Chapter One: The Zither

The Battle Arc

Dreams blooming and withering again and again upon this shattered earth.

———

Northwestern Region, territory under the jurisdiction of Maple Sea City.

Moonlight poured down like water, cold and pale, spilling through the branches into the mountain forest below. The scattered beams illuminated a dense army advancing slowly through the trees. Their faces were solemn, and each carried a different kind of firearm.

At the very front of the army stood a young woman. Her ice-blue hair fell like a waterfall to her hips, while the short purple-blue jacket draped over her upper body accentuated her remarkable figure. Paired with a black knee-length skirt and a pair of black high boots, the outfit gave her an unmistakable air of heroic elegance.

Beneath her ice-blue side-swept bangs was a delicate, oval face. Her bright eyes were clear and limpid, though their beauty was marred by a chill that seemed to keep everyone at a distance.

Suddenly, she raised an arm. The tightly packed army behind her came to an abrupt halt, its formation remaining perfectly orderly.

“Which city lies ahead?”

A soldier ran forward from the rear of the army and respectfully replied, “Colonel, Taoyang City, within Maple Sea City’s territory, is three kilometers ahead!”

“Taoyang?”

The young woman pondered for a moment before looking up and issuing an order. “The entire army will remain here on standby!”

“Long, Yang, come with me. We’ll scout the area first.”

The girl moved ahead at once, rushing toward the front. Soon, two young men stepped out from the ranks of the mecha soldiers and followed her closely. The three of them sped toward the city.

“Thud!”

Once the two men caught up with the girl, the sternness they had worn among the troops disappeared. The red-haired Long asked, “Qin, shouldn’t we bring more people with us?”

The cold young woman named Qin did not turn around. “We should minimize casualties whenever possible. Besides, we’re only checking whether any demon beasts are stationed in Taoyang City.”

Several minutes later, the three stood in the forest, staring at the city ahead, which had been reduced to ruins. Their expressions gradually turned grim. They had already known what they would find, yet seeing it with their own eyes still made it difficult to accept.

“Come on. Let’s go down and take a look.”

As Qin spoke, the space-time ring on her hand flashed. Purple crystal fragments surged forth, gathering, winding together, and taking shape. In the end, they formed a purple, three-edged longsword in her hand.

Long and Yang also summoned their own mecha. One wore golden armored fists, while the other wielded a cyan spear.

“Clatter, clatter!”

Their feet crunched across the rubble, and their hearts sank with every step. Dried blood and scattered bones lay throughout the ruins, stirring wave after wave of grief within them.

A city that had flourished only yesterday had become a broken wasteland. As members of the human race, they could not help but feel the pain of it.

At that moment, a disturbance suddenly came from the ruins of a nearby building. The three immediately turned toward it and went on guard.

“Second-tier Dukanou Beast!”

A five-meter-long demon beast crawled out from the rubble. Its skin was pitch-black, and a row of savage scales ran along its spine. Its four limbs were thick and powerful, while its long head stretched forward as it growled at the three of them.

“There’s more than one. It’s a whole pack,” Long said calmly, his expression unchanged.

Sure enough, in a short while, dozens of Dukanou Beasts emerged one after another and surrounded them. The largest reached five meters in length, while even the smallest was three meters long.

“Roar!”

The Dukanou Beast at the front suddenly roared at Qin and the others, as though issuing the order to attack. The surrounding beasts began to stir restlessly.

“Kill!”

Looking at their enormous bodies and ferocious heads, Qin felt killing intent rise within her. With those words, she gripped the three-edged sword and attacked first.

“Perfect. I haven’t fought in a long time either. These beasts will make good practice!”

Long stamped on the ground and shot into the air, leaping more than ten meters high. He bent his legs and arched his body backward, concentrating all his strength into his right fist.

The golden armored fist immediately blazed with dazzling energy. In the next instant, he brought it crashing down upon several demon beasts behind him.

“Threefold Shatter!”

“Boom! Boom!”

