Chapter 71: Chapter 68: The Swarm

The first dragonfly was completed in five minutes, while the other two were completed in four minutes each. They then helped to build the other 12 while Ceres focused on repairing the exosuit for real now.

He chose the brawler suit, repairing its power system first. Instead of simply replacing the battery pack, he tripled the amount of power that it could output, turning the exosuit into more of a power supply than an actual fighter.

Maddy was still deep in focus on constructing his additional arms at this point, the scale of his exosuit requiring his full attention.

If he truly wanted to achieve overwhelming firepower, he had to dedicate his entire being to making sure that it works. Any small defect could be exploited easily.

If he truly wanted to achieve overwhelming firepower, he had to dedicate his entire being to making sure that it works. Any small defect could be exploited easily.

The two exosuit repairers seem to be doing their own strategy, not caring if they managed to counter each other.

The fifteen dragonflies were finally ready by the second hour, continuing to swarm around the repair bench.

Ceres loaded up an algorithm that he memorized by heart into the dragonflies. He connected a neural network router into his nerval jack, serving as the central command.

The dragonflies got to work, forming a veritable swarm around the workbench, poking components and screws or fasteners with their tiny arms.

Some of them even interacted with the holo-monitors of the chip and metal printer, while others performed optical scans to look for defects on produced parts for the exosuit and other subsequent dragonflies.

[What a unique way of repairing - a one-man army! And he will have to be one in order to take down the opponent, who’s shaping up to be a literal juggernaut. How many weapons is Maddy going to put on that thing?]

Maddy was loading up two separate flamethrowers on the two additional arms of his exosuit, deviating greatly from his original plan.

It seemed that he had finally caught on to what Ceres was trying to do and was getting weapons that could inflict massive area damage. He didn’t want to be swarmed by drones.

Maddy started to design a few point defense systems aimed at shooting down small objects around him as well as a backup.

Ceres didn’t deviate from his plan, continuing to focus on repairing the brawler while the dragonflies swooped about, making it hard for anyone to actually get a good grasp on what their objective was.

It seemed like there were more than fifteen dragonflies now, but no one could really get a good estimate. They appeared to be constructing lots of additional components and objects, but none of it was meant to fit into the brawler. The additional components were placed in a jumbled fashion all around the repair bench.

The swarm of dragonflies made it hard even for some experts to accurately see what Ceres wanted to do.

As time went on, the exosuits on both sides became more and more complete. At the three-hour mark, both sides stopped, finally reaching the time to initiate the combat duel.

A hoverbus carried them separately over, not allowing either to use the journey to inspect the opponent’s exosuit.

They dropped at separate starting points, finding themselves in a central commercial district, fighting in a cross junction.

They started on the open road opposite each other, more than five hundred meters away from the opponent, with the center of the playing field being the main junction.

[The city arena should be familiar to both participants as they have used it for their group stage before. Based on my limited experience, with Maddy bristling with so many anti-swarm weapons, he should aim to position himself in the open, at the center of the map! This way, there’s no way the swarm will be able to sneak up to him. Can Ceres overcome this huge disadvantage again!]

Maddy was enclosed in a heavy exosuit, looking like a wrestler with four arms. His helmet was a generic knight helmet, with a cross acting as the visor, while his shoulders had multiple small laser turrets jutting out.

His main two arms carried two energy rifles, while the two back arms carried flamethrowers.

The back had no thrusters, only a power pack that was heavily defended along with the processor near the mechanical spine.

Instead, the back was also covered with small energy turrets that seemed to move autonomously. Any small drone will find it hard to get close to it without being fried.

Maddy had a wide grin on his face as he waited for the duel to start. Looking at Ceres standing over on the other side with his stupid brawler exosuit, wearing two large metal gauntlets, he couldn’t help but laugh.

“How is that idiot going to ever get that close to me? And even if he does, my flamethrowers will destroy him!”

This was also the sentiment of many viewers, including his group of friends. “What is that idiot Ceres doing?” Lisa complained as she sat next to Braton’s hospital bed.

“Trust in him, he always has something up his sleeve.” Braton cheekily smiled, already predicting what was going to happen!

Others were not as confident as Braton, especially those with large stakes at risk. Cardenia watched intently in the Hawthorn’s private capsule, fully focused on the duel.

She needed Ceres to win in order to grab that wager, but there wasn’t much she could do other than watch. “You know Senia, this might be better than shuttle racing. We should do more of these wagers.”

“I’ll like to remind you of the major consequences if you lose this wager. Think about all the parties you have to give up on.”

