March was a little nervous. "The ground… the ground is shaking! What's going on?!"
Dan Heng and Stelle moved to shield March, slightly lowering their stance and center of gravity, their expressions turning cautious.
"This is bad…" Seele frowned.
Cocolia looked at everyone with an arrogant posture and slowly said, "This city… Belobog's fate has already been decided. Its future will unfold in our hands. And you… will become the cornerstone of this new world!"
The cold wind howled even more fiercely. Cocolia floated in midair and stretched out her hand. An icy blue glow bloomed in her palm, condensed, and then burst forth.
In the next instant, a frozen knight's lance appeared in Cocolia's grasp.
She spoke calmly, issuing her command, "Without breaking the old, there can be no new. In the name of the Supreme Guardian, I order you to rise, Creation Engine!"
As Cocolia's voice fell, the trembling of this area grew even more intense. Things that everyone had once thought were buildings began to move. The engine started running, heating up. Mechanical motion shattered the ice. A steel-cast arm slowly rose, blotting out the sky.
At the same time, the entire Fragmentum stirred. Countless indescribable spatial ripples spread outward as huge numbers of Fragmentum monsters poured out of nowhere, glaring menacingly at everyone.
Mr. Yang casually swung his cane and crushed a Scorched Doomshade, then looked up at the mechanical arm pressing down and couldn't help but sigh, "Ah… this is really nice. If only the commander were someone else…"
"It's an ancient Architects' machine, everyone, be careful!" Bronya had already drawn her weapon and warned them.
The Creation Engine's arm slammed down, then swept sideways. The movement of gears, levers, and even piston pumps thundered like roaring thunder.
Fortunately, everyone ran fast enough. The Creation Engine's strike smashed the ground and killed a large number of Fragmentum monsters, but it didn't harm the Express crew or the Rivet town group.
Worthy of being a creation of Preservation.
The battle began at that moment. Looking at the enormous Creation Engine, March still felt a bit shaken. "A m-machine… ten thousand times bigger than Svarog!"
However, as awe-inspiring as the Creation Engine was, the first thing to deal with was still the Fragmentum creations surging in again.
Dan Heng had already charged ahead, wielding Cloud-Piercer. Spear shadows flowed without end, like an azure dragon churning the sea, waves stacking layer upon layer. Move followed move, forcing the Fragmentum monsters to retreat again and again.
Stelle also swung her bat, smashing, cleaving, and sweeping with flexible responses. When the bat struck the Fragmentum monsters, it sounded as if peals of thunder were rolling, an imposing momentum that even Fragmentum creatures could not withstand, retreating repeatedly.
Seele had no formal martial training. All her skill came from fighting her way through life since childhood, and she had no flashy techniques at all. The scythe in her hands cut or lifted, spun or chopped, every strike sharp and lethal, aimed straight at the Fragmentum monsters' lives.
March and Bronya stood at the rear. The former nocked several arrows and fired in rapid succession. The icy bow was biting cold, arrows piercing straight through enemies. The latter raised her rifle, took aim, and fired continuously, bullets streaked through the air, muzzles flashing with fire.
As a result, these two never missed, every shot hitting its mark.
However, everyone was deep in the enemy ranks and couldn't break free for the moment. How could Cocolia let such an opportunity pass?
Pointing her lance at the enemy, she shouted sharply, "Engine… crush them!"
In the next instant, vast energy gathered. High temperatures surged, heat sources erupted. A beam of light swept out from the center of the Creation Engine's forehead. Whatever the beam touched vanished in an instant, vaporized on the spot.
Even the distant mountains were flattened by this sweeping laser.
And after the sweep, the residual energy caused a secondary explosion.
For a moment, flames burst, shockwaves rolled, and thunderous roars shook the air.
Everyone couldn't dodge in time and could only hastily defend. They were all blasted away by the shockwave from that strike, rolling several times on the ground before scrambling back to their feet.
