When the voribugs switched up their strategies, Saint Orfan grew annoyed.
The enemy Goliaths deliberately avoided her ace mech!
Once she was done with beating up her existing prey, she left the weakest Goliaths for the other defenders and tried to hunt down more serious opponents.
Yet whenever her Riot approached a Level 7 Goliaths, all of the other high-level Goliaths immediately flew away!
Even the targeted Goliath did its best to waste as much time as possible by fleeing from the Riot.
The mutated voribugs clearly understood that there was no escaping the bloodthirsty ace pilot.
More than a dozen Goliaths had already fallen at her hands, but that was far from enough to sate her growing need for alien blood.
Her anger continued to boil and surge within her mech frame, yet the opportunities for venting began to dwindle as the Goliath Hive played hard to get!
“COME BACK HERE!”
Yet no matter how much she admonished the enemy, the Goliaths continued to act without honor or pride.
Saint Orfan’s mood continued to worsen as the enemy Goliaths reduced her killing efficiency with their despicable tactics and maneuvering.
They constantly led the Riot Mark III into obscure directions. By the time her machine caught up to its prey and butchered it with the tier 3 Destroyer spear, the next closest target would take many minutes to intercept!
“AARGGGHH!”
Her frustration continued to assail her mood. Many thoughts began to leave her mind as her anger occupied a greater part of her mind.
Her change in demeanor reflected onto her ace mech. The Prophet’s Bane clearly exerted a greater influence on its form as its mutations grew sharper and more severe.
Its current appearance differed significantly from its initial form!
Multiple asymmetrical spikes extended from its chest plating, shoulder plating and arms.
The angles and proportions of its limbs grew sharper and more deformed.
Its head began to mimic the features of an angry demon.
Even its coating began to shift from bright orange to a more ominous shade of crimson!
Perhaps the only parts about the Riot Mark III that remained untouched by all of the strange mutations were its weapons.
The sacrificial spears endured light to moderate mutations, but the more crucial tier 3 Destroyer spear remained unsullied!
The reason for this remained unclear.
Perhaps it was because they counted as separate equipment, or because of the interference produced by Destroyer particles.
Barring this exception, much of the Riot Mark III had deviated from its initially perfect contours and turned into a metallic beast that radiated violence and disorder in equal terms!
More and more people grew concerned at the visible deterioration of the Riot Mark III.
Whatever unholy tech that Ves employed onto the ace mech clearly possessed a great amount of complications.
Ves tried his best to calm Saint Orfan down or at least redirect her attention!
“Rosa! Stop! You are not accomplishing anything by chasing after lone Goliaths! The enemy is deliberately leading you on a wild goose chase! Calm down and come back! The final phase of the battle is approaching. We need you here where you can do the most good.”
His communications seemed to fall on deaf ears. Ves only received incoherent screams in response!
“It sounds like this gambit of yours is not as successful as you thought.” The Dark Apostle couldn’t help but comment. “You can’t expect for Saint Orfan to perfectly isolate herself from the Middle Demon that has taken over 90 percent of her soul. That would be like denying the core of what you are. It is unnatural.”
Ves had the feeling that his other self was alluding to more than just this case.
Blinky turned towards the armored Dark Apostle. “Give me a break. We can discuss whatever issue you have with me at a later date. We need to address the immediate issue first. Something has clearly gone wrong with Saint Orfan. Her resonance strength remains stable, but her emotional stability has dropped. We need to intervene before she directs her aggression against allies. I don’t like the way she is looking at nearby mechs.”
Surprisingly, his other self did not agree with this decision.
“Give her time.”
“Pardon?”
“This is her trial.” The Ascended Giant voiced his opinion. “As far as I am concerned, unless she has crossed the line, it is better to let her solve her own problem. This is clearly an issue that will happen again in the future. Relying on others is not a permanent solution, especially when we are talking about proud ace pilots such as her. As one warrior to another, I do not wish to steal her chance to redeem herself. Trust me, Ves. She will be much happier with us if we leave her to find her way back to sanity with her own strength.”
“…”
While Ves did not feel good about this suggestion, he had to admit that the Dark Apostle made a powerful argument.
The downside was that the outcome was highly uncertain.
What if Saint Orfan took an hour to extricate herself from her volatile mindstate?
The longer she remained in this condition, the greater the probability that the Prophet’s Bane would complete his takeover!
Even if the worst outcome did not come to pass, just the fact that the Riot Mark III remained unresponsive for such a long period of time would have devastating consequences for this battle!
“Fine.” Ves sighed. “Since I have already taken so many bets on the Riot Mark III, I suppose it doesn’t hurt to make another one. I won’t try to wake her up for the time being. This does not apply when she actually harms any friendlies. I really hope she has not lost control to the point of treating her allies as enemies. Even if I won’t take action, the Rubarthans cannot stay still.”
With that dealt with, both of them turned their attention back to the Incubator.
Enough time had passed for the Voribug Organic Battle Moon to approach Philaster Crestia III.
At this time, the gravity generated by the VOBM had begun to exert tidal forces onto the planet.
Many different orbital defenses along with over a hundred warships opened fire onto the planet.
Even the large-scale surface-to-orbit weapon systems that the Rubarthans built on the globe had begun to bombard the Incubator!
All of this damage ravaged the ‘landscape’ of the moon-sized organic construct.