The Mech Touch

The Heavensword did not take no for an answer.

In order to convey how seriously it wanted to be wielded by Ketis, the powerful relic went as far as projecting a mech-sized version of one of its presumably former wielders! The elegant robed swordsman did not move as if he was burdened by multiple layers of cloth.

The humanoid energy projection practically danced across an invisible surface as he unleashed a simple slash.

The enlarged Heavensword glowed as it pulled the energies around it to surround its slender blade and form an energy sheath that significantly increased its reach and girth! These energies subsequently collided against the resonance-empowered tower shield of the Amphis Extremis, causing the ace offensive space knight to buckle despite looking as if it should heavily outmass its adversary!

"Saint Linda!"

Both the First Sword and the Everchanger looked ready to intervene, yet held back in case the two expert mechs would just end up getting in the way of the ace mech.

Was this supposed to be a duel or a less restricted gang fight?

The ancient swordsman cleared up their uncertainty by turning around and rapidly whipping his two swords in the direction of the two Larkinson expert mechs!

Two heavenly sword energy attacks lanced towards the machines with hostile intent! Venerable Dise and Venerable Joshua both got caught off guard by this sudden move, but they were skilled and experienced enough to evade on instinct.

The First Sword managed to get clear of the snap attack heading in her direction, but the Everchanger's resonance shield got clipped by the other sword energy attack.

Even though it should have been a glancing hit, the heavenly energy contained within the sword energy attack turned out to be so potent that it briefly disrupted Joshua's willpower!

"The Heavensword's energy is much stronger than regular E energy!" Joshua immediately informed the others. "My willpower can't suppress it at all. It's as if I got struck by a peace of heaven!"

Ketis knew what her husband was talking about. "Stay on guard against the mental compulsion of this 'heavenly energy. The Heavensword will brainwash you if you entertain any notion of surrender. If you don't guard your mind, you will end up in a state similar to Charles and Fred over here. The more you get exposed by heavenly energy, the stronger the effect. If possible, do not try to block or get in contact with it. Try to avoid the energy attacks whenever possible."

"That is easier said than done!"

While the ancient swordsman smoothly began to exchange blows with the Amphis Extremis, he still had time to keep the two nearby expert mechs busy by whipping slashes of potent sword energy in their direction.

The initial sword attacks were easy enough to evade. Their traversal speeds were not as high as gauss weapon attacks and they solely followed linear trajectories.

However, the ancient swordsman quickly adjusted his harassing attacks by adding a homing element to the sword energies!

Both the First Sword and the Everchanger received powerful hits to their resonance shields, causing their integrity to drop by as much as 30 percent!

"We can't take too many of these hits!"

"We need to get close!" Venerable Dise uttered as her competitive streak urged her to do more than maintain a passive posture. "As long as we get close enough to the energy projection, we can stop him from unleashing these sword energy attacks."

That was as good of a plan as any.

Though Venerable Joshua preferred to remain patient and take potshots at the ancient swordsman with his Vitalus, the luminar crystal rifle only inflicted trivial damage to the target!

The Everchanger had already opened fire shortly after the ancient swordsman went on the attack.

Joshua not only resonated with the Vitalus, but also used his companion spirit. Willy to channel the Illustrious One and significantly amplify the power of the luminar crystal rifle's light beam attacks!

The hyper light beam attacks were supposed to be remarkably effective at damaging E energy constructs, but this rule was not absolute!

Against an energy projection comprised out of high-grade heavenly energy, the distinctly lower grade of energy output of the Vitalus rifle was at a heavy disadvantage! Seeing that the Everchanger's ranged attacks were largely ineffective against the target, Venerable Joshua set aside his current approach and began to move his Everchanger closer!

The Everchanger even placed the Vitalus on its back since it would only get in the way. The entire vibe of the Everchanger changed as Willy as well as the expert mech himself ceased to channel the Illustrious One. ＲåŊȮᛒЁš

Joshua instead decided to channel Trisk, taking the advice given by Saint Linda Cross to heart.

The Everchanger was no Dark Zephyr, but the expert hero mech could be quite fast when he needed to be. From the moment the entire machine began to borrow from the

Power of the Free Bird, the living mech moved as if he had lost at least 20 percent of his mass!

This was an amazing result, and one that made the Everchanger significantly faster and more agile than before!

With the freedom and integrity of his wife at stake, Venerable Joshua was determined not to let the Heavensword have its way!

At the same time, the First Sword surged forward with her Decapitator greatsword eager and willing to humble the arrogant Heavensword!

"Be careful!" Saint Linda Cross warned as her ace space knight attacked with its flail, causing a heavy skull-shaped ball to fling forward, only to get deflected by the projected swordsman with a moderate amount f effort. "I am picking up a surge of energy from the Heavensword!"

Just before the two expert mechs came close enough to thrust their swords into the rear of the ancient swordsman, the shape of their target suddenly blurred.

"INCOMING!"

Two simultaneous collisions occurred as the forward momentum of both expert mechs got arrested by the energy projection!

Two projected sword wielders in fact!

"What?!"

"There are three of them now!"

The Heavensword had actually generated two additional energy projections, each of

Them just as large as the first one!

