The Butterfly Soars, the Eagle Falls

The second day of the collaboration event, the Diafl Monarch × SHiaLive collab, got off to a fantastic start right from the opening match. They dismantled every one of LJ Raven’s aces in a clean 3-0 sweep. Considering the opponent fielded aces who were all S-rank or higher, it was exactly the kind of strong beginning they needed.

“Today’s opponent is Se… nah, it’s 5EX. They really went and named their team something perverted.”

“Pairing a cool eagle logo with a name like that only makes it look even more perverted…!”

(Ulsan’s eagle… why does it feel like it would be horrifically weak?)

The name was deliberately chosen to resemble that word and draw attention. Written by hand or stylized for a logo, it was practically guaranteed to cause confusion.

“Our ShiaLive collab uniforms have a really similar color scheme to theirs, don’t they?”

5EX ran navy and magenta, while Diafl × SHiaLive used navy and orange. On top of that, KILR was navy and red. The three teams looked like they belonged to the same set.

“5EX is a team that fights with piloting skill, just like Seyoung. But there’s one thing that sets them apart.”

“What’s that, Sa-woo unnie?”

“Unlike Seyoung, they love flashy, all-out brawls.”

Set one: 5EX’s Delta Steel versus DFL’s V-Killer.

“The two machines look similar yet completely contrasting, don’t they?”

“Delta Steel looks like nothing but bones, while V-Killer looks packed with muscle.”

Delta Steel was a classic bare-bones attacker, but it had its own distinctive flavor. The main body was a trapezoidal frame covered only in a thin shell. Its blades sat low like a lawnmower’s. While the attack range was wide, the power was comparatively low. The wheels wrapped around the sides but left the rear completely exposed.

From the very first clash of blades, Delta Steel was pushed back hard. Even though V-Killer’s blade was shorter, it proved far more powerful.

“The power gap is enormous! There’s no winning a head-on fight!”

“Then they should target the exposed rear wheels!”

Even as the commentators spoke, V-Killer did the exact opposite—smashing Delta Steel’s wheels. It struck from behind like a ninja targeting a vital point, then slipped away again.

“Instead, V-Killer is the one shredding Delta Steel’s wheels!”

“It’s only been twelve seconds since the set started, you know?”

Delta Steel wanted to counter, but with a wheel missing it could barely aim properly. It tried another blade-to-blade exchange.

“Clashing blades head-on has no chance of success!”

As expected, the frontal assault failed. The recoil sent Delta Steel flying, exposing its rear. V-Killer promptly destroyed the opposite wheel as well. The moment a vital spot appeared, it struck instantly—like a master assassin.

“Now the other wheel is gone too!!”

“The automatic KO count has begun!!”

In just twenty-nine seconds and only two clean hits, V-Killer had taken the KO victory. Delta Steel never managed to make proper use of its wide attack range. At the same time, its fatal lack of power came back to haunt it.

Set two: DFL’s Lycodon versus 5EX’s Ampere.

“Lycodon is a machine that shows off two different kinds of crafty play at once.”

First, a sly style that secures practical gains while still being entertaining. Second, a fierce, snake-king style of savage aggression. Lycodon could use both.

“Ampere originally came out with two discs in front-back point symmetry.”

“Today it’s running with only a single front blade.”

Front-back point-symmetric designs tended to wobble because of the center of gravity.

“Its signature is putting on incredibly flashy matches for its performance level.”

“Whether it can drag Lycodon into that kind of fight remains to be seen.”

Ampere’s spelling looked bizarre, but it was read as “Ampere.” The strange mix of characters and hanja was due to IRCA naming regulations. Its appearance was as flashy as a gaming graphics card, but despite the looks, it was a machine that won through piloting skill rather than raw specs. Its base form featured front-back point symmetry with horizontal spinning discs—the front disc low, the rear disc high. Those discs could be swapped for blades, or it could run with a single heavier blade or disc.

Lycodon used its wide attack range to settle into a checking stance. Ampere tried to close in to start a slugfest ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but couldn’t get close thanks to the blade-range difference. It looked like a martial artist with short reach who couldn’t land proper strikes.

“Ampere loves brawls, but Lycodon isn’t giving it any room to start one!”

“The blade-range gap is pretty significant!”

Having checked enough, Lycodon switched straight into a heavy assault. It ripped off Ampere’s wheel cover and, as a bonus, crushed the wheel underneath.

“Now it’s turning up the heat!! The wheel cover is gone!!”

The impact must have been severe; Ampere’s right wheel froze completely.

“How long has the match been going and it’s already a cripple?”

“Lycodon is tearing out the entire drive unit. Can Ampere even move anymore?”

Even with one drive unit ripped away, Ampere was still moving.

“It’s still moving!!”

“At this point it looks like it’ll be KO’d the moment it takes any more checks!!”

Ampere ate three checking shots from Lycodon and was KO’d.

One minute and sixteen seconds. Lycodon’s overwhelming victory came from perfectly mixing both styles. Ampere never managed to force the brawl it preferred and fell in defeat.

Which meant another day without escaping the bottom of the table.

Set three: DFL’s Skari versus 5EX’s Grimadae.

“Skari shows off artistic trajectories with that massive body.”

“It’s like a figure skater!”

“Grimadae certainly lives up to its name in appearance.”

Just as the name suggested, Grimadae was a flipper robot with multiple long legs. The name had been constructed as follows: the pure Korean word “grima” became “Grima” in Roman letters, the Latin suffix “-dae” used for biological families was added (as in Hominidae), resulting in Grimadae. Being a walker, it carried the 220-kilogram weight limit and was extremely sturdy. Its long, numerous legs were protected by strip armor. A powerful flipper capable of throwing opponents sat in the center of the chassis.

Grimadae flipped Skari right from the start. But even when upside-down, Skari could use all its weapons at full capacity.

“What’s Skari’s specialty? Everything works even when flipped!”

“Grimadae’s flipper is incredibly strong—it can throw up to three hundred kilos!”

“5EX’s oddball, Grimadae!”

It was quite different from 5EX’s other machines. Instead of relying on piloting skill to compensate for low specs, it won with overwhelming performance. Being thrown with three hundred kilos of force meant the impact on landing would be no joke.

Once again Skari traced an acrobatic arc. Like a figure skater performing an Axel jump, it spun its ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠body and unleashed a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠continuous barrage.

“Grimadae is so tough that a KO won’t come easily, right?”

“It’s trying to throw again!! It missed!!”

Using its vertical blade, Skari flipped Grimadae in return. It looked exactly like an uppercut sending the opponent flying. Grimadae simply activated its flipper to right itself again.

“How is this thing so ridiculously tough!!”

“Skari lands a spinning double hit!!”

Yet Grimadae remained completely unfazed. Just how tough was this centipede? It was so durable that even Skari couldn’t finish it off, and the match went to a judges’ decision. The result? A 2-1 judges’ victory for Skari.