Chapter 35 - Life & Death Part 2

Mistglan arrived too late.

When he noticed the fleeing White M-Armor, he knew something had gone wrong. The invading army had immediately withdrawn using a large-scale Spatial Jump. A silver flash accelerated to the highest speed in an instant.

Normally, using (Instant Blitz) for a simple movement is a complete waste of nano-photons. From an objective point of view, that technique used 10 times more photons to cover the same distance as (Blitz), in exchange for only three times more speed. (Blitz), in turn, used 500 times more photons compared to ordinary flight.

But even with that speed...

He arrived too late.

In front of him, Mersa was desperately clinging to the unmoving body of the small boy. Both Celina and Nova, standing next to her, were openly crying.

He was way too late.

---

Belien Kae.

[???: You couldn't defeat a mere HST? What the hell are you talking about?]

[???: There is a three-major-tier difference between you and them. What kind of bullshit are you spouting?]

[<Magnes>: That's enough. Belien, you said you have a recording that can testify to your words.]

Even in meetings, Magnes only used a communicator.

[Belien: That's right, Your Highness.]

[<Magnes>: Put it on display.]

[???: Right away.]

...

...

...

[???: What the hell was that?]

[???: Are those some sort of new powers?]

[???: What the hell…]

[???: Is this fake?]

[???: No, I can vouch for this; I extracted it directly from his Core.]

[???: That power…]

[???: He overpowered two UCTs... (Upper Circle Tiers)]

[<Magnes>: And what's your condition right now, Belien? After receiving those two attacks?]

[Belien: Your Highness, although I survived, I lost an arm and my core was badly damaged. Right now, two of my circles are broken. It will take at least a decade to heal…]

[<Magnes>: Although the boy was using unknown powers, from his state we can be sure that he is certainly dead. The price he had to pay was high, but I guess he managed to achieve his goal. The White Wolf Princess and the Witch of Restriction are still alive. What's more... Enough. Belien, although you failed your mission, you managed to get rid of an even higher threat than those two. For that, I will keep my word. You will be granted the privilege of a noble of the Crimson Empire and a clearance of an 'F' Ranker.]

[Belien: Thank you, Your Highness.]

With that, the transmission ended.

[???: Well, who would have thought that such a thing existed? I guess we will have to welcome you to the Crimson Empire, White Fang Belien.]

[???: Sigh... Welcome. I will arrange for some doctors to take care of you. They should reduce your healing time to three, maybe two years.]

[Belien: Thank you, Senpai.]

[???: Hmpf. Just be sure to avoid interfering with our business. As long as you do that, you will live.]

---

Nova Aria.

Three months had passed since that day. She simply couldn’t open the pad. It was because... She just couldn’t. Every time she looked at it, she remembered him... and that caused incredible pain in her chest...

During those three months, she completely disregarded her training. She was just too weak. Her resolve was too weak.

But today... she managed to come to the place where he rested... to see his face through the glass...

She had been with him for only a few weeks.

But somehow, in those few weeks, her world was completely filled with him.

That boy was completely different from everyone. In his arrogance, he completely ignored everything happening around him. He only took notice of a handful of people or when someone directly called out to him. The confidence he emanated was simply magnetic.

Right now, Nova was indeed confident. But before? Before she was known as a witch, she tasted the despair that the world threw at her. Now, she was confident because the world acknowledged her. But he... he was truly strong. Not only his power, but his strength, and especially his unwavering gaze, had etched itself deeply on her soul.

But right now...

He would never be able to show that gaze again...

---

A resolve was formed.

Therefore, she, Nova Aria, would have to do that in his stead.

She would have to be strong in his stead.

And she would show his power to the world.

With that, she gained enough strength to open the pad...

---

Celina Za.

A Red Tiger.

The gift left by him.

Who was he?

The boy was not only strong and determined; he was also capable of sacrificing his life for them. How many people could do that?

She knew that the world had lost one of the most gentle beings...

Grief filled the teenage girl.

And to forget about it, she worked even harder than before.

His legacy.

