The Mech Touch

After an extended break, the fifth and final round of the mech design tournament finally commenced!

The viewership numbers had exploded as well. Not only did a lot of visitors in Chance Bay head over to the venue in order to view the match in person, tens of millions more tuned into the remote broadcast.

Many of the newcomers came because they were interested in one of the two teams remaining in contention.

The swordsman mech pilots who came to support Ketis and see the Heart of Victor repeat its brilliant performance had already started to clash with the dwarves who arrived to support their own compatriots!

"You damn dwarves should go back to the dirty mines where you belong! That crappy mech of yours is completely useless!"

"You ignorant tall folk don't know what you are talking about! The Larkinsons are war criminals that deserved to be tried and executed for what they have done!"

"The Heart of Victor has already won this duel as far as I'm concerned. No matter how strong the Fallen Retribution performs, it can never beat a mech piloted by an expert candidate!"

"Hah, who cares about all of those fancy moves? Did you see how long it took for the Heart of Victor to penetrate the armor of the Thornbearer? This time, this overhyped swordsman mech will have to fight against a mech that won't get hit at all, especially by a swordsman mech that is weighed down by all of that armor."

Much of the audience had already begun to divide in two different tribes. Neither side wanted to see the mech and team they supported lose in such an important battle!

Emotions ran high, and the Wild Fighter Association was happy to fan the flames. Their commentary and marketing efforts successfully drew in a lot of impassioned fans who became invested in the success and failure of their chosen side!

Meanwhile, the two mechs slowly appeared onto the arena, indicating that the much-anticipated fight was just about to start.

[Welcome to the final showdown of the Wild Brawl Bowl! Within a couple of minutes, the Heart of Victor designed by Team Larkinson and the Fallen Retribution designed by Team Hammerfall shall duke it out for one last time. Our panel of experts have thoroughly discussed the strengths and weaknesses of both mechs, so I will not test your patience by reciting all of their features. However, regardless of which mech will ultimately prove superior today, nobody can deny that they are both championship material! Win or lose, none of these two fine machines deserve to be forgotten!]

The announcer basically emphasized that both finalists were strong and that neither competition mech would succumb so easily.

This was good as far as the tournament organizers were concerned. It was a lot harder to generate interest in a match if its outcome was already decided!

Though many members of the Wild Fighter Association supported the original tournament favorites, Team Hammerfall played a crucial role in validating whether Team Larkinson deserved all of the hype.

Up in the VIP section, Director Thaprim Kadar was grinning like a shark. Not only did this event bring in a lot more revenue than he could ever hope for, he also had a prime opportunity to establish a favorable business relationship with Ketis Larkinson and the Larkinson Clan!

"We are willing to offer extensive support to your clan with regards to the commercialization of any swordsman mech models." He told Venerable Dise who was sitting next to him. "No requirement is insurmountable to us. We are willing to offer a generous amount of compensation if we can gain the exclusive usage or selling rights of Swordmaster Ketis Larkinson's mech models. Even if your clan is not willing to sign an exclusive agreement with our association, we would still like to obtain priority access to her work."

Venerable Dise, who sat in the seat of honor, largely ignored most of what the director had said. The man became a lot more annoying ever since the fourth match had concluded.

"Minister Shederin Purnesse would be more than happy to discuss your proposals." She replied in a measured tone. "You'll have to get in line, though. Last I heard from the clan, dozens of interested organizations have already approached our foreign office to discuss business deals."

The Larkinson Clan already noticed the increased attention from the regional community. Ves and Ketis weren't the only ones responsible for this positive turn of events. The Larkinson Battalion led by Commander Casella Ingvar was also making a lot of strides, and so did many other Larkinsons participating in other tournaments.

The clan was bound to gain a solid footing in the Red Ocean after this tournament run. Venerable Dise was pleased to see this happen as it would make the Larkinsons happier and more secure in this dangerous new frontier.

Meanwhile, the staff completed their inspections of both mechs. Due to the importance of this final match, the tournament organizers had to show they were being extremely thorough about maintaining the fairness of their event.

Nothing must taint the outcome of the finals! No one should be able to cast any legitimate doubt about whether there was any cheating involved!

Lyain Kepper and Zirine Fessel, the mech pilot of the Fallen Retribution, even went through public examinations in order to confirm they were still the same people as before.

The thorough inspects confirmed that they weren't bots, clones, remote controlled or expert candidates. The Wild Brawl Bowl conclusively confirmed that they were both eligible to pilot their respective mechs for this final confrontation.

The entire venue slowly grew silent as the tension built up. The two mechs both radiated a strong posture.

The Heart of Victor's glow had become a bit more intense than before. Each and every victory fueled its strong and invincible posture. The swordsman mech already looked like a champion!

The Fallen Retribution did not possess the advantage of a glow, but the dwarven mech did not look weak in the slightest! Its thick and heavy frame along with its formidable greathammer looked quite intimidating.

And this was just what was visible on the surface! Many of the spectators who watched its fourth round match already knew that the hammer-wielding mech hid quite a few surprises!

