CHAPTER FIFTY SIX

Jason and Steven led the way as the remaining fighters of the BAG Guild started walking up the stairs.

The Palace of Emotions had a rather annoying eccentricity - it was a lot easier to leave the giant cruise ship than it was to find the Mech you wanted to fight. The ship had several elevators, but they only went downwards.

Players were forced to travel to the Paragon they wanted to challenge on foot.

However, the added time was actually beneficial. It gave Jason time to familiarize himself with the rest of the team.

Steven chatted excitedly as he introduced Jason to everyone else.

Unlike Danny, Steven wasn't naturally talkative. He was clearly putting himself out there by talking so much. He stumbled a bit as he tried thinking about things to say.

"You guys should thank him. He's the only reason any of you guys made it down!"

The other players groaned good-naturedly.

"Yeah right, Steven."

"You just want us to thank you!"

"We remember you were sticking outside too."

One of the players snorted.

"Hey guys. Don't forget to thank people who did the job I did."

The constant teasing was extremely good-natured.

Although Steven was more awkward than Danny, he'd comfortably stepped into the leadership void.

The players clearly liked him a lot.

Unlike Wendy or Owen, it seemed like Steven didn't have another Overdrive responsibility outside of the guild. His College Cup run had already ended, and it seemed like he was spending most of his time working with the BAG Guild.

"Alright everyone, let's repeat our names before we head into the room. I don't think Jason knows anyone yet."

A girl with a high-pitched voice led off the introductions.

"Yeah, no problem Mr. Camp Counselor. Nice to meet everyone. My name is Delilah."

Steven groaned.

"No, it isn't. It's Stephanie."

He turned to Jason.

"Stephanie is an artillery expert."

The girl shook her head.

"No. I'm an artillery novice...I suck..."

The good-natured trolling continued, but Jason could match a name with every machine by the end.

Earlier, Jason had dismissed any hope of remembering everyone's name.

However, six names were a lot easier to remember than twenty. As bad as it sounded, the black units had made things a lot easier for Jason by killing so many enemies.

After getting introduced to everybody, Jason took a good look at their Mechs.

The battle outside had been so chaotic that Jason hadn't gotten to sit down and take a good look at his companions. All of the players used personally-customized Ace Mechs. However, their inexperience meant that their machines weren't as strong as Wendy's Dehua.

Steven had called Stephanie an artillery player. However, Jason soon realized that this wasn't a particularly distinguishing trait in the BAG Guild.

Two other players used backline artillery machines.

Stephanie's Ace Mech was rather bulky, with a large rounded buckler in one hand and a bazooka in the other.

Two other players, Mark and Grayson, used similar builds with only slight differences.

Grayson's bazooka was a beam variant. Meanwhile, Mark's Mech was slower than the others, but it also had a pair of missile launcher attachments.

All three Mechs carried a pair of beam sabers for close combat.

On the other hand, Gavin and Anthony also used tanky Mechs. However, their builds were a bit more versatile.

Instead of prioritizing long-range combat, they split their weaponry between a shoulder-mounted railgun and a large steel broadsword. Like Stephanie's artillery Mech, these machines also carried a shield. However, they used tower shields rather than bucklers.

Jason would describe Gavin and Anthony's Mechs as heavy assault units rather than pure artillery types.

The last player's name was Franz. Although his name was the most eccentric of the bunch, it was also the one Jason had the most trouble with, likely because the man had introduced himself last.

His Mech was a classic bodyguard type. It carried a pair of massive shields, and it focused on blocking off attacks for the artillery units.

Jason was glad to see that all machines followed a similar set-up.

They only carried a few weapons. Instead, they invested most of their 50,000 Credit Cap on armor and stats.

In general, experienced players like Jason or Danny liked using Mechs with many different items. Their skills and knowledge meant that they could easily take advantage of the many options at their disposal.

On the other hand, beginners were best served investing their Credits in items. Stephanie was right to describe herself as an artillery novice. She'd only swapped to her build after joining the BAG Guild. It sounded like Danny and Steven told everyone to use tanky machines with heavy firepower.

Considering the relatively low skill level of the group, that decision made sense. The heavily-armored machines could support enemies from far even if their pilots weren't individually skilled. In general, heavy firepower Mechs and their heavy area-of-effect blasts relied on strong communication than strong control skills.

Steven and Danny knew their stuff - they clearly had experience training new players.

If Jason had to guess, that reliability had allowed these players to survive up until now. The players with less sturdy builds had died in the descent.

