The Mech Touch

Five black-coated Diligent Mark XXIV's thundered forward and clashed against five identical mechs, only this time coated in dark yellow!

The arena grounds shook as the combined tonnage of ten second-class swordsman mechs maneuvered around each other in order to find the right angle to strike.

Every mech pilot that had managed to make it through the grueling virtual preliminaries possessed skill that was already above average.

Those who seriously aimed to compete in the main phases of the tournaments made thorough preparations in order to compete.

Not only did they invest a lot of practice time in piloting mechs that were similar to the Diligent Mark XXIV, they also specifically formulated a set of tactics that made the most out of what everyone considered to be a fairly limited mech model.

The key to making it to the finals mech combat tournaments was to draw out the full potential of the Diligent mechs!

Every contender aspiring to reach the top 1000 or top 100 possessed an undeniable advantage against mech pilots like the Swordmaidens.

"Tch!" Commander Sendra gritted her teeth as a dual-wielding mech utilized its maneuverability to the utmost.

Her black-coated Diligent mech was unable to block every poisonous strike that approached from different angles. The armor of her mech sparked as some of the bee sting-like stabs managed to get past her guard.

Although Sendra attempted to punish her opponent's daring moves by making wide, powerful sweeps with the greatsword of her mech, the damn Diligent mech took too long to perform the move, giving the opposing mech enough time to dash backwards and avoid the blow!

Although every Swordmaiden mech pilot had already practiced with the Diligent models beforehand, it was still difficult to shake off their old habits.

"Not even the Bright Warrior is this sluggish."

The Swordmaidens had gotten spoiled with living mechs. While Ves had yet to design a dedicated swordsman mech, flexible models such as the the Bright Warrior Mark I and II were still better than anything they piloted before.

As premium mech models of their respective mech classes, the old and new Bright Warriors performed far above regular mechs. Ves was quite generous to his own mech pilots in that regard.

Therefore, even if the latest Bright Warrior only incorporated minor accommodations to the Swordmaiden fight style, its responsiveness, force exertion and maneuverability were significantly ahead of the Diligent she was piloting at the moment!

Not only that, but the mechs supplied by the Heavensworders were absolutely dull and devoid of any life.

While the benefits of piloting a living mech were rather subtle and difficult to explain, the Swordmaidens keenly missed the intimacy they had with their previous machines.

The Bright Warriors fought with their mech pilots. The Diligent fought against their users.

At least, this was how Commander Sendra experienced it. She constantly struggled to make her mech move the way she wanted. Time and time again, the Diligents proved to be too weak, too slow and too reluctant to express her fighting style.

The rest of the Swordmaidens were in a similar predicament!

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Their opponents keenly noticed this. It was highly unusual for competitors to opt for greatswords to begin with. Though the Swordmaidens did their best to compensate for the limitations of their Diligents, they could not disguise every single sign of discomfort!

"Up the pressure!" The enemy leader shouted. "Don't let these women breathe! Try and gang up on them if possible. With their unwieldy blades, they can't possibly defend their rears."

The dark yellow mechs changed their approach. Now that they had gained their opponent's measure, there was no point in turning this group match into five separate one-on-one duels.

The whole point of allowing multiple mechs to compete against each other was to give full play to their teamwork!

Even as the mechs that wielded single or dual light blades began to converge and circle around, the Swordmaiden mechs chose to converge in the center of the arena ground. They formed a loose circle with every machine facing outwards.

The dark yellow mechs grew a bit more reluctant to go in after witnessing this change. No matter what angle they approached from, at least three Swordmaiden mechs would always be able to strike at the front!

While the opponents did not fear the Swordmaidens, that was only because it was fairly easy to evade or deflect the attacks by jumping back.

This was a lot harder to do if the competitors were forced to approach the menacing Swordmaiden mechs. The extended reach of the latter's greatswords meant that the dark yellow mechs would all have to block the incoming attacks first before launching their own attacks!

Even so, the commander of the opposing mechs did not lose confidence. "The shortcomings of their formation are obvious. Their mechs are too packed for them to swing their greatswords at abandon. As long as we get past their reach and press our mechs up close, we can focus our attacks on just two of their mechs while using them as our shields at the same time. The remaining greatsword-wielding mechs won't dare to make any drastic moves!"

Shorter weapons may lack reach, but they fared much better at very close ranges. They were quite favored in team matches because it allowed friendly mechs to fight close together without worrying too much about hindering each other's attacks or even hitting their own side!

After a brief pause, the dark yellow Diligents simultaneously surged forward!

They did not sprint forward at their greatest possible speed. The competitors aimed to overwhelm the Swordmaiden mechs with a multitude of rapid strikes rather than gamble on performing a risky charge that could easily backfire.

By holding back their speed, the dark yellow mechs still retained plenty of maneuverability. They needed it as each of them had to form a response against the greatswords that were bound to strike them first.

The Swordmaidens knew exactly what their opponents were doing. They knew how bad it would be if the enemy mechs all pressed close against their own. Yet despite this, they still kept their machines close together in order to prevent any of their units from getting isolated.

