The storm raged, and Aurora's mecha streaked through the turbulent canyon like a silver falcon.
Every movement she made resonated with the pulse of the gale, reckless to the point of madness, yet so precise it defied belief.
Her pursuers clenched their teeth, but soon realized the truth.
In this chaos, their thrusters sputtered under constant interference, energy outputs spiked wildly, and their controls spun out of alignment.
"My controls are failing!"
"The magnetic field is unstable! Pull up!"
Boom! Boom!
Two mechs were caught by the turbulence, slammed into the canyon walls, and vanished in brief explosions that the storm quickly swallowed, leaving only debris tumbling into the abyss.
Aurora spared them a cold glance. Her heart was pounding, but it was not triumph she felt. It was the fragile heartbeat of survival.
[Warning: Energy shield remaining 30%]
[Warning: Weapon system cooling anomaly]
She clenched her teeth. The shield was nearly gone, the mech's systems screamed with overheating, yet in this crisis her mind grew sharper. She could feel the rhythm of the storm itself, as if her spirit aligned with her machine in perfect harmony.
"So that's it…"
She whispered to herself, as though grasping some hidden truth. Cold light flashed in her eyes.
Outside the canyon, the remaining hunters finally understood, their voices bitter with rage over the comms.
"Forget it! That lunatic is turning the turbulence into her weapon!"
"Pull back! Her mech is breaking down anyway. When she collapses, we will sweep up the scraps!"
Then the broadcast erupted across the starry sky, echoing in every student's ear.
"Attention, all cadets!
Final rule update: the last flag has been claimed. The system will now begin the thirty-minute endgame countdown. Within this time, all combat and capture is permitted. When the countdown ends, rankings will be determined by final flag ownership."
The battlefield exploded with chaos.
Faces darkened, curses spat through the comms.
"Only thirty minutes left?! This will be a slaughter!"
Some voices trembled with excitement.
"This is it! Even if you lagged behind, now's the time to gamble everything!"
Others spoke with cold amusement.
"Perfect. I thrive in the endgame harvest."
Aurora lifted her head. Lightning flickered across the storm clouds, and the countdown burned bright on her interface.
Her mech shook under critical damage, warning lights pulsed red, but her breathing steadied into a smile.
"Thirty minutes. That is enough for me to claim first place."
She adjusted her stance, folding the half-broken wings against her back. Her spirit blazed like fire in her chest, refusing to be crushed.
Deep in the storm canyon, her battered mech crouched on a ledge, scarred and smoking, its shield a mere flicker of light.
The system chimed again and again:
[Endgame countdown: 29:02]
[Leaderboard (real-time)]
1st: Pei Qing (275)
2nd: Qi Luo (265)
3rd: Yilin (255)
…
27th: Aurora (90)
On the spectator platforms, murmurs spread as the names shifted.
"She dropped to twenty-seventh."
"Her brief moment of fame is over."
"Surviving this long is good enough."
But in the canyon, Aurora closed her eyes, calm and unshaken.
Her spirit surged like a rising tide, battering the walls of its cage. The mech hummed low, building energy she did not yet unleash.
She was gambling.
In the first twenty minutes, the battlefield would devour itself in chaos. Points would churn and fluctuate.
And then, in the final ten minutes, she would strike.
[Endgame countdown: 20:00]
Outside, the world erupted. Hundreds of mechs clashed across scorched plains, molten fields, and desert archipelagos. Explosions lit the night, names vanished from the board one after another.
Pei Qing held his lead, flags piled high like trophies. Qi Luo and Yilin chased him furiously, the gap narrowing to single digits. All eyes watched the three titans.
Aurora stayed at twenty-seventh.
"No chance. It's impossible."
"From twenty-seventh to first? That's a joke."
[Endgame countdown: 10:00]
In the canyon, Aurora's eyes snapped open, blazing with a light that was sharp enough to cut.
[Spirit sync surpasses threshold—synchronization: 142%]
Boom!
Her wings unfurled like fire igniting the storm, lighting half the canyon in silver flame.
Her voice was low, steady.
"It is time."
She launched into the night.
Her broken mech, trailing the storm's tailfire, shot straight toward the battlefield's core.
Pei Qing clashed with Qi Luo, surrounded by dozens of mechs in chaos. No one expected the twenty-seventh rank to hurl herself into the heart of the storm.
[Notice: Aurora defeated target, acquired Advanced Flag ×1, +20 points]
[Notice: Aurora defeated target, acquired Advanced Flag ×1, +20 points]
[Notice: Aurora defeated target, acquired Standard Flag ×1, +10 points]
The leaderboard shook.
Aurora leapt from 27th → 18th → 12th → 7th.
"What the?!"
"She's charging headlong into full squads?!"
"She's actually stealing kills!"
The spectators erupted in shock.
[Endgame countdown: 02:00]
At the battlefield center, Pei Qing roared, ready to crush Qi Luo's final defenses.
Then a silver flash cut across his back.
Boom!
Aurora's blade ripped into his mech, tearing away the flag he had just claimed.
[Notice: Aurora acquired Advanced Flag ×3, +60 points]
[Leaderboard (real-time)]
1st: Aurora (300)
2nd: Pei Qing (295)
3rd: Qi Luo (255)
She had taken the lead.
[Endgame countdown: 00:30]
The entire star system froze in disbelief.
From twenty-seventh place, she had fought her way to first in the final ten minutes.
Pei Qing bellowed with fury, Qi Luo launched a frenzied pursuit, Yilin ignited her mech to its limits. The three elites struck together.
Aurora spat blood, her hands locked tight on the controls.
"Come, then. The last thirty seconds."
She unleashed everything. Her spirit erupted, wings blazing like a shattered galaxy, hurling a storm of destruction that forced the three back.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Light and fire collided, but she held them all at bay.
[Endgame countdown complete]
[Winner: Aurora]
The announcement thundered across the planet, across the starfields, across the entire academy domain.
The world shook.
A first-year girl had claimed the throne against impossible odds.
Aurora's mech dropped to one knee, battered and burning, yet her eyes gleamed with a cold, unyielding fire.
She knew.
From this moment on, she was no longer a nameless cadet.
She was someone the entire star system could never again ignore.