Beyond the Zenith

They were ninety-nine percent certain that Sharpies were humanoid living organisms. That assessment was one of the tangents that the Defying Physics professor had gone on during class.

Of course, since Sharpies always self-destructed upon defeat, the claim was impossible to verify. A student had even asked the professor for the basis of his judgment.

The man had no factual basis. Instead, he went on a rant about certain alien movies, criticizing the logic of a giant octopus-bug wearing a humanoid mechanical shell. He said dogs had likely eaten the screenwriters’ brains if they couldn’t even grasp the concept of matter determining consciousness.

A student countered that maybe humanoid beings existed on those alien planets, but were the equivalent of dogs there. In response, the professor simply asked the student if they would go through the trouble of crossing the vast universe just to invade their pet dog’s planet.

His manner of speaking was obnoxious, his logic forced, and his claims unsupported and full of holes. Still, on a gut level, Han Qingyu couldn’t help but believe it. Most people also likely felt the same way deep down.

That was why he chose to drive both blades into the space where the Sharpie’s eyes would be.

A single slash couldn’t kill a Sharpie. Top-tier fighters aside, even ten or twenty slashes normally could barely scratch the dead iron exoskeletal armor covering a Sharpie’s body. That was basic knowledge taught in the Azure Coalition’s classrooms.

So Han Qingyu went for the eyes—both of them.

After Mira ceased her barrage, she stood there, autocannon raised in stunned silence.

Covered in dust and grime, her blonde hair in disarray, she watched as Han Qingyu twisted horizontally in the air, then stiffened his torso and extended his arms to drive both blades into the Sharpie’s eyes.

They told you not to go airborne. Idiot. You shouldn’t have come back.

When she had waved them away earlier, her heart had been full. Only after she saw the recruits scrambling up the dirt cliff did the thought of dying cross her mind. For a fleeting instant, she even hoped that she wouldn’t die in front of him... in front of them.

Platoon Leader Mira was supposed to be more than just beautiful. She was supposed to be formidable too.

Then came the shout of “Mira!” echoing through the valley.

A figure launched from the top of the dirt cliff with his maneuvering device activated, streaking through the air like the fastest arrow in the world. The blue glow from his combat case on his back trailed afterimages under the autumn moonlight.

This undeniably foolish decision had Mira’s blue-gray eyes darkening, swallowing even the moonlight, already seeing the pillar sword running through him.

His shout for her to shoot snapped her out of it.

That was right. Shoot. She was the only person in the Ninth Army sanctioned to carry and use a custom heavy weapon in witnessed combat on the front lines. She had once demonstrated her skills by launching a metal can over a thousand meters into the air in front of Dormitory 11. Han Qingyu had discussed this very possibility with her back then.

So in that split second, she fired without a moment’s hesitation.

At that moment, the light returned to her eyes. The moon, hanging at the zenith, seemed to halo the figure in the air, his blades gleaming.

Hope flickered in Mira’s eyes.

Han Qingyu’s blades punched through dead iron armor with a boom.

The collective gasp from the nearly one hundred people on the cliff came a fraction of a second later.

“Little Qing... kill it!” the recruits roared.

Their cries almost drowned out the squelch of his blades piercing the Sharpie. It was a surprisingly ordinary sound, yet Han Qingyu thought it was the most beautiful sound in the world.

His body surged with not only the tidal force of the source energy maneuvering device but also every drop of liquid source energy inside him. It was only because he had channeled everything he had into both arms that the tips of his blades could sink in.

The Sharpie wailed, throwing its head back in a howl. It sounded like a beast, but also like a human mimicking a beast’s scream.

Sickening blood came gushing from the two punctured holes in its face. Although the color of it was red, it had a fly-like bluish sheen.

“Little Qing! Ha!” Liu Shiheng cried out before he could even wipe his tears.

