"Is... is that our backup?"
A young guard asked, his voice trembling with the hope of someone who had just escaped death.
Feng Biao looked up as well.
But when he got a clear look at the aircraft's model, the flicker of hope that had just ignited in his heart was instantly extinguished.
His heart went cold.
"An Initial Training-3?"
"A decommissioned training plane from a Martial Arts University, decades old?"
He recognized the ancient model at a glance, and his throat felt like it was full of sand.
Even the Outer City's reclamation teams looked down on this piece of junk.
'What was it here for?'
'To be an appetizer for those beasts?'
"Fuck! The City Defense Center sent this piece of crap over just to die?"
Feng Biao's eyes turned red with anger as he cursed aloud.
High in the sky, the five Iron-Winged Crows also noticed the uninvited guest.
They let out a few sharp, short cries, their calls filled with mockery.
They gave up on the convoy below and changed direction.
Like a pack of malicious children who had found a new toy, they began to encircle Han Feng's plane.
Feng Biao gripped his rifle, despairingly preparing to watch a tragedy unfold in the sky.
In the air, Han Feng's expression grew grim.
The moment he arrived, he had become the sole target of aggression in this airspace.
Two of the Iron-Winged Crows let out a piercing screech.
Abandoning their clumsy rock-throwing attacks, they beat their wings.
Transforming into two streaks of black lightning, they closed in on Han Feng in a pincer movement, one from the left and one from the right.
'Their speed is incredible!'
Han Feng didn't open fire.
The distance was too great; the fire-control radar's lock-on was far slower than the Demon Beasts' instinctive evasion.
A hundred rounds. That was his only trump card.
'If I'm going to score a kill, it has to be in one shot.'
'I need to get close enough.'
'So close the Demon Beast won't have time to react.'
'Thirty meters!'
The number, one he had run through countless times in the simulator, flashed through his mind.
He instinctively pushed the control stick to the right.
At the same time, the Qi Blood Power in his body surged madly down the arm gripping the stick and into this "Flying Sword" named "Initial Training-3"!
[Activating Entry Level Sword Control Technique]
The old Initial Training-3 carved an incredibly bizarre trajectory through the air.
It didn't bank its fuselage to perform a conventional turn.
Instead, its fuselage remained perfectly level.
It abruptly shifted thirty meters to the right!
It was as if an invisible giant hand had forcibly dragged it sideways through the air!
[Skill Proficiency for Sword Control Technique·Entry Level +2]
[Qi Blood -25]
The two Iron-Winged Crows' confident pounce missed completely.
They shot past the spot where he had just been, leaving two sharp, whistling air currents in their wake.
"Huh?"
On the ground, Feng Biao's eyes went wide, his jaw nearly hitting his chest.
The young guard beside him rubbed his eyes hard, his voice changing pitch.
"Cap-Captain... Am I seeing things?"
"That plane... did it just fly sideways?"
This completely overturned everything they knew about flight.
In the air, however, Han Feng had no time to spare for the shock on the ground.
After dodging the first strike, he immediately pulled up, fighting for altitude.
The other three Iron-Winged Crows abandoned the convoy on the ground, screeching as they charged toward him.
One of them opened its sharp beak.
A glob of dark green acidic liquid shot toward him like a cannonball.
Han Feng yanked the control stick back sharply.
Fusing his Spiritual Power with the aircraft's frame, man and machine seemed to merge into one at that moment.
[Executing Body Technique·Reversal of Heaven and Earth]
The nose of the Initial Training-3 jerked up, its attitude becoming almost perpendicular to the ground, on the verge of stalling.
But at the critical moment, the fuselage flipped over in a way that defied the laws of physics.
Like a falling leaf caught in a gale, it dodged the glob of corrosive liquid by a hair's breadth.
[Skill Proficiency for Sword Control Technique·Entry Level +3]
[Skill Proficiency for Body Technique·Reversal of Heaven and Earth·Entry Level +1]
[Qi Blood -30]
This series of god-like maneuvers allowed him to successfully circle behind the first two Iron-Winged Crows.
'An opening!'
Han Feng's gaze was as sharp as ice. He stabilized the aircraft.
