CHAPTER FIFTEEN

By the end, Jason equipped only three additional items directly to his machine.

A set of three brief notifications appeared on his screen.

Item Acquired: Valorous Ji

Item Acquired: Ghostfire Dagger

Item Acquired: Armor Buster

The Valorous Ji was a powerful all-rounder item with a flame effect. The spear was an excellent option for attacking a ranged opponent like the Red Lamia. In the worst-case scenario, Jason could attack his opponent by directly hurling the item at her.

Jason strapped the weapon to his machine's back, carrying it just like a Chinese soldier from the time of the Three Kingdoms

The comparison brought a smile to Jason's face.

It reminded him of a joke he had with his parents.

In Chinese history, the time of the Three Kingdoms was filled with violence and civil war. Jason and his parents often joked that people getting ridiculously angry were going "Three Kingdoms mode."

Meanwhile, Jason hid the two knives inside the Red Minerva's supply wristbands. As always, the reliable items would grant him the powerful assassination items as soon as possible.

The Valorous Ji had been too long to store inside his trusted bracelets, but he would have stuffed it inside if such a thing was achievable.

Jason generally preferred to have his items available as soon as possible. His time as a One Star Boss had taught him that small margins could mean the difference between victory and defeat.

The mere second it took to draw an item seemed trivial until it swung a match.

As soon as Jason got into range, he planned on assassinating the Lamia with the two powerful knives. Very few attacks would break past his foe's S-tier defenses. Jason wanted to make sure his few strikes left a mark.

Both of the stored items had ways to circumvent his opponent's defenses.

The Ghostfire Dagger was famous for its deadly double-hit effect. Whenever Jason struck his foe with the item, a second phantasmal strike would come two seconds later, inflicting double damage.

Meanwhile, the Armor Buster was a one-use item. However, the single-use would open up the Red Lamia to all of Jason's other attacks, including even the Red Minerva's underwhelming hand-to-hand combat strikes.

The Armor Buster was based on an aspiring professional player's customized item from the Overdrive Corporation's Selection try-out for Fortress Masters.

The grenade-knife would explode after cutting past an opponent's outer layer.

In this case, the knife would only detonate after breaking through the Red Lamia's extremely durable skin. The explosions would inflict serious internal damage and expose the powerful machine's vulnerable insides.

Under normal circumstances, Jason would have preferred grabbing more than three items.

However, the collapsing ceiling had squished many of the most powerful weapons, including the Dragonbane Sword.

Jason would still get them transported directly to his inventory after the match, but he couldn't use them right now.

In particular, Jason wished a gun or ranged weapon had survived. However, those items were naturally squishy - unlike blades, they weren't meant to be bashed against an opponent. As a result, all of them had been destroyed by the shrapnel.

In contrast, most of the shields had survived, but Jason wasn't interested in blocking his opponent's attacks. Even if he equipped a shield, his machine wasn't strong enough to stop an S-ranked strike. Even if he carried a shield, the Red Lamia's abilities would still devastate Jason's arms.

His only option was to dodge, and a shield would hamper that by reducing his speed.

Of course, the enormous Titan's Macuahuitl had easily tanked the avalanche of shrapnel. However, Jason didn't want to grab the item again unless he absolutely had to. Now that all of the Grunts had been defeated, there was no need to pick up the titanic club again.

Normally, Jason would have still picked up some of the other average items that had survived the falling ceiling. They might not have been as powerful as the elite items he'd grabbed, but even a beaten-up beam sword would have been a better option than trying to punch the Red Lamia.

However, Jason was very conscious of his machine's weight.

He'd landed a substantial blow on the Red Lamia, and the Genetic Absorbers had responded appropriately. The band on Jason's right wrist was currently at 40% completion, and it'd swelled to almost twice its usual size.

As Jason continued attacking, the bands would grow thicker and thicker.

Right now, Jason's only statistical advantage over his opponent was his terrain-boosted speed. That advantage would naturally erode over time, and Jason didn't want to erode it further.

Instead of picking up the items, he'd spread them around the floor in easily accessible positions. If Jason wanted to, he could leap and grab them at any time.

Although this went against his ethos of high convenience and accessibility, the overall trade-off just wasn't worth it.

In Jason's mind, this was a simple statistical calculation.

The higher odds were that he would use an item, the more he wanted it on his person.

The lower the odds were, the less he wanted it hampering his Mech's movement speed.

In response to Jason gathering items, the Lamia hovered as high in the air as possible. By now, the pilot must have realized that Jason couldn't fly.

As a result, they wanted to safely bombard Jason from the skies.

The Mech's eerily human face stared down at Jason.

