The sound of the massive titans battling against each other rang out.
Front-Edge City, located in the farthest reaches of the Kingdom of Ogdenn, now faced its greatest crisis since its founding. The invaders had torn a massive hole in the outer walls protecting the city, with buildings in the urban area continuing to crumble even now with no respite. The enormous magical instruments—the Mechsteels—fighting each other were the cause of the destruction, but their battle was only growing more and more fierce.
Baron Socom’s army continued its bitter struggle to keep the city safe. The cutting-edge, heavyweight Tyrant Rhinos that had invaded the city boasted overwhelming performance that easily held the baron’s forces at bay. The army’s efforts to use their strength in numbers to encircle and confront the Tyrant Rhinos had fallen disappointingly short.
A band of individuals recklessly darted across the site of the titans’ battle, despite lacking any Mechsteels to pilot that would keep them safe. Pushing a cart loaded full with bricks, they concealed their own terror at plunging headfirst into the jaws of what was almost sure to be their own deaths with wild laughter as they charged ahead.
“Yeah, there we go! Our mark’s right where we want it! Charge, lads!”
Agile Gazelle was trying to dash through the street, and the Tyrant Rhino that had made its appearance tearing through the building was directly beside it. It was a complete coincidence that the men had encountered them at that very moment. They’d never had any dreams of aiming properly with a speeding cart—all they could do was toss the bricks at their foe’s feet—but that was enough.
“Here! Got a delivery for ya!”
“What?!”
Just when the Tyrant Rhino was about to bring its foot down, the cart slammed into it from the side. Normally, a cart or two would be no concern at all for a Tyrant Rhino, but it was in an awkward position when the cart struck. Losing its balance and lurching forward, the Tyrant Rhino rushed to regain its posture. It was far too large of an opening for Meddié to ignore, however. Agile Gazelle accelerated forward at just the right moment, escaping the ruffian’s clutches.
“That was close! What just happened, though?”
“There were people...pushing a cart into its leg!”
Meddié didn’t even have the time to turn around and see for herself. Behind her, the Tyrant Rhino’s Steelrider was howling in frustration at the loss of his perfect opportunity to capture her.
“Dammit! How dare those bugs get in our—”
Fwoosh! Ker-plash!
Before the pilot could even finish speaking, a wave of porcelain jars of unknown origin hurtled through the air and collided with the Tyrant Rhino’s head. The jars had been filled to the brim with paint, which sprayed all over the Mechsteel and poured down across its eyes, blotting out the mech’s vision in an array of color.
The sound of jars bursting on the Tyrant Rhino continued to ring out incessantly. From the narrow corner of its paint-drenched vision, the Tyrant Rhino could see people running along the roofs of the buildings nearby. They were carrying jars loaded full of paint, shouting excitedly as they threw them at the Tyrant Rhino before running off.
“Ha ha! Don’t go underestimating us! This is our city! An outsider like you doesn’t get to march around all high-and-mighty with that puffed up mug of yours!”
“It’s not his mug that’s big—it’s the whole damn mech! Sure does make for a nice, easy target, though!”
“Ha ha, same thing!”
They were residents of Front-Edge City. Agile Gazelle’s amplifier picked up their voices for Meddié to hear.
“What...in the world are you doing?! That’s way too dangerous! Stand down, all of you! Leave the fighting to us!”
“It’s you two young ladies in there, right? Let us fight too! We can’t just shut up and sit back while our city gets wrecked either!”
It was absurd. Compared to a Mechsteel, a human was as easily crushed as an eggshell. If they were caught up in the Tyrant Rhino’s charge, their lives were as good as gone, no mistaking it. And yet even then, they had stood up to fight. Filled with courage, they had rallied together to face off against the strongest titan on the face of the planet.
It was a shock for Anna, but Meddié understood their feelings so well it hurt.
“Okay, everybody. I understand. We’ll fight together to keep this city safe! Just don’t push yourselves too far!”
“Yeah! Don’t you worry! It’d take an outsider like him a hundred years to catch up with us!”
The Mechsteels weren’t fighting alone. Meddié felt the unmistakable ties between herself and the people of the city as strength surged through her. As if in response, Agile Gazelle filled with magic energy, letting out a hot burst of steam. Mechsteels were operated by harmonizing with their pilots, and thus they harmonized with their pilots’ own surges of emotions. Agile Gazelle’s movements grew even more nimble, its natural speed increasing even further. Meddié set out in a dash, certain that she’d never be caught now.
Behind her, the Tyrant Rhino that had been standing motionless after being robbed of its vision began to sway.
“Oh, I see now! What a touching display, indeed! But your plan was far too shortsighted...if you think that’s all it takes to slow down a Tyrant Rhino!”
Opening the exhaust pipes all across its frame, heated coolant emerged from the mech in the form of a burst of steam. The enormous machine was unfazed, devouring magicyte as it began to run at full power. The steam settled over the area as a haze.
“The hell?! I can’t tell where the bastard’s at!”
The citizens froze, at a loss after having their line of vision blocked off. The next moment, the Tyrant Rhino’s head crept out through the haze, without a single splotch of paint to be seen. It had used the steam to wipe it all away.
The Tyrant Rhino’s face was modeled after a human face—a face that now seemed to be sneering at them.
“You pathetic worms! It’s time you learned your place!”
The Tyrant Rhino lifted its arms before thrusting them through the building, its abundant force shattering the roof as if it were nothing. The moment Meddié saw the fragments—of the building, and of them—topple to the ground, Agile Gazelle slammed on its brakes, skidding along the road.
“I’m sorry, Anna. I can’t run away anymore,” Meddié said. “That scum has to pay!”
“I understand,” Anna replied. “I feel the same way. Don’t worry about me. Do whatever you must!”
“It really is a big responsibility...but I’m not backing down!”
Agile Gazelle had stopped its escape, only to be met by the Tyrant Rhino casting an arrogant glare back at it.
“Hmph. It seems you’re still set on opposing us. Our orders are to take you back alive. We can’t take your life...but it looks like we’ll have to make you a little bit more cooperative.”
Just then, another Tyrant Rhino appeared, leveling a building in its wake. With two titans now encroaching, Meddié, who’d been ready to rumble a moment ago, now found herself having serious second thoughts.
“Oh, so it’s two on one now? This miiight not work out the best for me, huh? Well, I’m gonna try anyway!”
While Agile Gazelle carefully weighed its distance from its foes, the Tyrant Rhinos simply walked toward her with no concern. Perhaps they thought they had no need for strategy as the stronger party. A trace of regret crossed Meddié’s mind, but she boldly shook it off.