CHAPTER SEVENTY SIX

Inside the elevator, Jason activated his Overdrive bonus, Majestic Will. It sucked using his regeneration move before the battle, but it'd be even worse to start the fight while down a leg.

The elevator brought Jason up to the top floor, and the Red Minerva stepped out. The slender cave dragon promptly stood next to Stephanie's heavy artillery machine.

A countdown appeared on his screen.

Befitting a jousting tournament, the two teams were given five minutes to prepare before the match.

Clank.

Clank.

Clank.

Stephanie quickly helped Jason put his armor back on. The two friends laughed as her heavy artillery unit handed over the pieces.

"Man. By now, I'm getting pretty used to this."

Clank.

Jason fastened on the Red Minerva's headpiece, then turned towards his opponent. Both teammates had received the full Mech report on the enemy machines.

Stephanie noticed that too.

"Oh. They gave us the data on the other builds...that's nice of them."

She smiled.

"It's just like a real sports competition. You get the other team's roster before the match."

Jason nodded. The honorable information disclosure evoked a tournament setting. However, the overwhelming power of the other team's buffs was less than honorable. The veteran pilot shook his head as he looked at the reports.

"Man. This is going to be pretty tricky."

Stephanie cursed again.

"Yeah. You're telling me. That's a huge penalty for losing the race."

-- General Data --

Pilot: N/A

Machine: Knight of Friendship

Class: Paragon

Sub-class: Attacker

Designation: Ace Unit

- Statistics -

Melee: S-tier

Shooting: C-tier

Speed: A-tier

Maneuverability: B-tier

Defense: C-tier --> S-tier

Cohesion: S-tier

- Weapons -

Partner's Lance

- Abilities -

Power of Friendship (Aura)

-- General Data --

Pilot: N/A

Machine: Squire of Friendship

Class: Paragon

Sub-class: Artillery

Designation: Ace Unit

- Statistics -

Melee: B-tier

Shooting: S-tier

Speed: C-tier

Maneuverability: C-tier

Defense: A-tier --> S-tier

Cohesion: S-tier

- Weapons -

Beam Spear Gauntlet (x2)

Heavy Mortar (x2)

- Abilities -

Power of Friendship (Aura)

Both of the machines had been upgraded to the S-tier for defense.

A new notification appeared on Jason's screen.

PENALTY: IMPENETRABLE BARRIER

Effect: The Knight of Friendship and the Squire of Friendship are protected by an Impenetrable Barrier that automatically defends against the first enemy attack. The barrier will nullify the first attack launched at them, no matter how powerful. Afterwards, the barrier will dissipate. However, it will respawn after another minute.

Stephanie groaned.

"Oh man. I really regret messing up during the race."

Jason shook his head.

"Let's not worry about it too much. We just need to do our best."

He was mainly worried about Stephanie tilting again. So long as she played well, they had a chance.

The ability sounded intimidating, but it had an obvious weakness - a weak attack followed by a strong one. With Stephanie's artillery Mech and Jason's beam rifles, they could easily play around the so-called Impenetrable Barrier.

"The barrier doesn't change our strategy. Don't forget - we're going to take advantage of its frontal charges. If you manage to break its shield, I can then take it down with my wrestling moves. After that, you can finish it off with the Urumi of Envy."

Stephanie nodded.

"Okay. Okay."

She repeated herself a few times and rebuilt her confidence.

"Got it. Got it. We can just stick to the plan."

Jason nodded and did his best to imitate Steven and Danny's leadership styles. The two captains of the BAG Guild were always reiterating the win conditions to keep the newer players focused on their jobs.

"Let's do it. Once we break the barrier, the Knight of Friendship's Defense will fall back down to a C. We should definitely focus on the Knight - the Squire already has a top rating in Defense. We only need to take one of these guys down."

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Stephanie nodded again. Jason could see her eyes lighting up as she re-focused.

"Right. Right."

However, Mech strength wasn't the only factor. Jason and Stephanie also needed to refresh themselves on the stage conditions.

The two partners stood across the jousting ground from the Knight and his Squire. Both Mechs stood facing each other in a wide lane that was about four hundred feet wide. On the surface, the two machines would simply run at each other in a head-on clash.

However, the central route was only one of seven lanes. Unlike a jousting tournament, there were no rules on fleeing from side to side. Although the central lane was clear, the remainder of the jousting grounds were occupied by several dummies.

The dummies looked similar to the celebrity cardboard cut-outs someone might see at a fan convention. The sheets of metal were about twice as thick as a well-built shield.

Each metal cut-out displayed a fifty-foot tall gray knight. Although the knights held lances, they were slung behind their shoulders. On the other hand, their shields were held tight over their chests. Unlike an ordinary machine, these dummies couldn't walk. Instead, they slid around the stage using a set of wheels at their base, rolling back and forth almost like carnival attractions.

Jason pointed the dummies out to Stephanie.

"Take a look at these...they will definitely affect your shooting path."

The jousting dummies were technically Grunt units. As a result, Jason and Stephanie received a simpler status report.

Name: Jousting Dummy

Class: Kingbreaker

Sub-Class: Item

Highest Stat: Defense (S-tier)

As an Item Mech, the dummies were incapable of attacking. Instead, they placed all of their Credits into upgrading their durability and defense.

Stephanie shook her head.

"Man. Our only chance is to attack around it, unless you have some secret weapon strong enough to break it?"

Jason shook his head.

