Facing Leo’s counterattack, the Fortress-class were, naturally, not about to just sit and await their deaths.
Almost simultaneously with Yu Xiao’s maneuver, as Leo leapt into the air, the tips of the Fortress-classes’ torsos, those massive wasp-like stingers, came thrusting at Leo one after another, wreathed in a howling rush of displaced air.
The timing of the first strike was already within Yu Xiao’s calculations, so Leo had been prepared for it in advance.
As it sprang skyward, it deliberately evaded, causing the Fortress-class that had attacked first to miss entirely.
Its sharp stinger struck only the ground, kicking up an ugly cloud of sand.
The second strike, Leo dodged by a hair’s breadth in midair by firing its posture-control thrusters.
Up to this point it was still fairly easy, but then the third strike followed right on its heels.
And the residual momentum from that emergency maneuver had yet to fully dissipate; at this moment, Leo truly had no leeway left to keep weaving about.
So, seeing that evasion was impossible, Yu Xiao used the sounds in his earphones to pinpoint the location and Leo preemptively raised the titanium alloy disc-shaped shield on its left hand, swiftly bracing it against the predicted path of the stinger.
The next second, sparks flew in all directions, accompanied by a clang like the clash of metal on metal.
Taking this blow, Leo on the screen, not just its round shield, but even the joint of its left arm, twisted into a grotesque shape, looking as though it could never be used again.
It seemed that with Leo’s loadout, blocking this unavoidable direct hit was a bit of a stretch.
However, this outcome was already enough for Yu Xiao.
Seizing the moment while the three Fortress-classes had yet to emerge from the recovery frames of their stings, Leo’s right wrist turned gently, aiming the edge of its beam saber at the joint of one of the Fortress-classes.
Then it swung!
The high-temperature blade melted and severed the Fortress-class’s already fragile joint as easily as cutting through tofu.
And the Fortress-class’s grotesquely shaped head then plummeted to the ground with a thunderous crash, together with Leo’s body, pulled down by gravity.
…First one down!
Bang!
And with the staccato sound effect of its landing, at the periphery of the screen before Yu Xiao’s eyes, a rapidly blinking red light lit up.
He knew that in “Mecha War VS,” that was the signal indicating his machine was in poor condition and about to be destroyed.
“…Tch. Not that I’m complaining, but this is a bit rough…”
Facing this scene, Yu Xiao clicked his tongue softly.
The series of responses he had just made ought to have been the most appropriate ones… he thought.
Then why had he still taken a hit?
Was it because his inputs weren’t timely?
No. Rather, it was the exact opposite.
It was that the reaction speed of the machine in the game couldn’t keep up with him anymore.
That was Yu Xiao’s judgment.
…And the truth was indeed so.
Having already endured that earlier, extremely high-intensity battle, now it had to engage in a fight to the death against three Fortress-classes, enemies that could be called mini-boss level, where a single exchange could decide life or death.
For a single Leo, it was a bit much… but then again, there was still that old saying circulating among Super Robot Wars fans.
Leo’s performance varies wildly depending on the pilot.
And if Yu Xiao was the one at the controls, then he was the man capable of turning that “a bit much” into an inevitability.
After landing and adjusting its center of gravity, Leo quickly detached its already-functionless left arm to reduce weight.
Then, jetting forward in a curving trajectory, Yu Xiao, while staying wary of any possible counterattack, maneuvered Leo to steadily close the distance to the Fortress-classes.
And sure enough, just as he had expected, when the two remaining Fortress-classes noticed Leo approaching once more, they raised their rear ends and sprayed a large quantity of stored acid from within their bodies toward Leo.
The instant he saw it, Yu Xiao slammed the joystick forward.
Leo also performed an exaggerated evasive maneuver, pushing its speed to the max and leaving those incoming acid jets behind.
Sssss…
Those missed acid shots violently corroded the earth, and moments later, they had melted a visible crater into the ground.
If that move had hit Leo’s frame, the consequences needed no explanation.
But a hypothetical was still just a hypothetical.
Leo, under Yu Xiao’s control, had already seized the opportunity to close in right in front of one of the Fortress-classes.
And then it performed a tactical move that was completely unexpected.
Mid-sprint, it bent the joints of both legs slightly, and relying on its remaining inertia, Leo advanced with its lower body pressed to the ground, lowering its own weight as it moved forward…
That’s right, what Leo was doing at this moment was a textbook slide.
Immediately after, Leo slid through the gap beneath the Fortress-class’s body, and mercilessly sliced open its insect-like abdomen with the beam saber in its hand.
A mist of blood gushed out, though the internal organs… didn’t come spilling out.
It seemed this was because its entire body was composed of almost nothing but pure blocks of muscle… Such was the bizarre biological structure of the Beta.
But regardless, judging by that Fortress-class’s agonized collapse, its death was surely inevitable.
…Second one down.
And after killing that Fortress-class with the slide, Leo merely leaned its upper body backward.
Then it thrust the beam saber in its hand out in the same direction, a stabbing strike.
Vmmm…
And this move happened to strike the head of the last Fortress-class, the one that had been steadily closing in on him from behind.
That made it the last one.
Taking out three mini-bosses with a single grunt machine, needless to say, that was naturally an impressive kill count…
“…The slide really does work.”
But at this, Yu Xiao merely scratched his head and muttered, his expression a bit odd.
He had just recalled that old forum meme about killing a tiger with a slide, and that was why he had pulled off such a maneuver.
He hadn’t expected… that it would actually work.
Still, the result was good, wasn’t it?
Then there was no need to worry about the process.
Thinking this, Yu Xiao pressed the controller.
And so the battered Leo rose, planting one foot atop the small hill formed by the piled corpses of the Fortress-classes.
Then, it silently raised the beam saber in its hand.
To the nearby Beta, this gesture seemed to carry the meaning of a challenge.
Though it was unclear whether these bugs had enough comprehension for that… regardless, it was a rather rash move.
However, Yu Xiao was also confident.
Even if the battle continued at this moment, the other side wouldn’t necessarily win.
After all, until the final moment, no one could know what the outcome would be.
So he merely watched, through the screen, the highly realistic insect swarm before him with a somewhat indifferent gaze.
The small crimson “Tank-class,” the “Assault-class” with enormous forelimbs, the medium-sized “Assault-class” with sturdy carapace…
Regardless of form, upon noticing that the Fortress-classes had been killed, every one of them grew restless in the face of Leo’s provocation.
It seemed this swarm of Beta was about to continue charging at him alone.
Well then, come on.
Yu Xiao didn’t react much, only gripping the game controller in his hands a little tighter.
Yet, just at that moment, a line of emerald green characters abruptly appeared before his eyes.
The words read, unmistakably…
[Mission Complete]
“…Huh?”
Making a puzzled sound, Yu Xiao’s gaze then glanced to the small notification box in the lower right corner.
So that was it.
The countdown there had, at some point, become “00:00:00.”
I’ll be Posting 4 chapters a day till we hit 20 then I’ll probably slow down from there.
Anyways thank you for reading!!!
WHERE THE POWER STONES AT PEOPLE!!!