He locked the simple crosshairs on his instrument panel firmly onto the back of one of the Iron-Winged Crows.
His Will was highly concentrated in this moment.
His index finger pressed the bright red button on the control stick.
"DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA!"
The old autocannon let out a muffled roar as several shells burst from the barrel.
[Host's use of ranged attack detected. Matches the characteristics of "Sword Qi Release."]
[New Skill Acquired: Swordsmanship·Sword Qi Release (Entry Level 0/1000)]
The moment the system notification sounded, Han Feng felt as if his Will had truly attached itself to the cannon shells.
It corrected their nigh-imperceptible trajectory deviation.
[Skill Proficiency for Swordsmanship·Sword Qi Release·Entry Level +1]
"SCREEE—!"
A bloodcurdling shriek tore through the sky.
The Iron-Winged Crow's right wing was instantly shredded by a string of incredibly precise shells!
Black feathers and flesh exploded into a bloody mist.
Like a torn sack of rags, it spiraled straight toward the ground.
"He... he shot it down?!"
The young guard's voice trembled.
An unbelievable light erupted in Feng Biao's eyes. He grabbed the communicator and roared at the top of his lungs.
"Everyone who can still move, open fire!"
"Feint attack!"
"Draw the attention of those bastards!"
The death of their companion completely enraged the remaining four Iron-Winged Crows.
They abandoned all formation and charged madly at Han Feng from all directions.
Cold sweat beaded on Han Feng's forehead.
That last series of maneuvers had been as smooth as flowing water, but it had also consumed most of his Qi Blood.
Without hesitation, he pulled out his third Qi Blood Potion, twisted off the cap, and downed it in one gulp.
'One hundred Contribution Points, gone just like that.'
He didn't have time to feel the sting of the expense; a warm current was already spreading throughout his body.
The four Iron-Winged Crows displayed astonishing coordination.
They launched a death charge simultaneously from the left, right, and below.
They had sealed off all his escape routes.
"Shit!"
Han Feng's scalp went numb with fear.
He yanked the nose up sharply, performing an extreme climbing roll, trying to slip through the only opening above him.
[Skill Proficiency for Sword Control Technique·Entry Level +4]
[Qi Blood -45]
He narrowly dodged the sharp claws of the two Iron-Winged Crows on his left and right.
But the one ambushing from below was still a tenth of a second faster.
"SCREEECH—!"
A tooth-grinding sound of scraping metal assaulted Han Feng's eardrums.
A sharp claw, gleaming with a dark light, viciously raked across the left wing of the Initial Training-3!
The fuselage shuddered violently!
Han Feng felt as if he had been kicked hard in the side.
He slammed against the cockpit wall, feeling like his internal organs had been rearranged.
Piercing alarms instantly flooded the entire cockpit!
Han Feng whipped his head around to look.
A gruesome gash, over half a meter long, had been torn into the skin of the left wing.
Peeled-back strips of metal trembled violently in the airflow.
A chill shot up his spine and straight to the crown of his head.
'If that had been any deeper and cut the main spar, I'd be a goner today!'
'Uncle Sun is going to skin me alive for this...'
The thought flashed for only an instant before being replaced by a more intense rage that welled up from the depths of his soul.
'This isn't just a damaged plane.'
'This is my "Flying Sword," and it's been scarred!'
Seeing their attack succeed, the remaining Iron-Winged Crows let out another sharp screech.
Positioning themselves one in front and one behind, they prepared to launch the final, fatal blow.
"I'm done playing games with you!"
Han Feng's eyes turned utterly cold.
He slammed the throttle to full.
He poured the Qi Blood Power he had just recovered, along with his searing rage at being violated, into the engine without reservation!
[New Skill Comprehended: Body Technique·Spiral Charge]
The Initial Training-3's old engine let out a groan, as if on the verge of collapse.
Then, the sound transformed into a loud, soaring dragon's roar!
On the instrument panel, all the needles instantly shot to their limits, erupting in a shower of sparks!
The old training plane's speed skyrocketed.
It transformed into a streak of light and rammed straight into the Iron-Winged Crow dead ahead!