Chapter 36 - Call Part 1

From far away, from a deserted place...

[My Lord...]

[Please hear me out...]

From far away, from a deserted place...

A crystal clear voice resounded...

[My Liege...]

[Please listen to me...]

From far away, from a deserted place...

A melodious voice resounded...

[My King...]

[Please come to me...]

From far away, from a deserted place...

An enchanting voice resounded...

[My <REGIS>.]

From far away, from a deserted place...

A call...

Even though five years have passed, she could still remember that event that changed her life as if it happened yesterday...

**Nova Aria**

Occupation: Cadet at Athena's Institute

Focus: Soldier

Power: 10th LCT (Lower Circle Tier) (max 12th LCT)

Special Characteristics: Witch

Known Abilities: Barrier Psychic, Runes, Official Swordsman

Her azure eyes, devoid of interest, swept through the participation form.

There was nothing interesting there, though the rate of her power gain was truly astonishing. Her past self had been proud of advancing from 9th to 10th HST in two years, and before meeting Vorst, she had remained there for three years. But now... She had gained a dignity that even most adults lacked. This speed of power gain was expected.

The knowledge left to her by Vorst only propelled her strength. Right now, she could easily defeat even most of the Mid Circle Tiers. This power was a gift from him. This level of strength was expected.

After all, she was the Witch Queen.

---

**Celina Za**

Occupation: Cadet at Athena's Institute

Focus: Engineer

Power: 5th LCT (Lower Circle Tier)

Special Characteristics: Photon Transfer

Known Abilities: Controlled Bots - max 7 at once, various combinations of Tank Drone, Guard Drone, Sniper Drone, Battle Drone, Scout Drone, and Repair Drone.

Celina had always been in the shadow of her older brother, but that was no longer the case.

From the beginning, Celina was a hard-working individual. What happens when you give a hard worker higher potential? Last year, she surpassed her brother in power level. Being timid by nature, she didn’t care too much about titles like 'genius'. She knew how much such titles were worth, as the one she truly regarded as a genius was always on her mind.

---

A week after 'that day', the Headmistress of Athena's Institute summoned her to the special residence assigned to him. Inside his workshop, thousands upon thousands of bots were stacked on each other. But the real treasure wasn’t those scraps of metal.

It was a special pad inside... Instructions, an introduction to special crystal scripts, special alchemical alloys, and explanations about different runes, their types, where to apply them, and so on. Everything came with real-life representations in the form of the bots that were there. The most surprising part was that the guide, though incomplete, was specifically addressed to her.

That day, tears once again poured from her eyes...

With Nova-senpai’s help (to apply runes), she immersed herself in learning his legacy.

Right now, besides the other two, no one in the Lower Circle Tier had a chance to even hope to defeat the Red Commander.

And yes... She was still the weakest among the trio...

They had a real monster there...

---

**The Crimson Ice Queen**

Ice.

A smile rarely visited her face. The only time she would ever show it was when she was with the other two.

But even that smile wasn’t truly from the bottom of her heart.

After 'that day', she seemed to have lost it.

Her heart didn’t break.

It couldn’t.

She lost it.

Without him...

What was left to her?

She couldn’t protect him anymore...

But she still had those two...

He left them for her.

She would definitely protect those two.

And she would also...

Take...

Revenge...

All for him...

---

A Crimson Wolf M-Collos was sitting on one of the planets.

What planet was that?

Who knows?

Who cares?

Thousands of Mechs and M-Armors surrounded her, with an occasional M-Collos here and there.

All of them had already been reduced to scraps.

[???: Second Lieutenant, the engine is fully charged. It’s time to go.]

Black eyes, devoid of any spark, turned towards the other one that had just saluted her. Mersa could vaguely recall his name, but they referred to each other by rank anyway.

[Mersa: Right, Sergeant. Let us move to the next target.]

[???: Second Lieutenant, I beg your pardon, but we are returning to the base.]

[Mersa: I see. Well, let us return then.]

An older man simply shook his head.

At nearly 130 years old, he was considered one of the younger Sergeants.

But that girl...

He had to constantly remind himself that she had just turned 16 the other day.

Merciless.

No matter how much he witnessed it, he couldn’t help but shudder.

A war machine.

Even among veterans, he couldn’t find anyone who cut down every single opponent with the same cold efficiency as she did. Man or machine, it made no difference to the Crimson Ice Queen; all were destined to be cut down.

Though both were in the Mid Circle Tier, the difference between them was immense. Although they were supposed to be on equal terms, both having a power rank of 2nd MCT, she was capable of annihilating him instantly. Thousands of times over.

In his mind, he still vividly recalled her duel against the traitor Belien.

Everyone in the Kollos Alliance knew. They all knew why the Neo-Aris couldn’t be seen with her anymore.

Although there was no video record of that battle, Athena's Institute officially announced the date of his 'death' and the circumstances.

The 'Powerless' they had dismissed had proven them wrong.

The 'Golden Knight' had sacrificed himself to allow those girls to escape a fate of certain death...

A Hero.

Though his core miraculously survived, everyone knew the fate of the coma induced by a crack in the crystal core: a permanent coma. It was no different from death.

---

**Belien Kae** was in great distress. Four years had passed since 'that day'.

A year ago, the Kollos Alliance had launched a serious offensive against the Crimson Empire. They were prepared. The power of the Rankers was roughly similar, so a stalemate was expected.

They were wrong.

The Crimson Ice Queen.

Wolf.

The child who survived 'that day' changed the situation.

Though the power of the Rankers was similar and they could expect a stalemate on the fronts where those were stationed, they didn’t anticipate the existence of a monster like Mersa.

Elves had a peculiar weakness for close-range combat or when surrounded. But Mersa... She was a hybrid. Her wolf lineage completely covered that weakness.

Not to mention the inhuman training she had endured over the past three years.

Vorst.

The boy with emerald-like irises had shown her the way.

Because power was not everything.

He had shown her that real battle ability was what truly decided victory and defeat.

To dodge the opponent's attack.

To deliver your own before they reach you.

Mersa's power gain had already surpassed everyone else's. Even if she did nothing, her core would absorb nano-photons by itself.

Therefore, she trained her powers.

She sculpted her body.

She sharpened her instincts.

She didn’t feel the pain of her muscles tearing from overwork.

She didn’t feel drowsiness from hours of continuous training.

She didn’t feel exhaustion from overusing her powers repeatedly.

Three years.

After three years of brutal treatment, her body was completely different.

Although she had only turned 14, thanks to the inhuman training during her growth period, her height reached 1.72m.

Her body had turned extremely well-toned, with proper curves, making her a first-class beauty.

Like moths to a flame, hundreds of male candidates tried to win her over, only to be utterly incinerated. In her cold eyes, they were no better than pebbles lying next to the road.

She didn’t reject a single confession.

She completely ignored all of them. One time, an extremely angry youth confronted her about it. Her answer was "Huh? You did that?" in a completely monotone voice, and she walked away as if it had nothing to do with her.