Chapter 293: Prototype Psionic-Frame: Aetherion-01

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Willheim’s voice came out of every speaker in the chamber at once, sounding calm and way too pleased with himself.

"Behold the Prototype Psionic-Frame: Aetherion-01. It’s remote-piloted through the Genesis-BRAIN’s dimensional network. Adaptive nano-armor that reshapes itself with impact. Dual-core mana reactors so it never runs out of power. Full set of psionic amplifiers that let me project force fields, barriers, and even small gravity wells. And those drills? They don’t just cut metal. They phase-vibrate at frequencies that mess up cellular cohesion and spiritual energy flow. This thing was built to take down S-Rank threats and above. A real machine that can help humanity deal with anything that comes at us."

"Humanity cannot overcome anything if they don’t work together," Riven said, his voice steady as he stared the old man down. "If you keep making these things, only the rich few in this world will benefit, not humanity. It won’t work. No matter how hard you try, it will not work! This world is doomed if we don’t work together, if you don’t stop doing this stupid shit and instead help everyone else with that genius mind of yours!"

Willheim threw his head back and laughed, the sound echoing off the metal walls of the laboratory. "Hahahaha! But I am helping humanity! What sort of nonsense are you talking about?" He slammed a hand against the side of his monitor back on HQ, controlling the Aetherion-01. The machine’s systems lit up with a low, rising hum. "Come now, enough prattle! If you want to take this mana reactor from me, you have to earn that privilege!"

The massive frame of the Aetherion-01 shifted forward, pistons hissing as it locked onto them. Riven’s body, still compressed for better control, settled into a ready stance. Fenrir’s Fang lengthened in his grip, the blade shifting into its heavier axe form. Ice-ki spread along the edge in thin, sharp crystals while more of the same energy rolled off him in waves, coating the floor and nearby equipment in a thin layer of frost.

Vladimir dropped down beside him a second later, already in his werewolf form. Crimson fur stood on end across his shoulders. The scaled arm he had been partially using began spreading further, red plates crawling up over his shoulder and neck while his face lengthened with clear draconic traits. "Ugly old bastard’s full of himself," Vladimir growled, claws scraping against the metal. "Let’s tear that tin can open!"

RUMBLE!

The Aetherion-01 finally moved.

Vladimir barely had time to process it. The machine closed the distance faster than his eyes or enhanced senses could track. Its right drill-arm snapped forward with a high-pitched shriek as the blades spun up to full speed. Phase-vibration fields kicked in around the tip, warping the air into a cone that turned the reinforced metal floor into fine dust wherever it passed.

BBRRRR...

BOOOM!

"Ugh?!"

Vladimir jumped back on instinct, abandoning the idea of meeting the charge head-on. Riven stayed put. He met the attack directly, forcing Ki compression through his body at the same time. A pinhead-sized sphere of white-hot energy formed in his palm, Blooming Crimson Lotus, still imperfect but already packing serious, devastating force, and he released it straight into the drill.

TRUUUM!

The lotus bloomed into a spiraling vortex of pure kinetic force that collided head-on with the spinning drill. For a single heartbeat the two opposing powers locked together in the center of the lab.

The drill’s phase-fields chewed aggressively at the outer layers of the lotus while the compressed ki inside the technique fought to expand outward.

Crack, crack...!

Fine cracks spread across the surface of the drill for a moment, glowing bright violet, yet the weapon held firm and continued boring forward until both forces reached their limit and erupted.

BOOOOOOM!!!

The resulting shockwave vaporized every piece of laboratory equipment within a twenty-meter radius. Glass tubes filled with twitching samples of flesh ruptured and sprayed their contents across the floor. Thick walls buckled and collapsed inward. Riven was thrown backward with tremendous force.

His body smashed through a reinforced bulkhead, the impact cracking several of the thick scales that covered his arms and chest. The Aetherion, by contrast, only skidded three meters across the ruined floor.

Its nano-armor flowed like liquid metal almost immediately, sealing the shallow grooves left on the drill as though the damage had never existed. Riven stared at the display, momentarily speechless.

"A self-regenerating robot?!" he muttered while pushing himself back to his feet. "And why didn’t Elias use this thing instead?!"

Willheim’s laughter filled the chamber in direct response to the question. "Elias lacked the necessary talent after only a few test runs. I was already planning to retrieve this model and send it back to headquarters, but I suppose that is no longer needed! And truth be told, the data we just collected is excellent. Your method of ki compression is still crude, yet surprisingly efficient—far beyond anything standard hunters usually manage. Where exactly did you learn a technique like that?"

"From the very monsters you’ve been ignoring," Riven answered as he stood fully upright again. His aura flared outward in visible waves, taking the shape of thousands of open jaws and snarling beasts that circled around his body.

Willheim smiled with clear fascination. The robot then spoke in a mechanical voice that was not Willheim’s own but belonged to the artificial intelligence housed inside the machine. "Adaptive armor recalibrating... complete. Countermeasure loaded."

"Countermeasure?!" Riven’s eyebrows twitched the moment the machine’s chest core began to flare with intense light.

FLASH!

FLUOOOSH!

A spherical barrier of overlapping hexagonal psionic plates expanded into existence around the Aetherion in less than a second, forming an additional layer of protection specifically designed to counter defense-piercing attacks.

At the same time both drill-arms extended outward on telescoping segments. They spun so rapidly that they became pure blurs of violet light, discharging arcs of electricity in every direction.

Gravity wells formed at the tips of the drills through a combination of compressed mana and focused psionic energy. The wells immediately began yanking nearby debris, spilled blood, and even loose strands of ambient mana toward them with relentless force.

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