Chapter 972
It wasn't too bad. At the very least, it wasn't horrendously weak.
While he was gauging the properties of his soul cannon, he also activated his propeller.
The propeller was behind the mecha, and it could help the mecha in flight, acceleration, and things like that.
Generally speaking, melee combat mechas were always slightly faster than long-range attacking mechas. The opposing mecha may have been bulkier, but in reality, melee combat mechas were actually lighter in weight as they didn't have to carry massive soul batteries in order to support long-range offensive output as long-range attacking mechas did.
As soon as Tang Wulin activated his propeller, his opponent also activated their propeller. If he'd been slower by even a split second, then the melee combat mecha would've rammed directly into him.
The two figures virtually brushed right past one another before opening up some distance again. On this occasion, both mechas had already flown up into the air.
The melee combat mecha had reacted extremely quickly; in the instant that it failed to crash into Tang Wulin, the mecha's claymore was immediately hurled through the air.
The claymore flew forth as a streak of black light, immediately catching up to Tang Wulin, who was just beginning to slow down following that burst of propulsion force. The melee combat mecha's timing and accuracy in its attacks were both exemplary.
What a powerful opponent this was!
Tang Wulin was quite surprised, but that didn't slow down his reactions in the slightest. According to the rules of mecha battles, if one's mecha were to be destroyed, they'd be handed a loss even if the pilot could still battle.
All of a sudden, Tang Wulin's long-range attacking mecha bent down and completed a very strange maneuver. Its entire body twisted around in mid-air, and it gently raised the stock of its soul cannon upward to parry the claymore away.
At this point, the melee combat mecha had already begun its second acceleration, and was flying directly toward Tang Wulin.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!" Six balls of light shot forth almost completely in unison.
Tang Wulin had unleashed those attacks with his soul cannon despite the fact that his mecha had lost its balance in mid-air.
The six cannon blasts were like plum flower petals that were very beautiful to behold, and they directly cut off the melee combat mecha.
He hadn't immediately unleashed these cannon blasts right after he parried the claymore away. Instead, he launched these attacks during his opponent's second acceleration. After gaining speed through propulsion, it became a lot more difficult for melee combat mechas to change directions. If the mecha pilot were to forcibly change directions, not only would the mecha itself come under intense strain, the mecha pilot would also be dealt an extremely heavy blow. Only mecha pilots with extremely advanced handling skills and a powerful enough mecha at their disposal would choose to change directions during a high-speed charge.
The melee combat mecha that Tang Wulin was facing didn't choose that course of action. Instead, it chose to take his attack head-on.
It was impossible for just a few blasts from a long-range soul cannon to break the protective barrier of a melee combat mecha. While flying toward the oncoming attacks, the mecha twisted around slightly to evade four of the six cannon blasts, only allowing the remaining two to strike its defensive barrier.
Following two resounding booms, the mecha faltered momentarily in mid-air. Tang Wulin took advantage of this opportunity to open up some more distance between them.
After having its attack thwarted, the melee combat mecha didn't rush forward to attack again. Instead, it swooped downward to try and pick up its sword from the ground.
A melee combat mecha without a weapon was at a disadvantage against a long-range attacking mecha of the same caliber. The timing and accuracy in Tang Wulin's six cannon blasts had alerted the melee combat mecha pilot to the fact that he was not facing an easy opponent.
"Boom!" A cannon blast shot forth with unerring accuracy, targeting the sword on the ground as opposed to the melee combat mecha.
The cannon blast struck the hilt of the claymore, and the explosive force sent it flying up into the air. Three more cannon blasts were then launched toward the melee combat mecha in a triangular formation to cut it off from the claymore.
The melee combat mecha pilot harrumphed coldly, and the mecha suddenly swooped downward to evade the three cannon blasts, but at this point, the claymore was already several dozens of meters in the air above it.
Tang Wulin's mecha accelerated in mid-air, and he sped toward the claymore before grabbing onto the hilt with the mecha's left hand.
It had to be said that the melee combat mecha pilot was extremely experienced; as soon as Tang Wulin rushed forward to grab the claymore, the melee combat mecha rose up into the air and activated its propeller without any hesitation, and it wasn't holding back in the slightest on this occasion. Its target was none other than that claymore; even if it had to cop a few more cannon blasts, it had to recover its weapon. Meanwhile, Tang Wulin was rushing toward the same direction, so the distance between them was dwindling, and that was clearly beneficial to the melee combat mecha.
Both of them had activated their propellers, but Tang Wulin had taken the initiative, and he'd already arrived in front of the claymore.
Right at this moment, bright light suddenly erupted from the melee combat mecha, and countless ice spikes materialized in mid-air before converging toward Tang Wulin.
