the steel platform, veins bulging.
Around him were the sounds of busy footsteps and the tapping of keyboards as they searched for the source of the voice.
But Li Shen’s gaze was fixed unwaveringly on the blood-colored meteor in the sky.
An intangible intuition told him that the source of the voice was right there!
Because that was no "meteor", but a Mecha!
"Captain Ruan, be careful of that blood-colored meteor, that is... a new Mecha Body, Realm-Breaking Gate level... five."
Finally, the honor of the Federation overcame personal sentiments, and as the highest commander in the surveillance room, Li Shen chose to share this information with Ruan Xiongfei.
After saying these words, as if a great weight had been lifted from his heart, Li Shen’s body heavily leaned on the console.
After all, nobody could guarantee how the addition of this unknown-ally-or-enemy Mecha would affect the development of the battle.
Even the battle plans that had been previously formulated were disrupted.
From now on, the autonomous decisions of the Thunderhawk Mechanical Master would take precedence.
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
Ruan Xiongfei in the cockpit suddenly froze, hearing Li Shen’s voice.
But Li Shen didn’t have the chance to speak a second sentence.
Boom!
The dazzling "meteor" finally smashed into the ground completely.
Looking down from high above, the ground in a diameter of over a kilometer plummeted all at once.
Then, dense spiderweb-like cracks surged up in an instant!
All of this happened in less than half a second, and then from these cracks, countless flames erupted.
Black smoke and towering flames completely engulfed Sector 19 Canyon.
The violent shockwave was like the momentary pause following the explosion of a nuclear bomb before bursting forth instantly.
Boom boom boom!
The impact wave, carrying flames with it, swept through mercilessly in all directions; on its path, every obstacle was flattened!
Boulders, rock walls, hills...
The ferocious shockwave destroyed everything it encountered.
The massive crater previously created by the Strangling Demon Snake could not hold out for even a second longer.
The thick rock walls were instantly torn apart, and the wreckage of the Extreme Special Soldier embedded in the rock walls was scattered outward along with the rocks.
In less than three seconds, the rising black and red cloud of smoke had covered the entire southeastern stadium.
At that moment, many of the monitoring devices located in the southeastern stadium were ruthlessly destroyed.
Nearly half of the live broadcast on the internet turned pitch-black, signaling the complete disconnection of the sensors.
However...
When the fiery and rocky black and red storm swept through, nobody noticed a faint and dim red light curtain shimmering quietly at the very bottom.
This light curtain, as if alive, was silently protecting the things it wanted to protect.
In the deepest part of the huge crater, where the raging flames burned the brightest and most intense,
there, amidst the flames and under the shroud of rising black clouds, a scarlet cloak was held high...
It was a half-kneeling black figure.
The left arm was completely gone, and the right hand held a dark red saber with the sheath reversed, bracing it in front of the body.
The black mecha’s shell, previously covered with mottled bloodstains, began to burn with the flames.
A moment later, they completely dissipated in the hot air.
Yet the black mecha’s shell did not show the slightest sign of being scorched red, not even the inexplicably scarlet cloak behind it was affected.
Mist rose, swirling, flickering, extinguishing, and solidifying.
This vivid cloak danced with the flames.
All the dirt on the body was removed, revealing the mottled scars in full without reservation.
The bullet holes, saber marks, and ruined armor scattered across the shell...
This was like a samurai who had fought through blood-soaked battles on the battlefield and barely survived the return.
This black and "insignificant" body slowly stood up, and the blood-colored flames flickering in its eyes looked towards the flickering light curtain not far away.
With one step, the scarlet cloak’s remaining image was still left in the air as it swirled; the entire mecha body twisted and then slowly disappeared.
This was an afterimage caused by extreme speed.
The moment it disappeared on this side, another figure instantly solidified on the other.
The black mecha stood in front of the metal sphere that had been crushed by over half.
The flames in the mecha’s eyes turned into the deepest, purest, and most intense red!
The saber was slung on its side, and five claw blades suddenly sprang out from the right arm’s hand armor, then swung violently.
The spherical cockpit was instantly cut in half.
Then the black mecha, as if grabbing some precious item, carefully reached its hand inside.
The hand gently propped open, and the cracked metal shell was effortlessly parted by this black hand.
The young man’s body, which had been crushed against the control panel, slowly slid down.
But it was precisely caught by that black hand and then gently lifted and placed against the chest.