A faint sneer flickered around the machine's lips. Jason knew that this was nothing more than an idle animation programmed into the game, but it felt like the snake machine was mocking him.

The Red Lamia was flaunting the Red Minerva's greatest weakness, the fact that it was one of the few dragon Mechs on the server that couldn't fly.

Even worse, Jason couldn't easily knock his opponent to the ground. His only option was throwing the Valorous Ji, but Jason didn't want to risk his most versatile item for no reason.

As always, Jason's best bet was analyzing his opponent's weaknesses. If he couldn't beat the machine head-on, he had to scrutinize the pilot.

Earlier, his foe had made a critical mistake. He'd flown down to the ground to try and improve his firing angle. On top of that, he hadn't realized how difficult it would be to control the Red Minerva's heavy cave dragon tail.

Both of those moves painted a clear picture.

His opponent did what was generally correct instead of picking a hyperfocused plan for the specific match. He'd only adapted after gathering more information.

If Jason had to guess, his opponent had descended because he thought the Red Minerva could fly just like the Red Lamia.

Normally, that assumption would have made sense.

After all, the upgraded version of a machine should have had relatively similar abilities to the downgraded version. The enemy Boss had probably assumed that the Red Minerva could also manipulate air currents.

Jason's second big revelation was that his opponent didn't know his machine particularly well. Just as Jason had guessed, his opponent didn't main the Red Lamia. Instead, it was one of many machines in his repertoire.

To an outsider, those two weaknesses might not have seemed like much.

After all, his foe's earlier moves - particularly his skillful twisting and turning around the enormous Titan's Macuahuitl, showed that his control skills were just as good as Jason's.

When up against an opponent with equivalent control skills and a far superior machine, most players would simply give up.

However, Jason was empowered with his utter refusal to lose.

He grasped onto his opponent's two weaknesses with all his might.

His winning path had to be hidden somewhere in those clues.

The Red Lamia's throat began to swell once more as it charged up another attack. Now that the serpent woman was safe, the pilot felt like they could once again afford the charge-up time to try and kill Jason with a single blow.

In response, Jason lunged for one of the items he'd set close by him. He hadn't anticipated using this item, but now he realized that it was the perfect option.

Item Acquired: Pendulum Shield

He'd dismissed all shields out of hand, but that had been foolish.

The best players knew to constantly question their assumptions. Even if a shield couldn't be used for defense, it could be used for offense.

In order to knock his opponents from the skies, Jason needed to land a single devastating blow. His foe's air current manipulation system was powerful but fragile. If Jason hit the Red Lamia hard enough, it would lose its ability to fly.

It was almost like how frustrated gamers sometimes broke their laptops by slamming the keyboard too hard.

Both of his knives would suffice, but Jason couldn't soar to his opponent's height.

The Red Minerva could climb walls, but that would make Jason a sitting duck for his foe's blasts. He needed to launch himself high into the sky, and the Pendulum Shield was the perfect option.

His opponent was a very by-the-book player. Like everyone else, they underestimated the strength of the allegedly unreliable Pendulum Shield. Only Jason had drawn out the item's true strengths.

The Lamia spat up a bullet of congealed green slime.

The sound was ridiculously disgusting. It sounded like someone simultaneously vomiting and blowing their nose.

Jason's counter was a low-tier item, but it was one he knew well. As always, he'd counter strength with skill and familiarity.

The pilot's abilities mattered just as much as the quality of the machine!

The rounded Pendulum Shield on Jason's right hand hummed as a set of rapidly spinning blades emerged from the edge. A resonant snick echoed across the Vault as a band emerged from the item and attached to Jason's wrist.

Unlike some of the other rare items in the Vault, the Pendulum Shield wasn't an exclusive weapon from an event.

Although its effect was unique, the bladed shield was very commonplace.

Players could purchase it from any Overdrive in-game Shopkeeper for just 13,500 Credits.

The item was also a reward from many basic maps. If someone tried selling a Pendulum Shield for real-life money, they would be lucky to fetch even a penny.

As a low-rated item, it was one of the options a One Star Boss could equip to their machine.

The weapon's purpose was simple - it worked just like a pendulum.

If the user blocked an attack, the shield would gain momentum and swing in the opposite direction. The pilot could then use the weapon to strike opponents with the back end of the swung.

It sounded promising, but most players rightfully derided the Pendulum Shield for its many limitations and dangers.

For one thing, it could only be used on an ultra-close combat Mech that fought hand to hand.

The pendulum swing back would be useless on a long-ranged gunner. A regular shield, which could be purchased and equipped for a far lower Credit cost, would be far more efficient.

On top of that, the Pendulum Shield didn't synergize very well with even most close combat weapons. The band was relatively short and only stretched as far as the range of a fist.

