The Mech Touch

The Quint locked its considerably powerful presence onto the nearby enemy champion mech!

The Ginetzy expert candidate was confused. Even though he already figured out that the enemy mech commander was also an expert candidate, that didn't mean that people like them could do everything!

While it was easier for expert candidates to branch out and learn the fundamentals of other piloting specialties, the Ginetzy expert candidate excelled in melee combat. His attacks shouldn't have been blocked so easily by what was clearly supposed to be ranged mech!

Still, the more he observed the Quint, the more he became afraid that the situation might spin out of control. For the sake of the Ginetzy Family, he could only set aside his doubts and do his best to complete his mission!

Although the surrounding Avatar mechs wanted to skewer the enemy light mech with positron beams, Commander Casella instructed them to back away.

"Leave this opponent to me! If you interfere in this match, he will just avoid me and tear you apart instead. Keep focusing on the other Ginetzy mechs and dismantle as many of their missile and cannon-bearing mechs as possible!"

Commander Casella was aware that this might not be the most rational command decision that she could make at this time, but the Quint compelled her to face this challenger by themselves.

It was strange. Casella wasn't an avid duelist like her brother Imon, yet the Quint insisted on dueling the enemy light mech!

"Do you really want to do this here?!"

WE MUST PROVE OUR STRENGTH. THIS CHALLENGER SHALL BE OUR WHETSTONE.

Though Casella could still override her living mech's demands if she insisted on it, a part of her was actually eager to fight this impromptu duel.

In any case, the Ginetzy Battalion's gambit had already failed for the most part. Even if the enemy champion mech managed to defeat the Quint, it couldn't reverse the current trend by itself.

The enemy light mech did not sit still. The Ginetzy expert candidate realized that his side would only grow weaker over time. He needed to achieve a quick result in order to have any hopes of salvaging a victory!

The Ginetzy light mech did not launch a frontal assault this time. The swift machine instead sought to circle around and attack the Quint's more vulnerable flank or rear.

Despite the enemy expert candidate's quick maneuvers, the Quint easily kept up and turned around to constantly orient its front towards the enemy threat!

Seeing that the Quint was not about to expose its vulnerable rear to its daggers, the enemy light mech stopped wasting time on this maneuver game.

"If I can't outmaneuver you, I'll outfight you more directly!"

The enemy expert candidate didn't believe that this ranged mech specialist with a ranged mech could fend off a light skirmisher!

The two mechs instantly clashed and exchanged blows!

Although the Ginetzy light mech was clearly faster and piloted by a more skilled mech pilot in melee combat, the Quint was still able to block or evade the incoming attacks.

While Commander Casella wasn't able to find any opportunities to launch a counterattack, it was already sufficient for her to fend off the enemy attacker!

What made her life considerably easier was the Quint was originally a Bright Warrior mech. This meant that all of its performance parameters were relatively balanced and even. Though the Bright Warrior model did not possess any distinct strengths, it didn't possess any major shortcomings either.

Only a balanced design was able to adopt multiple roles! Depending on the configuration, a Bright Warrior could wear any coat and fight in different ways.

What was also important to note was that the Quint was not a regular Bright Warrior mech. It had received multiple upgrades throughout its lifetime that elevated its base performance by a considerable margin.

All this allowed the Quint to fend off the enemy light mech despite deploying in a rifleman mech configuration for this battle!

The lack of progress not only frustrated the Ginetzy expert candidate, but also shamed him! Light skirmishers were supposed to slaughter rifleman mechs at close range!

"This Larkinson expert candidate is clearly not a melee specialist." He observed. "Her swordsmanship is too basic. Yet the performance of her mech is just good enough to keep up with my attacks. As long as she focuses on defense, I can't penetrate through her defenses!

While the Ginetzy expert candidate struggled to defeat the Larkinson commander and expert candidate, his other comrades were losing mechs left and right.

The Larkinson Battalion's somewhat effective counterattack achieved good results. As the missileer and cannoneer mechs hidden inside the smoke cloud kept getting taken out, the Ginetzy Battalion's attack volleys continued to weaken.

When the Ginetzys only had less than a 100 offensive mechs left, they lost all chances of defeating the enemy!

Not only were they running low on ammunition and supplies, they also had to fend off the Transcendent Punishers that had managed to weather much of the storm.

The Avatar knight mechs had performed their jobs admirably and blocked a lot of damage. Even if they had reached their limits, the Transcendent Punishers themselves weren't pushovers. They were designed to hold their own in artillery duels.

Their mobility might be terrible, but their thick armor and huge frames allowed them to withstand a heavy amount of punishment and keep going!

In the end, the Ginetzy expert candidate became aware that it was impossible for his efforts to reverse the Ginetzy Battalion's defeat.

Expert candidate or not, there was only so much he could do to resist all of the opposition!

The Avatar ranged mechs could have nailed his light skirmisher after a bit of effort. Instead, they focused their firepower on the remaining Ginetzy ranged mechs instead, thereby guaranteeing their victory.

Once the Larkinson ranged mechs directed their weapons back on the Ginetzy light mech, its end was certain!

"I can only try to win back some honor by taking down this Larkinson expert candidate! Masterwork mech or not, you're going down!"

