The Crocodile or Chronodraco as the system called it, was easily ten times taller than Noah’s Shadowblade. At a glance, Noah estimated that it would be around 180 to a little more than 200 meters. As for the length of its body, he could not come up with an accurate number, even if he wanted to estimate it like the height.

And such a behemoth was supposed to be an infant? He could not help but wonder incredulously in his mind while his heart beat faster and faster with each passing second.

He wanted to fight this beast.

He wanted to triumph over the colossal cosmic being.

But more than anything,

““— I want to eat it.””

Both Noah and Eve expressed their desires at the same time. They felt no fear in front of a monster that could devour the ethereal time itself. It was quite simple to them— they just had to devour it before it could devour them. A fight between predators.

An intense crimson light shone from his eyes; his heartbeats were now comparable to the resounding echoes of drums. More and more Aether was pumped in the Shadowblade, to the point it began to overclock.

The thrusters roared with life, its speed increasing exponentially in a split instant.

Slash, thrust, pierce, cut, kill, devour.

A series of dazzling movements were all performed simultaneously using the increased momentum that Aether brought to the machine. More than a dozen Abyssal beasts were disintegrated in the aftermath of Noah’s rampage.

Yet Noah paid no attention to them, all he felt was a deep hunger and an insatiable desire to devour the cosmic beast. After all, only a beast of that caliber was able to satiate the primal hunger coursing through his body.

“Out of my way!” Noah shouted and his mecha answered. Moving as though there was solid ground below its feet, the Frame accelerated rapidly, covering the distance between him and The Crocodile in an instant.

[Warning: Circuits overclocked]

[Warning: The core has reached its limits.]

[Warning!]

The frame was not able to keep up with the sheer output of Aether he was feeding it. Alerts blared in the cockpit but Noah ignored all of them.

“Eve!”

— Leave it to me!

There was no need for an explanation. Eve immediately enhanced the integration rate between her and the frame, spreading herself through every part of the machine. The Shadowblade was only a vessel for them.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

New circuits formed to accommodate the Aether input, connecting Noah's body and absorbing all the energy he was pumping.

Feeling his energy leave him even faster than before as his body had now become the core sustaining the frame, Noah felt himself enter a trance.

How should he beat that thing?

There was no need to make it complicated.

“Set the world ablaze!”

Though he had no prior experience with manipulating heat, his power manifested under his will. By using the Shadowblade as the foci, Noah was able to avoid burning his body.

From the outside, all the spectators could see was a blaze of yellow flames covering the mecha as it rushed like a shining arrow toward the giant crocodile, leaving a blazing trail of iridescent light behind him.

Noah did not even need to move his weapons, all the monsters in his vicinity were instantly incinerated due to the immense heat. The unnatural flames defied all the laws of physics and made the impossible possible.

***

When Noah was just a hundred meters away from it, the Crocodile finally noticed the insect that had been buzzing around like a pesky mosquito.

Its intelligence was yet to be completely developed, all it ever wanted was to eat and sleep. It should have been sleeping longer. For reasons it could not understand, the beast had woken up far earlier than usual.

But all of it mattered not.

Looking at the bug rushing straight at him, The Crocodile opened its giant maws, fully intent on incinerating this tedious bug.

Crimson light gathered in front of it and a laser beam soon followed, shooting at its target— Noah.

The devouring ray should have been enough. All those short-lived creatures would always die when its light touched them.

But this time something unexpected happened, the bug seemed faster than it had anticipated and easily avoided its attack.

The Crocodile started shooting more and more beams with haste but to no avail. Zig-zagging in a dizzying pattern, the bug was able to avoid all its attacks within a hair’s breadth.

How was it possible?

Such thought filled its mind and soon, confusion led to primal rage overtaking its senses. In this zone, for so long, it had reigned as the uncontested lord, using all the living creatures in this place as nothing but convenient food.

Only by bringing an entire army were they able to drive the beast away but now one bug dared to defy it all by itself?

Space vibrated and with it, the sound of a roar filled with wrath replaced the calm sound of the ticking clock.

The crocodile raised and swung its paws at a speed that belied its gigantic appearance. The Shadowblade made a sharp barrel roll while its blade dragged against the skin of the Crocodile.

The Crocodile ignored it, its skin was tough, too tough to be pierced by such a small weapon.

At least, that should have been the case.

A sharp pain filled the mind of The Crocodile and its green viscous blood spilled through space.

The feeling of pain was foreign to the beast. After all, no one had ever managed to wound it.

But this time was different. It screamed, its survival instincts kicked in and more than a thousand white laser rays immediately covered its whole body in a pristine white cocoon. It had no way of controlling the crimson light in this state. But that attack should have been enough. There was no way that bug could avoid so many rays.

And indeed. No matter how skilled Noah was, there was a limit to what he could do when he was being bombarded from all sides.

Like a fishing net, the white ray covered all escape routes, trapping Noah. However, he did not stop moving nor did he try to escape. He started rushing higher and higher toward the net.

How long could he live?

Noah did not really know. What he did know though, was that—

“It’s all or nothing!”

He angled his mecha, reaching the part where the least amount of light was interconnected, and finally…

He made contact with what many considered to be the Light of Death.