Draconic King of Shadows-Chapter 97: Mecha Angel

Lyra ducked under a claw swipe, barely keeping her head intact as the curved, sharp claws whistled over it.

Her face drained of all colors, but there was a chilling focus and confidence in her eyes that belied her fear.

She took a step back, raising her blasters in one fluid motion and shooting twin beams of energy.

Her partner, Zain, held onto the Wolf tightly, activating his Ability to slow the Extraterrestrial down.

The energy beams came out quickly, homing on the target and crashing into the chest of the towering Wolf, charring its fur and scorching its skin.

Lyra breathed out deeply, lowering her arms and staring ahead as the burnt flesh and fur slowly regenerated.

She almost wanted to cry. All her attacks had been mostly useless since the start of the battle. She wanted nothing more than to be back in her lab, doing her research in silence, but she somehow ended up here, with a barely useful partner.

Though it was partly her choice to be here, she didn’t come willingly. She was only trying to make her parents proud and do what they wanted.

If she had her way, she would be kilometers away from any battlefield of sorts, creating and prototyping Magitech equipments.

Lyra stared ahead, locking eyes with the Extraterrestrial. This particular Wolf was stronger than most.

Lyra noted that it only became stronger after the Yellow Sun in the sky began to rise. She didn’t immediately deduce this, but it was after she realized that the Yellow Sun wasn’t the actual Sun, she understood that it was related to the Wolf’s surge in strength.

She hadn’t seen an Extraterrestrial display such a strong regenerative healing factor before, so it only made sense that the Yellow Sun was the cause.

With the short moment she had to catch her breath, while her partner engaged, Lyra quickly accessed her AI’s holographic interface and changed some settings.

Immediately, her armor broke down into millions of nanoparticles before reconfiguring on her body, turning into a more fitted and flexible Armor fit for nimble and agile movements.

---

[Armor Configuration– Nanoweave‑Sprint Mode Activated]

[Reinitializing Battle Mode]

[Instant Kill Mode Has Been Engaged]

[Weapon(Dual Photon Blades)– Online]

[Target Acquired– Extraterrestrial Wolf]

[Threat Assessment– Critical]

-[Regeneration Factor x5 under Yellow Sun]

[Energy Level– Low]

[Distance To Target– 6.8m]

[Caution: Extraction of latent, unaccessed body potential in progress]

[Simulating Quickest Path To Neutralize Target]

-[1%... 51%... 100%]

-[Simulation Complete]

[Estimated Time To Neutralize Target– 10 Seconds]

---

Lyra’s visors glowed a menacing red, and her body entered a Martial Arts stance smoothly, her dual weapons held like a true master.

The sleek silver armor hugged her curves gingerly, yet firmly, gripping her soft body parts to prevent them from moving unnecessarily.

Though skintight, her Nanoweave-Sprint Armor didn’t impede her movement or flexibility in any way. If anyone thought she would have a hard time making quick and sharp turns, or bending her body to her whims, they were in for a rude awakening.

There was nothing eye-catching about the Nanoweave-Sprint mode of her armor. It was just a speed based mode of her armor that gripped every inch and crevice of her body, with a featureless head having just two red dots for eyes.

If she stood still without breathing, she could be mistaken for a metallic mannequin fixed with glowing red eyes for show.

Lyra’s presence shifted, turning more deadly and sharp.

She might be an adopted child of the Winters family, but by no means was she weak. Lyra only chose research and Magitech over battle, because she wanted nothing more to do with blood, but who was she to decide her fate, when her life could be ended in one move by a powerful being, if she was weak?

Lyra’s Armor was one of her greatest creations, and soon the world would come to know of Lyra Winters, the Mecha Angel!

A path of numbers, information and calculations opened up in Lyra’s vision, and using her Ability —Cognikinesis— in tandem with her Armor’s agility enhancements, her body hit its top speed near instantly, shifting forward faster than she had ever done.

This move caught the Wolf off guard as it had only just finished dealing with Zain, but Lyra wasn’t in the right state of mind to care. All her mind was on at the moment was delivering a quick death to her target.