A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin's face. He had been waiting for this moment.
The vast majority of skilled mecha pilots were Soul Masters, and all Soul Masters had soul skills. A Soul Master who had chosen a melee combat mecha naturally had to possess abilities that were synergistic with their chosen mecha. This melee combat mecha pilot had finally been goaded into unleashing a soul skill. Generally speaking, during battles between mecha pilots, the first person to unleash a soul skill would be conceding a disadvantage as they'd be revealing their martial soul to their opponent first.
The ice spikes materialized before converging toward Tang Wulin from all sides.
However, Tang Wulin continued to charge along his original trajectory, and he didn't release his martial soul, either. Instead, he reached out and grabbed onto the claymore with his left hand, then swung it through the air to unleash a series of sword projections.
The sword projections were each around three feet in length, and they weren't overly powerful, but each and every one of them struck an ice spike with unerring accuracy. A vast expanse of icy mist exploded in mid-air, and at the same time, a string of loud booms rang out as 10 cannon blasts flew out of the icy mist, hurtling directly toward the oncoming melee combat mecha.
With the icy mist acting as a smokescreen, the melee combat mecha pilot had completely failed to see how Tang Wulin had unleashed that attack. The mecha pilot had attacked Tang Wulin with those ice spikes in order to delay him so the distance between them could be closed down even further.
However, much to his surprise, after Tang Wulin grabbed onto the claymore, he made no effort to open up further distance between them. Instead, he used the claymore to shatter all of the ice spikes while unleashing those 10 cannon blasts in rapid succession at point-blank range.
The melee combat mecha crashed headfirst into the string of attack, and the 10 cannon blasts exploded one after another, forcing the mecha back down onto the ground. As a result, over 80% of the energy within the melee combat mecha's protective barrier had been expended.
Only then did Tang Wulin turn around and flee into the distance. He was opening up some distance again, and also allowing his soul cannon the cooldown time it required.
The melee combat mecha landed on the ground, and its pilot was feeling extremely frustrated. This was the same feeling that all melee mecha pilots were struck by when they couldn't get close to a long-range attacking mecha.
Furthermore, it was quite apparent from Tang Wulin's swordsmanship that he was definitely not just a one-trick pony who specialized in long-range attacks. Instead, with that claymore in his hand, he was virtually half a melee combat mecha pilot. The melee combat mecha had lost its weapon, as well as most of the energy of its protective barrier; it was in a decidedly worse position compared to its opponent.
In contrast, Tang Wulin was feeling quite elated.
He had studied mecha handling in the Tang Sect, and he'd specialized in long-range attacking mechas at the time. This was because he was already extremely proficient in close-quarters combat, so if he were to ever get a mecha, then a long-range attacking mecha would naturally be his only choice.
It was exactly due to the fact that this wasn't some high-end mecha that he was able to pilot it with such a high level of proficiency.
Over 100 meters was opened up between the two mechas, and the three-second cooldown period for Tang Wulin's soul cannon had already passed. Thus, he would be able to unleash another string of 10 continuous cannon blasts.
The long-range attacking mecha courses offered by the Tang Sect were definitely some of the best in the world. Over 20,000 years ago, the founder of the Tang Sect, Tang San, had established a place for the Tang Sect in the world through his extraordinary hidden weapon hand techniques, as well as the various types of hidden weapons that he later went on to invent.
As such, if one had the intention of improving their long-range offensive prowess, the Tang Sect was definitely the best place to learn. Tang Wulin hadn't had much mecha training, but he was supremely talented in this field.
As a mecha pilot, his physical constitution definitely ranked among the best of the best; his body was able to handle far heavier impacts than the average mecha pilot. On top of that, he had Spirit Abyss realm spiritual power, and immense spiritual power was also extremely important for piloting mechas.
Following this period of familiarization, he was really beginning to find his groove.
"I concede." The opposing mecha suddenly disappeared amid a flash of light. The text above Tang Wulin's head changed to "two wins, zero losses". The results for the Soul Master battles and mecha battles were stacked on top of one another.
What? He conceded just like that? This battle's not over yet!
Tang Wulin was completely speechless. How could his opponent have conceded so easily! It cost 2,000 federal credits just to access this combat room; at least fight until the very end! He was only just beginning to getting into the zone, and his opponent had completely rained on his parade.
However, regardless of what he thought, he was also teleported out of the combat venue and returned to the plaza amid a flash of light.
What a waste of 2,000 federal credits! I have to ask Blood One to see if the Blood God Battalion is going to reimburse me for this.
After those two battles, Tang Wulin chose to exit the battle net.