Reborn in a Dating Sim: Life as a Mob is hard in an Equestria Girl’s Dating Game!

Reborn in a Dating Sim:

Life as a Mob is hard in an Equestria Girl’s Dating Game!

Chapter Eighteen

Copper Plum looked at the recorded incident between Artemis and the two would-be assassins. The fact that they were a couple of individuals that hung around Mithril Shield and Prince Apollo didn’t hide the fact that they were planning on killing Tarnished Tiara. Sure, he didn’t have the best relationship with his sister. Actually, it would be easier to say that he and Tarnished didn’t have much of a relationship at all. She practically declined helping out back home, and she constantly wanted money to do things that she normally wasn’t able to do.

Still, when push came to shove she had warned him about explosives. She had planted them, but she hadn’t abandoned him completely. She had told him about it, and that at least was a step in the right direction. It meant that she cared, at least a little, about his well-being. Naturally the fact that she didn’t sell him, or herself, out when she was being questioned also spoke volumes. It meant that she wasn’t beyond redemption. So, that left Mithril Shield before him. His assassins hadn’t checked in, and he could imagine that the noble was getting antsy.

Not having word that their deed was done most likely was bothering him. Artemis had ensured that they wouldn’t be in any shape to do much for a while. Sure, a good healing spell would mend them up, but before it was cast they would have to have their bones set in place. Something that was going to be painful. Getting a healing spell before that happened was a good way to ensure that the bone never fully healed. There would always be a hairline fracture, and it would always be weaker than the other bones.

That was one of the first things he learned from the magic lessons he’d been taking. Never use a healing spell if there was something foreign stuck in a body, never use a healing spell if bones are correctly set, and never mistake a healing spell for a resurrection spell. Resurrection spells would completely bring someone back, but only if they had died of an attack or on the battlefield. Healing could potentially heal a person from nearly the point of death. It wasn’t a guarantee, but it could go that far.

So, he had no doubt that Mithril Shield would ensure that his two assassins were healed, or at least he was certain that he would when he found them. He moved out toward the center of the stadium, and he watched as Mithril Shield did the same. He felt Artemis in front of him, the android body she had placed inside of the armor, but she wasn’t being flirty.

“Captain,” she said, her voice even, “I understand that you don’t want to take his life, but considering what he attempted to do, are you certain that you want that decision to remain? We could kill him, easily. The pickaxe would pierce the chest of his armor, and it would utterly destroy his body. It would be a quick, and mostly painless death. He wouldn’t feel much for a while.”

He shook his head, “He didn’t kill Tarnished Tiara. He had her attacked, with the intention of killing her, but he didn’t kill her. For that reason, if no other, I will spare his life. That doesn’t mean that we’re going easy on him though. I want him to understand that he’s fucked up bad. We’re going to completely wreck his shit, and then we’re going to go a steep further and humiliate the hell out of him.”

There was a slight wiggle, “Very good,” she said as she pressed against him, “Then direct me Captain. Direct Avarice and I to victory. We will grant it for you.”

Stepping to the center of the Stadium he could see the way that Mithril Shield’s Armor had changed. He was no longer carrying a sword, but instead it had been changed out for a gun. He noticed that a shoulder cannon had been placed on his armor, and he could see that extra plating had been placed on him. The evidence that he had his mechanic crew working the entire time they had between the match was evident. He hadn’t hung back, and he hadn’t simply waited around. If nothing else Copper would respect that he was coming into this with the mentality to win.

“Duelists, you may make your opening statements,” the Observer said, “Mithril Shield, you may go first.”

“I can see how hard you’ve battled. The evidence of your power has been displayed. We were wrong to think less of you. For that reason, if no other, know that I am not taking this lightly. I plan on fighting you with all I have. If you perish here, then you will have still won my respect.”

“Copper Plum, you may speak.”

“Glad that I’ve won your respect, but that doesn’t do a damned thing, does it?” he asked as he studied Mithril Shield, “I mean it’s not something that’s going to keep Diamond Tiara with the Prince, and it’s not going to stop you from destroying whatever relationship you had before. Instead you’re moving blindly ahead. I feel sorry for you, I really do.”

There was silence, but then the Observer stepped back, “Duel!”

The first strike was from Mithril Shield. He threw a grenade, and when it exploded the entire area became as bright as the sun, “Shit, a flash grenade!” Copper said as his eyes blurred, “Fuck, we need to find him, quick!”

The answer came from something striking the armor. It hit, but didn’t penetrate. Actually it didn’t even really scratch the armor itself. He realized that Mithril Shield had attempted to kill him quickly. The moment he could see clearly he looked up to see Mithril Shield. Without any hesitation he flew up to him in a blast of speed. Moving toward him he heard the hiss of the communication channel.

