The Mech Touch

[Team Larkinson has defeated Team Destiny! Miss Janassa Pellier and Miss Tifi Coslone may still have a chance of fighting for fifth, sixth or seventh place, but this young and talented duo's run to the top has ended. Ves Larkinson and Ketis Larkinson shall advance to semifinals where they will have to fight against one of the remaining three winners.]

Despite the Zenomon Gamma's prodigious strength and other advantages, it failed to crush the Heart of Victor despite its impressive performance.

The axeman mech just needed to land a couple of powerful blows in order to fell the Heart of Victor! This should have been a relatively doable task considering that the swordsman mech was also a power-oriented mech rather than a speed-oriented one. How could the Zenomon Gamma fail?

[The Zenomon Gamma's mech pilot is not to blame. He piloted the axeman mech in a proficient manner. His own choices and tactics were also sound. His mech managed to land numerous hits on the Heart of Victor's mech frame.]

[That is true, but none of these potentially-fatal axe strikes succeeded in diminishing the Heart of Victor's battle performance. That is a failure in my book.]

[The Zenomon Gamma did not fail! It just had to overcome the Heart of Victor's buffer. Who knew that the swordsman mech succeeded in breaking through the axeman mech's buffer first.]

[This is an underrated aspect of the last match. The Heart of Victor managed to land over a dozen consistent strikes on both of its opponent's upper arms. Do you know how difficult it is to do that against an enemy that knows full well what is going on? It is a miracle that the Heart of Victor hasn't suffered any crippling damage as it pulled off repeated successful strikes on the arms of the Zenomon Gamma.]

[I think the crucial factor here is that the mech pilot of the Heart of Victor has grown stronger over the course of this tournament. Did you not notice how the swordsman mech began to make more skillful movements at the end? It is absolutely not easy for the Heart of Victor to give up its main weapon and take advantage of the diversion it created. The axeman mech could have easily chopped up the approaching swordsman mech regardless if the latter didn't act so decisely.]

Though the Heart of Victor had managed to pull off another win by relying on trickery, not every mech or mech pilot could have accomplished the same.

After three victories in a row, many people already began to acknowledge the Heart of Victor's strength. It didn't matter that it hadn't been able to crush its opponents in a one-sided manner. Many of the other competition mechs were all close in strength so it was too difficult for them to defeat their opponents in an instant.

The hype surrounding the semifinals rapidly built up as a result! The final four mechs that were in contention for first place were all strong without a doubt!

Though it was difficult to formulate an accurate ranking of the four mechs, it would soon become clear which of them deserves to move on to the finals.

The mechs needed to be fixed before the fourth round could commence.

The mech designers teams received another break to repair their mechs and brief their mech pilots for the challenge to come.

While Ves supervised the repairs to the Heart of Victor's savaged chest armor, Ketis took Lyain aside to discuss his performance.

"You did quite well last match." Ketis praised the mech pilot, much to the man's delight. "The Heart of Victor is designed to take a beating. It's worth it to sacrifice its armor in order to land more solid hits on your opponent. The key is to make the most out of these trades and make your attacks count."

"Thank you. I tried my best to concentrate my attacks on just one arm, but the Zenomon Gamma's guard was too tight for that. I had no choice but to split my attacks and target both arms in order to divert my opponent."

A more capable mech pilot would have been able to disable one of the Zenomon Gamma's arm much faster and more efficiently, but Lyain Kepper had not reached that level. Ketis did not blame him for that at all. The man did his best given his current circumstances.

"Let's move onto our next opponent." She changed the topic. "The Wild Brawl Bowl likes to keep the matchups for each round hidden in order to generate more excitement, but there's only three potential opponents left. We can use the time that we have left to make more thorough preparations. There is one thing I want you to do when you step into the arena again."

"What is that?"

"Make full use of your mech."

"Are you sure? We're still in the semifinals." Lyain noted.

"That is true, but the competitors who are left are not weak in the slightest. Holding back is too dangerous at this point. Besides, part of the reason why Ves and I are taking part in this tournament is to advertise our design capabilities and raise our reputations. We can't do that if everyone believes the Heart of Victor is only so-so. Starting from the next match, you need to become my standard bearer. Teach the Wild Fighters and spectators that my mechs can give them what they really want!"

Ketis became increasingly more upset when she noticed so many people changed their views towards her. While she did not consider herself to be a vain person, her pride could not tolerate the increasingly more dismissive attitude that people held towards her work! They all thought her design applications were vastly overrated!

"I will do my best to demonstrate that your mech truly deserves to defeat all of our competitors." Lyain solemnly promised.

"That's all I need to hear. I'm pleased to see that your bond with your mech has reached a deeper level through all of the duels that you have fought so far. That will make the next step considerably easier. Remember, your mech wants to win as well, you need to trust it in order to unlock its full potential."

As Ketis kept instructing the mech pilot, the time had come to commence the much-anticipated fourth round of the fighting phase.

The Wild Brawl Bowl attracted more attention than before, but the crowd no longer assumed that Team Larkinson would be able to cruise its way to first place.

