Shikoutazer was massive, a towering mechanical monstrosity armed with devastating weapons. However, its immense size also came with a glaring weakness—its enormous frame made it an easy target for any attack, nearly impossible to miss.
Wood unleashed a flurry of Flying Sword Slashes. The wind blades howled as they surged forward, growing in size as they traveled. These sharp, slicing winds were powerful enough to cleave through solid rock effortlessly.
But when the slashes struck Shikoutazer, Wood was astonished.
His attacks hit their mark as expected, yet the damage inflicted was far below his expectations.
As the creator of the technique, Wood carefully observed the interaction. The wind blades seemed to collide with an invisible barrier surrounding Shikoutazer before reaching its main body.
The result? The power of his attacks was diminished by roughly 70% before they even touched Shikoutazer. By the time they connected with its towering frame, the damage they caused amounted to nothing more than superficial scratches.
"Not only does it wield such devastating offensive power, but its defensive capabilities are at this level too…"
From his observations, Wood deduced that Shikoutazer either possessed an unknown energy shield or was constructed from a material capable of absorbing massive amounts of impact force.
Regardless of the explanation, Shikoutazer stood like an impenetrable fortress, combining unparalleled destructive capabilities with near-impenetrable defenses.
"Hyakki Yagyō Sword Style: Jorōgumo!"
"Hyakki Yagyō Sword Style: Ushi-Oni!"
"Hyakki Yagyō Sword Style: Yuki-Onna!"
Using Geppo and Soru to dart swiftly through the air, Wood wielded his sword, Winter Knight, with such speed and precision that it became a blur in his hands. He unleashed a series of advanced techniques from his Hyakki Yagyō Sword Style, combining slashes, strikes, and thrusts.
Yet, no matter how relentless his assault—whether it was multi-directional slashes, powerful cleaves, or piercing thrusts—the damage dealt to Shikoutazer was reduced by the same 70%, leaving only minor scratches on its immense frame.
Among his techniques, the Yuki-Onna slash, enhanced by the frost abilities of Winter Knight, was the most potent. It managed to momentarily freeze parts of Shikoutazer's exterior. However, as soon as the machine fired its laser weaponry, the immense heat generated melted the ice in an instant.
As the battle dragged on, Wood began to feel the increasing difficulty of evading Shikoutazer's laser attacks.
This wasn't due to a decline in Wood's physical state but because the young Emperor was becoming more proficient at controlling Shikoutazer.
The once-pristine Imperial Palace had already been reduced to rubble under the onslaught of Shikoutazer's lasers and Wood's sword techniques.
When Kurome, wielding Yatsufusa, arrived after converting General Budo into one of her undead puppets and assisting Mine in defeating the remaining Four Rakshasa Demons, they were stunned at the sight of the gargantuan Shikoutazer.
Stories of the Empire's legendary 48 Imperial Arms, including a rumored "Supreme Imperial Arm," had been whispered for years. But the sight of Shikoutazer far exceeded their imaginations.
Mine and Chelsea couldn't help but wonder: if the Empire had such a powerful weapon, why hadn't it used it earlier to crush the Revolutionary Army?
With its fortress-like scale and devastating weaponry, Shikoutazer could annihilate an entire army single-handedly.
"You all deal with Honest. Don't let that bastard escape. I'll handle this thing."
When Wood saw Kurome, Mine, and the others arrive, he knew they wouldn't be able to contribute much against Shikoutazer.
To put it bluntly, even though Kurome and Mine were Imperial Arms users, their weapons were leagues below Shikoutazer in terms of destructive power.
Even with Winter Knight, Wood's most potent frost-enhanced slash, Yuki-Onna, could only inflict minor damage. Mine, even if she poured her entire spirit energy into firing her strongest shot from Pumpkin, would barely scratch Shikoutazer. And as for Kurome's Yatsufusa, it was primarily a support-type weapon with no significant offensive capability against such a colossus.
By now, the capital had descended into utter chaos. The once-iconic palace had become the epicenter of destruction, its continuous explosions and lasers disrupting life in the Empire's heart.
In the past, even the fearsome "Night Raid" operated under the cover of darkness, never daring to attack high-profile targets in broad daylight. But this time, the chaos unfolded in the middle of the day, in the heavily guarded palace at the center of the Empire.
As curious citizens turned their eyes toward the palace, they were greeted by a terrifying sight: a crimson laser beam erupted from Shikoutazer, obliterating multiple streets and reducing an entire residential area to ashes in an instant.
Under the onslaught of that laser, anything caught in its path—buildings, vegetation, animals, and humans—was vaporized without even a chance to scream.
This scene of sheer annihilation plunged the entire capital into a state of panic.
Whether noble or commoner, everyone fled the city in terror. The overwhelming power of Shikoutazer, capable of erasing thousands of lives in an instant, left no one feeling safe.
The young Emperor, intoxicated by the power of Shikoutazer, had completely lost himself. Though he once idolized his wise father and dreamed of ruling the Empire justly, his youth and inexperience left him vulnerable. His rise to power had been orchestrated by Honest, who ensured his pliability as a puppet ruler.
