Otome Game Villainess? Who Cares? I Want Giant Mecha. 10

Otome Game Villainess? Who Cares? I Want Giant Mecha. 10

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Commissioned by Shaderic

Wordcount: 2500

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A strange conundrum fell upon me, as I peered over the battlefield.

I felt content, but I also yearned for more.

My past life whispered answers to me. The foe I was facing was growing stronger and better, but they weren’t doing so well enough. According to my past self, I’d overcome the “difficulty curve.” In the strange games my previous life played, he faced a multitude of enemies and foes in the “digital” realm, and reveled in hard-fought victory after another through “loops.” He would face foes, fight a worthy foe, and then face more foes until he sufficed for the next. In the meantime, he would do all sorts of things to strengthen himself, his equipment, and his companions for the sake of victory.

It would repeat again and again, unless the foes were too weak, or I was too strong.

In this case, as I surveyed the battlefield, I surmised that it was true in every respect.

The invaders from the waves were steadily sending in more of their greater creatures and they were arming them with better and better weapons. Halberds composed of coral in which giant, electric eels lived. Cannons which fired poisonous spines. Swords with keen edges and firm construction that could resist even hammer blows of Chevaliers for a few moments. The frames of their giants were also reflecting our own. They were finding the correct mix of speed and armor, lessening the burden of the beasts, armoring them properly, and giving them mobility whereas before they were merely terror weapons to support their troops, but now they were true creatures of war.

But they were barely becoming enough to contend with Chevaliers.

They weren’t even close to overcoming them, while we were already improving our weapons, armor, and tactics against them.

They weren’t adapting fast enough, while we were already ahead and growing stronger.

That knowledge irked me, although I knew that it shouldn’t.

The weaker my foes were, and  the less threat that they to posed to the Kingdom, meant that less would be harmed by their approach as we mustered, grew stronger, and cast them down with greater ease.

But it wasn’t what I wanted.

I wanted to grow stronger, I wanted my fellow pilots to grow stronger, and I wanted the Chevaliers to become better.

If this continued… then I would surely have to pick and choose between all the projects that I had instead of pursuing them all! I wanted to make a fearsome cannon that sent innumerable shards of metal at infantry and destroyed them utterly! I wanted to create wings for my Chevalier that would allow it to take flight! I wanted to create massive melee weapons with incredible attacks, which would reveal new forms in the crux of battle that would turn the tide! Finally, most of all, I wanted to fight within my Chevalier against a giant monster that dwarfed it utterly, which break it, so that I could repair it and make it far better than before!

I felt my heart ache as I realized that was going to be impossible if things continued as they did.

Already, against my Chevalier order and all the others, the enemy was faltering and breaking.

We stopped them time and time again on the beaches, before they could even threaten towns, let alone the cities that produced Chevaliers and the majority of the food. Their infantry was strong against our own, but that was made invalid by the fact that their spearheads could part our ranks long enough for their infantry to get close enough to do their duty. Not only that, but if they did, our soldiers were better armed and armored against the threat that they faced. Fortresses were erected by magic, sightlines established, and fearsome defenses employed that could shatter Chevaliers.

I felt lost as I realized that the enemy was losing thoroughly and that there was no hope for my projects to continue.

I would have to choose just one, in hopes that I could devote myself to it and finish it, before Crown realized that they had the upper hand.

However, a miracle occurred, as my commander’s voice suddenly resounded in my place within my Chevalier.

“Everybody get up! Something has smashed our left flank! Five Chevaliers lost completely! We’re moving on to find and kill the beasts who did it!” My heart seized at the words. Our left flank was with seasoned pilots with excellent weapons. They were highly skilled and used the best of the most common Chevaliers available. They were a fine measuring stick for any foe, especially if that foe was— “Stay on your guard and stay near me! The last report on the matter said we faced a single foe!”

A single, unknown individual defeated five.

