CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

Jason pelted through the tightly packed earth.

At first, he dug with only a single hand as he dragged the Lucky Duck behind him. Before long, he realized there was a much more effective method.

Jason was still adapting to teamplay, so he didn't know how his Mech functioned best when assisting another player.

Ultimately, digging through the mud with just a single hand was too big of a speed decrease.

However, his Mech could move at nearly full speed by digging with both hands so long as the Lucky Duck held onto the Red Minerva's ankylosaur tail. Jason had never liked the weapon in combat, but its thick end made it effective for easily ferrying teammates around.

On top of that, the Lucky Duck was an extraordinary lightweight machine. The powerful awakened Red Minerva had no issues dragging the oddly shaped Mech behind her.

From what Jason could tell, his new teammate had a lot of experience when it came to getting dragged around. The Lucky Duck's moves were swift, sure, and efficient.

Normally, pulling such an imbalanced machine would have been dangerous. The Lucky Duck's strange swiss army knife weapons system would have yanked the Red Minerva back if it ever caught on stray underground obstacles.

However, the Lucky Duck's pilot had oriented the machine with its arm pointed straight behind it.

The skilled player knew how to balance the eccentric weapons system to keep his Mech relatively stable.

Before long, Jason had returned to the enemy Mech camp.

He was about to dig out of the ground, but his teammate called for him to stop.

"Take a few more strokes before going."

Jason's map lit up as the Lucky Duck's pilot shared his scouting report.

The Red Minerva's cockpit lit up as the Lucky Duck's sensitive radar system pinged out several enemies.

"The King is here, located a bit away from the actual camp. He's replaced himself with a Grunt dummy. There are only a few troops in the camp, but the army will catch up to us if we waste our time fighting them. Let's just go for the head of the snake. He won't expect you to attack if you dig all the way behind him."

Jason nodded.

"Okay."

During the course of the battle, Jason had developed an admiration for the other player. His moves were outstanding, and he seemed like a very generous person.

Jason was still naturally suspicious and distrustful, but it was time to set those doubts aside.

The other player already had plenty of chances to betray Jason.

Hell, he could have simply stabbed Jason in the back while they were digging through the tunnel.

On top of that, the data shared from the other player came straight from their scouter. It could be faked, but doing so would be exceptionally difficult. There was also circumstantial evidence backing the other player's claim.

Earlier, all the Mechs in the hangar had been covered in black cloaks. However, the other pilot had successfully intuited that they were on the same team. The Lucky Duck's high-powered scouter had likely seen past the shrouds to reveal the six Mech's matching equipment and cohesive strategy.

Lastly, Jason's Red Minerva was exceptionally weak regarding scouting and sensing abilities. It was one of the creature's most prominent weaknesses.

While the cave dragon had exceptional night vision, it lacked an advanced scouter or an enhanced radar system. Jason's partner boasted a solid sense of taste and smell, but the overall level was merely average for a Hemoborn.

When compared to the highly sensitive guard dog Hemoborn, the Red Minerva basically had anosmia - the complete inability to smell.

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Jason had plans to rectify this weakness, but there was nothing he could do for now.

By now, Jason realized that working together involved covering for each other's strengths and weaknesses.

As a result, he followed his ally's advice and was rewarded richly for his decision.

The Red Minerva burst from the earth, appearing right behind the Overdrive boost empowered King of Thieves.

Although the other machine had anticipated Jason's digging abilities, they hadn't realized that the Lucky Duck's scouting had circumvented their ploy.

As a result, Jason had the initiative.

The skilled pilot promptly attacked, summoning the Valorous Ji and stabbing his opponent in the back.

Unfortunately, Liquid State Eternium was an exceptionally powerful substance.

In the in-game lore of Overdrive, the superheated metal was powered by the pilot's emotions and ambitions.

Although a Liquid State Eternium machine couldn't regenerate as a Hemoborn could, the seemingly living metal provided pinpoint defenses.

The metal on the creature's chest roiled wildly as empowered Eternium concentrated at the machine's back to block the attack automatically.

The surprised King of Thieves stumbled forward.

Jason planted his feet, then swung.

