by Feng Yue
Quentin hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and nodded.
Then the machinists quickly went into action, lifting the armor that was too heavy and large for a human and placing it on Vasco.
Although there were no dressing racks specifically designed for assembly, their actions were as fast as ever. Vasco was soon covered with the steel armor as if he had walked into his coffin ahead of time.
Under the visor, only the heavy wheezing reverberated.
“This is the medium-sized armor of the exusiai level, equipped with the Halberd of Turbulence and Thermal Epee. Its performance is 40 times better that of Eagle the Shepherd, and so is the pressure.”
Quentin quickly warned, “There is no support from the enchantment of the Sacred City. Without army musicians, the power in the Aether Furnace is only enough for you to act minimally for ten minutes. Remember, don’t launch the Core of Glory! Your surgery has just been done, and you will be burnt into ashes with no buffer plug implanted.”
“I know.” Vasco nodded under the visor and said with a muffled voice, “The armored knights will follow me when we break through. The blade dancers are responsible for protecting the machinists… Don’t drop your teammates, Quentin, don’t drop any of them.”
He paused and whispered, “Otherwise my sacrifice has no value.”
“I swear.” Quentin nodded.
“Then what are you waiting for?”
“I’m sorry, only number eight.”
Quentin took the syringe from the adjutant, injected it slowly into a blood vessel, and said, “In addition to the painkillers, three times more epinephrine is added. Rest assured, you will not suffer.”
“Well done.” Vasco laughed. “Launch it!”
Several machinists glanced at each other and pulled out the brake valves on the armor at the same time.
In the explosion, hot steam sprayed out from the joints of the valves, making their welding masks red and hot.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The bolts on the gospel armor’s back were torqued in order. The fine nerve probes popped out of the armor bones and pierced into Vasco’s spinal column.
Almost immediately, the hubs rotated, and the last six control valves were screwed into the joints on his hands and back.
Iron and human were integrated into one.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhh…!”
In silence, a terrible roar burst out of the armor, and the air shuddered like a monster swallowing and spitting sulfur and flames. In the flying dust, the huge gospel armor took a step forward, and the earth roared.
Vasco was screaming.
The voice was no longer human, like steel rubbing, with a trembling reverberation.
Just like the start of an oven, the heat spread. The heat flow, which was enough to burn people to ashes, centered on the Aether Furnace on the back of the gospel armor, ran above the armor, and finally flew into Vasco’s body.
If he couldn’t bear this inhuman power, then he would be completely turned to ashes.
If he couldn’t resist such suffering, he would be driven mad by this maniacal force. He wouldn’t be able to tell the enemy and himself apart, so everything, including himself, would be completely reduced to ashes.
In the silence, there was only the hissing in Vasco’s throat, like the terrible high-pitched screaming of an iron eagle.
With the iron and steel rubbing against each other, the steel giant stepped forward and pulled the three meter high steel flag from the ground. Above the scorched flag stood the Bronze Eagle spreading its wings.
Vasco pushed it into the sky, as if it were about to fly.
“…The eagle flag is here!” the steel giant cried. “Everyone prepare—”
The voice was thunderous and reverberated in the gloomy and shattered church.
“—to break through with me!”
Then, the sound of drawing swords rang endlessly.
“Fight till death!”
The Knights Templar roared, clasped their swords, and assembled again.
Boom! boom! boom!
On the back of the gospel armor, three alloy shunts were turned on at the same time and spewed hot blue-white flames.
The noise in the air burst like a thunderstorm.
As Vasco moved on, a hurricane set off from the church. In an instant, he broke through the iron wall of a spent force, and rushed into the innumerable crowds of demons outside the door.
It was as if the sharp blade of God fell from heaven. Wherever it reached, everything was cut open in a crisp and clear way. The straight cutting line extended forward, smeared with misery and blood.
Dragons of earth, white spiders… those ferocious demons were even weaker than dust for the steel giant. They were brutally crushed and smashed. The smelly blood splashed on the armor, spread in the hurricane and then evaporated, letting off the smell of death.
Among the demons, a giant stitched monster was enraged. Its massive body, weighing a few tons, stepped forward and let out an earth-shaking roar.
Rawr!
Vasco growled. The over two meters high steel armor crushed the slate and leaped up. The Eagle Flag in his hand shook. The Bronze Eagle cried. The iron wings on the flag cut through the air and sent out red lights as if they were breaking off.
The next moment, the Iron Eagle pounced down.
The Eagle Flag was out of hand!
Boom!
The huge blister was broken.
The smelly liquid splashed on the gospel armor and creaked, but it could not penetrate the surface of the gold coating.
Just like being hit by a massive hammer that fell from the sky, the deformed head of the stitched monster disintegrated in an instant. From the top down, the sharp end of the flag pierced through the giant body, cutting a bloody hole in the center of it, the blood pouring deep into the land.
The head of the flag was still shaking. The fervent Iron Eagle was dyed with blood, presenting a heartrending redness.
Boom!
