Chapter 860: Mech Mayhem
An open square that was usually reserved for other festive gatherings was now occupied by about a dozen newly constructed metal giants.
Giant humanoid mechanical robots that could be controlled by pilots inside them, each featuring unique designs and weapon loadouts.
"Feels like we’ve wandered into a land of giants," Arthur remarked, glancing at one of the 20-metre class machines.
"There’s a cute one over there," Elaine said, pointing toward a smaller 3-metre class model.
All around them were people who had come out of both curiosity and the desire to make large purchases, gazing up at the mobile mechs while speaking about them in awe.
Arthur had seen many of them in both Hell and Draco Sirus over the past year, so nothing about the event felt new or particularly captivating to him.
Elaine wasn’t as familiar with them as Arthur was, but she had accompanied him to Galacarro a few months ago and had seen them in action, so they weren’t all that novel to her either.
Glancing at the brochure she’d taken from a passing basket, she skimmed through the details about the mobile mechs on display.
"The Weapons Factories are just showing off their newest models," she said quietly. "Let’s take a quick look and then find somewhere to eat. I noticed some of their dishes that caught my attention the last time we were here."
Elaine didn’t care much for the competition between the weapons factories, which was apparent both in their brochures and in the mobile mechs they designed.
They walked beneath the legs of one of the towering humanoid machines that resembled a winged knight, but as they emerged on the other side, they nearly collided with a man in a suit wearing a badge that identified him as someone affiliated with the event.
The moment he noticed Arthur, his eyes widened, and he quickly spoke.
"My Lord! What a coincidence! Would you like a tour of our factory’s display area? It’s quite close to here."
He seemed to recognise Arthur, which meant either they had met before and Arthur simply didn’t remember him, or he was only saying that because he thought Arthur looked like someone worth approaching for a sale.
As he spoke, he gestured toward the open display hangar that showed a floating holographic icon of the Factory’s logo, with most of the visitors inside dressed extravagantly, as if eager to flaunt their wealth.
Elaine was more interested in finding something to eat than in seeing more mobile mechs, so she hoped Arthur would turn down the man’s offer, but Arthur’s attention shifted when he spotted a particular mech that stood out to him.
"I’m curious about that blue unit there," he said, pointing at one of the holograms projected outside.
"Ah, that’s our newest model. We put considerable effort into both its appearance and performance, and the most into improving ease of use and maintenance, achieving a 30% increase compared to the previous generation."
The salesman displayed a series of data across his tablet as he spoke, but Arthur barely glanced at it as he walked toward the mech in question.
Seeing Arthur’s disinterest in the data, he quickly put the tablet away and hurried to match Arthur’s stride, pointing toward the craft as he spoke.
"If you’re open to the idea, would you like to take it for a test ride around the venue to see how comfortable it feels in motion and whether its responsiveness fits your style?"
"I’m very open to that idea," Arthur replied without hesitation, turning and taking Elaine’s hand as he smiled.
"Let’s go on a little ride, okay?"
"..."
His knowing smile made Elaine fall silent, and her intuition told her there was something strange about Arthur’s sudden eagerness to pilot a mobile mech.
She couldn’t tell what it was, however, so she simply followed him quietly to where the mech he had chosen stood waiting, with the salesman opening its cockpit.
The torso of the sleek mobile mech was just as compact as the rest of it, but the cockpit was spacious enough for three people to enter comfortably, thanks to spatial expansion magic enchantments.
As Arthur sat on the well-designed pilot’s seat, which automatically adjusted to his body the moment he sat down, the salesman continued his enthusiastic attempts to promote the machine.
"I assure you, it’s the most comfortable ride you’ll ever experience in a mobile mech. The seat automatically calculates positioning based on the pilot’s body and..."
As he droned on, Elaine looked around the cockpit with mild interest, glancing at the control sticks and foot pedals before shifting her gaze to the rows of buttons and switches spread across the console.
Just as she turned away, a wave of hot air hit her face from the open hatch, followed by the thunderous sound of the explosion that caused it, and then the screams that erupted from outside.
"W-what?!"
The salesman flinched and turned toward the source of the blast, eyes widening as he saw smoke rising from outside the hangar.
Arthur, still perfectly calm despite the sudden commotion, tapped the stunned salesman on the shoulder and spoke.
"Hey. There are some people outside wreaking havoc with mobile mechs."
He spoke with the same calmness as if he already understood everything happening outside the hangar, then, maintaining that same composed tone, he added.
"Your offer for a test drive still stands, right? How about I make it a live combat test instead?"
The man blinked before realisation dawned, and he quickly shook his head.
"N-no, my Lord! I absolutely cannot lend you this cra—"
"But you offered. Are you taking that back now?" Arthur interrupted, his tone calm but leaving no room for refusal.
"Huh? No, wait! This really isn’t the ti—"
"Seems like the perfect time to me. Thanks for your offer, I’ll gladly accept it."
With that, Arthur snapped his fingers, warping the man out of the craft before pulling Elaine closer and lifting her onto his lap.
"So, let’s make this a little test for you, my dear."
"Test? On what?"