A spearman focused on jabbing and keeping an opponent away.

A swordsman could hypothetically use the shield, but they'd need exceptional focus to land the back-end blow while successfully controlling their blade.

Difficulty controlling the item was ultimately the Pendulum Shield's most significant disadvantage.

Using the weapon required an enormous amount of skill. Fighters had to angle the shield precisely both when catching the initial blow and redirecting the strike.

In fact, poor usage of the weapon could even kill the user.

There were several comedic fail compilations showing players accidentally piercing their own cockpits in their eagerness to hit the opponent with the Pendulum Shield.

However, the weapon was a perfect choice for the Red Minerva. The creature's palm-generated beam swords could be turned on or off at any moment.

In addition, the weapon synergized well with Jason's precise nature and keen battle sense. Due to his high familiarity with the Red Minerva's movements, he almost always redirected the damage successfully. Even in the worst-case scenario, Jason could at least avoid striking himself.

He'd never taken damage from his own Pendulum Shield, which was an immense point of pride for him.

He had no intention of letting his streak end here.

He twisted his body, ensuring that the bullet of poisonous spittle struck the shield exactly where he wanted it to strike.

Of course, Jason was careful to hold the shield so that it wasn't braced against his body. The reverberations of a blocked shot would be enough to cripple the Red Minerva's arm.

Jason needed all the backlash to dissipate into the air.

With his other hand, Jason readied the thruster on his right-hand side. He planned on flipping his body around right after the Lamia struck. The Pendulum Shield's gathered force was useful for more than attacks - the backlash could also be used for mobility.

The bullet streaked towards him.

In contrast to the creature's enormous size, the bullet was extremely small. It looked absurdly disproportionate next to the cyborg Mech. The compression process concentrated all of the creature's power to a single point, which had granted the Red Lamia its vaunted S-rating.

Clang!

The Pendulum Shield caught the blow.

The bladed shield swung backwards. The band stretched tight, violently yanking at the Red Minerva's arm as it accumulated more and more force.

A flashing red light at the base of Jason's screen said he had 1.2 seconds until the shield released the gathered curse.

Jason scowled and quickly recalculated.

He'd absorbed the shot's energy with his shield, but the power and momentum had thrown his calculations off.

He had seriously underestimated the speed and strength of the Lamia's bullet. The extreme compression had caused him to gather even more force than he'd expected.

The creature's attack had jerked his arm too far back.

As a result, Jason's original plan had failed.

Initially, Jason had hoped to strike the ground with the Pendulum Shield in order to vault high into the air, but now he couldn't turn around his body in time.

Jason quickly put together a new plan.

If he couldn't propel himself with the Pendulum Shield, he'd use it to strike down his foe.

Yeeeeeeeeee...

Yeeeeeeeeee...

The Pendulum Shield's familiar windy wail echoed through Jason's ears.

The noise reminded him of the extreme urgency.

Jason responded instantly. He didn't have enough time to shift his body around, but he could still turn himself towards the Red Lamia.

He deposited his Armor Buster into his hand. The blade fell right out of his wristband.

Jason stabbed the knife straight into the ground and activated the grenade.

The explosion blew apart most of his left arm and gouged out half his torso, but it instantly blasted Jason high into the air.

The Red Lamia's pilot had reacted to the shock of seeing Jason throw the Titan's Macuahuitl, but this was too much, even for him.

A player blowing himself to pieces in order to attack was completely unpredictable.

Only Jason, somebody who knew the full limits of their machine, could use such a risky move without accidentally killing themselves.

Jason was accustomed to taking severe damage.

In fact, the Hemoborn class's regenerative Overdrive bonus meant it was a key part of his playstyle.

On top of that, the Red Minerva was a cave dragon. She might have had low defenses, but Jason's partner was very tough.

The Red Minerva frequently took a lot of damage, but she could also survive a lot of damage.

After all, cave dragons lived under extremely adverse conditions. The damage was serious, but Jason's partner would survive long enough to land its deadly counter.

WHAM!

With his entrails leaking out of his body, Jason swung his arm forward and struck his opponent with the full strength of their own attack.

The Pendulum Shield smashed his foe's severely impenetrable skin so hard that the Red Lamia split cleanly in two.

The humanoid upper body fell one end, and the twisting tail fell another.

The Mech had an S-rating in Defense, but it also had an S-rating in Shooting. Now, it was clear which of the specialties had been the more powerful of the two.

"Yes!"

Jason crowed with triumph as the two pieces of the Red Lamia tumbled towards the ground...

But then, his triumph turned to fury as he saw the raging light remaining in his opponent's eyes.

After all, the Red Lamia was also an incredibly tough cave dragon.

She wasn't dead yet.