Chapter 509 - 497: Escape, in the Name of Freedom

Chapter 509: Chapter 497: Escape, in the Name of Freedom

A fifty-four-thousand-ton Steel Giant was in a frantic sprint.

The earth groaned under the weight of the Cyclops’s feet, each step gouging a massive crater into the surface.

However, a dozen or so Flying Golems were already screaming in from the sky, their speed far surpassing the land-bound titan.

PEW PEW PEW—!

Streams of energy beams crisscrossed to form a net, blanketing the area.

Piloting the Cyclops, Allen made no move to dodge, instead directly activating its Super AT Force Field.

A pale yellow shield flared to life, deflecting all the attacks.

As he ran, he cursed up a storm internally.

’Damn it! Why didn’t I spend the extra money to install a flight module on this thing!’

He felt like he was in a main battle tank being hounded by a squadron of attack helicopters—possessing earth-shattering power, yet unable to touch his enemies.

The number of pursuers was growing. On the ground, more Golems joined the encirclement.

War machines of all shapes and sizes, awakened from the ruins, converged into a torrent of steel and joined the siege.

BOOM!

The Cyclops spun around abruptly. Its heavy right fist, enveloped in the white glow of high-frequency vibrations, slammed into a pouncing quadrupedal Golem, pulverizing half its body with a single punch.

But this brief pause allowed even more enemies to swarm in like rabid dogs.

Just then, a beam thicker than all the previous attacks combined tore across the sky, bathing half the heavens in a ghastly white light.

CRACK!

The Super AT Force Field shattered on impact!

Immediately after, dozens of energy beams rained down, bombarding the Cyclops’s dark-red Earth Vein Tempered Steel armor and sending ripples of energy across its surface.

Inside the central core, Allen’s consciousness raced, calculating the enemy’s attack trajectories.

But the Cyclops was designed as a super-heavy, land-based siege Golem—an indestructible, mobile fortress wall.

Its true power was unleashed only when its Earth Vein Anchors were planted in the ground. But now, in this desperate chase, its greatest assets—its weight and defense—had become its deadliest liabilities.

His Allen Network frantically scanned the battlefield, trying to find a familiar silhouette.

Android 18.

His masterpiece, born for assassination, possessed top-tier mobility. If he could just regain control of her, his chances of breaking through the encirclement would increase dramatically.

But there was no sign of her.

The ’Will’ of the Mechanical Realm was clearly aware of the threat Android 18 posed and had hidden her in some corner beyond his perception.

Another volley of fire struck.

Sparks erupted from the joint in the Cyclops’s left leg. The massive impact sent it lurching, and its speed plummeted.

’I can’t go on like this.’

In that instant, Allen’s mind became as calm as a ten-thousand-year-old glacier.

He knew that this "ultimate enforcer," on which he had lavished countless resources and effort, had reached its limit.

’It’s time to let it go.’

His Spiritual Power surged with unprecedented intensity, shooting outward along the Allen Network. Its range instantly expanded past fifteen hundred kilometers.

At the edge of the vast graveyard of steel, in the direction of the Teleportation Star Gate, he finally detected a faint but incredibly familiar signal.

It was a "mid-level authority unit," forgotten in a corner. Because it hadn’t participated in the construction, it had been left idle at the edge of the security perimeter.

’Found it!’

Allen didn’t hesitate for a second.

He brought the battered Cyclops to a halt, slowly turning its massive frame to face the endless torrent of steel alone.

The massive One-Eyed Crystal Stone on its forehead shifted from dark red to an incandescent white.

’Goodbye, old friend.’ The scene of its creation in the Molten Iron Mountain Range seemed like only yesterday, but this time, he had to destroy it with his own hands.

Allen issued the final command.

[Triple Earth Core Furnace engines: Disengage all safety protocols. Initiate self-destruct sequence.]

Within the Cyclops’s chest cavity, it was as if three suns had ignited at once.

Raging energy compressed violently within the confined space. The dark-red armor fractured from the inside out, and incandescent light burst forth from the fissures.

The next second, Allen’s consciousness became an invisible stream of data. Guided by the Soul Law, it shot across nearly a thousand kilometers and vanished in an instant.

BOOM—!!!

