Chapter 229: Practical Evaluation (3)

Kendrick and Tania.

The siblings’ utterly fierce and sibling-like battle was enough to steal the breath from many observers.

Khan and Kani’s skills were undoubtedly exceptional, but their match had ended too abruptly, leaving insufficient time to grasp anything meaningful.

All it had reinforced was the thought, “Ah, they’re incredibly strong!”

But Kendrick and Tania’s match was different.

A clash of two powerhouses.

The duel between these two Transcendent fighters, each radiating killing intent with relentless momentum, resembled an actual battle.

Moreover, the speed and power of the Transcendent realm were so shockingly superior that they instantly erased memories of all previous matches.

“Those two… are in the same lower class as us?”

“Something’s not right here, is it?”

The students watched Kendrick and Tania’s match with their tongues hanging out.

The instructors were just as surprised.

“Those kids are actually students?”

“Huh… They could be deployed in actual combat right now, couldn’t they?!”

“How much attribute power do they have to produce that kind of output as mere Transcendent Rank 4s?”

Though their handling of the Transcendent still appeared unrefined, the sheer power output from their machines rivaled that of seasoned pilots.

After a fierce 20-minute battle, the referee’s decision came. Tania, with slightly more effective strikes, secured her place in the semifinals.

Thus, from the First Division came Sierra and Kani, while from the Second Division emerged Khan and Tania.

After that, people expected Kani to advance to the finals in the First Division, as she had sustained fewer gas damage incidents.

This was also Brew’s expectation.

“Y-You’ve worked hard, Kani. I believe you’ll definitely win the championship!”

”…”

Still, since they were in the same group, Kani would give him small responses.

However, after realizing Brew kept provoking Louis over trivial matters, she started treating Brew like a transparent person.

She thought this would make him leave on his own, but she had underestimated Brew.

The colder she treated him, the more Brew focused his attention on Kani.

That gaze… I can’t stand it anymore!

Kani’s occasional icy stares at him.

And that majestic face that looked down on him as if he were some insignificant existence.

You… You are my Queen!

Every time Brew met Kani’s cold cyan eyes, he shuddered. Cold, majestic, and possessing both a matching beauty and supreme abilities—Kani was the very embodiment of the ideal he had long dreamed of.

That’s why Louis’s existence was even more intolerable to him. Every time his queen consorted with that despicable wretch, her peerless dignity crumbled.

Brew despised how Kani’s Winter Continent-like gaze could transform into a Spring breeze’s warmth, a change that made him sick with disgust.

That’s why he had to see it. He needed to witness Kani—his queen—crush the Transcendent Louis had established and claim victory.

You must win!

Brew’s eyes gleamed with an eerie intensity. He clenched his fists and stared at the arena.

The long-awaited semifinals of the First Division had finally begun.

Kani’s usual weapons—a rapier and short sword—were unsuitable for a Transcendent-class mecha, so her machine carried two compact blades instead.

As Kani entered the arena first to await her opponent,

Thud-thud.

Unit 33 stood at the center of the battlefield.

Kani observed this development.

Huh? What’s that?

She sensed something amiss.

…Could it be?

A glint flashed in Kani’s eyes, and the corners of her lips curved upward.

When the two Transcendents faced each other, the instructor announced:

“The semifinals will have a time limit of 30 minutes instead of the standard duration. All other rules remain unchanged. Any questions?”

“No.”

Kani gave a brief reply, and Unit 33 nodded.

“Then return to your positions.”

At the instructor’s command, Units 30 and 33 stood at opposite ends of the arena.

The students whispered among themselves.

“Kani will win, right?”

“It’s not that Sierra can’t fight… but honestly, she’s no match for Kani.”

Predictions for this match were unanimous.

While Sierra was skilled, Kani was considered an insurmountable wall.

The odds were 10:0 in favor of Kani’s victory.

Thus, the crowd’s attention focused on how quickly and in how many moves Kani would defeat Sierra.