Eventually, the group reached the top floor.

A hole was at the center of the roof. The small chute led up to the next floor, which was just an attic.

However, the attic wasn't used. It was just there for decorative reasons - there weren't any Mechs inside.

The penthouse floor was far more spread out than the rest of the building. Normally, each floor had about twenty rooms. The Penthouse was split into just four large suites.

The Mechs on the top floor, including the Green Envy, differed from the rest of the Emotional Paragons.

Most of the Mechs inside the Palace of Emotions, such as the Searing Anger or the Bitter Remnant, were normal-sized machines. The other Mech Jason wanted to battle, the Knight of Friendship, was also a conventional Mech.

However, the top floor machines had the size and strength of Giga Mechs. They were much more challenging to defeat.

As a result, the awards were also correspondingly impressive.

"Bottom right. Bottom right."

Steven's voice rang through the comms wire as he reminded the other players about the Green Envy's location. Most of the players had already lined up, but Gavin and Franz had gotten distracted reading the panels in front of the other rooms.

With Jason controlling the combined Mech, Steven could devote himself entirely to shotcalling.

"Form up. Form up. Make sure we're in formation before we attack. If one of you needs to, don't forget you can duck out the door for a moment to relax before entering again. The battle won't end unless all of us leave."

As in other games, Overdrive bosses didn't heal up until every single member of the party was eliminated. So long as there was still a player hanging on in the room, the other players could safely leave and return.

This mechanic had punished Jason in the past. Sometimes, his opponents even healed to full health before rechallenging him. Unfortunately, their squad didn't have any Medic Packs remaining.

Steven quickly arranged their team front-to-back, with the artillery units in the back and the tanks in the front.

Jason's Vampire Brawler had quite the beating, but he still had about sixty percent of his armor and both his arms. Now that Steven's O-Flier had empowered him, he was stable enough to tank most blows.

His machine stood in the front alongside Franz's bulky shield Mech.

The other five machines hung in the back. Countless clanks echoed through the open floor as they armed their weapons.

Bzzt.

A notification flickered onto Jason's screen as he stepped up to the door.

ENEMY IDENTIFIED: GREEN ENVY

DIFFICULTY LEVEL: FIVE-STAR

PRIZES:

URUMI OF ENVY (x1)

15,000 CREDITS

Against the other Mechs, Jason would have had to summon his Red Minerva and forcibly absorb the item with the Blazing Avarice. Victors typically weren't guaranteed to receive the other machine's signature weapon.

On the other hand, the machines on the top floor would award a copy of their item to every single pilot in the victorious party. The 15,000 Credits were also a very welcome prize. Jason would happily put that towards shopping for the Vampire Brawler. He still needed to pick up the high-caliber equipment he needed for the Vault challenge.

Jason stepped up to open the door, but Steven checked one last time to make sure everyone was ready.

Beep.

Jason's line lit up as Steven sent him a private message.

"A lot of these guys are pretty inexperienced, and it's a tough boss. I don't want to delay you, but I also want to make sure these guys are in top fighting shape.

Jason nodded.

"Makes sense."

After that last confirmation, they stepped inside.

The stage itself was very plain. Each of the Emotional Paragons had their own custom stage, but the Green Envy's looked just like the room outside - it was just a simple cube lined with red carpet. The only eccentricity was that the same red carpet also lined the roof and walls.

The Green Envy loomed awkwardly over them.

The high-powered Paragon was one of the strangest machines Jason had ever encountered. Its sheer height meant it deserved the Giga Mech title, but the machine looked nothing like the Smoulderhulk or the Maximum Watchdog genetic sample.

Both those Mechs had been extremely tanky and robust.

In sharp contrast, the Green Envy was thin, frail, and badly hunched over.

On the surface, the strange and thin shape should have reminded Jason of an insect. Instead, the bizarre Green Envy looked like an oversized camera tripod.

The machine technically had no legs.

Instead, it balanced itself on three extremely long arms that ended in tiny grasping little hands. The hands were tiny but very powerful. The strong digits easily pierced through the floor, anchoring the floppy Green Envy in place.

The Mech's main body was petite and disk-like. According to Jason's rough estimate, the disk's circumference was significantly lower than the O-Flier's. The machine's head rose above the entire flimsy contraption.

The flat head was lizard-like with two wide and flared eyes. The mechanical eye cameras were bright viridian, a sharp contrast to the rest of the Mech's coat of sickly yellowed green paint.

In addition to the three arms it balanced itself with, the Green Envy also had two massive hands attached to the base of the disk-like main body. The hands completely lacked arms. They were connected directly to the main body.

