Chapter 186: Battle Smarts

There was only a single anomaly in the direction that the four mecha brothers had chosen, and it was only of those wiry anomalies that excelled in speed.

They knew that these speed-type anomalies generally possessed lackluster defenses, making them less formidable in direct battle than anomalies that excelled in strength, thereby making it the perfect weak link to target.

Sure enough, the anomaly reflexively took evasive measures in the face of the giant mecha's firepower output, and the four mecha brothers were able to rush through the first defensive line.

However, the mecha wasn't able to get very far before the anomaly set off in pursuit. Speed-type anomalies weren't great in direct battle, but their ability to pursue targets was unmatched, and it was able to quickly catch up to the giant mecha before striking at one of its ankles, causing it to "bleed" trail or parts and some type of engine-oil-like liquid.

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"We need to help him."

"What?"

"I said, we need to help him."

Medusa reacted very quickly to the situation. As an extremely self-centered individual, she was able to make choices that benefitted her extremely quickly.

Back when she and Adam's teams had held the upper hand, she had intentionally used her petrification attack to disrupt Adam, but now that her opponents were in a dire situation, she wanted to restore parity to the battlefield.

"If they die, we'll have a lot of trouble dealing with six anomalies on our own. The fact that there are so many anomalies here indicates that there must be high-level cards in this supply point. If you want those cards, then you have to help him. If you don't want those cards, then getting away now would be our best option. What do you think?"

In the face of this turn of events, Medusa was even asking for Adam's input as a gesture of respect.

Of course, it seemed like she was giving him a choice, but she knew that Adam wasn't going to choose the second option. He wanted to win the battle royale, so there was no way that he would pass up high-level cards.

"Let's do it!"

"That's the spirit!"

After receiving Adam's answer, Medusa immediately slithered toward the anomaly that was pursuing the four mecha brothers before unleashing her petrification ability. However, the anomaly vanished on the spot to avoid the attack, putting its incredible speed on full display.

Even so, she had still managed to chase the anomaly away and grant the four mecha brothers some respite.

"She's come to save us!"

"She's not doing this for us, she's only helping us because the anomalies are too strong for her to deal with! Don't expect us to thank you!"

"I'm not asking for gratitude. We're all in this for our objectives. Helping you benefits me right now, so why wouldn't I help you?" Medusa replied. "How about we work together? If you try to get away on your own, you're not going to get very far. Let's get rid of these anomalies first!"

"Once the anomalies are dead, you'll immediately turn on us! Unless you can..."

The four mecha brothers were no idiots, and they were just about to try and negotiate some terms when they were attacked by another anomaly, giving them no time for negotiation.

In this situation, they had no choice but to fight.

.

They could still die even after beating all of the anomalies, but if they didn't fight, then they were definitely going to die.

Now that the mecha was facing one of the anomalies in a direct battle, Adam was finally able to gauge just how powerful these anomalies were.

The mecha was currently facing a strength-type anomaly, which was only around half the mecha's height, but it completely dominated the mecha in the strength department. After a couple of exchanges, the anomaly swelled even further in size, and it grabbed the mecha before sending it flying like a hammer throw, putting on a formidable display of power.

These things are definitely way more powerful than before!

Prior to the director's arrival, these anomalies had only possessed power that would've ranked them near the bottom of the S tier. Furthermore, due to their lack of intelligence, they had no strategy or guile, so they were generally inferior to all S tier combatants in a practical battle setting.

However, the powers of these anomalies had been elevated to the upper mid-range of the S tier, and even though they had very few abilities and still didn't know how to work effectively with each other, their combat prowess had been elevated by more than twofold.

Damn, taking on six of them at once really is a pain in the ass!

Adam rushed into battle against one of the bulkier anomalies, but after taking just a few blows from the anomaly, he felt as if his bones were about to be shattered. Meanwhile, Medusa was also struggling against the speed-type anomaly that she was up against. The anomaly was even faster than her, and she was completely unable to keep up with its speed.

"You should go after that big guy over there!" Adam immediately yelled upon noticing this.

Medusa was an adapter whose fortes were her speed and abilities, and she was unable to make use of her strengths against opponents who were faster than her. However, the combination of her impressive speed and destructive abilities made her the perfect counter to tank-type opponents.

Her petrification ability was virtually tailor-made for slow yet powerful opponents with high physical resistance.

"Good idea!"

Medusa was also quite an intelligent person, and she immediately understood why Adam had raised such a proposal. Thus, after disengaging herself from her battle against the speed-type anomaly, she immediately slithered toward the bulkiest of the six anomalies.

At this moment, the anomaly was being attacked by her three teammates, but no matter what attacks they used, they were unable to break through its defenses. As soon as Medusa arrived on the scene, she immediately instructed her teammates to back away so that she could face the anomaly without fear of harming her teammates as collateral damage.

"Look over here, big guy!"

A sharp screech erupted out of Medusa's mouth as her face took on a terrifying appearance. The anomaly had only just turned around to face Medusa when its body was already beginning to stiffen. As the petrifying energy waves swept over the anomaly, its mountainous body quickly began to turn to stone.

Before long, a massive anomaly stone statue had appeared on the battlefield.

"Way to go, Mistress!" Medusa's teammates immediately praised, but before they had a chance to celebrate, the stone statue suddenly began to tremble before cracking open.

Large slabs of stone came crashing down onto the ground, following which the giant anomaly erupted out from within the statue before pouncing at Medusa.

Looks like one hit isn't enough.

With her superior speed, Medusa was able to dodge the anomaly's attack before opening up some distance between them.

After emerging from the stone statue, the anomaly had shrunk down significantly, and a significant portion of the layer of sticky substance over its skin had also been stripped away. In addition to that, all of the protruding parts of its body, such as its bone spikes and the horns on its head, had all vanished as well.

If the anomaly had weighed 10 tons prior to this, then it would've only weighed around seven to eight tons now. This was a significant reduction in size, and it was clear that it was very susceptible to Medusa's petrification attack.

It seems like I really am best suited to tackling opponents like this. It's quite impressive that he was able to make such a good split-second decision after only just learning about my ability. Looks like he's got some decent battle smarts!?Medusa thought to herself as she turned her attention to Adam, who was still acting as a punching bag.

In a chaotic battle, it was extremely difficult for one to remain calm.

Hindsight was always 20/20, and everyone could be a genius in retrospect. Medusa naturally had a better understanding of her own abilities than anyone else, but in the heat of battle, even she had failed to recognize what her best role was. She had always regarded herself as shrewd and intelligent, but with just a simple suggestion, Adam had displayed superior battle smarts and presence of mind.

Looks like I'll have to reevaluate him!

Medusa turned around and unleashed her petrification attack at the giant anomaly again.

Even though these anomalies possessed no intelligence, what they did have were battle instincts.

Having already fallen prey to that attack once, the giant anomaly didn't dare to withstand it again. It immediately picked up a bus that it placed in front of itself as a shield, and the bus was instantly turned to stone, but the crisis was also averted.

As the bus crumbled away into chunks of stone, the anomaly also commenced its retaliation.

It stomped a massive foot forcefully onto the ground, and the power of its stomp was enhanced by its abilities, causing the entire supply point to tremble and quake violently.

Countless cracks began to appear on the ground while shockwaves swept through the area, picking up rocks and chunks of earth that were hurled at Medusa and everyone else nearby.