Chapter 3262: Peak Duel When the Gatecrasher initially charged into the lines of the expeditionary fleet, it was as if a wolf had entered a flock of sheep. "ALL MURDERERS OF DWARVES MUST PAY!" Venerable Orthox roared as his expert mech charged straight into a rifleman mech and smashed it to pieces with its shield! The boiling red resonance shield that surrounded the Gatecrasher like an erupting volcano not only invalidated any ranged attack, but also made it impossible to resist against its might up close. If not for the fact that the Gatecrasher was an expert offensive space knight that possessed limited attack capabilities compared to other expert mechs, Venerable Orthox would have been able to defeat thrice as many enemy machines in the same amount of time! Still, a high-tier expert mech was still a force to be reckoned with. The typical limitations that characterized the strengths and weaknesses of these powerful machines no longer applied so strictly anymore. For example, while it didn't possess any ranged weapon systems, it was able to swing its hammer and release a powerful resonance wave attack that struck any target that was out of the Gatecrasher's immediate reach. Against other opponents, the Gatecrasher's was able to launch powerful grappling hooks that dug into the frames of enemy machines and reeled them back with great force just so that Venerable Orthox could hammer them into pieces! Not a single Larkinson or Crosser mech unit were able to maintain their cohesion when the Gatecrasher arrived. Extreme grief and vengeance fueled Venerable Orthox's hatred against the tall folk. The more he thought about the comrades he lost, the stronger he resonated with the Gatecrasher! The resonance meters pointed at the unstoppable expert mech kept registering stronger and stronger readings. As soon as the Gatecrasher turned and initiated a charge against a formation of vulnerable Crosser mechs, Venerable Orthox suddenly aborted his expert mech's approach when another red comet entered its flight path! Unlike other opponents, Orthox was immediately able to judge that his current challenger was different. Surrounded by a lighter and more fiery red resonance glow was a medium-heavy hybrid mech that incorporated multiple different weapon systems. The tall and armored expert mech wielded an axe in one arm and a shotgun in the other arm. A pair of compact positron turrets were mounted on its shoulders and one of its thick wrists carried a hefty wrist-mounted plasma launcher. The Gatecrasher's sensors failed to detect more weapon systems but Orthox confidently judged that the enemy expert mech definitely contained more integrated weapon systems. It was what all hybrid mechs of this caliber possessed. Two different expert mechs were silently surveying each other as their expert pilots already knew that they were about to confront the toughest opponent on the battlefield. Even without exchanging any words, they could already tell a lot about their opposition. They were able to sense the powerful force of wills that resonated so excellently with their expert mechs. Both expert pilots were able to glean a hint of each other's convictions by interpreting each other's wills. Venerable Orthox's eyes narrowed. This newcomer's will was not only strong and drenched with ambition, but also possessed the tempering of someone who had lived through true war and suffering. In fact, he was impressed by the tenacity he sensed from the human expert pilot! No matter what reason the foreigner fought for, Orthox was able to respect at least that quality in his opponent. "This is going to be a tough fight…" He muttered to himself. As for Patriarch Reginald, he felt anything but reluctant to duel his opponent. He was only slightly displeased at the realization that he wouldn't be fighting against this powerful dwarven expert pilot under equal circumstances. Trying to block the powerful death energy attack released by the Penitent Sisters had to have sapped a portion of Venerable Orthox's strength! "At least there is no fault in his reason to battle." Reginald grinned. "This dwarf has all the reason in the cosmos to destroy me. Good. Only those who sincerely wish me dead are worth going all out!" The more the Cross Patriarch observed his opponent, the more he became eager to fight. The Gatecrasher did not look like a deadly enemy who not only threatened to end his life, but also annihilate the clan he inherited from his father. To him, the Gatecrasher was nothing less than a gift from heaven to the battle-starved and glory-hungry patriarch! Venerable Orthox was just powerful enough to give Patriarch Reginald an abundant amount of pressure, but not enough to hold a crushing advantage. The Gatecrasher was tough but should not contain too many unexpected surprises. The expert space knight posed a considerable threat to his Bolvar Rage at point-blank range, but was a lot more manageable at longer ranges. As long as Patriarch Reginald kept track of the Gatecrasher's grappling hooks, his expert mech wouldn't have to worry about getting entangled. The outline of the battle became increasingly clear to the expert pilots as they mapped it out in their minds. The Gatecrasher was primarily a melee mech and possessed ungodly amounts of power up close. Whether it utilized its prodigious acceleration to build up momentum and slam into an enemy like a hammer blow from Vulcan or simply hacked its power-filled hammer with continuous blows, the Bolvar Rage probably wouldn't last long if it got banged up too many times. Since his Bolvar Rage was a hybrid mech, the most ideal distance to the enemy was around a hundred meters or a little more. In fact, Patriarch Reginald preferred to maintain a greater distance from the enemy, but he doubted that Venerable Orthox would let him keep his distance. Both of their mechs saluted each other by raising their main weapons. No matter what side they were on or what cause they were fighting for, they both held great respect for their opposition. They were true warriors who had risen above the rest and had come close to taking their next step to ascension. They exchanged greetings. "Venerable Orthox De Massie." "Patriarch Reginald Cross." Both of them had read the intelligence reports, so