"This feels amazing, but I can't control it at all!" The damage brought about by advancing at nearly the speed of sound posed no pressure whatsoever to Chu Lian's current physical condition. The problem was that it was her first time using this thing—she simply didn't know how to operate it.
At first, it was manageable. She merely shot straight into the sky. But after that came stopping midair and performing various maneuvers. Once the operations became complicated, Chu Lian was completely out of her depth. Her entire body was dragged around through the air by the "Seraph," flying this way and that. In the end, it simply kept going until her MP supply was exhausted, reverting to standby mode—only then did she plummet from the sky.
"Oh my god, this thing is so hard to use." Ten meters above the forest canopy, Chu Lian halted her falling body. During that brief interval, her depleted mana had already fully recovered. Yet she did not rise again. Instead, she descended slowly, letting her feet land on a tree branch to rest.
"I can withstand speed close to supersonic velocity, but I have no way to control it to move in the direction I want. Logically speaking, a conceptual armament shouldn't be this difficult to operate. Did I forget something?" As Chu Lian pondered, she infused mana once more. The Seraph, in standby mode, immediately activated. After sensing it for a moment, she lowered her head in deep thought.
"I can command my own body with ease, but I can't operate this equipment that feels like an extension of my body. What exactly is the reason?"
"The reason the body can move is because the brain's nerves transmit intention to every part of the body between thoughts, allowing actions like blinking or raising a hand and stamping a foot. Could it be that a conceptual armament has a similar control mechanism?"
At that thought, Chu Lian touched the blue diamond at the center of her collarbone, opening the Seraph's central interface. As a screen unfolded before her eyes, she began to understand.
"May I ask, is the Seraph operated using the brain?" Chu Lian organized her thoughts and began asking questions.
"Yes. The blue gemstone at the center of the operator's chest serves as the hub connecting thought and system. As long as, before operation, you sink a portion of your consciousness into the gemstone, you will be able to use all of Seraph's actions as easily as you use your own body."
"If I want to activate the various armaments, what should I do?"
"As you wish."
"As I wish? Does that mean it's as simple as moving my arms and legs—if I think it, it will activate?"
"Yes."
"Then how is armament consumption calculated?"
"The 100 MP consumed per second already includes all armament costs. Using standard equipment will not require additional energy. Furthermore, Seraph possesses its own unique ammunition depot. As long as the ammunition depot is not exhausted, aside from energy-based armaments, other weapons will not consume additional energy."
"By unique ammunition depot, do you mean the machine guns and missiles housed in the armor on my arms? Not including the consumption of the twelve pairs of wings?"
"Yes. The armor mounted on both arms is equipped with physical bullets and missiles, whereas the twelve pairs of wings utilize energy. Without sufficient energy, their exclusive attacks cannot be used."
"Then can you list my bullets and missiles, as well as the various energy costs required for the twelve pairs of wings?"
"Certainly."
"Left Arm—Endless Rotary Machine Gun: A total of nine muzzles. Each muzzle contains a one-cubic-meter storage space, each equipped with 10,000 rounds. Each bullet deals 50 points of damage and carries a piercing effect. Fire rate: 9 rounds per second. After ammunition is depleted, replenishment requires 500 Item Points."
"Right Arm—Star-Slaying Tracking Missiles: A total of three launch ports. Each port contains a two-cubic-meter storage space, each equipped with 1,000 missiles. Each missile deals 300 points of damage, with a damage radius of 3*3. Fire rate: 3 missiles per second. After missiles are depleted, replenishment requires 800 Item Points."
"Absolute Domain: Expands an energy shield from the connection between the stockings and the skirt hem, covering the entire body. Blocks up to 3,000 points of damage. Costs 600 MP. Lasts until the shield disappears or Seraph returns to standby mode."
"Seraph's Rotary Waltz: The twelve pairs of wings form a rotating wheel behind the back, continuously firing energy cannon blasts at the target, each dealing up to 1,500 points of damage. Each blast consumes 150 MP. Damage radius: 10*10. Projectile speed: twelve times the speed of sound. This attack travels in a straight line and can be evaded."
"Wings of the Seraph: The twelve pairs of wings spread behind the back, granting extreme acceleration, capable of instantly reaching ten times the speed of sound. Consumes 700 MP per second."
"Finale of Ruin: The twelve pairs of wings convert into final mode, combining into a Star-Piercing Cannon and firing at a target area. Attack range: unknown. Attack damage: unknown. Energy consumption: unknown. Can only be used once every 72 hours. After use, Seraph will enter a 24-hour dormancy period. Note: Do not use unless you have reached a certain level of strength."
"I feel like I could single-handedly take on an entire American military unit and still win." Chu Lian stared wide-eyed at the data before her, utterly stunned by the weapon systems of this conceptual armor.
But when she looked at the consumption values, then at her own MP, she fell silent. These abilities looked powerful, yet for her, she might not even be able to use them once in a single battle.
After all, her current MP was still far too low. If it were Ainz Ooal Gown, he could probably unleash full firepower for nearly three minutes. But she couldn't—she likely wouldn't even last a second. It seemed she needed to quickly find a method to offset or reduce the consumption.
Of course, the most practical solution would be to increase her total MP and MP recovery speed to an extremely high Transcendence Realm—high enough that using these attacks would barely count as a waste of MP, or that she could recover almost instantly.
