Chapter 85: Asura
The arrival of Asura sent Urial reeling. Sometime during his staggering retreat, heโd produced a golden cross with a yellow gem which he clutched in his hands.
A golden light shimmered to life around him, crackling with power. It served to ward against the sudden and vicious slice from Asuraโs dual blades.
The highest level Talents certainly possessed the ability to contend with mechas on their own โ but that was against your average pilot. If the enemy was of a power comparable to oneโs own, that was another matter entirely.
And of course, an adept was at their strongest when they were in their mecha. The white mecha he faced now, Asura, was piloted by the one he knew as the Blade-Maiden. Xiuxiu, one of Zeusโ amazons. A strong adept, in her own mecha.
The suit was large, and constructed to look like your perfect human physique. It bore no superfluous parts, no needless weaponry โ only that pair of monstrous swords. As he looked on appreciably, said weapons were already gripped in the mechaโs hands. With a burst of speed it rushed forward, directly towards that golden shield โ the only thing protecting Uriel from itโs deadly blades. They lashed out in savage chops. Where they slashed the air, great arcs of white energy in the shape of a crucifix charged forth.
The shell cracked, great gashes appearing where the attack had landed. Beams of golden light spilled out, and as the shell shattered away a second giant figure was revealed.
Yellow, streamlined, with six great extended wings. The latter clearly indicated what it was โ an Angelic mecha of the Pontiffโs Castle โ a Seraph, with Uriel at itโs helm.
The Cherubim mecha stretched eighteen meters high, with shimmering spar minerals affixed to the center of itโs chest. The heart of the crystal pulsated as though a tempest roiled in itโs depths. A great shield was poised before it, blocking Asuraโs blades from finding their mark.
Crack! Sparks of energy paired with a shock wave as the two indomitable powers collided, swirling around them like a storm.
Asura pivoted effortlessly around the raised defense, as lithe and mobile as any human. It moved like a white shadow, spinning about and tearing the air with itโs blades. The weapons rained blow after blow upon the Cherubim, interweaving until it seemed like it was a dozen swords he faced now.
Within the Cherubimโs cockpit, Urielโs face had curdled. His fingers danced over the control panels like raindrops. Golden light still burned in his eyes. The mechaโs shield seemed to move slowly, but was always just where it needed to be to block the ceaseless assault from Asura.
Each impact set the world ablaze in hard light, and deafened the ear with harsh cracks.
ฮถ
Zeus-1โs sudden take-off had set the battleships in to disarray. They were ten times heavier than the sapphire gunboat. Though they bore superior weaponry, they simply didnโt have the maneuvering capabilities of their prey.
Theoretically eight battleships would be more than enough for an effective dragnet against a single gunboat. But there are always exceptions.
Zeus-1 had risen, twisted and launched quicker than they were able to react. In the end it launched directly skyward like a rocket.
The battleships already in flight hadnโt wasted any time in utilizing their tracking systems to get a lock on the fleeing ship. However, as they scrambled to take action, their quarry did something a ship of itโs class simply shouldnโt have been able to do; it tumbled through three complete horizontal rolls, shut off itโs engines, and began to plummet towards the earth in free-fall.
The result was the same across all ships โ the lock was lost.
As the ship floundered, screaming towards the earth for impact, the engine on itโs left wing sputtered to life. Zeus-1 was wrenched forward, twisting back around.
The undulating maneuvers gave the gunboat enough stability to spool up itโs primary engine and fire in to the distance. By then the great blasts fired from the battleshipโs cannons were already way off their intended mark and crashed to ground ineffectually.
โWhat the hell kind of ship is that!โ One of the battleshipโs captains, a man in his forties, looked on slack-jawed and wide-eyed as Zeus-1 slowly vanished in to the distance.
โWOO! Now that was satisfying!โ The Accountant was practically devoured by his seat, strapped tight by the safety harness. That didnโt stop his fingers from pounding away at the keyboard in front of him, though. Odd flashes of data slithered across his eyes, eyes that had a strangely manic expression. The tail engine continued to accelerate, and Zeus-1 shot ahead like a bolt of lightning.
ฮถ
Xiuxiu watched Zeus-1โs retreat, her red lips pressed tightly together. In the next instant she was back on the offensive, lashing out at Uriel through Asura, at one with the mechaโs electronic brain to have it dance around the field of battle like quicksilver.
Rage was etched clearly on Urielโs face. Against Xiuxiu alone his power was enough to overwhelm her. But now, with Asura, the danger to him had grown considerably. He clearly recognized several avenues to gain the upper hand in their battle, but he had to know Asura would use any means necessary to fight back. She had the will, and he wasnโt keen on destroying his own mecha to achieve this victory.
Heโd let Zeus-1 escape! Though theyโd blocked nearly all of Moonfiendโs electronic signals, Zeus-1 appeared to be on track to breaking atmosphere. With the speed and control heโd just seen, he wasnโt sure the safeguards they had in place would be enough. It wouldnโt be long before word got back to Skyfire, and then the Castle would certainly be at risk of retaliation from the Avenue. Theyโd learned already Zeus was on their inner council โ ignorance would not be an effective excuse.
It canโt happen like this. I need to get to that ship and disable it. Uriel was resolute โ heโd get to his airship, and chase that gunboat down.
Cherubim descended until one foot made contact with the ground. It crouched, and with itโs six great wings splayed out like knife-blades, it launched itself at Asura.
Xiuxiuโs mecha slid to the side and parried, the steel in itโs left hand rebounded off of the enemyโs wings. The lithe figure darted backwards. As the weight of the deflection spun it around, Asura pointed itโs blade forward and launched ahead. Mecha and weapon blurred in to one, a whirling cone aimed at the Cherubimโs heart.
Behind the controls of a mecha, Xiuxiu was no less capable than the angel she faced.
But before the final blow could land, Urielโs Cherubim straightened. Itโs six great wings expanded farther still โ until they exploded out from itโs back. What was six solid wings now became a hail of golden arrows, heading straight for Asura.
The translation states that the Cherubim Urielโs title is synonymous with the title of itโs mecha โ Seraphim. I believe this is an author mistake as the two are separate classes of angels. Cherubim are the second class of angels, whilst Seraphim attend directly to God in catholic canonical works. If thatโs the case than Uriel, an archangel (the highest order of the seraphim), is misnamed. Still, as thatโs the way itโs written thatโs the way Iโll translate it โ just be aware that Cherubim is Urielโs title, not status. Again, heโs used the names Seraphim and Cherubim interchangeably.