"No, I've got nothing. We'll have to play the mission head-on."

Per Jason's scanner, he would not be able to destroy the dummies even with the mighty Titan's Macuahuitl. In fact, the defense rating of the Jousting Dummies was high enough that they would destroy the Macuahuitl upon contact.

The countdown ticked away, and the battle started.

The Knight promptly began its charge. The white centaur couched its lance as its hooves rocketed forward. Just like during the race, the thrusters at the base of the hooves spat hot red fire.

"Let's get him!"

Stephanie called out as she fired her bazooka.

Twang!

Unfortunately, the Knight of Friendship had an advantage that World War I horses lacked.

One of the Jousting Dummies promptly got in the way to block Stephanie's deadly attack.

The heavily armored machine completely nullified the explosion. However, the thin Mech couldn't hold its ground. Although it was durable, the lightweight Dummy was still weak to high-momentum attacks. It went skidding wildly backward, and the wheels barely locked in place before it crashed into the Knight of Friendship.

Jason grinned.

"Nice one!"

Unfortunately, Jason's own attacks weren't as effective. He raised his beam rifles and blasted away, but the red energy blasts dissipated uselessly as the Jousting Dummies slid in the way. Unlike the bazooka blast, the beam energy shots were practically weightless.

As a result, the well-armored machines could ignore Jason completely. The dummies slid back and forth, automatically blocking the attacks and clearing the way for the Knight to land its charge.

Stephanie cursed.

"Man! Beam-resistant coating! That's cheap! I'll have to knock another Jousting Dummy off..."

Stephanie trailed off. Unfortunately, the Knight was onto them by the time Stephanie loaded up her second bazooka shot. The white centaur jabbed with its lance.

Jason, who was standing in the front, responded with a brutal tackle.

He brought the Red Minerva's shoulders low as he charged straight for the knees of the horse. The sudden shift in his momentum caught the Knight of Friendship totally off guard. The powerful lance jabbed uselessly into thin air as Jason surged forward.

The veteran pilot grit his teeth. He'd already practiced landing countless wrestling shoots with his partner. On top of that, he had a serious weight advantage. His opponent still had the Impervious Barrier, but Jason could just tap them lightly before grabbing on with full force.

If he could just break one of the legs, the match would be won on the spot.

Thunk.

The Knight of Friendship shimmered as Jason was sent flying backwards. His heavy Mech promptly undercut Stephanie's artillery unit. There was a tremendous clamor as both machines went falling onto the ground.

The centaur reared high into the air. The horse's hooves lashed down, stomping furiously onto the Red Minerva's head.

Crkk....

Clang!

The headpiece exploded, but Jason's pilot avatar was still safe in the cockpit. Save for some light bleeding, the Red Minerva was still functional. That added durability was an excellent benefit for his Assault Mode.

By then, Stephanie and Jason had both gotten back to their feet.

Stephanie initially considered swinging with her Urumi, but she was only comfortable attacking head-on, and the Knight was at an awkward angle. Instead, she fired her bazooka again. The centaur reared back and dodged the attack, and the explosive missile narrowly missed its target.

Meanwhile, Jason's attacks struck home. He hit the Knight at close range with four separate blasts from his beam rifle. The typically white armor turned an angry red, leaving large scorch marks across the machine's body.

Jason turned to Stephanie.

"Nice try, nice try. I only hit him because he was so focused on dodging your attack."

Her shot had almost ended the match. Now that the Knight had lost its Impenetrable Barrier, its Defense had returned to its crummy C-grade. The beam rifles were weaker than the bazooka, but the damage would add up.

The Knight wheeled away, fleeing to the back lines.

Meanwhile, the Squire knelt on two knees like a praying priest.

A pair of resonant clanks echoed through the chamber as the machine anchored itself in place. Jason had initially expected another attack with the explosive spear, but the skilled Squire had accounted for the Knight of Friendship's head-on flight.

It fired Heavy Mortars in an arched pattern. The explosive projectiles bombarded the battlefield, throwing up enormous clouds of smoke and giving the Knight the perfect opportunity to escape.

Jason clenched his fist.

They'd almost done it.

Then he relaxed his hand returned to his usual analytical mindset. The bout had been inconclusive, but they'd gathered valuable information.

The Impenetrable Barrier's effect was totally different from any other shield Jason had encountered before. The seemingly magical barrier wouldn't just block physical attacks - it would forcibly repel the attacker. That meant that the best way to trigger the Impenetrable Barrier was to shoot the Knight from afar.

Unfortunately, the Jousting Dummies would block most of the quick shots needed to safely break the barrier. The interplay between the Jousting Dummies and the Impenetrable Barrier was probably the greatest deciding factor in the match. With the two abilities combined, the Knight of Friendship had almost unstoppable defenses.

It was a truly terrible conundrum, but Jason had a solution.

Next time, he'd charge low then bring out his harpoon at the last second. He wouldn't even need it to anchor onto his foe. The Impenetrable Barrier would block his shot, but then Jason could land his wrestling shoot as he'd planned.

At close range, the Jousting Dummies wouldn't be able to interfere. The only question was how to recreate that previous situation.

Instead of charging, the Knight was now wheeling back and forth as it allowed the Squire to bombard them. It clearly didn't want to attack again until the heavy artillery had burnt Jason and Stephanie to a pulp.

Jason turned to his teammate.

"Alright. It's not attacking us anymore. We need to come up with a new plan."