Chapter 6122 The Sputtering Sun The Emperor Tree was burning. The sight was both beautiful and awe-inspiring to the Larkinsons. The crown of the massive calamity plant became increasingly more engulfed in flames. Entire branches fell and collapsed even as they burned up themselves. An astronomical amount of leaves literally went up in smoke, causing the suffering tree to lose all of the sense of greenery it held before. The King Killer Flames had spread so extensively across the tree's massive but vulnerable body that large amounts of Solus Gas got burned as well! The high concentration of Solus Gas that normally surrounded the tree rapidly deteriorated as the flames did not let off the gas particles either. Nothing proved to be impervious to the hungry flames that were actively being driven by a newly ascended Saint who actively maintained an artistic conception that was purpose built to produce the most voracious of flames. The burning tree formed the hottest and most spectacular backdrop for a much smaller and less energetic fight. Compared to Saint Isobel's efforts to burn down the entire tree once and for all, Venerable Dise and Venerable Joshua both performed a lot more mutedly. The First Sword and the Everchanger teamed up to disable and capture the Ebony Everchanger. Although it was still difficult to fight against this powerful machine on an individual basis in their relatively exhausted states, the two expert pilots had a much easier time when they shamelessly ganged up on the champion wooden machine. The fight was anything but honorable, but Dise and Joshua simply didn't care about such superfluous considerations anymore. The mission took precedence. Both of them felt genuinely happy for Isobel's successful breakthrough, but they were also concerned that their promoted colleague could not sustain her amazing output of energy. What if Saint Isobel emptied her reserves and the Promethea suddenly fell apart? 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶 The two expert mechs had to move quickly in order to salvage as many gains as possible from this volatile battle situation. In order to ensure that the Larkinson Clan secured additional gains besides another ace pilot, Venerable Dise and Venerable Joshua tried hard to beat the Ebony Everchanger to the point of submission. This was easier said than done as the ebony machine was incredibly resilient. It continually absorbed wood energy from the environment to speed up its regeneration and return to perfect condition! No matter whether the two expert mechs succeeded in chopping off the limbs or wrenching out the wooden sword and seed cannon from the ebony wooden constructs hands, the Ebony Everchanger would just grow out whatever it was missing in a matter of seconds! It was as if the two Larkinsons were fighting against an especially obnoxious version of the Everchanger! However, just because it was able to resist capture for a time did not mean that the ebony mech was invincible. The fake Everchanger may be wielding two weapons at the same time like the real machine, but its skill in utilizing them in active combat was not good enough to fend off two opponents at the same time. After a bit of struggle, Joshua finally came up with a containment strategy for the Ebony Everchanger. "We can't keep fighting it like this! It will just absorb a lot of wood energy and return to peak condition again. If we want to disable this annoying ebony mech, we need to cut it off from the source of its energy. Let's push it away from the Emperor Tree. The further we move away from this location, the less wood energy the Ebony Everchanger is able to draw upon." Dise easily understood this logic and agreed. "Good idea. Let us begin." The two expert mechs changed their combat approach. They no longer focused on cripping the ebony mech, but instead utilized short charges to physically impart their momentum against their target. The Ebony Everchanger may be strong and possess a lot of exceptional properties, but it was not able to withstand physical pushes from its two opponents! The powerful ebony wooden construct helplessly began to move further and further away from the Emperor Tree. Each time it attempted to fly back to its origin, one of the two expert mechs would always be ready to halt its advance! Eventually, the ebony mech crossed the red line, where the concentration of wood energy drastically dropped. After all, Solus Gas was toxic to most organisms. Many plants could not survive continuous exposure to the substance. The Emperor Tree also took the initiative to eliminate any rival plants that somehow managed to occupy its territory after it had grown into its power. The increased distance along with the scarcity of wood energy finally weakened the isolated ebony mech to the point where it no longer regenerated as quickly as before. It had not lost the ability to regenerate entirely, but it took so much energy to regrow its resilient ebony wood that the enemy construct had lost its greatest advantage! The First Sword and the Everchanger deftly disarmed the ebony mech and beat it up to the point where it had lost most of its functionality for the time being. Before the Ebony Everchanger could restore its damaged wooden frame and resume its struggle, a large contingent of Larkinson melee mechs arrived from afar. The Storm Swords and other melee mechs all threw out nets and wires that trapped and immobilized the valuable biological specimen. Pacifiers equipped with fluid projectors began to spray the Ebony Everchanger with quick-hardening slime. The same solution used to immobilize mechs that had gone out of control soon began to encase the wooden construct. The mech pilots of the law enforcement mechs made sure to spray an excess of slime in order to make sure the ebony mech had no chance of breaking out by relying on its own power. Once a thick layer of slime had completely hardened around the Ebony Everchanger, over a dozen mechs began to lift up their latest prize by pulling up the wires that they had thrown earlier. Soon enough, the procession of mechs began to fly straight back to Chimera Base at a cautious and completely synchronized pace. "Do any of us need to accompany the Ebony Everchanger in case it breaks out somehow?" Venerable Joshua asked. "No. We can take care of it. You and Dise should go back to the Emperor Tree." Ketis instructed from the cockpit of one of the Storm Swords. "I am afraid that Isobel's condition is