Chapter 443 - 431: Mom, I’m Piloting a Zaku
William didn’t notice his arm was bleeding.
He stared intently at the target, which had been split in two. Molten iron was still dripping from the cleaved surfaces.
Amidst the smoke and dust, the Zaku’s single eye glowed with a crimson light as its axe-wielding right arm slowly lowered.
Inside the cockpit, Peram’s hands were trembling violently. It wasn’t just from fear; his body was also enduring the immense impact force fed back from the strike.
The fierce winds gradually subsided, and silence fell over the testing ground.
Everyone stood as if petrified. Only the eighteen-meter-tall Steel Giant remained, standing quietly after delivering its blow. The heat vents on its chest spewed superheated gas with a long, drawn-out HSSS—.
William’s lips trembled slightly.
It wasn’t that he was inexperienced.
Allen’s Sky Throne could level a mountaintop with a single shot, and a full salvo from the Purgatory Demon Missile Platform could plow the earth.
But this was different.
That was the exclusive, sublime power of a Wizard... of Allen.
But this Mecha before him...
A Level 3 Spirit Mage wasn’t even considered an elite on the battlefield.
Yet just now, piloting this steel creation, he had unleashed a strike that even a Level 5 Spirit Mage would struggle to face head-on.
A thought, like a bolt of lightning, cut through the chaos in William’s mind. He now understood Allen’s deeper meaning.
If...
If even Peram could do it...
...Then what about the Aiselan Kingdom’s Royal Army?
What about the blacksmiths, the miners, the farmers, the fishermen... all those lambs who could only tremble during every Beast Tide, waiting to be saved or slaughtered...
Could they do it, too?
William’s heart began to pound wildly. Blood rushed through his body at an unprecedented speed, bringing waves of dizzying ecstasy.
He was no longer seeing just the few Mechas before him.
He was seeing an endless Steel Legion!
He was seeing the hope for Aiselan civilization to truly rise!
’This is the "god-slaying power" I wanted!’
’Not borrowed, not given as charity, but a power that every single citizen of Aiselan can grasp with their own hands—a power that is truly their own!’
VSSSH—
The Zaku’s chest cockpit door slowly opened, and with the help of the Factory Servants, Peram was lowered to the ground.
His legs were still a bit weak when his feet touched the ground, and his face was flushed red with overexcitement, but his eyes shone with an astonishing light.
He stumbled back to the ranks of Knights, grabbed a companion by the shoulders, his voice cracking with emotion:
"I... I did it! I really... I piloted it!"
He was speaking incoherently, finally blurting out a sentence that made everyone chuckle.
"Mom, I got to pilot a Zaku!"
Although no one yet understood what a "Zaku" was, that pure, heartfelt joy was infectious, spreading to everyone present.
The Knights were no longer silent. They crowded around Peram, slapping his shoulders excitedly and bombarding him with questions about what it was like inside the cockpit.
William took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his tumultuous emotions. He turned and looked at Allen with grave solemnity.
"Lord Allen."
This time, there was no longer any bitterness or doubt in his voice, only awe and anticipation.
Allen’s azure eyes remained calm. He raised a hand, his tone as casual as if he were introducing a handy hoe.
"This one is called the Zaku, a mass-produced, general-purpose Mecha. Its role is to be the cornerstone of your defensive line. Any able-bodied Aiselan of sound mind can learn to pilot it with three months of training."
His gaze swept over the other four machines.
"The one next to it is the Unicorn, a high-mobility elite Mecha. It requires at least a Level 3 Spirit Mage to utilize its full potential."
"The one in the middle, Gale Red, is a heavy-duty combat Mecha. It requires two pilots with similar Spirit Core frequencies to operate in sync."
"The fourth, the Eureka Raider, is a balanced tactical Mecha, piloted by three people."
"As for the last one..."
Allen stood at the feet of the seventy-nine-meter-tall Gipsy Danger, gazing up at the steel mountain.
"Gipsy Danger, the ultimate ace. It requires dual pilots in full synchronization. The requirement for its pilots is ’Soul Compatibility’."
