CHAPTER EIGHTY SIX

"Here, here, and here. A lot of high priority targets this drop."

Steven's firm voice called out to the rest of the BAG Guild, and he pinged out three separate locations. Out of their set-up, Steven's machine was the only one that couldn't attack from long-range. His job was to bring them down to the planet. As a result, the versatile support player was temporarily acting as their sighter.

The screen promptly lit up.

Steven hadn't just pinged out their three targets. He'd also given them specific instructions. A red circle meant that Jason was supposed to fire. Wendy, Stephanie, and Owen each had their own respective color coding. If one of them missed, the others would pick up the slack.

However, not all of them would fire each time. Their group only wanted to target key individuals and high-ranking players. They actively wanted less experienced players in the scrum so they would add to the chaos and prevent anybody from figuring out their ruse.

Jason's eyes narrowed as he aimed at his speedy target. The brightly glowing machine was light blue, and it had four mechanical wings that flittered rapidly back and forth like those of a hummingbird. The slender Paragon had a long and elongated head that reminded Jason of a crocodile. The strange flying lizard was known as a Shrieker, and it was one of the only machines able to attack opponents with sonic blasts.

The Mech needed to die as soon as possible. If it made it to Castle Notoria, Jason was screwed. Sonic attacks were extremely effective against Hemoborn. The noises would rupture their eardrums before directly damaging their brains. Due to the enhanced Red Minerva's extreme auditory abilities, the other machine might even be able to instantly kill Jason's partner by screaming within her vicinity. They needed to destroy this enemy while he had the chance.

Unfortunately, this Mech had been enhanced for additional mobility, and like everyone else, the pilot's response to the giant illusion was to run away as soon as possible.

Jason carefully aimed, then fired out a full-powered Pestilent Snipe. The sheer din of Lynn's dragon projection drowned out the extremely loud attack. Jason held his breath as the highly compressed bullet streaked towards its target, then let out a sigh of relief as the shot pierced the thin crocodile's throat. The Mech exploded moments later.

Steven turned to Jason.

"Nice shot man!"

Despite their success, Lynn sounded worried.

"Shit. Has anyone seen Castor yet?"

The rest of them shook their heads. Unfortunately, it was impossible to tell who was in any individual launch group. That data was restricted to the Illusionists. He might have already slipped away while Jason and the BAG Guild were setting up their ploy, but it was much more likely that he was in one of the last groups.

Jason bit his lip.

"I haven't seen any purely artillery-focused units either."

An artillery unit was a terrible choice for an assassination, but members of The Hive diligently stuck to their insectoid machines no matter what. Castor and his unknown partner were both new members, and they wouldn't have enough influence in the organization to violate protocols.

The launches continued ticking down, and the BAG Guild scored kill after kill. Lynn's illusion had paid off. During the last two minutes, the group had scored over forty kills, and just over half of those kills had come against certified players. The competition would be significantly reduced by the time they landed in the castle.

Unfortunately, their most important target remained unseen.

Eventually, Jason and his friends had to accept the truth.

There was just one launch group left. Danny and Castor would launch together. After that, the UFO would fly away, and the BAG Guild could no longer use it for cover. While they would still have Lynn's illusory dragon, Castor wasn't an idiot. He already knew his sister's specialty, and he was almost certainly compared to counteract it.

Before long, Danny confirmed their suspicions. He sent a message right after leaving the hangar.

"He's here, and he's carrying his partner with him. There's only two other people in our group. Castor stuck the other machine in a Transport Cube - it seems like he wants to deal with the mission all on his own...let's show him why that won't happen."

The BAG Guild responded by leaving the UFO and taking cover inside the draconic illusion. It wasn't as good as foolproof hiding behind an enormous and near-indestructible spaceship, but it was the best they could do.

Danny's upgraded Mech appeared beneath them.

Just like the original Lucky Duck, it was large, awkward, and bulky. However, this new machine was painted red instead of white, and it now had two ordinary-sized arms. The right arm carried the same gigantic Swiss army knife, but the left hand now held a large steel broadsword, which allowed it to make conventional attacks even when it received a bad roll.

The machine combined the strengths of both the Lucky Duck and the Searing Anger. This new Mech perfectly fit Danny's ideal of swinging for the fences to maximize damage. He could now deliberately take damage to empower his next strike.

