Chapter 298: Willheim’s Defeat, And The Battle’s Aftermath

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Riven and Vladimir’s roars broke through the sound barrier and everything else. The shockwave generated by their combined attack cracked the remaining support pillars and sent loose plates of metal flying across the chamber. The entire remains of the Mana Reactor blew up into pieces and disappeared in a chain of secondary explosions. Genesis-Brain panicked, putting all of its psionic power into the beam, but it couldn’t do more than that. The artificial intelligence’s calculations kept failing as the opposing force continued to advance, its systems overheating from the effort.

The attack not only overpowered the gravitational cannon of the Aetherion, but it struck right through its chest, blowing up all of its engine and then the mana reactor’s core, followed by boiling Genesis-BRAIN alive. Circuits melted, coolant lines burst, and the core itself cracked open under the heat and pressure. The machine’s limbs locked in place for a brief second before the whole frame began to collapse inward.

"Hahaha...! Hahahahahahah!"

Willheim’s laughter echoed in the background, filling the entire room with his utter amusement of everything he’d witnessed in this legendary battle. Even as alarms blared and the floor tilted beneath the failing machine, his voice remained steady and almost cheerful. He watched the destruction with the calm of someone who had already accepted the outcome.

"Impressive...! Truly amazing!"

He continued to laugh, putting all his energy into forcing the machine to move, but it was simply way too late now. The controls no longer responded. The remaining thrusters flickered once and died. Warning lights across the cockpit flashed red before going dark one by one.

"Hah... it’s my loss... as it should be."

He closed his eyes and readjusted his glasses with one last calm motion. The heat from the melting core was already reaching the cockpit, yet his expression stayed composed.

"See you later, Riven Claymore...! Please, continue growing stronger! Show me the true extent of humanity’s evolution!"

His voice faded away along with a massive explosion that completely blew a gigantic hole through what barely remained of the walls of the mana reactor, piercing the walls behind and opening the way toward the area where the dungeon boss was supposed to be. The blast wave rolled outward, scattering broken machinery and scorched plating across the chamber floor.

BOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!!!

Pieces of rubble and metal fell from the skies as Riven and Vladimir collapsed into the floor, right in the middle of a massive, burning crater. Smoke rose around them in thick columns. Riven’s body ached from the backlash of the combined attack, while Vladimir’s form flickered for a moment before stabilizing again. Both of them stayed down for several seconds, breathing hard amid the wreckage.

The few soldiers and scientists that managed to survive by running and hiding looked from afar in disbelief, their eyes wide in shock. Some of them still held weapons, though none raised them. Others simply stared at the hole that now led deeper into the facility.

"T-The Mana Reactor is..."

"It’s completely gone..."

"W-Who are those guys?"

"They’re amazing...!"

"Hahah... Hahahah... We’re done for, huh?"

"They took down Lord Elias... they took down Genesis-BRAIN and... Willheim’s Ultimate Machine?"

"Just who are they? I don’t think even S Ranks could do this!"

"Yeah... who could they be?"

The people stepped back in growing panic and then began to run toward the stairs leading upward. Their voices overlapped in a messy rush of fear and confusion as they pushed against one another. In the middle of the chaos they noticed a large army of soldiers and robots beginning to move up from floor 1. The heavy sound of boots and mechanical steps echoed through the open space.

"Ahh! Reinforcements!"

"H-Have they come after the terrorists?"

"Over there, hurry!"

"They’re unconscious, now it’s your chance!"

While all of this unfolded around her, Daniela trembled inside Noir. She slowly poked her head out of the wolf’s shadowy form and looked around with wide, nervous eyes. "I-Is it done? Wow, there was a lot of explosions— Uwaahaa?! Riven?! Vladimir?!"

She scrambled free the moment Noir released her and ran straight toward the two unconscious figures on the ground. The wolf himself looked completely exhausted. He had lost almost half of his entire mass during the fight while trying to resist the crushing gravitational force for both Riven and Vladimir. His remaining body flickered weakly as he slumped to the side.

"You guys!" Daniela cried, pulling several elixirs from her pocket with shaking hands. She poured them over their bodies as quickly as she could. "Please wake up! Please!" she begged, her voice cracking. "Ahhh!"

She panicked when she saw them still not responding, even though the elixirs had already closed their wounds and restored their skin. Their chests rose and fell, but their eyes stayed shut. No amount of shaking or calling their names seemed to work.

And this was a terrible time for either of them to be taking a nap. A heavy wave of commotion was already approaching fast while she spoke. The air filled with the distant roar of engines and the sharp clank of metal.

A huge army of flying Magitech tanks began making its way toward them from the lower floors. There were at least fifty of the machines, their armored frames glowing with blue energy lines. Dozens of soldiers rode inside or stood on the platforms, weapons ready and faces set in hard expressions.

At the center of the entire formation stood a single person on a much smaller flying vehicle powered by spirit energy. The craft hovered steadily above the others, giving her a clear view of the battlefield.

She was a woman with long golden hair that caught the light and sharp blue eyes that scanned everything below without emotion. She wore a white military-style dress cut in a princely fashion, layered with polished golden armor across her chest, shoulders, and arms. In her right hand she carried a long spear whose tip gleamed with restrained power.

The design of her armor and the decorations on her shoulders made her look like a Valkyrie from old stories. The aura that rose from her body pressed down onto the area, heavy and unmistakable.

Daniela’s face went pale as she felt it.

"S... SS... No...! Eeek! SSS RANK?!" she screamed in pure horror. "R-RIVEN! RIVEN PLEASE WAKE UP!"

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