"They're different!"

"Well, that answers the question whether the old Heavensword used to be wielded by different swordsmen."

Confronting the Everchanger was a teenage-looking woman who wore similar but less refined robes as the original projection.

Her youthful countenance made it seem as if she was the ancient swordsman's

Descendant or disciple.

Naturally, the lesser projection did not hold the genuine version of the Heavensword. The young swordswoman instead held an inferior copy comprised out of concentrated

Heavenly energy.

The First Sword confronted another projected swordsman.

This time, the lesser energy projection resembled a taller and more muscular man. There was nothing elegant about his appearance. His hair was short and messy while his face was marred by scars. He wore a leather-like outfit that made him look like a hunter, though his feet remained bare.

The man looked as if he was a lot more accustomed to fighting with his fists than wielding an elegant blade!

Nonetheless, the muscular swordsman held the copy of his Heavensword with easy

Familiarity.

After the two additional energy projections showed up, the fight entered into a

Temporary lull.

The Amphis Extremis backed off from the ancient swordsman. The latter did not

Immediately press forward.

"What is going on here?" Joshua asked,

Ketis, who was observing the fight from a projected screen aboard the fleeing combat.

Carrier, figured it out first.

"It's a test."

"A test?"

"Did you remember what it conveyed to us before it started to go on the attack? It said the weak have no right to resist. The implication is that if I want to preserve my swordsmanship, I have to prove I, or rather all of you are strong enough to justify my

Rejection."

"Are you kidding? How can we defeat a weapon as powerful as a sentient grand work? We don't even have a weapon that is powerful enough to dent the Heavensword!" "Perhaps that will not be necessary for us to prove our strength." Saint Linda Cross

Remarked.

The ace pilot also managed to gather a few clues by examining the intent radiating from the energy projections.

There was a clear sense of ritual to this fight. This caused Ketis to form another theory.

"The Heavensword cannot unleash its true power in its current state. It is limited by its lack of wielder and its limited energy reserves. This may be why it has decided to give us a chance of proving it wrong by giving you a test. As long as you can defeat or outlast your designated opponents, the relic weapon will hopefully give up on forcing me to become its wielder."

Although Ketis did not have enough proof to back up her assertion, it sounded as good

Of an explanation as any. The ace pilot and expert pilots distinctly had the feeling that they were not confronting the Heavensword at its best.

It was either holding back, or it had not yet completed its recovery.

The Heavensword did not give them any time to swap theories with each other.

All three energy projections charged forward and went on the attack! Neither side did anything fancy. They instead tested each other's strength by exchanging physical blows with each other.

The Amphis Extremis was forced to endure the greatest pressure as it was the only mech that was being threatened by the genuine version of the Heavensword. The elegant swordsman's hair continued to whip elegantly in the non-existent air as he spun and danced while trying to overcome the ace offensive space knight's defenses. Saint Linda Cross quickly discovered that the heavenly energy condensed across the relic weapon's blade was disproportionately effective against her ace mech's energy defenses!

Her proud Saint Kingdom got invaded with ease while the resonance-empowered azure energy shield generated by the SA-DIX was being depleted at an alarming rate!

It was only when Saint Linda no longer tried to suppress the elegant swordsman with her Saint Kingdom and shut off the SA-DIX Shield Generator that her Amphis Extremis

Was finally able to withstand the power of the Heavensword. The enlarged Heavensword still struck the tower shield with enough force to chip and dent its resilient source, but the material damage was a lot more bearable than the

Alternative!

"Do not attempt to defend against the Heavensword's attack by relying on your resonance shield or energy defenses." Saint Linda Cross warned the others. "Either

Evade or block its attacks with physical objects. The damage it inflicts on solid matter is not as great."

This might be a quirk of the heavenly energy being channeled by the Heavensword, but

It kind of felt as if it was giving the mechs a chance to beat it through a contest of skill

Rather than get unilaterally overpowered by the massive difference in quality and raw power!

The three energy projections did not make it easy for their adversaries, though.

They employed different sword styles to press the skills of the high-ranking mech pilots.

The three sword wielders did not remain static either. They vigorously moved around in space, making full use of their ability to maneuver in every direction to circle around and attack their opponents from different angles.

The energy projections initially started off at a sedate pace, but quickly began to speed

Up until their dizzying maneuvers pushed the mechs and mech pilots to their limits! The Amphis Extremis, the First Sword and the Everchanger constantly had to turn around and stress their maneuvering thrusters just so they could block or parry an

Incoming strike!

There was no time for the pilots to celebrate a successful interception of an attack as

The swift and speedy projected sword wielders had already circled around to launch another light and probing strike!

"This is getting annoying!" Venerable Dise grunted in frustration.

"I feel as if I am sparring against a light skirmisher!" Venerable Joshua complained. "I

Don't even have time to launch a counterattack anymore."

"Then do better." Saint Linda spoke as her space knight struggled to keep up with its

Must faster adversary. "This is just the first test. If we cannot pass it, then you can forget about what else the Heavensword has in store."

The thought of getting humiliated by a sword that didn't even have an actual wielder

Caused the two Larkinson expert pilots to burn with shame.

"I am not going to lose against this senile fossil!"

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