The golden fist descended like a falling meteor, instantly smashing the nearest Dukanou Beast into a mass of flesh. The beasts beside it flew into a rage, their eyes reddening as they lunged forward together.

“Double Strike!”

Long threw back his head and laughed as he leapt once more. Seeing three demon beasts pouncing toward him, he brought his fist down again. This time, the force was even greater. Not only did it destroy one of the beasts, it also made the earth tremble violently. Cracks spread in every direction, dense as a spiderweb.

The grin at the corner of Long’s mouth widened.

“Threefold Shatter!”

“Crack, crack!”

The instant his voice fell, the golden armored fist on his right hand suddenly split apart. The sound of interlocking machinery rang out as the armor expanded several times in size. Most striking of all was the fist itself, which ignited with crimson flames within its golden radiance.

The enormous flaming fist slammed downward.

“Boom!”

The earth within a radius of twenty meters erupted with a thunderous roar, as though mountains were collapsing and the ground were splitting apart. It sank violently, leaving behind a massive crater. Several other demon beasts nearby were dragged into the collapse and buried beneath falling bricks and rubble.

“Void Impact!”

Yang, standing nearby, was no less eager to act. He gripped his cyan spear and abruptly retreated. As he let out a low growl, the spear suddenly manifested a cyan projection ten meters long.

“Roar!”

Seven or eight Dukanou Beasts seemed to sense the danger. They charged toward him at full speed, intending to surround him.

The spear moved.

Yang thrust forward with his right hand. In an instant, the phantom became solid, and the spear pierced straight through the three beasts that had reached him first, killing them on the spot. He then swept the weapon in a half-circle, cutting the remaining beasts in half at the waist. They crashed heavily to the ground.

At the same time, the blue-haired girl was even more terrifying. Her speed was as swift as light itself as she flashed among the surrounding demon beasts. A few seconds later, she returned to her original position.

All around her, the Dukanou Beasts began to spew blood before collapsing one after another. Their heads were riddled with holes as thick as human arms.

“The first-tier ones are far too weak. Let’s finish off the second-tier beasts as well!” Long called to Yang in the distance.

But before he had finished speaking, Qin had already moved.

Relying on her speed, she dragged all five second-tier Dukanou Beasts into one place. Then she vaulted into the air, and the three-edged sword in her hand began to change.

“Disassemble, transform, reassemble!”

The blue crystal fragments that split apart did not return to the space-time ring. Instead, they rearranged themselves, ultimately forming a beam cannon more than two meters long.

Qin braced it against her shoulder and pulled the trigger.

A yellow laser as thick as a man’s waist erupted from the barrel. The five Dukanou Beasts at the front vanished instantly within the beam. The laser continued forward, boring through the ruins and tearing open the earth.

When the radiance finally faded, it left behind a circular crater a hundred meters long.

“She’s still the same as ever,” Long and Yang said with a mutual smile.

They shook their heads in shock. Although this was not the first time they had witnessed such a scene, it still left them shaken every time.

“Twist, fracture, disperse!”

After Qin withdrew the mecha into her space-time ring, she began to breathe heavily. Switching between two different mecha forms and using their abilities in succession had taken a serious toll on her.

“Long, stay with Qin. I’ll search the city. If there are no other demon beasts, we’ll have the army spend the night here.”

Yang received his orders and immediately accelerated, beginning a thorough search of the city.

About twenty minutes later, he returned and called out to the other two from a distance.

“It’s safe. We’ll rest here tonight!”

Just as the three were preparing to return to the forest and inform the army, the moonlight above them suddenly dimmed.

Three young aliens hovered in the air, each beating a pair of batlike wings.

“Count Milton, it looks like we have dinner tonight.”

———

A Warm Reminder:

All eighteen human mecha incantations have now appeared in the story, so be sure to remember them!

“Gather, wind, take shape!” — Crystal fragments from the space-time ring assemble into a mecha.

“Twist, fracture, disperse!” — The mecha breaks apart into crystals and returns to the space-time ring.

“Disassemble, transform, reassemble!” — For now, you may interpret this one as you wish. Its meaning will be explained later.