Published at 17th of November 2024 9:43 am

Chapter 6379 Dissatisfied

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The Battle of Mazepan had finally come to an end.

Relief spread throughout the soldiers that had won a relatively short but exhausting battle against the cosmopolitan and native alien forces.

The expanded Bluejay Fleet had suffered very modest losses, but the outcome could have been much worse.

If the greater phase lords managed to defeat the Dark Zephyr, there was nothing in the Bluejay Fleet's arsenal that could prevent the Arena Lord of Ya'gwasa and the Distance Shaper from tearing everything else apart.

This made the weary mech pilots and soldiers even more grateful towards Saint Tusa. He did not exactly defeat the formidable Arena Lord in single combat, but he and his ace light skirmisher had most definitely contributed the most in slaying the nunser phase lord!

As the Bluejay Fleet quickly began to shift to post-battle operations while remaining on guard for potential follow-up attacks, the victorious Dark Zephyr returned to the hangar bay of the Tarrasque in glory.

As the Dark Zephyr moved to the workshop compartment, Ves had already returned and shrunk to his normal human size. Even though he had fought hard as well, he still needed to do his duty as a mech designer.

Soon enough, the Dark Zephyr slowly powered down and entered an inactive state. The Larkinson mech technicians that were permanently assigned to service the ace light skirmisher proceeded to scan and inspect the battle scars the machine had incurred.

As an archemech, repairing the Dark Zephyr became a much more complicated process than usual. It was impossible for mech technicians to repair damaged archemechs by relying on ordinary methods and expertise.

Gloriana anticipated this in advance, so she made sure to train mech technicians in the basics on how to repair archemechs. She also fabricated a considerable amount of spare archemetal parts that came in handy in situations like these.

If the Dark Zephyr incurred more severe battle damage, then it was impossible to repair the living mech on the Tarrasque. Ves would have to wait until he could bring the Dark Zephyr to Yernstall or New Constantinople VIII where he could purchase specialized materials and tools.

If the damage was especially extensive and catastrophic, then only Gloriana could restore the archemech to his former glory. That was an especially troublesome demand. It was the main reason why he and his wife decided to limit the use of archemech to their very best and most important products.

As the mech technicians proceeded with their work, Ves half-paid attention to their progress by keeping an eye on the projected workstation.

Tusa meanwhile floated down from the cockpit and approached with a mixed expression.

As soon as Ves was able to taste the ace pilot's Saint Kingdom, he could sense why his cousin felt so complex at the moment.

Saint Tusa felt incredibly satisfied and exalted after he managed to slay a greater phase lord. This was a feat that even senior ace mechs struggled to attain. For a junior ace pilot. like himself to not only become the main contributor to the Arena Lord's death, but also land the killing blow was a glorious feat that would elevate his status in the mech community to a height he could only dream of in the past!

However, the young ace pilot also felt a bit ambivalent after hearing the Arena Lord's last words. As much as they stood on opposing sides in a war, both of them managed to find enough common ground with each other. Their intensive fight to the death had caused human and alien to thoroughly recognize each other as worthy and honorable warriors. For the Arena Lord to look beyond the division created by race and history and acknowledge Tusa as the legitimate inheritor of his title affected the ace pilot's mentality a lot.

Then there was the title that Major Jankowski bestowed upon Saint Tusa. The RA mech commander had made this declaration at the right time. All of the mech pilots and other soldiers had just fought and won an exhausting victory. Each of them had gone above and beyond to ensure that the lesser and greater phase lords wouldn't be able to run them all over. Since the Dark Zephyr not only managed to keep up with two greater phase lords, but also eliminate one outright, calling him the Phase Bane seemed incredibly fitting!

The problem was that. Tusa did not appear to embrace all of these developments. He still looked as if he was struggling to believe that he had actually managed to fell a greater phase lord.

"Everything has become a lot more complicated for me." Tusa frankly admitted the source of his unease. "Before I became an ace pilot, life used to be a lot simpler for me. I had responsibilities, but they only amounted to doing my job and fighting at my best. Now, I need to do much more than that. I have to serve as a role model and engage in public relations. This is much more troublesome to me. I don't like to waste my time with all of this nonsense."

"It is not nonsense, Tusa." Ves responded. "As you have already mentioned, the additional duties and responsibilities that society imposes upon you are essential to your heightened status and position. Mech pilots exist to defend our race and civilization. They can do that directly by winning their fights, but they can also help everyone out by serving as inspiration to many people who lack your strength. Fame, reputation, glory and prestige are all tools that allow you to shape public opinion and benefit from that in turn. This battle will serve another crucial step in forging your legend as a high-ranking

mech pilot."

