SOS CH 48: Difference in skills (Patreon)

In the distance, two large mecha, surpassing the 10 meters, stood tall, facing each other silently.

One was Twelve meters tall, a pristine black and yellow paint covering it while holding a sword made out of pure condensed energy.

The second one was nearly twenty meters, an impressive height compared to the first one but its appearance showed that this Mecha had seen far better day. A Tall crusader shield was nearly broken in half in one hand while a long saber was held in the other. The primary colors were red and black. A menacing mix.

Ouroboros and The Scorched.

This was a fight with no spectator and the two pilots both knew that the only way to end this whole situation was for one of them to die.

[Noah. How many of the others survived?]

The first one to break the silence was Omid. His voice coming from the speakers was low and subdued but one could undeniably feel the hidden rages in his words. As for his question about who survived, it was clear that it was a question about his subordinates on the ship.

Noah could have ignored him but since he was currently connecting to his mecha, this was a welcome situation.

[Zero.]

[... I see…]

The voice of Omid became dangerously lower and Noah could feel the telltale sign of a bull about to charge.

[I have underestimated you. I should have killed you at our very first meeting.]

[Heheh. Insight is always 20/20 don’t you think?]

[Indeed it is. I will live with those regrets all my life but for now. I will have to kill you.]

[Is that so? Then…Come and try if you can.]

It was hard to say who started. But soon, the sound of metal crushing the ground sounded as each of them took one step after another.

The first few steps were slow and probing, as if they were only testing the grounds they were walking on but soon, the two of them were running at each other, covering the distance between them in an instant while crushing everything on their path before finally colliding like two furious train.

Noah was smart enough to use what remained of the shield to take on the sword but his detectors were already warning him about the clear drop in durability.

There was simply no way his shield could hold up long enough and he knew it.

Whoosh!

Activating his thruster, he made a quick movement, going to the right, escaping the onslaught, and bringing down his sword. But Omid was no slaught and while his reflex and motor responses were not as high as Noah's, the spec of his Mecha were enough to make such difference useless.

What followed was a frenetic course and flurry of exchanges between the two giants of steel, moving at high speed, sometimes accelerating, decelerating, and even moving slightly up if it was necessary.

It was a showcase of skills from two experienced pilots but Omid found himself slowly getting cornered.

How is this possible!?

As always this was a question anyone would have when fighting Noah but Omid could not be blamed.

MechaS were heavy. Mechas were slow. Mecha was rigid.

This was mostly the unanimous opinion of most pilots when it came to piloting. Even with a pseudo neuronal link, the breath allowed was extremely limited unless one filled their machine with much more expensive combat software to add a reaction to nearly every situation.

Omid had seen enough to know that the Mecha he was facing was not some high-end mecha. Hell, it couldn’t even be some old-style Mecha. It was a style he had never seen and it seemed beyond outdated.

The Scorched may not be a unique Mecha at its base but it was still a masterpiece born from the technology of a type 2 civilization.

There was only one possible explanation for the movement of this mecha to be so smooth and so human-like.

“A neuro link?”

Omid shivered. Just what kind of madman was he currently fighting? The Neurolink was a system that had been discovered when the first few mecha designs of the Old Empire were found in a few ruins.

But soon, this system was entirely banned from the construction of all Mecha as it was simply too counterproductive.

[Crazy bastard!]

[I am the sanest man in the world! Hahaha]

The two mecha clashed once again but the Ouroboros were starting to falter and in the cockpit, Noah was sweating bucket. Moving a giant of steel of nearly 20 meters as if it was his own body was not easy on the human mind and doing so at the intensity he was doing currently certainly was not helping.

Noah could not afford to make the slightest mistake for he knew that any mistakes could be fatal for him in this situation.

His face was covered in sweat and his eyes were bloodshot, with traces of blood even leaking slightly. His mind was a little hazy but the twinkle in his eyes was unmistakable.

—Noah!

“Not Now! I still have not lost yet!”

His voice was abnormal but Noah spared no thoughts to this fact. All that mattered for him was the combat in front of him and he was savouring every moment of it.

[Deep Dive 2: Activation]

Noah grunted as the link went in deeper, he was now feeling every limb of the robots as if they were truly his own and he knew how dangerous this was but he did not care.

The fight continued, like a death dance that seemed to have no end, the two fought, dodging, colliding, fighting. All this time, Noah knew that he had the advantages but he also knew that he could not stay long like this.

[Reserve of energy: 15%]

Not only was he low on energy but his own body was limited to what it could bring out in the current situation. All he could do was boost his perception with Dark Matter but since his Mecha had no system related to it, there was no way for him to boost it.

I need to create an opening.

For an instant, Ouroboros seemed to slip, losing its balance and The Scorched did not hesitate to capitalize on it.

Bang~!

[Do you think you can keep against me with this piece of Crap!?]

A roar sounded as The Scorched started swinging its sword again and again, chipping at the shield until it was about to give up. The shame he felt at the thought of having been nearly bested by a trash mecha was not something that could be explained in mere words and he needed to wipe out this stain.

In Ouroboros, Noah smiled. He could see that Omid was angry and as angry as he was, he was trying to prove his superiority.

I only have one shot.

He truly missed his spear. The additional reach would have been appreciated but it was right. He could make do.

Just a little more

He observed, that even as his shield was finally able to break down, he waited and finally he found it.

For the last strike, The Scorched raised its sword high. This was a mistake.

[Self Destruction]

All the pieces of equipment during the war against the parasites were filled with self-destruction mechanisms and he did not hesitate to use the one in his shield. Fire and smoke filled their vision as shrapnels flew around, damaging even his mecha. But it was a calculating risk and one he was willing to take.

As the shield exploded, Ouroboros deftly moved to the side, avoiding the sword that fell in its previous position before answering with its sword.

The oscillating sword was a very powerful weapon as could be seen by the fact that even now, variation of it were still used.

Sometimes, evolution wasn’t about discarding the old but knowing what to keep and Noah was sure that if his sword could reach the joints of The Scorched, he could do very nasty damage.

I won!

Noah smiled as the sword reached the place where the cockpit would be even amidst the blinding smoke.

As for Omid, his detector warned him of the incoming attack and he was presented with a difficult choice.

His life or his pride.

In the end, his desire to live to won.

[Shield Activation.]

A soft sound reached him as the oscillating sword seemed to collide against an invisible barrier. Hexagonal waves started to spread in a slow ripple, showing the futility of the attack that landed.

A strange silence settled between the two, as the mecha stayed in the same position. But the first one to break it was none other than Noah.

[Pfft! Hahahah! I won!]

In his mecha, Omid gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with rages.

One may wonder why Noah was laughing or if he was completely crazy. But Omid could not deny the reality.

Up to now, the two of them had been fighting using their own skills and the pure spec of their mecha, and yet, Omid had been nearly killed.

Without his shield, he would have lost.

As a Mecha Pilot — Noah had won.

If this was a simple duel, the fight would have ended here and there, and the two would have shaken hands and ended this on an amicable note.

This was not a duel.

This was a fight to the death and now…Omid had no more reason to hold back.