And then…

“Begin!”

As expected, Kani immediately charged forward the moment the match started.

Thud-thud!

Kani’s machine covered half the arena in seconds at terrifying speed.

In stark contrast, Unit 33 emerged slowly, its movements deliberate.

Though some might have seen this as cautious strategy, most spectators assumed Sierra had already conceded the match.

Then came the moment.

Boom!

A deafening explosion shook the very foundations of the arena, its source emanating from Unit 30’s right Ma.

Crack!

Kani’s foot, having driven deep into the ground, caused fissures to spread outward like seismic shockwaves, leaving a crater beneath her.

Whoosh!

Harnessing the rebound force, Kani’s machine launched forward like a cannonball.

Witnessing this, Agus shot to his feet.

“Th-that?!”

Even Agus, a Master, couldn’t comprehend how Kani had maneuvered her machine. However, he was well aware that if the Transcendent struck by that terrifyingly fast projectile, it would be utterly destroyed.

This could potentially be the first casualty in the lower class’s practical evaluation.

But Agus’s worst fears didn’t materialize.

“Ugh!”

“Kyaa!”

The students positioned at the rear of the Thirty-Three machine screamed in terror as the No. 30 machine hurtled toward them with terrifying momentum.

Thud.

With an unexpectedly light impact, Kani’s machine rebounded and soared in the opposite direction.

Agus gaped in disbelief. “D-did she catch it and throw it back?!”

Indeed.

The projectile had flown with terrifying speed.

Unit 33 evaded the strike slightly to the side, then seized Unit 30’s wrist. With another spin, it hurled its opponent skyward.

Kani’s machine arced through the air in a parabolic trajectory, hurtling in the opposite direction. What would have been a catastrophic impact for any ordinary Transcendent proved no challenge for Kani, who executed a mid-air rotation before landing safely.

The spectators bore witness to the spectacular sight of a several-ton steel mass performing a mid-air spin.

“Uh…”

“W-what just happened?”

The students stood dumbfounded by the display of advanced combat maneuvers unfolding before them.

As the two units once again locked in a stalemate, Kani suddenly burst into laughter.

“Aha! I knew something was off!”

As everyone was bewildered by the sudden laughter,

Kani’s unit jabbed at Unit 33.

Then came a voice from Unit 33:

“Is that Sierra?”

The moment the voice—part snarl, part nasal whine—filled the competition arena, the crowd fell deathly silent.

Anyone could tell it was a man mimicking a woman’s voice.

When the crowd’s reaction turned frosty, a petulant grumble emerged from Unit 33.

“Tsk!”

“Look! It’s Louis!”

The entity Kani had addressed as Louis.

The students couldn’t possibly not know who that was.

He was as famous as the four monsters of the pilot team.

“No way… Is that Louis kid actually in there?”

“That bastard… threw Kani across the room?!”

“But he’s from the tech team, right?!”

“Can a tech team member even compete in these matches?”

Louis’s aerial maneuvers moments ago had been anything but ordinary.

It would have been surprising enough for a student from the piloting team to demonstrate such skills, but the murmurs of astonishment spread through the crowd as they realized it was a tech team student who had pulled off the feat.

Louis completely ignored the surrounding reactions, clicking his tongue as he observed Kani.

“Hey, don’t pull that same trick on the others. I don’t want to turn anyone into a bloody pulp.”

“Ha! I was obviously aiming for you.”

When Unit 33 first entered the competition arena, Kani had felt an inexplicable sense of incongruity. Unlike any opponent she’d faced before, this presence was utterly unreadable. The inability to gauge the gap between them made this opponent even more terrifying. In all of Transcendence Academy—no, in all of Syron, as far as she knew—there was only one person like this: Louis.

And this confrontation with Louis brought immense joy to Kani.

Though she had been adjusting her academy life to Louis’s rhythm, frustrations had been accumulating over time.