The hype and expectation surrounding the Heart of Victor had thoroughly cooled after the first three rounds. Though there were still optimistic fans who assumed that the swordsman mech was still holding back, many other people dismissed this ridiculous notion.

"Didn't you see how much the Heart of Victor struggled in the last match? If the Zenomon Gamma managed to get lucky even once, it would have been the end of Team Larkinson's chances of getting any further."

"Hey! Don't look down on a swordmaster! Her mech still has untapped power. Just watch. The Heart of Victor will definitely prove you wrong in the next match!"

As the discussion raged amongst the spectators, the fourth round finally commenced.

Before the top 4 could decide who among them could advance to the finals, the four mechs they defeated in the last round had to fight each other first in order to determine the ranking of the fifth to eight place.

There were real prizes at stake, so the competition mechs fought at their best and displayed great fervor.

Ves did not look surprised when the Zenomon Gamma ultimately felled its current opponent. The axeman mech was genuinely strong and had a decent shot at making it to the top 4 if it fought against any other mech.

The superiority displayed by the Zenomon Gamma made some viewers reevaluate the strength of the Heart of Victor, but not enough. There were even people who thought that the Zenomon Gamma would have been able to put up a better fight in the semifinals!

Once the ranking of the losers of the previous round became clear, the actual fights were finally allowed to commence!

[Team Larkinson shall have to overcome Team Voiken in order to make it to the fifth and final round! Will the Heart of Victor be able to overcome the relentless stabs of the Thornbearer? Let's find out in this crucial fight!]

Team Voiken!

Ves glanced at the pair of siblings who he had spoken to some time ago. Sara and Dulo Voiken of the Voiken Family performed surprisingly well considering their relative youth and inexperience.

It appeared that growing up in a large family that contained hundreds of high-ranking mech designers had prepared them well for competitions at this level!

The two Voikens met his gaze and nodded with respect. Ves could sense plenty of challenge in their confident gazes. They did not regard the Heart of Victor as an insurmountable opponent.

Ves merely smiled in return before he directed his attention back to the arena down below.

The Heart of Victor calmly stopped in place while the Thornbearer halted on the opposite side.

The mechs were both humanoid and about the same size. Sara Voiken was a defensive specialist while Dulo Voiken excelled in designing spearman mechs. The work they produced leveraged both of their advantages in a well-engineered package that looked simple but solid!

Ves studied the design of the Thornbearer a little closer and picked up a lot of clues. Although its mass meant that the spearman mech couldn't move too fast, the design of its arms were quite peculiar and led him to conclude that the mech was able to thrust its weapon forward with great speed and force!

"This is a stabbing monster!"

When the match finally commenced, the Thornbearer immediately made that clear as soon as it closed in on its prey.

The Heart of Victor threw its chainsword forward a couple of times, but the Thornbearer easily deflected the weapon aside with its weapon.

The Thornbearer did not possess excellent agility, but its ability to move forward was quite strong!

As soon as the spearman mech came close enough, it performed a short leap forward and unleashed a lethal thrust attack!

Clang!

The Heart of Victor had to bat the incoming spear aside while evading to the left and backwards at the same time.

However, the Thornbearer already retracted its spear and stabbed it forward once again!

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

The spearman mech displayed unrelenting aggression as it steadily paced forward while stabbing out its spear with increasing force and momentum.

This was the most difficult part about fighting a spearman mech! It was difficult to block a stab attack and the Thornbearer's rapid attack rate gave opponents in front of it no respite!

Even if the Heart of Victor tried to make a risky attempt to move close to the Thornbearer, the spearman mech's formidable armor plating could withstand nearly any surprise attack!

This was how Team Voiken's work managed to win three matches in a row. There was nothing secret about this mech. Its offensive and defensive capabilities were so strong that it did not need to rely on any unusual tricks or gimmicks to overpower its opposition!

Now, the Heart of Victor risked becoming its fourth victim if it did not find a way to overcome the spear storm!

Inside the cockpit of the swordsman mech, Lyain Kepper eyes flared to life as he and his mech leveraged their full strength for the first time in this tournament!

"What is it doing?!"

As the Thornbearer unleashed another unstoppable spear stab that forced the Heart of Victor to move aside, the latter keenly struck at the spear shaft very particular timing!

The sword did not manage to parry the incoming spear stab, but diverted it just enough to make it miss.

The Heart of Victor then proceeded to inflict a rapid stab with its chainsword that caused the Thornbearer to incur its first wound!

Although this little move didn't look impressive at first, when the Thornbearer attempted to unleash a second stab, the Heart of Victor managed to repeat the same moves.

[The Thornbearer has missed again!]

[How is that possible? Its thrusting power is quite strong. Even if it is possible for the Heart of Victor to deflect its trajectory to the point where it misses the mark, the swordsman mech needs to strike at the right spot on the spear shaft at the right timing. Succeeding once can be chalked up to luck, but succeeding four times in a row is definitely a pattern!]

Even when the Thornbearer began to vary its movements, the Heart of Victor instantly managed to keep up with the changes.

With every exchange of blows, the swordsman mech always managed to evade damage while the Thornbearer incurred another wound!

"What's going on? How has the Heart of Victor become so good all of a sudden?"