Chapter 127: Super Granzort
To be honest, Caelus had long anticipated that the Tarakudo Mask and the Tchang Zu mecha would end up with Cocolia. After all, the reason these two items were able to escape the system's containment was because the malevolent consciousness within them was highly compatible with the Stellaron's instinct to destroy all things.
Under normal circumstances, even with the Tarakudo Mask and the Tchang Zu mecha, the trailblazing team could have likely handled Cocolia. Seele's power to balance Quantum and Imaginary energies, Sis Himeko's orbital cannon support, and the single-use items in the system shop—all of these were aces up Caelus's sleeve. The temporary boost from spending his crystals would be enough to raise his and Stelle's overall strength significantly. Taking down Cocolia and the Tchang Zu mecha wouldn't have been a big problem.
The problem was that the system had previously informed him that the shop might be rotating its stock soon, which was basically its way of saying the stall was being sublet to another system. Caelus hadn't asked what the next system's primary business would be. For a Fool, the unknown mystery was the real surprise! As long as the system confirmed that the new items after the rotation would be no less effective in the current situation than the powers from the One Piece world, Caelus was at ease.
If possible, it was best to resolve the situation without spending any crystals. Because Caelus's crystal count had reached 1498, just a little over 100 shy of another ten-pull.
The situation in the final battle had somewhat exceeded Caelus's expectations. He never thought Tchang Zu could merge with the Engine of Creation. The Engine of Creation was a planetary terraforming machine built by the Architects. While terrifying as a weapon, it was ultimately a seven-hundred-year-old model. A single shot from the orbital cannon was enough to knock it down for a long while. But empowered by the dark forces, the Engine of Slaughter was no longer a conventional technological mecha, but a magical one with special properties. What's more, it had a "pilot" on its head—Cocolia in her Mother of Deception form, whose strength was no less than that of the Engine of Slaughter itself.
Just as Caelus was about to buy a Devil Fruit and the three types of Haki to power up, the system shop completed its rotation. When he saw the new items in stock, Caelus was instantly energized! Faced with Devil Fruits and Haki, Caelus would have agonized over the cost-effectiveness. But faced with the new items in the shop now, he felt no hesitation at all.
"This is a man's romance!"
Standing on the snowy plains, the wild wind whipped Caelus's gray bangs into a frenzy. The Engine of Slaughter was like a Titan from Greek mythology, with its head in the heavens and its feet on the earth. Its shadow alone was enough to completely cover them, and the dense aura of darkness seemed to tell them—there is no escape!
But Caelus had never intended to run.
"Help me, Big Sis Himeko!" Caelus shouted again.
The satellite orbital cannon near the Astral Express began to accumulate a terrifying amount of energy. A crimson energy beam, like a magnificent pillar of fire, shot out from the cannon's muzzle, crossing a distance of several hundred kilometers in an instant. The thick dark clouds prevented the orbital cannon from aiming precisely, but with Caelus providing position updates, Himeko could manually adjust and correct the firing coordinates. However, given the extremely poor signal, it was impossible to use this method for continuous attacks.
"Do you think that kind of attack will still work on the current Engine of Slaughter?"
Even before Caelus had spoken, Cocolia had already sensed the intense energy fluctuations from above. At Cocolia's words, the ruby on the forehead of the Engine of Slaughter's triceratops chest plate began to glow with a crimson light, becoming brighter as it gathered the surrounding energy.
BZZT!
In the next second, a beam imbued with dark energy shot out from the ruby. The torrent of energy collided with the orbital cannon's beam, entering a stalemate.
This was not the full power of the orbital cannon. After all, the coordinates were manually calibrated, and the trailblazing team was still on the battlefield. If the firepower were at maximum, and the shot went wide, a beam of that magnitude hitting the ground would not only endanger their own people but also cause considerable damage to the planet's surface.
"Didn't it work?" Caelus had never expected this shot to seriously damage the Engine of Slaughter. His goal from the beginning was just to temporarily halt the big guy's advance, and then...
"Watch closely, Dan Heng, March!"
Loading the yellow-bottomed, red-bordered disk inscribed with a red hexagram magic circle into the silver gun and pulling back the slide, Caelus held the gun with both hands and pulled the trigger. "Luminous Gun, fire!"
The bullet, trailing a ribbon of light, tore through the air and shot high into the sky, then exploded like a firework reaching its apex!
"My heart~ is that of the Luminous Messenger, changing with magic~" Little Seele hummed the BGM.
"Domakisa-lamu!" Caelus chanted the summoning spell. "Shine, you, Luminous Messenger!"
A pure light illuminated the dark sky, scattering into a dozen white beams that drew a hexagram magic circle on the ground. The moment the magic circle formed, the earth trembled! A light containing the aura of the sun and the power of the earth shot up into the sky. The pillar of light, piercing the heavens, blasted open the thick, dark cloud layer.
"What is that!?" March 7th's eyes widened, a look of utter disbelief on her face.
"What?" Dan Heng's bewildered expression gradually shifted to a rare look of astonishment.
Within the magic circle, wreathed in light, the giant head-crest of a mecha slowly emerged. The mecha was as brilliant as the sun, its majesty overwhelming, as if a sun god from mythology had descended upon this place.
"...Huh?"