“Right.”

[I don’t know what’s going through Ceres’ head, and maybe his dragonflies will be able to do something funky, but with the amount of point defense systems Maddy has installed on his shoulders and back, I don’t see how any of it is going to help!]

[But it’s too late now, it’s time for the duel to start!] A loud blare echoed across the city, signalling the start of the duel!

Maddy waited for Ceres to rush at him, knowing a fast first attack was the only chance Ceres had to win with his brawler exosuit.

No other plan stood a chance, but even then Maddy only calculated a ten percent chance that he would lose. Maddy readied his energy rifles, his only long-range weapon that could shoot accurately up to two hundred meters away.

He didn’t have time to perfect the handling design of the rifle, hence the fairly short accurate range for a rifle, but he was more worried about the drones.

If it really came down to it, he could shoot randomly and have a 50% chance of hitting the target, but it was a waste of energy.

However, Ceres stood completely still, his exosuit stationary in its resting position. A majority of the dragonflies that now numbered about fifty flew away in all sorts of distance, entering the buildings while Ceres stood stationary at his starting point.

“Trying to bait me into getting closer, while flanking me with your drones? Fine I’ll take you up on that!” Maddy moved his lumbering juggernaut over slowly, having much reduced speed in exchange for its focus on firepower.

The number of weapons made it near the upper limits of the weight category, in no way could it be considered ‘mobile’.

As he lugged the exosuit over, Ceres didn’t move at all, as still as a statue. Maddy finally reached the center of the street after a good minute, still being two hundred and fifty meters away from Ceres.

He couldn’t afford to fire at Ceres due to his limited energy. The energy rifle and the small laser turrets shared the same power source. Firing the energy rifles at such a distance with a low chance to hit was akin to wasting energy.

Despite Maddy’s confidence, he was still a bit wary by the weird actions of Ceres.

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Why wasn’t he moving at all? It was at times like this he wished he could still hear the announcer.

Maddy had a bad feeling that he was falling for a trap, and that the whole world would be laughing at him through the camera.

“There’s no reason for me to move to him beyond the center, the arena will start shrinking in less than four minutes, so he’ll have to come to me anyway! I’m in the best position now, no need to squander it.”

Maddy stood still, his eyes scanning the surroundings trying to spot any drones coming out of the buildings to his left and right.

He didn’t really worry too much, as the laser turrets on his back would easily fry any drone that came from behind. The flamethrowers would make short work of any large swarm either, though he didn’t see more than fifty dragonflies.

As he waited for more than three minutes, the tension was building in his heart, his confidence wavering as his eyes darted around the buildings, trying to spot where did the other dragonflies go.

“I don’t get it, what’s the plan? Am I wrong? No, I’m never wrong, but I should push him now that the border of the playing field is moving!”

“If it was a light brawler, it may have high speed, but my flamethrowers would make quick work of it.”

“And if it was a heavy brawler, it would have about the same mobility as me, which means I win in terms of ranged firepower!”

At that very moment, Maddy noticed that Ceres was slightly lurching forward, and he managed to see what was behind Ceres: It was five dragonfly drones building something large on the brawler’s back.

Maddy cursed as he forced his exosuit forward, intending to get into range. He had no idea what Ceres was building on his back, but he had to stop whatever Ceres was doing. As much as Maddy despised Ceres, he was not about to underestimate the trickiness of Ceres.

But just as he took his first step forward, Ceres suddenly motioned with his hands, performing a few quick hand signs, a bracelet on his wrist flashing with red lights.

Maddy reacted quickly, pulling back as five dragonflies each burst out from the buildings, flanking him from the left and right. The dragonflies were being controlled by Ceres’s hand motions, following the preset commands Ceres had programmed.

“Damn it, it was a trap!” Maddy cursed as he tried to move back to his original holding position. He locked eyes on the dragonflies which swerved and surrounded him.

The automated flamethrower arms swivelled and blasted forward a fountain of liquid flames in a giant arc through the air, while the dragonflies tried to use their small welding lasers to poke at Maddy, failing greatly.

The laser turrets on the shoulder pads of the heavy juggernaut took out the drones in less than ten seconds, but as Maddy turned to face where Ceres was, he was so shocked that he nearly screamed out loud.

Ceres had been waiting for the moment of Maddy’s distraction, finally revealing what he had been installing with the drones – it was additional thrusters numbering in the dozens.

Using the additional thrusters, he launched a devastating straight forward attack at speeds unheard of for the brawler exosuit.

