Chapter 735: Spire Ascension (VI)
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The android continued pelting Cedric with shells and projectiles. It’s still mounted on its toy soldier teammate, who turned into a stationary turret for its use, all while the android continues releasing waves of radioactive chemicals in the air, which is swiftly turning the atmosphere and the surroundings caustic.
Had it been any other people in his place, the current level of radioactivity would’ve already caused them some serious problems. They would start feeling sick and lethargic and have a difficult time breathing. Remember, this isn’t any normal radioactivity; this one could affect live evolvers too.
Prolonged exposure will have even more serious consequences. At some point, the body wouldn’t be able to handle it and would start to break down from the inside. Furthermore, killing these two wouldn’t solve this problem. Those who ascend the spire have signed their life warrant; the spire doesn’t heal them in between stages; everything is up to them. Mercy could not be expected from this abstruse spire.
That said, if these two truly wanted to harm Cedric, they’re going to have to do more than this.
’I have attained the Great Law of Fire. I can make a goddamn sun in a snap of my fingers. What makes you two think that this little radiation will kill me? ’
Not that he expected these two to actually know that he could do something like that. Some things are better left unsaid, after all.
But yes, even if this android were to stake its mecha heart to raise the radioactivity to insane levels, it still wouldn’t affect Cedric. If anything, it’s helping him instead.
Still, Cedric didn’t do anything to stop this just yet.
This was the first time he encountered an android like this, and he wanted to push it even more to show him what else it could do. It’d be a shame to kill it right away.
And that’s what he did. He pressured the android and the toy soldier to show him more of their abilities.
He sent flying swords after them, all laced with sufficient sword intent to slice through their projectiles.
Seeing this, the android responded by taking flight.
Its calves opened up, revealing a set of engines that helped it achieve flight. Its feet were also attached to the toy soldier, thereby causing it to fly with the android.
The toy soldier didn’t let the android carry its entire weight, though. Its legs also transformed into engines that carried it to the skies, lightening up the android’s burden. It even opened up more projectile launchers to increase the android’s rate of fire.
’How much ammunition do you two have? Everything you unloaded so far was enough to wipe out countries in an instant! ’
Now that he thought about it, they could probably do this all day.
It wouldn’t be weird to assume that they have access to a pocket dimension filled with warehouses with automated production of ammo through remote-controlled drones. They are Mechanoids, after all. Furthermore, the pocket dimension might even be at an accelerated timezone, allowing them to produce ammo at a fraction of the time needed.
If that were to be the case, then these two could potentially have infinite ammo to consume.
Well, it doesn’t really matter how much ammo they have or how many of its variety there are. If they can’t touch Cedric, they’re all useless.
Besides, Cedric’s flying swords were better compared to any ammo they have. And if he laced them with sword intent, they’d even be better.
That’s why, despite their unceasing rain of fire upon him, Cedric remains the one pressuring them instead.
At some point though, Cedric discovered that they’re not showing him anything new anymore. It seems that he had exhausted every means they have. He could even tell that the two mechanoids have been feeling desperate at this point.
No bullets or any form of ammunition could pierce through Cedric’s defenses; even the android’s attempts to turn the world caustic for him weren’t working either. They’re all out of options, which was a sign that Cedric had seen everything they can do, and it’s time to move on.
So, with a quick command over two flying swords that turned into streaks of light, flying at speeds neither of the mechanoids could react to, their mecha hearts were pierced, and the fight ended.
Before disappearing from this realm, though, Cedric brandished his sword and released a cleansing pulse of origin energy as an act of mercy to this place. He didn’t care whether it mattered or not; he just wanted to do it.
Then, he was back at the platform of cubes.
**
"Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know what to say anymore. Dawnbringer is simply unstoppable, it seems!" Paul sighed as he commentated.
"I feel you, partner," Lisa added. "It seems that not even the combined efforts of two war machines were enough to leave a scratch on him. He’s simply too good with his swords!"
"I actually feel that he could’ve ended that fight sooner," Paul casually mentioned. "I mean, even with the odds stacked against him, Dawnbringer was the one putting pressure on his opponents all this time, not the other way around."
"Yes, I noticed that too. He was relaxed and at ease, like he never even entertained the idea of being defeated. I wish I had that kind of confidence." Lisa sighed too.
"True. Even though he’s been exposed to insane levels of radioactivity, Dawnbringer remained okay. I wonder how he did that? Because if I was in his position, my hair would’ve been falling off after five minutes of exposure!"
"We could speculate all day, partner, but may never actually get it right. So instead of that, let’s just see him ascend to the 23rd floor."
"Yeah. Let’s do that instead."
Dawnbringer’s section on the broadcast was enlarged again. This time, everybody saw him entering the 23rd floor, not even taking a single moment to rest after the prior floor.
The world he came into remained relatively the same, and so were his enemies. This time, there were three of them. Two androids and one toy soldier.
Two androids, one male and one female, plus the toy soldier. That’s who he’s about to face on the 23rd floor. Aside from having an additional enemy to handle, nothing else changed.
Cedric still had to endure an endless rain of fire from his enemies.
Just like before, he only stayed long enough to see if he could push his enemies into revealing more of their abilities. Once their means are exhausted, Cedric ends it and moves on to another floor.
His ascent was quick. Quicker than everybody else.
The second place was still at the 15th floor, facing five demons at the same time. Cedric was ahead by 8 floors and counting. And because there wasn’t any leaderboard, everybody thinks that they’re doing just fine, when in reality, they’re falling behind.
Of course, that didn’t matter at all to Cedric.
It wasn’t until he reached the 25th floor that he was introduced to a new mechanoid variant.
Zords are what they’re called. And they remind him of the actual giant mechas back in his home. They were big, intimidating, and carrying all sorts of world-ending energy weapons on their bodies.
Although they’re slower and carry fewer weapons compared to androids, they make up for it with quality.
Facing the Zords, Cedric had to exert some real effort to parry their missiles, because they’re not only larger, they’re guaranteed to hurt more. The Zords were quite literally hurling nuclear warheads at him like they were some ordinary grenades.
Even Paul and Lisa were rendered speechless by the sheer insanity of the mechanoid type.
Then, at the 28th floor, another variant was introduced. This one was called a Tech Priest.
The sheer presence of a Tech Priest near a mechanoid doubles their performance efficiency and strength.
Tech Priests sang prayers and sermons like they’re on a mission. Whenever they do, their mechanoid partners go absolutely nuts. Also, the other mechanoids are extremely protective towards Tech Priests.
If their Tech Priest teammate suffered even the slightest graze, they would go crazy and murderous. It’s like all the intelligence they’re so proud of goes puff when it happens.
Toy Soldiers, Androids, Zords, and Tech Priests. Those are the mechanoid variants that appeared from floors 20 to 29.
At the 29th floor, Cedric faced nine mechanoids at the same time.
The screen displaying his progress nearly froze at some point due to how many particles needed to be rendered with how crazy it was in there. Most couldn’t even follow what’s happening anymore.
When things started calming down, they saw that aside from the Tech Priest, only the Toy Soldiers and the Zords were left in the battlefield. All the androids have been taken care of.
From there, it didn’t take long before Cedric cleared the floor. Everything fell apart after the Tech Priest fell.
And just like before, Cedric was untouched. Not even a single graze was left on his body. He left the floor as clean as he arrived.
Soon, he’s already ascending to the 30th floor.