"Your Devil Tiger is just as tough as in the rumors." The pirate commander muttered as his Devosh turned around to sustain the offensive! "I'll just have to break you down piece by piece if that's the case!"
Though the Devosh went all out in unleashing a punishing combo, the Devil Tiger was no slouch! It lifted its unusually strong paw and blocked the sword strikes with its immensely hard claws!
The Dark Cleaver was a wily opponent and one who keenly utilized the properties of the tiger mech to his advantage!
The Devil Tiger moved swiftly and managed to repel most attacks even as the Devosh sped up. Commander Vortan became increasingly more worried about the lack of progress he made in damaging the enemy mech!
The Devosh briefly darted back to pause its assault.
"It looks like I have to go all out. I'll show you the true power of my Devosh!"
Several lights began to illuminate the Devosh at certain sections. Soon enough, an illuminating purple glow began to form around the mech as it began to excite a lot of energy!
"HAHAHA!" Commander Vortan laughed as he got caught up in the rush of power of his fully-unlocked mech! "I never revealed the full power of my Devosh until now. Though you've put up a decent fight, we were never playing on the same level to begin with! Though strong, your Oblivion Hand can never match the flow of resources passing through Frederick City! I obtained some of the best exotics the Nyxian Gap can provide and used them to build a mech that transcends this standard!"
When the mech attacked next, its speed had doubled! It's acceleration was off the charts and its attacks landed with greater force than before!
The tiger mech sustained more than a few scratches this time! Its resilient armor plating actually exhibited deep cuts as a strange force field covered the Devosh's sword!
"False resonance!" The Dark Cleaver uttered with surprise!
"Yes! Not all of the resonating exotics can be found in the Nyxian Gap, but I managed to trade much of it from my noble trading partners! That's an advantage that a nomad like you can never match! I'm going to chop your mech up until I'm left with tiger meat!"
His initial success only fueled his momentum! Commander Vortan showcased why he almost never lost in the dueling ring as his mech never let up the pressure as it built up its attacks so that the tiger mech would be unable to fend off its killer strikes!
Cut after cut formed in the bestial mech's armor as it appeared incapable of fully resisting against the might of false resonance! Though immensely draining, the Devosh carried lots of high-quality energy cells that could sustain its special state for at least ten more minutes!
Just as Commander Vortan was about to land his coup-de-grace, the unbalanced tiger mech began to glow on its own!
With just a single paw strike, the Devil Tiger managed to bat aside the Devosh's next attack!
The swordsman mech's momentum broke as Commander Vortan awkwardly tried to prevent his mech from tipping over!
"What? What is this strength?"
When he directed his attention to the Devil Tiger, his eyes practically widened into balloons.
The tiger mech glowed red and brown in the same fashion as his own mech! No, it was different! The glow around the tiger mech was a lot more condensed!
Realization struck Commander Vortan. He didn't need to direct his attention to the resonance sensors to know that the Devil Tiger was a lot more formidable than he thought.
The glowing Devil Tiger began to radiate a field that put the Devosh and Commander Vortan under significant pressure! The swordsman mech began to groan a bit as some of its parts worked less smoothly than before.
This strange reaction confirmed Commander Vortan's greatest fears!
"Since when did you break through?"
"A few months ago."
The Devil Tiger wasn't standing still. Even as it continued to swish its tail, the metal debris that the Devosh had managed to carve out of the armor of the tiger mech began to fly back to the mech and fill up its gaps!
The mech was self-repairing!
"Congratulations.. for becoming an expert pilot." Commander Vortan morsely said. "I suppose your Devil Tiger is also an expert mech."
"Not.. exactly, but close enough. It's still an ongoing project."
This turn of events had completely extinguished the pirate commander's battle spirit. As impressive as his Devosh performed, it was just custom mech. The most it could do was imitate resonance. It could never stand up to the genuine article!
"Why this charade? Why give me the illusion of victory?"
"I just want to give you the fight that you deserve." Ryncol Larkinson answered. "Regardless of your crimes, I respect your martial skills. Experiencing your famed swordsmanship first hand has been worth it. Now, will you surrender?"
The Devosh stood frozen a time before dropping its sword. "I.. surrender."
The Devil Tiger was too strong!
Important author announcement: to celebrate the release of The Mech Touch's 2000th chapter (in privilege), I have started a new contest! Read the Author's Notes!