Having broken free of Andrew, the Guardian Mk. II leveled the impact hammer on its right arm. The wheels under its feet spun wildly, and it charged forward like a runaway dump truck.
But Andrew was completely unfazed. He even had a moment to spare, using his grappling hook to grab a handful of stones and load them into his launcher.
He sheathed his tachi, and just as the Guardian Mk. II closed in, he unleashed a fierce draw-slash.
"Iai Slash!"
The clean, decisive draw-slash sent the autonomous mech stumbling, breaking its charge. Seizing the moment its balance was off, a follow-up spinning slash was the last straw.
Feeling the surprisingly light recoil through his blade, Andrew sighed internally.
'This thing barely even qualifies as a Dragon Charge. Stopping it is a piece of cake.'
But unlike a Dragon Charge, the autonomous mech's heavy chassis and extremely low center of gravity kept it from toppling over completely.
The window of opportunity to reposition was fleeting, but how could an experienced hunter like Andrew miss it? The grappling hook shot out again, finding a firm hold on the sharp edge of the mech's right shoulder.
He lashed out with a clawed strike, slamming his fist hard against its head-mounted sensor and shattering the balance it had just regained.
The immense force of the blow buckled the layers of protective armor on the Guardian Mk. II's torso, leaving a warped crack.
Even though the Guardian Mk. II's high-performance systems allowed it to adjust quickly, the one-second recovery time was more than enough for Andrew.
He violently drew the tachi from his back and, with a reverse grip, plunged it into the newly formed crack like a steel spike. Using gravity to his advantage, he sliced the armor open all the way down.
With his immense strength and this skinning-like technique, Andrew ripped the entire outer plating right off.
The exposed core machinery pulsed with a faint purple Ether fluctuation, looking both fragile and dangerous.
"Part tenderized, success!"
Watching all this unfold from the command room, a man named Li Long couldn't help but twitch his lips.
From his perspective, the Guardian Mk. II was a heavily armored fortress, nigh impregnable. Yet in Andrew's hands, it hadn't even lasted a minute before having its vaunted armor stripped away.
Witnessing these unheard-of combat techniques left him inwardly stunned, and he couldn't stop himself from cursing:
"Dammit, where the hell did this monster come from?"
He had thought that as the last heavy autonomous mech in his unit, it would be able to turn the tide of battle.
But now? Turn the tide? Turn my ass!
"What kind of Thiren is this? Don't tell me the legendary Dragon Thiren actually exist?!"
Staring at the mech having its armor ripped off by hand, Li Long was at a complete loss.
"Commander, what's our next move? Should we send the boys back in?"
"Send them in my ass! Mission aborted. We're retreating."
Li Long's face was grim, his tone resolute.
"But our mission... and revenge for our brothers..."
"In war, people die! When has that not been the case?!"
Faced with his aide's hesitation, Li Long's stance didn't waver in the slightest.
"As for Eridu... we did everything we were supposed to do seven years ago, when we held our position to the very end even after they abandoned us."
He looked at the aide's young face, and for a moment, it was as if he was seeing an old friend from his memories.
Involuntarily, Li Long's expression softened.
"We don't owe them anything. So for me, my real job is finding a good future for all of you."
"Then, leave the delaying action to me. I'm young and strong, no worse than my old man now."
Before the aide could finish his sentence, Li Long rapped him on the forehead again.
"Get lost! Your old man here isn't dead yet! Go get my gear. I'll personally go meet him!"
While the aide ran over to the equipment chest, Li Long took out a bottle of 20-year-old fine liquor he'd secretly brought along, poured some into a cup, and handed it to the vice-commander who had been watching them silently from behind.
"Vice-Commander, I'm leaving the rest to you."
The two men lightly clinked their cups and downed the drink in one go, saying no more.
"Hiss... Good stuff. Did I drink too much last night? Why do I feel so drowsy? That shouldn't be right..."
Meanwhile, in an unnoticed corner of the tent, Belle was directing Eous to vigorously fan a bag of sleeping powder into the room.
——————
The autonomous mech, which felt no fatigue, had the advantage of never running out of stamina.
After its torso armor was destroyed, the Guardian Mk. II immediately switched attack patterns. Constant cannon fire combined with relentless jumping forced Andrew to look for small openings to sneak in a couple of hits.
Although it wouldn't take much longer to finish it off, time was the one thing Andrew didn't have.
Just as Andrew was preparing to tank a heavy overhead slam and dismantle the machine by force, a tall, thick wall in the camp caught his eye.
Suddenly, Andrew had an idea.
With two evasive maneuvers, Andrew subtly adjusted his position. This time, as the autonomous mech was about to land, he didn't ready his blade.
His right hand flashed to his lower back, and the bow slung at his waist was firmly in his grasp.
The Guardian Mk. II's autonomous AI didn't pay any special attention to Andrew's bow.
After all, no matter how strong Andrew was, the physical limitations of the bow's draw weight meant it couldn't pose a lethal threat.
But that was only assuming he was using ordinary arrows.
He drew the bow and nocked an arrow. Arcs of electricity crackled across the arrowhead, hinting at its unique properties.
It was special ammunition, modified from shock rounds.
If he weren't pressed for time, Andrew would never have used this against an opponent of this level.
After all, without resupplies from the Hunter's Guild, every special round he used was one he couldn't get back.
At least, until he could research a bow compatible with various elemental coatings, he had to rely on these modified arrows to deal elemental damage.
As the paralysis arrow struck the previously breached torso, a powerful electric current coursed through the machine, interrupting its jump and leaving it momentarily stiff.
It worked in one shot. He used the grappling hook to launch himself upward again, then slammed a powerful punch into the mech, forcing it to face the thick wall he'd spotted earlier.
He aimed the launcher on his right arm, and all the loaded projectiles were fired at once.
"Eat my Full Burst!"
Fired at point-blank range, even ordinary stones delivered an incredible impact, causing the already stunned mech to stagger backward and crash headfirst into the wall.
Now, the Guardian Mk. II was completely immobilized.
As they say, a finishing blow is good manners. Andrew held his tachi before his chest and slowly traced a semicircle, immense power gathering within his body.
"Spirit Roundslash!"
When the power reached its peak, he unleashed it in a devastating horizontal sweep. The sharp blade cleaved everything in its path in two.
As the display on its head went dark, the autonomous mech was reduced to a pile of scrap metal.
Sheathing the tachi on his back, Andrew was about to search for the enemy commander when he heard Belle's soft call.
______
New History: A heart of Ice With a Romance System.
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