The Green Envy's moves continued getting more and more complicated.

Now, it started mixing up its landing positions.

Instead of just clinging to the roof and floors, the pilot was even anchoring themselves to the wall.

The urumis swept over and over again. The attacks came from absolutely every direction.

The Green Envy's attacks came swiftly as a rushing river, and the silver swords surrounded the BAG Guild.

At first, Jason's response was to somehow find a way to disarm the other machine.

As a Five-Star Boss, the other machine exceeded the conventional 50,000 Credit Cap.

However, it'd invested almost the entirety of its boosted Credits on stats over items. The emphasis on raw abilities was how the spindly Mech gained the power to move with extraordinary speed despite its flimsy appearance.

Stats were a good and reliable way to get ahead, but there was also an associated weakness. The Green Envy would be a sitting duck if Jason somehow destroyed the blades...

He cleared his throat and spoke into the communications wire.

"Hey. Is there any way we can just bust through these swords?"

Jason couldn't think of any solutions. As far as he could tell, none of the Mechs had the power to break the Green Envy's weapons.

However, Steven knew the team's weaponry better than he did.

The big man frowned.

"Hmmm...let me think."

There was a long pause.

As Steven thought, Jason continued wheeling furiously through the countless attacks.

There was absolutely no time to waste.

In the end, the big man had no choice but to throw up his hands.

"No. The items are too high-quality."

Clang!

The urumis came down one last time before finally eliminating a member of the BAG Guild.

Franz had thrown one of his shields to try and save his teammates. As a result, his Mech could not defend itself from attacks on its left-hand side.

The other pilot tried wheeling his single shield around to block, but he just wasn't skilled enough.

The flying blades instantly eviscerated him.

The heavyset machine split into countless pieces, and then it exploded.

Crap!

Jason clenched his fist.

He was much more upset than he thought he'd be.

Getting destroyed technically didn't matter - all mission participants would receive the prize so long as your team won. However, the BAG Guild had accepted and encouraged him. He'd hoped that he could bring them all to the end!

As the flames rose higher and higher, they quickly burned through the red carpet. The battlefield, which had once been an idyllic throne room, immediately transformed into the pit of hell.

Jason's first response to seeing the fire was excitement.

In the past, fire had always heralded his surprising victory, and there was no reason why it shouldn't have been the case here.

Jason wasn't using his Red Minerva, which was totally immune to flame. However, his Vampire Brawler was extremely well-armored. It could tank most fire without any issues.

In addition, his Mech had an enormous advantage over the competition. With Steven's O-Flier serving as his legs, he could simply hover over the flames.

His teammates would be forced to stand in the fire, but they used similarly bulky Mechs. It wasn't indefinite, but they could take a bit of heat...

On the other hand, the Green Envy was extremely flimsy.

The fire would burn through those thin arms in seconds.

But then...

Jason groaned.

The Green Envy wasn't immune to flames.

Rather, the fire was actively avoiding the machine. It shifted and dodged the spindly Mech whenever it came nearby.

That was one of the biggest advantages of being a Five Star Boss. The very field would warp itself in your favor.

The burning red carpet would do everything possible to avoid harming the Green Envy.

The Bag Guild wasn't so lucky.

Stephanie let out a fearful cry.

"Crap! I need to take off!"

Her Mech, which lacked a leg, couldn't balance itself.

She tried taking off, but her Mech lacked the ability to fly for sustained periods under gravity.

Before long, she fell into the burning sea.

The terrain damage wasn't nearly as bad as taking damage from their deadly opponent, but there was just no way for her machine to avoid it.

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Steven called out to her.

"Sorry, but I can't leave Jason. He's our best chance to win the battle."

Steven had spoken his words plainly and undramatically. It'd been a simple apology.

Judging by the BAG Guild's deep synergy, they weren't the kind of team that held grudges or played selfishly.

They did everything to help their team win as a whole. A player would sacrifice themselves without thinking.

In fact, Franz had technically done so earlier by throwing his shields to save Stephanie.

However, this was Jason's first time playing with the BAG Guild.

As a result, he felt Steven's words very keenly. It felt like an anvil had suddenly spawned in his stomach.

Steven was letting Stephanie go down to continue keeping Jason afloat.

Jason was stunned, but the sacrifice seemed par for the course for Stephanie.

She just laughed.

"Alright! Well, you guys better bring me back a copy of this urumi! I'm going to be pissed if you let me die for nothing!"

Stephanie charged forward.

"Since Steven won't help me, I'll just go down fighting!"

She did not fight for very long.

The Green Envy lashed out with its right-hand urumi. The precise strike promptly divided her burning machine into eight different slices.

She let out a frustrated cry.

"No! It turned me into sashimi! That's what happens when you suck!"

Then her machine exploded.

Jason's hands tightened a little against the thrusters of the control board.

This was just a game.

Stephanie's last words made that clear.

She'd been joking until the very end about her lack of skills.

The players in the BAG Guild worked together because it was fun to joke around with their friends while piloting Mechs, not because they were working for any fabulous prizes.

However, this was the first time Jason fought for a teammate's sake.

Jason had battled alongside the BAG Guild for the last few days, and he'd cooperated with Danny to complete the Tournament of Assassins.

However, this was at a different level.

Stephanie had been eliminated because Steven wanted to keep Jason alive. The BAG Guild had sacrificed one of their members for him, and he wanted to ensure they'd made the right choice.

However, he didn't know what to do...

At this point, Jason's gunfire was simply useless.

The other player's reaction times were just too good. The situation was getting worse and worse as the other player acclimated to their machine.

