Steam Tyrant, Hunting Gods

Gazing at the magnificent sea of ​​clouds, stained with blue blood and resembling splashes of oil paint, the words "extraordinary" took on a concrete form before Luo Ya's eyes for the first time.

A triangular hyacinth whale, over fifty meters long and with a mouth diameter exceeding ten meters, was cleaved in two by a single sword strike...

The power of the extraordinary far exceeded Roja's imagination.

So much so that he instantly lost the will to escape.

The sword energy that tore through the sea of ​​clouds, combined with the unique wind-controlling structure of the steam-powered flying armor, and the scene of telekinesis in the distillery tavern, made Roya almost certain—

The silver-haired woman beside him was an extraordinary being who controlled the wind or the atmosphere.

The instant his fingertips touched the leather of the wine bag, his consciousness, through the mechanical connection, instantly covered the entire wine bag.

This time, the Blood Spirit Essence of extraordinary talent was not tested.

It's just regular rum, not even worthy of being called craft beer.

Roya took the brown leather wine bag, but did not drink it immediately; his expression was deliberately arrogant.

"Even without your help, I could have escaped on my own."

Rather than feigning composure, it's more like he's given up entirely, like a dead pig that's not afraid of boiling water. As long as the other party needs his mechanical abilities, he has room to bargain.

"The sky is right here, where can you run to?"

Wendell's tone was calm and even. His pupils, which had been surging with intense golden light like a furnace, gradually dimmed, settling into a calm golden hue like autumn wheat fields.

She wasn't wrong. The surface was overrun by gray fog and ferocious beasts. The sky islands were just isolated islands barely surviving. Larger sky islands even had conscription offices stationed there. Except for the sky...

Roya, there is nowhere to escape.

Wendell, meanwhile, was already quietly waiting for him in the sky above the churning sea of ​​clouds and the gliding airships.

Roya could only accept his predetermined fate.

"Your abilities are sufficient to rule the skies and hunt all spirits, so why wait for me?"

Wendell glanced at Roya and suddenly realized he might have scared him.

She swept her silver hair upwards, revealing a smooth, moon-like forehead and a neat hairline, with a faint dark red burn mark visible on her forehead.

"You're too weak, you see everyone as a god. The truth is quite the opposite, my supernatural abilities are very weak, and this is my first time being a hunter, which is why I need your mechanical talent."

Luo Ya then realized that he had been being watched all along.

"So, you brought the brindle whale here?"

His silver, sword-like eyebrows furrowed slightly, resembling frost-covered mountain ridges.

Wendell doesn't remember having the ability to control beasts.

Her original plan was to rescue Roya from the black sail of the conscription office, but unexpectedly Roya shook off the black sail and escaped.

Having finally caught a baleen whale, they quickly made their move to prevent Roya from escaping its jaws again.

As a result, her sword was two seconds too slow... and failed to save the person in time.

She regretted not being able to save Roya's life, but was also excited about underestimating him.

"You are more patient and decisive than you appear. In order to avoid killing me in the future, I should give you the power of choice."

Luo Ya was startled, thinking that the other party was testing him.

"Do I even have a choice?"

"No, but I can grant you one request."

"Any conditions are acceptable?"

"If it is within my power, I will do my utmost."

Luo Ya quickly realized that he should first propose a condition that the other party would never agree to. After the other party refused, they would feel guilty. Then he could propose the condition he really wanted, and the other party would most likely agree.

"Marry me...can you do that?"

With a sincere look in his eyes, Roya, who had just made the startling remark, added:

"Considering the extremely high mortality rate of airship hunters, I don't want to end my lonely and pathetic life as a virgin with regret."

Wendell stared at Roya, his golden pupils frozen, his silver brows furrowed, and after a long moment of distraction, he finally managed to utter three words with difficulty—

"Change to another one."

The hesitation lasted so long that Roja almost thought Wendell was about to agree to this absurd marriage.

That's it.

If he had to be a dog, he would rather be a dog for his female boss who pays him a regular salary than a dog for his lover.

One can endure humiliation for money, but one should not belittle oneself for love.

So he immediately proposed another condition:

"In that case, can you guarantee that no matter what happens, you'll save me immediately and ensure my safety?"

Wendell had already witnessed Roya's ability to escape and did not think Roya needed her protection.

"If you can stay on an island as a mechanic and ensure your safety, you won't run away."

If we are truly in danger, I will do my best to save you, but I cannot guarantee that everything will be alright...

Let's talk about something else.

Luo Ya thought about it again and realized that it made sense.

