CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR

The enemy team responded immediately to Jason's provocation. The enemies started blasting wildly as soon as he started flying forward.

A total of seven remaining Mechs waited at the top of the satellite.

Considering the Mechs that'd already leaped downward, the enemy team had about twenty players. Under ordinary circumstances, it should have been an even fight - twenty enemies for the twenty members of the BAG Guild.

Unfortunately, there were far too many weak pilots in Danny's guild. Jason needed to take on an outsized role for the group to survive.

Three of the enemy Mechs featured long-ranged capabilities.

Two of them held a pair of laser pistols. The last one wielded an elongated sniper rifle.

The sniper Mech raised its lengthy weapon to their Mech's eyes as they honed in on Jason. The item was a Three Star weapon with charging capabilities.

Golden light gradually gathered at the weapon's barrel. A sliding indicator at the corner of the rifle slowly ticked forward, indicating the weapon's current charge level.

Once it was fully charged, the Mech's next three attacks would deal quadruple damage. The damage level would be equivalent to the S-tier.

Jason needed to take out the sniper before they fired. His bulky Mech lacked the mobility to dodge charged-up strikes, and he couldn't tank them head-on. He'd die as soon as they shot him.

On the other hand, he could safely ignore the pistols. The high-speed bullets were meant to hamper swift machines like the fencer or the Red Minerva. Jason charged right through the shots, which plinked uselessly off his Mech's thick armor.

Unfortunately, the three shooters had bodyguards.

The remaining four Mechs had immediately stepped forward, creating a spontaneous formation. Unlike the previous training guild, this group had no issue working as a team.

Their poses - kneeling behind a large shield while pointing their jagged spears at Jason - reminded him of a Roman army formation.

Jason's weapons were more or less useless.

They'd be able to block both his shoulder-mounted machine guns and his harpoon attachment. In fact, pulling himself into the nest of spears was asking for defeat.

He had to try something totally new.

To his surprise, an idea immediately crossed his mind. The creative solution had sprung into existence wholesale - he'd never read or seen it in outside media. However, he instinctively knew it was his best option.

He climbed high, flying over the shield wall.

The sniper Mech's rifle was almost done charging. It stepped forward to fire...

Jason's fingers dashed across the control board as he swiftly entered the seemingly absurd command.

The notification appeared on his screen just moments later.

PART PURGED: LOWER LEG

Thunk

Jason purged his lower leg, leaving nothing beneath the knee. He caught the detached part with his right arm. Moments later, he threw it with full power, once again empowering his hand with the full force of the Blood Transfer ability.

The thick and heavily armored leg whirled through the air, and the other team couldn't react in time to Jason's totally absurd move.

Just moments ago, they'd noticed that he lacked high-powered ranged weapons. Now, he'd caught them totally off guard by throwing the heavy limb.

The empowered toss was equivalent to launching a bazooka missile. As soon as the leg slammed into the enemy formation, it exploded. Shrapnel and fire burst through the enemy's formation.

The sniper Mech had briefly peeked past the wall to fire, so it was caught in the nucleus of the explosion. Red fire burst through space. The flames quickly reached the fully-charged rifle.

A beat later, the high-powered weapon ignited, and the conflagration abruptly doubled in size. The sniper immediately burnt to ashes. There was no way it could escape in time.

The clumped-up frontline of shield and spear Mechs took significant damage. Their tight formation worked against them, and they couldn't scramble away from the explosion in their midst.

Earlier, Jason had admired the other team's exceptional teamwork.

However, teams were always more organized during comfortable and logical situations. They'd quickly formed up against Jason because they'd dealt with many charging attackers.

On the other hand, very few teams would prepare for an unexpected explosion from inside their formation. The other Mechs had repeatedly gotten in each other way as they tried to run.

However, all of the Mechs were still operational.

On the other hand, the two pistol machines had escaped largely unscathed. They were far from the center of the blast, and their mobile build meant they excelled at avoiding danger.

Jason braced himself for battle, but to his surprise, every single one of the Mechs streaked right past him. They flew around his Vampire Brawler in a wide arc, taking care so he couldn't grab them.

Shit...

Jason whirled around.

Green lights streaked through the air as the pistol Mechs continued gunning down the BAG Guild.

The skilled attackers realized that they couldn't deal with Jason on their own. Similarly, the damaged shield and spear machines were also looking for easier prey.

Streaking past Jason was the natural option.

Danny called out to him.

"Jason! I need you to deal with them! I'll take the rest of these guys down to the Palace!"

Jason glanced at his teammates. The BAG Guild had suffered just under seventy percent casualties. They had nine fighters remaining, but several were in bad shape. All of the Medic Packs had already been used up.

Danny's Lucky Duck had already lost its last weapon.

He'd been forced to reroll, but he'd luckily received a better result. His new item was a sturdy and reliable katana. Although it wasn't one of his overpowered items, he had no problem beating back the storm of foes.

However, he could not go on the offensive. There were too many opponents. A backward retreat was the best he could do.

Unfortunately, Owen's Belcher had already succumbed to the enemy team.

The bloated dragon's corpse floated lifelessly through space. An enormous missile had torn a hole in the machine's head. There was nothing a Medic Pack could do for the deceased cyborg. Destroying the brain cockpit had sent Owen straight back to the central space station.

Danny's blade slashed back and forth as he desperately protected the weaker members of the BAG Guild.

Wendy's Mech had lost an arm, but she still had her machinegun. The weapon continued screaming as she fired and fired.

Her shooting strategy was extremely conservative. She only went for opponents who were in range. Instead of going for risky shots, she carefully aimed at her opponent's chests, minimizing the area where they could dodge.

The reliable moves were typical of a Guild Wars veteran, and Jason watched as she brought down two more opponents.