That was something he had believed made the dumpster fire of a game more unbelievable. There would be science fiction elements, but at the same time this entire world was focused on magic. The communications between armors was more science than it was magic, but it had blended the two to a degree. “Baron Plum,” Mithril Shield said as he neared him, “I give you this chance, between us, solely between us, to back down now. If you do then I promise that all slights will be forgotten. However, if choose to proceed things will not end well.”

“Naw, thanks,” Copper said, “I plan on beating your ass, then the Prince’s ass. It’s that simple.”

“I see,” Mithril Shield said, “Then I truly do apologize that we could not do this like men. That we had to end this in fire.”

With that the arm of Mithril’s armor glowed red for a moment, and Copper waited for it. A moment later what he had expected to happen did in fact happen. The explosion went off, but not where it would be a danger to Copper Plum, but instead it was on a more armored part of Avarice. The result was a decent explosion, but nothing else. Copper had Artemis move the explosives where the posed the least danger on Avarice, but to do it discreetly.

“Wait, no that should have destroyed the armor while killing the occupant!”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Copper Plum said as he neared him, “Now, where were we?”

“Listen here you brutish oaf. If you choose to push this insane agenda any further it will not just be you that pays for it. I swear by all that is holy that I will see that your entire family does. Beginning with your sister, and then moving on to those you may actually care more for. Do you understand that? Do you get that? You are playing with the big leagues now, and these kinds of things are known to happen.”

“And how would your darling Satin enjoy knowing that she’s part of a revenge plot? Would she like to know that her hands are stained with blood? How about the prince himself? Would he like to know that you’ve decided to bring him in on some good old fashioned revenge?” Copper asked, “I mean, to me it sounds like you really don’t care if they are brought in on it or not. Not to mention what it will do to your standing.”

“As if you could prove it,” Mithril Shield said, his voice confident, “It will be the word of a lowly baron against my own.”

He laughed, “Well, how about this?”

A moment later the exact words that Mithril Shield had said were played back to him, “Funny thing is that a lot of these lost items had fantastic voice recording abilities. I really can just play this for them, or for the court as well. Tell me, how would that play out?” he asked watching as Mithril Shield’s armor floated there, “It’s still your word against my own. Even if that thing has the ability to record what I say it is not common knowledge. Most will consider that it is merely magically created.”

Copper laughed, “Sure, they might,” he agreed, “but it will leave doubt won’t it? A lingering doubt that maybe you’re willing to threaten an entire family in order to win a duel. That you can’t do it on the merits of your own strength, and instead you have to pull outsiders into it. That will give a great amount of doubt to your ability to hold onto your station. You’ll find yourself in an uphill struggle, and it will last forever. Sounds like a great time, doesn’t it?”

“I grow weary of this!” he shouted as he moved slightly, “Die!”

The shoulder cannon went off, and like Copper had thought it was powerful. In truth it was strong enough that a normal armor would have been pierced and disabled. The shot itself was aimed toward the chest, and that would have lead to a death. But Avarice’s design was made with protection and war over speed and agility. It was still fast, but where other armors could be faster it was meant to take a beating and then completely destroy the opposition. He flew forward, grabbing the cannon and ripping it from the shoulder.

Doing so caused the right arm to hang limply. The cannon itself was tossed effortlessly to the ground. He then slammed the pickaxe through the groin of his opponents armor. When he did he pushed down, bisecting it. The lower half fell without the magic to sustain it, and the same happened to the top half. When it hit he knew that Mithril Shield was out completely. That was the one thing he knew was the same as the game.

Mithril Shield was a glass cannon. Loads of potential, and so little endurance for it all. He could get off a few decent spells, but then he’d be wiped. He could fight in an armor, but do any real damage and he’d be out of it. This had completely destroyed his armor, and by reflection it had ended the fight. Still, he understood the rules of the fight itself, and he moved down to the armor. His hand grabbed the chest plate, ripped it away, and he stepped back. When he did the Observer could see that Mithril Shield himself was out cold.

“The winner is Copper Plum.”

He looked toward the Prince, and he knew what was coming. The prince’s armor in the game was the most sophisticated armor available to the protagonist. Or at least was in the base game. The micro transaction allowed the purchase of a cheat item, aka Artemis, which allowed for someone to use a previously unnamed armor. Avarice itself looked different from when it did in the game, but he had guessed that was because it was him and not Applebloom that had found Artemis.

He stepped watched as the Prince came out to meet him. Watching the white armor he felt Artemis wiggling slightly, “There’s nothing special about the armor,” she said after a moment, “My scans show that most of what we see is cosmetic. The weapons he does sport are good against the weak and clumsy machines that they use, but are basically non-threatening to us.”

He looked at the armor walking toward them, “How about the armor plating itself,” he asked as he waited for the Prince to finish his stroll, “I mean, what kind of protection does he have?”

