Chapter 56 - Fafnir

There was a blinding light—so intense that it covered the entire world, enveloping everything for a brief moment. Nova, Mersa, and thousands of battlefield participants braced themselves for the impact from the shock wave... which never came.

Mersa was completely baffled, and she wasn’t alone. Even the high-ups had never seen anything like this. The sudden surge of light disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, leaving a white sphere behind.

There was only one person who knew what was happening: the blue-haired First Sergeant, Nova. When she opened her eyes, she became speechless. In front of her, the white sphere had become a New World. She was the only one who could see the runes, and the seemingly “normal” white sphere was illuminated with countless runes.

It was as if a light bulb had been turned on.

[<Nova>: Wha-a?]

In an instant, those black boxes had changed their active runes. And what was this aura? The color... It was not Vorst's. Nova was certain about that. Every person’s aura has a distinct color, and she knew that Vorst’s was violet, completely different from these golden-yellow symbols.

However, what stunned her most was the newly formed Golden Serpent that was tirelessly circling inside the round black sphere. That Golden Serpent was entirely made from electric-like discharges of photons.

[Meanwhile]

After the roar, the rigid defensive formation of the M-Colloses started cracking. They could not comprehend what kind of monstrosity had appeared in front of them.

When it lunged toward them, it was like an invisible signal had been given.

The Crimson Empire's ranks collapsed completely; they simply could not handle it. Their morale was already low, and now, with that thing going after them, all of them decided to RUN!

Scatter.

Although they were not Rankers, as Circle Tier class fighters, they were still considered the elite of the army. But now they did not care about appearances anymore and fled with all their might.

The Golden Serpent, with a girth of ten meters and a length of over a hundred meters, was as fast as lightning. In an instant, it swallowed over five M-Colloses as it passed through them. Only charred remains were left in its wake. It was pure energy to begin with; when it touched them, the pilot and all systems were completely fried.

All the observers trembled before its might.

Another thunderous CRACK resounded through the battlefield as the serpent moved with lightning speed, and several lives were lost. As it continued to roam through the air, every Empire soldier became completely pale...

Lieutenant Milles Ever was from a Silver Eagle sub-race. As a Crimson Empire citizen born with UHigh aptitude, he had everything he wished for from the beginning. In the Crimson Empire, a sub-race defined your position in the hierarchy. The UHigh were kings, while Low sub-races were nothing more than slaves. He was raised with this mindset from the time he started walking, so looking down on others became as natural as breathing.

That’s because the heavens had obviously blessed him.

He was a chosen one.

Besides innate aptitude, the second most important attribute was Power. Ever since he was small, he learned to behave around those stronger than him, but once he overtook them, he did not hold a shred of respect for them anymore.

In the end, he reached 12th Upper Circle Tier.

A step away from immortality.

A small step, but the difference between those two was incomparable.

One piloted a God, a hundred-meter-high Machine that could single-handedly annihilate armies. The other drove a puny five-meter M-Collos.

He had achieved 12th UCT five hundred years ago, and since then, he had been convinced that as long as he was careful, there were no dangers for him on the battlefield. That is until the strange being, the Crimson Ice Queen, emerged several years ago. That one...

And now...

He was staring helplessly at the large energy serpent that flashed in his direction.

That flash took a fraction of a second, but for him, it lasted almost an eternity. During that instant, he lost control over all of his bodily functions.

Then.

The serpent miraculously stopped several meters away from him. Too bad Lieutenant Milles Ever had already unloaded all the contents of his bowels into his pants...

He blankly stared as the Golden Serpent turned and flew off in a different direction.

[<???>: Fuck, he is targeting the Hex Squad. Everyone get the fuck away from the Hex Squad.]

A shout suddenly appeared in their communication system, and in an instant, other M-Colloses understood what was going on.

Every single person inside the Hex Squad was genetically modified and had undergone hundreds of surgeries to make their nano-photons compatible. Therefore, every single success was valued greatly. Each member had a higher clearance than any Circle Tier and was only lower than Rankers.

