Zenith

A wall formed by hundreds of Great Spike craft blocking the sky. The charge of Azure's aerial formation. A breakthrough: a Needlefish-class two-man craft bearing the livery of a red moth on its flank suddenly surged out from the plane... Then, it lunged straight toward Daie standing high in the sky. Amidst the cheers and shock, only the members of the aerial formation present and those with a deep understanding of source energy aerial combat knew what a magnificent performance in human air combat history Little Red's final solo breakthrough had been. Those were two seconds that even Grant and the others attacking alongside him had judged utterly impossible to survive. In two seconds, the ultimate micro-maneuvering. The ultimate gamble. Every movement in every instant and every inch was the most decisive, precise choice, backed by peerless courage, determination, and confidence. This was humanity's air combat ace. In truth, Yang Qingbai's joking nickname among Azure's aerial forces and researchers was "Weakest Ace." Of course, the two terms were separate: "weakest" referred to his physical constitution, while "ace" referred to his status in humanity's aerial warfare arsenal. Naturally, there were also pilots and researchers from Country J in Azure who had watched too much hot-blooded anime. Because Huaxia historically took the dragon as its symbol, they had rather theatrically called him the "Dragon's Wings"... though now it was probably more apt to call him fluttering moth wings. Yang Qingbai had already delivered a magnificent performance pulling an aerial train once before. Now, Little Red boasted greater performance and mobility, and he himself had grown stronger. The only thing that had not seen much progress was likely his physical constitution. Not even the special flight suit Azure had crafted specifically for him could fully overcome that. Though Yang Qingbai always said that it was precisely the fragility of his body and life that granted him keen instincts and vigilance in life-or-death situations, at this very moment... Blood was seeping directly out through his skin. At the same time, over a hundred Great Spike craft pursuing close behind were closing in, pulling their wedge-shaped formation tight as they drew near. At that moment, the eyes of the crowd were almost entirely fixed on the craft. Diagonally above. "FEAR... ME!" Daie spoke once again. Its hoarse roar reverberated across the sky amidst surging waves of source energy... The blue-light column sword swinging in its hand was about to leave its grip, ready to shoot straight toward the human aircraft. Daie did not sense the aura of that super human, so it did not flee. Meanwhile, seeing that only a single craft had broken through to Daie, many on the ground believed it must be Huaxia's Legion Commander taking the field. Although, in that case, the red emblazoned on the hull of the craft high above was hard to explain. Chen Buer sat in the cabin of the Deathblow as it pulled away from the dense wall of Great Spike craft... Watching the scene silently as the distance grew, the old man took it all in. Only he had spotted the figure that had just ejected from the cockpit before anyone else. Had Chen Buer made this desperate charge himself, he could have slashed straight through the blocking line, cleaving a path forward. Yet that figure was now less than five hundred meters from Daie. The commotion on the ground was drowned out by Daie's roar. People stared blankly at the sky. Until... "Are you talking to me?" A calm, ordinary voice rippled out through the surging source energy. Han Qingyu drew Daie's attention first. The moment the iron armor ejected from the cabin, it did not soar high into the air as designed. Han Qingyu's control over his own body was among the finest in humanity. The moment he left the cockpit, he halted his ascent and descended, landing squarely atop Little Red. Then, he stepped downward. It was a soft, yielding force pressed against the hull, yet backed by a deep, surging tide of source energy... *Whoosh!* Under the external force, the Needlefish-class two-man craft abruptly dipped its nose and dove, plunging through the gap below just as the swarm of Great Spike craft was about to close ranks. Then, with a furious howl, it shot downward. ...Down into the low altitudes, drifting like a paper airplane. Drifting and swaying. On the ground, nearly ten thousand Azure warriors—including Wolf and Pegmont—charged toward the sea at once to receive it. At the same time, an off-road jeep sped into view along the shoreline, plunging straight toward the water. In Yang Qingbai's current condition, perhaps only Zhe Qiuhong could save him... and she still held the reserves of life source energy blocks Han Qingyu had channeled into her. "Live, Qingbai," Han Qingyu said, looking upward. *Clang—hum, ong, ong-ong-ong...* High above, dead iron rang out sharp and long. A set of iron armor was ascending, drawing its blade as it rose. Everyone, whether standing on the ground or watching before television screens, finally noticed it. After a moment of bewilderment, thunderous cheers erupted. A human, ascending to the zenith, to slay Daie. *Boom!* The iron armor unleashed its power midair, detonating across the entire sky. In a single instant, Han Qingyu's device source energy pushed to its limit, his liquid source energy pushed to its limit, his life source energy pushed to its limit, his bone source pushed to its limit... For the first time, the Super Four Turbines operated in unison at their peak. Then, *bang!* The ultimate trait energy ignited by General Ivan's dying embers—forcibly suppressed by Han Qingyu for nearly a month—began to release... First came a cluster of red molten lava, igniting over his heart. Red firelight beamed out from the chest of the iron armor. Then, flowing like water, the lava spread outward. Firelight seeped out from the armor across his chest, arms, and back, shifting from deep red to a fiery blend laced with bright yellow. It was a full suit of armor leaning toward a Western knight's plate. Now, across at least sixty percent of that cold black armor, irregular veins of volcanic fire seeped out, burning brighter and hotter with every second. "...That bastard!" Pegmont threw his head back, staring blankly. "And here I thought you were crippled." Wolf stood not far from him, head tilted back with an expressionless face, his large, striking black-and-white eyes blinking slowly just once. In Squad 1777, Zhao Erzhu: "..." "It caught fire... What, what is that thing?" in Fenglong'ao, at the Han home, the village chief murmured before the television. "A robot, from our side, going to kill Dai'er," a villager said. In the villagers' simple conception, if a suit of iron armor was engulfed in flames like that and still moving, there couldn't possibly be a person inside. "A fire robot," Zhang Jiexia said, feeling their description was not quite accurate. She instinctively added, earnest and heartfelt, "Keep going! Kill it!" "General?! General Ivan? Legion Commander?!" Even as the entire world was united in shock and anticipation, there was still a unique group at that moment—on the ground battlefield and before television sets in the distant north. Nearly every soldier and officer of the Azure Xiongzhanli Front stood rooted to the spot, tears welling silently in their eyes. Even though so many clues earlier had told them that the person in the sky must be either the Huaxia Front's Legion Commander or Major The Qing of Stream Vanguard... When that fiery mantle of molten lava reappeared, flowing once more across the heavens... the people of Xiongzhanli still instinctively believed that it was their former legion commander, the greatest hero in their nation's history: General Ivan. A month ago, mortally wounded, the general had departed Palace Square... He hadn't died. He wasn't dead! "Ura!" Thousands raised their arms, roaring in unison as their shouts surged like thunder. "General Ivan." High above in the sky, Han Qingyu looked down at his burning chest and said in a low voice, "To fight alongside you today is my greatest honor."