There were lots of ace pilots who would kill to be in Tusa's place!

For him to show so little appreciation to all of the fame and glory he attained from this battle was a reflection of his much simpler background and mentality.

Unlike the first-raters who grew up in a society that was obsessed with status and reputation, a former member of the Bright Republic like Tusa simply wanted to be a good soldier.

Ves raised his arm and patted Tusa's shoulder. "You'll get used to it. After today, you will definitely notice the benefits of forging a great reputation. You have contributed more to red humanity than almost any individual mech pilot already. If the Arena Lord remained alive, he could have used his Saint Piercer to kill two or three ace mechs and who knows how many other troops. You managed to end his threat before he could use his superior martial prowess to break the defenses of numerous star systems." These words helped to stabilize Tusa's mood. "Hm, you are right, Ves. I am proud of what I have done. I am also happy that I have managed to do a lot of good for everyone. I just... don't know what to do with the two titles that others have pushed onto my lap." Ves smirked at Tusa. "I happen to know a thing or two about titles. The first thing you should know is that you should never take them lightly. Titles have power, as they shape the cognition of many people towards you. In a dwarf galaxy where we are flooded with E energy, the power of titles has increased. To put it in extremely simple terms, they may be able to give you a small boost of power due to the passive thinking produced by a population of people. It would be even better if your title spreads to the native aliens. They can contribute their thought power to you as well, causing you to become an even greater bogeyman to them than before."

"Does that mean that. I will soon become known to all of the native alien residents and visitors of Ya'gwasa as their new Arena Lord?" Tusa asked in a half-despairing tone. "You don't like the title that the former Arena Lord has foisted upon you, Tusa?" "No! I have no desire to take over an alien planet. I can't even visit it because it is located deep within alien space and is firmly occupied by hostile aliens. I truly have no desire to take over the previous Arena Lord's mantle. Can you figure out a way to transmit a message to Ya'gwasa on my behalf? I want to tell the administrators over there to appoint one of their own as Arena Lord."

Ves chuckled. "I don't think you can transfer lordship over an arena planet such as Ya'gwasa so easily. I haven't studied their customs, but I can easily guess that stuff like this only gets transferred through combat rather than words. I think that starting from now, many phase lords will seek you out and kill you in honorable combat in an attempt to claim the title of Arena Lord. These ambitious aliens won't accept a verbal admission of defeat. Arena Lords are supposed to be the strongest out there, so nothing less than a bout will comply with their martial rules."

The ace pilot already started to groan after hearing that. "Damn it! If I knew that I would

become a target for so many fighting maniacs, I would have put more thought on whether it was appropriate to kill the Arena Lord."

He did not really mean that. No matter what, eliminating a greater phase lord was a massive contribution to red humanity. He would be betraying his commitment to defend his race and civilization if he held back due to such a selfish reason.

"Well, since you are the new 'Arena Lord, you can't get rid of it so easily." Ves advised.

"You don't have to acknowledge it or show it off if the very notion of it displeases you. Just remember that genuine titles are precious. It is best if you treat this as a strategic resource and keep it in reserve. It will at least give you the privilege to choose your title to an extent. If you do not like the alternatives, you can always fall back to this one and

let it become your public moniker!"

The expression on Tusa's face showed how unlikely that would come to pass.

"I will take your words under advisement. Speaking of other titles, did you come up with the idea to crown me with the title of Phase Bane?"

"Surprisingly, no." Ves responded. "It's quite sharp of you to deduce that this is a calculated move. I am told that Jovy Armalon came up with it. He has done so as a way to help you, and by extension me. It is possible for mech pilots to acquire officially recognized titles while they are still regular mech pilots or expert pilots, but it is quite rare. Once any pilot becomes a saint, it practically becomes a necessity, as that will mark your transition from a mortal to a god."

"I understand that, Ves, but why Phase Bane?"

"I think the mechers want to influence you into becoming a better duelist and assassin

against enemy phase leaders." Ves said. "Jovy Armalon is a Survivalist, which means he is always thinking about how he can help red humanity survive in a hostile universe. We are not doing well in the Red War at the moment, so he wants to tip the balance in our favor by encouraging you to embrace a title that will encourage you to develop more effective ways to kill phase lords and phase whales."

Tusa grimaced. "That is not a bad idea, but... I am not comfortable with the responsibilities and expectations that come with this title. As good as this title sounds...

it doesn't sound like me. You know what I am all about. I would rather carry a title that reflects my speed or my ability to evade everything the enemy throws at me. Pushing the title of Phase Bane onto me feels like you are trying to force me to fit in the wrong box. I don't like it. Ves."

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