Even a mere LCT from the Hex Squad could freely order around a normal UCT. However, today they were the lowest on the food chain.

Milles saw one of those approaching him on his radar. It was a M-Collos with the red badge of the Hex Squad, fleeing for its life. It was getting dangerously close...

[<Milles>: Oh shit. Get away from me! (Blast)]

[<???>: Y-you..]

Without a second thought, he gathered all of his nano-photons and shot them towards the approaching machine. It was thrown back by the explosion—a normal blast did not have enough power to seriously damage a M-Collos, but it had enough power to push it back. An instant later, the serpent arrived to finish it off.

Yes, he would most probably be killed for this, but the martial court was far away, and this serpent was much closer.

Within the next few seconds, scenes like these became common...

Suddenly, a communication channel opened in front of Marc. It was one of the higher-ups, and Marc vaguely recalled that the old-looking man was something like an Admiral of some Fleet... V-something...

[--Kaya--: It's the 14th Grand Fleet, "Velvet". Admiral Vernir Renves, a Ranker.]

Yes... something like that, Marc nodded. He still didn’t bother to remember him anyway.

[<V.Renves>: Private Vorst, Sergeant Celina, cease your attack. We need a few of them alive.]

The people on the Alliance’s side also noticed the obvious pattern of the Serpent. In Kollos, experiments on human beings were very strictly regulated, so their progress was extremely slow. Therefore, those from the Hex Squad would provide an enormous amount of experience in that field of expertise.

That’s why the Admiral directly connected to convey that order. However, the two young adults in front of him didn’t react to his words at all; the pursuit of the serpent continued as if nothing happened.

[<V.Renves>: Cease your attack! This is an order, soldier!]

Inside his soul, Marc snorted. Order? Soldier? Heh. Marc was a <REGIS>! No existence in all of the planes had the right to order around a <REGIS>!

Just as his domineering aura was about to pour out in response, a slim white hand touched his cheek. He lowered his gaze to meet the jade-eyed beauty.

[--Kaya--: Just ignore him, Marc. It will be for the best.]

After seeing her earnest gaze, he immediately settled down.

Right, he was just about to act without thinking about the consequences... Again.

Kaya, as one of his followers, also did not approve of the tone the man used with her beloved Shujin-sama. But the current difference in status between them was too large, and it would make things more difficult in the future. For now, Marc was already revealing enormous amounts of power—so much that it would definitely scare some people enough to antagonize him. In the near future, every single power would be extremely cautious about him.

She was well aware that Marc needed more allies. Wrong. Marc just needed more time... Therefore, she needed to give him as much time as possible. Yes, on one hand, there was that matter; however, there was no way her Marc would comply with orders from someone! Not only would he not be willing, but she absolutely would never allow that!

Lily held the same thoughts and had already made her move. The demoness only revealed her usual mischievous smile when Marc’s gaze gave her an inquiring look after she felt that she had released her power. Just now, she used her (Omen of Deceit) to mask all the reactions coming from the young man’s body—to the elder man on the other side of the communication system, both Vorst and Celina were totally unresponsive, as if they were in a trance.

Calla, on the other hand, sent a killing gaze toward the image of the old man. A pitch-black killing intent enveloped her, its density so high that it became visible. In fact, in the previous world, that ominous hazy cloud was capable of disintegrating fiefdoms, even small kingdoms. It was clear that she found Her Lord being belittled unacceptable.

The serpent only needed three more seconds to finish off all its targets. As it progressed, it became smaller and smaller, and there were black boxes falling down too. They were completely burned out—the spell strength was simply too much and damaged the materials.

However, the results were all worth it. All forty-two of them were completely annihilated within that short amount of time.

The "Little One" raised its head toward the sky. Its duty

was finished.

For the last time, it opened its jaws...

ROOOOAR!!!!!!!

Its body completely dissolved and scattered into numerous lightning strikes that shot toward the sky as if it were trying to destroy the heavens...

...

..

.

Violet light enveloped the enormous black door of Marc's Throne Room, and countless mysterious symbols appeared as it formed a spectral gate. Infinite darkness flowed within... And from the darkness, a pair of fiery red serpentine eyes appeared with a crimson glow.

