The Mech Touch

The huge grey abomination that bore several piercing wounds after getting struck by the Quint suddenly froze.

The dark fog rapidly grew more intense and hammered the protective field that Jannzi Larkinson and her Shield of Samar strenuously kept up. Her mind and will couldn't take it any longer!

"I can't hold! I'm sorry!" She shrieked with anguish!

Her amazing field that kept the darkness at bay finally shattered under the pressure! Instead of engulfing everyone in isolating cages that kept them apart from each other, the darkness that managed to overwhelm the barrier all flowed into the grey abomination mech that had frozen in space.

Its dimensions started to swell as a huge influx of darkness poured into its almost-solid body. The shape of the abomination blurred as it slowly began to lose some of the traits that made it look like a messy amalgamation of mechs.

Almost every bit of darkness in their surroundings poured into abomination, thereby weakening the isolation effect of the anomaly to a significant degree.

Suddenly, a lot more space opened up. Portions of Ulimo Citadel, the surrounding asteroids and amazingly the Penitent Sisters became visible again!

It turned out that the anomaly exerted a lot of strength in trying to take down the Hexer exiles. Ves quickly spotted at least two-hundred downed mechs as they had just confronted another giant ghostly abomination!

Right now, that huge grey abomination began to blur and move towards the one that was absorbing all of the darkness. The two soon began to merge, producing a powerful entity whose shape became more and more defined!

The pressure exuded by the grey abomination abruptly increased, suppressing almost every Larkinson and Penitent Sister in the anomalous region!

Ves felt as if a great threat had emerged, one that was so powerful that it began to influence him and some of the spiritual objects around him in an adverse way!

The Unstable Chaos Essence gem that Ves carried in his pocket began to glow without his notice.

The Ancient Sarcophagus became a bit less capable of containing its tyrannically strong prisoner.

Both of them reacted in a mysterious manner against the towering entity that was slowly taking shape in front the surviving combatants of the Larkinson Clan!

"Is that… a whale with tentacles?"

A god had emerged from the abyss! Extreme bestial fury radiated from the aquatic-looking grey monster as its tentacles angrily whipped through empty space, leaving strange afterimages after their passing!

A powerful spiritual roar emanated from this living terror of the Nyxian Gap! The power exuded by the grey whale was immense!

As every other Larkinson tried to suppress their fears and ready themselves for one more battle, Ves tried to figure out what the hell the huge influx of darkness had spawned.

"Is this the final counterattack of the Hallowed Abyss Temple?"

The grey manifestation differed from the grey ghost mechs and grey abomination mechs in one very important aspect.

Whereas the former apparitions came across as mindless automatons driven by basic instructions, this huge tentacled whale felt alive!

Yes, alive!

Up until now, Ves only sensed death from the dark sphere. The anomaly's capacity to generate combat-capable ghosts from mechs that had fallen into the past was clearly a result of messing with death.

Even the huge and powerful abomination mechs didn't carry any life despite their ludicrously-strong combat capabilities. They were merely composites of multiple ghost mechs.

However, this time was different!

After absorbing all of the grey ghosts and abomination within the weakening dark sphere, the entity that had emerged from it all exuded a very different spiritual signature than before!

It was alive, and not just a little bit! This was no newborn spiritual abomination who was just trying to get a grip on its powers.

This was a mature spiritual entity! In fact, the sheer age it exuded made it clear that it had lived since antiquity. Before humans invented anything more complicated than fire, this aquatic-looking exobeast was already in existence!

Ves suddenly realized that the huge tentacled whale that grew to the size of a light carrier was actually an avatar!

If he tried his best to see through the sheer blinding might of this forming entity, he could sense that some of the strength pouring into it came from the imaginary realm.

Through some unknown means, this ancient entity managed to extend its influence across the Nyxian Gap and forcefully occupy a grey vessel as an additional body!

It must be similar to how his mother Cynthia managed to transform the Superior Mother into an extension of herself.

However, compared to the subtlety of her technique, this living alien relic relied on overwhelming might and strange alien methods to extend its presence. It was both fascinating and horrifying to Ves.

The transformation taking place had opened his eyes, yet the downside was that the price for this lesson might very well be his life and the life of every Larkinson trapped inside this anomaly!

James looked incredibly solemn as he stood by his side in the bridge of the Scarlet Rose.

"The Unending One has arrived. His rage is boundless. He desires to crush us for affronting his dreadful majesty."

"What? The Unending One?" Ves turned to the Living Prophet. "Is this monster tied to the Hallowed Abyss Temple?"

James nodded. "The Unending One is a god, make no mistake. It seems that the Mirror Raiders inside the citadel has succeeded in interrupting the ritual. The earlier outburst of darkness must have been a result of stopping it. Yet ending the ritual doesn't mean the darkness that has already been generated has disappeared."

The anomaly weakened, but that was because the avatar of the Unending One absorbed most of its power!

Once the grey tentacled whale completed his formation, it released a second roar before launching an attack!

Several dark tentacles placed around his body abruptly extended to some of the closest mechs. The Unending One quickly grabbed a handful of Avatar, Sentinel and Vandal mechs before pulling them back.

"Ahhh! I can't get loose!"

"Help!"

"Maintain your distance!" Major Verle ordered over the command net. "Ranged mechs, fire at this monster! Don't conserve your energy or ammunition. Take down this beast as fast as possible!"

Unfortunately for the Larkinsons, most of the lasers and projectiles simply bounced off the thick grey surface of the monstrously-huge whale. The Unending One's frightening tentacles casually whipped some of the incoming firepower away without showing any signs of damage.

Once the beast brought back the mechs, the cruel and bloodthirsty beast cruelly opened his enormous maw in order to engulf the mechs!

