CHAPTER FORTY THREE

There was a loud crash as Jason hit the ground hard.

He tried pushing himself back up, but then he heard the telltale sound of splintering bones, and his machine keeled over.

Shit.

The full-powered punch had shattered the Red Minerva's bones.

The Devoted Monk packed a serious punch.

On top of that, Vile was using the machine perfectly.

Jason's initial instinct was to blame his machine's reduced defenses.

However, the Red Minerva's weakened outer layer hadn't played much of a part in his machine's injury. The damage calculations would have been comparable whether his Mech had a B or a C in defense.

The real issue was the sheer force of his opponent's attacks.

The Devoted Monk sprinted forward.

Jason coaxed his control board, urging his partner to dodge despite her injuries.

She rose back to her feet and barely twisted out of the way as the Devoted Monk unleashed a deadly series of kicks.

The white Mech balanced perfectly on a single leg, rotating its absurdly flexible waist back and forth as its right leg launched strike after strike.

Jason snaked back and forth.

The wind whistled with every single blow.

Just a single successful attack would devastate his machine.

He doubted he could survive another blow. Considering the Red Minerva's broken ribs, a second attack would probably completely immobilize his cyborg partner.

After that, Vile would make short work of him.

The Devoted Monk was a specially designed close combat type created especially for the Martial Arts Event. It had a unique body designed for physical strikes.

While most machines on the Overdrive server were humanoid, not all of them had the exact same proportions. For instance, sniping-type machines had thicker feet designed to anchor them in place.

In this case, the Devoted Monk had a specially modified waist that enabled exceptionally powerful strikes.

The Devoted Monk's generalized grade of B+ simply measured the machine's base striking power. However, a skilled pilot could use the eccentric waist to bring out the machine's full potential.

The Devoted Monk's waist was completely different from a regular human's. The upper and lower body were separated not by hips, but by a glowing white sphere.

The unusual bodily composition offered a superhuman range of movement. The machine was able to twist and maneuver its waist with perfect flexibility.

The unique waist demonstrated one of the most critical advantages of Overdrive's Mechs - they could be modified beyond human anatomy. Not even the most skilled gymnast, dancer, or martial artist could replace their waist with a rotating globe.

The strangely shaped part allowed the Devoted Monk to fight with ridiculous amounts of increased strength. The Hive's guildleader, Twister had pioneered this particular customization, and now it'd made its way to Grunt Mechs.

The waist was the fundamental of martial arts.

Many of the most powerful moves involved twisting the body to either increase striking power or improve grappling abilities.

The globe waist was difficult to control as it required constant balance, but it afforded enormous power.

However, in the hands of a true expert like Vile, it empowered all of the machine's strikes with utterly deadly force.

She was able to put the machine's full weight and power behind even the most minor blow.

In conjunction with its ability to manipulate beam energy, his opponent hit far beyond its on-paper grade.

The storm of kicks continued blitzing towards him, and Jason only barely dodged in time.

Jason knew he needed to knock away his opponent and activate the Hemoborn's special regeneration Overdrive bonus.

Jason grit his teeth.

His first option was trying to skewer his opponent point-blank with the Titan's Macuahuitl.

However, he felt like that trick was too basic for an expert like Vile.

Instead, he clapped his hands together and summoned a different item.

BLAZING AVARICE: GORGON'S FLAIL

To his shock, the skilled Hemoborn expert reacted nearly automatically.

She spun her machine's spherical waist, jerking her head out of the talismanic Gorgon head's line of sight.

Not only that...

Jason took in a sharp breath as he barely jerked back in time from another abrupt roundhouse kick.

Vile hadn't just twisted her head away from Jason's stunning effect. She'd also moved into an even better position to attack.

Most players would have simply been caught off guard by Jason's sudden usage of the Gorgon's Flail.

Even the players who recognized the item's effect would have inadvertently delayed themselves. They might have fallen backwards or jerked to the side.

