Chapter 1216 Confidence Destruction Lesson
Boom!
The flashes of psionic explosions flickered in s.p.a.ce. Mechanical soldiers charged out of the secondary dimension rapidly into the battlefield.
Five different colored cl.u.s.ters of energy were flooded by the sea of machinery, pa.s.sing through the countless mechanical soldiers like asteroids. Flashes of light from different abilities flickered between the tiny gaps of the mechanical army from time to time.
There were four cla.s.ses among the five of them, only no Mechanic. Mechanics without their inventory were tremendously weaker, so no Mechanic was chosen to be a representative by the revived Primordial Ones.
Psionic Prime led dozens of Apostle Weapons to fight. With the bonuses from Han Xiao"s Mechanical Force, the highly synchronized Apostle Weapons gave them a lot of pressure.
The Mechanical Deity stood above all in the battlefield, swung its Celestial Punishment Edge around and chased after the five of them. The weapon was enormous but quick like lightning, releasing extremely powerful psionic energy blades together with Getta Hadoken combos one after another, dealing ma.s.sive damage.
Pangon got special attention. Han Xiao loved bullyin… ahem, educating c.o.c.ky, headstrong Pugilists.
Since the opponent this time was not Old Manison, who knew him all too well, Han Xiao had to maintain his image. Hence, he was more reserved and did not bombard them with private messages.
The five of them fought for quite some time. Despite fighting the five of them alone, Han Xiao did not show signs of defeat for the time being. In fact, not only was he not losing, he even had a slight advantage.
Pangon, Beiger, and the rest of them were far from their peak strength, but they were not completely trash. Although they were at quite a disadvantage, they could still hold on for now by working together.
However, all five of them felt distressed. This was the first time they had fought a Mechanic of this style. They did not know what they should do.
In their knowledge, the best tactic against Mechanics was simply getting close. When they first saw that Black Star came with his original body, they were quite surprised and felt Black Star was way too incautious. Only now did they realize just how wrong they were. Black Star"s style was the complete opposite of the impression they had of Mechanics—one was as fragile as a piece of paper, while even the supposedly psychological weakness of the other was extremely tough. He was basically indestructible!
The strategy of rus.h.i.+ng toward him was basically useless. But if they targeted his army, his inventory was way too huge. Soldiers were still swarming out of the secondary dimensional army box every second. G.o.d knew when it would end.
It seemed like the only strategy they could use was to deplete his energy by stalling the battle. However, the destructive power of the Apostle Weapons, mechanical army, and the Mechanical Deity was too strong together. There was hardly any room for them to make any mistakes. Plus, their energy was also getting consumed at a quick rate.
If this carried on, the five of them were uncertain if they would be heavily injured and unable to fight first or Black Star"s energy would dry up first.
"Does this guy even have a weakness?" Beiger was appalled.
"It"s shocking to see such a horrifying man in this era!" Lady l.u.s.t marveled.
"If only my weapons were still…" Pangon clenched his teeth as dozens of his bones were shattered by an energy blade once again.
"Save it. You got beat up by a Mechanic at close range as a Pugilist, have you not embarra.s.sed yourself enough?" someone asked.
"Alright, stop quarreling and think of how to fight him. If we really get defeated despite fighting him as five, just image how shameful that"ll be for us," Beiger said.
The five of them dodged and guarded against the mechanical army"s attacks while trying to find Han Xiao"s flaws. However, they were unable to find an opportunity to turn the tables. Instead, they fell into a more and more pa.s.sive situation.
With the bonuses of [Fearless Heart] and [Legendary Battle Technique], the attacks of the army were extremely powerful. Among the five of them, only Pangon had True Damage Reduction. The rest could not endure many rounds of focus fire.
If not because a Psychic and Beiger were continuously refres.h.i.+ng their s.h.i.+elds, someone would have already been heavily injured.
Most importantly, the few of them were absolutely shocked to realize that Han Xiao was becoming stronger as the battle carried on.
Beiger dodged the attacks of a few Apostle Weapons by using an illusion spell before saying decisively, "The battle is now going according to his tempo. Things will only get worse if this carries on. Let"s try again. The five of us all attack his main body together. I don"t believe his physique doesn"t have limits. There"s no other way for now other than this anyway."
"What do you plan to do? His body is hidden in the Mechanical Deity, protected."
"Have you forgotten about the s.p.a.ce Forbidden Spell I have mastered? I can pull the target out of the Mechanical Deity for a short period and create an opportunity."
The few of them quickly came to an agreement. Beiger did not delay any longer and started preparing for the spell with a hand gesture.
