Due to the Heavensword's 'consideration, all three machines had entered into a somewhat stable rhythm.
Each mech was being suppressed by the high mobility of the mech-scaled energy projections.
The heavenly energies that make up their bodies' and in a few cases their 'swords' were not as weak and fragile as ordinary E energy.
Despite the complete absence of willpower and true resonance, the energy constructs more than proved their mettle against the powerful ace mech and expert mechs!
It was rather amazing for observers to realize that a single sword, which was originally small enough to fit in the hands of a human, was able to suppress several champions of red humanity.
The Heavensword's solo performance already vindicated the people who claimed that this mythical weapon was more than a match against an expert mech or an ace mech!
No one dared to voice any theories where the Heavensword was able to hold its own against a god mech.
No one entertained the notion that the most powerful individual combatants of the human race would find themselves inferior to an ownerless sword, even if it was a remarkably powerful one.
The mere thought that a god mech would get defeated by a single relic was... too frightening to comprehend!
Ketis resolutely set aside all thoughts about whether that was possible.
There was no point in resisting if the Heavensword possessed this capacity.
For now, the power level of the relic weapon was still reasonable enough to handle by the mechs that fought on her behalf.
"Saint Commander Casella." Ketis transmitted to the approaching Minerva. "Please suspend your approach and maintain your distance. The Heavensword is... manageable for now. If you rashly interrupt the individual duels, then I am afraid you will provoke the weapon into taking unpredictable actions."
"Acknowledged, Swordmaster Ketis."
The ace command mech along with the accompanying Battle Crier mech company had already slowed down earlier.
Now, the troop of mechs had arrested their forward momentum entirely, making sure to keep a healthy distance from the unfolding bouts.
The Saint Commander was clearly able to read the evolving circumstances as well. Her outsider's perspective clearly allowed her to see that the Heavensword was testing the
high-ranking mechs as opposed to battering them down as if they were genuine enemies.
Of course, the Heavensword was anything but gentle with its opposition, given that its strikes began to chip away at the armor of the beleaguered machines!
This was why Casella Ingvar still remained poised and ready to intervene with her troop. Every mech was precious. High-ranking mechs and living ones were even more priceless!
Not only did they constitute the core power of the Larkinson Clan, but they also served a vital role in defending the Viola Magnifica System against the native aliens.
Having one or several of these powerful mechs fall during the Red Tide Offensive might cause a cascade of failures that would be devastating for red humanity!
For this reason, if it looked as if one of the high-ranking mechs was about to succumb, Saint Commander Casella had already decided to intervene by force no matter the
consequences.
That was not necessary for the time being.
The mechs were regularly getting cut by the heavenly energy, but their armor systems were not for show.
Ketis could clearly observe that the swordsmanship demonstrated by every wielder was substantially different.
The projected sword wielders only employed the most basic and foundational techniques of their respective sword styles, but that was already enough to give her a lot of clues.
She was able to confirm that each of them wielded the Heavensword with great familiarity and with their own distinctive styles.
The Elegant Swordsman as she decided to call the first energy projection wielded the Heavensword as if it was made to be held in his hand.
His elegant countenance and swift but beautiful moves perfectly matched the Heavensword's shape and aesthetics.
As a swordmaster, Ketis was able to observe that the Elegant Swordsman danced across space similar to how Venerable Brutus Wodin controlled his own expert mech in the thick of combat.
This not only made the Elegant Swordsman look as if it took no effort for him to evade the flail attacks of the Amphis Extremis, but also allowed him to build up momentum and direction for his next attacks.
The Amphis Extremis possessed an excellent advantage when it remained on the defensive. Its tower shield was large, thick and provided enough cover to casily block attacks coming in from many different angles.
Yet the Elegant Swordsman seemed to treat the presence of the large slab of alloys as an interesting challenge. The expression of the energy projection remained flat, but his flowing movements betrayed an elevated sense of interest and inquisitiveness.
The sword attacks employed by the Elegant Swordsman mostly consisted of slashes that flowed according to the momentum and rotation of his projected body. Despite the potential power that he could put into these moves, the simulated wielder of the Heavensword remained cautious and restrained by not committing to his attacks. While this heavily limited the damage that the potent Heavensword could inflict on the Amphis Extremis, it also made it very difficult for Saint Linda Cross to punish her adversary for getting close!
The Amphis Extremis was losing.
While the ace mech was quite fast for its archetype, it was never designed to keep up with highly maneuverable humanoid opponents.
This was why it carried a tower shield. Yet when the rotation speed of the Amphis Extremis was unable to keep up with the circling of the Elegant Swordsman, the defensive equipment was only able to prevent the Elegant Swordsman from launching easy attacks at forward angles.
Saint Linda Cross was stuck in a dilemma.
Her mech was completely optimized to fight against native alien forces. The enemy phase lords and phase whales that posed the greatest threat were all large but not too maneuverable in combat. The design of the Amphis Extremis therefore paid little
attention to the need to attack highly maneuverable targets.
The ace offensive knight might be able to increase its mobility by tossing aside the tower shield, but that would leave it a lot more open to frontal attacks.
"You cannot afford to fall into the rhythm of your opponent." Ketis judged.
Fortunately, Saint Linda Cross was an experienced veteran that fought against plenty of mechs. She had not forgotten how to deal with fast-moving opponents such as light
skirmishers.
Against other opponents, the Amphis Extremis would have channeled more power into its Saint Kingdom and seek to slow down its adversary through willpower suppression.
That did not work at all against the sword-wielding energy projection.
Saint Linda therefore began to make use of more sweeping attacks.
The Amphis Extremis did not have any way of turning faster, but it could swing its flail in