There was a slight hesitation, “More than the models that we’ve faced, but nothing that Avarice can’t punch through. Actually, I would say that the knee joints on his armor are far weaker than the others. The way his plating is set up has ensured that he is top heavy. A well placed hit on either knee will completely disable him. He will only be able to fight from the ground, and even then his fighting will be hampered.”

He knew what she was talking about. The cannons on his back were stationary. They couldn’t be moved, and that made them hard to use. They could be used, but in order to do it the individual had to stop, bend, and then fire. In the game they had an accuracy rating of fifty percent. There was literally a flip of the coin to see if you would hit what you were aiming at. He could guess why. Here in this dumpster fire of a game world it made perfect sense.

While the game itself was turn based, in most of its fight scenes, weapons that required the character to take their eyes off of the target reduced the effectiveness of the weapons. The only things that still had a high rating was things that used explosives. Bombs, the explosives that Mithril Shield tried to use, and of course missiles were the exceptions. But that was mostly due to splash damage. The more damaging the explosive, the more splash damage it would cause. Of course you wouldn’t just be taking out the target, but additionally everything else around it.

It wasn’t something used on a whim. It was something used because there really wasn’t any other choice. A person moved forward with that because it was the only choice they had. It was the one hope they had that everything would work out. He could remember using the missiles in the game, and getting multiple game overs because some of the main characters were near where they were being fired. If one of them perished, then it went to instant game over. It proved to be an incredibly difficult part of the game when it came to the war storyline.

That was something he wanted to avoid. The war would prove to be incredibly difficult, and it would cause far too much heartache. There were multiple chances that they were already heading down that path, but he wasn’t sure. Part of his hope was that he was keeping it from happening by keeping most of the similar events from repeating. That hope was slight, and he knew it, but for the time being it was all he really had.

“Duelists, you may make your opening statements,” the Observer said, “Apollo Sol Bean, you may go first.”

“I admire how hard you’ve worked to get here,” he said, “I truly do. From what I’ve seen you’ve proven yourself to be a dedicated adventurer. /Of course I am uncertain of your motives. If you love Diamond Tiara then why not simply refuse to fight. Allow her to be disgraced, and then claim her.”

The entire stadium seemed to go quiet at that, “Copper Plum, you may speak,” the Observer said.

“Yeah, that’s not happening,” he said as he stood there, “I’m here because I have a reason. Diamond Tiara loves you dude, and you’re too blind to see it. You’ve been suckered by the first plebeian chick that showed you some interest. I worry for the kingdom at this rate. You do realize that if you continue on like this you will likely be disinherited. You’ll not have your throne, you won’t have the palace, but instead you’ll have a mountain of nothing.”

“I don’t need anything else if I have Satin.”

He Breathed out, “seriously dude, well, may I ask you a question? I mean if you’ll permit me to before we fight.”

“If I can answer, I will,” he replied, “But understand that a request that I stop seeing Satin is not on the table.”

“Yeah, I get that,” he replied, “No, dude, I’m asking if you know the scholarship student, Applebloom.”

“Is that her name?” he asked as he stood there, “I have heard that she is very studious, and that she applies herself hard to her lessons. She is top of her class in magic and potions, and is climbing quickly in etiquette as well.”

The answer wasn’t what Copper had hoped for, “Alright,” he said, “Then what do you say we get to it?”

The Prince made his armor jump back. As he did, a small ball left his hand. Copper knew what it was, and moved out of the way. The explosion was massive, a giant grenade, and it was a normal one. Designed to stop armors. Likely it wouldn't do much, if anything, to Avarice, but he didn’t want to chance it. He watched as another was tossed, and he used the pickaxe to bat it back at the Prince.

The prince moved quickly, and the explosive sent shockwaves after his form. The prince’s armor landed in a heap and Copper instantly hoped that he hadn’t taken the life of the prince. Slowly the armor got up, “I did not expect that,” he said after a moment, “So, I fear that I must tip my hand.”

With that he bent forward. Copper instantly knew what was about to happen, and he rushed forward grabbing the shoulders of the prince’s armor. The cannons went off, exploding overhead of them. He held the shoulders, and squeezed down on them. The action cruising both of the tops of the arms and reducing them to non-functioning husks.

“Artemis, can we use the vent on his armor and he live?”

There was a moment of hesitation, “Yes Captain,” she answered, “He will live, and won’t be harmed. However it most likely will knock him out cold.”

He nodded, “Let’s do it. In that moment everyone watched as the prince’s armor exploded to pieces. The crown prince fell to the ground, and a multitude of students lost all of their funding in a single swoop. There was little doubt that he would be ostracized, and he knew that, but at the very least he had given Diamond Tiara a chance to set things right.”