"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome back to the finals of the Aether Front! Haxxor Bunny and Wolf King—two undefeated peak competitors clashing at last—the curtain has already risen!"
"Oh! Neither side has chosen to feel the other out; the battle has plunged straight into a white-hot frenzy from the very first second! Both are locked in a fierce tactical struggle!"
Under the host's frenzied commentary, the dueling arena had become a meat grinder of steel and data streams!
Haxxor Bunny's Armed Special-Ops Legion and Silver Wolf's swarm of Prometheus mechanical wolves crashed together like two surging metal tides.
The sniper beams of the Starship-model Rabbit Hunters tore across the sky, only to be captured in advance by Little Yuan's early-warning system.
The multi-barreled particle cannons on the Demon King's shoulders instantly adjusted their angle, weaving a dense net of firepower that intercepted and detonated them.
The Hunters turned into silver lightning, their cutting blade-wheels shrieking with an ear-piercing wail, and the Slave deployed a Hive Shield to intercept them.
Armed rodent bunnies, self-detonating Hopping Bunnies, and the mechanical wolf army opened into all-out slaughter.
The strategic focus lay with each side's ace.
Crusher Bunny 19C.
Howl of the Azure Star.
Every roaring charge from Crusher Bunny 19C spewed out a terrifying torrent of energy, while Howl of the Azure Star effortlessly deflected or tanked the baptism of impact cannons.
Data streams coiled around its limbs, its speed ghostly, its sharp claws and fangs transformed into deadly weapons.
Its breath attacks slammed against the impact cannons, triggering deafening explosions, energy turbulence sweeping in all directions.
Every collision cracked the freshly repaired ground anew; every exchange made the energy barriers flicker violently.
"This is nothing short of a duel between mobile natural disasters! For now, both aces seem evenly matched—impossible to tell them apart!"
The host's voice rose higher, brimming with fervor.
"However, on the team level, Wolf King's mechanical wolf pack is beginning to show a systematic advantage! Its sustained firepower is steadily whittling down the bunny numbers."
"The Hopping Bunnies took out Wolf King's split-off units at the cost of self-destruction! Wolf King's side paid a brutal price, but Haxxor Bunny's legion… is almost completely swept away!"
"Only the lone, embattled Crusher Bunny 19C is still barely holding on!"
The commentary crackled out like a string of firecrackers, the speech so fast it nearly lost its syllables, leaving people worried the host might keel over from oxygen deprivation the very next second.
It was proof enough of the professional caliber of an interstellar top-tier commentator—yet his surging commentary was only the surface.
Among the several hundred thousand spectators present, those who could pierce through that surface and truly perceive what unfolded beneath the veil of this duel were surely fewer than one in ten thousand.
To the vast majority of ordinary viewers like Stelle, March 7th, and Black and 'White' Seele, what they saw was indeed a brutal massacre between mechanical bunnies and mechanical wolves—energy cannon fire interweaving, parts scattering everywhere.
But Caelus, as a Bronie, understood clearly: the true battlefield between Haxxor Bunny and Silver Wolf lay on the aether data layer.
Take, for instance, the flickering green repair light on the armed rodent bunnies.
That was Haxxor Bunny cheating—injecting a command into an HP-recovery protocol.
Silver Wolf countered, maliciously altering the parameters of the [Laceration] status—which originally deducted a mere 10 HP per second—into a horrifying -1000 HP per second.
When Haxxor Bunny swiftly mobilized her data streams, attempting to correct the [Laceration] status back to a safe threshold, Silver Wolf seized the gap to activate her Shooting Assist module, ensuring the Demon King's next cannon blast not only hit without fail, but also carried defense-ignoring true critical damage.
Only those two beasts battling at the center of the field—Crusher Bunny 19C and Howl of the Azure Star, grappling like primordial titans—had their "cheats" already maxed out to the limit by their respective masters before they even took the stage.
And because of the sheer volume of aether data, neither side found it easy to slap a Debuff onto the other.
"Mm, still falls a bit short."
Caelus crossed his arms, fingers unconsciously drumming against them.