Seated on her ice throne atop the mecha's head, controlling the Engine of Slaughter to block the orbital cannon, Cocolia's pupils under her red mask revealed confusion and a hint of vigilance. She sensed a power that was the complete opposite of darkness.
"Is this Super Granzort? So cool!" Stelle's eyes lit up instantly.
To the dumbfounded expressions of Dan Heng and March 7th, the blue cross on the mecha's forehead bloomed with a strange light.
"I'm coming!"
Pulling out his yo-yo and dropping it, Caelus stepped on it as if it were a skateboard and shot towards the mecha.
"Wait for me, Caelus!"
Stelle pushed off the ground and leaped up, straddling Caelus's shoulders as he rode his yo-yo like a wind-and-fire wheel. Her long, pale, slender legs wrapped around his neck. His face darkened, but considering the ongoing summoning process, Caelus resisted the urge to throw her off.
Illuminated by that strange light, Caelus and Stelle's bodies began to glow white. Their iconic Trailblazer coats transformed into battle armor in the light. A sun-like crest similar to the mecha's appeared on their foreheads, and a red cape that looked like roaring flames appeared on their backs. They were pulled in by Granzort, and then...
"They... they flew inside!?"
Her lips slightly parted in surprise, March 7th rubbed her eyes, still finding it hard to believe. Her eyesight was good, and she could clearly see that the blue part of the mecha was solid matter, yet for those two, it was like passing through a curtain of light.
"Whoa! So this is the inside of a mecha?" Stelle was completely thrilled, looking around at the strange space that resembled the universe.
"Don't... move!"
In her excitement, she squeezed her fair, smooth legs. Fortunately, the battle armor didn't cover Stelle's entire body. The soft flesh of her face was still warm and tender, but the pressure made Caelus, who was quite uncomfortable, lean back.
"Oops, sorry!"
Stelle leaned back and fell, but she didn't plummet downwards in freefall. Caelus caught her small hand. The two of them landed steadily on a hexagram magic circle composed of the colors of earth and fire. Since Caelus and Stelle were essentially "one person," they could enter the mecha's cockpit together to control it, which would increase the Madou King's power.
"This battle armor feels pretty good." Caelus took a moment to observe the magic battle armor on himself and Stelle. It was much cooler than the one he remembered Daichi wearing in his childhood, not just some earth-toned design. The main body of the armor was white, with flame patterns winding around the gold-colored gauntlets and shoulder pads.
Stelle's battle armor had the same color scheme. A white skirt-armor covered her full figure, and her ample chest was adorned with a golden breastplate. Caelus cheekily lifted Stelle's white battle stocking to peek inside. Hmm, even her underwear had changed. That was a nice detail!
Ignoring Caelus's actions, Stelle could clearly feel control over the mecha. She grinned a smile full of POWER.
"Granzort—"
Stelle raised her right arm as if to grasp the sun, then swept it in front of her. Crossing her arms at her waist, she struck a very cool pose. "Super Henshin!"
"It's moving!"
Stelle's voice echoed clearly outside. The other Seele and Bronya watched the entire process, equally stunned, finding it all utterly incredible.
Before their eyes, the imposing mecha head-crest, in a magical and futuristic transformation sequence, changed from its crest form into a handsome, forty-meter-tall mecha.
The beam struggle between the Engine of Slaughter and the orbital cannon ended at almost the same time. The giant mecha stumbled back two steps from the impact. After steadying itself, Cocolia immediately attacked. Countless ice lances materialized around her, their tips terrifyingly sharp.
SWOOSH!!
The ice lances rained down on them like a dust storm.
"Fall back, quickly!" Dan Heng shouted, noticing the extremely large area of the attack.
However, before the other Seele and Bronya could turn and run more than a few steps, they felt a wave of heat and light.
"Super Power—Lion Light Dragon Fist!"
The Stellaron girl's excited voice rang out across the icy landscape. The white and red mecha's hands ignited with blazing flames. The torrent of fire from its swinging palms spread out like a tidal wave, blanketing the sky and melting the storm of ice lances completely.
"...Lion Light Dragon Fist, really?" Caelus had a strange expression on his face. He poked Stelle in the chest with his finger. "You're mixing up your shows." Granzort (Madou King) and Mashin Hero Wataru were made by the same company.
Stelle scratched her head, confused. "Aren't they the same?" The move name had just appeared in her "subconscious." "Oh, whatever! Let's just go!" Stelle's hands, wreathed in flames, struck a cool pose.
Super Granzort, also known as the Super Madou King of the Earth, commands the powers of earth and fire.
Staring at the cool mecha, which looked like a demon god descending, everyone on the team except for Seele looked as if they had seen a ghost.
"Cocolia, what's wrong? Is that all you've got?" Feeling the immense power of the mecha, Stelle was getting a little cocky.
"Hmph, it's just one mecha!" With a scoff, Cocolia waved her hand, and two lances of extreme cold fell from the sky. "Crush it! Engine of Slaughter!"
The hundred-meter-class giant mecha raised its hands and caught the two lances of extreme cold, wielding them as weapons.
"Rise!" Inside the cockpit, Caelus formed a magic seal with his hands. "Kibukai-Purisu!"
A crimson-gold energy orb condensed between his hands, golden arcs of electricity dancing between his palms and the orb. Then, Caelus raised the energy orb high and thrust his hands downwards. "Come forth, Super Kaiser Blade!"
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