A huge void closed with an enormous snap as the unlucky Larkinson mech pilots were crushed along with their mechs!

The mech pilots didn't even have the chance to eject from their machines as the tentacles tightly wrapped their torsos. It was as if the Unending One delighted in killing humans!

Ves' face grew ugly. How could they possibly fight against this grey avatar? Its might was overwhelming. If he had a couple of warsh.i.p.s armed with cruiser-grade weapons, he might have stood a chance of damaging it, but all he had was several hundred exhausted and depleted mechs!

The mechs that Ves brought into the anomaly had all fought through many horrors. As for the mechs that managed to survive from the beginning of the Battle of Ulimo Citadel, their depletion was much more severe!

The Swordmaiden mechs that had fought so effectively against the grey ghosts barely retained enough energy to swing their Breyer alloy greatswords.

Many of the Bright Warrior mechs that served as the mainstay of the Avatars of Myth were also running on fumes.

As an emergency measure, a shuttle quickly emerged from the Scarlet Rose and approached the Quint. A number of mech technicians in hazard suits emerged from the vehicle and quickly began to open up the mech to replace some of the depleted energy cells.

So far, the Quint exhibited the greatest battle effectiveness against the grey spiritual apparitions. If the Unending One's avatar operated along the same principles, then Joshua's designated mech should be their only solution against this powerful threat!

"The monster is approaching! Watch out!"

Not content with fishing for mechs with some of his tentacles, the powerful horror flew forward. Just as the Unending One's tentacles began to reach out to capture more Larkinson mechs, a thunderous volley of positron beams, gauss rounds and missiles impacted the grey whale's flank!

The surviving Penitent Sister mechs were coming to their aid!

"Assault this beast!" Commander Valerie Chancy ordered. "Do not rest until this evil beast is slain!"

Though the Penitent Sisters endured the same difficulties as the Larkinson mechs, their greater strength allowed them to retain much more battle effectiveness.

The only reason why they suffered at all was because they didn't have any expert candidates to break their shadowy cages. The absence of a masterwork mech such as the Quint also left them unable to defeat the abomination mechs that emerged later.

Despite their powerful weapons, the Penitent Sisters lost hundreds of machines as the abomination mechs ruthlessly crushed them without encountering any serious threat.

The results this time were not much different. Despite the enormous firepower their ranged mechs unleashed, the the Unending One only briefly paused before he resumed his angry flight towards the main concentration of Larkinsons!

In desperation, the melee mechs of the Penitent SIsters closed in and attempted to attack the tentacles surrounding the alien whale's body.

Nothing happened! Every sword strike and every spear stab bounced off the surprisingly-solid tentacles.

The Unending One became angry at these attacks! His tentacles grasped the Penitent Sister mechs and squeezed. The forces exerted by the tentacles were so strong that the advanced second-class armor systems of the trapped mechs only briefly held before succ.u.mbing!

More than a dozen melee mechs were crushed in half, with many of their former Hexer mech pilots dying on the spot!

"How can we possibly stop this menace?!"

"The beast is heading straight for the Scarlet Rose!"

The ship had already turned on her axis in order to distance herself from the avatar. Unfortunately, the angry god was determined to chase after the ship.

"The Unending One wishes to vent his fury on you." James spoke and frowned. "There is another reason why he wants to chase after you. There is something about you that is attracting him. I'm having difficulty determining why. The mechs around us are mere annoyances to this dark god."

Whatever the case, the unarmed Scarlet Rose was no match against this grey whale that was significantly larger than the mobile supply frigate!

"Joshua!"

After replenishing some of its spent energy cells, the Quint had gained a second wind. In its current lancer mech configuration, the Quint charged forth and attempted to drive its lance deep into the monstrous entity's flank!

Just as everyone put their hopes on Joshua, the Quint managed to drive its lance against the grey whale's skin, only to break an instant later!

The Unending One was too strong! The Quint sustained substantial damage as its charge caused it to crash and bounce away from the beast's slightly-flexible surface.

"Noo!"

The only mech that had shown the ability to harm the stronger grey apparitions had failed to inflict a single meaningful wound against this powerful beast.

"Damnit, what will it take to stop this monster?!"

"Is this the terror of the Nyxian Gap?"

"Keep fighting! Maybe it's only faking! Fire everything!"

The Bright Warriors launched their missiles from their miniature shoulder launchers in desperation. The Avatar mech pilots always saved up these surprisingly compact missiles as a last resort when they encountered strong second-class mechs.

Now, there was no longer any meaning for holding them back. Hundreds of small missiles detonated with enough destruction to wipe out a second-class mech company, yet as the smoke dissipated, the grey alien whale's momentum hadn't stopped!

The Unending One moved quickly. His tentacles slapped aside any mech in his way as if they were toys. Just as the grey whale opened his wide maw in order to engulf the entire hull of the Scarlet Rose, one single Larkinson rose up to save the ship!

A huge burst of willpower-infused energy formed into a glowing barrier that interrupted the enormous grey whale's attack!

Even though the barrier shattered immediately afterwards, the Unending One wailed in silent pain as some of its teeth had shattered!

A single mech that began to output a greater and greater amount of strength flew between the ship and the dark god's avatar.

"The Shield of Samar!"

The mech appeared much different than before. Ves widened his eyes as the mech began to glow brighter and brighter as Jannzi's intense desire to protect her fellow clanmates had surpassed a critical point!

"She's.. She's breaking through!"

The resonance meters of the Scarlet Rose began to chirp as they detected more and more resonance strength from the Shield of Samar.

Jannzi Larkinson was undergoing apotheosis! She was taking her first true step towards godhood!

"I AM THE SHIELD OF MY CLAN!"

The projection of an immense exobeast began to form behind her mech! A very different but uplifting roar emanated from this newly-emerged entity!