Shouts erupted from the cliff. These weren’t the scattered cheers of celebration. They were stunned, thunderous war cries, the kind they had practiced a few times on the training grounds but had always been too embarrassed and too inexperienced to truly feel.

But they felt it now. Even the Azure Coalition’s motto, the one that had always felt awkward to say aloud, suddenly became vivid and real in their hearts.

For all who still draw breath, we fight with no retreat, our bodies shielding the sky.

In the days since the integration test, Han Qingyu had been the talk of the recruits at the Ninth Army’s combat training base. His A-rank integration level and the Silver Azure Guardian Medal he earned during the recruit period seemed to point to him being the Erasers’ strongest recruit in a decade.

Many had privately or quietly disagreed, aware that both A-rank imbeciles and exceptional B-rankers were common in the Coalition’s history. Even their instructors often used that fact to push and motivate them.

Strongest in a decade? Just a decade? This was the thought running through their minds at this moment.

There was no jealousy. On a battlefield where life and death hung in the balance, nobody envied a brave comrade fighting in the same trench.

“If only all of us, over a hundred strong on this cliff, had soared through the air and charged at that black-armored monster together. That would have been even better, wouldn’t it?” someone muttered.

Although quiet, these words seemed to echo in their ears and fill their thoughts.

They all silently committed it to their hearts.

***

Xin Yaoqiao had found the battlefield and heard it too. Frankly, if not for the commotion, she would have already gotten lost wandering through the dense forest and mountains.

Time to go chop a Sharpie with Number 10. As the most recent addition to the prospective tier, Han Qingyu’s designation was the last number, ten.

Brimming with excitement, the girl activated her device and flew through the forest, racing toward the center of the noise.

Oh no, he’s still really weak right now, isn’t he? Xin Yaoqiao wondered anxiously, shifting into a combat sprint to pick up speed.

She was getting close. Recruits with their maneuvering devices active passed her. When they spotted her, they initially assumed she was part of the reinforcements, but quickly realized it was just one person, and a young girl at that.

“Why are you heading back?!” someone shouted at her.

“To chop a Sharpie.” Xin Yaoqiao stopped and glanced at the passing recruits with a confused expression. “Why are you all...”

“The instructor told us to run,” the obedient recruit explained. “We... couldn’t win. The instructor died too. A lot of us died.”

Xin Yaoqiao froze.

“Turn back,” the recruit urged.

“So, only you guys made it out?” she asked.

Only then did the recruit think to look behind him. There were definitely more people than this. Where did they go?

Thankfully, another recruit passing by chimed in, “Han Qingyu jumped down and stabbed the Sharpie. They all went dumb and just stood there watching.”

Xin Yaoqiao’s eyes went wide. “Who?!”

“Han Qingyu. The A-ranker from your Regiment 425.” This recruit mistook Xin Yaoqiao for a fellow recruit. “He jumped off the cliff and stabbed the Sharpie. No idea what happened to him after that.”

Xin Yaoqiao spun around and took off in a sprint. Please don’t be dead.

How is she that fast?! the two recruits thought.

***

Han Qingyu, of course, knew nothing about any of this. When that exchange happened, he had still been falling, the momentum from his leap carrying him forward before the deflecting force from Mira 11’s heavy autocannon sent him veering diagonally to the right.

“Die!”

Gripping both hilts tight, Han Qingyu tried to complete a full cut across the Sharpie’s face using the two blades stabbed into its faceplate.

But he had no leverage. Worse, the tidal surge of source energy was ebbing.

The Sharpie thrashed its head violently, whipping Han Qingyu’s body from left to right before finally flinging him into the air. Han Qingyu seized the momentum to wrench both blades free.

Another agonized howl tore from the Sharpie.

Apparently blinded, the Sharpie went berserk. It gripped its massive black pillar sword with both hands and swept it horizontally through the air with what seemed like every last ounce of its strength.

The air cracked loudly, sending a blast of pressure out like an explosion.