My heart beats hastened as I turned my pride and joy to move with the rest of my companions.

What did they have?

What was the breakthrough that allowed our invaders to do this?

Had they discovered some sort of alloy that allowed their new creature to weather all by the strongest of attacks? Did they find a way to meld the minds of their warriors with the lesser minds of the greater creatures they used? Were they now using weapons which outmatched all we had at our disposal, perhaps based on some sort of “beam” technology?

I moved forward with glee and excitement, as my past life summoned up memories.

Memories of esteemed, young pilots in the midst of battle who turned the entire tide of war.

A hero on the opposing side.

In other words, a fine opponent for me to face.

All thoughts and worries about the future faded as I went forward.

There was time to fret about the future later.

For now, I wanted a wonderful battle.

…

Over the course of the conflict, I improved upon my Chevalier.

Its all-white chassis was a point of pride for me, as it showed a lack of damage while others had many patches from repairs, and washing away the remains of my foes to reveal unblemished armor beneath was incredibly cathartic. As time in the front was spent, and my requests for more parts and equipment were validated, I made improvements to the armor the raised eyebrows until they proved effective.

For the armor, I added layers, air gaps, and a few experimental plates that countered attacks by launching explosive magic at it. The additional layers were meant to be ablative and they worked splendidly against acid-based attacks. The air-gaps captured shrapnel and provided a path of lesser resistance. Then, finally, the explosive plates countered strong attacks by striking against them instantly as they encroached.

Although my Chevalier was lighter than many others, I was confident that its armor and protection was equal to that of a “medium” weight machine, and competed against the heaviest of them.

In terms of secondary weapons, I focused on developing internal weaponry to supplement the arms. Emitters of magic that sent razor-sharp winds at the foes were my main focus, which I had planned to replace with the wonderful firearms that I knew in my past life. I could turn the head of my Chevalier at my foe and with a thought send forth blade after blade of compressed with traveling at incredible speeds. They were able to smash apart the armor of the sea titans, and pulp the infantry of the undersea creatures with ease. Recently, I added them to my Chevalier’s arms, but instead of blades they fired straight ahead. I could sweep the column of ferocious wind across a building and cut it in half, have it punch straight through a giant foe with ease, or utterly devastate a grouping of soldiers even behind cover.

As for my primary weapon, I stuck to melee, because I agreed with my past life.

Giant robots are best when fighting close and not acting as mere walking “guns.”

I’d changed my weapon time and time again during the conflict. I want from knives, to swords, to flails, and eventually greatswords. My past life was enamored with the thought of using a mass of steel as tall as my Chevalier, but the possibility of breaking apart homes of Kingdom citizenry stalled the idea. In the end, as I approached my newest foe, I was carrying two hand axes for my Chevalier, which I could throw precisely with ease, and were connected by long chains, so I could bring them back to me.

They were strong weapons and I felt confident in using them.

My confidence in them didn’t wave as we approached the burning village with five collapsed Chevaliers strewn in various states of destruction upon it.

Some of my fellows recoiled at the sight, others had to be stopped from rushing forward at the foe looming in the center, but I focused on what was done to the Chevaliers.

What weapon did this to them?

And, of course, could I take the one that did?

The five broken Chevaliers, much to my dismay, didn’t appear broken by weapons. Instead, they looked as though they were overcome by brutal force combined with precision. Clublike indentations on armor, torn off limbs with trails left behind by strong claws, and finally legs broken, but still attached as they were struck from the side of the joints. I analyzed all of this and my past life provided plentiful reference, so I made a good guess as to what was occurring even before my foe arrived.

The creature was streamlined and had a semi-humanoid body, but it was obviously still an undersea monstrosity. Its face and body was covered in segmented shells that mimicked the form of a Chevalier. Unlike all the other titans they threw at us, this creature was not an amalgam, and did not fight with any weapon. Instead, it was merely a hulking quadruped with a humanoid torso with arms that had quad-claws at their ends, but when closed looked like battering rams. Below the waist, it had crablike legs, which could support its weight with ease, but I presumed primarily acted as weapons that attacked the lower half of the Chevalier.

