217. No leeway.
Thirty-five hours later.
Stab—ding, ding, ding—
The sword blade dragged across the ground, lifted high, and slashed toward Coulomb Torque's neck. For the first nine attacks, the power lines were smoothly cut this way.
"You're still stuck in place, while I've evolved countless times!"
However, this time, Coulomb Torque, as if foreseeing the attack, shifted lightly to avoid the sword strike. At the same moment, it raised its hand in front of Li Aozi, its palm splitting open to unleash a rapid impact cannon.
Remaining Moon • Dimensional Leap!
Li Aozi immediately activated [Remaining Moon]. His figure dropped into a two-dimensional space, switching layers like a mosaic while moving at high speed. This evaded the damage and closed the distance to his opponent.
[Bloodline] surged. Li Aozi shoulder-checked, causing the opponent to stumble, then raised his knee. One hand wielded the sword, slicing through dimensions, but Coulomb Torque combined its hands, releasing a powerful photon stream from its palms, knocking the sword away.
Yet Li Aozi didn't retreat. Instead, he advanced further, his knee smashing into Coulomb Torque's chest as gravitational pressure fell simultaneously.
"Your pathetic gravity is useless against me now!"
Coulomb Torque deployed an anti-gravity field around itself, using its elbow to block and parry. With a flick of its wrist, it released a shockwave field, sending Li Aozi flying. Before Li Aozi could stabilize, it summoned the surrounding mechanical wreckage into gleaming, menacing turrets.
[Multiple Target Lock-On!]
"You're not going anywhere this time!"
Coulomb Torque stomped on the metallic ground, generating a pitch-black magnetic fluid that trapped Li Aozi.
[Notice: You have entered [Machine Realm Domain]. Racial identification is in progress. If you fail the identification, 70% of your primary attributes will be stripped...]
[[Bloodline] Effect Activated!]
[You have forcibly passed the identification!]
[Notice: Coulomb Torque has activated skill • "Quantum Lockdown". You are undergoing a [Dexterity] attribute check...]
[Due to the lack of skills or knowledge with [Quantum] traits, you cannot trigger [Perpetuity • Absolute Rule].]
[Check failed: Your time-space jumps/dimensional transitions/movement skills are disabled (Duration: 42 hours).]
"Tch! Quantum traits really are on another level—classic space-time Omega Energy isn't worth squat!"
The limits of [Bloodline] became apparent; against [Society]-type targets, it grew incredibly weak.
Losing his movement abilities, Li Aozi's mobility dropped by three-quarters. The turrets opened fire instantly, unleashing hundreds of thousands of rounds at him. While using gravitational acceleration to dodge, he had no choice but to tank some unavoidable hits directly.
[Machine Realm Intelligence has cracked your trajectory—[Machine Realm Society] citizen units' attacks now possess [Auto-Aim], [Smart Tracking], [Precision Proximity Detonation], [Close Proximity Acceleration], and similar effects.]
The barrage lasted a full forty-five minutes. The unrelenting attacks left Li Aozi with no opportunity to counter.
Without the armor and damage resistance of [Dictator Form], Li Aozi's health plummeted to critical levels. His mana was equally drained, rapidly depleting as multiple Omega Energy sequences ran continuously, resembling a crashing stock.
"This is getting ridiculous!"
Li Aozi countered with a temporal ripple, neutralizing the barrage. His hands moved swiftly to open several interfaces, drawing Omega Energy from [White Obelisk].
[Death Link]
[Sever Vitality]
Switching styles—Blood Demon Flow.
Li Aozi raised his hand, marking ground targets with death marks one by one, then dropped his defenses to endure the onslaught.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The violent explosions swallowed Li Aozi in an instant. The kinetic force of the projectiles blasted him into the Austro Mountain's massif.
——Bang!
Li Aozi's body, like a meteor, gouged 400 meters deep into the mountain before halting. On the surface, thousands of turrets short-circuited and exploded, emitting thick black smoke.
"Whoa... so that's how you transfer damage."
Coulomb Torque rubbed its chin before leaping. Its thrusters ignited, propelling it toward Li Aozi in the mountain. It unsheathed energy blades and dove straight into the crevice in the rocky surface, stabbing forward!
「Get lost!」
Jania sprang forward, summoning the Fate awakening Sword. With a single graceful gesture, she swung it ferociously at Coulomb Torque!
Quantum Vision!
Coulomb Torque's eyes lit up with a blue glow, its rotor pupils spinning rapidly. Jania's sword strikes, no matter how fast, were fully anticipated and deflected. It neutralized the friction beneath its feet with particle thrusters, sliding effortlessly like ice skating past Jania's attack to close in on Li Aozi.
Twisting its frame, Coulomb Torque opened its weapon bay, launching incendiary rounds that engulfed Li Aozi in a thermite blaze. At the same time, two violet high-energy beams from its hands severed both of Li Aozi's arms.
"Now you can't hold a sword anymore! Let's see how you act arrogant now!"
Stowing its cannons, Coulomb Torque lunged forward, aiming its energy blades at Li Aozi's neck!
Schlick!
Li Aozi's neck was instantly pierced by the energy blades. Coulomb Torque crossed its arms, slicing deftly.
Sizzle—
Li Aozi's decapitated body fell amidst the inferno, the air heavy with the stench of blood and burning flesh.
It's done!
Coulomb Torque grabbed the severed head, sneering:
"A mere counterfeit dares claim to be Leozi reincarnated!"
Clang—
No sooner had the words left its mouth than deep blue tendrils pierced Coulomb Torque's chest.
"&*%￥—What the...? Motor oil and nuts!"
Coulomb Torque turned in shock, seeing two severed arms ejecting tendrils from their palms, rapidly siphoning its life energy.
"Even if you're mechanical, as long as you're conscious, you count as life."
Calmly rising, Li Aozi activated [Sever Vitality]. As life force poured into him, the severed arms were drawn back by tendril connections, fully reattaching. He tilted his regrown neck and yanked the neural tendrils from his palm.
The monstrous strength of his Bloodline erupted.
Boom!
Coulomb Torque slipped and fell to its knees. Its mechanical parts rusted and aged rapidly as its life force was stripped away, drawn toward Li Aozi.
Remaining Moon, Gravity, Bloodline—Trinity.
"Heaven's Pull."
Red-black patterns appeared on Li Aozi's face as his genes grew agitated from prolonged Omega Energy use, causing severe strain on his body and mind. He took a deep breath, then stomped hard.
"Bright Moon and Abyssal Falls!"
Boom!
Coulomb Torque's body was instantly crushed. Briefly pulled into two-dimensional space, it was yanked back by gravity and smashed into a flat plane, adhering to the ground.
For the tenth time, a Councilor was eliminated.