He understood Haxxor Bunny's progress better than anyone. Having first absorbed Silver Wolf's hacking experience, then undergone sparring instruction from that mechanical emperor Screwllum, the hacker-type Duck-Duck bunny had successfully converted that talent into genuine, solid strength.
Now, going toe-to-toe with Silver Wolf on pure technical skill, the ratio was roughly 4.5 : 5.5—slightly at a disadvantage, yes, but the gap was hardly an unbridgeable chasm.
But Silver Wolf was not fighting alone.
Seated beneath her were the four she had personally cultivated, the ones who had accompanied her all the way from her debut—the Four Heavenly Kings of Prometheus: Friend·Little Yuan, Demon King, Slave, and Wage Slave.
These four super artificial intelligences each possessed unique mastery, once again widening that already tiny technical gap between Silver Wolf and Haxxor Bunny.
At this moment, the only mechanical Aether Spirit Haxxor Bunny had left on the field was Crusher Bunny 19C.
On Silver Wolf's side, besides Howl of the Azure Star, there remained four mechanical wolves in varying degrees of damage.
"You four, that's enough—I'll handle the rest myself, so nobody can whine that I won by ganging up, that it was a cheap victory."
Silver Wolf gazed mockingly at Haxxor Bunny.
"Tch~ Bring it if you're bringing it, who's afraid of you!"
Haxxor Bunny pursed her lips, resolving inwardly that she too would design a super AI assistant afterward.
Electric sparks flickered from the damaged armor of the mechanical wolves, and the cockpit canopies popped open with a hiss.
Four tiny, two-head-tall Silver Wolf figurines crawled out of the cockpits and nimbly leapt onto the heads of their respective machines.
"Flatten that cocky rabbit! Show her what the true colors of a real 'Wolf King' look like!"
That was Little Yuan, wearing goggles, overalls, and a blue bow.
"Great Demon King! Go get her! Tear her apart! Steamed rabbit! Braised rabbit!"
That was the Demon King, a red bandana tied on her head, wearing a shoulder-baring little vest and cargo shorts, tiny fists clenched tight.
"B-boss, do your best!"
The Slave wore a cat-ear headband, small hands cupped around her mouth, her voice thin and soft yet shouting with all her might.
"Give her a taste of what you've got!"
The Wage Slave wore a duckbill cap, a single spiral ponytail poking out beneath the brim, dressed in cargo overalls and waving a tiny wrench.
The chibi Silver Wolves raised banners and began cheering in a chattering chorus.
The eyes of the entire venue, including the lenses of the interstellar broadcast, all locked onto the two silhouettes in the dueling arena.
"Since the Aether Front first launched, this is an unprecedented first!"
The commentator's voice cracked with excitement:
"The competitors have carved their own data templates into Aether Spirits to do battle! This—this is simply… making history!"
Silver Wolf·Aether Spirit gripped her Prometheus pistol, gaze razor-sharp.
Haxxor Bunny·Aether Spirit wore her old-friend Haxxor Bunny armament, data streams leaping across her fingertips.
"Go!"
The real Silver Wolf gave a low growl, fingers flying across the virtual panel.
Lock-On, Weakness Analysis, Dynamic Vision Enhancement!
"Take her down!"
The real Bronie refused to be outdone, summoning her holographic interface.
Hack, Path Prediction, Force Field Interference!
Silver Wolf·Aether Spirit performed a tactical roll, the bullets fired from her Prometheus tracing an eerie arc through the air, curving around the temporary data shield generated by Haxxor Bunny's armament.
[Shooting Assist]
[Infinite Ammo Reload]
Haxxor Bunny·Aether Spirit, ghostlike, flickered and wove through the hail of bullets.
[Void Healing]
[Anti-Gravity Flight]
[Out-of-Nowhere Damage Buff]
The audience had no energy left to complain.
Whatever—they weren't even pretending anymore, might as well just keep watching the clash of gods~!
Even the organizer's commentator had given up on treatment.