Elaine was beginning to suspect that Arthur had already anticipated whatever chaos was unfolding outside, and as she asked her question, he pressed a button to power up the mobile mech, the systems booting up as a secondary pair of control sticks emerged.
Handing them to her, he replied.
"Incapacitating an opponent without shuffling them off the mortal coil."
◇ ◇ ◇
Flames and smoke filled the exhibition venue, with people running in panic as mobile mechs wielding massive double-bladed swords chased after them.
The machines thundered across the grounds, swinging their weapons and knocking dragons and others who tried to fight back out of the skies with crushing blows.
These mobile mechs, built for interstellar warfare, could easily knock existences up to the Transcendent Realm to the ground without much effort.
Since most of those piloting these machines were existences far weaker than that, the venue was filled with mortals who stood little chance of resistance.
Being an official event sanctioned by the Planet Lord, there were security officials stationed around, but those security officials were currently occupied by a small army of attackers in mobile mechs, preventing them from being able to properly evacuate or protect the weaker attendees being trampled by mobile mechs.
More of the attackers infiltrated the venue to steal inside and activate other mobile mechs that were present for display, spreading even more havoc.
Before long, most of the brand-new mobile mechs on display had been stolen, and as he watched this unfold, the leader of the hijackers smiled from within his cockpit.
"The specs of these crafts are impressive. So much they’re wasted on a planet like this..."
Just as he was about to issue orders to capture any engineers they could find, a sudden explosion erupted, its shockwave crashing against the shield of his craft.
"What?!"
He spun around to see one of his allies blasted out of the smoke and flames, crashing violently into the ground.
[H-help—!]
Hearing his comrade’s voice through the cockpit’s speakers, the man turned and shot toward it, intending to assist, when another blue mobile mech burst out of the flames and charged straight at him.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed, and upon dodging the blade slash from the sudden attacker, he cursed, "Damn, that thing’s going to be trouble."
The blue mech dashed forward, closing the distance in an instant, giving the leader barely enough time to react before the blue blur crashed into his machine, knocking it backwards and sending it tumbling through a nearby hangar building.
The leader tried to swing his sword, but the blue mech moved faster, grabbing his mech’s left shoulder and squeezing down before throwing a kick that toppled it off balance and onto the ground.
It released the arm of the falling mech, then raised its left leg and stomped down to pin it before raising the blade in its other hand and bringing it down, slicing through the joint of the leader’s mech’s right shoulder.
It then lifted its right leg and stomped on the leader’s mech’s knee, and as the mech’s arms fell uselessly to the ground, the blue mech brought its sword down once more, infusing power into the blade until it lit up red-hot.
Its edge narrowed and its tip extended as it pierced the weapon through the cockpit, through the controls and severed the pilot’s left leg in a single, cauterising strike.
The man’s cry of pain was drowned out by the sound of his exploding controls, the emergency eject function failing, and as the shockwaves slammed into him with full force, he was knocked unconscious.
The blue mech pulled its blade free, turned around, and dashed into the smoke-filled sky to hunt down the remaining attackers still rampaging through the venue.
Inside the cockpit, Arthur’s hand gripped the main controls as he manoeuvred the mech through the wreckage of hangars.
"Three on the right," he said suddenly, and at that, Elaine pressed the buttons at the top of the auxiliary joysticks, transforming the mech’s right arm into twin cannons.
She pulled them to take aim, eyes locked on the targeting HUD before firing consecutive shots that struck the joints behind the attackers’ knees.
The mechs buckled instantly, crashing down and giving the security mechs they were fighting the opening to finish them.
Arthur boosted forward faster than that happened, skidding across the ground as he returned the mech’s blade to its normal length, while Elaine brought it up in a sweeping arc, slicing off a weapon arm from one assailant.
Another lunged from behind, and Arthur threw a back kick that sent it flying into a smoking crater before casually saying, "Left," as he turned the mech’s body.
Elaine charged the arm gun, following the movements of the targets through the haze of dust and smoke until they came fully into view before releasing short bursts aimed at their limbs and mounted weapons.
Sparks scattered across the air as one after another collapsed to the ground, then Arthur spun the mech around, weaving through beams of plasma before throwing a kick into the knee joint of one opponent and ducking under the wild swing of another.
"Elaine."
"On it." She pressed the button to reload the arm gun’s cartridges and unleashed another volley toward the thrusters of the enemy mechs, forcing them to crash to the ground.
"Good. Now we’ve got five more behind us."
Arthur spoke as he turned the machine, and Elaine continued firing the cannons, taking off the heads of two mechs and then their legs before Arthur leapt back to avoid another strike while she fired at their feet to bring them down.
Arthur pushed the controls forward, and the blue mech dashed ahead, with Elaine swinging the blade to disarm them...literally.
"Seventeen down," Elaine muttered as she reloaded the gun, her eyes sweeping across the enemy units scattered around the ruined square, missing arms, limbs, or heads, all taken down by the two of them.
However, Arthur didn’t move to attack any further, instead ascending into the sky as he spoke.
"That’s enough. We’ve helped the security team enough."