The outer layer of the brawler exosuit started to crack as he blasted towards Maddy, unable to completely handle the strain of sudden acceleration and vibration, which was far beyond the operating limit.

Ceres had been stationary for the past few minutes because he didn’t have the nerval capacity to actually move, being forced to control all fifty drones as well as install the thrusters on-site.

[Incredible! Ceres might not have enough time during the allocated three hours to complete his final modification, but with the help of his swarm of dragonflies, he could actually use the remaining time in the duel to install it!]

Closing the gap in less than a second, the acceleration was so great that even Ceres couldn’t control his flight properly, smacking directly into Maddy’s chest first with a loud bang! “URK!” Maddy choked as the shockwave rippled through his body.

The collision blew both Ceres and Maddy apart, with Maddy unable to withstand the impact standing up. Maddy toppled over backwards and slammed hard into the ground, skidding and carving up the asphalt for a good distance.

[Oh no! Maddy has fallen over!] A significant groan spread through the crowd who was supporting Maddy!

Maddy’s exosuit was never designed to be able to lay on its back, crushing all the laser turrets on its back plus the additional two arms that carried flamethrowers. Maddy have never expected to topple over, resulting in all the back components being compressed and unable to handle the weight.

A loud snapping sound echoed off the buildings as the two arms were disconnected from the exosuit permanently, clattering on the floor like deadweight. The fuel tubes leading to the tanks stored in the exosuit snaked on the floor, the fuel still pressurized.

The power pack was also slightly damaged, but not as bad as other components. Due to the defensive plates and protection around it, it could survive the weight, though not for long if Maddy kept lying on the floor.

“Urgh… shit!” Maddy desperately checked his system. His eyes flickered as the nerval jack reported the damage to the exosuit, lines upon lines of red damage notifications warning him.

Maddy cursed as he used his main two arms to try and get up, but they weren’t able to withstand the entire upper body weight either while holding his energy rifles. He quickly scanned his surroundings, noticing that Ceres wasn’t on the street.

Ceres wasn’t in a particularly good shape either, being thrown back onto the road. His one-time off thruster pack being melted to pieces as it was overclocked in order to survive such an impact.

He had set the drones to autonomous attacking while he ran into the building, getting off the street and allowing them to stall Maddy as long as possible! The swarm rushed towards the struggling Maddy, firing their tiny welding lasers at him.

Throwing the energy rifles to one side temporarily, Maddy forced himself up as his shoulder laser turrets worked overtime, trying to sweep up the forty drones that now came at different angles around him, exploiting the crushed turrets on his back and lower body.

“I’m not out of options!” Maddy grabbed one of the detached flamethrower arms that still had its fuel tube connected to his exosuit. The flammable liquid tanks were still functional, allowing Maddy to spray flames in an arc, eliminating half of the dragonflies in a fiery shower.

However, Maddy did not spot a trailing leak from one of the flammable tanks! A single dragonfly immediately fired its welding laser at the leak for fuel, igniting the trail and blowing up the tank!

The explosion blew Maddy face down into the ground, causing him to drop the detached flamethrower arm. “FUCK!” Maddy cursed as he endured the searing heat at the back of his exosuit, immediately detaching both of the fuel tanks.

Luckily, the second tank did not explode, which allowed him time to recover and backpedal away, creating some distance from the tank.

Maddy checked his exosuit again – he was nowhere near full functionality. The internal explosion had basically reduced his movement by 50%, blowing out most of the redundant circuitry he had built into the exosuit.

He was now caught in the worst scenario, with his point defense system barely functional, and the flamethrower now useless. His right leg was also charred, but the adrenaline of the fight forced him to ignore the needle-sharp pain that came from every burnt nerve.

“You won’t get me this easily!” Maddy roared as he pushed his NEIR level to the limit, bearing the increasingly searing pain of his burning leg and back while he took over manual command of his shoulder mounted laser turrets, his last point defense option.

The laser turrets accurately sniped many of the dragonflies, destroying all of them in one fell swoop.

He used the brief respite earned to pick up one of the energy rifles, aiming around him as he tried to scan for Ceres on the streets.

At the end of the first confrontation, Maddy had lost the two additional arms and all his back-mounted laser turrets. With reduced functionality in his burnt right leg, he was moving even slower now, but on the bright side – all of Ceres’s drones were down, but he still had his two energy rifles and shoulder laser turrets.

Due to the damage sustained by the power pack, he could only use one energy rifle, but that was good enough to take down a brawler from afar. Maddy believed Ceres did not have any more tricks in the bag.

“You’ve tried your best Ceres, but this is the end of the road!”