Chapter 837: December 19th: Mech-on-Mech Hostile Encounter
Author's Preface
Rust's POV—which I wrote beforehand as a breather while writing the Smoldering Great Crimson Wings battle—finally sees the light of day...... Which means consecutive updates!
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"............Nice, very nice."
Rust muttered quietly while watching the straight line of light drawn by the long-range shot fired from the Grand Duke's Castle in Thirdrema—the opening strike of the battle—fade away. From the comms Rust wore in her ear, the voice of Mold, who had executed the shot, rang out.
<<Rust. According to the "prior intel," the enemy team consists of eight players. But considering the possibility of late intruders, it's better to assume that's strictly the minimum number.>>
".........Acknowledged. Coordinates?"
<<Wait, I'm analyzing the sonar right now......... Yeah, there are three in that vicinity. Back entrance of the Galton Armory, Third Avenue, and the Fifth Sewer. On my end, I'll pin down the other three units I caught.>>
".........I don't really mind if you just take them out, you know?"
<<Since "One-Shot Escape" is our concept this time, I'll keep it moderate.>>
".........Liar."
<<Ahaha......>>
Mold is more lethal operating behind the scenes than he ever was on the frontlines. That is practically common sense for Nephilim Hollow players, and for Rust, it carries an even deeper meaning.
Walking while surveying the streets of Thirdrema through the helmet of her dedicated equipment for operating Tactical Mechs—the special enhanced armor "Color Palette"—Rust confirmed the tiny image reflected in her vision and operated Inventoria.
".........First, let's test the waters......... Just kidding."
Rust was not a scout. If the enemy had invaded their home base, this was already a defensive line and a decisive battle. And the six units of six colors in the Rust Series—born by dividing Rust's current passion into six parts—were......... slightly too powerful to be used for scouting.
".........Gotta make the greeting flashy, you see......... Deploy, 【Kouryou Issui】."
The enemy was the GUN! GUN! Mercenary Corps, some of the most premier urban warfare specialists in the Streamer Frontline, thoroughly versed in steel-and-fire combat far removed from magic and arcanum. If so, this battle was likely being streamed by them......... Which meant this battle was also a platform to speak to the world. Even if "the world" was an exaggeration, it was at least to the entirety of Japan.
『I’ｍ Ready.』
Teleported from the storage space while hovering slightly in mid-air, it landed on the cobblestones with a heavy thud as its data gained physical mass. It was a bizarre object. To give an analogy, it looked like a turtle shell turned into a sphere, or perhaps a sphere constructed from multiple tiny plates.
".........Equip."
『OK.』
Apparently, the enemy had noticed Rust as well. As if to match the urban environment's color scheme, a Tactical Mech sporting the exact same color scheme as the streets of Thirdrema readied a rifle and fired. The target was, of course, Rust herself......... But the bullet struck Rust's left arm, making a hard, metallic clack sound as it was deflected.
".........Live ammunition. Quite a tasteful choice."
Rust's left arm—which had deflected a bullet that would have crushed a normal human like a squeezed tomato—covered in armor one size larger, formed by the transforming sphere. That being said, its appearance was far too bizarre to be called armor, looking more like multiple shields strapped to a human, but with every step she took, the aggregate of shields wrapped around Rust's body.
Thus, shields shaped like armor plates covered her entire body, and finally, heavy, shoe-like leg armor snapped into place. The exact moment the equipping of the Tactical Mech 【Kouryou Issui】 was completed......... the light of magical energy levitated the yellow, shield-armored mechanical warrior about ten centimeters off the ground.
".........Combat start."
Another barrage of bullets was fired, this time on full-auto. However, before they could hit Kouryou Issui, the strange yellow armor moved.
<<Wai—, so fa—!?>>
It was firing thrusters. It was also moving via hover. But the phenomenon resulting from combining both was not something as gentle as standard hover movement. The mech leaned forward, holding a deployed, bizarrely shaped firearm in an even more unnatural grip. Accelerating with every forward stride, its appearance looked exactly like an ice hockey player to the eyes of the pitiful Victim Number One...... "Fig @ GGMC," a member of the GUN! GUN! Mercenary Corps normally in charge of the "Foxtrot" phonetic code.
".........Warmest welcome."
<<Oguu!?>>
Gripping the barrel, she struck using the stock. A strike exactly like an ice hockey stick slammed into the shins of the Tactical Mech "GGMC: Assault Fox" worn by Fig, scooping its legs out from under it. A shotgun blunt strike delivered from an abundant run-up distance and a proportionally accelerated glide was far more than enough to sweep the feet out from under even the most heavily equipped Tactical Mech. Furthermore, once a Tactical Mech—which consisted of a human wearing enhanced armor covered in a massive block of mechanisms—lost its balance, it was difficult to brace oneself unless prepared beforehand.
<<There's some insane robot here! It's yellow, it's sliding, and—>>
".........Please support Nephilim Hollow 2. Stream it if you can. You're welcome to."
<<What are you advertising?!>>
Flipping the shotgun-mace with the splendid elegance of staff combat, Kouryou Issui shoved the muzzle right at the downed enemy Tactical Mech and fired from point-blank range with a roaring ZGON!! The discharged buckshot relentlessly pounded and pulverized the entirety of GGMC: Assault Fox's body.
People tend to assume buckshot consists of short-range, wide-spread bullets, but that is a massive misconception. Even real-world shotguns have a range of 50 meters, and their lethality easily turns a human into mince. No matter how much game-like balance adjustment was applied......... firing at an armored suit containing a person from point-blank contact distance resulted in catastrophic damage.
Combined with the impact damage from having his legs swept out, the point-blank shotgun blast, and a second follow-up shot hammered in to guarantee the kill, Fig @ GGMC's HP inside GGMC: Assault Fox was completely wiped out.
".........First, one down."
Adhering to the special rules of the Kingdom Turmoil, Rust looked away from Fig @ GGMC—who vanished leaving behind only a Tactical Mech that barely retained its original form but stopped moving—and moved out to seek her next prey.
Beside her floated a "black" triangular pyramid───
Author's Afterword
Rust's mental voltage won't stop anymore...!
Do your best, GUN! GUN! Mercenary Corps!! Don't lose, GUN! GUN! Mercenary Brigade!!
By the way, Rust's current hype level is about the same as Sunraku after chugging an energy drink.
・RS:Ο【Kouryou Issui】
A high-mobility "shield-armored" Ball-Men unit that achieved cost reduction by removing all full-body armor plating and replacing it with shields.
By utilizing a shotgun-mace as its primary armament, its main range is mid-to-close combat, achieving high defensive capabilities by catching external impacts with the "front" of its shield armor.
Hover movement is a mobility method frequently seen in heavy Type-Men units, but the hover movement of this unit—which successfully reduced its weight to the absolute limit—is closer to speed skating, boasting astonishing maneuverability surpassing even the 【Sengaku Hisai】 in terms of ground movement speed.
Q. In short?
A. A yellow Tactical Mech covered in shields that glides toward you at blistering speeds like an ice hockey player, smashes you with a blunt weapon, and definitely kills you with a shotgun.
By the way, "RS:Ο" stands for "Rust Series: Ball-Men."
Translator's Notes
- I may have realized it too late but it's 'Corps' not 'Brigade'
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