The academy boasted excellent facilities, but its restrictive rules limited her freedom.

To make matters worse, there was the ever-present Brew, constantly irritating her.

With all that pent-up stress, facing an opponent who could finally release it made her body ache for action.

Whoom!

The Transcendent responded to her will by increasing its output accordingly.

Witnessing this, Louis snorted and shouted:

“Hey, take it easy!”

Of course, his words carried no weight.

CRASH!

Another thunderous roar echoed across the arena.

In the same instant, Kani had covered fifteen meters in a flash, appearing behind Louis and swinging both swords. The crossed blades aimed squarely at the cockpit.

Any ordinary pilot would have been struck down without understanding what hit them.

But…

Clang!

Louis whirled around, his greatsword sweeping through the air to deflect the twin blades. The weapon’s afterimage blurred like a whip cracking through the air.

Kani, anticipating this counter, used the momentum from the clash to leap backward. But now it was Louis’s turn to strike.

Hiss!

The greatsword coiled like a serpent, its blade twisting through the air as it pursued Kani.

Clang! Bang! Crack!

Kani’s twin swords clashed violently with Louis’s greatsword in mid-air, sending a resounding clang through the arena. Kani moved with lightning speed, her strikes coming from all directions as she targeted Louis. The latter stood firm, repelling every attack like a raging wind.

The crowd froze as they witnessed this high-level duel unfolding at the center of the arena. The battle raged on for ten minutes before someone murmured:

“Is that… the Transcendent stage…?”

The combat display by Kendrick and Tania earlier had also demonstrated a realm far beyond ordinary Transcendence Academy students. Yet the Flame siblings’ duel ultimately remained confined within the limits of the Transcendent stage.

Their movements carried an inexplicable dullness and artificiality.

This was the inescapable limit of all Transcendents, a wall that no pilot had ever overcome.

But Louis and Kani’s battle was different.

Their movements transcended the limitations of the Transcendent.

It was as if…

“That… looks human?”

No, not just any ordinary person - it was like watching a highly skilled warrior.

They moved with fluid grace, strong and swift.

The sudden bursts of acceleration were so intense that spectators nearly lost sight of the massive Transcendent bodies.

Who could believe these were mere tons of armored metal? Who could imagine they were only Grade 4 Transcendents?

The audience became gradually immersed in this spectacle beyond common sense, unable to comprehend what they witnessed.

The instructors and professors responsible for controlling the situation were equally affected.

Is what I’m seeing… actually real?

How is this possible?

The instructors were veteran pilots who had been riding the Transcendent for at least several years. Yet even they had never witnessed a battle like this unfolding before their eyes.

Then…

Thud.

Agus stepped forward from among the instructors. His face hardened as he pressed against the railing, staring blankly at the arena.

At that moment…

Gurgle.

Tears began to trickle down Agus’s cheeks.

”…How beautiful.”

Agus couldn’t contain the overwhelming emotions surging within him. He had first seen the Transcendent at age seven, and for the following 57 years, he had harbored a one-sided love for it - a self-proclaimed “Transcendent Holy Maniac.”

Today, he had finally met the ideal he’d longed for in his dreams.

To transcend the inanimate limitations and become a new being—that was the goal Agus had nurtured for decades, his lifelong aspiration.

And now, his lifelong aspiration lay right before him.

Thud-thud!

The movements transcended the Transcendent limit, bordering on artistry.

Boom!

Young disciples who had just entered the academy were demonstrating an aspiration he himself had yet to reach.

No, they were no longer his disciples.

How could he call those surpassing him “disciples”?

They had already become masters of piloting, pioneers, seniors who had advanced beyond him, and gurus!

Agus, hoping to someday walk the path they had forged, kept his eyes wide open to follow their lead across the competition field.

Five minutes passed in this manner.

Parts…

Watching the electric current surging from Kani’s body, Louis muttered in a dazed voice:

“Ah… She’s lost her eyesight again…”