An azure glow erupted. The Knight-class Honkai beast stumbled, staggering back several steps. The resulting tremors caused the airport runway to crack.
The commotion attracted the Chariot-class Honkai beast, which hadn't wandered far. It turned around, no longer needing to strain to find its target. The dazzling blue light and the massive Honkai energy reaction had already pinpointed it.
The two colossal Honkai beasts charged, one after the other—towards the same target.
The concrete runway no longer just cracked; fragments of concrete bounced like beans scattered on a drum.
Mikael simply extended his hands, seemingly unfazed, glancing at the even larger Knight...
Carole's scream was drowned out by the deafening roar of the impact. Light flared. Hua instinctively raised her arms to shield her eyes, but she suppressed the urge and looked to the sides instead.
Two enormous mechanical arms extended from Mikael's gauntlets, halting the two Honkai beasts' charge. The mechanical arms weren't solid, but semi-transparent, glowing with a faint blue light. Yet, under the immense pressure from the Honkai beasts, Hua could clearly hear the groaning of twisting metal.
Mikael only had time to shout these two words.
Then, the mechanical hands shifted from blocking to grabbing. Taking advantage of the Honkai beasts' momentum, he pulled them towards each other, slamming them together.
Even with the warning, Hua and Carole, despite stepping back, were nearly sent flying by the force of the impact.
When the dust settled, a colossal figure stood before the two girls, radiating a blue light bright enough to illuminate the entire airport. It was—
Like the mechanical arms, a gigantic, semi-real humanoid mecha.
No, not quite humanoid. The figure, over twenty meters tall, seemed to be only the upper torso of the mecha.
The two mechanical arms each gripped a foreleg of the Honkai beasts. As Mikael made a hugging motion, the mechanical arms simultaneously dragged the beasts towards the mecha's chest.
In the center of the mecha's semi-transparent chest, a partially exposed turbine engine spun rapidly, spewing scorching flames that incinerated the Chariot in an instant.
Hua smelled a faint acidic odor and covered her nose and mouth.
The Knight, unwilling to be passively incinerated, thrashed its hind legs, trying to break free from the mechanical arm's grip. When it realized its struggles only caused more pain to its captured foreleg, it wisely changed tactics, thrusting its massive lance at the mecha.
A large dent appeared on the mecha's surface. Mikael stepped back to absorb the impact, which gave the Knight a false sense of advantage. It raised its lance again, aiming a sweeping blow at the mecha's head.
Mikael reacted swiftly. Releasing the now-lifeless Chariot, his left arm shot back, the back of the mechanical hand intercepting the lance just as it was about to strike the mecha's face.
At the same time, the right mechanical hand tightened its grip, cracking the Knight's white exoskeleton with a crunching sound.
Finally, the Knight, howling in pain, tried to retract its lance, but the tip was caught firmly in the mechanical hand.
"Hey... Hua, have you ever heard of the Thousand-Armed Guanyin?" [Guanyin is a Buddhist Bodhisattva associated with compassion]
Hua couldn't understand why Mikael had the time to ask such a question in the middle of a fierce battle.
It was simply a habit he'd developed from interacting with Elysia. She often used elegant (and chuuni) phrases during combat, and Mikael would respond in kind.
It was their little thing. Nothing more.
But Hua still caught a glimpse of Mikael's upturned lips, a look of triumph. But what was he so triumphant about?
No, it wasn't exactly triumph, but rather a sense of relief, a release after long suppression.
It truly was relief. For the first time in years, Mikael could fight without worrying about exposing his powers, or the abnormal Honkai energy reactions. He could just let loose.
Countless mechanical arms unfolded from the back of the half-humanoid mecha, fanning out in a semicircle.
"Wood..." Out of copyright concerns, Mikael almost shouted the name of the technique's inspiration. [Reference to the Wood Style: Shin Sūsenju from Naruto]
But it didn't matter whether he shouted it or not. Mikael had even equipped the elbows of the mechanical arms with rocket boosters. With bursts of fiery light, one iron fist after another slammed into the Knight-class Honkai beast, echoing with dull thuds.
The barely-alive Chariot, having caught its breath, thought it had a chance again. Seeing such a brutal display of force, it wisely played dead, collapsing back onto the ground.
"997, 998, 999, 1000! Stop!"
"Hah... This thousand fists, 0.1 years in the making! Can you withstand it?! Hahaha!"
Mikael stopped his attack, counting the blows. Not only was the Knight-class Honkai beast reduced to a puddle of silicone, but the dozens of mechanical arms he had constructed were also wrecked from the intense combat.
He glanced at the still-playing-dead Chariot. One of the remaining functional mechanical arms lifted, charging for a few seconds before firing a blue beam from its plasma cannon, piercing straight through the Chariot's body.
Mikael turned around to meet Hua and Carole's stunned gazes.
Dozens of flashlights flickered in the distance. Members of the support team had caught up, ready to take charge of the two survivors behind Mikael.
For some reason, during the handover, Mikael felt everyone looking at him strangely...
"Uh... are they already starting to see me as different?"
Mikael chuckled wryly, feeling a pang of disappointment.
Especially when he looked at Hua, who seemed to avoid his gaze...
Mikael waved his hand. "If there's nothing else, I'll continue."
He didn't expect any surprising responses.
But sometimes, the unexpected happens precisely when you least expect it.
"That... um, Big Brother Mikael!"
"You're so amazing... Can I learn that move?"
Before he could answer, Hua shook her arm. "Carole... that kind of power, you can't just learn it, can you?"
In the flashlight beams, Mikael saw Hua glance at him quickly. When he met her gaze, she quickly lowered her eyelids, looking away.
"Ah! Ah! Sorry, I got too excited, hehehe..."
Carole was taken away by the support team. Her mental state seemed unstable, requiring the attention of a psychological counselor (hopefully not Elvin).
As she left, Mikael overheard two young support team soldiers explaining to Carole: "Did you see the gauntlets on Squad Leader Mikael's arms? Those are called Void Archives. It's said that the power he just used came from them!"
The other quickly retorted, "Hey! Saying that is like questioning Squad Leader Mikael's strength! Look at his scores in the simulation training room. I'm telling you, even without Void Archives, he could easily crush those two Honkai beasts!"
"You're such a fanboy! Although Squad Leader Mikael's physical abilities and Honkai adaptability are monstrously high..."
Mikael silently turned and walked towards the darkness.
So... it wasn't exclusion of the different, but simply envy and admiration for this power? This kind of misunderstanding... was fine...
But the truth would eventually come out.
Hua lowered her head, biting her lip, hands clasped behind her back. Watching Mikael's disappearing figure, under the strange gazes of the surrounding soldiers, she finally managed to whisper:
The voice was so soft that even the soldiers next to her didn't hear it clearly, but Hua felt Mikael had heard.
Because she clearly saw him, before vanishing in a flash of blue light, raise his arm without turning back and give her a thumbs-up.
His movement was equally subtle, so subtle that no one but Hua noticed.