[--Kaya--: Ah. It’s been a while...]

[--Calla--: Little Fa, come here.]

The Black Angel’s mood improved immediately, and she showed a brilliant smile as she beckoned the creature to enter. After it was given permission, "Little One" did not hesitate and swiftly entered through the doors. There was nothing little about it! It was huge no matter how you looked at it... It was a saint-type dragon (lizard-like, four-legged with wings). It was over one hundred and fifty meters long, and with its bright golden scales, its might simply radiated out.

When it comes to crafting, there are two things Marc excels at. One of them is weapons—those he makes are tastefully decorated and always display outstanding destructive power. The other is construct creation. Marc is a Prime Dragon, and every Prime Dragon has the innate ability to craft a powerful body and breathe life into it, creating a (Draconic Sacred Beast).

[--Marc--: Little One.]

[--Lily--: Fafnir.]

And this is one of his Sacred Beasts. The "Elder Dragon Knight" Fafnir, the Saint-type Dragon Beast from a Golden Lineage, nicknamed the "Little One."

In an instant, Calla arrived next to it. In response, the beast immediately and happily lowered its head to allow her to pet it. The imposing and proud attitude it displayed just a while ago was nowhere to be seen.

------

Celina, in the white space, was quite nervous because Marc had completely ignored an order from a Fleet Admiral. After all, as a soldier, she was trained to comply with orders.

Just as she was about to instinctively execute that order, the arms around her tightened.

Admiral versus Vorst...

Well, the result was obvious.

As for Marc, being simultaneously in three places at once posed him no challenge. Moreover, he only needed to maintain the black cubes because the Golden Serpent was mostly controlled by Fafnir.

[--Marc--: I have to go.]

His voice finally disrupted the comfortable silence. For Celina, that sentence, spoken in a low but soft voice, was like a wake-up call, as deep inside she wished for the previous dream-like moment to continue forever.

[--Celina--: You have to go...]

She repeated after him, her soft whisper resonating through the infinite white space.

[--Celina--: Vorst... gulp It is true, right? What you said before—that I can be with you... Y-you didn’t lie, right?]

Her face showed anxiousness as her eyes became watery. She had thought it would be fine if it was a lie, but now the situation was entirely different. Like a child who has no fear of fire before getting burned, she had thought it was fine before, but now, after tasting happiness, she was truly afraid of losing it.

[--Marc--: You're mine, and that’s not going to change.]

Once again, he blinked, and his arms embraced her.

[--Marc--: I'm an extremely selfish person. I only take; I never give my things away. And... I'm still next to you.]

And with those words, he disappeared from her soul.

Celina immediately regained control over her body. Her soul, now left without him, was overwhelmed with an utter sense of loneliness. A sense of despair started to creep in, and at that moment, she felt a hand on her cheek.

[Vorst: I'm here. Breathe. Slowly...]

His voice near her ear immediately awakened her soul from its stupor. The chill she felt caused her body to stop breathing for a moment. Once reminded, she immediately took several deep gulps of air.

The admiral on the other side watched this scene in silence.

At first, when he connected to them, he was secretly shocked by how close those two were to each other. He knew that this young man was with Mersa Camellia. He decided to let this pass for a moment and instructed them to stop—only to find them in some sort of trance. He repeated the orders once again, but by the third time, all of them had already finished.

[<V.Renves>: Private Vorst, didn’t you hear my orders?]

In an instant, Marc was about to shatter that monitor when Lily swiftly took over.

[<Vorst>: Orders? What orders?]

The young man's face flushed, showing a state of complete confusion.

Inside Marc's Soul Realm, Kaya was continuously calming down two incarnations of destruction as their auras, filled with killing intent, swirled around endlessly.

Fafnir, on the other hand, quickly shrank to a size of 5 meters long and 2 meters high and hid in the far corner. Although he was usually incredibly brave, those two were simply too terrifying—especially his favorite mistress, Calla. She barely ever got angry, but when she did... his body, soul, and mind all trembled in horror.