The most careless and easily startled players would have leaped into the air, removing their feet from solid ground and making themselves vulnerable to a follow-up attack.

Although Vile's move was very simplistic - nothing more than a shift in her stance - it truly proved her expertise.

She moved in an aggressive forward diagonal, not only cutting her machine away from the Gorgon Flail's area of effect but also lowering her stance and preparing her follow-up attack.

Even when dodging, Vile was focused on her next attack.

In Jason's mind, these subtle yet masterful moves were the difference between a good player and a great one. Anyone with decent control skills and enough luck could pull off a dramatic move.

Consistent success could only be achieved by making the right moves over and over again.

Fortunately for Jason, he too was a player who'd trained himself to consistently make the right moves.

Instead of staring awe-struck at Vile's counter, he struck back with a clever gambit of his own.

He swung the Gorgon's Flail in a wide arc and commanded the burning snakes to wrap themselves around Vile's leg.

Bright blue light flared once again.

In response to Jason's grab, Vile maximized the beam energy in her leg.

By concentrating her power in the limb, she seared away the replica snakes before they grabbed onto her.

Jason cursed and ducked beneath the stage again. The Red Minerva eagerly chewed through the thick tarp as it repositioned to another part of the Ring.

The tarp was a thick and plastic-like substance that probably would have poisoned or choked a real-life animal.

However, the Red Minerva's infamous stomach had no problems dissolving and ingesting the artificial material.

As he hid underground, Jason first activated his Overdrive bonus.

OVERDRIVE ACTIVATED: MAJESTIC WILL

Green light poured across the Red Minerva, gradually healing the wear and tear Jason had sustained throughout the match.

His twisted limbs returned to their rightful place. His machine straightened up slightly as the rejuvenating energy repaired the damage he'd taken falling to the mat.

Using his Overdrive bonus so early in the fight was a significant risk.

Jason wouldn't be able to heal off any future damage from here on out.

However, activating the bonus was his only option.

He couldn't continue fighting with damaged limbs. Vile's attacks were simply too forceful.

As he rested underneath the stage, Jason felt his heart pounding in his chest.

He was going all-out, but to no avail.

The frustrated pilot shook his head and frowned.

He needed to calm down and use his brain. He had to come up with an even more creative strategy.

So far, he'd displayed many of best moves.

Unfortunately, Vile had stifled him each time.

His mind whirled as he briefly considered his options.

He needed to catch her off guard with totally unexpected moves.

After solidifying his plan, he burst out again, this time appearing directly right in front of Vile.

Out of the two machines, the Red Minerva was clearly inferior at hand-to-hand combat. As a result, not even Vile had anticipated Jason appearing at zero range.

On top of that, he didn't even bother drawing an item. Even drawing the Ghostfire Dagger might have been too slow.

Instead, he just punched her as hard as she could. The instantaneous blow failed to inflict significant damage.

The Red Minerva's gauntlets weren't meant for hand-to-hand combat. The attack was just a regular punch.

As a result, it simply sent Vile stumbling back a few feet.

His move was not meant to inflict damage. Instead, he was trying to bait his opponent into attacking him.

Jason knelt, clapping his hands close together. He held his stance, waiting for Vile to attack.

The Gorgon's Flail was a Five Star level item.

As a high-ranking Fortress Master, Vile had probably dealt with that kind of weapon many times before. After all, she had access to all of Overdrive's best items.

If Jason recalled correctly, she even had constructed a Mech based on Medusa.

In that case, his high-ranking items probably wouldn't work. She was too well-adapted to them.

However, Jason also had a very low-ranking item at his disposal.

The Pendulum Shield would be Jason's ace in the hole.

Vile drew both the butterfly knives at her waist. She slashed with the swords in a wide arc.

Just like her palms, the blades suddenly glowed with a brilliant blue light. The Devoted Monk's qi channeling ability also allowed it to empower weapons.

Instead of activating his Pendulum Shield, Jason brought his right foot backwards in a wide pivot while ducking low to the ground.