True, she created the Controlled Bots. However, she had no idea how to properly utilize them; the only thing she applied them to was engineering.

But he had shown her a completely different world.

She could use them to fight. To fight for her peers. To fight as he did.

To be able to protect what was important to her, just like he did.

And thus, Celina Za completely immersed herself in her work, completely forgetting about the concept of 'rest'.

---

Mersa.

Somewhere deep inside, she knew that the green-eyed Vorst and the gray-eyed one were not the same person. They were simply too different. But did it really matter that much? She was happy as long as she could spend her time with him...

Why did it have to happen?

It was Belien.

Hatred.

He managed to escape.

He managed to get away.

She wasn’t strong enough...

The most talented being in history?

What a joke.

Where was power when she really needed it?

She needed more power...

To get revenge for him...

Belien? Heh. In her eyes, he was already dead.

No, it wouldn’t be just Belien.

She would tear apart every single Ranker in the damned Crimson Empire...

She gently stroked the black blade he had left her...

After that day, the tears in her eyes became completely frozen.

After he left, her fur also changed.

A red color. She liked this one.

The color that was similar to the blood he shed for her.

Her aptitude was lowered, but who seriously cared about something as small as that?

With regular steps, she entered the room where he lay in an enclosed capsule. Today, there was already a visitor inside.

[Celina: Ah. I’m sorry.]

Mersa reached her hand to stop the Red Tiger, who was hurriedly trying to leave. Today, the practice ended earlier, so she was on her usual routine to meet 'him' as she would during lunch break. It seemed that for the past month, Celina had purposely avoided 'lunch time' for her...

[Mersa: It’s fine. Was Nova-senpai with you earlier?]

[Celina: N-no. It seems she can’t bring herself to visit him.]

[Mersa: I see. From now on, there is no need to mind time. I’m sure he will be happier with all of us here.]

A rare smile appeared on her face.

[Celina: Yes...]

Celina answered her with a smile.

At that time, Mersa was seriously upset. After the Single Tournament, both Nova and Celina had been 'intruding' on her special time with him every day. However, right now, it seemed like happier times...

---

[Claire: ... How is she?]

[Mistglan: Among those three, Mersa has changed the most.]

[Claire: Indeed.]

[Mistglan: She doesn’t even listen to me at all. She just trains and trains and trains. Day, night, evening, dawn, dusk—no matter. She just uses the simulator until she collapses.]

[Claire: Last time, when we put a limiter on the simulator, she went off to solo Crystal Caves...]

[Mistglan: Right... It’s better to let her use the simulator. The only time she really rests is lunchtime when she visits him.]

[Claire: And he?]

[Mistglan: No change. Somehow his crystal core stopped cracking. But the damage remains the same; he is in a deep coma.]

[Claire: Sigh... And I owe him my life too. Really, for something like this to happen...]

Both of them inside were blaming themselves, wishing they had taken better measures...

---

[Time: Back to the instant before Marc’s core started cracking.]

Inside the Throne Room, Marc was sitting with his legs crossed. His soul realm started crumbling; the tremors ran through his floating castle.

[--Marc--: So this is the end, huh?]

Two girls were lying on the violet cushions with their heads resting on his lap.

[--Lily--: It seems like it is.]

Silence continued. Marc was gently playing with the hair of the two girls. At this moment, he wished he could bring all the girls who slept inside his soul to this place, but he simply had no power left.

[--Marc--: I’m not satisfied…]

[--Calla--: *chuckle* M'lord yearns for eternal rest, but when it finally comes, he doesn’t like it.]

[--Lily--: Hehe, our Lord Marcdrak is extremely selfish

. He wants everything to go his way.]

All three of them laughed together.

[--Marc--: Lily, Calla... I love you.]

Hearing those words, both girls were extremely satisfied.

With that, his crystal core started cracking.

Darkness descended upon them...

---

In one of the rooms of the Floating Castle, a pair of eyes opened. They were jade-like irises with vertical slit pupils...

[???: Marc... Shujin-sama...]