Chapter 42 - Ensnared Part 1

Anyway, the serpent is out for the hunt!

Vorst was training inside his special residence. Two bots encircled him, their blades constantly aiming for his blind spots.

Horizontal slash. Guard. Lean to dodge. Vertical slash. Guard. (Accel). Slash. Dodge. Counter. Dodge. Dodge. Dodge. Counter. Block. Parry. (Accel). Stab.

Continuously. Infinitely. Time passed without him noticing.

Then! A red mark appeared on his skin, from which red liquid started dripping down. With that, three of them stopped. The bots had a minor Photon Transfer only to endure various counters, so the damage wasn't serious.

[Lily(bot): Hehe~ Marc's mind is not into the fight today, huh.]

[Calla(bot): ... Humpf. M'lord, we should be more strict with the training regime from now on. In the past, even with the speed increased a hundredfold, m'lord could easily do it in his sleep.]

[--Kaya--: Hehe~ Don't be too rough on him; his mind is full of the events that unfolded this evening.]

The jade-eyed girl was sitting on the throne while petting her Aegis Serpent. She clearly was having fun watching the invincible Adamantine Dragon being in trouble. Vorst smiled bitterly. He usually enjoyed a sparring session, but today was a rare occasion when he just couldn't focus. His mind was still on the matter stirred up by Celina's confession...

Humpf. Calla was seriously upset.

When the Archangel of Slaughter was angry, empires, continents, or even entire races perished. When Krishna was angry, a dark radiance would sometimes erupt from her and incinerate everything within several kilometers. When Ragnarok was angry, just her aura—a suffocating dark aura—could harvest thousands of souls with her mere presence.

Calla was upset. She cutely pouted as she turned her head away from Marc, stomping her foot in frustration.

It was because her lord had taken a blow. It wasn't just any blow; her lord usually baited his opponent, receiving a slight hit in exchange for a lethal blow. There were times when even he couldn't completely avoid hits, but he still lessened the force as much as possible. However, this blow... was a clean one... He... Her Lord... Her Marc... This kind of blow... This caliber... Her pride was hurt far more than his.

Seeing her in this state, guilt pierced through Marc.

[--Marc--: I'm sorry, Calla.]

[--Calla--: Humpf.]

[--Marc--: I'll triple the training time from tomorrow. No, let's start right now.]

[--Calla--: Humpf.]

She still maintained the same posture but stole a quick glance at him. For Marc to willingly give up his sleep time was a true sacrifice. She knew that he was truly regretting his mistake.

[--Marc--: Calla...]

[--Calla--: Alright, but m'lord has to triple the effort too!]

[--Marc--: Yes.]

[Calla(bot): Okay, then let me bandage that spot so we can start right away.]

[Vorst: Yes.]

With a whirl, the black sphere pulled out a medical kit and carefully tended to the bleeding spot. Inside his soul, two scheming devils were reveling in Marc’s meek display.

[--Lily--: Hehe, nothing beats the sight of Marc in trouble.]

[--Kaya--: Right! Not every day we see our Shujin-sama like this.]

[--Lily--: That reminds me, Anastasia, Marc already finished your personal bot. Lord Marcdrak knew you'd wake up soon, so he made it beforehand.]

[--Kaya--: Fufu, Shujin-sama is really thoughtful. If only he could cure his lazy nature, he'd be perfect.]

[--Lily--: If he did that, we would be in serious trouble. Even now, it’s hard to manage him...]

[--Kaya--: Hehe, that reminds me, Lilith... A Hero, huh?]

[--Lily--: ... Where did you hear that?]

[--Kaya--: Ragna-nee told me.]

[--Lily--: Ragna-nee... you traitor...]

[--Kaya--: Shujin-sama is the <REGIS>, and they aren't Heroes! They are Kings!]

[--Lily--: Anastasia, I know that Kings are not Heroes, but there are Heroes who become Kings.]

[--Kaya--: Hmm...]

[--Lily--: So we can make him a Hero before he ascends to Kingship.]

[--Kaya--: I see. As long as Shujin-sama becomes a Ruler, I won’t interfere, but don’t expect me to lend you too much help.]

[--Lily--: It's fine, fufu, I'll just have to make him a Hero before you make him a King.]

[--Kaya--: Shujin-sama, are you fine with it?]

[--Marc--: ... Just do as you wish.]

While those two were making future plans for him, Vorst resumed the sparring session with the black sphere with golden lines.

[--Kaya--: Hehe, if it's about the girls, you don't have to worry. Your Kaya will take care of everything for her beloved Shujin-sama.]

[--Marc--: ...]

The white sphere with red lines joined the practice session.

[--Lily--: Fufu, why don’t you join us?]

Lily was extremely happy. Since Kaya approved of her plan, nothing could stop her now!

[--Kaya--: Hehe, Marc's training. That brings back old times... Why not?]

With that, one more white sphere joined the joint attack on the boy. A white sphere with green lines, the Main Drone <Orochi>, was an excellent support. Without participating too much, it seamlessly aimed for the most vulnerable spots while safely deflecting many of his attacks... Vorst's training difficulty suddenly went up by several notches.

Minutes passed by... then hours...

WHAM.

A sudden increase in the boy's aura halted the bots' advance. It wasn't just any aura; the fierce power clearly showed his agitation.

With a simple swish of his hand, Marc created a soul portal. He passed through...

Kaya, seeing that, quietly followed. Both Calla and Lily looked at each other; they understood immediately that something must have happened. An interference from another source into a soul of one of the girls... Calla and Lily did not have any soul powers besides soul-damaging ones, so they could only wait for their return. But there was no need to worry. The power one has in the soul realm reflects the power of one's soul. Just being capable of having a perfect replica of a humongous floating castle and its surrounding terrain in his soul realm showed the vast extent of Marc's powers.

[Mersa: ... L-L-L-L-Lover...]

Vorst had a lover?!

Since when?

Where?

What?

How?

Her head was spinning from the shock that just one little sentence delivered to her.

Mersa had no idea what was going on.

Who was that extremely beautiful lady he introduced as his lover?

She had never seen her before.

[Mersa: Vor-chan...]

So he already had a lover...

Even though...

Tears came to her eyes.

Even though she was prepared...

She was prepared that he might not choose her.

There were Celina and Nova...

Aria-senpai was a cool type of beauty. She was level-headed with a well-calculating mind. Witches had to be like that, she said. With all the magical equations they had to make. Mersa had heard many compliments about the blue-haired Witch Queen. How they adored her azure eyes. How attractive her hair was. How beautiful she was...

As for Za-senpai, even within the special squad, Mersa often overheard soldiers talking about how cute the tiger girl was. That she would be a wonderful girlfriend. A bit timid, but certainly hardworking, caring, and devoted. She was also very attractive. A poster of her sitting on one of the Battle Drones, marching into battle, won the contest thanks to her cuteness and was widely used as a recruiting advertisement—Come fight together with the Red Commander!

Mersa, on the other hand, had only been praised for her battle capabilities, and that was only by higher officers. Soldiers would shudder when making eye contact with the Crimson Ice Queen. They would make a hasty salute and scurry away as fast as possible...

Mersa had kind of been prepared...

Knock knock.

Sudden sounds brought her back to reality.