In the young Emperor's eyes, Honest was the most trustworthy figure. Honest not only helped him ascend the throne but also disciplined those disobedient nobles who dared to challenge his authority.
As a child, the young Emperor always yearned to rely on his own strength rather than depend on Honest. However, his capabilities were simply too weak to achieve anything noteworthy.
But now, things were different. Shikoutazer: The Supreme Throne was an Imperial Arm that only the royal bloodline of the founding Emperor could wield.
At this moment, he controlled this unparalleled weapon, using its might to punish the rebels who dared to disrespect the Empire.
For the first time, the young Emperor felt the intoxicating sensation of wielding overwhelming power. Only he could command such might, which began to alter his mindset.
All he could think about now was eliminating Wood, the rebel. Achieving this victory would finally give him a noteworthy accomplishment to his name.
A crimson laser shot toward Wood again. While Wood initially dodged, he spotted a fleeing mother and daughter in the laser's path. Gritting his teeth, he turned back.
"Boom—!"
Even with the reinforcement of Armament Haki, Wood, who intercepted the small-scale laser with his longsword, was flung back by the immense force. He crashed through several buildings before being buried in a pile of rubble.
"Damn it! If I recklessly use the Heart of God, who knows if my remaining life force will be enough to finish this fight.
But if I continue fighting like this, defeating this supreme Imperial Arm seems nearly impossible. And if this drags on…"
Faced with the enormous and heavily fortified Shikoutazer, Wood found himself short on options.
His initial strategy was to turn the battle into a war of attrition, knowing Kurome and the others were already handling Honest.
Given Shikoutazer's colossal size and seemingly perfect offensive and defensive mechanisms, it had to consume an enormous amount of energy.
Though the Emperor controlled it, he was just a child and couldn't provide Shikoutazer with the energy it needed. This meant the weapon had its own power system.
Wood believed that such immense power must come with immense energy consumption. He was convinced Shikoutazer couldn't maintain its current level of high-intensity combat indefinitely without exhausting its power source.
However, reality rarely aligns with expectations.
The young Emperor, now drunk on power, had begun indiscriminately launching attacks to eliminate Wood, even at the cost of widespread destruction.
The Imperial Capital, as the most prosperous city in the Empire, was home to countless citizens. Under Shikoutazer's onslaught, many innocents were inevitably caught in the crossfire.
Wood didn't consider himself a good person, but he couldn't stand by and let innocents die because of him.
"If the Heart of God won't work, then there's only one other way to increase my strength."
A deafening roar erupted from the rubble, echoing across the Empire. It was followed by a powerful gust of wind that shot skyward, scattering debris in all directions.
An icy chill swept through the air, and a thick layer of frost began to spread rapidly across the ground, encasing everything in sight.
The temperature plummeted at an alarming rate. Despite it being the height of summer, dark clouds gathered in the sky, and snow began to fall eerily.
Seeing Wood rise from the rubble, unscathed and now causing such a dramatic display, the young Emperor was incensed. He immediately directed Shikoutazer to unleash an enhanced version of its laser from its mouth.
A massive crimson beam tore through the sky, carving a scorched trench through the streets and hurtling toward Wood at incredible speed.
This time, however, Wood didn't attempt to evade. Before the crimson beam could reach him, it was intercepted by a colossal ice dragon that appeared from behind him.
Previously, when Wood wielded the Winter Knight, the phantom of the ice dragon Skasa would appear, but only partially.
This time, however, the blue ice dragon roared as it completely broke free from its chains, revealing a body as massive as Shikoutazer's, with a terrifyingly menacing appearance.
Shikoutazer's powerful laser was halted before it could touch Wood, blocked by the ice dragon's enormous wings. With a single powerful sweep, the crimson beam shattered into fragments, scattering like stardust across the sky.
The giant dragon, which had emerged behind Wood and shielded him, was not a real living creature but a manifestation of his aura combined with the power of the Winter Knight.
As mentioned before, Wood's Imperial Arm, the Winter Knight, was a new-generation weapon modeled after Tatsumi's Incursio and Wave's Grand Chariot.
As a cutting-edge armor-type Imperial Arm, the Winter Knight combined the best features of both its predecessors. It boasted the superior functionality of Grand Chariot while retaining the special abilities and evolutionary potential of Incursio.
What Wood now unleashed was the secret technique of the Winter Knight—Dragon Transformation!
Like Incursio, which was made from the super-dangerous beast Tyrant, the Winter Knight used the dragon-type super-dangerous beast Skasa as its material.
Both Incursio and the Winter Knight paid a heavy price for using their secret techniques: their users' bodies would be eroded by the essence of the dragon-type dangerous beast.
The stronger the power obtained, the greater the price paid. For armor-type Imperial Arms like Incursio and the Winter Knight, the cost of using their secret techniques was having their bodies corrupted by dragon-like traits, turning them into inhuman monsters or, in extreme cases, leading to death.
However, upon paying this price, the armor-type Imperial Arms underwent evolution.
This evolution was filled with infinite possibilities, granting their users power rivaling anything imaginable in a short period.
While the Heart of God consumed life force, the secret technique of the Winter Knight only required enduring bodily corruption. Faced with the two choices, Wood chose the latter without hesitation.
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