CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Jason was shocked that his opponent had survived.

Failing to kill the Red Lamia in a single strike was highly regrettable.

Slicing any other Mech class in half would have ended the fight on the spot. Even if the pilot didn't die immediately, Jason would have been able to finish off the crippled machine.

However, the Hemoborn Overdrive boost allowed the cyborg's pilot to regenerate the machine.

Pale green strands of light were already pouring from the Red Lamia's bisected halves. The luminous tendrils pulled the two separated parts together as they started regenerating the enemy machine.

Despite Jason's disappointment, his calm and professional mind immediately started analyzing the situation and looking for the upsides.

He wished he could have ended the fight then and there, but at the end of the day, he'd still gained two significant advantages.

Firstly, Jason's deadly blow with the Pendulum Shield had inflicted far more damage than even he could have anticipated.

The strike had torn his opponent cleanly in half. The successful attack taught him something very important.

The Red Lamia had an S-rating in defense, but that was only because of its extremely hard outer shell. Although the cyborg's upper body looked human, Jason now realized that the Red Lamia's upper body wasn't the result of newly inputted genes. The shape was much more akin to a highly realistic mannequin - almost like a costume of some sort.

Beneath that outer layer, the Red Lamia's flesh was the same as the Red Minerva's. Despite the different appearances, the machine's insides were that of a low-ranked cave dragon. Attacking his opponent's exposed insides would inflict severe damage.

On top of that, Jason's attack had forced his opponent to activate their Overdrive bonus.

When split in half, most players would activate their regenerative Overdrive boost immediately and the Red Lamia's pilot was no exception.

As a skilled generalist, he always followed overall best practices instead of fine-tuning his gameplay to each machine. He didn't know that cave dragons had incredible durability and stamina.

As a result, he'd used his Overdrive bonus before Jason had.

In a Hemoborn vs. Hemoborn battle, the first player to activate their Overdrive bonus often lost.

Once activated, the Overdrive bonus would immediately start healing the Mech back to full health. Over time, the machine could recover all of its health. Even a seemingly mortal wound like getting chopped in half wasn't an issue for the all-powerful ultimate move.

However, the bonus could only be activated a single time each match. On top of that, the Overdrive bonus would not heal off any damage that'd been dealt after the buff was initiated.

Jason also needed to use his Overdrive bonus. He'd gotten the Red Minerva's left arm blown off and his partner's guys were leaking out of a giant hole at her side.

However, he wanted to maximize the time he had to continue striking at his wounded foe. He still had a few seconds before he'd die.

This was the perfect time to inflict damage that would stick throughout the match.

Jason's best option was obvious - the Ghostfire Dagger. Since he was so close to his opponent, the quick and narrow blade was the perfect option to stab them multiple times while they were vulnerable.

He grabbed onto his opponent's limp upper body. Instead of trying to crack through the strange doll-like face, Jason intelligently decided to take advantage of the damage he'd already dealt.

The wispy white Ghostfire Dagger appeared in his hand and he began to furiously hammer his opponent's exposed insides with the knife.

The spectral blade whisked in and out of the rejuvenating green light.

Jason's blows grew faster and faster.

After cutting his opponent in half, the Genetic Absorbers on his right arm and leg had filled up completely. Normally, the added weight was all downside - the weight and imbalance made it much harder to move.

Here, he put his whole weight behind each stab.

He used the added heft to add more and more force to each blow.

Turning a downside into an upside was the epitome of Jason's winning style of Overdrive.

Hiss...

Hiss...

Hiss...

The eerie sound of his opponent's flesh smoking echoed endlessly through Jason's ears.

White lights flashed again and again as the deadly double-hit effect pulverized his foe's insides.

His opponent promptly plummeted to the ground.

Earlier, the Mech had managed to stay afloat because the Overdrive healing effect had prioritized the internal air manipulation system. The Red Lamia's pilot had rightfully identified the serpentine Mech's flight as its most important asset. As a result, he'd directed his Overdrive bonus to mend the internal vents as soon as possible.

However, Jason's constant stabbing with the Ghostfire had obliterated the machine's insides again.

Jason and his foe ocntinued falling towards the ground.

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As they did, Jason activated his own Overdrive bonus.

OVERDRIVE BONUS: MAJESTIC WILL

Green light flared from the Red Minerva. Jason's priority was to cover up the enormous wound at his side. He had delayed as long as he could.

Normally, the skilled pilot would have preferred staying on the attack until he could outright kill his opponent, but he had to keep the Red Lamia's ridiculous stamina in mind.

Delaying the Overdrive bonus any further risked death.

Jason would have preferred some sort of timer on his status bar, just like the one available from the Pendulum Shield. Knowing exactly how much time he had before his bleeding Mech expired would have been an enormous boon to his precise and heavily calibrated playstyle.

Unfortunately, he was on his own here.

The Overdrive system listed all damage after a certain point as Critical. The Red Minerva had already passed that Critical point a long time ago, meaning that the game wouldn't give Jason any other warnings.

When pushing his limits, he had to depend entirely on feel.

He had to analyze each situation separately, taking into account how much damage he'd taken and whether or not any especially vital organs had been damaged.

It was a process he'd only grown comfortable with after many experiments and a great deal of in-game experience. In general, he still shyed on the safe side. Jason's gut told him he might have had a second or two left, but it just wasn't worth the risk.

Suddenly, the falling Red Lamia spasmed.

The Mech's throat swelled up at a ridiculous speed, then exploded. Acid flew wildly through the air, splashing on both Mechs.

However, neither Jason nor his opponent took damage from the acidic splash.

In general, the Red Minerva had a high resistance to poisons. The Red Lamia had only taken damage from the Hydrochloric Gauntlets because of the powerful item's ridiculously high dosage.