The Pendulum Shield relied on absorbing the kinetic force of an opponent's blow before lashing back out again.

Vile's X-shaped swipe, which applied force in two directions at once, would nullify the weapon's redirection ability.

In response to his opponent's dual-wielding, Jason adjusted his plans again.

His next attack was a simple dirty trick.

He jiggered his thruster, and his magnum pistol emerged from his waistband.

At close range, Jason had no time to aim. He simply placed the gun near his opponent's chest and hoped for the best before repeatedly pulling the trigger.

It was more important to hit Vile than to be particularly choosy about his accuracy. If he hesitated for too long, his skilled opponent would slip away.

The heavy caliber weapon rang out three times.

The Red Minerva's newly empowered arm forcibly held the pistol in place, stifling the intense recoil.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

The move, so utterly out of place in a martial arts fight, caught even Vile off guard.

She jerked back in time to protect her cockpit, but the bullets still struck true.

The first shot smashed into her Mech's shoulder, sending the burly machine stumbling out of control.

The second bullet sank deep into the machine's thigh.

However, Vile had largely recovered in time to avoid the third shot.

Once again using her machine's flexible waist, she spun in a three sixty degree circle as she pivoted to the right.

The bullet barely managed to nick her right arm.

Now, Jason understood how the skilled pilot had recuperated so quickly during their prior confrontations.

She had an innate understanding of her machine's recovery time.

Even the tankiest Giga Mech couldn't maintain a stable stance at all times. If hit hard enough, any machine would lose its balance.

However, Vile knew how long it would take for the Devoted Monk to recover. As soon as her machine caught its bearings, she was on the move again.

Her knowledge of her machine was amazing.

Moving Overdrive machines was an extremely difficult and complex process at the highest levels. It was a lot more difficult than just moving your thrusters around.

You needed to know exactly how far the limbs could go. You needed to understand how much weight each joint could reliably bear.

Vile was using a Grunt Mech she'd only recently designed.

However, she was moving even better than Jason did on the Red Minerva.

Jason thought of himself as a veteran pilot, but Vile's ability to track her machine's recovery time down to the millisecond astounded him.

Battling one of the game's apex masters was a rare opportunity. Jason was doing his best to compete against her, but he was also learning.

Jason fired yet another shot.

In response, Vile did something totally unexpected.

Instead of the aggressive dodge she used previously, she slid to the side to avoid the attack.

Even though Jason had a gun, Vile had no intention of approaching him.

Instead, she hurled the blade at him.

Jason frowned.

Using the Pendulum Shield would be useless.

Since his opponent was so far away, he wouldn't be able to redirect the attack.

Jason briefly considered grabbing the item to try and absorb it with the Blazing Avarice.

Even though he wouldn't be able to keep the butterfly knife permanently, he would still be able to remove one of his opponent's tools and use it for the remainder of the battle.

He measured the spinning blade in the air, then shook his head.

It was better to be conservative.

If he timed poorly, he'd cut his hand wide open. He'd lose not only the Blazing Avarice but also his resupply band.

It just wasn't worth the risk.

Instead, Jason sidestepped and then fired off two more shots with his magnum. With his ammunition depleted, the wristband automatically started reloading.

Vile dodged both attacks.

Then she charged forward, slashing wildly with the butterfly knife she still held. It seemed like she'd thrown her other blade as a distraction.

Jason squared his stance.

He re-established his defensive position so he could use the Pendulum Shield.

But before he could summon his item, his screen was flooded with warning notifications.

The Red Minerva's enhanced sense of smell detected an item silently creeping through the air behind him.

Jason whirled around, and he barely dodged in time.

The discarded butterfly knife whizzed through the air, barely missing the Red Minerva's arm.

Vile swiped again with the sword in her hand.

Once again, the second sword rose into the air, mirroring the other blade's every motion.

To survive, Jason needed to defend both directions at once.