The Swordmaidens did not communicate with each other. The veteran mech pilots were all close sisters who fought alongside each other for many years. Their abundant experience along with the huge amount they lived with each other had caused them to form a high degree of tacit cooperation.

Off to the side, Ketis and the rest of the Swordmaidens each held their breaths.

"These mech pilots are way better than I thought. Will the opponents that come afterwards be even stronger?"

"I don't think so. We just got unlucky and squared off against one of the stronger teams right away."

"We can't afford to fold too easily. If our best team can't get past this phase, then we won't impress anyone!"

"The mechs are at fault. I don't know what the Heavensword Association is thinking by forcing everyone to pilot just one standard configuration of a mech. They should have given the competitors the option to pilot more suitable variants!"

Not even Ketis knew whether the Swordmaiden mech pilots would be able to overcome their current opponents.

Every tournament of the Great Omanderie Festival adopted a single-elimination format. Due to the sheer number of competitors as well as the great cost of allowing them to duel against each other with real mechs, no one received a second chance.

As long as anyone, even a promising seed, suffered a defeat, they were out of that specific tournament!

Not even seeded competitors who were expected to reach the top 100 were guaranteed to go far. If some unknown dark horse bumped into one of them and achieved an upset, then the journey of the loser ended regardless of that person's identity!

This was what made tournaments fun. Every match counted and unexpected surprises happened every year. Even if the top seeds from the Heavensword Association inevitably reached the finals, the events preceding these predictable matchups already generated enough excitement to keep people talking for weeks!

"They're getting close!"

The entire audience clung to the edge of their seats as they witnessed the two sides getting closer.

Once the dark yellow mechs were about to get into range, they each clung their shorter blades closer in anticipation of blocking the heavy strikes that were bound to come.

Each of the mechs wielding lighter weapons had to focus their full efforts on blocking this time as they didn't have as much room to dodge this time.

"Here it comes! Resist with all your might!"

Yet even as the jogging mechs entered the range of the Swordmaiden mechs, the latter declined to swing their greatswords!

"What?!"

"Why aren't they attacking? Don't they realize they're giving away their greatest advantage?!"

"Careful! They're up to something!"

The Swordmaidens declined to perform the most optimal course of action. If the mechs at the front all swung their greatswords against the approaching opposition, then they had a decent chance of inflicting crippling damage!

Due to the need to approach from the front, the dark yellow mechs were unable to dodge this time.

Not only that, but the mechs were actively pushing themselves into the blades of the Swordmaiden mechs.

The damage the dark yellow mechs would incur if their guards were broken was much greater than if they just stood still!

Yet by refusing to do so, the Swordmaiden mechs instead kept their massive weapons close to their frames.

The three Swordmaidens mechs facing the charging opponents all braced themselves against the ground while holding their swords in a blocking grip as well!

With one arm grasping the hilt while the other pressing up against the flat of the blade, the three Swordmaiden mechs formed a solid wall which the unprepared dark yellow mechs crashed against!

Crunch!

Due to the latter's restrained speed, the collisions that ensued weren't powerful enough to knock down any machine. Instead, an awkward moment ensued as the collided mechs were both pressed up against each other while suffering from the aftereffects of the debilitating impacts.

The Swordmaidens acted faster than their opponents.

While the mech pilots of the dark yellow mechs were just starting to respond by trying to stab their shorter swords, two greatswords lunged forward and threaded the gaps between the friendly mechs at the front!

Two dark yellow mechs incurred severe damage!

Even though some of the other opposing mechs managed to take advantage of the close range to unleash some stabs, the damage they inflicted was limited due to lack of space. There wasn't any opportunity for the Diligents to wind up their attacks!

While the dark yellow mechs were all preoccupied with launching stabs, their targets did something that was beyond their expectation.

The three Swordmaiden mechs directly facing the opposition all let go of their greatswords!

Even as the heavy weapons clattered onto the ground, the weaponless machines began to wrestle against their opposition!

Although the opposing mech pilots had taken this possibility into account, the Swordmaiden mechs were so close that it was easy for them to grapple their opponents.

Surprisingly enough, the Swordmaiden mechs only focused on hugging the opposing mech while neutralizing the weapon arm.

While they held their opponents in place, the two Swordmaiden mechs that were still standing behind them took the opportunity to launch precise stabs that tore right into the frames of the immobilized mechs!

"Yes!"

Even if the devastating attacks failed to knock out the affected mechs right away, they suffered so much internal damage that they hardly posed a threat anymore.

The hugging Swordmaiden mechs quickly pushed away their crippled dancing partners.

Throughout all of this time, the two dark yellow mechs that hadn't been caught in a hug had launched numerous attacks from the flanks. Even though two Swordmaiden mechs exhibited serious damage, the flankers failed to finish off their opponents!

Commander Sendra's mech picked up the greatsword it dropped. She grinned as the numbers had turned in the favor of the Swordmaidens.

"Those tiny swords of yours are too feeble. Let me show you what a real sword can do! FOR LYDIA!"

"FOR LYDIA!"