Chapter 329: Brain Annihilator
『Warlock's Dogma: Template Skill, Integration Skill. A special "Dogma" that only Warlock Cultists can use, it can be applied to the pilot or their piloted vehicle depending on its inclination, unleashing powerful, battle-reversing effects at critical moments.
There are 6 Warlock's Dogmas—
SPRITA of Will—Allows any 1 allied unit within a 30-meter radius, including the user, to simultaneously restore 25% of their maximum MP.
POTANT of the Source—Allows up to 13 allied vehicle units within a 20-meter radius to simultaneously restore 50% of their maximum energy.
AUXLUM of the Battlefield—Allows up to 5 allied units within a 10-meter radius to have their current kill count +1. (Requires complete destruction of vehicles like mechs or spaceships to count as a kill.)
PALAS of the Force Field—Allows up to 12 enemy vehicles within a 20-meter radius to collectively reduce their maximum energy by 75%, while their movement speed, armor thickness, and aiming accuracy will each decrease by at least 2☆.
SALIRA of the Leap—Allows any one allied unit and its vehicle within a 40-meter radius to be forcibly moved to any location within that range.
PRODIG of the Soul—Applies the Mental Commands "Soul" and "Spirit," as well as the Extra Actions "Direct Attack" and "Crushing Blow," to any 1 allied unit (including the user) within a 30-meter radius.
Using a Warlock's Dogma has no cost, but you can only choose 1 of the 6 to use every 24 hours.』
Cheng Tian's current state originated from the mutation of the 『Ten Commandments』, which transformed from radiation that only affected humans into a virus that only affected humanoid machines.
As a being who had undergone deep mechanical modifications, Azrael was immune to the original Ten Commandments, but was precisely within the special attack range of the temporarily mutated Ten Commandments.
However, because the confrontation shifted from a mental attribute conflict to a computational power conflict between a virus and a program, Cheng Tian, as the caster, was inevitably dragged into it as well.
This simulated program, which used human brains as wetware, had an extremely high simulation fidelity for both casters, at least Cheng Tian's abilities were fully reproduced within it.
And Cheng Tian, without hesitation, used the last and most murderous of the 6 Warlock's Dogmas: PRODIG of the Soul.
Strictly speaking, this was a composite skill. It integrated two mental commands and two extra actions simultaneously, while eliminating the consumption and cooldowns of these commands and actions.
『Soul: Your next damage dealt to an enemy is increased to 2.2 times. If used simultaneously with 『Hot-Blooded』, the effect of 『Soul』 takes precedence. Cost: 90 MP. Cooldown: 5 minutes.』
『Spirit: Your spirit increases by 30 points. Cost: 90 MP. Cooldown: 5 minutes.』
『Direct Attack: Your next attack on an enemy will nullify all special defensive abilities, special skills, and damage loss effects caused by attacking large-sized enemies. This effect can only be applied once. Cost: 2 kills. Can only be used once per battle.』
『Crushing Blow: For 20 seconds after activation, all your attacks and counterattacks will definitely deal critical damage (1.5 times damage), and this effect can stack with the mental commands 『Hot-Blooded』 and 『Soul』. Cost: 3 kills. Can only be used once per battle.』
Just as he never saved money when necessary, he often didn't know how to save skills.
No matter how much HP the enemy had, or whether his attack would deal excessive damage... just use it! Kill the enemy first!
Gates LB, which was integrated into the combat sequence along with Cheng Tian himself, suddenly turned into a dark shadow, entering its Nightmare Form. Then, a purple Heart Barrier directly enveloped the brain-controlled Azrael, who hadn't even had time to react.
Immediately after, two crystal eyeball-shaped "funnels" appeared out of thin air, and split into four right in front of the "Brain"!
The sky of the computational power confrontation space was already covered in black. That unyielding blackness established a link with Cheng Tian's main body and the four Heart Image Crystals simultaneously.
And the Brain, having realized the terrifying danger Cheng Tian was exhibiting, instantly caused Azrael's controlled body to swell up, transforming from a modified human into a mech-riding figure in the blink of an eye.
It was a humanoid mech, entirely black with some orange-yellow accents, possessing a standard human physique similar to the Brodia, with a well-proportioned body, looking like a medieval knight in black armor from a distance—
SVA-100M Warlock.
As the latest generation of mass-produced test machine from the Laia Principality, the Warlock's history was very similar to the Brodia, both being mechs that continued to be researched even after a ceasefire agreement had been signed.
The ability to acquire such a machine, which had never even been deployed on the battlefield, as his personal mount, further indicated the high degree of infiltration of the Laia Principality by the power behind Azrael.
However, as the Warlock's size changed due to its equipping, Cheng Tian's Heart Barrier's coverage area also surged, still firmly keeping it contained within the barrier.
The Warlock raised its arms and began sweeping with its built-in Gatling guns in its armored gauntlets. The Heart Barrier's durability visibly and rapidly decreased.
However, the Heart Barrier, which had the simplest but also most difficult-to-quickly-remove Release method, could still restrict the enemy within a certain range as long as it had 1 HP remaining.
This Warlock, with its relatively minor modifications, clearly hadn't been fitted with instant high-damage capabilities, and could only watch helplessly as five high-energy threat signals, like those from orbital weapons, appeared in the sky.
Those were five Demon Spears Thor!
And as these Demon Spears Thor were generated, Cheng Tian's MP consumed a total of 250 points (Book of Ys' consumption halved), and at the same time, his Nightmare Corruption increased by 50% (Book of Ys' corruption rate doubled).
The rapidly flipping Book of Ys was suddenly slammed shut by Aoko's armored gauntlet.
Five energy beams, as if blasted down from armed satellites in low-earth orbit, heavily struck the Heart Barrier!
(350+170) * 1.5 (Nightmare Corruption increase 50%) * 2.2 (Mental Command Soul) * 1.5 (Extra Action Crushing Blow) = 2574.
This number flashed 5 times above the Warlock's head!
A total of 12870 damage!
The Warlock exploded.
The pilot inside, "Azrael," also exploded.
At the same time, far away in a secret experimental base on Planet Laia, a human-like brain encased in an experimental glass cover also exploded into a bloody mess, with fragments of brain tissue mixed with cerebral fluid splattering all over the glass cover.
And accompanying this was a wail with a heavy electronic synthesized voice, and a cry of "Aoko!!!!!" filled with extreme resentment, even discernible through the synthesized voice, echoing through the empty base.
In the real world, the red light in Azrael's eyes, which signified brain control, completely dissipated, returning to the white-orange color natural to Laians.
『You defeated "Brain" in the program space, and due to extreme damage overflow, its main body was affected, causing irreversible damage.』
『"Brain"'s maximum HP is permanently reduced by 20%, and its overall computational power is reduced by 20%.』
『Your personal reputation with "Brain" has dropped to "Blood Feud."』
『You will be fully wanted by the high-ranking officials of the Laia Principality controlled by "Brain."』