The countdown began again.
Three.
Two.
One.
Boom.
The arena burst into brilliance. Arcane glyphs surged to full brightness along the edges of the battlefield, and the crowd, still reeling from the first match, rose to their feet in breathless anticipation.
Zhao Xuan entered first. He was piloting a different beast entirely.
Gone was the Aetherblade-X7, built for speed and precision. In its place, a fortress-class hybrid unit descended like a thunderclap onto the battlefield. Twelve metric tons of mana-hardened armor. Heavy stabilizer legs reinforced with seismic dampeners. A power core designed for endurance over flash.
The screen lit up with its name.
IRON REQUIEM — 6th Generation Hybrid Fortress-Class Mecha
