Somehow, I’m the Otome Game Villain 17: (Patreon)

Somehow, I’m the Otome Game Villain 17:

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Wordcount: 2500

Commissioned by LordMarksman

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One against twenty people in normal magical Armor and five in custom-built Armors.

And, before fighting against those people, I had to wade through a series of traps and ambushes all over the Academy.

Then, I had to bust through a full-powered barrier cast by the Saint.

The Prince and his entourage of supporters must be thinking that must be enough to bring me down to the point they could reach me.

I mean, yeah, it was a reasonable assumption in their worldview and understanding of technology and magic.

Unfortunately for them, Ideal was anything but reasonable.

One-time-use weapons fired all at once the moment battle began. Built into the chassis, the launchers sent off darts in numerous directions which embedded in the armor of enemies, before sealing themselves against the armor and electrifying themselves. One shot was enough to mission-kill and Armor without harming the pilot, and with Ideal’s accuracy that was child’s play.

Ten of the affiliate Armors went down before they could pull their triggers.

And, thanks to my machine’s superior capabilities, I fired my weapons off first, and avoided the ones that Ideal had targeted.

The twin, multi-barrelled cannons spat out a hail of non-lethal ammunition. Though it cracked stone and sped forward at alarming speeds, they weren’t dangerous against Armor pilots. No, instead, the deluge of ‘soft’ metal cracked and shattered like tides against enemy mechanical limbs and send shards into actuators or broke parts. The shattering ammunition would be utterly merciless against human targets, and even monsters, but it was nonlethal against Armors.

They only broke apart the machine to the point where they had to be written off.

Those weren’t the only weapons I was managing, though.

There were shoulder-mounted missiles and the back-missiles. Both held the same payloads, a form of quick-hardening cement that was porous when it expanded and enrobed enemy armors. Firing them off sent the missiles streaking towards opponents, and even when they tried to dodge, they were caught in the large cones of fire of the weapons, and in moments they were trapped with their machines practically rendered useless for the foreseeable future.

Ideal, meanwhile, made use of the multiple small cannons and point defenses in the hull of the machine to ‘defend.’ It aimed at the sensors and eyes of opposing pilots, or fired at their weapons in order to divert attacks sent my way. Lasers and bullets both attacked the magazines of oversized weapons and disabled weapons with pin-point precision. When people tried to throw the massive weapons of the Armors at me in desperate bids to defeat me, they were shot down by a withering hail of bullets.

In short, I exchanged salvoes with my opponents, 25 in number, and came out completely on top with all the adds dealt with in less than a minute.

But the romance targets hadn’t been idle while I’d done so.

“Wow, they really just used everyone else as meatshields, huh?” The five of them charged at me together. Greg and Chris were the vanguard. Though it took weeks of dating them to get them to use shields and tanking gear, they were now in chunky Armors that emphasized health and defense. Chris’s Whirlwind was in full display as his attack was added to his defense in the form of a wind barrier around him that blocked attacks. Meanwhile, Greg’s Hot Bloodedness amped up his Strength, Health, and Regeneration. How did a person’s regeneration ability affect their massive, metal death machine? I don’t have a goddamn clue. Ask the game devs. “Sup. Good hustle, dudes.”

“Shut up!”

“Bastard!”

That was all I got from those two as they tried to crash into me and bring me into melee. With a flare of my thrusters, though, I sent myself and Ideal thundering back and through the Arena while directing fire onto the two. The missiles did most of the work, while the shattering projectiles didn’t even stagger them. They were soon encased in the porous, but quickly-hardening substance and locked down.

Then, of course, came the damage dealers, Jilk and Brad.

The former was specialized in explosive weapons and using debuffs in the form of traps on the enemy. His ‘Snipe’ ability was great in all stages of the game, and his ability to increase the party’s evasion was a godsend in every battle. He came at me with an overspecialized mech with one arm nearly integrated to the massive cannon he was using, while the other was oversized to carry and steady it. I didn’t recognize the weapon from the game, but I did recognize it as a naval cannon.

