CHAPTER NINE

The Red Minerva swiftly knifed through the stone. Jason's trusted partner scrabbled forward as it obliterated more and more of the island.

Jason quickly modulated his machine's speed as he took care not to inflict excessive damage.

Despite his eagerness, Jason had to maintain a careful balance. While digging at maximum speed, the Red Minerva would be able to destroy the entire island in a matter of minutes.

The ravenous cave dragon had no problem cutting and chewing through the earth. Although Jason's partner was a dragon, a much more apt analogy for this situation would be a termite infestation.

However, while wrecking the island was the fastest path to finding the treasure chest, Jason needed to keep his opponent in mind. While the Smoulderhulk had been temporarily upended, it could still attack Jason if he fell out of the island.

Even though the stone hid the treasure chest, it was also Jason's greatest protection.

Now that Jason was inside the island, he was actually extremely safe.

The protective runes could ward off any long-ranged assault, including the Smoulderhulk's Devastation Cannons. Creating obstacles that only a certain kind of attack could damage was a common Overdrive balancing restriction.

On top of that, the small tunnel Jason had created was far too small for the Smoulderhulk to fit into.

He was like a mouse that'd successfully retreated into its hole. The cat could only angrily glare from the outside.

Jason dug and dug as he carefully kept his eyes out for any hint of the glistening treasure chest. The chest was relatively large, but the island was far larger. The excavation process was taking longer than Jason had anticipated.

However, taking his time wasn't a problem.

Even if the Smoulderhulk got back to its feet, Jason was safe.

Or so he thought...

Before long, the entire island started shuddering.

The magically forged stone splintered.

At first, the only hint was a tiny crack. But before long, the damage spread all across the island.

A second later, the entire island split apart.

Jason caught a brief flash of gold.

His heart froze.

There!

As the island burst open, Jason saw the chest tumbling through the air.

It'd been located in the worst spot possible - the opposite side of where Jason had dived in.

Under normal circumstances, it would have taken him about ten minutes to reach the hidden prize while proceeding quietly.

But now, he could just grab it!

Jason skillfully maneuvered his thrusters, scrabbling forward through the shattering stone.

He had no idea why the island had suddenly burst apart, but in such a tense time, Jason didn't care to perform a deep analysis. The splitting island was a very unusual situation, but all Jason could do was take advantage of it.

He leaped from one stone to the next.

The combination of the Red Minerva's incredible traction and Jason's deft fingers brought him closer and closer to the prize.

But then, Jason slipped.

The stone behind him had shifted just as Jason kicked off of it.

As a result, the Red Minerva had effectively rolled its ankle.

While the cyborg was obviously much more durable and resilient than a human athlete, the misplaced step still had a temporary stunning effect.

The chest glinted one last time, and then it fell directly to the island beneath Jason. Although the chest landed far away from the Smoulderhulk, that was a very small reprieve.

Jason cursed as he allowed his Mech to fall through the air and land on the burning island.

Shit!

His seemingly secure victory had been snatched away at the very last second.

On the surface, this would have seemed like a stroke of extraordinarily bad luck.

The islands on the Skyward Paradise map were supposed to be totally infallible. For one of the islands to spontaneously split apart was a misfortune among misfortunes.

However, Jason knew this wasn't the case.

The AngryBoardMember had split apart the island on purpose.

When Jason had first signed up to be one of Overdrive's behind-the-scenes pilots, he had also researched the other player-run positions at the company. In his naivete, he'd hoped that he would be promoted if he managed to win many games as a One Star Boss.

Other than the Fortress Masters and the Player Killers, the most coveted player-run position was to be a Moderator.

Moderators essentially acted as the server's police force. Unlike conventional video games, which would simply ban hackers, cheaters, and trolls, Overdrive had a trial by combat system.

Violators were allowed to fight a Moderator. If they won, the Overdrive Corporation would dismiss their crimes and allow them to continue playing without any penalties.

However, the Moderators had an enormous ace up their sleeve.

They had access to a special set of cheats and exploits.

