Chapter 115: Moves On The Boss! (I)

The building remained undamaged; only the glass dome covering the ground had been affected.

As for what caused the crater, it was an ultra-gigantic Mech, standing ten meters tall.

"The Ember Buster."

It was too tall, and Declan’s room was only six meters high, so it couldn’t contain the Mech. That was why he had brought it here.

Looking at the Ember Buster, he was awed beyond belief.

While the Everlight Mech prioritized sleek design and aerodynamics, Declan had ignored such concerns entirely with the Ember Buster.

Instead, he had focused on raw, brutal assault, creating something that was meant to physically overpower a race of enemies whose very name struck fear into the hearts of most Mordrans.

And as he looked at the result standing before him, he knew deep in his heart that he had achieved his aim.

The Ember Buster was exceptionally massive, its reinforced frame plated with golden alloys polished to a reflective shine and interlaced with glowing energy conduits that pulsed along its surface.

Its arms were six in total, all emerging from its massive shoulders.

Two of the arms ended in humanoid hands, each with five opposable digits, identical to a human’s primitive hands.

Declan’s aim for these arms was to give the Ember Buster the ability to grab things, whether to wield a Mecha Weapon or throw punches.

The two beneath them ended in massive tiger-like paws, their tips gleaming with a cold, silver sharpness.

These were already weapons of their own, made with sharpened metals capable of holding destructive energy, although that energy was not currently activated.

The final two arms, longer and heavier than the others, were no longer arms in the traditional sense.

Instead, they were massive bomb nozzles capable of launching shells rivaling those fired by army tanks, providing a straight-on integration of weapons directly into the Mech itself.

Its head had a sharp, helmeted design, with glowing lines tracing along its contours, while its two powerful legs were massive enough to bear its enormous frame.

Most eye-catching was its chest, which held a large central core that occupied nearly the entire area. Declan tapped the core, and it rippled at once, exposing its inner structure.

Inside were circuits and energy conduits that converged into a glowing nexus deeper within, transferring energy throughout all six limbs.

Declan reached into his pocket and brought out the AI chip, placing it into the vacant center.

The second it was inserted, he quickly jerked his arm back as the chest of the Mech closed with a loud,

BAAAAAAANG!

DRUUUUUUUUUUUUM!

The sound it produced was a muffled roar, and its immense body suddenly lit up as glowing crimson lines raced across its surface.

Two crimson dots of light appeared where its eyes should have been, forming laser beams that shone down at Declan, who barely reached its knee,

The Mech remained completely still, radiating an intense amount of power before it finally spoke.

"Identify Yourself!"

The question made Declan’s heart sink.

The voice was thick. Ridiculously thick.

He had designed it himself and heard it dozens of times, but hearing it echo from a towering Mech made it hit completely differently.

Still, he responded.

"Declan Ezra."

"Declan Ezra. Name and appearance match! Your identification has been confirmed."

In the next moment, the Mech’s hulking frame lowered as one massive leg pulled back and it dropped to a single knee, bowing its head while crossing an arm over its chest.

"Ready to Take on Your Order, Commander Declan!"

The voice boomed crazily through the rooftop, yet Declan simply smiled through it all.

"Haha."

Then his laughter grew.

"Hahaha."

"Hahahahaa."

He couldn’t tell when it began, but the quiet, wicked cackle grew louder and louder until, within moments, almost mad laughter echoed across the rooftop as Declan completely lost control and laughed hysterically.

[Congratulations, Host has created a Second Mech!]

[Rewards:

1.) +200,000 Purchase Points!

2.) Mech Spec Tab+5 Mech Cards!]

The panel flashed, giving him the ultimate confirmation he needed.

But all of a sudden, Declan noticed something strange.

There was a light coming from somewhere, shining across half his face and its source was his neck.

His neck was glowing with a golden light from a mark, and in the next moment, Declan said,

"System."

In an instant, the Ember Buster vanished into thin air, stored back inside the System’s Shop.

Declan dismissed the invisibility barrier around him, then snapped his head upward. Roughly ten kilometers away, high among the clouds, was the silhouette of a being.

The being came closer with every passing second, soon reaching a distance of only a kilometer, and then, in another blink, he was less than fifty meters away, hovering in the air without any visible support beneath his feet.

The sight of him made Declan’s eyes widen slightly.