anything but good. According to the Promethea's log transmissions, she has resorted to extreme measures in order to break through. When our new Saint crashes, which she inevitably will, you must do your utmost to catch her damaged mech and bring her back alive, is that understood?" "What about the Emperor Tree?" "It would be best if you can finish it off if Isobel hasn't managed to kill it outright. Do not sweat it if you can't do that. We will resort to orbital bombardment if we have no other choice. Under no circumstances will we allow the tree to survive past this day. It will definitely learn from this encounter and be more prepared to fight us back if it has a chance to live." Resorting to orbital bombardment was a risky move. At worst, the calamity beasts of the untamed planet may be alarmed to the point where they joined forces to drive away the human presence that had encroached on their globe. However, the benefit of having a second ace pilot far exceeded the losses suffered from a temporary setback in the Solus Gas harvesting operation. "Understood." Joshua responded. "We will be heading back. Just take into account that neither of us are in good condition anymore. We won't be able to put up a good fight." "By the way, see if you can take care of the Ebony Zeal as well. Capture it if you can, but destroy it if that is not possible. Try to preserve at least a few chunks of its ebony wood if you have to resort to the latter." It turned out that this request had already become moot. When the First Sword and the Everchanger returned to the Emperor Tree, they both observed the burnt and ruined pieces of the Ebony Zeal resting on the ground. The Promethea clearly blasted it to pieces before burning the vulnerable remains with its highly potent energy beams! Venerable Joshua briefly grimaced. "Isobel rarely leaves anything intact once she goes on the attack. Now that she has become an ace pilot… this tendency has grown stronger." Both expert pilots could feel Saint Isobel's desire and lack of restraint. She made no secret of the fact that she just wanted to burn everything without discrimination! While she may still retain enough awareness to distinguish from friends and foe, neither expert pilot wanted to take the chance. "She is beginning to sputter." Joshua observed. "Get ready. We may need to intervene sooner rather than later." "I hope the Emperor Tree is dead by that time. It is counterattacking the Promethea with full force at the moment." Now that the purple sun had descended to the point where it was attempting to burn apart the entire bottom side of the main trunk, the Emperor Tree truly went mad at this time! None of the branches succeeded in doing anything aside from getting burned before breaking down into ashes. The same went for the massive tree roots. As thick and heavy as they may be, when they attempted to slam into the Promethea, the roots rapidly dried out and became immersed in fiery heat as soon as they crossed into the Saint Kingdom. Its largest, lowest and heaviest branches began to swing straight down in an attempt to slap the Promethea! None of the branches succeeded in doing anything aside from getting burned before breaking down into ashes. The same went for the massive tree roots. As thick and heavy as they may be, when they attempted to slam into the Promethea, the roots rapidly dried out and became immersed in fiery heat as soon as they crossed into the Saint Kingdom. Even if the Promethea received a few kinetic blows, the expert mech in its forced resonance state was able to neutralize much of the force! All of the Emperor Tree's desperate measures failed to slow down Saint Isobel's hunt for the heart of the massive plant. Although the large amount of Solus Gas in the environment as well as embedded into the Emperor Tree prevented the newly promoted ace pilot from getting any easy clues, she personally guessed that she was heading in the right direction. The tree was getting more and more desperate! From trying to consume the power of the purple sun by dousing it with an excess of water and tree sap, to continually slamming one root after another into Isobel's Saint Kingdom, the Emperor Tree still hoped to win by attrition! "Your fear betrays your vulnerability." Just as she suspected, the Promethea eventually reached the center of the massive root system that was resting underground. Once the purple sun reached this section that was unreachable for most mechs, the King Killer Flames began to get into contact with extremely resilient ebony wood that shared many of the same properties as the ebony mechs. The purple sun exploded with power as Saint Isobel went all-out in an attempt to burn down the massive tree heart as quickly as possible! The Promethea not only fired her Ignitron rifle as fast as she could pull the trigger, but the machine also unleashed Kiroshi so that the companion spirit could burn the other side of the massive tree heart! Slowly, but steadily, the purple conflagration overcame the powerful resistance of the center of the Emperor Tree's power. The massive calamity plant had run out of options. It still possessed a lot of power, but its heavy seed cannons, its branches, its roots and other defensive measures were completely unable to eliminate a small but powerful mobile combat asset. The massive calamity plant had run out of options. It still possessed a lot of power, but its heavy seed cannons, its branches, its roots and other defensive measures were completely unable to eliminate a small but powerful mobile combat asset. This was especially the case when Saint Isobel had finally become strong enough to negate the Emperor Tree's greatest advantage, which was its ability to regenerate by absorbing lots of energy! By the time the purple sun finally began to dim before fading entirely, not a single piece of the tree core was left intact and unburnt. Saint Isobel had run out of power from the moment she was able to confirm that she had definitively killed the heart of the tree. The Promethea, which looked a lot more terrible than before, began to lose stability and fall. "I've got you, Isobel!" The Everchanger quickly swooped in to support the heavily damaged and partially broken machine. Venerable Joshua panicked when she sensed Isobel's willpower and energy weakening at an extremely rapid rate. The expert pilot even began to sense the specter of death looming inside the cockpit of the expert rifleman mech! "Isobel? Isobel!"