Chapter 47 - Room for Two Part 2

The battleships in orbit had thoroughly scanned the area and identified his life signature. They had only one goal: destroy the target, no matter the cost.

This task was entrusted to the Special Ghost Squad of the Crimson Empire. This unit was composed of elites who had been trained and conditioned since childhood. For them, orders were absolute. If Mersa or any of the others had been born in a different place, they might have ended up just like these soldiers. Sometimes, life is all about luck.

[<???>: The target is in sight.]

He didn’t even try to hide—he just stood there without armor. Behind him, over a thousand soldiers stood nervously, ready to react at any moment. The soldiers had no idea what he planned to do, but since Mersa had directly ordered them to stand by, they obeyed.

Ten of the M-Armors flying towards them suddenly transformed into Mechanical Colloses, forming an arrowhead formation. The invading Mechs below were incessantly raining bullets down on them, but with Nova's Psychic Barrier in place, there was no way those half-hearted bullets could reach them.

A smirk appeared on his face as he raised his hand.

[Vorst: (Dragon's Presence) (Aura Convergence) (Dragonic Empowered Psychic Spear)]

An enormous amount of photons surged out from his adolescent body like a ripple. A faint violet aura surrounded him, and with the runic (Aura Convergence), it gathered in his hand... Then, he combined all three completely different powers into one. A violet spear seared through the space. In an instant, three of the enemies were pulverized into oblivion, and the M-Colloses of the other four were critically damaged.

The jaws of all the present soldiers dropped instantly. Although they had prepared themselves, the sheer shock was overwhelming.

[Nova: (Overcharge) (Runic Shot)]

Two separate runes appeared on her hands. As she clasped them together, they merged, and with three shots of incredibly dense nano-photons, she brought down the remaining foes.

[Celina: (Transfer) Aim. Locked. Fire.]

Her white M-Armor was perched on the shoulder of a large Bot that bore a striking resemblance to an M-Collos. At her command, four Sniper Bots took shooting stances. Four lasers fired simultaneously, finishing off the previously damaged M-Colloses before they could hit the ground.

Mersa didn’t even get a chance to show off her power.

*Cough.*

A small line of blood trickled down the corner of Vorst's mouth. With a casual movement, he wiped it off as if it didn’t bother him, but the girls were completely freaked out.

[Mersa: Vor-chan! Vor-chan, are you alright? Vor-chan?!]

She immediately stored her M-Collos and rushed to his side, hugging him.

[Nova: You shouldn’t overwork yourself, Vorst.]

The Witch had enough composure to stay in her machine despite the swirling emotions in her chest.

[Celina: Right, Vorst, please take a rest. Please...]

With a voice on the verge of tears, she arrived next to him, and three Medical Bots were instantly summoned, beginning to scan him.

[Vorst: I’m alright, I just need to get used to using it.]

[Nova: Really? That power... Is there really a need to use it?]

[Vorst: Yes.]

[Celina: ...What is that power...?]

[Mersa: Vor-chan...]

[Vorst: Mhm. This is an innate power that came with me; it flows within me. It’s quite safe, and as long as I don’t overuse it beyond my capabilities, there should be no long-term consequences.]

The Medical Drones reported slight damage to his inner organs, but they also confirmed his words. Still, the Tiger girl couldn’t help but be worried.

[Celina: ...R-r-really? Are you sure?]

[Vorst: Yes.]

His emerald eyes looked straight at her without a hint of insincerity.

[Mersa: Vor-chan... Promise me that you will not overuse it. That power.]

Mersa didn’t want to see him hurt, but she also knew that it was necessary for him to fully awaken his powers. So, she accepted it... but she still hugged him tightly.

[Vorst: Very well. I promise.]

The surrounding male soldiers, who had finally managed to pick their jaws up off the ground, were sending him cold glares. They all knew he already had Mersa, but with the reaction of the other two, their feelings were as clear as energy crystals—and those were incredibly pure. Seeing their two idols of the Specter Squad fawning over the new guy, they couldn’t help but frown.

What’s more, Mersa didn’t seem to mind at all! Why did life have to be so unfair?!

[Vorst: They are coming.]

He turned his head in a seemingly random direction. Celina accessed her monitor; the scout bots she had previously deployed didn’t report anything. She tilted her head... Was he wrong? She didn’t want to doubt him, but the sensors said otherwise…

Several seconds of silence... He was wrong... Just as everyone was convinced of that...

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

Red dots appeared on the shared radar screen...

Inside an enclosed space, two beings were sitting extremely close to each other. In fact, their backs were touching.

Celina was happy... No matter what she did, she just couldn’t lie to herself. When the boy she fancied sat right next to her, there was no way she wouldn’t be happy...

Since he had already used a bit of his dragon powers, Vorst was resting inside a special room. Since the time he had bonded with Mersa, he hadn’t had much time to idle around. As much as he wanted to, there were simply too many things he had to do... For example, he had to spend a lot of time with the other two, and wooing them wasn’t the main purpose! It really wasn’t!

...

[Time: Roughly a month ago.]

A young man entered the workshop where the popular White Commander was working. When Celina noticed him, she immediately ceased all her actions and came out to meet him.

[Celina: Welcome, Vorst-san.]

[Vorst: Hm. Just Vorst will be enough. Hi, Za.]

He had just called her by her private name, but she didn’t mind at all. In fact, she was really happy because he did that.

[Celina: V-Vorst. Do you need something from me?]

[Vorst: Mhm. I want you...]

The surrounding mechanics, who were intently spying on their conversation, all went “KYAAAA~,” which prevented him from finishing his sentence.

[Celina: W-wha?! *Blush*]

The White Tiger girl also entered her own little world as she slowly digested that dreamlike sequence of words. A red shade slowly covered her as she became totally lost in her imagination...

[Celina: B-b-but Vorst-san already has Mersa-chan!]

She finally returned to reality when guilt overtook the sweetness of her own fiction. How could she...

[Vorst: Um... I want you to help me build my M-Collos.]

[Celina: Ah! I see, haha, of course... *mumbles* silly me... *mumbles* I’ll help. If it’s an M-Collos for you, I’ll make sure to pour all the best of my abilities into it!]

So what if he wasn’t even close to achieving that level? Even if he wanted to build an M-God for himself, she would still agree instantly. She would even fund it if he wanted to!

...

Weeks had passed since that day, and the old routine returned. He would often visit her in the afternoon to help her in many ways as ‘payment’ for her involvement in constructing his M-Collos. Every day, her heart would beat wildly when the usual time arrived. She would silently rejoice when he showed up, and on the days he didn’t, she would drown her depression in hard work and the sounds of the machinery around her...

In the span of that month, he had developed ‘this’—a special machine... A sacred machine... A machine for just the two of them. The White Commander had only one weakness, and that was the sustainability of her powers. When she used more bots, obviously, she consumed more power. Accelerating the photon pool regeneration rate was totally unheard of, but he did it. A massive amount of runes, specifically calibrated to her—this was why their backs had to touch each other. Every single moment, he had to feel her and adjust the sequence of runes accordingly...

*Doki doki...*

Celina’s heartbeat sped up... Somehow... It felt wrong... Because as she controlled her drones to fight... She grew increasingly excited... Had she turned into a...?!

Tears appeared in her eyes...

[Vorst: Shhh...]

Suddenly, he turned around and embraced her... He could sense her maddening uneasiness…