An exquisite enchantment array illuminated on his neck. A wave of s.p.a.ce repelling force expanded from him, and the mechanical soldiers around were all pushed far away.
Right after, he raised his hand and used a group teleportation spell, teleporting the other four to beside him.
His spell casting did not stop. He instantly created a new magic array. Ripples suddenly appeared in cosmic s.p.a.ce not far away. Han Xiao, who was supposed to be inside the Mechanical Deity, suddenly appeared at the location Beiger had selected out of nowhere.
Han Xiao only felt a flash before his eyes, and the location he was in changed. He instantly saw the round of focus fire the five of them had prepared that was rus.h.i.+ng toward him.
"Yoho, cute combo."
Han Xiao still had the time to tease them. He opened a new gate of the secondary dimension beside him. He pulled it and dragged out rows of s.p.a.cetime Amber b.a.l.l.s, which were stacked into a transparent wall in front of him.
The next moment, the tsunami of long-range attacks from the five of them crashed onto the amber barrier. Like a water pillar falling onto a leaf, the attacks instantly slipped toward all directions, leaving Han Xiao who was behind the barrier completely unharmed.
"What is that?"
Seeing this, the pupils of the five of them constricted.
At this time, Han Xiao"s laughter sounded in the public channel.
"This kind of time swap spell is quite interesting. I have something similar too. Do you guys want to see it?"
As soon as he said that, Han Xiao disappeared and returned to the Mechanical Deity using Void Hyperdrive. Before the four of them could respond, he instantly used Void Swap and changed his location with a target.
Whoos.h.!.+
Pangon"s sights flickered. He was petrified to realize that he had appeared inside the Mechanical Deity. Before he could react, the parts of the Mechanical Deity around him suddenly disa.s.sembled into mechanical troops. They surrounded him and fired at him instantly.
While the headstrong boy was being beat up, Han Xiao appeared beside the four others.
Looking at their shocked expressions, he smiled and activated Void Prison.
The next moment, the movements of the four of them became extremely stagnated like they were in a pool of mud. They were all inside the Void Prison, and only Han Xiao could move freely.
Then, he activated Apostilization to maximum power. The countless mechanical troops gave him tons of attributes. His right arm bent like a bow. Energy circuits lit up on his mechanical suit, and psionic energy expanded like a ripple.
"Getta Hadoken—Star Penetration Hammer!"
Han Xiao launched his fist right forward. The fist covered in blinding psionic energy landed right on Beiger"s cheek. Under the slow-motion effects of the Void Prison, the shaking of Beiger"s face could be seen clearly.
Boom!
A dark-blue shockwave erupted, and Beiger shot out, rolling.
Han Xiao did not stop there. His mechanical suit operated at maximum capacity as he continued to smash the other three of them like an afterimage crisscrossing between the three of them.
Kacha!
After being trounced for some time, the few of them were finally freed from the Void Prison. They hastily backed away, every part of their body hurting.
Pangon did not get captured. He barely escaped the mechanical army"s encirclement. However, having faced so many attacks in such a short time, he was covered in blood and quite heavily wounded.
Han Xiao stood in place and did not chase after them, but the five of them stood far away from him with fearful and heavy expressions.
"Hiss!"
Beiger held his bleeding cheek. He was filled with shock. Not only did the tactic not work, but they even got beaten up by Han Xiao instead. Han Xiao was able to injure the five of them one after another, among whom Pangon was the most heavily injured.
This astounded the five of them. They did not know what other special abilities Han Xiao had, and they did not dare to get close to him anymore. They were afraid of falling for his abilities again.
Seeing that Han Xiao was sizing them up, the five of them focused all of their attention. The last bit of underestimation in their hearts disappeared completely. They anxiously waited for the next round of Han Xiao"s attacks.
However, at this time, Han Xiao stopped the movements of all of his army. He scanned over them one by one, smiled, and said, "How about we end it here? I believe you guys already have a thorough understanding of my capabilities. If we continue the spar, it might not be a good idea. I agree with Lady l.u.s.t"s suggestion. No matter the results, we"ll call it a tie. There"s no need to go all out."
Hearing this, the five of them were stunned for a moment. Seeing that Han Xiao did not look like he was faking it, they finally relaxed.
They exchanged looks and saw some bitterness, shame, and embarra.s.sment on each other"s faces.
The few of them knew very well that Black Star did this so they would not lose so much face, but this made them feel even more hurt.
What kind of tie is this? The five of us clearly fought one opponent but still got thrashed!