If Wendell hadn't tipped him off beforehand, he probably wouldn't have escaped the conscription office's ground encirclement today.

After being rejected twice in a row, Luo Ya finally revealed his true colors, feigning slight annoyance and saying with a nonchalant look:

"You keep saying you'll grant me a request, but then you won't do this or that. How can you manage a team like that?"

A man's word is his bond... So, let me be the captain then!

Wendell took a sip of rum, his gaze indifferent, his posture languid and composed, seemingly unconcerned.

"As long as you share the same goal as me, you are the captain."

This...you just agreed?

Roya keenly sensed that Wendell must have a goal he was willing to achieve at all costs, so much so that he didn't care about the process of achieving it.

"Your goal... is really to go to the Eastern Dragon Kingdom?"

Wendell nodded calmly.

"That's right. But before that, we need to form a hunter team, join the Hunter Association, and head east to catch up with the Hunter Association's airship mothership, the Jingzhe."

Roya had heard of the Hunter Association, the organization that stood at the pinnacle of hunters, but he didn't know that there was also an airship mothership specifically for searching for dragons.

In an instant, he was filled with an indescribable anticipation for that mysterious and distant Eastern Dragon Kingdom.

"The goal and route are fine, but the title 'team leader' means you must always follow my orders... Can you do that?"

Wendell thought about it carefully and nodded with absolute certainty:

"Of course, you're from the East, so you must also want to go home."

Luo Ya suddenly turned his head and stared at the profile of the woman with stunning features, a temperament that blended aloofness and languor, and occasional scars.

I could vaguely sense a defiled sacred aura.

He never expected that a powerful expert who could cleave a triangular rainbow whale in two with a single sword strike would be so easy to talk to.

With things having come to this point, Roya had no way out. He tilted his head back, took a sip of rum, and returned the rum bag.

"It's a pleasure working with you!"

He reached out and grasped Wendell's armored right hand tightly, attempting to forcibly reverse the unequal relationship between prisoner and captor into a fair cooperation.

The moment his palm touched the cold iron armor, Roya's consciousness spread like an electric current, covering the intricate internal mechanisms of the armor.

His pupils suddenly contracted!

His eyes flickered.

This armor was actually fused with Wendell's injured right hand, a shackle used to suppress his extraordinary power.

In other words, the true power Wendell was hiding was far more terrifying than he had witnessed firsthand.

Such a powerful individual easily relinquished command of the team...

It must be a test for him!

Roya's expression suddenly became solemn and dignified, and his tone became extremely sincere:

"I, Luo, have wandered for half my life, only regretting that I have not met a wise ruler. Since we cannot be husband and wife, if you do not mind, I am willing to become your godmother!"

"ha?"

Wendell tilted his head.

Her usual aloofness seemed to have been extinguished by Luo Ya's shocking words.

I couldn't calm down for a long time.

She can't stop talking about women...

Wendell suddenly realized that this yearning for intimacy might be a post-traumatic stress response to being betrayed by a woman.

Awakened by her maternal instincts, she couldn't help but feel comforted:

Forget that woman. When you have the sky, your pain will turn into a gentle breeze.

Which woman?

At that moment, Roya only had Wendell in his eyes.

It took him a while to realize that Wendell was referring to his rumored ex-girlfriend, Cynthia.

"I can't forget how fragrant she was when she was ripe."

……

The Blue Dragonfly slowly emerged from the clouds.

Wendell's steam-powered flying armor followed closely behind, carrying the Triceratops whale's burning crystal, with two huge whale carcasses hanging from its feet.

It gives one a sense of absurdity, like a small horse pulling a large cart...

Roya glanced down.

I always felt that this silver steam-powered flying armor was too rudimentary.

With limited power and fuel, a half-shell body, and no differential engine to control the flying armor, how does it achieve unmanned operation and carry such heavy loads?

Looking at Wendell's posture and expression, he did not use any extraordinary abilities in his starting stance, but maintained a cool and elegant demeanor throughout.

That's amazing!

Luo Ya thought to himself, even if he didn't manage to hook up with a rich woman, hooking up with a powerful goddess would be great too.

He suddenly felt that with the goddess's protection, being an airship hunter wasn't so bad.

Moreover, after witnessing Wendell's extraordinary power firsthand, Roya's own buried extraordinary spirit was now burning brightly.

He couldn't wait for his natural talent to fully develop; he desperately wanted to awaken as an extraordinary being!

To awaken early, in addition to special training, a massive amount of fuel resources must be poured in.