"You need partners whose Spirit Core frequencies are almost perfectly identical. You might not find one pair in a hundred thousand people. But once you do—"
Allen turned back, his gaze landing on William’s face.
"It can suppress the King of Heart-eaters head-on."
William gazed up at the five Steel Giants, his eyes filled with obsession. His heartbeat and breath seemed to resonate with their very silhouettes.
A complete combat system, from low to high, from soldier to ace.
’Allen... he thought of everything.’
Allen paid no mind to William’s shock. With a flick of his wrist, five Memory Crystal Stones shimmering with different lusters hovered in his palm.
"Inside these are the complete design blueprints for these five Mecha models, all related Alchemy Technology theories, production equipment schematics, material formulas, and a copy of the ’Basic Mecha Piloting Manual’."
He flicked his finger.
The five Memory Crystal Stones transformed into five streaks of light, landing steadily in William’s palm, warm and heavy.
"The technology, the prototypes—I’ve given them all to you."
Allen’s voice echoed clearly in the vast hangar, striking a chord in the heart of every Aiselan.
"Whether you can build them, how many you can build, how you train the pilots afterward, how you integrate your own Aiselan Spirit Art system into them, and forge a path that is uniquely your own..."
He paused, his azure eyes devoid of any emotional fluctuation, showing only absolute rationality and detachment.
"...is up to you."
William lowered his head, looking at the five Crystal Stones in his palm.
’They carry so much more than just technology.’
’They are the spark that will ignite the rise of a civilization.’
He fell silent.
「After a long moment.」
"Every single component for these things—" William’s voice was soft. "Can we build them ourselves?"
"You’ve worked on the project for three years. Your people completed nearly two thousand of the sub-tasks."
"The blueprints, manufacturing processes, material formulas, maintenance manuals—the complete set of technology is included. Once you learn it, it’s yours. Future improvements and upgrades will also be your own affair."
William said nothing.
He remembered that night three years ago, when he had made his request in the council hall.
’Give us a power that our people can truly hold in their own hands, a power that can be passed down through generations.’
He had thought his request was too greedy.
He had thought the lofty Wizard would treat it as a joke.
All of his assumptions had now materialized before him in the form of giant steel beasts.
William slowly drew back his hand.
Then, to everyone’s astonishment, he turned to Allen and slowly, solemnly—
—knelt on one knee.
He bowed his proud head, the head of a King, placed his right hand over his left breast, and performed the most ancient Knight’s salute of the Aiselan Kingdom.
"Aiselan... thanks you."
Behind him, the twelve most elite Knights of the kingdom knelt on one knee in unison, without a moment’s hesitation.
CLACK!
The sound of twelve sets of armor plates striking together was a single, crisp, and resolute sound that echoed throughout the hangar.
This time, it wasn’t out of fear of a Wizard’s might.
It was a reverence and gratitude, born from the depths of their souls, for a mentor to their civilization.
...
William and his Knights left. They didn’t take the five prototypes with them, knowing that until they could manufacture the first qualifying screw themselves, the prototypes were safest here.
But their steps were a hundred times steadier than when they had arrived.
Allen stood in the empty hangar, his gaze profound as he watched their departing figures.
William wanted power, and he had given it.
But Allen knew that this path had only just begun.
The upper limit of the Wizard system was the personal might of one individual, sustained by plundering an entire world.
But the upper limit of industrialized Alchemy Mechas depended on a civilization’s execution, creativity, and willpower.
When the day comes that the thirty million mortals of the Aiselan Kingdom, who could only be seen as resources in the past, can all become members of this Steel Legion...
Allen looked up, his gaze seeming to pierce through the thick dome of Cybertron, toward the bottomless depths of the Western Sea Region.
’When the Aiselan Kingdom can mass-produce ten thousand, or a hundred thousand of these Mechas, they will have a fighting chance even against that Dawn Star Level "living arsenal" at the bottom of the sea.’
’That will be the true beginning of your part in this high-stakes gamble.’