Vasco stepped over the corpse of the stitched monster, landed on the ground, and drew the Halberd of Turbulence and the Thermal Epee from his back.
The heavy halberd, more than two meters long, looked like a short halberd in the hand of the steel giant. The Thermal Epee was as wide as a door, glowing with fervent flames.
Although there was no “sprinkler” for regional destruction, nor a crossbow that was large enough to shoot a few kilometers away, Vasco could still reverse gravity, fly up into the sky, and display the power of a demigod without the need to launch the Core of Glory. At this moment, he had already become a war machine.
Those who were covered by steel became steel.
People who held power in their hands made the power.
Never hesitate, even if the steel was incinerated by the power!
“Ahhhhhh!!!”
Under the lion visor, Vasco roared and held up his weapons. He directly faced the corps rushing forward without holding back. The Halberd of Turbulence split a demon that was more than three meters tall into two parts with a blast of wind. Even though the demon was wearing armor, even though it was powerful.
Immediately afterwards, the Thermal Epee swept through, smashing everything that dared to come close and burning it into ashes.
Among the chaotic crowds of frenetic demons, the dark musicians frowned through the dark cracks.
Gospel armor… It was an unexpected factor.
When he laid this trap, he had never thought there would be someone who had done the implantation among the Knights Templar stationed in the Sacred City, and that someone would happen to take the armor out of the armory when they broke through.
Even if it was old-fashioned, it still could bring tremendous power to bear.
Although the demons were fierce and large in number, it was still impossible for them to conquer the gospel armor.
The gospel armor was the top technology of mechanical engineering in the church, and regarded as the most powerful technology by the
Knights Templar. It could eradicate the crowds of demons and get all their people out without launching the Core of Glory.
“Such a trouble.”
The snakificated black musician whispered, “A big trouble.”
He put down the flute on his lips, reached out his hand, and broke off the bone of his little finger. With a crispy sound, the music movement stored in advance was released.
The Solemn Evening Prayers of Confessors!
It was the anthem dedicated to the Hyakume by the black musicians. The core spirituality of it was the urge and the voracity to embrace darkness. The sacred, mournful anthem rang, absorbing the power of the Hyakume.
In mid-air, a vague shadow emerged.
It was the indifferent glance that the Hyakume cast from the abyss.
In a flash, the earth cracked and the church collapsed.
The gravitational force of terror roared ten times, falling from the sky and instantly pressing the gospel armor on the ground. Then, the broken slate completely collapsed. The entire ground quickly desertified and the sand stirred and flew like waves.
The darkness boiled and adhered to the sand, forming a huge whirlpool, pulling the gospel armor into the deepest part of the music movement in order to seal it in the core for good!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Loud noises came continuously, followed by furious roars.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!”
The heavy giant suddenly unlatched his buckles. The add-on armor covering the core continued to separate from the gospel armor.
The gospel armor was lightened to less than one-third of its original weight in an instant.
In the sand whirlpool, a fiery glow lit under the pressure of gravity.
“Oh sh*t…” Quentin pressed himself to the ground.
With no buffer pump, Vasco launched the Core of Glory, abandoned the heavy weapons that were used frequently on the battlefield, but awakened the core circuit inside the armor.
And the real power!
500 Angel II
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A burning halo appeared behind Vasco. It was so bright, and it looked just like an iron and steel-made gear that swirled and rubbed against the air, creating numerous sparkles.
The gospel armor had grown hundreds of times heavier, and even so, it was gradually rising up from the gravel whirlpool. Soon it stopped and floated above the whirlpool.
The snakificated musician frowned and played the flute. The sound of chanting prayer and psalms got louder and louder.
The energy created from the prayers gathered around the gospel armor and enhanced it. Vasco was trapped by the gravity of the armor and the seal of gravel, like prey caught by a huge hungry beast.
“Run!” Vasco shouted. “Quentin! Run!”
A ball of fire was burning inside the armor, and the armor had turned red from the high heat and became as bright as the shining sun.
The ball of fire was actually Vasco; he was burning.
Inside his body, the Aether that had grown hundreds of times denser began to liquify. The liquid started to flow all over his body.
“I swear I will defeat the enemy even if I lose my life!” Vasco shouted. His voice was as loud as the banging sound of iron and steel.
Six streams of flame flew out from the splitter. Vasco abandoned his Halberd of Turbulence and held tightly to the Épée in his hands. On the surface of the Épée, countless burning-hot streams of light rose up and formed a flame blade more than ten meters long.
At that moment, Vasco became an angel guarding the Door of Heaven. The angel stood for the anger of the God and threw the sword of flame towards the enemy.
Vasco’s blood now became the coolant, and his internal organs turned into an Aether stove. His body was going to explode, and his consciousness broke itself from the body and possessed the armor.
The next moment, Vasco wielded the sword of flame towards the armor and the gravel whirlpool.
Both the gravity and the seal of gravel were destroyed by the blade of flame. At the same time, the flame also cleared a path through the devils, killing and burning them to ashes.
