The Mech Touch

The exaggerated performance of the Elegant Rage during the last bout made Ves appreciate the conditional power of Woodsap mechs.

However, he reminded himself that not all Woodsap mechs could fight as exaggerated as the Elegant Rage.

The living mech had already existed for a few years and experienced a lot of growth. The machine also absorbed a lot of breakthrough energies while undergoing a strange mutation that fundamentally altered her character.

Ves was doubtful that he could design a mass production model that possessed the same properties and advantages as the Elegant Rage.

The thorn-covered machine was a product of growth and evolution. Unless Ves mastered the same concepts and mechanisms that made the Elegant Rage so unique, he did not have the confidence to design a mass production version of this machine.

This meant that Ves needed to be more careful about making assumptions about Woodsap mechs. He could not blindly consider the Elegant Rage to be an accurate representation of this specific classification of Carmine mechs.

Ves estimated that more general Woodsap mechs probably wouldn't be able to harness so much power at once.

They may also be unable to tolerate the accumulation of negative energies as well as a mech that had already experienced the deepest despair of her mech pilot.

Ves needed to conduct more tests on Woodsap mechs in order to verify all of these guesses and assumptions.

"Still, even if other Woodsap mechs aren't as strong as this one, they should still be a lot harder to defeat due to their amazing tenacity and endurance."

Woodsap mechs seemed tailor-made for attrition warfare. Ves already figured that they were the perfect machines to use for planetary defense and assault missions. So long as they fought in any environment that was rich with life, they would undoubtedly be able to bully other opponents by their ability to draw upon the power of earth!

However, Ves became a little worried when he thought about how to defeat these annoying mechs.

If every Woodsap mech became nearly as unkillable as the Emperor Tree, each of them would become a nightmare to fight against!

There was nothing more frustrating than to put so much effort into attacking a Woodsap mech, only for the organic or partially organic machine to heal the damage in an instant.

This made Ves more concerned about how to defeat in the most effective way possible.

Even he couldn't guarantee whether Woodsap mechs would be arrayed against him and his clan one day.

The most obvious way to remove the advantage of Woodsap mechs was to confront them well outside any life-bearing planet. They should possess no advantage in deep space, so that was the best environment to ambush these resilient machines.

If a confrontation on a life-bearing planet could not be avoided, then the difficulty became much greater. Woodsap mechs could always enjoy a bonus from the environment to display greater combat effectiveness than typical hyper mechs.

This should be the case even if they did not resort to extreme measures such as forcibly draining the energies of nearby plants!

How should Woodsap mechs be countered?

"Wait. Maybe this is why the withering curse exists."

The Introduction to the Withering Curse did not explain the underlying reasons why such methods were needed, but Ves was able to connect the dots easily enough.

Wood-based cultivators possessed an abundant amount of life and wood energies. They were so filled with vitality that it was much more difficult to harvest their lives than usual.

The best way to counter such unreasonably healthy opponents was to target the source of their strength!

"Perhaps… the withering curse is the most targeted method a wood cultivator can employ against another wood cultivator."

Whether the withering curse was applied to an enemy wood cultivator or the flora that served as his basis of power, the effectiveness of this method should be quite high!

"Woodsap mechs should also be vulnerable to this kind of attack." Ves surmised.

By undermining the abundant vitality and wood energy that sustained a Woodsap mech, it was possible to weaken them to the point where they became just as easy to defeat as an ordinary mech!

Though Ves did not expect for the native aliens or other enemies to employ such methods against his Woodsap mechs anytime soon, it was a possibility that he could not ignore.

Every mech possessed weaknesses. Ves did not obsess too much over the potential vulnerabilities of his Woodsap mechs. They were not yet even released, so it was way too premature for him to worry about these issues.

"The storm is about to send its final manifestation." Major Jankowski stated, pulling Ves out of his theorizing. "The energy levels generated by the storm clouds have risen abovec expected levels."

"THE TRIBULATION IS DISGUSTED BY US." The Elegant Rage spoke with greater energy and fervor than before. "IT WILL PUT GREATER EFFORT INTO GETTING RID OF US. BE READY FOR A TRUE CHALLENGE."

Major Jankowski pressed his lips into a line. "That is why we are moving to another forest as quickly as possible."

During this temporary lull, the Devos Ancient Clan permitted the Larkinson Clan to destroy the environment of multiple nearby forests that were located on the same continent.

The Elegant Rage received a transmission that detailed this agreement and pointed out several forests where the Elegant Rage could fight without restraint.

This was why the Woodsap mech had been flying away from the area that it had previously drained of life as quickly as possible. Her flight speed was quite high due to her good condition and relatively slim frame.

Of course, the storm clouds followed the living mech no matter how fast she moved. There was no escape from the tribulation.

By the time the Woodsap mech had reached the edge of a larger and denser forest, the storm clouds finally dispatched the final foe!

When Ves saw the alien form that descended from the angry storm, his eyes widened and his blood almost froze.

"Has that bastard come back again!? No! He shouldn't be this weak or idle. This… this is a different guy."

Ves almost gave in to despair when he thought he saw the return of the Subjugation King!