At the moment, Steven's Mech was curled protectively around hers. The solid O-Flier nullified most of the enemy attacks.

However, Wendy's base Mech wouldn't hold out for much longer. She needed to descend onto the Palace of Emotions as soon as possible. A single unlucky shot, and she'd get sent right back to the spawning space station.

Jason nodded.

"Got it. Don't worry about me."

If he died, he had no problem returning to complete the mission independently.

On the other hand, Danny and his allies still had items they needed to grab from inside the Palace.

In an even battle, the BAG Guild's inexperienced players were useless. They couldn't deal with their foes one-on-one, and they became free targets.

However, their coordinated tactics would be critical against the Emotional Paragons. It was easy to overwhelm a powerful boss - even a Five Star Boss - with sheer numbers.

Jason streaked after the fleeing opponents.

After losing his legs, his Mech moved faster since Jason had jettisoned the added weight.

After all, they were in the middle of space.

Mechs needed legs to stand on solid ground or use specific stances, but they were unneeded in space. Forfeiting his machine's legs had essentially allowed Jason to exchange striking power for speed.

Fortunately, he didn't need to kick his opponents right now - he needed to chase after them.

Jason lowered his shoulders and started firing.

He was careful not to shoot anywhere near Danny and the rest of the BAG Guild.

Jason's accuracy was mediocre. He was unfamiliar with ranged weapons, and the strange location of these items above his shoulders meant that they were much more complicated to use than a handheld rifle.

Practice was one thing, but deliberately endangering his teammates was another.

Fortunately, there were plenty of viable targets.

Jason concentrated his gunfire on the badly injured shield and spear Mechs. The machines charged rapidly as they chased after the BAG Guild. Sparks flew from their damaged engines.

If Jason could inflict just a bit more damage...

Plink...

Plink...

Plink...

The results were immediate.

It hadn't taken much to push the sword and shield Mechs over the edge.

A few bullets grazed their engines, then the thruster fire dimmed.

The enemy Mechs stumbled, then dramatically plummeted towards the Palace.

Their pilots furiously fought to control their machines, but they could do nothing. The damaged Mechs sunk like stones, and then four explosions burst across the Palace of Emotions.

Like most large stages, the Palace of Emotions was the size of a planet.

Although it was an artificial space station rather than a naturally occurring celestial body, the enormous cruise ship still had a significant gravitic pull. By lowering the enemy's thrusters, he ensured they no longer had the strength needed to escape the gravity field.

Destroying opponents with machine guns was difficult. The shoulder-attached firearms were only moderately powerful. However, the highly spammable items were the perfect weapon to push injured machines over the brink.

The remaining Mechs turned around.

In addition to the two pistol carriers, there were still eight other Melee units.

With Jason blasting at their backs, they were forced to pay attention to him.

As the Mech closest to him turned, Danny promptly hurled his katana through the air. The blade stabbed cleanly through the distracted Mech's cockpit.

Initially, the enemy team had gained an advantage by streaking past Jason. Now, they had to fight opponents in two directions. Jason bore down on them, catching his foes in a classic pincer movement.

The enemy Mechs responded to the two-sided attack by grouping up again. The tight formation allowed them to block attacks from both directions.

Every player was watching the other's back.

Once again, Jason needed to shatter the enemy team's configuration.

Fortunately, it was a lot easier when he had a team. Now that he'd saved them a few times, he felt a lot more comfortable asking for assistance.

"Steven! Do you mind combining with me again?"

Previously, Jason had been reluctant to charge straight into the enemy team. He knew they could surround him and finish them off. However, battling them with the armor bonus was a very different story.

Steven nodded.

"Yes. I'll come over. Danny, watch Wendy."

The circular ring detached from Wendy's Dehua with a loud whir.

Simultaneously, Danny shifted his Mech to cover Wendy's damaged machine. He was still rolling for a new item after throwing his katana. However, his machine could still be used as a human shield even if it wasn't carrying any items.

Jason raised his harpoon.

Twing!

The harpoon latched onto the enemy formation, and the winch rapidly brought Jason forward. Steven's ring encircled Jason's Mech, vastly boosting his armor and toughness. His empowered Vampire Brawler charged forward.

His first move was an absolutely brutal elbow slam straight at the first pistol Mech's face. Metal screamed, and then the head went tumbling off into space.

The enemy group promptly surrounded Jason and Steven.

There was no way to ignore such a dangerous Mech in their midsts.

As a result, the BAG Guild could safely make their descent.

Danny, Wendy, and the rest of them called out their thanks as they landed on the massive cruise ship.

Jason could only hope that he could join them, but for now...

He blocked the first spear coming at him with his right arm, and then he smashed the Vampire Brawler's head towards his foe in a vicious headbutt.

Steven pumped his fist.

"Nice move!"

One of the pistol-carrying machines brought their gun's barrel up close, then blasted. Despite the O-Flier's armor, Jason's shoulder still burst into flame. He responded by whirling around and slamming the stub of his knee into the other Mech's chest.

Once again, Steven let out an excited cry.

"Dang! Great response!"

The other pilot's cheers motivated Jason even further.

Jason's new Mech became a whirling dervish of limbs and armor, and his attacks grew increasingly chaotic with every single second.

The enemies attacked over and over again, and he tanked each blow before viciously countering.

By the time the smoke finally cleared, he and Steven were in a tattered and ruined state, but they'd won. The rubble of the ruined jet-black machines fell into an awkward orbit around the Palace of Emotions.

"Nice work."

Jason let out a long sigh before nodding.

"You too."

Together, the Vampire Brawler and the O-Flier safely landed on the Palace of Emotions. The central door opened, and the red carpet unfurled to allow the battered machines safely inside.