they knew who they were dealing with. They did not share any meaningless words and platitudes. They were older men who had already formed and developed their own convictions. "Let's begin." Reginald suggested. "May the best pilot win." In one moment, their expert mechs remained still. In the next, they exploded into action! A titanic duel between apex expert pilots had begun as the Gatecrasher charged into the Bolvar Rage straight away! A wave of exploding red surged towards the Crosser expert mech like a comet about to unleash a cataclysm! The Gatecrasher apparently possessed a powerful burst acceleration ability that kickstarted the expert space knight so that it did not have to waste any time to get up to speed. Anyone with average reaction time wouldn't even be able to respond to the threat until it was too late! Fortunately, Patriarch Reginald and his expert mech were anything but average. From the moment the Gatecrasher's resonance grew hotter, the Crosser expert pilot already recognized that Venerable Orthox planned to go on the attack. Reginald couldn't count the amount of times he dueled and fought against expert melee mechs that want nothing more than to hack or bash his Bolvar Rage to pieces. Knowing that his expert hybrid mech would not fare well if Orthox had his way, Reginald instantly moved his Bolvar Rage out of the way! Just as it looked as if the red comet was about to miss the hybrid mech, the Gatecrasher launched a grappling hook that flung towards the Bolvar Rage with amazing speed! However, Reginald had never lost sight of his opponent's grappling hook. Even though there was only a split second time to react to this unavoidable threat, the Bolvar Rage's hammer accurately dinged the grappling hook, deflected it to the side. The two expert mechs passed by without a decisive result. As soon as the Gatecrasher passed by, Reginald's eyes gleamed as his glowing mech began its counterattack! While the Gatecrasher was still in the process of arcing back in order to perform another charge, the Bolvar Rage spun around and began to fire its weapon modules at the fast and powerful dwarven machine. The shoulder-mounted positron turrets accurately tracked and struck the exploding red resonance shield of the Gatecrasher. Reginald knew that he had to invest a serious amount of effort in order to peel open the defenses of a high-tier expert space knight, so he immediately resonated with his energy weapon mounts in order to strip his dwarven foe of its first layer of defenses. A couple of compact but powerful missiles launched from the rear of the Bolvar Rage. These weren't average missiles but ones that were specially designed by Professor Benedict and utilized the highest and most potent materials the Cross Clan could obtain. Venerable Orthox did not sense that much threat from the Bolvar Rage's positron weapon mounts. Though the energy weapons dealt a fair amount of damage, he had plenty of ways to endure or mitigate their damage potential. Those missiles were different. The two incoming warheads accelerated quickly and homed straight towards the Gatecrasher as if their target locks was impossible to break! Space knights tended to possess little in the way of ECM and jamming systems. Part of it was because they were designed to attract fire. Another part of it was because they were too big and massive to hide from electronic sensors in an efficient manner. In fact, even if the Gatecrasher was as quiet as an expert light mech, the missiles still wouldn't have been fooled. Patriarch Reginald had split his concentration and directly took control over their flight trajectory. Through his efforts, the two missiles approached the Gatecrasher from opposite sides and crashed headlong into its resonance shield. Two small but intensely powerful explosions ensued! The reason why the blasts hadn't expanded too much was because most of the explosive power was directed towards the front, thereby making sure that it expended as much of its damage potential towards the target as possible. The Gatecrasher's resonance shield lost a huge chunk of strength and looked a lot more unstable than before. Venerable Orthox grunted as his force of will suffered the repercussions of withstanding a couple of powerful blows. Though Patriarch Reginald wanted to fire a second salvo of missiles, his expert mech only carried a limited amount of them. Each of them were laced with high-grade exotics to maximize their explosive potential and also contained a trace of resonating exotics that allowed him to empower them with his own will. Considering the thick armor and even thicker shield of the Gatecrasher, Reginald believed he needed to save most of his burst damage potential when he had an opportunity to crack its shell. "It's not yet time." The Gatecrasher's resonance shield was incredibly strong, as befitting a space knight. It also possessed an energy shield generator that Orthox had yet to activate in order to conserve energy. Every action and every expenditure mattered. Neither of the two could afford to waste their resources. This was looking to be a long and extended duel. When the Gatecrasher finally turned around, it charged towards the Bolvos Rage yet again. Different from before, Orthox did not accelerate his expert mech to the limit. Instead, the Gatecrasher approached the Bolvos Rage at a controlled pace before striking out with its hammer! A silent boom erupted as the Gatecrasher landed a powerful blow on the Bolvos Rage's resonance shield. However, the Bolvos Rage had not only peppered the Gatecrasher with continuous positron beams, but also splashed the dwarven expert mech with hot matter released by its wrist-mounted plasma cannon! The two expert mechs continued to dance and collide against each other with fury and valor. Neither the Gatecrasher nor the Bolvos Rage gained any immediate advantages. Instead, both mechs chipped and hacked at each other's defenses while trying their best to conserve as much of their defenses as possible. Neither Patriarch Reginald nor Venerable Orthox paid any attention to the wider battle… They could not afford to split any concentration off their opponent. Even a split second of inattention was enough to decide the outcome of this impactful duel!