?Chapter 6550 Satisfying the Heavensword


    Two out of three duels concluded in a satisfying manner.


    Saint Dise Larkinson secured the most astonishing result.


    After many years of struggle, she finally discovered her incredible potential as a maniptor of the metal element, and activated it in such a spectacr fashion that she immediately rammed through her bottleneck and broke through!


    The power she disyed and the realization of the might she always dreamt of harnessing in her duel against the Muscr Swordsman convinced everyone that she deserved to attain her sainthood. Best of all, her breakthrough took ce in fairly benign circumstances, so the probability that she had be distorted due to an extreme outburst of negative thoughts and emotions were practically nil!


    All of this meant that Saint Dise was likely to retain the same degree of stability and reliability as she exhibited during her expert pilot days.


    The same could not be said for the likes of Saint Commander Case Ingvar and Saint Isobel Kotin. Both of them broke through under abnormal circumstances that concerned the higher ups very much.


    The Larkinsons paid care and attention towards their only Saint Commander in particr.


    No one had forgotten that her cherished brother, Venerable Imon Ingvar, died during an escapade gone wrong.


    Even if General Ark Larkinson managed to avoid any me due to the death of a vital asset under hismand, Case Ingvar was toopromised on this sordid issue and could not ept this objective verdict!


    There was bad blood between the two extraordinary mechmanders. It would have been best if the two were ced as far apart as possible, but the needs of red humanity trumped these personal grievances.


    The unsympathetic and overworked military strategists that were responsible for propping up the frontlines carelessly assigned the expeditionary fleet of the Golden Skull Alliance and the 77th Warborn Mech Division to the same star system!


    Perhaps in the eyes of the Red Three, the Warborn fielded a lot of mech pilots that originally hailed from the Larkinson n and Cross n.


    Since that was the case, they should naturally perform better when fighting alongside theirpatriots in the expeditionary fleet!


    That logic should have worked under ordinary times, but because of the unsolvable tension between Saint Commander Case and General Ark, the two mech forces simply chose to request


    assignments that put them at least one light-minute away from each other at all times.


    That worked, more or less. Saint Commander Case meticulously fulfilled her duties withoutint. She did not show any sign of abnormality towards the apparent presence of the Warborn in the Vi Magnifica System.


    However, many Larkinsons secretly questioned whether the acemander would remain this way when the native aliens conducted their nextrge assault.


    Once the battlefield became engulfed in chaos, would the Saint Commander truly remain


    well-behaved when the battle lines becamepressed and the man who failed to take good care of her brother entered her reach?


    Nobody could say for certain!


    Ace pilots might appear just as human as a random person on the street, but had already crossed the halfway mark towards their journey to godhood.


    They had already shed many aspects of their mortality that previously made them weak and vulnerable.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Yet were all traits that supposedly decreased theirbat effectiveness truly negative?


    The reduction orplete absence of human expressions such as fear, doubt and hesitation had made ace pilots a lot more decisive and fearless.


    That was good if they had to hold the line against powerful adversaries, but the side effect was that it also made them more prone to taking radical actions that fell outside of the scope of their objectives!


    This was the risk that came with handling high-ranking mech pilots that managed to break through under less desirable circumstances.


    In any case, the Larkinson n did not have to worry about this risk factor when dealing with Saint Dise.


    She was an honorable warrior.


    Her conviction was upright and noble.


    She had always prized her self-control.


    A proper transition from an expert pilot to an ace pilot should not undermine these positive traits, but reinforce them instead.


    Saint Dise should be moving closer and closer to the ideal swordswoman that she had always aspired to be!


    Under the halo of her unexpected but undeniably breakthrough, the sess of Saint Linda Cross became a lot less remarkable.


    Unlike Dise who clearly overperformed in the most dramatic way possible, Saint Linda Cross merely met everyone''s expectations.


    Even if she was a fresh ace pilot who broke through rtively recently and had yet to prove her mettle in a serious battle, an ace pilot who had already stabilized her new condition was still abatant that far exceeded thebat capabilities of an expert pilot in every way!


    Their strength was not only higher, but their ability to adapt to adverse circumstances was considerably better.


    Situations that stumped expert pilots would not faze ace pilots because thetter possessed a lot. more ways to express their power.


    Although not even Ketis expected for Saint Linda Cross to take up her old arms again.


    The Amphis Extremis resembled a diator as the ace mech had forgone its shield in favor of dual-wielding two chained weapons!


    Thisbination proved too much for the Elegant Swordsman, whose flowing movements and creative attack angles got stifled by the extended and versatile reach of the Amphis Extremis!


    That meant that the protectors that stood up for Ketis sessfully managed to pass two out of three tests.


    The Heavensword, which used to be held in the hands of the Elegant Swordsman, flew free again. The erged relic weapon did not make any drastic moves. It merely retracted the heavenly energies that previouslyprised the Elegant Swordsman and the Muscr Swordsman before remaining in waiting.


    The Heavensword did not make any further action against the Amphis Extremis and the First Sword. This was fortunate since thetter had to withdraw from the field in order for Saint Dise to recover from her breakthrough and give her the rest she deserved.


    When Ketis studied the Heavensword from another live feed, she couldn''t tell what it was thinking, but she could make a few guesses based on her observations.


    The Heavensword was probably the most satisfied with Saint Dise. She was the closest thing to a true swordswoman among the mech pilots.


    Over the course of her struggle, she had stepped up by imitating the Muscr Swordsman''s method of harnessing the power of an element to augment his swordsmanship and open up new possibilities of attack and defense.


    In other words, Saint Dise sessfully vanquished her opponent by inheriting the swordsmanship principles ''taught'' by the Heavensword!