However, the divine-tier maneuvers didn't last long. After several hair-raising ranged exchanges and close-quarters swordplay parries, the gunpowder tension and a certain accumulated grudge erupted completely!
"Tch! Slippery as a loach!"
Silver Wolf·Aether Spirit spat, and during one close-range parry, abandoned her Cyber Gunplay—her left hand suddenly shot out and seized a strand of gradient-blue hair that had slipped out from beneath Haxxor Bunny·Aether Spirit's hood.
Data Hack, activate!
"The nerve on you, you perverted wolf!"
Haxxor Bunny·Aether Spirit fiercely grabbed hold of Silver Wolf·Aether Spirit's single spiral Augmented Duck.
Data Hack, activate!
The battle between the two shifted once more to the data layer, but in reality~
"Let go! You cheating, prowling rabbit!"
Silver Wolf·Aether Spirit ground her teeth, yanking Haxxor Bunny·Aether Spirit's hair with all her strength, trying to drag her down, her other hand prying at the one gripping her own hair.
"You let go! All you can do is use those cheap, sleazy hacks to stalk Seele!"
Haxxor Bunny·Aether Spirit not only refused to release her grip but even kicked at Silver Wolf·Aether Spirit's shin with her sneaker-clad foot, while her other hand reached to grab the strap of her opponent's vest.
"Back when Seele and I were playing games together, you were still off mining in some corner!"
Silver Wolf·Aether Spirit abruptly twisted aside to dodge the hand grabbing at her strap, using the momentum to ram her shoulder into Haxxor Bunny's chest, the hand yanking her hair pulling even harder.
"Bullshit!"
Haxxor Bunny·Aether Spirit staggered from the impact, but the hand gripping the hair pulled even more viciously, nearly dragging Silver Wolf's head down, while her knee drove up into her opponent's stomach.
As their real selves faced off on the data layer, their Aether Spirits had thus begun to brawl at close quarters—tearing at each other's hair, shoving and jostling, kicking and stomping, tangled completely into a single writhing knot.
In the dueling arena, the atmosphere was pushed once again toward a new climax.
Even Caelus felt his blood surge and his excitement rise.
Those two battered, scarred titans still locked in their "conventional" beast-brawl—Crusher Bunny 19C and Howl of the Azure Star—had utterly been reduced to ignored background scenery.
"Ohhh ohhh ohhh! Hair-pulling! The ultimate secret art!"
"So hype!"
"Ten thousand times more hype than mecha slugfests! This is exactly what I came to see!"
"Hit her! Go for her lower body!"
"I, Lü Xiaobu, love watching women fight more than anything!"
"There's a lesbian tugging at my zipper!"
"Watching Stellaron Hunters women's wrestling—worth it! Even if I died it'd be worth the ticket price, ya hear!"
"Uh, well…"
March 7th stared at the scene unfolding in the dueling arena, dumbstruck, utterly at a loss for what to say.
Caelus fell silent.
Both Haxxor Bunny and Silver Wolf were his dear big sisters~!
His dear bosom-brothers!
His dear bosom-brothers were slaughtering their own kin!
Bearing it…
Bearing it a while longer, but—but how could anyone possibly endure something so heartbreaking?
Caelus covered his mouth, unable to restrain himself from lifting his head, trying his best not to let the tears fall.
This spectacle rivaled the finest state banquet!
"Big sister Silver Wolf, stop fighting already!"
Silver Wolf's advantage in the data domain manifested through her Aether Spirit on the field. Likewise holding the upper hand in hair-pulling, Seele chose to protect the disadvantaged side.
After all, balance exists among all things.
If Silver Wolf bullied Haxxor Bunny, then what fun would there be left to watch?
Right—I've been so very balanced, so where's my [reciprocation]?
Hurry up and spare me a glance, dammit!
"Go! Go! Yank her! Kick her!"
Like four fleas leaping about atop the wolves' heads, the four chibi Silver Wolves waved their tiny fists all the more excitedly, chanting in perfect unison.
"Blade in hand, follow my command!"
"Eat the rabbit, snatch back Seele!"
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