Data and information about Martial Arts, both ancestral and modern, streamed into her mind from her AI, and her aura climbed up another level.

She changed her grip on her short photon blades, holding one in reverse.

Her steps didn’t slow, but her movements became sloppier all of a sudden, and the Wolf’s claw swipe missed her face by an inch.

Lyra accelerated.

A swift slash to the Wolf’s shoulder put a leg out of commission as Lyra flash stepped to its blind spot. The Wolf’s tail slapped in her direction, but it had seemingly miscalculated, resulting in its tail whipping at nothing but air.

7 seconds.

Lyra’s grip changed again, and a double downward slash cut at the Wolf’s side, wounding it and drawing blood.

A step to the side and another slash caused a string of mishaps for the Wolf, and it ended up staggering, aggravating its wounds in the process.

3 seconds.

Lyra flipped backwards, landing in a crouched position and smashing her photon blades together.

The photon blades blinked out, before the handles deconstructed and fused into one seamlessly. The photon blades flared back to life —just as suddenly as they had turned off— coming out brighter, longer, and stronger.

---

[Unaccessed body potential temporarily extracted]

[Duration– 2 seconds]

---

A bluish glow spread from the soles of Lyra’s feet upwards, pushing her physical capabilities higher than she could handle.

The glow reached her red visors in no time, turning it a bright blue, and her photon blades suddenly burned intensely, the bluish glow turning an incandescent white.

Lyra had watched Damion and Kenzo spar two days before the Training Program. She had witnessed Kenzo perform a move known as Phantom Slash.

Although she didn’t know the mechanics behind it completely, she knew more about science than anyone, meaning that she was able to...

Lyra kicked off the ground, her speed blurring as she brandished her photon blade in one sharp, fluid motion; her actions smooth and flawless, carrying a palpable murderous intent to it as she swung her weapon in a wide arc.

Cognikinesis was activated at the same time, and with her understanding of photon particles and energy in general, she pushed out the energy, letting it leave the blade and cut through the air towards the immobilized Wolf.

The attack seemed to teleport, reaching the Wolf quicker than the human eyes could follow.

There was no resistance as the crescent white slash cut through the Wolf diagonally, splitting it cleanly and separating the body parts in an instant.

0 second.

[Body Potential Sealed]

The Wolf parted into two dramatically, its insides failing to spill out in time due to the burns of the internal organs.

Lyra’s legs quivered, forcing her to collapse to her knees, a part of her helmet opening up to allow fresh air in.

She appeared to gulp in the air greedily, taking in deep breaths like a fish taking water after being thrust back into it prior to being caught.

Her muscles spasmed and twitched uncontrollably. Lyra didn’t know the last time she used her ultimate Ability to go all out. It had been long, though not long enough for her to forget its backlashes.

She struggled, pulling out a familiar short and robust bottle from seemingly nowhere, and chugging its contents.

Her muscles relaxed, being tended to and massaged by the liquid into a resting state.

Lyra sighed deeply, her face becoming focused on the body in the distance. Her partner, a male student from the other base, was laying in a pool of his own blood, trying his best to survive.

Lyra contemplated, wondering if she should spare one more of her healing serum to save his life.

She had been told by her adoptive parents to only use the serum at the brink of death. Lyra didn’t know why, but she only listened.

She sighed one more time, before struggling to her feet and walking over to the body.

Zain was in no condition to move. There was a large cut in his torso, caused from the Wolf slicing with its claws.

With his ability to slow down anything he held onto though, Zain’s life force was diminishing slower than usual.

Lyra came to a conclusion and pulled out another short bottle from nowhere again, and she poured its contents over the wound. However, there was no reaction, only Zain’s groans reached her ears.

Lyra scrunched her brows, staring at the bottle in her hand.

"Why didn’t it work?" She asked herself, dreading if she had accidentally taken the wrong thing.

"...That can’t be," Lyra said again. "Only the bottles filled with this serum can shrink down and be fitted in there."

"Help, me... Pleaase," Zain muttered slowly and almost inaudibly, his fingers twitching.

Lyra stared at him, her eyes wavering.

There was nothing she could do to help him...