The slaving bastard had developed a strong animosity towards Ves. As a God King, his means were unfathomable, so it was very much possible for him to hijack the tribulation storm in order to ruin the Elegant Rage's right to exist!

Fortunately, Ves quickly figured out that he was looking at a different member of the krelion species.

The proportions looked a bit different, though the bipedal alien was covered by an exoskeleton that looked a lot plainer and less sophisticated than that of the Subjugation King.

This lightning manifestation was based on a weaker and much less overbearing member of the krelion race.

Yet despite this crucial difference, Ves did not dare to take this opponent lightly!

Just like the Subjugation King, this krelion that unmistakably exuded the vibe of warrior radiated a lot of light.

Ves felt repulsed by the harsh and merciless light of the krelion's aura.

The alien did not appear to channel any other E energy attribute, but that caused Ves to become even more wary towards this adversary.

"We're in trouble, major." Ves stated. "I don't know how much intelligence you have access to, but I have encountered a simulation of this alien race in the past. According to the limited information that we have available, the krelions are one of the top races of Messier 87. Even if this tribulation manifestation is based on a low-ranking grunt, a race that is able to gain dominance in the supermassive galaxy has an exceedingly strong foundation. It is just how even the most mediocre first-raters are still far superior to excellent third-raters in almost every aspect."

Major Jankowski already turned grim when he instinctively sensed the much greater threat posed by this light-blessed alien, but he became even more wary after hearing Ves' words.

"What can you tell me about their strength and abilities?"

"Not much. The krelions are qi cultivators that are likely obsessed with light. They have studied this E energy attribute so well that none of their light-based abilities are weak or flawed. I think that the krelions are also strong enough to fight up close or from a distance, though I am not sure if every member of this race can fight well under any circumstances. Aside from that, I can't make any more generalizations. We'll just have to find out during the fight."

As the krelion manifestation floated above the forest, the alien's radiance began to grow stronger. It became harder for observers to view the krelion with the naked eye.

"SO BRIGHT." The Elegant Rage complained as she automatically lowered the sensitivity of her optical sensors. "BE CAREFUL. I FEEL GREATLY THREATENED BY THIS ALIEN'S LIGHT."

The krelion spent a few more seconds getting in tune with the light of the local environment. It was still daytime on this hemisphere, so the alien also seemed to draw strength from the local star that was located in the center of the New Constantinople System.

The alien finally lifted one of his arms and conjured up a staff that possessed an intricate design.

The krelion proceeded to point the tip of the staff towards the Elegant Rage before unleashing a powerful light beam that instantly struck the Elegant Rage!

Crack!

"AHHH! IT BURNS!"

The opening strike shouldn't have dealt so much damage to the Elegant Rage. The enemy light beam was powerful, but Ves estimated that the Woodsap mech should have been able to take it without suffering too much harm.

He was partially correct. The mech's physical defenses were able to withstand the attack. Only a moderate hole that was rapidly regenerating was proof that the light beam had struck the Elegant Rage.

However, the light beam did more than that. It also attacked the Elegant Rage on a different level.

Her incomplete descent towards darkness just happened to make the Woodsap mech a lot more vulnerable to light-based attacks!

That was not all. Ves sensed something weird and profound from the light beam attack. It felt rather familiar to him, but the krelion already launched his second strike!

This time, the glowing staff released a lot more energy! An entire cage of light energy spat out and sought to envelop the Elegant Rage!

There was no way for the Woodsap mech to evade the strange light cage. It closed the distance and enveloped the Elegant Rage in the blink of an eye!

"So fast!"

Once the cage fell into place, the bars made out of light began to contract and press against the cybernetic mech's physical form!

No matter whether the cage pressed against solid surfaces or one of the many thorns covering the machine, the harsh exposure to this merciless light was inflicting significant harm to the machine!

"Shake off this cage!"

Even as the Elegant Rage started to get burned by the cage, she did not delay too long in launching as many thorns as possible.

Numerous thorns failed to launch as they were captured by the cage, but many more managed to pass through the gaps before landing across the surrounding forest.

A huge amount of wood energy steadily arrived and infused the Elegant Rage with a potent injection of power!

The Elegant Rage not only regenerated the damage inflicted by the cage of light, but also managed to shatter it by channeling an overwhelming amount of wood energy!

"We're free again!"

Yet just as Major Jankowski intended to retaliate by firing the Sprout Rifle at the krelion warrior, the alien had briefly turned into a streak of light before quickly arriving in front of the Elegant Rage!

The mech barely had enough time to lift her ebony wood tonfas before they got struck by powerful staff strikes!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Each collision caused the staff to generate explosions of light, which not inflicted greater damage onto the tonfas, but also began to make the Elegant Rage feel pained!

"This light… is burning the Elegant Rage! It is as if this alien is passing judgment on us and declaring us guilty!"

The judgmental qualities of this light were too strong. It seemed specifically made to fight against anyone tainted by darkness!

"This is not a mere warrior. This is a judge." Ves whispered. "The lightning tribulation specifically sent out this manifestation to target all of the Elegant Rage's weaknesses. The fight is only going to get much tougher!"

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