Meanwhile, Brad was the magic-focused DPS of the game, and he also provided additional buffs to the party whenever he attacked by lowering the defenses of the enemies. His spells hit me despite my best efforts and I saw readings about my armor integrity weakening. His armor was light and loaded with magical crystals, along with a massive staff that amplified the strength of all his spells. He was getting ready to cast Arcane Lance at me, and that was something I’d used time and time again to chunk out HP bars of boss creatures.

At once, as I cleared the attacks of the tanks, they fired at me.

I thought that I could dodge, when suddenly my machine came to a halt.

The readings on the screens said foreign energy force impeding movement and the Armor was overcoming it. Meanwhile, there were also warnings about some sort physical impediment around the legs of my Armor, which servos were gathering power to snap through. A quick check and I found bolas made of massive iron balls and steel cords locking the legs together, and I realized Jilk’s armor had a third arm tucked at its back. The foreign energy was probably ‘Slow’ and Brad’s doing, while the bolas were Jilk.

As their attacks surged towards me, the prince was doing the same, shining and empowered with both his skill… and Rainbow Blessing.

The Saintess was inside with him!

Now, that’s just cheating!

I’ve been looking to take her out of the fight since this started!

Anyway, I hit the shields just as the three sets of attacks surged to hit me.

“Bah, I could’ve taken all of that on without getting scratched.”

“Yeah, you probably could, but not me.”

“I see no issue with that.”

The three attacks collided with my Armor, or rather the massive bubble of power that surged out of the armor, and repulsed all three attacks. The naval-shell Jilk sent my way was sent flying away, careening into a dormitory and absolutely obliterating it. Arcane Lance struggled to reach me through the barrier, trying to dig through, but in doing so as it was outdone in terms of energy and disappeared. Meanwhile, the prince faired better and cut through the barrier and made an opening, but when he brought his sword up to try again… I’d already surged forward and stepped past his sword’s effective range.

To his credit, he tried to hit me with the hilt and step back, but I’d already thrown my cannons aside after sending my missiles at Jilk and Brad to take them down.

Time to live up to my reputation as a thug and a miscreant and beat the prince down with my (mech’s) fists.

…

Julius

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The first hit sent his sword flying.

The second destroyed the arm of his machine.

The third severed the right leg.

How was this possible?

How could someone be so strong?

How could he be failing?
These thoughts pervaded Julius’s mind, but he still kept going, as he held his love against him.

As his love spoke to him, and made all his concerns fade away.

“You can do it, Julius. All you need to do is devote all of yourself. Don’t worry. I’ll love you no matter what.” Olivia spoke to him, and laid against him. Her healing magic was mending his wounds, and his power flowed out of him into his machine. Whatever broke, he sent power into, and reforged his Armor faster than the monster before him could hope to destroy. His heart was thudding in his chest, his body was straining in ways he never thought possible, and there was a strange warmth flowing from his eyes, ears, and nose, but he was doing everything that he can. He couldn’t lose her. Ever. “Protect me, please!”

“I will… I will!” Once more, he called upon his power. It hurt. From within, he was burning and his muscles felt like they were bursting, and there were sharp pains all over his body. Sometimes, when he breathed, he felt like he was drowning, until Olivia’s healing fixed him, and the abyss creeping in his vision faded. “I’ll protect you, Olivia!”

He surged forward and brought his fists against Leon’s machine.

They broke, unable to withstand the force carrying them forward, as well as the strength of the armor they clashed against.

However, for the first time, he saw a crack in the armor.

Leon wasn’t a god.

He could be hurt.

He could bleed.

But, even if he was, Julius wouldn’t stop.

Julius roared and surged forward. Whatever broke, he willed to be fixed and Olivia assisted him completely and utterly. In the dark red of his cockpit, she was surely smiling and pristine on his lap. Her arms were cool as they clung to his neck. He was her cradle, her protector, and he had to be because a beast unlike any other was bearing on them both. Though he felt like he was burning up, though he was weakening, he took comfort in her weight, in her cooling nature, and her presence.

She was here, being protected by him, while everyone else fell.

That was all that mattered, besides victory.

