Author: I made a mistake last chapter. The skill name was Rewind and not Wind Up (wind up is the skill presented in this one)

Considering the circumstances, I don’t think I’ll be able to set a water-oriented tower such as Leviathan or Archimedes, they would be great against Emperato’s fire magic. Problem is, those take a whole lot of time to deploy which we don’t have at our disposition.

Some high-tech towers can work out in time, fire and air elemental ones too, but they would be ineffective. I should have considered Emperato would find us, preemptively laying a basic setup for my stronger turrets.

Fighting back is out of question, outrunning him in this tiny island is pointless and I doubt we could pull it off; defending ourselves may be possible but won’t get us out of here. I guess even if we set feet at our boat, he would chase us down and kill us.

Damn, I messed up really hard on this one.

I could build a Portal for us to pass through, but Maxwell would die sooner and seal our fate. The most optimal decision would be for him to play very conservatively against Emperato, while still keeping his attention. That way I could build a Ballistic Tower to urge us forward, then he would activate his mecha’s propellers at full power and bail.

- Don’t get your fuel tank too low!

- What? You’re really leaving me?

- Just don’t! Trust me!

- Sigh… Why is it I’m still in this guild…

Maxwell drops some parts of his mecha, making it lighter and nimbler to move around. That reinforced armor would be useless against the enemy he would face, anyway. Sadly, these won’t be of much use to me.

Why do I say that? You may not be so fond of my method of tower building, so I’ll explain it shortly.

I have a skill called Wind Up. It is an area of effect ability that works as a self-applied buff, enhancing my movement speed while also making my parts fall more quickly. It also affects other machines, such as Maxwell’s mecha, although he won’t drop any parts – after all, that’s a particularity of my character’s design.

It doesn’t seem like a good tradeoff until I explain the next one.

My main skill is Event Horizon, which allows me to erect from a large arsenal of towers from a metal piece – the result, however, doesn’t need to be metal. Now you might be thinking, why the hell do you use your own parts as material for those towers? Well, friend, that’s because the towers are for the most part based on the item you used, and I have a wide variety of items attached to me.

I didn’t invest a single point in the strength stat, so I don’t have the option to carry things around.

However, the stronger the tower, the bigger the cooldown for the next attached piece, making it really difficult to raise them at higher levels. For that reason, I almost always have someone with me if I want guaranteed success, although I can do well enough on my own.

- Wind Up! – I shout, and my body starts feeling ecstatic, ready to burst down and run. I couldn’t cast it near Maxwell to help him, since the plan is for him to lead Emperato away while i get the tower as near as possible to the shore.

Even though I’m running against the clock, my job is sure to be done, the only variable being Max and the fire monkey. Thus I watch from a distance while assembling the pieces.

Judging from Maxwell’s posture, he’s ready to hit the road whenever Emperato closes in. Bad idea… Now he’s coming after me.

- I told you to stall him!

At my scream, his mecha starts drifting to the other guy, obliging him to turn around. His sword is already prepared for the one hit kill.

Once he reaches the distance, Emperato goes for the finishing blow, but he gets juked pretty hard. Maxwell uses the momentum to do a front flip, but his cab gets hit and was at danger of blowing up, forcing him to detach it immediately and exposing him.

The next one would definitely get his HP to zero, I probably shouldn’t expect a repeat maneuver.

Emperato ignores him once again, heading for me. I don’t need Ballistic Tower at maximum power, so I reduce it to a four pieces minimum.

- I need three more! Try something else!

- Oh boy… These missiles were so expensive…

Maxwell shoots a barrage of missiles one after another, causing a multitude of explosions near Emperato. He knew it wouldn't affect him, so he went for the ground in front of him instead. Judging by the distance, it should be enough for me to deploy two more pieces…

- I need you to stall him for a bit longer!

- But I don’t have anything on me! I used it all back in the dungeon!

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

- What about your mecha?

- My what?

- Yeah, you still have it!

- No… You’re not saying what I think you’re saying…

- It’s up to you!

- Please… Just… Please…

- Like I said, it’s up to you. Either your mecha or us!

- Fuck! I hate my job…

- Stop ignoring me, you two! And I’m listening to all you’ve been saying!

Maxwell is finally set on his signature move. I can see his figure madly smashing buttons all around the mecha’s command panel and unplugging its propellers, attaching them to his bag.

- Metalla… Please tell me you can afford the expenses.

- With the fiasco of our mission, we probably won’t get enough money for it!

- Sigh… I hate my life.

His blue mecha tunes to a deep red and smoke comes out at an incredible pace. A second after, he jumps off of it and the machine is free to suicide on Emperato, holding him for a few seconds.

- B2!

A giant curved bow materializes at the top of the medieval looking tower and prepares itself to launch. Maxwell comes flying with his improvised jetpack and picks me up, taking us high into it.

- Okay, we’re good!

- I’m not talking to you until I’ve got my cute mecha back…

- Come on, man, it’s not so bad.

- …

I won’t lie, I’m sad for him. That mecha was like his pet cat that just got ran over by a car. The feels, man, the feels.

What the…

- Max?

My eyes deceive me. There’s a goddamn sword crossing Maxwell’s chest. Yet, Emperato is really far away.

The fire monkey… What? I can’t believe it. He just… He just tossed the fucking sword. Bastard is crazy!

- Metalla…

I try plucking the katana out of his chest, but it’s no use. Poor guy is dead...

I don't have the strenght to grab him and make a run for it, his last checkpoint was in the island. Can’t leave my Vice-Leader here either… Sigh, this last expedition really went to shit.

- Man down, man down! I surrender!

Emperato’s fingers flicker once and the fireball he has on his hand disappears.

- Good. I didn’t have a choice there, Metalla, and you know that. No hard feelings, I’m willing to talk this out.

- Okay, can you help me pick his body latter on? I don’t have much strength.

- Sure thing. Just don’t try anything funny. I mean it.

- Not like I have an option.

And that’s it… Guess that’s karma for you… Or maybe not.

I pick the katana and arm myself with it, then turn the bow to the angle of Emperato’s.

- I digress.

- What?

- I do have an option.

I launch myself into the bow and command it to catapult me like an arrow straight at the red samurai, all I can hear now is the wind blowing on my face as I close my eyes shut

.

Then finally, a thunderous slashing sound and liquid no doubt to be blood splattering me.

- Holy shit… It actually worked.