The Ji's greatest strength was its versatility.

It had the properties of both a spear and an axe. The flaming Chinese halberd could be used for both jabs and slashing attacks.

Jason planted his feet solidly in the ground as he ordered the Red Minerva to swing with all its might.

The Red Minerva had greater physical strength than the Red Lamia.

This was simply an innate property of the two forms - the regular cave dragon had larger muscles than the transformed snake version.

That difference in physical strength accounted for the thirty percent difference in the two machine's attacking power, much like how the Red Lamia's elongated rifled throat meant it had an advantage when it came to sniping attacks.

However, skillful play could bring out over a hundred and twenty percent of a Mech's potential.

The Red Minerva's advantage when it came to melee attacks wasn't restricted to its physical strength.

The cave dragon's legs were just as important.

Planting his partner's legs when landing heavy strikes allowed Jason to increase the force of her blows even further.

WHAM!

The full-powered attack resonated through the clearing.

Despite its empowered form, the King of Thieves was sent sprawling to the ground.

Jason heard a set of muffled footsteps as the nearby Grunts hastened to their location.

He needed to finish this fight quickly.

He slammed the Ji at the Thief again, bashing ruthlessly downward with the pointed end.

Rather than using the Ji as an axe or spear, Jason treated the powerful blazing weapon like an enormous stake.

He raised it and then drove the burning point again and again into the damaged King of Thieves.

Jason's primary plan was rather obvious.

Now that the Mech was on the ground, Jason held a huge advantage by looming over them.

A large part of melee fights was establishing the proper positioning.

Lying flat on your back with your opponent standing above you was the worst position possible.

The Liquid State Eternium automatically reinforced the badly damaged cockpit, but it was only delaying the inevitable. Eventually, one hit would break through cleanly, and the King of Thieves's pilot would be defeated.

However, Jason also had a secondary plan.

The King of Thieves raised its palm, pointing at the Valorous Ji.

Jason smirked.

Stealing the flaming spear was the King's only hope of turning the fight around...

However, Jason had already prepared a countermeasure.

Beside him, Jason's partner stepped forward, looking to make his own play.

The Lucky Duck's ability was off-cooldown, and it was ready for another go at the slots.

Once again, Jason glanced over.

Although he usually preferred playing his own game, it was hard not to watch the slots with a great deal of excitement and trepidation.

A high-powered roll could end the battle on the spot, but alas, it was not to be.

None of the slots matched, and the item was a simple axe.

The lengthy pole-arm was made of plain dark-colored iron, and it had two broad and rather dull heads.

Like all the other generated weapons, its appearance was unimpressive. Unfortunately, from what Jason could understand of the roll system, the statistics were similarly unimpressive.

But to Jason's surprise, his ally sounded elated.

"Nice! You got this from here!"

The Lucky Duck twirled the large axe over its head, then swung in a broad and sweeping arc.

The axe grew longer as it attacked, just like the sword.

However, the pilot had no interest in attacking the prone King of Thieves with the low quality weapon.

Rather, the axe sliced through all the trees, creating a temporary barricade that stopped the Grunt's advance. Although blasting through the stumps wouldn't be difficult for the high-powered army, the delay gave Jason just the time he needed.

"Nice!"

His ally had made a truly impressive move.

Despite having a weak item, he'd managed to use it to secure the win.

After all, there was no need for him to join in the attack.

Jason had the King of Thieves right where he wanted it.

The King of Thieves's electronic eyes bore into the Valorous Ji. The outstretched hand was like a claw.

Jason counted the time out in his mind.

One...

Two...

At three, he dismissed the item.

It dissipated into smoke.

There was nothing for the King to steal.

With the Mech's eyes on him, Jason quickly clapped his hands together.

BLAZING AVARICE: GORGON FLAIL

The King of Thieves froze as it received a point-blank dose of the Gorgon Flail's powerful stun effect.

The match was over.

With the Grunts delayed and the King lying stunned on the ground, Jason had the time to shift back to his Red Lamia form and charge up a point-blank Pestilent Snipe.

The sound of the acidic bullet rang through the forest, and the always-welcome message flashed across Jason's screen.

VICTORY