Taming my Monster Girl Harem from Scratch

463  Ember's Mecha Battle! (2)

If I stayed in place, I'd get roasted by the two energy streams coming from above me!

Without delay, I did a forward roll, not letting Ember gain enough distance from me. With the angle at which the beams were fired, she can't reach me if I'm too close!

Taking advantage of the situation, I waved the two swords like a scissor, planning to cut Ember's mech in half.

*TING!*

But before the blades could touch her, the two blasters on her hands blocked the sword's path. The two weapons were made tough, but as expected, a gun wasn't made to be as solid as a shield. A deep notch was formed on the blasters' frame, following the blades' edge!

"Urk!"

However, the one in trouble wasn't Ember, but me. Due to the short pause, the two cannons on her shoulders reached my mech's frame. Warning sounds echoed around the cockpit as the damage was displayed on the displays.

The two shoulders were damaged heavily, but fortunately, they could still continue functioning.

"But not for long!"

The beam was still working on destroying both shoulders. As my mech was a melee, using swords, losing both shoulder joints would make it impossible to swing my blades.

I was running out of time, so I tried to trip Ember by kicking her legs. But it was more solid than I thought. She didn't budge an inch from my kick!

"...!"

Not wanting to lose that easily, I quickly changed targets. I let go of both swords temporarily before swinging both fists in an uppercut. The target—the two cannon's muzzle that was on her shoulders!

*CRACK!* *BOOOOM!*

With the punch, the muzzles were bent out of shape, and the energy that lost its path caused an internal explosion. A bright flash, followed by heat, dust, and smoke, enveloped both our figures!

The shockwave sent my lightweight mech rolling for a few dozen meters before stopping. I turned toward Ember after the flash and smoke faded, only to see that her machine was still mostly intact.

"D*mn, how tough is that thing?"

Mine, on the other hand, was already raising countless errors from the accumulated damage. At this rate, the battle would end up being my loss by default due to the damages!

"(This and that Exoskeleton should be just as tough as each other... Master, you're not using the barriers, aren't you?)"

Ember informed me, and I quickly checked. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Barrier?"

She did mention that earlier, but I thought she was talking about "my" barrier. I looked around the panel and finally noticed a flip switch with "Forcefield" as its label. I quickly flipped it on, and a low hum echoed from outside the cockpit.

"So this is the barrier you're talking about...!"

It's not made using energy or skills, but purely out of "science"!

However, I noticed something wrong when I turned the barrier on. The core's output energy couldn't catch up with the barrier's consumption, reaching 60% output all at once just to balance it out!

Now, it makes sense why it was off by default.

After turning it on, I readied both blades once more. Ember's two cannons were now useless, with her two blasters damaged. As she currently is, she couldn't fight for long... or so I thought.

"That's cheating!"

Ember used her powers to repair her weapons mid-fight!

"(There's no rules that says we can't use our skills, right~?)"

Ember said it in a teasing voice. With her cannons and blasters back to full health, the battle was leaning in her favor!

"(Master should taste defeat every now and then, or else you might get overconfident.)"

Yeah, right, you just don't want to lose, don't you?!

After that, the fight went on for a while longer. Longer than I thought it would last.

To counter Ember's cannons, I chose to keep a medium distance between us. Whenever her weapons had to rest to avoid overheating, I charged forward, came closer, and attacked. Such an exchange repeated over and over, until finally, a chance appeared.

"(Ah!)"

Ember accidentally let go of her blasters after I struck both her wrists! With the cannons on cooldown and her blasters out of the way, she had no other ways of defending left.

"I win!!!"

I swung the sword horizontally, aiming it at her mech's neck. However, before it could touch, Ember moved. She spun a full 360 while launching a heavy kick!

*BAAAAAM!*

With how large and heavy the leg of her machine was, I got sent flying into the air. While there, Ember then fired her two cannons, ignoring their overheated state, and sent two streams of energy toward me.

"Sh*t..."

I had no way of dodging while mid-air, so I could only try and wave my blades to deflect some of it, at least. The density of the energy beams was more than what I could handle, of course, and it ended up roasting both sides of my Mech's body. I lost not only my weapon but even control of both arms.

By the time I landed on the ground, I was already helpless. Ember is right by my side, with her blasters aimed straight toward the cockpit. The green "eyes" of her mech flashed.

"(It's my win, Master. Tehe~!)"

Although reluctant, I couldn't do anything but accept my loss...

"... But this is just the first match. There are still 10 more mechs needing some testing! Best of 6!"

Right.

There are 12 Exoskeleton prototypes, meaning there are still 5 matches remaining! I haven't lost completely yet!

"(Of course. Then, round 2?)"

"Hah, I'll be having my revenge!"

...

A few hours later, all the other matches ended. The score? Five to one!

"... D*mmit..."

And of course, I was the one who only managed to get a single win. Even after I sealed Ember's "weapon repair mid-battle," she still stomped me like I was a baby! Is this the difference between someone who completely understands the controls and someone who's just learning them?

That could be true since the last match was the only one that I won. It's not because Ember felt pity for me and let me win, of course.

Well, anyway, currently, I'm doing the "punishment game" for losing against her. It wasn't something hard, but rather embarrassing.

"Master~! If looks good on you~! Flex your biceps, please!"

"My Lord...! My Lord...!"

"Leader, try this one next!"

"No, this one is definitely better!"

"I agree with Fatima that Speedo is better~!"

"S-Sir Will... Au..."

"..."

During the rest of the afternoon, I was simply turned into a dress-up doll, made to wear various kinds of clothes that Ember made. I was reluctant at first, but after a while, I began riding on their enthusiasm and started enjoying it.

This isn't bad; once in a while... but the speedo is too much. Please spare me from that.