One such exploit gave them a limited ability to manipulate the terrain. While Moderators couldn't use this power to attack other players, they could shatter unbreakable objects or temporarily walk through walls.

Jason was certain that the AngryBoardMember had used the Moderator's terrain manipulation ability.

The board member had bought the game in a way regular gamers couldn't - instead of purchasing a copy of Overdrive, they'd purchased a large piece of the company that made Overdrive.

It was only natural to assume that the board member's special status had also given him special privileges.

In this case, the injured and stunned Smoulderhulk was still immobile. Gaining the ability to pass through walls simply would have caused it to continue falling through the islands.

On top of that, Jason had already established that his opponent was reluctant to run away. He didn't want to look like a coward in front of his child.

As a result, the board member had instead decided to destroy the island and force Jason to fall.

Jason would have bet anything the board member didn't know the treasure chest had been hidden inside the island. Stifling Jason's win condition had been a total stroke of luck.

He'd blown up the island just so that he could attack Jason sooner.

Despite its mildly injured leg, Jason was able to land the Red Minerva safely on the island. His partner crashed down on all fours.

A moment later, the Red Minerva's latent regeneration abilities healed the turned ankle. Without his Overdrive boost, Jason couldn't fix serious injuries such as a torn-off arm. However, his machine's healing prowess was still enough to mend minor cuts and bruises.

Jason clenched his teeth as he heard the characteristic hum of the enemy Mech's enormous thrusters slowly starting back up again.

The downed Smoulderhulk couldn't attack yet, but Jason's safety wouldn't last forever.

He'd hoped that the fall would take out the Smoulderhulk immediately, but the machine was just too durable.

Jason glanced at his opponent and made a quick calculation.

He estimated that it would take about a minute for the enemy machine to right itself.

Considering the Red Minerva's walking speed, it was fairly likely that Jason would be able to find where the treasure chest had fallen.

When considering the box's dimensions and the size of the island, Jason gave himself an approximately 65% chance of finding the chest before the Smoulderhulk righted itself and raised its Devastator Cannon.

Since the chest had landed on the island's surface, Jason's digging speed was no longer as useful. However, the Red Minerva was still a deft sprinter.

Jason hesitated.

A 65% chance to win seemed like a miracle in comparison to Jason's odds when the battle started.

However...

Jason shook his head.

He hated relying on luck when it wasn't necessary.

Delaying the Smoulderhulk's rise would take a little bit longer, but Jason was confident in his skills.

Jason streaked back towards his temporarily paralyzed opponent, happily leaping into the swirling wildfire.

As he ran, Jason eagerly spat his Mech's acidic flames into the blazing inferno. The noxious substance turned the fire hotter and hotter.

The skilled pilot wanted to take full advantage of his immunity to flames.

Before long, the fire was hot enough to burn through metal.

The Smoulderhulk caught fire and steadily began to melt.

The Mech was still far too tanky for the flames to truly inflict damage. For the fire to kill the Smoulderhulk, it would have to melt past countless plates.

However, the smoke and fire made the machine's rise far more difficult.

On the other hand, the Red Minerva was protected by its status as a biological dragon.

The flames had no effect whatsoever.

A Hemoborn's innate biological abilities, whether they were regeneration, flame resistance, or anything in between, always extended to their mechanical parts.

Jason stepped forward, igniting the beam blades installed in the Red Minerva's palms.

Unfortunately, his beam blades had no chance of piercing triple-reinforced steel.

At no time had the exponential difference in strength between Jason and his opponent seemed more prominent than now.

Even when faced with a prone and damaged opponent, Jason couldn't slay his foe.

However, Jason wasn't trying to defeat his opponent with his beam swords. He just needed to keep the Smoulderhulk on the ground until he found the treasure chest.

Even though the beam blades couldn't pierce the mechanical dragon's armor, Jason could still cripple the already-damaged gravity repulsor system.

As long as Jason kept his opponent from taking flight again, the flames would do all the work for him.

