[The Makina Labyrinth]
Teleporting into a vast expanse of stars and nebulae, this Labyrinth was not bound by earth or stone but by the infinite canvas of outer space.
I had never been here before, except vicariously through the memory of Jared, my reincarnated self, so it was a strange sensation.
However… that wasn't the oddest part of this adventure.
[System Alert]
<Welcome To The Insterstellar Battle of the Year 3199!>
"The what now?" My face twisted in surprise.
The surroundings suddenly shifted around me, and I found myself in the cockpit of a massive technological weapon, a Mech Warrior larger than any I had ever seen or imagined.
[System Alert]
<Welcome to the Mecha Knight G-234. You are its pilot, and the Hero o the Interstellar Battle>
It seemed like the insides of a Golem Design I thought of developing one time, but this one was way too advanced compared to what I had in mind.
'It's even more advanced than Jared's Hugo.'
Monitors hummed and flashed before me, alive with an array of information and statistics I had to quickly decipher.
"H-hold on, what's happening here exactly?" I had entered a Labyrinth, hoping for a regular trial, but this was the most bizarre one I had seen thus far.
~BOOOOM!~
~BOOOOOMM!~
~BOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!~
"Ack!"
I felt the entire mechanical room I sat in quake, as if it had been hit by a barrage of powerful blows.
"T-this is…?!" I paid rapt attention to the monitors and several mechanical displays around me, realizing the awful truth about my sudden situation.
[System Alert]
<Mecha Knight has sustained some damage. Integrity remaining 89%>
'The hell…?!'
I was currently in the heart of a space battle, war ships rushing toward me like a swarm of deadly locusts.
"Crap!" Realizing I didn't have the luxury of dawdling around for too long, I swiftly took action.
My fingers danced across the controls, the Mecaa Knight, as it was called, lurching forward at my command.
I could feel the power thrumming around me, the tangible force of this giant of steel and fire. My heart pounded against my ribcage, my pulse synchronizing with the rhythm of the colossal machine.
'You can do this, Lewis! You can do this!'
I plunged headlong into the melee, my Mecha's massive fists crashing into enemy vessels.
I twisted and dodged through the void of space, avoiding barrages of plasma fire that zipped past my metal exterior.
"Aha!" I found myself growing excited as the battle elapsed.
Each strike I landed, each enemy ship I destroyed, felt like a victory. Yet, I was vastly outnumbered.
~BOOOOM!~
~BOOOOOOOMMMM!~
A sudden shudder echoed through the metallic frame of the mech as I gripped the control sticks.
My heart pounded against my chest like a drum as I took a deep, steadying breath.
[System Alert]
<Mecha Knight has sustained some damage. Integrity remaining 81%>
"No fair! I wasn't even hit that hard!" I yelled at the system warning.
Unfortunately, I had to keep fighting. Or else…
A thousand pinpricks of light swarmed in the inky blackness, the fleet of warlord ships bearing down on me like ravenous wolves.
'They're getting closer! Damn!'
Their energy weapons blazed in the darkness, a hail of deadly fire that streaked towards me. My breath hitched in my throat, adrenaline sharpening my senses.
"Faster, Lewis, faster!" I muttered under my breath, hands working deftly on the controls.
My Mecha Knight lurched into motion, every fiber of my being attuned to the machine as I danced amongst the stars.
Ships zipped towards me, unleashing an onslaught of plasma bolts that singed the edges of my Knight's protective shields.
I spun and pivoted, dodging as many as I could, but the sheer volume was overwhelming.
I had to rely on the Mecha's defensive capabilities, a shimmering force field that absorbed the blows but waned with each hit.
"Hahahahaha!"
Despite the frenzy of battle, a wild exhilaration surged through me.
This was a battle of will, a test of my capabilities and cunning, a challenge I had no choice but to overcome.
"You can't stop the Great Sage!"
I found the rhythm in the chaos, my movements syncing with the Mecha's.
I lashed out with the Knight's energy blades, slicing through the hulls of the approaching ships, sparks of blue electricity marking my path.
"DIEEEEEEEE!"
I watched as they spun out, disoriented, and crashed into their own.
The more I moved, the more comfortable I became. A ship dove towards me from the right, cannons blazing.
With a well-timed sidestep, I avoided the barrage and retaliated with a quick thrust of my energy blade, slicing the ship in half.
But as the battle progressed, the enemy seemed to adapt.
They started attacking in synchronized waves, testing the limits of my shield and maneuverability. Their plasma fire grew in intensity, threatening to overwhelm my Mecha's defenses.
I was tiring, my arms aching from the constant strain, my mind whirling from the sheer amount of focus required.
But I couldn't afford to falter.
With a fierce determination burning within me, I engaged the Mecha's thrusters, diving headlong into the swarm.
The Knight's systems whirred and hummed, the powerful exoskeleton amplifying my physical strength. I swung my energy blades in broad arcs, the flash of ionized air leaving streaks of blue in the dark vacuum.
The ensuing explosion was spectacular, a constellation of erupting ships cascading around me, their debris scattering like metallic confetti.
~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!~
As the final war ship detonated, I was left alone amidst the dissipating remnants of the fleet.
"Huuuu…"
Exhausted, I leaned back into the Mecha's seat, a victorious smile gracing my lips.
I'd overcome the odds, defied the very laws of space. I'd won.
However…
~VWUUUUUMMMMM!~
"Huh? What now?" My brows curled upward as I noticed a spatial rift a small distance from me.
It seemed I wasn't quite finished yet.
'No… no…'
Then, it arrived: a Mecha Knight so colossal, it dwarfed my own.
It was the embodiment of devastation, a monster cloaked in steel and armed with an array of terrifying weaponry.
"Oh boy…" My heart clenched as the leviathan swung at me, and I barely had time to engage my thrusters and rocket out of its path.
"Think, Lewis, think!" I muttered to myself, darting between incoming fire. "How do you fight a giant?"
In the cockpit, I poured over the controls, finding a lever that activated my Knight's booster rockets.
"Uwoooooo!" With a grit of my teeth, I jammed it forward, propelling me toward the enemy with a dizzying burst of speed.
The world blurred around me as I closed the distance between us, my Mecha Knight's fist rocketing forward to strike the enemy titan.
~BOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!~
The impact reverberated through my controls, shaking me to my core. But the enemy mech stumbled, its systems momentarily shocked.
I capitalized on that moment of surprise, maneuvering my Mecha with newfound dexterity.
I ducked beneath a sweeping blow, retaliated with a punch to its midsection, then followed up with a knee to its torso.
Each strike rattled my enemy, forced it on the backfoot. But it was the last blow, a full-on shoulder charge that sent it reeling backward, crashing into a warlord ship in a spectacular explosion of metal and fire.
~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!~
With the enemy Gundam in shambles, the battlefield suddenly grew quiet.
"Hahaha… please, no more surprises." I leaned back in my seat, my heart pounding, my breath ragged.
As I watched the wreckage of the enemy Gundam drift away, a shimmering card floated towards me – [The Chariot] Arcana.
As I reached out to grasp it, a jolt of energy coursed through me, the Arcana merging with my essence.
I felt a rush of triumph, a sense of control over a battlefield that had, only moments ago, felt overwhelming.
[The Chariot] was mine now.
"Who could have come up with this crazy test?" I asked myself.
It was literally out of this world.
*
*
*
[A/N]
This chapter is dedicated to a very amazing reader of mine called Okojus.
You finally get to see your Gundams. Haha!