An energy storm, far more terrifying than Gabriel’s self-destruction, erupted across the steel plain.

The chain detonation of the three Earth Core Furnaces turned fifty-four thousand tons of Earth Vein Tempered Steel into the deadliest shrapnel, which, superheated to a temperature that could melt anything, blasted outward in all directions.

A mushroom cloud that blotted out the sky slowly ascended.

...

「Meanwhile.」

In a ruined zone less than fifty kilometers from the Teleportation Star Gate.

The dim eyes of a blue-and-white mech, standing silently in place, flickered without warning.

Then, a brilliant blue light flared to life as Allen’s consciousness filled the familiar, if somewhat "petite," frame.

[Command confirmed. Waking unit...]

[Unit self-diagnostic sequence initiated...]

[Energy Core: Singularity Engine, Modified. Status: normal. Magic Power reserves at 90%.]

[Weapons systems: All online.]

[Freedom Gundam, ready for deployment.]

The familiar system prompts sounded like music from the heavens.

Allen—or rather, the Freedom Gundam—slowly raised its head to look at the still-expanding mushroom cloud in the distance.

Then, the ten "wings" on its back unfolded. They were Floating Cannons, as lethal as they were beautiful.

"Freedom Gundam, launching!"

A declaration only he could hear.

VMMMM—!

The anti-gravity flight array activated. The eighteen-meter-tall mech instantly shot off the ground, becoming a streak of blue-and-white light as it rocketed toward the Teleportation Star Gate, breaking the sound barrier moments later!

The distraction from the Cyclops’s self-destruction lasted only a minute before he was reacquired.

Hundreds of flying units closed in from all directions, weaving an impenetrable web of fire.

But empowered by the terrifying processing power of his Dawn Star Soul, Allen’s vision had already transformed into a world composed of data streams.

The trajectory of every beam and the movement of every enemy were all within his calculations.

The Freedom Gundam carved an impossible Z-pattern through the air, weaving through the gaps in the barrage at high speed. It was like a butterfly dancing in a storm, not a single drop of rain touching its wings.

As a Flying Golem tried to close in, ten Dragon Cavalry hardpoint units detached from the mech, becoming ten streaks of light that orbited the Freedom Gundam.

Lock on. Fire!

ZZT! ZZT!

Two ethereal blue beams struck it with pinpoint accuracy, blasting it out of the sky.

’Closer!’

The semicircular Teleportation Star Gate was now visible in the distance.

Hundreds of Golems still stood guard around the Star Gate. They swiveled their cannons, forming a final line of defense.

Allen had the mech raise its left arm as the shoulder-mounted "Titan’s Roar" mega-cannon finished charging.

BOOM!

A pillar of destructive light erupted, plowing a hundred-meter-wide path straight through the dense swarm of machines.

At the end of the path lay the Star Gate.

The Freedom Gundam didn’t slow down, weaving through the dense anti-aircraft fire.

Allen’s piloting finesse had reached an unbelievable level.

The mech banked, rolled, and climbed with minute adjustments. Beams of light scraped past the edges of its armor while missiles detonated harmlessly in its wake.

No attack could touch the Freedom Gundam’s frame.

The "Meteor" high-frequency vibration Ship-Slicing Blade ejected from its housing and was gripped in the mech’s hand.

The Freedom Gundam descended from the sky, plunging into the steel defensive line on the ground.

The fifteen-meter-long Ship-Slicing Blade swept out.

The "Shatter" Rune flared to life. A row of Golems blocking its path was sliced clean in half at the waist, the cuts perfectly smooth.

The Star Gate was within arm’s reach!

Behind it, more pursuers had caught up.

A crimson light flooded the sky, and terrifying fluctuations of Magic Power rippled through the air. It seemed an incredibly powerful Golem had arrived.

’Too late.’

The Freedom Gundam folded its wings, its body becoming a straight streak of blue-and-white light as it plunged headfirst into the brilliant stellar vortex that marked its path home.

Spatial fluctuations rippled outward. With a sharp crack, the energy junction at the base of the Star Gate shattered completely.

The teleportation channel closed.

Plane X-7734 once again fell into a dead silence.

Only the endless hordes of mechanical constructs were left, staring at the damaged Star Gate.