    Even if Dise only copied the principles and did not absorb anything else from the ancient sword cultivation legacy on disy, this was already enough.


    She could be regarded as a sessful graduate of the Heavensword.


    The performance of Saint Linda Cross was merely satisfactory. She was not a true swordswoman and never pretended to be one. While she recognized the value of a sword and relied on one to pass her test, she did not imitate the methods of her opponent to do so, but stuck to her own distinct fighting


    style.


    This satisfied the Heavensword''s basic condition of strength. Saint Linda proved with her deeds that she was not weak, and that was enough to earn the weapon''s begrudging approval.


    There was only one duel that remained unresolved.


    Everyone''s attention soon shifted to thest protector, and became disappointed at what they saw.


    It was not that Venerable Joshua was doing particrly badly. His Everchanger still remained pristine for the most part as the high-tier expert pilot readily took advantage of his ability to regenerate his machine to keep his battle partner in good physical condition.


    Yet all of this regeneration gradually exhausted his willpower and began to give him a headache. So far, Joshua had managed to adapt to his adversary''s rhythm. He even began to employ his mech''s Heartsword to block a few of the piercing strikesunched by the incredibly swift and elusive Teenage Swordswoman, but that was the most he managed to aplish.


    The only energy manifestation remaining in action still stuck to her current strategy engaging in


    hit-and-run attacks.


    The Teenage Swordswoman moved like a gust of wind. Her lithe robe form rapidly blurred forward and easily managed to predict and circle around the Everchanger''s hasty guard before poking the tip of the copy of the Heavensword into a rear armor panel!


    By the time the Everchanger turned around tounch a hastily counterattack, the Teenage


    Swordswoman had already flown out of reach!


    This pattern had repeated so many times that everyone had grown numb at the sight.


    "Joshua..." Ketis grew mixed after observing the remaining fight.


    She felt disappointed, angry and concerned at her husband. She knew him well, so she understood


    that he must be feeling incredibly frustrated at his continued ineptitude.


    He was fighting for more than his own pride! He was also fighting to preserve Ketis'' future!


    It was the husband''s duty to protect his wife. Failing in this task meant that he was too weak to keep


    his family safe.


    Joshua did not want this to happen!


    If possible, he wanted to beat the Teenage Swordswoman by breaking through like Dise.


    This was easier said than done.


    There was a difference between his situation and that of Dise.


    Thetter possessed hidden potential that she easily managed to unlock after realizing her


    shoring.


    The former may or may not possess untapped potential of his own, but hecked the means to draw


    it out in this difficult circumstance.


    Joshua already harnessed the power of life, or else he wouldn''t have been able to regenerate his


    machine.


    There may be other aspects about life that he had yet to explore, but he did not think he had overlooked anything big like Dise.


    Venerable Joshua realized that he would not be able to trigger his breakthrough by copying her


    homework.


    "This damn Heavensword is too biased towards swordsmanship! Why can''t you give me a break and allow my luminar crystal rifle to inflict actual damage for once?!"


    Hisint may be valid, but the Heavensword never had an obligation to be fair.


    The fact of the matter was that Venerable Joshua and the Everchanger were particrly unsuited to


    ovee the Heavensword''s challenge.


    Joshua still tried, though.


    He tried to evoke the power of different design spirits. He switched from channeling Trisk to


    channeling the Golden Cat, Qnxo, Zeigra, the Illustrious One, Lufa, Ylvaine, Gaia and even the


    Superior Mother!


    Yet none of the advantages granted by this diverse collection of design spirits brought the expert pilot any closer to victory.


    In fact, the Everchanger incurred even more damage, as the loss of mobility due to disengaging from


    Trisk was too significant!


    Ketis was pretty clear why Venerable Joshua ultimately failed to measure up like Saint Dise.


    "Your fundamentals are too poor. She sighed.


    His swordsmanship was good, but he fell short of the standards of a genuine weapon master.


    His versatility was his strength, but it was not omnipotent enough to allow him to respond to any


    situation.


    His state of mind remained susceptible to setbacks, which meant that his willpower was not yet up to


    the standard of an ace pilot.


    All in all Toshna was simply not ready at this time.


    Perhaps hisck of sess could be attributed to the underperformance of his outdated expert


    mech, but this excuse clearly did not apply to Saint Dise!


    As the one-sided beating continued to drag on for a few more minutes, the Teenage Swordswoman


    The heavenly energies that made up her shape dispersed before flowing back to their source.


    The Everchanger froze in space. Venerable Joshua breathed heavily as he tried to puzzle out why the


    Teenage Swordswoman had disappeared.


    "What... what happened, Ketis?"


    "My guess is... the Heavensword has run out of patience. The swordmaster voiced her guess based


    on her own feelings towards her husband. "You failed the test. There is no point in giving you any further opportunities when you have no chance of oveing this challenge"


    Joshua became devastated as his failure began to settle in his mind.


    There was nothing much that Ketis could do for him at the moment. She had greater concerns to


    deal with at this time!


    Now that only two out of three protectors satisfied the Heavensword''s demands, how would the


    sentient artifact evaluate the oue of this exercise? Would the ancient weapon be satisfied that Ketis at least had two dependable guardians, or would it consider Ketis to be weak for entrusting her safety to the wrong champion?


    Nobody could predict how the Heavensword would judge the results! There was too little data on its personality, its behavioral characteristics and its values! The Heavensword could have made everyone''s lives a lot easier if it bothered tomunicate directly with humans rather than leave everyone guessing with its bizarre actions and decisions. "What will you do next?" Ketis frowned in concern.