On top of that, the compressed stomach acid was the Red Minerva's own substance. It had a natural resistance to its own poison.

The only reason Jason had feared his opponent's bullet was the ultra-concentrated nature of the attack.

It was similar to how even though the human body was seventy percent water, nobody wanted to take a fire hose to the face.

Jason felt a thrill of triumph as he stared at the hole in his opponent's throat.

He'd already broken the flight system.

Now, he'd destroyed another one of his opponent's most powerful weapons, the Pestilent Snipe ability.

Although the Red Lamia and the Red Minerva were both cave dragons, the sniping-focused machine clearly had a very different internal physiology. The other Mech's body had been extensively modified.

Part of that process had involved lowering the acidic compression sac. From what Jason could see, the other Mech's throat ran all the way through its body. It internal organ was rifled like the barrel of a gun. The length and modifications accounted for the Pestilent Snipe's extreme compression.

However, the low location of the poison sac had greatly helped Jason. His low strikes had been meant to destroy the flight system, but he'd managed to destroy their most powerful attack in the process.

Slime burst from Jason's left shoulder, and then a new arm emerged to replace the injured one's place. A new Genetic Absorber had appeared along with the limb. The heavy bracelets were temporarily considered part of his machine.

As a result, the Hemoborn Overdrive buff had regenerated it along with everything else.

After all the damage Jason had dealt to his opponent, the last Genetic Absorber was the only one he needed to fill.

After that, he'd be able to adapt his opponent's extremely powerful abilities. He wasn't sure what form his transformed machine would take, but he knew it would be a critical upgrade.

Jason and his foe crashed to the ground.

The skilled pilot grappled at the serpent woman with his left arm, then raised his Ghostfire Dagger again.

His opponent was already at death's door.

It would only take a few more attacks to finish them off.

Even better, the enemy machine was weak at close ranges. Closing the gap against an artillery Mech was a textbook method of dealing with the powerful gunners.

Suddenly, white light flashed across his opponent's Mech.

The machine's flesh began shifting in Jason's grip.

Jason's eyes widened.

Shit!

A transformation ability.

Normally, this sort of ability was listed on the Mech's Scouting Report, but that wasn't the case for Hemoborn. Hemoborn, especially those based on mythological creatures, often had additional species-exclusive abilities that were innate to their frames.

For example, a Hemoborn werewolf could shift between human-like and wolf-like forms.

In this case...

A feral and savage version of the Red Minerva stared back at Jason.

This Mech was bigger and broader than Jason's own.

The enormous muscles looked totally out of place on a dragon. The scaly red machine looked almost like an Olympic body builder with a crocodilian head.

The Mech looked much more like the upgraded version of the Red Minerva that Jason had envisioned. It turned out that the machine had two modes - an elegant long-ranged form and a physically devastating brawler mode.

Despite the transformation, the Mech had the same injuries as the Red Lamia.

There was still an enormous hole in its throat and its torso was lined with scars.

However, the injuries barely put a dent in the machine's ridiculous strength.

The dragon's eyes flashed crimson red as it tore away Jason's arm with a single casual swipe.

Next, the Mech kicked the Red Minerva in the chest, slamming Jason's partner straight to the floor.

CRACK!

Jason instantly recognized the sound of shattered bones. Unfortunately, he'd already used his Overdrive bonus. He would have to somehow finish off this fight despite taking severe structural damage.

He got back to his feet, but he could feel the weakness in his legs.

The absurdly muscular dragon continued its string of physical attacks.

Fortunately, Jason had a great counter against a hand-to-hand combatant. He pulled the Valorous Ji from his back and stabbed.

The item ignited and the flaming spear cut out his opponent's eye.

The spear instantly incinerated a good portion of the Red Minerva's brain. The blow was so powerful that it even exposed part of the cockpit hidden inside.

However, according to the in-game lore, genetic samples had no pilots.

There was a player in real life controlling this machine. However, there was no pilot avatar.

The neural cockpit was empty.

Blood gushed through the air, but the dragon still stood.

The monstrous creature's toughness had been boosted to absolutely ridiculous levels. The Red Minerva's durability, which had saved Jason so many times before, had been amplified a thousandfold on this opponent.

In that moment, Jason understood that he only had a single option.

In most games, he could have killed the enemy pilot avatar. Killing the pilot avatar instantly ended a match, no matter how much of the Mech was remaining. However, that wasn't an option in this particular battle.

The lore had given the other player an enormous advantage. They could play aggressively without worrying that their pilot avatar would be killed.

Under normal circumstances, blowing apart his opponent's brain cockpit would have won him the match. The red-hot flame from Jason's Valorous Ji would have instantly vaporized any human.

Jason's only option was to somehow dice this upgraded Red Minerva into a million small pieces. It was almost like fighting a zombie from a movie.

If cutting out an eye and blowing out half its brains didn't kill it, nothing else would do.

Jason fell into a defensive stance.

His opponent's arms were thicker than the Red Minerva's legs. Just a glance at the enemy machine told Jason he had no chance of winning a direct brawl. He needed to maintain his distance.

Fortunately, his foe had no remaining weapons.

Jason's hands were tight against the triggers of his control board.

His opponent's muscular legs bulged as they prepared to leap.

Distance.

Distance.

Distance.

He just had to keep that monstrosity away from him.

Jason reminded himself again that his foe had no remaining weapons.

But the Red Lamia had one last card to play.

The machine clapped its two enormous hands together.

The loud and sudden sound resonated through the vault like thunder.

Flames danced between its fingertips and then a cursed sword made of flame emerged from the creature's hands.

Jason's eyes widened.

The Blazing Avarice ability allowed its user to emulate items.

And as for the item his opponent had picked...

BLAZING AVARICE: DRAGONBANE SWORD