Thinking about it this way, he gradually became full of anticipation for Wendell's airship and hunter team.

After flying in the clouds for a long time, Roya still hadn't caught a glimpse of Wendell's airship, and couldn't help but ask:

Where is your airship?

At that moment, Wendell was asleep in the passenger seat, his eyes slightly closed, and he only responded faintly:

"I'm waiting for you to assemble it."

Wait for me to assemble it...

Roya thought Wendell was dreaming.

"Wake up!"

Wendell fell silent, his face, white, delicate yet scarred, now radiant with a sacred and serene sleep.

Roya had a bad feeling.

Could this woman really be a hunter for the first time?

How can two complete novices form a competitive aerial hunting team?

Fortunately, the burning crystals and carcass of the triangular iris whale can provide this nascent team with a considerable amount of start-up capital.

The issue is……

"The nearest sky island is a thousand kilometers away. Aren't you tired of controlling your flying mech to drag a whale carcass?"

Roya murmured almost to himself.

Before the words were finished—

I was startled awake from my deathbed dream!

Wendell suddenly awoke, his golden eyes wide open, bloodshot, and he spat out a mouthful of bright red blood—

She fainted again after being sprayed.

No matter how much Luo Ya pushed and shook her, she didn't react at all.

Luo Ya was dumbfounded.

Is this woman putting on a brave face even when she's not?

Or is it that you're short on chakra like Itachi Uchiha?

Or perhaps, he was already seriously ill?

Very strong.

However, the battery life is poor, resulting in severe backlash.

Like strong.

No wonder she said she wasn't strong before and easily gave up the captain's position.

It turns out that the strength simply wouldn't allow it!

Luo Ya glanced down at the out-of-control steam-powered flying armor.

It was dragging its heavy whale carcass as it plummeted freely into the vast sea of ​​clouds.

"It's over."

Luo Ya regretted agreeing too quickly.

He pushed Wendell's shoulder again, but there was still no reaction.

Are we going to run away?

If I leave her behind... will she be eliminated immediately upon landing?

If I'm not dead, will she hunt me down?

As his gaze swept over the slowly falling whale carcass and burning crystals, Luo Ya suddenly realized that it was an enormous fortune!

"Because I'm the captain!"

After a brief internal struggle, Roya decided to clean up Wendell's mess.

He piloted the Blue Dragonfly in a dive, rapidly pursuing the crashing steam-powered mech, and commanded via voice:

"Activate autopilot and follow the silver steam-powered flying armor below, maintaining a one-meter distance!"

After giving the voice control command to the Blue Dragonfly, Luo Ya unbuckled the omnidirectional seatbelt.

Standing up, taking a deep breath to overcome the dizzying fear of heights, I jumped from the cockpit of the ornithopter and landed steadily on the broad shoulder armor of the flying armor.

"call……"

Having gained a firm footing and gripping the protrusions in the armor, Roya's consciousness quickly took control of the flying armor.

He immediately snatched the dark blue, watermelon-sized core burning crystal from the flying armor and put it back into his own arms.

This was the first time Luo Ya had ever seen such a huge burning crystal.

It is similar in size and shape to a watermelon, but is significantly heavier.

The surface is covered with fascia, blood and qi are dissipated, and it feels slightly hot to the touch.

"This precious item...it can't afford any mishaps!"

Burning Crystals are highly concentrated pools of the blood and energy of Burning Beasts, and their value exceeds that of the rest of the Burning Beasts combined.

Luo Ya immediately put the burning crystal into his backpack to reduce the loss of blood vapor from the surface.

Then, he climbed into the open cockpit of the flying mech.

Try to stabilize the flying armor's attitude and attempt to take off again.

In an instant, steam roared and thick smoke billowed...

It significantly reduced the speed at which the flying armor was falling.

But it didn't take off completely.

Theoretically, a steam-powered flying armor is a large wearable device with its own auxiliary power and weapons. It is highly mobile, adept at combat and high-speed flight, but not good at carrying heavy loads.

Previously, the flying armor was able to lift the heavy whale carcass entirely thanks to Wendell's extraordinary abilities.

"The Triangular Rainbow Whale is a flying beast. Its body was cleaved in two by a single sword strike, causing its blood and energy to leak out, which is why it is so heavy. If the sword energy pierces through the whale's head, the flying armor can easily handle it."

From this, Roya deduced that Wendell was not a qualified hunter and was likely an amateur.

Since things had come to this, Roya had no choice but to collect the whale's corpse because of Wendell's pretentious behavior.