The black mecha looked down at its palm, where the reflection of the unconscious young man was mirrored in the blood-colored eyes.
"Shura... reporting in!"
A low voice emanated from the mecha’s chest cavity, but this time the sound did not spread out and was quietly echoing in this tiny piece of the universe.
The black fog and fire clouds overhead still had not dissipated, inside the unmanned cockpit, and there were no longer any red dots around in a kilometer radius.
This moment in space and time belonged to the young man in front!
Mu Fan’s vital signs turned into a series of numbers on the operational light screen inside the cockpit.
The unstable indicators, the slowly declining lifeline...
The lively blood-colored flame beat, the delayed and hoarse but eerily sounding voice emerged from the chest cavity again:
"To hurt... my master... is to kill... without mercy."
A mechanical sound rang out; a tunnel opened in the chest of the mecha, ejecting an open receptacle.
The black mecha placed Mu Fan into the receptacle and drew him into its body. Sealed!
When the boy’s body fully lay within the docking bay, the agony on his face and his furrowed brows began to smooth out, showing a rare sense of calm and tranquility.
A peaceful heart is home!
When Mu Fan appeared inside the mecha, countless metal tubes suddenly burst forth, writhing wildly!
"Tss! Tss!" More than thirty metal tubes sprung out spikes, then from every direction punctured Mu Fan’s body.
Two of the thickest tubes stabbed directly into the back of his head.
Circuits activated! The entire cockpit lit up with a blood-colored, ghostly glow.
"Roar!" Mu Fan, still unconscious, let out a beastly howl in that instant. His eyes remained tightly shut, but his throat emitted a violent scream.
It was the awakening of the most primal blood!
It was the waking of a brutal and frenzied rage within his bloodline!
The blood-colored screen in front of him lit up, the blinding numbers lighting up first:
"Energy storage level: 63%!"
Then followed a series of data unique to the Mechanical Master.
A cold voice echoed within the cockpit, not Shura’s voice, but rather more akin to that of a pure electronic sound.
"Energy inversion mode initiated, bloodline interface."
"Shura Dream Connection System activated."
"Activating Shura genes, beginning enhanced bioenergy recovery mode."
"Shura auxiliary combat mode... initiated!"
A series of commands flashed by that Mu Fan could not understand. Black, if present, might have been able to record and decipher each of these commands.
However, from the moment Shura grabbed hold of Mu Fan, an invisible, incredibly strong electromagnetic field completely isolated Black.
Now all electronic devices on Mu Fan were rendered useless.
Even Black, who had always resided within the watch, was thrust into an endless, dark prison.
But this time, Black did not complain, nor did it attempt to hide.
It could have transferred its core to any space in the blink of an eye, yet knowing that it was Shura who had taken hold of Mu Fan, it chose not to evade.
This time, please take good care of Mu Fan!
That was Black’s most sincere wish at that very moment.
Black metallic tubes began to twist with streaks of blood-colored light.
The blood-colored light even made gurgling noises, as though copious amounts of fresh blood were continuously flowing into Mu Fan’s body.
At that moment, Mu Fan let out another beast-like roar, his face, neck, and upper body’s veins bulging violently.
However, after three seconds, the red glow completely receded, and with it, the pain seemed to vanish too.
Just then, the boy’s head, which had been hanging low, suddenly began to lift slowly.
Supported by the thirty-some black tubes, he started to float up from the cockpit.
His eyes were still closed tight, yet the pain, struggle, and furrowed brows on his face had all disappeared.
What remained was an extreme calmness, one steeped in indifference.
Beneath this indifference was the cold that filled the entire cockpit...
At that moment, Mu Fan’s aura underwent a complete transformation.
He was him or, perhaps, not.
As for Mu Fan himself, he only knew that in the deepest part of his consciousness, he finally saw clearly that tall, dark figure.
The figure, now with one arm severed, seemed unconcerned as it knelt on one knee before him.
A booming voice like thunder—
"Agasura... requests battle."
In the confusion and chaos, Mu Fan seemed to still be pondering the current situation, questioning why he found himself in such a place.
Yet involuntarily, his mouth uttered a cold phrase:
"Granted."
At the sound of this voice, a terrifyingly sudden surge of momentum rose from the black mecha.
A flame blazed up instantaneously from the sheath, then spread across the entire Mecha Body!