Phew—

She let out a long breath. Her finished work stood like dawn on steel. Lian felt deeply satisfied, wiped phantom sweat, and smiled like sun on a lake.

"I’ll call you the Sun Knight Mecha."

It fit the name—a fortress of plates layered like mountain terraces. A huge back thruster hung like a comet’s tail. Smaller jets ringed the four sides like fireflies ready to dance. It wouldn’t walk; it would glide on flame, a barge on a river of fire. She didn’t want a nimble bullet-dodger; she wanted a battering ram, a tidal sun pushing forward.

Armor needed teeth. On both sides of the head, she mounted two high-energy sniper cannons, twin tails like playful ponytails—cute, right? Ten meters away, one shot and man and machine would part like a split tree. On the arms, she fixed two grenade launchers, thunder drums at her wrists. She’d wanted a greatsword, but there was nowhere to lay a mountain, so she let it go.

Snipers and launchers would be her main fangs, moon-white and storm-black. Across the whole body, she studded Vulcan cannons, a swarm like locusts. Close in, they’d stitch a foe into a beehive. Far off, they’d harry like rain on tin. As for ammo… if a layer thick enough to be armor isn’t enough, the river runs dry, and there’s nothing more to give.

She strapped a fearsome white mask to the waist, a pale ghost like winter moon. To most, it was decoration, a festival trinket. To Lian, it was a life talisman, a hidden blade in snow. What it did… the night would tell when the hour came.

With a spring like a cat, she slid into the cockpit. Engines rumbled like thunder behind mountains. The hatch sealed, and the heart of steel woke.

Lian wrapped her fingers around the control stick. A cruel smile rose, like frost across still water.

"Battle… begins."

Boom! The engine flared full, a sunrise blasting out of storm clouds. The mecha surged at full speed. The giant thruster hauled the hulking frame like a comet yanking stone.

The forward bay door opened. Lian flew into a sea of dark, starless ink like deep space. It felt like the battlefield sat in the cosmos.

Thud!!! The mecha hit ground, a heavy bell on temple stone. Several players were already fighting. The sound drew their eyes—don’t give me the “sound doesn’t travel in vacuum” talk. Seeing a frame twice their size, fear rose like night fog. How do you fight a mountain?

Before they could run, the two head-mounted snipers fired.

Boom! Two lances of violet light ripped out, meteors with purpose. They slammed into a tank-type mecha, armor thick as cliff rock. Lian knew two shots wouldn’t fell a fellow shield wall. So she smartly shredded its main gun to slag, cutting the hawk’s beak before the sky.

Hope evaporated in that crippled hull like dew in noon sun. When you hit fire and only your little harassing peashooters spit, despair is a pit with no ladder.

Lian wouldn’t waste bullets finishing it. It had no fight left. So—

Boom! The back thruster roared, a dragon’s breath driving her forward.

Clang. The mecha smashed into the cripple, iron on iron like storm on reef. The tank went up at once, a flower of fire. Lian’s armor took scratches, bark chipped off an oak.

Not unscathed, but her mood soared like a kite in spring wind. This way to execute was wicked fun, a cat watching a trapped mouse. He could only stare as she came, with no strength to resist and no speed to flee. He could only wait for the blade. That vicious joy made Lian’s Yokai blood boil like a cauldron. Her breath turned hot and quick, a bellows fanning coals.

Not enough… not enough… more… more kills.

She flicked the side thrusters, dragonflies skimming a pond. Her charging mecha snapped directions and lunged at another target, a hawk stooping.

"Hahahahahahahahaha!" Lian’s laugh sliced sharp in the cockpit, a flute turned shriek. She only wanted to keep killing, savoring iron and lightning on her tongue.

The targeted mech saw her and dropped his weapon, fear peeling him like bark. He kicked his rear booster at full, fleeing like a rabbit under moonlight. He’d seen her brutality and knew he couldn’t weather that storm.

"Why run?!" Lian’s head cannons finished charging. She fired without a blink. A purple beam hammered toward him, a straight river of light. He must’ve had auto-dodge; near impact, he slipped a hair. The beam blew off his right arm, a branch torn by wind.

Lian’s attack and defense were iron mountains, priced with clay feet. The gap shrank to a bit over a hundred meters, yet she couldn’t catch him. Her thrusters ran hot, steam hissing. Speed bled away like sand from a fist.

"Damn it!" Lian swung the grenade launchers, aiming at the ground behind at a slant, a fox using the hill.

She pulled the trigger—BOOM! The kick launched her, a wave lifting a boat. Speed spiked at once, and the blast hurled her into the air. A hundred meters is nothing to a storm tower. Lian soared above him, a hawk over a field. Before he could react, she fired the downward jets. The mecha slammed hard, avalanche from the sky. Metal rang like temple chimes. Her frame crushed the fleeing mech to scrap, sitting him into powder like a stone mill.

"Hahahahaha! That’s it, that’s the feeling!" Lian laughed again, wild and bright, flames dancing in her eyes.

"Next! Next! Next!" She locked onto nearby mechs, wolves choosing sheep.

"You!" She picked her mark, a blade choosing a neck.

Her berserk Sun Knight lunged again, iron hooves pounding, charging another waiting prey like a storm rolling across a plain.

——————