Chapter 118: Runic Hacker (2/2)

Ivy and Arthur exchanged glances. They could read each other's faces and realized that their plan has failed. Now, it was a matter of how to improvise.

”Should we leave and explain ourselves?” Arthur asked but Ivy shook her head.

”Explain what? The mecha is already activated. We have no way to explain this.” Ivy sat on the bench next to him as she started to wear the safety belt. Seeing her actions, Arthur understood what she wanted to do.

”Well, should we take it for a test drive?” Arthur grinned and Ivy grinned back. The cabinet's door closed on Arthur's command as he leaned back for his head to rest on the headset. Runes glowed as his view changed.

Now, his body was the mecha.

***

Seeing him move, the soldiers took out their weapons. Some of them took out semi-mana-rifles that used mana instead of gunpowder and others took out cold weapons.

”I repeat! Stand down immediately! This is not something you can operate easily!” The leader of the soldiers frowned as he saw the mecha move its arms as if it was stretching. After all, each mecha cost tons of resources and connections to make. If someone damaged it by chance, it would take several times his salary to repair it.

However, it seems his words fell on deaf ears as the mecha took a step forward. The soldiers raised their guns and weapons to stop it.

”What are you doing? Don't damage it! Sound the alarm!” The captain reprimanded them and sent one of his soldiers to close down the facility. After all, they could eventually retrieve the mecha as long as he held it confined.

As if betraying his hopes, the mecha took another step, then another. Then, as if realizing something, it stopped. Silence permeated through the air for a second as both sides stared at each other.

The alarm sounded off as the facility began to shut down. The captain sighed in relief. However, it was a premature sigh as the mecha's tires then began to spin and its body leaned forward.

”D-don't allow it to escape!” Panic seized the captain as he saw the mecha started gliding across the paved ground toward the nearest tunnel. Remembering that each tunnel would lead to the outside world, the captain gritted his teeth and issued another order. ”Attack its legs to stop it from moving!” It was the best they could do.

A frustrating feeling rose in his heart. How would he stop something that was his, but stolen, without damaging it? The heavens were unfair. It was the irony that if he wanted to keep the mecha, he had to damage it. However, it was still better than allowing it to be stolen and used by someone else.

The soldiers rained their abilities and bullets on the mecha's legs. As there were over twenty of them, they would surely stop the metallic monster. Some of them even used skills they had to teleport in front of it and block it.

However, as if slapping the captain's words across his face, the mecha evaded their attacks as easily as breathing. The spectacle reminded them of skating shows where the participants danced on ice.

The mecha did a turn and avoided the earth that was collapsing in front of it. The ice spears were narrowly evaded by a smooth twist from the mecha. It wasn't a machine that they were seeing, but a dancer.

This dancer didn't attack anyone, either. It simply passed by shocked soldiers until it made its way toward the tunnel. It then slid under the doors that were closing down, leaving the stunned soldiers behind.

”Amazing…” One of the soldiers, who aspired to be a mecha pilot himself, muttered as he felt like he was watching the performance of a professional.