In addition to leaping from wall to wall, they also started swerving the central cockpit pod around as they bent the lengthy arms back and forth.

The frenetic contortions allowed the Green Envy to avoid every attack.

Think!

Think!

Think!

Unfortunately, no brilliant idea came on command.

That was the terrible thing about tense situations.

They made it actively harder to come up with solutions. Jason's desire to win for the BAG Guild severely taxed his usual decision-making.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!"

The other player's voice was loud and boisterous. It completely jerked Jason out of his stupor.

The loud voice belonged to Gavin, one of the players who'd wandered off once they reached the top floor.

Earlier, Jason had dismissed Gavin as a bit of an idiot. He'd kept his thought to himself, but Jason thought it was mind-boggling how someone could get lost on a floor with just four rooms.

However, Franz had proven to be a capable battler and a great teammate.

Now, Gavin had a shockingly good observation.

"Look! Look! Look at the roof!"

Ah!

The other pilot's loud voice instantly put things back in place for Jason.

In fact, he felt downright foolish for neglecting this opportunity.

In his desperation to win, he'd allowed himself to forget a basic tenet of Overdrive - the importance of taking advantage of the terrain.

The fire had burnt off most of the carpet, revealing the squalid floors beneath the fanciful exterior.

The floor directly beneath Jason was mottled and dirty, but completely solid. The walls were similar. They looked flimsy, but they couldn't be broken.

After all, each room in the Palace of Emotions contained a Mech. It would be totally ridiculous for the Green Envy's opponents to suddenly find themselves in a different fight.

However...

The roof was filled with holes.

The roof led to the attic above them, which was only there for decorative purposes. It wasn't used for anything.

As a result, the Green Envy's fists had punched holes cleanly to the next floor.

That meant that the floor above them could be used for attacks...

The other Mech could dodge quickly and easily, but it'd struggle against a salvo of enemy attacks.

On top of that, their machines had an enormous advantage in terms of weight.

Now that the roof had been weakened...

Gavin went on.

"We can leave, right? Why don't we all go upstairs and do a cannonball!"

There was an awkward moment of silence as the other members of the BAG Guild processed Gavin's idea.

Before long, the other members agreed with Gavin.

"Yeah. We need to do something."

"We're gonna burn up anyways!"

"The fire might not twist away if we jump right on top of them!"

Jason had already reached Gavin's conclusion.

However, it wouldn't work if they all left the room.

That would reset the map boss instance, fully healing the Green Envy and resetting the damaged roof.

Fleeing right now would guarantee their defeat.

It would also disqualify players like Stephanie or Franz from receiving their prizes.

They needed to leave a player behind.

Normally, Jason would have wanted to stay behind to stall the Green Envy, but his machine didn't have any legs. He'd fall over and die just like Stephanie.

Then, Jason remembered that there was another skilled player in their party.

"Steven. You can stall this guy, right?"

The big man nodded.

"Yeah."

In fact, it'd be even easier for Steven to dodge if Jason left. Right now, his Mech's speed was severely haltered by the heavy Vampire Brawler riding on top of it.

Without him, Steven could fly on his own.

On top of that, the Green Envy had directed most of their strikes at Jason himself.

The O-Flier was still in great shape.

CLANK

MECH DETACHED

CONTROL REVERTED

Jason's Vampire Brawler immediately started falling towards the floor, but the skilled pilot caught himself in time.

Steven called out to the rest of the BAG Guild.

"Alright. Line up and leave! Make sure not to knock anyone over!"

The BAG Guild took flight.

Despite the tense situation, they were still laughing and joking.

"Oh, man."

"Steven is going camp counselor mode again!"

Their jocularity brought a smile to Jason's face as they left the room.

As always, Steven ignored the taunts.

"You guys need to hurry up. You'll run out of gas if you don't get a move on."

He was right.

It wasn't just Jason - the vast majority of machines were missing leg parts.

The team throttled their thrusters as they hurried outside.

To Jason's amusement, Danny was still kneeling in the corridor as he rolled items.

It seemed like he'd hit a particular streak of bad luck. Jason watched as a pocket knife morphed into a key chain.

Despite its obvious power, a run of terrible fortune was the Lucky Duck's weakness.

Gavin laughed and laughed.

He shouted on his speakers so the BAG Guild leader could hear him.

"Man! You're still stuck?"

Anthony started laughing too.

"Man. If Donald were here, he would roast the crap out of you."

Danny shouted back.

"Did you guys win already?"

Gavin's response was immediate.

"Not yet. Steven's holding them off, so...Oh!"

The distracted pilot quickly stopped goofing around as he remembered his mission.

The whole team surged as one towards the attic.

Their Mech's were badly damaged, but it was a very short flight.

Once they reached the attic, Jason called out for instructions on their private communications line.

Their machines were close enough that they could still talk to Steven.

"Where's the machine! Send a map!"

Steven responded right away.

"Here! Here! Hurry up!"

He pinged a spot on the roof.

"Jump through here!"

The other pilot was skilled, but they would never expect an attack like this.

As one, their Mechs landed on the designated point.

The BAG Guild struggled with advanced moves, but anyone - even a total beginner - could turn off their thrusters.

Thunk.

CLANG!

At first, the noise was just a dull thud, but then, the entire roof gave way, and the surviving members of the BAG Guild fell straight into the Green Envy's chambers.

The other pilot didn't even have time to turn around.

Their extremely heavy Mechs fell far too quickly.

The collisions instantly obliterated the other Mech's cockpit.

The spindly machine had no chance of holding off over fifty tons of weight at once.

VICTORY