Stronger with Crimson Modifier

Immediately after, an invisible wave rippled outward, instantly crippling all electrical devices.

The Mecha and aircraft attempting to fly toward the Saint Cross Hall to investigate were like kites with their strings cut.

They plummeted from the sky, smashing into the ground below. Explosions erupted one after another as thick smoke and flames engulfed the city.

Panic spread like a plague. People, at a complete loss, fled in terror in all directions.

...

「High above the Holy Cross Church.」

A figure stood suspended in the air, his red hair blazing like fire. In his hand, he held a scepter inlaid with a red gemstone.

He was none other than the Pope of the Holy Cross Sect, Gu Mu.

He was the strongest in this realm and the ultimate Forbidden Mecha Master.

Now, four Mecha had him surrounded.

Yet his brow was only slightly furrowed.

His gaze locked onto the two figures at the forefront.

"Hong Yu, Wu Dong, what do you think you’re doing?"

The attackers were none other than the Forbidden Mecha Masters Hong Yu and Wu Dong, along with two others.

However, the four gave no response to Gu Mu’s question.

The wings of the Sun Wind God, piloted by Hong Yu, snapped open. Blazing light erupted from the Mecha’s frame as she rapidly gathered a helium-flash ion storm.

Wu Dong’s Mecha, the Sunquake Monarchy, unleashed a terrifying gravitational vortex. Space itself seemed to twist as surrounding objects were mercilessly pulled in and torn apart.

The other two did not hesitate, each unleashing their ultimate attacks. At that moment, the full power of the four Forbidden Mecha was unleashed without reservation.

The four terrifying streams of energy intertwined, causing the entire Azure Flame Star to tremble violently, as if unable to withstand the impact.

The ground cracked and the sky seemed to tear apart. In the city, buildings swayed on the verge of collapse from the aftershocks.

Faced with this spectacle, Gu Mu’s expression flickered for a moment before returning to normal.

He snorted coldly. With a light wave of his scepter, the red gemstone erupted in a dazzling light.

In the next instant, the four Mecha were frozen in mid-air.

Their ultimate attacks were forcibly suppressed. Before Gu Mu’s power, the four Forbidden Mecha’s assaults were like child’s play, dissipating into nothing.

Gu Mu hadn’t even summoned his own Forbidden Mecha. With his power alone, he had easily suppressed the combined assault of four Forbidden Mecha Masters.

It was a testament to his terrifying power.

"Did you really think you could challenge me with such meager power?"

Gu Mu’s voice was ice-cold, his gaze sweeping over the four like a razor’s edge.

SHLICK!

But just as the words left his lips, suddenly, the void behind him rippled.

A massive scythe materialized and slashed through his body.

The immense force passed straight through him, slicing him in two at the waist.

But it wasn’t over.

In an instant, countless cracks spiderwebbed across his entire body.

It was as if he had been diced into a million pieces in that single moment.

POP!

However, in the next moment, Gu Mu’s fractured form popped like a bubble.

It simply burst on the spot and vanished.

"Bai Kong? Very good. I never thought even you would dare to betray me. Since you all wish to die, I shall grant you that wish!"

Just then, Gu Mu’s voice suddenly boomed across the sky.

Following the sound, they saw a colossal Mecha appear in the heavens, as majestic as a Divine Mountain.

Its form was so immense it blotted out half the sky. Its white-gold, streamlined armor radiated a corona-like glow, its surface shimmering with a membrane of liquid light.

At the Mecha’s joints, twelve sundial-like gears turned slowly, emitting a low, rhythmic, mechanical hum.

Its head-mounted optic was shaped like an annular solar eclipse.

In its hands, it tightly gripped two curved blades, one gold and one silver.

A massive wheel of light floated above each of its shoulders.

Four pairs of Light Wings stretched from its back, each feather composed of pure light energy. When unfurled, they were like the first light of dawn, illuminating the entire sky.

This was the number-one ranked Forbidden Mecha: Hourglass Radiance Ring.

It now hovered high in the sky, its colossal body casting a vast shadow, exuding an indescribable sense of pressure.

Seeing this, a thought stirred in Hu Qi’s mind.

’He recalled what he knew about the Holy Cross Pope.

’The duration of each Reincarnation cycle in this world varied, but it always took roughly tens of millions of years.

’Several million years had already passed in the current Reincarnation cycle.

’In all that time, the other Forbidden Mecha Masters had been replaced at least five or six times.

’Yet this Pope alone remained unchanged.

’The reason for this was nothing other than the unique nature of the Sunstone he possessed.

’It was the crystallization of the most fundamental power of the great sun.

’It allowed him, to a certain extent, to manipulate the laws of time within this realm.

’Of course, this was limited only to this realm.

’Even so, it made him a nearly unbeatable existence.

’You could say that as long as this world wasn’t rebooted or destroyed, he was effectively immortal. No matter how grievous the injury, he could always return to a state of perfect health.’

「At this moment.」

As Gu Mu’s voice faded, the Hourglass Radiance Ring crossed the Dawn and Dusk Dual Blades before its chest.

At the same time, a spectral image of a clock materialized behind it.

"Temporal Stasis!"

VMMMM!

In that instant, an invisible halo radiated out from the Mecha, blanketing the entire area.

In the next second, the space within the halo instantly distorted, and the flow of time was forcibly accelerated manifold.

The ground below was the first to change.

Before the crowds in the streets could even react, their bodies began to age with terrifying speed.

Their skin withered as if drained of all moisture, their bones grew brittle, and they ultimately crumbled into handfuls of dust that scattered on the wind.

Buildings decayed just as quickly, their steel skeletons becoming riddled with rust and their glass facades shattering into powder.