"If the two pieces of whale carcass could be sewn together with rope, the vapors of the carcass would be trapped inside, which might generate some buoyancy and reduce the weight of the ornithopter."

A brilliant idea flashed through Luo Ya's mind, and he immediately put it into action.

He controlled the steam-powered flying armor, attaching the two heavy iron hooks from which the whale carcass was hanging at his feet to the underside of the Blue Dragonfly.

Then, the Blue Dragonfly was slowed down, its torque was increased, and the vertical load-bearing mode was activated.

He then controlled the flying armor, wielding a steam-powered sword, hooking onto a rough rein, and attempted to sew the two pieces of whale carcass back together...

The difficulty of sewing the corpse with flying armor exceeded Roya's expectations.

At the same time, he also has to constantly deal with attacks from flying fish, birds, and flying jellyfish.

After half an hour.

Luo Ya wiped the sweat from his forehead that hadn't had time to dry in the wind.

The Blue Dragonfly once again broke through the clouds and soared into the azure sky.

Wendell, in the passenger seat, was still fast asleep.

At the tail end, thick ropes dragged along the massive whale carcass, which had been painstakingly stitched together.

The crude stitching was still leaking air.

The iconic triangular head was stitched together so that the sum of its inner angles exceeded 180 degrees.

The whale carcass had shrunk to nearly half its original size.

However, the steam rising from the carcass, the escaping odor, and the blowing air created a delicate balance, causing the whale carcass to swell up again.

The bloated whale carcass not only provides considerable buoyancy, but also generates additional lift during high-speed flight.

Even the drooping whale wings were lifted up by the howling wind, resembling a pair of giant wings, swaying up and down.

So much so that when Roya piloted his steam-powered flying armor and followed behind the whale carcass, he did not provide any thrust to help him fly.

Luo Ya breathed a sigh of relief.

Looking at the whale carcass tamed by the ornithopter and the reins, a sense of accomplishment he had never imagined welled up within him.

Only now did he realize that perhaps...

This vast sky is where he truly belongs.

Roya quickly checked the amount of phlogiston fuel in his baggage. With the current energy consumption of the Blue Dragonfly and the steam-powered flying armor, it was enough to support a flight to five or six floating islands within a range of two thousand kilometers.

So he immediately turned the nose of the ornithopter around.

Flying eastward 1,600 kilometers away, to that market famous for trading in spirit fuel—

Blue Mist Town.

……

Wendell's dream.

The boundless silvery-white holy light enveloped the vast sea, but was blocked by the gray fog rising from the sea surface.

A dark, alluring female voice came from the depths of my heart:

"The legendary Saintess of the North Wind has fallen so low! Shed your armor, Wendell, and you will reclaim your former glory!"

Immediately, a towering woman with a bare upper body, surrounded by surging black mist, entwined red snakes, and eerie purple flowers, gradually materialized from the abyss of the nightmare.

Her features were indistinct, and only a pair of eerie, beautiful eyes, as deep and unfathomable as a cold pool, could be seen in the black mist. At the center of her pupils, a strange flower, intricately changing and stained with blood, was formed.

It makes one feel as if they've fallen into an abyss at first glance, suddenly losing their soul, yet becoming so engrossed that they can't extricate themselves.

Wendell's spirit, however, remained as indifferent as ice.

Even in her dreams, her tone remained unchanged, chillingly cold and aloof, like a cold wind brushing against her face.

"I am a woman; seduction is useless against me."

The alluring voice carried a bone-chilling malice:

"As powerful as you are, can you remain mediocre forever? Every time you use your power, your sacred body slides one step closer to the abyss, until it falls into the abyss, is possessed by my demonic soul, and transforms into a demon. A saintess fallen into demonhood, what a beautiful sight..."

I will conquer everything once more with your body!

"I'll say the same to you: your demonic body is being purified and possessed by my holy soul. A witch purified by holy light will only become more sacred, and I will use your body to purify the world."

Besides, you've already lost your freedom while trapped in the Temple of the Holy Maiden.

And I possess the sky.

Wendell's voice pierced through the mist and echoed in the holy light.

The witch's phantom twisted and swayed at the edge of the holy light, causing the flowers to tremble and emitting a chilling laugh:

"Hahaha, don't forget, this body of yours now belongs to me, and I am the one who owns the sky!"

You alone... can never suppress me!

The mechanic you sought help from is just a lonely young man; a man who craves intimacy will only push you faster into an abyss of no return.

Wendell's soul floated on the edge of a massive vortex of light and darkness, his consciousness gradually sinking, and he murmured as he drifted off to sleep:

"He's different."