However, both the Lucky Duck and the Searing Anger were innately volatile machines. The increased power came at the expense of increased risk.

Castor's Mech launched besides Danny's machine. The spider's head was turned towards the illusory dragon, and it was obvious he knew what the source was. His Hemoborn was clutching a glowing green cube in its two uppermost forearms.

The Transport Cube was a highly expensive item that allowed players to miniaturize teammates for swift transport. The device worked almost like a Pokeball. In this case, Castor wanted to sneak his artillery teammate into the castle instead of ruining their strategy by bringing a distinctively un-stealthy machine alongside him.

To Jason's surprise, the spider's hands were otherwise empty, and its equipment was standard. All of them had expected Castor to bring specialized equipment to bring down Lynn's illusions. It was very unlike him to be unprepared.

The remaining two players instantly attacked Danny and Castor. Their machines moved forward with reckless abandon. They were clearly supportive players who wanted to take out their targets as soon as possible. They knew their teammates would have a much easier time if they eliminated two skilled competitors.

The first was a bird-shaped Kingbreaker that went for Danny. The skillful pilot tanked the first attack before viciously retaliating with its broadsword to destroy the machine without any problems.

The second Mech went straight for Castor. The high-speed machine looked just like a submarine, and it streaked straight at the spider instead of using weapons. The Mech's armor pulsated and expanded, and the whole thing gradually glowed bright red.

Jason winced.

"Shit. It looks like it's going to self-destruct."

Direct suicide attacks were a great way to take down more skilled opponents.

But it was just a bluff.

The submarine suddenly exploded, showering the battlefield with rainbow-colored particles. The dragon above their heads vanished, and the sound disappeared. The BAG Guild was completely revealed.

"What the hell?

"Shit!"

"That submarine was filled with particles that dispelled illusory abilities..."

Castor must have bribed one of the other members of his launch group into working with him, and the other player had likely agreed to a payout instead of trying to fight the skilled pilot.

The spider turned, and bright red letters flashed on Jason's screen.

FINISHER ACTIVATED: COMBAT DUNGEON

Jet black bricks materialized in thin air. The rapidly spreading material instantly cut off Jason from the rest of the BAG Guild before jerking him towards the Hemoborn spider. At the same time, the bricks formed behind Castor's machine and rapidly pushed him forwards toward the Red Minerva.

The newly summoned bricks quickly contracted, forming a thick and powerful barrier in the middle of space that sealed Jason and Castor inside.

Jason's teammates were blown back by the force of Castor's Finisher. The other pilots cried out.

"Just hang on! We'll break the barrier and save you!"

Jason grimaced.

That was easier said than done. After Castor's Finisher, the two machines faced each other in a dim dungeon lit only by a set of four torches, one on each wall.

As it stepped forward, Castor's legendary machine cast a long and distorted shadow over the Red Minerva. The dim light of the dungeon made the close combat spider look all the more terrifying.

A massive brown spider standing upright on its two mechanical legs skittered rapidly out of the door. Jason recognized the creature's shape and colors as that of a recluse spider, a small but deadly creature known for its poisonous venom. Of course, this Mech version was hundreds of times larger - it stood sixty feet high, a full ten feet more than the Red Minerva.

The spider's lower two legs had been completely removed and replaced with a pair of solid steel replicas. The main legs were far thicker than the other six limbs and could support the spider's full body weight at all times.

The pair of legs were attached to a thin metal disk right above the spider's thorax. The disk had dramatically changed the spider's posture, transforming the normally eight-legged creature into a humanoid two-legged martial artist.

The spider's other six limbs had also been modified. They looked just like a human's, only they were writ large and gleamed gold. The hands were designed for close combat and could strike and grasp opponents with equal efficiency. The fingers each ended in long and bladed razor-sharp fingernails with barbed serrated edges like daggers.

The creations would have looked utterly beautiful on their own. On the spider, they just looked freakish and eerie.

The creature's thorax boasted a pair of markings. As a brown recluse spider, it had a strange violin-like shape at the back. Although the machine's back was currently facing away from him, Jason had seen the creature onstream. The other marking was on the front side of the spider Mech, just beneath the cylinder-like metal waist.

Castor tossed the glowing green cube to the side. When he spoke, Jason could hear the smug grin in his voice.

"My sister says you're pretty good. I'm sure they'll try to break my barrier, but let's see how long you can last."

The spider charged forward.