He had not expected to see him here.

As the being finally arrived, floating down from the sky and landing on the building, his full features became clearer.

He was a heavily built, dark-skinned man with a black coat draped loosely over his shoulder.

Thick dreadlocks framed his face, and the familiar scar carved across his cheek made his identity unmistakable.

This was the Boss.

The leader of the X Guardians, the man who had given Declan the X Guardian Mark and asked him to undergo training at X Guard Academy so he could one day become a full-fledged X Guardian.

"Declan Ezra. It’s been quite a while."

The Boss greeted him, and Declan bowed slightly.

"Boss."

A glint passed through the Boss’s silvery-dark eyes as he noticed the cane in Declan’s hand.

"You had a leg injury?" he asked.

Declan shrugged it off.

"Just a little accident in the Lab. Nothing serious."

"I heard about your promotion from Principal Matilda. She said you’re a second-year and that you chose to join the Mech Design Institute."

The man spoke, and Declan nodded.

"That is correct."

"But now, don’t you think that joining the Mech Design Institute will lead to you becoming lesser in the Combat Area required to be a great Nexian?"

Hhe asked, but then his brows creased as he stared intently at Declan, specifically at his chest.

"And speaking of being a great Nexian...You’re still only fused with an X-grade Core."

All second years were at W grade, with some nearly at its peak, while Declan was still at X.

And now that he had joined the Mech Institute, that meant an automatic downgrade of his capabilities as a Nexian.

It made sense. Six months at the academy was hardly a long time, but a quiet disappointment lingered.

The amusing boy hadn’t quite reached the level he had expected.

He was filled with disappointment, and Declan immediately saw it in his eyes.

Rather than trying to defend himself with words, Declan raised his staff, stopping it two meters away from the center of the Boss’s chest, and then...

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A circular shockwave tore through the air in front of Declan’s cane with every centimeter of its movement.

By the time it reached the Boss’s chest, five shockwaves had erupted, yet his face showed no reaction.

That was until the tip landed directly against his chest.

KAAAABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A wave of explosions tore through the ground behind the Boss’s legs, and he was dragged ten meters backward, stopping just before he hit the railings.

His body remained slightly bowed, but his eyes widened in shock and disbelief as he looked at the lines his own legs had carved into the ground from bearing the full force of the cane strike.

’A powerful Mech artifact!?’

He asked himself in shock, turning toward Declan, who gradually lowered his outstretched cane and carefully set it to the side.

A silver light crossed through the Boss’s pitch-black eyes as he realized the truth.

’That cane is no ordinary walking cane.’

’But if it’s all he had, he should have been blown away by the resultant force, yet he never stepped back an inch.’

’This is his own power.’

"Did you get the message, Boss?"

Declan asked, and an amused grin crept across the Boss’s face as he rose upright.

The coat on his shoulder fell toward the ground, but it never touched it before disappearing, stored away.

He pulled his long sleeves up to his elbows, revealing thick crimson veins beneath his dark-skinned arms, then turned back toward Declan.

"Tell me more."

The second those words left his mouth, the Boss became two.

One remained standing ten meters away, while the other appeared less than a meter from Declan, punching straight toward his head.

The fist tore through Declan’s head, a shockwave exploding backward, but it was nothing more than an afterimage.

Declan’s body flashed forward, his head leaning close to the Boss after dodging the blow, and his left elbow slashed downward like a blade toward the Boss’s neck.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

The strike of his elbow tore a sword-like scar across the ground, ripping through five meters of the dorm roof.

Yet the Boss remained untouched, vanishing in an instant and reappearing above Declan.

His legs slammed downward toward Declan’s back, but they did nothing except crash into the ground.

The Boss’s silvery eyes widened as he watched the young man’s afterimage dissipate into thin air.

"Behind me..." he whispered, turning sharply.

There he found him.

Declan stood where the Boss had vanished, one hand lightly gripping his shoulder.

"The dorm building will be destroyed. Let’s take it to the sky."

He said, and in the next moment, a single vein appeared on Declan’s arm as he pulled upward.

The Boss’s hulking body was flung into the air, sent flying through the clouds like a ball.

Declan flashed away from where he stood like a mirage, appearing directly in front of the Boss, silvery-dark and blue eyes colliding.

"Show me, Declan. What you have become..."