It could evade in every with ease while attacking with its spare legs.

It could move its torso back and forth to block attacks and its eyes were shielded in slitted, segmented shell-armor.

And, since it fought five Chevaliers and stood over them victorious, it was obviously capable of using all its advantages with ease.

So, without a moment’s hesitation, I invoked my right to fight it.

“Commander, I request a duel against the creature.”

The commander grunted and without complaint gave his assent.

“Don’t die. That’s an order… and for the rest of you… get into formation!”

The world and everything else bled away as I approached the creature that stood in the ruin of a town and surrounded by five Chevaliers.

I crossed the distance between us in what felt like a heartbeat and soon enough I was across it in the town square with two axes in the hands of my weapon.

It waited for me, I felt it trying to search my Chevalier for weaknesses, while I searched for it.

My heart thrummed in my chest, as even before the battle a profound satisfaction began to well up within me.

This was the fight I was searching for.

The moment that thought crossed my mind; the mutated monstrosity struck.

It crossed the distance between itself and me with speed that belied its size. The skittering of its legs propelled it forward like it was naught but a bug that I could hold in my human hand. Its charge was immaculate, it kept is shoulders low and head hidden behind its ram-like arms, and a quarter of the length between it and myself it slowed down. It wasn’t a mistake. It was to get in prime distance for its own reach while staying out of mine, while also using its two foremost crab-like legs to surge in a scythe-like manner towards my legs.

It was fast and it knew how to fight.

But, in terms of skill, it was lacking.

Just as it lowered its guard, so that it could ambidextrously use one arm as a ram into my Chevalier’s chest while the other reached for my limb to break it, I set my Chevalier upward with a blast of magic from its legs.

The creature was dangerous because it had multiple ways of attacking at once and could close the distance quickly.

If it had skill, if it did not simply attack me like a weapon and learned how to fight, then it would be a danger.

But, as it was now, it was just just-paced, tough bomb that rushed at foes.

“Well, you are more interesting than I initially thought, and you’ll certainly make this battle harder.” I mused while I flipped my machine of war in the air. Its legs clambered over to the nearest building, but I prolonged my flight by flaring magic once more out of the ports I needed to with practiced string of thoughts, while also willing my “body” to move as I did. My past life made the action akin to having a mental “controller” and going through a “combo” while physically fighting at the same time. It was difficult, but I was sure many others could do the same… if they had the same mental picture and matured as rapidly as I did. “But, you’re not the hero of the enemy as I had hoped.”

The armor of the creature’s skull opened to reveal that it wasn’t hiding sensory organs, but instead some sort of biological cannon that launched projectiles at me. It was a good idea, its aim was poor and it didn’t even glance off my armor, while I levelled my sub-weapons upon it and fired.

The attack I launched shattered the house which it clambered atop to try and reach me. Blades of wind cut into stone, while the rams from my arms slammed into it and sent it flying into the ground. The recoil from the magics kicked in just as I was about to land, and I landed upon the town’s cobblestone square lightly without making so much as a creak with my Chevalier.

To the new creature’s credit, it survived my sub-weapons and didn’t rush for me immediately because it found itself embroiled in rubble. It was desperately trying to get out… but I had already seen enough.

I grabbed the chains of my axes, gave both some length, and gave them both momentum.

After two rotations, I directed both at the creature as it began to clamber out.

It did not matter where its true heart and brain were, because my strikes smashed through the creature, met in the middle, and the flame sigil on one and the wind sigil on the other came into contact.

The still-white-hot weapons came screeching towards me and left a mangled, burned corpse in a crater.

But, just in case, I struck it again to be sure.

It was better, as my previous life wisely noted, to be safe than sorry.