Weapon Unlocked: Void Halberd
Kexi felt a jolt beneath her feet.
Several cracks appeared in the ground, and more than a dozen steel pillars rose from the ground, standing in a circle around him, blocking him completely from all sides, just like a prison.
Before he could react, the warehouse door was kicked open, and a group of Echo rushed in.
The Lottie Lost led the way, his blade gleaming coldly under the red light, followed by Questless Knight, Chop Chop, and Echo guards.
Kexi knew things were going badly; the Echo was getting denser and denser, and things would become difficult to handle in a moment.
You think you can trap him in a mere iron cage?
Kexi looked around; the gaps between the steel pillars were so narrow that even a cat couldn't squeeze through. So this was the only option.
He took a deep breath, raised the Tidal Rain high above his head, and shouted.
"The crumbling shackles have transformed into sharp blades; the cage of fate, I will sever!"
The dark red patterns on the blade suddenly lit up, and a beam of light cleaved out from the edge, cutting the steel pillar in half like tofu, which then collapsed with a crash.
Kexi jumped out of the gap, but before she could even get her footing, Lottie Lost's blade was already upon her.
He used the Tidal Rain as a shield, sparks flew, and his wrist went numb from the impact. This thing was stronger than he had imagined.
"Okay, okay, one at a time, don't push."
He kept joking around, but his hands never stopped. He Tidal Rain and hacked at the nearest knife-wielding men, forcing them back a few steps.
The Questless Knight charged from the side. He dodged to the side, Tidal Rain jabbed into the knight's waist armor seam, twisting it and Echo into pieces on the ground.
[Ding, defeated the Questless Knight, energy +1200.]
Kexi's eyes lit up.
He turned and slashed down another knife-wielding man.
[Ding, defeated the Lottie Lost, Energy +800.]
It can increase energy!
He originally planned to grab the knife and run away, but now he's changed his mind.
These Echo are walking experience packs.
Kexi hoisted Tidal Rain onto his shoulder and beckoned to the group of Echo with his finger.
"Come on, come on, don't be shy, take one if you can."
He took down a few more, and his energy bar jumped by more than two thousand. But the Echo kept gathering, and footsteps outside the warehouse were still approaching.
As Kexi fought, she moved toward the door, when she suddenly heard a very familiar voice coming from the corridor.
"Quick! Bring all the Echo over here! Don't let that intruder escape!"
Kexi peeked out through the crack in the door.
A Montelli employee ran up from the other end of the corridor, holding a terminal and issuing commands to Echo.
Six or seven uniformed security guards followed behind, rushing this way.
He recognized the employee; his name was Matteo, a mid-level manager in the vault. If he saw him, he would be exposed.
Kexi frantically patted herself down and found the white stockings she had put in her pocket earlier.
Phoebe's.
He took it out, shook it open, hesitated for a fraction of a second, and then put it on his head.
The stockings stretched across her face, blurring her vision a bit, but at least they covered most of her face; only her nose was now filled with Phoebe's scent.
Matteo rushed to the door and saw a strange man with a white stocking over his head standing in the middle of a pile of Echo, holding a knife that glowed red.
He took half a step back and questioned loudly.
"Who are you! How did you break into the vault!"
Kexi smiled crookedly, causing his stockings to twitch slightly. He reached out to adjust them.
"Since you've asked so sincerely, I'll mercifully tell you."
He slammed the Tidal Rain to the ground, straightened his back, and shouted with full force.
"This humble one remains true to his name and surname, and is Scar other Fractsidus!"
Matteo paused for a moment.
He glanced at the white stockings over Kexi's head, then at the knife in his hand. His expression shifted from shock to confusion, and then from confusion to determination.
"People from the Fractsidus?" He took a step back and shouted to the security guards behind him, "Quick! Bring all the Echo here! The Fractsidus infiltrated the vault!"
Kexi almost burst out laughing.
He cleared his throat and continued acting in a low voice, "Hmph, you piece of junk dare to stop me, Grandpa Scar?"
Matteo led a new wave of Echo to charge forward.
Lottie Lost, Questless Knight, Chop Chop, and so on.
As Kexi fought, she kept glancing at the energy bar, which jumped up by several hundred points with each enemy she knocked down.
He was getting more and more comfortable with it. The performance of the Tidal Rain was even better than he had expected. The blade was light and the edge was sharp. It could cut through the Echo like slicing vegetables.
[Ding, defeated the Lottie Lost, Energy +800.]
[Ding, defeated the Questless Knight, energy +1200.]
[Ding! Killed Chop Chop. Energy +1500.]
The energy bar surged from 78,000 all the way up.
80,000.
Eighty-five thousand.
Ninety thousand.
Kexi got more and more excited as she played, muttering, "Goodness, a little more, a little more, just a little bit more!"
Matteo's face turned pale as he watched from the doorway.
This man, wearing only a stocking, chopped off more than twenty of his Echo without even breaking a sweat.
He quickly pulled out his terminal and shouted into the other end, "Everard Vault has been attacked by the Fractsidus! The attackers call themselves Scar! You need to come to our aid immediately!"
Kexi was overjoyed when she heard him shouting.
This attempt to frame someone seems to have been quite successful.
Kexi got more and more excited as he fought. These Echo were like food deliverymen, crashing into his face one after another, turning into experience points after each impact.
[Ding, energy has reached 100,000 points.]
[Unlock weapon: Void Halberd.]
Okay, that's enough.
When Matteo and the security personnel saw Kexi's ferocious appearance, they were so frightened that they retreated to the back of the corridor corner, only peeking out half their heads to observe the situation, their faces as white as paper.
"Why isn't backup here yet!" he yelled at the terminal. "If they don't come soon, they're going to tear down the vault!"
They were just ordinary people, not Resonators. Even so many Echo Guardians couldn't subdue this intruder, so what could they do?
Kexi felt that was about right.
After all, it's their own treasury; they can't just squander it.
He tucked the Tidal Rain behind his waist and looked up at the vault ceiling.
Everard Vault was well-built, but even the strongest vault couldn't withstand Aleph-1.
"I'm gone." Kexi snapped her fingers.
The ground began to shake.
Matteo was still peeking around when he suddenly felt the stone slabs under his feet jumping. He looked down, then looked up again, and then froze.
What was that sound?
The outer wall of the warehouse is cracked.
A huge red and black figure squeezed in. The five-meter-tall mech crouched down and crawled through the breach. Its shark-headed head looked down at Kexi, and its two eyelights shone with a dark red light.
Matteo's mouth was wide open enough to fit the key to a vault safe.
"What... what is that thing?!"
Kexi leaped into the air, and the hatch in Aleph-1's chest popped open, swallowing him whole.
The mech stood up, summoning Void Halberd in its hand, and with a single strike, pierced through the vault's ceiling.
Kexi turned the cockpit around, activated all the thrusters, and Aleph-1 soared into the sky, disappearing into the air.
The sky over Ragunna.
No one noticed the large hole that had appeared in the top of Everard Vault.
Kexi sat inside the mecha, looking down at the chaotic vault below.
"Selina." He dialed the terminal. "I'm out. Where are you?"
Selina's voice softened with a hint of relief, "Young Master, are you alright?"
"Very good. Where's the stuff?"
"They're all there."
"Okay, I'll be right there."