We don"t feel comforted like this at all, only ashamed!
"… Someone as strong as you would have been unique even during the exploration era. We underestimated you."
Beiger sighed and had a complicated expression.
Having experienced it personally, Black Star"s combat capability far exceeded their expectations and completely convinced them.
Even without that flashy combo, the few of them could see that Black Star"s strength far exceeded theirs just from how powerful his mechanical army was.
Having thought of this, the few of them looked more or less disheartened. They could no longer stay proud.
The new generation surpa.s.sing the old generation did not feel good. It almost made them wonder if they really were outdated.
Pangon was the most embarra.s.sed. The wounds on his body were still hurting like h.e.l.l, but compared to the wounds in his heart, they were nothing. This hard to accept result made him doubt himself unavoidably.
Han Xiao looked at them and said with a smile, "I might have used a little more strength than I intended to. I hope you guys don"t take it personally."
"Ahem, it"s just a small matter. We don"t mind it at all." Beiger was a little embarra.s.sed. He still remembered that he had said something similar to Black Star not long ago.
"Can we continue to discuss what we were discussing before now?" Han Xiao shrugged.
"Yes, yes, let"s head back down and continue."
The att.i.tude of the few of them changed completely. Their tone now included respect and admiration.
Although they were not used to this change mentally, Beyond Grade As respected the strong; strength was the foundation of their position. Therefore, of course, the few of them were not going to act proud like they did before in front of someone who could crush any one of them in a duel.
Seeing this, Han Xiao smiled. When he returned to the planet surface, he instantly saw that Oathkeeper was staring at him.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"…Nothing."
Oathkeeper suppressed the shock inside him and tried his best to make his tone sound natural and calm.
The strength Han Xiao had just displayed shocked him too!
Unlike the other Primordial Ones, Oathkeeper knew that Han Xiao was very strong, but he did not expect him to be this strong!
Before today, Oathkeeper felt that he had a fifty percent chance of beating Black Star. However, after witnessing Black Star"s fight with his own eyes, he doubted his judgement severely. Black Star was much more powerful than the rumors!
Fake news was awful!
Oathkeeper could not help but feel glad that he did not choose to kill Black Star back then, or he would have probably been the one who was killed.
…
At the same time, the remote surveillance room in the Holy Accord organization s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p far away was completely silent.
The Primordial Ones who were watching the battle were astounded. Their eyes widened with shock, and they were at a loss for words.
After more than ten seconds of complete silence, someone finally said with disbelief, "Five against one, and they lost‽"
As soon as he said that, the rest erupted.
"Is this the strength of the modern Beyond Grade As‽"
"From the way it looks, it seems he didn"t even use his full strength at all. The five of them could not even make him go all out!"
"What"s his Energy Rank? Eighty thousand? Ninety thousand? Or above a hundred thousand‽"
"Maybe he was right. We"re outdated. The times have really changed…"
The Primordial Ones present felt that everything they once knew was shattered. In the start, they felt Black Star was only acting strong and arrogant, but now they discovered that he was really strong. It felt like a loud slap on their faces.
Luckily, they were only watching behind the curtains and did not have to be concerned about losing face. In their eyes, it was a clear loss. They did not consider it a tie at all.
Thinking back on what Black Star said before the battle, their confidence was crushed. Their sense of superiority as the Primordial Ones got completely shattered.
Looks like he really did not overestimate himself. This is a lesson to help us see reality…
The people present had no choice but to accept reality. The arrogance, pride, sense of superiority, and other feelings they had after being revived dissipated rapidly, turning into caution, humility, and caution.
The only problem was that this lesson was way too impactful. The mindset of some of them even slipped toward the other extreme…
"Black Star is only the vice president of the Beyond Grade A a.s.sociation. The net says there are quite a few Beyond Grade As who are on the same level as him, so they should be just about as strong… Tsk, the modern age is scary!"
Some of the Primordial Ones who were originally planning to have a fresh start on their own were now discouraged. They seriously doubted if they were qualified enough to start again.
Originally, the goal of reviving for some of them was to avoid the exploration era war and come to a peaceful era, rely on their own strength to form a new organization, and gain power.
However, Han Xiao"s performance today gave them a misconception that people as strong as Han Xiao were everywhere nowadays.
Not only did this spar shatter their confidence, but it also made some of them so scared they buried their ambitions.
With the little strength we have, being in a hurry to mess around is probably suicide. We"d better train a few more decades and not reappear in the world before we catch up with the times. We can"t humiliate ourselves like that!