The suspense seemed to go on forever until the announcer finally broke the spell.

[FIGHT!]

The two mechs instantly exploded into action!

The Heart of Victor tested the waters by throwing its chainsword at the Fallen Retribution.

Of course, the Fallen Retribution easily blocked the sword with its heavy hammer. Even if the chainsword managed to strike the armor of the dwarven mech, it wouldn't have been able to deal any significant damage.

The dwarven mech was quite tough!

Not only that, but the mech was also capable of moving at a fast pace!

A part of that was due to the previously-hidden boosters installed on the back of the mech. While the boosters weren't particularly large or powerful, they provided the mech with a helpful push that allowed it to catch up to mechs that were ordinarily supposed to be faster.

It was impossible for the Heart of Victor to maintain its distance from the Fallen Retribution because of this reason!

"I'm not running anyway!" Lyain Kepper exclaimed as his mech kept throwing its chainsword at the approaching machine.

Even though these attacks failed to inflict any damage, they still allowed him to gain a better read of his opponent.

He did not know Zirine Fessel well. She was a Wild Fighter who hung out with a different crowd.

What he did know was that Zirine was not as skilled as the best mech pilots of the tournament. Team Hammerfall consisted of a married couple of dwarven Journeymen who were already closing in on the age limit of the Wild Brawl Bowl. This meant that the Crenstin couple could never rely too much on the mech pilot to carry them to victory.

What they did instead was to invest all of their efforts into designing a strong mech. Their overall design concept revolved around winning battles through brute force rather than superior skill!

Since Team Hammerfall possessed an abundant amount of design experience, they easily managed to turn the Fallen Retribution into a powerhouse mech.

Currently, its superior advancement speed along with its power presented an acute threat towards the Heart of Victor!

Lyain Kepper did not dare to meet the dwarven mech's unstoppable charge. His swordsman mech tried to dodge aside.

While the Heart of Victor successfully managed to jump out of the charging line of the Fallen Retribution, the latter still had an extra surprise up its sleeve!

Just before the hammerman mech was about to miss its charge attack, the hammerhead of its weapon detached from the shaft and shot outwards on its own!

The Heart of Victor hastily contorted its frame in order to avoid getting hit by this dangerous weight!

The Fallen Retribution stopped its charge as soon as it passed by its target. The hammerhead slowly retracted back to the long shaft, but did not completely settle back in place.

Instead, it continued to hang on a chain connected to the shaft, which essentially turned the dwarven mech's main weapon from a greathammer into a flail!

The flail was an unusual weapon that was quite effective in a number of situations. Its advantages was that it extended the reach of the weapon and was also handy at circumventing physical shields.

The power of the Fallen Retribution turned every hammer or flail attack into a serious threat to the Heart of Victor.

Ketis had already warned Lyain that his mech should never risk a direct impact!

This severely constrained the mech pilot's options, and it showed.

Even as Ketis had quietly begun to augment the Heart of Victor by slipping Sharpie in its chainsword, there was little the swordsman mech could do against the lethal onslaught of the Fallen Retribution!

The dwarven mech swung its flail with deadly intent as it pressed towards the Heart of Victor. The Fallen Retribution's stocky frame and thick arms allowed it to wield its formidable weapon with sufficient speed to make life difficult for the swordsman mech.

[The Heart of Victor is being suppressed by the Fallen Retribution's rain of blows. Team Larkinson's mech has yet to show any remarkable swordsmanship thus far. The truth is that even if Lyain Kepper is able to perform as well as an expert candidate, he is still rendered helpless because his mech is limiting his options!]

[We are witnessing the limits of how much an excellent mech pilot can make a difference. Both of the Larkinson mech designers have invested a great amount of effort into improving the piloting experience of their mech, but that has come at the expense of other possible improvements. This didn't matter in the previous match as the Thornbearer's spear was light enough to deflect. It is different this time as the Fallen Retributtion's weapon is too heavy to divert in the same manner!]

[The Heart of Victor has met its nemesis in this tournament. Skill is no match for raw power. If the swordsman mech was faster or tougher, it would have been able to present an answer to its current predicament. As it is, Mr. Kepper must constantly work to maintain a healthy distance!]

The difficult situation prompted Lyain to resort to throwing its chainsword again.

However, the problem with that was that the Fallen Retribution constantly tried to entangle the thrown weapon!

After the Heart of Victor almost lost control of its weapon because the dwarven mech's flail almost managed to capture the chainsword, Lyain no longer risked another throw.

"This weapon is too difficult to deal with!" He gritted his teeth.

For now, he had no choice but to adopt a more defensive posture. He knew that the Fallen Retribution's intensive movements and frequent attacks expended a lot of fuel and energy. The dwarven mech could not possibly sustain this wasteful approach for long!

Zirine Fessel knew that as well. The mech pilot of the hammerman mech did not relent, though.

Instead, she intensified her attacks in the hopes of landing a lucky hit!

"You can't run forever, Kepper!" She roared!