Unfortunately, if she truly reached that level, it would likely be Heaven rank or above. By then, the role of Seraph would be infinitely diminished—whether she used it or not would hardly matter.
"The only freak around me with energy reserves dozens of times greater than ordinary people is Chu Chu. As for anyone else, I have no idea." As Chu Lian thought, she recalled Chu Chu. Ever since the battle in Miami, after breaking through the restraint their mother had placed upon her, that girl had regained the strength she was meant to have.
Moreover, her spiritual awareness had reached 99 points at the peak of touching Earth rank. Her energy recovery speed had increased to 1500% of what it was before breaking the restraint—several times stronger than Chu Lian. Her energy reserves were also 500% of those with equivalent spiritual power—again higher than her own. She was practically a born artillery turret. If given the opportunity in the future, Chu Lian should select a suitable Seraph-Type IS Armor for her as protection.
Compared to her spiritual awareness and energy reserves, however, her physical constitution was much weaker. In battle, she would easily be treated as the primary target and eliminated first.
While Chu Lian was lost in her own thoughts, her wandering mind completely failed to notice that the Seraph armor had already consumed all the energy required to remain active after being activated, and had quietly reverted to standby mode.
"Whew... then I'll try again." Chu Lian snapped out of her thoughts, pressed her feet firmly against the branch, and leapt upward.
"Hey, hey, this isn't how the script is supposed to go!"
Instead of shooting into the sky as she had imagined, her body suddenly dropped toward the ground with a whoosh. Her mana had been exhausted and had not yet recovered, leaving her unable to cast any magic at all. She slammed heavily into the ground.
It didn't hurt. The ground wasn't dirty. Her body wasn't injured in the slightest. And yet, Chu Lian didn't get up.
She was moved—moved by her own stupidity.
Why hadn't she noticed something so obvious? Wasn't there always a distinct sensation when her MP was depleted? Why hadn't she paid attention? Why had she made such a foolish mistake?
She felt like she had no face left to show anyone—especially with Hare Menjou in her spiritual sea and Ayase in the system space laughing so hard they were about to collapse, and Shiroha wildly spamming "hahahahaha" across the interface. The scene dealt a severe blow to her dignity.
"I will be an elegant lady. I will not be annoyed. I will not be angry. I will get up from wherever I fall..." Chu Lian clenched her fists, forcing herself not to think about anything else. She slowly stood up and dusted off her body, trying to relax.
At this point, aside from ignoring Ayase and the others, there was truly nothing else she could do.
After all, this was entirely her own fault. She had activated Seraph without realizing it consumed energy; she hadn't remembered that recovery would take time once her energy was depleted; the hollow sensation in her body had clearly told her her mana was gone, and she still hadn't noticed. If that wasn't her fault, then whose was it?
Feeling her mana gradually recover on its own, Chu Lian lightly tapped the ground and floated back up onto the branch. After resting for a while and waiting until her mana was completely full, she activated Seraph once more.
"This time, it will definitely work."
The moment she focused on a single task, all previous embarrassment vanished from her mind. Clenching her fists, she shot into the sky again.
"To the east is the sea. To the south is the Slane Theocracy. To the northeast lies the city of E-Rantel. This area is already close to the Kingdom's territory. I know where I need to go now."
After surveying the surrounding scenery, she finally had a clear direction in mind.
Leaning forward slightly, Chu Lian asked in a low voice, "Can you help me search the surrounding area for any Slane Theocracy troops?"
"This world has no satellites. It is impossible to connect to satellites to lock onto targets. Only a ten-kilometer-radius search field can be provided. As long as individuals matching the Slane Theocracy troop characteristics stored in the user's memory appear within that range, they will be marked. The user may then proceed to their location."
Chu Lian was slightly disappointed, but she knew this was only natural. After all, this was not a technological world but an era of magic resembling medieval Europe. For Seraph to provide a ten-kilometer detection range was already impressive.
"Then I'll patrol these areas back and forth..."
She knew that the Slane Theocracy might withdraw their forces after suffering repeated setbacks. She did not have much time left. If she couldn't deal with them outside the Theocracy's borders, she would have to personally visit the Theocracy. Although that was also one of her goals, she did not wish to go there as a slaughterer.
Having decided how to handle the matter, Chu Lian wasted no further time. After spending roughly an hour familiarizing herself with the various operations, she activated Seraph's maximum conventional speed and began patrolling the region at 1.5 times the speed of sound.
It was a foolish method, but it was the best she could manage for now. At 1.5 times the speed of sound, each activation of Seraph lasted about 25 seconds—limited by her total MP and recovery rate—after which she would rest, allow her MP to fully recover, and then move again. Through this repeated effort, she truly did manage to discover several groups of Slane Theocracy soldiers who were retreating.
After capturing a few of their leaders and interrogating them, she obtained good news. Their remaining forces had already gathered together and were planning to return to the Theocracy the next day. Their current resting place was somewhere outside the city of E-Rantel.
"Mm... it seems I have no choice but to go back for a visit..."
Standing gracefully atop a treetop, she allowed the evening wind to tangle her long hair as her gaze stretched toward the distant silhouette of E-Rantel. In her heart, she made her decision.