Vasco was trapped by the gravity and the seal of gravel, and his gospel armor was already broken, not to mention that both of his body and armor were being heavily squeezed by an invisible force. He still managed to clear a path for Quentin.
Out from nowhere, someone sighed.
The snakificated musician dropped his scepter onto the ground. A white moon slowly rose up from the horizon, moving across the sky, and stopped in the middle of the sky.
The moonlight was so pure, gentle, and mild. Apart from the snakificated musician, all the other devils stood still on the ground.
The snakificated musician was not affected by this illusion and screamed.
All the music movements that came from the abyss were activated. The musical instrument in his hand suddenly broke. The next minute, countless moonlight perception threads penetrated his body and connected with the music theory inside his body. A seed was planted in his body…
That seed was a ball of fire.
This was all Ye Qingxuan’s doing. He played the “above the burning ashes,” a music movement that was once played by Abraham. With the help of the moonlight, the purifying music theory contained in the fire was much enhanced.
Soon, flames erupted from the snakificated musician’s nose, mouth, eyes, and ears. He began to run around and scream with pain. After a short while, his body collapsed.
His bones became ashes, the last ounce of his blood evaporated, and what was left on the ground was only a sack of skin.
As for the surviving knights, what they saw was a rather different scene; with the moon rising up, all the devils vanished as soon as they were bathed in the moonlight. They also heard someone screaming, while a dark smoke rose up from the ashes and gradually dispersed.
The survived knights were totally shocked by this scene.
A young man with white hair walked towards them, without caring about the extremely high temperatures and the force field around him. He reached out his hands, and easily moved the light and lightning out of his way.
Then he stopped in front of the burning armor and gently put his finger on its surface.
“Don’t move, and I can save you.”
Inside the armor, Vasco almost lost his consciousness and still managed to hear Ye Qingxuan’s voice.
The moonlight flew into the gospel armor like water, and in the blink of an eye, numerous perception threads appeared from nowhere. The threads began to adjust their frequency and rebuild Vasco’s music theory.
Suddenly, a half-transparent assembly stand appeared from nowhere and shrouded the burning-hot gospel armor.
Six perception threads that were embedded with the music theory of Heaven Ladder connected with the socket on the armor, and in this way, the barrier between Qingxuan Ye and the Alchemy Array was cleared.
“Tell me the control code.” The young man looked at Quentin.
When the gospel armor was made, there was a “taking over negotiation” contained in the internal Alchemy Array. When necessary, someone could control the changes of the music theory of the armor from the outside.
As long as there was a control code and an assembly stand, any engineer could change all the internal configuration of the gospel armor.
“Holy Bible, Ezekiel, 18:6,” Quentin said.
Bang!
A huge cloud of steam erupted out from the gospel armor; in fact, the steam was the gasified condensate. Still, the armor was burning-hot.
If the configuration was incomplete, activating the Core of Glory equated to committing suicide.
Earlier, Vasco almost managed to activate the core of glory…
With the help of the control code, Ye Qingxuan was able to get inside of the armor.
Thanks to the way of deciphering, the huge and complex system was quickly organized, and countless music theories became ordered and spread out in Ye Qingxuan’s mi
nd. The extremely complicated mechanical system beneath the armor also became very easy to understand and analyze.
It was like someone who was trapped in an unknown dark world getting a detailed map of the world, and suddenly knowing all the topography and dangers in this world.
While the moonlight perception thread was connecting with the Alchemy Array, Ye Qingxuan’s sense moved along with it. The music theory of Heaven Ladder began to extend and turned into Ye Qingxuan’s “hands,” then the hands began to explore into the deepest part…
Formation world, flowing world, moving world, creating world…
Finally, Ye Qingxuan’s hands reached to the Core of Glory that was heavily protected by layers of black boxes.
“The inside of this armor is just like a melting pot, I can not even imagine it is not equipped with a fluid director!”
An engineer said to Quentin in a very low voice, “Officer, we have to find a specialized operation desk before we open this armor, otherwise, we will take Vasco’s last layer of shield, and he will burn to ashes.”
At this moment, the burning-hot air blew towards them.
The other engineers were shocked and had no idea what they should do. Ye Qingxuan reached out his hands and tore the armor apart and pulled the Core of Glory out.
Just a few minutes ago, the Core of Glory was about to explode. But when Ye Qingxuan held it in his hands, it changed to the silent mode.
The infinitive energy gathered inside the core was leaking and then flew up to the sky. As soon as it was out of Ye Qingxuan’s control, it instantly exploded.
The gospel armor quickly went back to its normal state, as if it had been fixed by more than ten engineers and musicians on the specialized emergency operation desk.
The moonlight perception thread penetrated Vasco’s last layer of shield and shone upon his body. Then it began to repair his mind and helped him to collect his consciousness.
Moreover, Vasco did not feel numb anymore. Earlier, whenever he breathed, his lungs would ache, as if he was chewing iron. Now that feeling also disappeared.
The blood in his body began to flow and his fingers were flexible again, and even the array that had been implanted in his body was repaired.