“Oi, that can’t be healthy.” Leon spoke and reached him despite all his efforts to ignore him. The cobalt Armor grasped the arms of his own and caught them, but Julius wrenched them off by kicking off the beast. Leon’s armor was something out of legend. A machine that wielded dozens of weapons and with near-impenetrable armor and frightening staying power. That all those weapons and might could be used was a testament to the pilot of the craft too. Julius recalled his father telling him stories of Fanoss’s Black Knight, and wondered if even that monster could compare to the beast in front of him now, which had laid low so many without even killing one. “Hey. You’re literally on fucking fire! Give up!”

Julius’ thoughts were stirred by those words, worry about Olivia filled him, but she supported him as she always did.

“Don’t worry. I’m safe. Keep fighting.” That was all he needed to hear, before he forced himself into his machine. It fed upon him, consuming his power, and the new arms he forged with Olivia’s magic helping him were better. Not mere metal, but magic, and with them he struck again Leon again.

This time, Leon dodged with a burst of speed that was nearly beyond his ability to follow.

He had the monster on the defensive now, and so Julius attacked once more.

“You can do it. I believe in you. Don’t falter. Don’t fail. Keep going, Julius.” Olivia whispered to him, encouraging him, and he found newfound strength past the depths of the dry well of power that he’d been scratching against. Some part of him screamed to not touch what lay past the barrier he’d been scratching and clawing against, but he paid it no heed. He needed that power and strength. All of it for Olivia. “Yes. Use it. No one else did.”

That’s right.

This was the power Olivia had tried to get them all to use, but only he managed to tap into for a split second.

His life.

His everything.

He was truly capable of giving everything to her, while no one else could!

“Hey, what the hell are you doing in there!? Are you fucking cooking yourself to death!? Julius, talk to me!” Some part of him listened to Leon’s words and was taken aback by the fear in the other young man’s voice, but Julius chose to press on. His magical fists flew forward in a flurry, even as his armor broke and cracked from the power they exuded and the exertion he was forcing upon its mechanical and magical parts. Everything could be fixed. Olivia was right here. He didn’t need to listen to Leon. Leon was his enemy— “Dammit, you idiot! I’m not letting you fucking die!”

There was a surge of movement, and in the back of his mind Julius realized that Leon had been holding back, as the cobalt armor blurred forward past his attacks and appeared right in front of him with a wide-open, glowing palm.

Then, suddenly, there was a singular sound that struck him completely and utterly.

IMPACT.

Everything came undone all around him. His Armor disintegrated in a flash around his body, becoming shards and scraps of useless metal that just fell limply towards the ground. The power it demanded from him suddenly ceased and he became aware of a massive burden lifting from his shoulders… only to be replaced by a weakness unlike any other that he felt before, as he was caught in a massive hand.

Olivia?

Where did Olivia go?

Why wasn’t she helping him anymore?

Did Leon take her?

How dare he—

“Hold the hell on you absolute moron. You’re bleeding everywhere and literally a goddamn stick!” Leon’s face entered his vision, and he was shocked as he felt his suit come off him and cool water was brought to his lips. Olivia was nowhere in sight, but he enemy was taking care of him? What brought on this miracle? “You seriously had her in your cockpit to just heal you up!? You know that could’ve killed you!”

The admonishments gave him focus.

He… he hadn’t told Olivia to come into his cockpit.

She’d insisted on coming.

Yet… yet…

“I couldn’t stop him. I’m so sorry.” She was crying behind Leon, as words that couldn’t be lies left her lips. Julius knew that he must be hearing the wrong things, as his consciousness faded. Why wasn’t she helping him and healing him? She could bring him back from the very brink. “Please, Sir Leon, help him!”

“That’s what I’m doing dammit!” Leon cursed and continued to tend to him. He felt something attach to his face and his breathing eased. Then, a coolness began to spread across his body. He felt so… content and tranquil. “Don’t you dare die on me! I came here to fucking stop what you’re doing, not kill you!”

Julius faded from consciousness despite his best attempts, but as his eyes grew heavier and heavier, he looked over the shoulder of Leon at his beloved.

And, a singular thought pervaded his mind as he fell and fell into sleep?

Why was she smiling, despite the tears running down her face?