The hands carried the Mech's main weapon - two copies of its signature Urumi of Envy.

The urumi was a close combat item that originated on the Indian subcontinent. It was a sword with a flexible whip-like blade. The item essentially operated like a whip made out of steel.

However, there was a critical twist.

Expert practitioners usually equipped multiple whips to each handle.

In this case, sixteen drooping blades - eight in each hand - were pointed in Jason's party.

The Green Envy stared at Jason's team.

Then, a lime green aura burst from the Mech. The burst of energy swept through the room, promptly scanning every Mech in their party.

The Green Envy's strength increased based on the value of enemy machines. Had Jason brought the Red Minerva, he would have been forced into an extremely difficult battle.

His awakened cave dragon was a one-of-a-kind machine of indeterminate worth.

Fortunately, Jason and his party were using pretty ordinary Mechs.

In this case, the Vampire Brawler was a much better option. The build was powerful, but Jason had put it together using pretty basic items.

As a result, the enemy's attack power wouldn't increase by very much.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Shit!

Jason let out a cry of surprise as the Envy promptly swiped with its two urumis.

The enemy might not have increased its attacking strength...

But it didn't need to.

Its base power was absurd.

The two whips struck in a long and bladed metal wave.

In addition, the high vantage point of the enemy machine meant it had no issue attacking from over Franz's shield wall.

Metal screamed as the sixteen whip-like blades gouged their squad. Their Mechs were well-armored, so they survived. However, several machines had been knocked clean off their feet.

The lengthy blade-whips dug huge ruts into the stadium floor.

Stephanie swore loudly.

"It's like tentacles! They'll keep chasing us! We need to charge through!"

She started charging forwards.

The standard practice for attacking a tentacled machine was to break past the maze of tendrils and attack the core. Such tactics were often used to defeat octopus-like Mechs.

However, Jason knew that she was wrong.

The weapons looked like tentacles, but they weren't. The Green Envy couldn't control the flexible blades like they were whips - the machine lacked the precision.

In addition, the urumi's structure meant that the Green Envy attacked in a predictable pattern.

All of the steel whips were attached to the same handle. As a result, the Mech couldn't leave any tendrils back for defense. If it struck, all the attachments would go forward at once.

Finally, the urumi was a solid steel weapon. That meant that it could not extend and increase its length. Jason knew exactly what its range was, and it couldn't cover the whole room.

As a result, Jason employed the opposite of Stephanie's strategy.

Instead of charging forward, he fell back, sliding away from the entryway and towards the far corner of the room.

Steven let out a surprised cry.

"What are you doing? She said to charge!"

Behind him, the rest of the BAG Guild stepped forward.

Jason cursed.

Shit.

That was a huge mistake.

Coming up with a plan wasn't any good unless he told people what he was doing. He was playing on a team now.

He pressed the vocal link and hastily explained himself.

"We shouldn't run at it. The Mech's attacks are very limited. It can only strike with either arm at once. Running close puts us in danger. And look! The Mech is super flimsy. We should run away and start shooting!"

The BAG Guild heeded his words and fell back.

Stephanie, who'd led the charge, was quick-witted enough to respond instantly to Jason's suggestion.

As a result, even her Mech managed to dodge the Green Envy's next attack. The lash of blades barely missed her Mech before gouging more holes in the ground.

Jason let out a sigh of relief.

He'd gotten lucky. Stephanie hadn't paid for his communication error.

After seeing the attack a second time, the BAG Guild's members understood what Jason was seeing. Rather than charging through, they needed to fall out of the urumi's range.

"Nice!"

"Good call!"

Steven beamed.

"Good work, dude. Great job communicating information!"

Then Steven turned to the overall team.

"Alright, guys. Let's start firing. We'll take it down from range."

The Green Envy's instant attack had knocked the BAG Guild out of formation, but now that they had a plan again, the coordinated squad promptly went back on the attack.

A cacophony of explosions echoed through the chamber as they fired and fired.

The Green Envy was extremely thin and narrow. As a result, most of their attacks missed.

However, the machine was just as fragile as it looked.

While it had the height and offensive power of a Giga Mech, it lacked durability.

Jason hit one of the strange stand-arms and the whole machine buckled.

But then...

The Mech suddenly leaped high into the air, twisting elegantly before landing in front of them.

All he could do was cross his arms in front of his cockpit. There was no way he could dodge in time.

The air wailed as the sixteen blades lashed down at him.