Defeating the Quint became an obsession to the man. He fought harder and made more aggressive moves.

The light skirmisher continually exchanged blows against the ranged mech with a sword, but the Quint had yet to suffer any serious damage!

Although Commander Casella was comfortable with this result, her living mech wasn't content with this result. It did not want to rely on others to defeat this little fly!

ATTACK.

Under the urging of the Quint, Commander Casella was compelled to fight more aggressively. Though the Quint began to show openings that the Ginetzy champion mech took advantage of, the damage was still tolerable.

What was important was that the Quint finally posed an actual threat to its opposition!

Though Commander Casella was nowhere close as the Swordmaidens in melee combat, she had become increasingly more proficient in employing her basic sword techniques.

The constant threat exerted by the Ginetzy mech pilot pressured Casella into polishing her swordsmanship on the spot. Together with the support provided by her mech, she became increasingly more adept at blocking the enemy attacks.

"Is this… Venerable Joshua's swordsmanship?"

She saw shadows of Joshua's swordmanship back when he was piloting the Quint.

"No. That's not all. There's also a hint of my brother in this style!"

The Quint was actually instructing her in the combat skills of its past mech pilots!

The form of guidance was quite mysterious. The living mech wasn't verbally teaching her these moves, nor did it upload all of the skills straight into her mind. Instead, it conveyed skill templates through the man-machine connection that she could easily absorb if she wanted to. Though not every skill template conformed to her style and ability, there was still plenty of material that she saw fit to absorb.

Her performance visibly improved over time. The Quint and Casella deepened their bond as they both struggled to defeat this light mech under adverse conditions.

Eventually, the crucial difference came when the Ginetzy expert candidate decided to make an all-out attack!

"I can't keep getting entangled by this ranged mech when its mech pilot is constantly improving in front of my nose!"

With that thought, the Ginetzy light mech forcibly surged forward and sought to damage the Quint's arms!

As long as the ranged mech's relatively fragile limbs were taken out, the Larkinson masterwork mech should no longer be able to block any further dagger strikes!

The plan was good, but the Quint responded quickly.

As the two daggers surged forward, the Quint blocked one of the daggers with its sword and allowed the other one to strike the arm!

Despite suffering significant damage to its limb, the Quint grew bloodthirsty. Its dense and heavy glow spiked as the masterwork mech kicked the enemy light mech!

Although the blow did not deal serious damage to the Ginetzy light mech, the force of the blow still launched away.

While the Ginetzy light skirmisher quickly managed to stabilize its flight, the Quint holstered its sword and accepted the luminar crystal rifle that a nearby Avatar mech tossed into its direction!

"It's over." Commander Casella grinned as she reveled in the moment.

The prepared rifle quickly unleashed several different positron beams that accurately hit the Ginetzy champion mech's arms!

Under ordinary circumstances, the enemy light mech would have been able to avoid the attacks by performing evasive maneuvers.

However, the light mech happened to be relatively stationary at this time! It needed at least a second to build up sufficient speed to evade the incoming attacks, but Casella and the Quint did not let that happen!

Although the positron beams weren't able to sever the light mech's limbs outright, they still dealt enough damage for the Ginetzy mech to lose a lot of strength in the affected limbs.

It was unable to attack as smoothly as before!

As the Ginetzy light mech closed in to make a final desperation attack, the Quint didn't bother to swap weapons again.

It used the body of its luminar crystal rifle as an improvised staff and easily blocked the slower and weaker dagger strikes!

As the Ginetzy light skirmisher failed to overcome its opponent's guard, the Quint abruptly batted aside an incoming dagger.

The masterwork mech subsequently jabbed the butt of its rifle against one of the light skirmisher's damaged limb!

The forceful strike disrupted the affected arm to such an extent that it had actually lost its grip of its dagger!

Casella and the Quint quickly repeated the same move before the increasingly less composed Ginetzy expert candidate could adjust.

Left without any sharp weapons, the light skirmisher no longer posed much of a threat to the Larkinsons!

Casella grinned as she indulged in her living mech's desires.

The Quint first fired a couple of precise shots at the retreating light skirmisher's flight system.

The Ginetzy expert candidate knew that he had to pick up another set of weapons from the battlefield in order to rescue his chances in this mech duel!

The damage to the light mech's flight system spoiled his plans. After losing a considerable amount of speed, the Quint soon caught up and reached out to grab the light skirmisher's frame!

"What are you doing?!"

The Quint proceeded to abuse the helpless light mech! It repeatedly punched, kicked and wrestled against the light mech in one of the most brutal and absurd displays of savagery in the G-Aena League!

[Is that ranged mech… beating up a melee mech?]

[It's a light skirmisher. It is an entire weight class lighter than the Larkinson masterwork rifleman mech.]

[Even if that's true, a ranged mech simply shouldn't be allowed to beat a light skirmisher at its own game!]

The Quint did not let up on the assault until the arena finally engaged the safety system. A powerful energy shield emerged that prevented the brutal mech from endangering the life of the enemy expert candidate.

At this time, the Quint had finally sated its battle lust!

[The Larkinson Battalion… has won!]