The battlefield around the giant tarantula had become increasingly chaotic.

Dozens of mini tarantula spiders crawled across the streets while continuously firing laser beams at the Ember soldiers. The soldiers fought back desperately, shooting down one mechanical spider after another, but there were simply too many of them. Every time a group was destroyed, more seemed to appear from the giant tarantula’s body.

Several Ember soldiers were hit and forced to retreat.

Then the small spiders changed their attacks.

The cannons mounted on their bodies twisted slightly and began firing streams of white substance. The sticky webs spread through the battlefield and immediately trapped several soldiers and hoverboards.

"Not good!" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The trapped soldiers struggled, but the webs were surprisingly strong.

At the same time, the giant tarantula slowly turned its body. The massive cannon on its back adjusted its aim and pointed directly at the captured soldiers.

Many people watching the battle feed felt their hearts sink.

If that cannon fired, nobody believed the trapped soldiers would survive.

Just as the giant cannon began charging, a shadow suddenly fell from the sky.

Bang!

A giant shield crashed into the battlefield like a meteor.

The impact blasted away dozens of mechanical spiders and shattered large sections of the web-covered streets.

Rose who also landed standing behind the shield and looked around at the scattered spider swarm.

Then she laughed.

"Oh."

"This is easier than I thought."

The giant Tarantula briefly stopped and looked at Rose after she landed. Its sensors scanned her mech for a moment before it completely ignored her and turned its attention back toward the Ember soldiers.

Laser beams continued firing from the giant cannon mounted on its back.

Rose immediately became unhappy.

"Hey! I’m the boss fight here!"

She boosted forward and slammed her giant shield directly into the Tarantula’s side.

The impact forced the giant machine to stagger several steps. One of its attacks missed its intended target and instead sliced through a nearby building. The upper half of the structure separated cleanly and began collapsing toward a group of Ember soldiers below.

"Oh no."

Rose immediately threw her rectangular shield.

The giant shield spun through the air and embedded itself into the side of another building. Moments later, the collapsing debris crashed onto the shield instead of the soldiers.

The Ember soldiers below stared blankly. They had already accepted their fate. Yet somehow Rose’s shield had appeared out of nowhere and saved them.

Rose let out a sigh of relief.

"Good."

By this point, the Tarantula had finally decided she was annoying enough to deal with. Several sharp pincer-like legs thrust toward her. Rose quickly jumped away. The giant legs pierced through roads and buildings instead.

Meanwhile, the trapped Ember soldiers had already escaped from the spider webs.

Rose immediately recalled her shield.

The massive shield detached itself and flew back into her hand.

At that moment, the giant cannon on the Tarantula’s back turned toward her. A bright light gathered. Then a laser beam shot forward. Rose raised her shield.

Boom!

The beam slammed directly into it.

Even with the shield absorbing most of the attack, the force pushed Rose backward. Her mech’s feet dragged across the road, leaving long trenches behind.

Fortunately, she managed to block it.

"I did it."

Rose felt proud for exactly one second. Then she looked at the shield. Large sections had melted.

"It can probably take two more shots."

That wasn’t good news. The Tarantula immediately began charging another attack.

Rose quickly looked around the battlefield. Then an idea appeared.

She activated the magnetic system inside her shield. The countless small spider machines scattered around the battlefield suddenly began flying toward her.

One after another, they stuck themselves onto the shield’s surface. The Tarantula fired again.

Boom!

This time the laser beam struck the shield and instantly vaporized the attached spiders.

Rose’s eyes immediately lit up.

"It works!"

She activated the magnetic field again while charging forward. More spider machines flew toward her shield and stuck themselves onto it.

The Tarantula continued charging another beam. Rose didn’t slow down. The Tarantula fired. Rose shouted and pushed forward with all her strength.

The laser beam continuously melted the shield’s surface, but it also melted the attached spider machines.

The molten metal and destroyed spider parts fused together into a burning mass. A moment later, the Tarantula was greeted by a giant melting shield smashing directly into its body.

Rose pushed harder.

The molten spider remains stuck to the Tarantula’s armor and rapidly spread across its surface.

Large sections of armor began melting. The giant machine struggled for a few moments.

Then its movements gradually slowed. Finally, the Tarantula stopped moving completely.

Rose looked at the giant machine and grinned.

┉┈ ◈ ◉ ◈ ┈

On Tansy’s side of the battlefield, she had already figured out the giant octopus’s weakness.

Or rather, she had figured out the King’s weakness. Every Men had something that could become their greatest flaw.

For some it was greed. For some it was fear. For the King of the Capital, it was ego.

The giant octopus continued destroying roads, buildings, and anything unfortunate enough to stand in its way. However, throughout the entire battle, Tansy noticed one thing.

After noticing this, Tansy immediately tested her theory.

She fired several arrows fitted with Carbonyx arrowheads. The arrows pierced through the giant tentacles and left visible damage. The octopus immediately became furious and several tentacles shot toward her position.

Instead of dodging, Tansy smiled. Her mech simply turned around. Behind it was the giant King’s statue.

Or more accurately, the King’s statue that Tansy had tied onto her mech’s back earlier.

The attacking tentacles suddenly stopped.

Several sharp tips froze only a short distance away from the statue’s face.

Tansy wasn’t surprised.

The tentacles had cameras and sensors. They clearly recognized the statue.

This is the thing that Tansy noticed earlier, No matter how wild its attacks became, it never touched the King’s statue. Not even once.

These Titan machines had been programmed with one absolute rule.

Do not damage the King. Do not damage statues of the King.

The King’s vanity had become part of the Titan’s programming.

Tansy looked at the frozen tentacles and smiled. Sometimes the strongest defense wasn’t armor. It was someone’s ego.