Seele gritted her teeth and looked at the Creation Engine. "…We have to stop it from moving!"
"How are we supposed to destroy something that big?" Bronya pressed her lips together and said.
Just as everyone was at a loss, the Creation Engine moved again, raising its left fist high and aiming at them.
That iron fist, like a mountain suspended in the sky, was like a massive hammer capable of smashing the heavens. If it fell, the ground here would surely crack and explode. If it hit someone, they would instantly be reduced to a pile of bloody pulp.
And just as the Creation Engine's iron fist was about to fall, Mr. Yang, who had been silently watching the battle from afar, lightly pushed up his glasses. A sharp light flashed across the lenses.
The moment Himeko talked about, when the kids needed a little help, was probably now.
'Though it felt a bit regrettable… still…'
'Star of Eden!'
Tap!
The tip of his cane lightly touched the ground, producing a low sound that seemed utterly insignificant to the battlefield.
In the next instant, the Creation Engine's massive body suddenly froze. Then its huge arm began to tremble.
Immediately after, a series of piercing noises rang in everyone's ears, as if some invisible force had twisted the Creation Engine's mechanical structure. Gears, levers, circuits, and the steel outer shell were all pulled, deformed, and torn apart under that force.
Steel cracked as it twisted, letting out distorted wails. Sparks and arcs burst out together. In an instant, the enormous mechanical arm lost its support, drooped weakly, and finally crashed to the ground!
The sudden change left everyone momentarily stunned.
But excitement quickly spread across March's face. "Mr. Yang? Is Mr. Yang here?!"
As she spoke, March began looking around, but unfortunately didn't see Welt anywhere. "But where is Mr. Yang? Why can't I see him…"
Dan Heng also lowered his gaze slightly. "That really is Mr. Welt's method…"
"Doesn't matter, while he's sick, take his life!"
Stelle shouted and grabbed her bat, charging forward.
Dan Heng nodded, agreeing with Stelle's view. However, just as the others were about to try climbing onto the Creation Engine, the large number of Fragmentum creatures that had been beaten back earlier surged up once again.
With no choice, everyone could only deal with these Fragmentum creatures first.
Quite a few Fragmentum monsters tried to block Stelle's advance, but they were all intercepted by the others.
Meanwhile, the Creation Engine also reawakened at this moment. Its left arm had been torn and damaged, making movement extremely difficult and sluggish.
But for such a colossal existence, even simply moving created enormous resistance for Stelle.
Stelle struggled as if climbing a moving, majestic mountain, all while dodging huge boulders rolling down from above.
There were a couple of times when she barely avoided the attacks, only to fail to secure another grip, nearly falling from a great height.
Still, with the support of Seele and Dan Heng, Stelle successfully boarded the Creation Engine and confronted Cocolia head-on.
But the current Cocolia was already connected to the Stellaron to an indescribable degree.
With a sigh of rapture, Cocolia spread her arms, like a fervent believer awaiting divine baptism.
The power of the Stellaron washed over her. The power of the Stellaron bound her. Amid the boundless, biting cold wind, her human body finally began to collapse, transforming into a humanoid pitch-black shadow wrapped in solid ice and draped in starlight.
The Mother of Falsehood.
At this moment, facing Stelle standing before her, Cocolia spoke with a devout voice, as if she had received supreme grace, "Listen… this power is surging… singing…
"The promise given to me by the Stellaron is the only hope in this world…
"Seven hundred years ago, it drove away the Antimatter Legion, today, it will erase your existence as well!"
Stelle clenched her teeth, staring at the transformed Cocolia, staring at the four strangely shaped ice prisms floating around her.
All she could do now was tighten her grip on the bat in her hands.
The power of the Stellaron within her body was also stirring, and so blue lightning wrapped itself around the pitch-black bat.
However, between Cocolia and Stelle, one was using power without any restraint at all, while the other was tightly wrapped, layer upon layer, by some jump-slash man using Aha's power.
The situation was extremely unfavorable for Stelle.