While the Smoulderhulk could destroy the stone, it couldn't put out the fires. The flames would effectively act as an impenetrable barrier.

He charged forward, darting nimbly in and out of the smoke to throw off the Spitfire Missile's auto-targeting mechanisms.

The Smoulderhulk's primary defense was rendered useless.

In fact, the missed shots only helped Jason by adding to the flames.

The Red Minerva's innate flame immunity meant he did not have to worry about the missile's incendiary effects. His only concerns were the concussive impact and the shrapnel.

To achieve victory, he would happily burn the entire forest to the ground.

Eventually, the AngryBoardMember realized his only option.

Instead of relying on the missiles' auto-targeting systems, he switched to manual control.

He peppered Jason with countless salvos as his Mech's flight system desperately tried righting the fallen machine.

By now, both sides knew that the battle came down to whether or not the Smoulderhulk could take off safely. If the massive Mech escaped, it could use the Devastation Cannon to vaporize the Red Minerva from the skies.

The board member's aim was surprisingly good.

Jason's heart blazed with excitement as the missiles surged towards him, but he kept his mind cool and his hands steady.

He knew that this skirmish would determine the victor of the battle.

He wanted himself in top mental condition.

The Red Minerva darted back and forth, juking one way and then another as the missiles obliterated the surrounding terrain.

Every so often, Jason would willingly allow an attack to hit him if it guaranteed his forward advance. The Red Minerva's health bars flashed violently. The damage from the weak missiles was adding up. The Red Minerva's biological components were simply too fragile.

Jason called up his machine's damage report located in the bottom right of his screen, then nodded.

Damage Report

Head: 42%

Torso: 31%

Left Arm: 63%

Right Arm: 51%

Left Leg: 32%

Right Leg: 58%

Things looked dangerous, but his only chance was to continue charging forward.

With every single successful step forward, Jason moved slightly closer to his win condition. With each missed missile, Jason's chances of victory rose higher and higher.

Before long, his opponent's gunfire faltered, and the dying mechanical dragon held its fire.

The AngryBoardMember was trapped in a terrible situation. His Mech was stuck in the ground and needed to leave the burning island.

However, he couldn't do that unless he pushed Jason away.

Unfortunately, luring Jason away involved firing missiles, which only raised the heat even further. Despite his machine's incredible tankiness, there were still some restrictions on how much he could turn up the heat.

Essentially, the two Mechs were engaged in a do-or-die game of chicken.

The Smoulderhulk's usual strategy of mass-gunfire had been turned completely against it.

This was exactly the situation Jason had envisioned - to defeat the far more powerful machine, Jason knew that he needed to create a niche and bizarre situation his inexperienced foe hadn't encountered before.

Eventually, Jason made his way to his opponent.

Just like before, he carefully approached his foe from behind.

Despite his excitement, he still knew better than to forget the all-mighty Devastation Cannon. The metal dragon's head was currently buried in the earth, but Jason wanted to avoid any unpredictable situations.

The long neck writhed back and forth, but it was unable to target Jason from its awkward position in the dirt.

Jason rapidly slashed with his golden swords, permanently crippling the gravity repulsion system.

The dying parts exploded.

The tremendous backlash flared across Jason's screen. The Red Minerva was blasted like a ragdoll deep into the burning forest.

However, the recoil had effectively served as Jason's escape path. The backlash from destroying the repulsers sent his machine straight into the wildfire.

Just like the earth, the flames were a safe harbor for Jason's machine. The Smoulderhulk couldn't reach him here.

Jason pumped his fist as the smoke billowed higher and higher into the skies.

His opponent was trapped.

The treasure chest was his.

It took another ten minutes, but the welcome victory notification finally flashed across Jason's screen.

BATTLE WON

Jason paused for a moment after seeing the victory notification.

Normally, all he felt was happiness and satisfaction, but this time, his joy was marred by trepidation.

He tried listening for noise outside the pod, but all he heard was silence.

Jason reached for the door.

He'd kept his integrity as a player and competitor...

Now it was time to see if he'd made the right choice.