Chapter 58 - Nova Explosion Part 2

Once the Rankers descended from the sky, the battle came to an end in an instant. The presence of the glorious gigantic mechas alone was enough to bring an end to the conflict and chaos.

It was always like this: once an M-God appeared, all fighting ceased.

Fighters would disengage.

Engineers would send freeze commands to the bots.

The appearance of an M-God signified that the battle among the upper echelons was finished, and being left here meant that they were either victorious or abandoned.

Mechanical heads would lift into the sky, and either an exclamation of joy or despair would follow.

Marc calmly watched as the green M-God belonging to Claire dived down from outer space to land beside him. The screen displayed the headmistress’s serious, solemn face. There was a special kind of silence in the air, as if two people who had been separated for a long time were meeting again and trying to figure out how the other had changed.

[Claire: Vorst, Celina.]

[Marc: Commander Claire.]

His voice was calm, even, and normal; there was absolutely no visible change. He even addressed her properly. Next to him, Celina was flustered, and Claire could sense a tremendous change in her.

[Celina: Y-yes, Hea—Ah—Com-mander Claire!]

Her voice was higher than usual by an octave, and her face betrayed suppressed excitement. Her hand was still lightly clinging to a sleeve on Marc’s arm, and she was most likely unaware of this.

[Claire: … We will need to discuss this “special kind” of bot usage later. Unauthorized use of equipment means that all of it will be temporarily confiscated, and your rights to use other school resources are also revoked. Besides that... Good job.]

At the end, her stern face slowly eased into a gentle smile. On the faces of those two, she could not find a trace of megalomania. There was some arrogance in Marc, but it was just his usual confidence, which was understandable given his talent. His gaze was still perfectly clear, with not a speck of pretentiousness. It felt as if what he had just done was completely normal, as casual as taking a walk, confidently taking every step.

[Celina: Y-yes! Thank you!]

Celina, on the other hand, was exceptionally elated, but that was clearly about something completely different. Claire could see that. In Celina’s mind, this other matter was far more important than the trifling ability to wield such power—to her, those two simply could not be compared!

[Claire: I am taking this white sphere too.]

[Celina: Eeeeh?]

[Claire: It’s just for a little while. I will return it to you, unchanged.]

Claire couldn’t help but let her smile widen even more when she saw Celina’s face suddenly become pale. She understood it. Therefore, the gaze she sent Vorst became even more stern. It was because he held the key.

[Claire: You too, Vorst. All items in your Photon Space shall be temporarily confiscated.]

[Marc: … Alright.]

Claire was a little confused. She had a vague feeling that there were two Vorsts. One she could accurately read, like standing on the shore and looking at the clean sea; she could easily see the details on the bottom from the surface, yet its vastness was overwhelming. The other one seemed the same, clear water, but had an enormous chasm so deep it was shrouded in endless darkness.

This Vorst before her was the former. There was some unwillingness in his voice, but in the end, he consented. It was not a rebellious streak; it was more a reluctance to part with the items he had become attached to.

In front of Nova and everyone else, the white sphere slowly opened to reveal its insides. From within, two young pilots emerged. They were the ones who had exhibited those incredible feats just now.

Vorst did not appear any different, except for a slight displeasure on his face as a stream of items was released from his Photon Space and flew up toward the Green M-God. There were all kinds of strange things—several circular bots, thousands of strange small parts, and his M-Armor.

Claire deposited all of those inside her own PSpace. With a gesture, she pulled out two more items—the black Battle Drone and the white Intelligence Drone—which made Vorst’s face seem even more sour.

However, Nova did not see it. She noticed nothing other than Celina’s very happy expression.

---

Kaya borrowed Mersa’s bot’s senses to get a closer look at Nova. It was as she suspected: love is a very powerful emotion. It can easily lead to happiness as well as plunge someone into the depths of ruin.

She now needed to stop Nova from her current inner turmoil…

[--Lily--: Shall I?]

Lily’s voice resounded in her head. Kaya gave a soft chuckle.

[--Kaya--: By all means.]

Surrounded by countless runic formations, Lily stood in the middle of the large runic circle. She closed her eyes as she imposed her will upon the rules of the world.

[--Lily--: (Domain of Illusions)]

Loneliness.

Alienation.

Desolation.

Marc felt these feelings trying to invade his mind. With a wave of his hand, he instantly broke through these illusions, only to find Celina tightly clutching that hand with a frightened expression. A spark of anger ignited within him.

Then he felt a cold hand softly caressing his cheek and heard an imaginary familiar voice.

[--Lily--: Forgive me, Marc. It was necessary.]

And it ended. With it, Marc’s anger dissipated.

Every single person present felt those strange, eerie feelings—for barely a second. However, Celina, who had behaved like a frightened rabbit and lunged to grab his arm, was definitely in the spotlight.

Nova’s train of thought was abruptly halted. To counter those feelings of solitude, she unconsciously thought about the face of a certain boy. When she came back to herself, it was that boy’s hand that Celina was tightly clinging to.

Somehow, rage surged through her mind, and with a determined stomp, she flew off into the distance.

A bad feeling swept through Marc as he turned just in time to see a disappearing streak on the horizon. He knew who it was. Through their links, he could sense Nova’s distance and direction. What’s more, through those links, he could also feel her anger, though muffled, as he did not wish to impose on her emotions and thoughts.

---

Kaya couldn’t help but feel admiration for Lily once again. In one move, she resolved this serious crisis. Well, that was to be expected from that damned Succubus, who manipulated through interactions, words, and gestures. Lily, on the other hand, relied on her tricks to deceive her opponents without them ever realizing they were caught in her web of illusions.

Through the negative feelings, Lily immediately cut off Nova’s self-depreciating and self-destructive thoughts. The blue-haired girl simply could not compare to Marc, but that should not matter. However, the weight of the distance between them was too heavy for her to bear alone.

With Celina holding dearly to Marc, Lily extinguished the budding envy that Nova had started nurturing. Yes, put her on Marc’s victim list. Show Nova that it was not Celina’s fault but Marc’s for ensnaring her!

The anger Nova felt toward Marc was not a negative thing. It would make her realize her true feelings—a fire fueled by the love of a young maiden. Now they had to get Marc into action before that love turned into hatred.

Lily, standing on one of the enormous ritual platforms, was thoroughly exhausted. Using large-scale power without a body was truly draining. Her white skin, even more unusually pale, contrasted sharply with her fiery hair.

A blur appeared to support her.

Those green eyes carried a piercing glare as he held her.

[--Lily--: Shujin-sama, please forgive your Lily.]

She began coquettishly as she eased into his arms.

[--Marc--: We’ll see about that.]

[--Lily--: Nooooo~ Shujin-sama needs to bestow some mercy…]

[--Marc--: A light punishment then?]

Tears appeared at the corners of her eyes.

[--Lily--: Please…]

[--Marc--: Only after you confess, though…]

[--Lily--: That's soooo ruthless~]

And she was carried away by Marc for “interrogation.”

---

In the deep basements that served as her training room, Nova was furiously hitting her punching target. Yet the fury within her heart did not dissipate at all. If anything, it grew stronger.

Like an uncontrollable wildfire, it swept through her body as she continued to rain down a flurry of hits on her innocent opponent.

Tsssss

A rune appeared and surrounded her hand.

(Impact)

BAM!

The punching machine, which had been withstanding her punches just fine until now, was completely destroyed. Demolished.

[Nova: Haa-hah-haaa… M-]

Drawing rough breaths, she still couldn’t find relief.

That rune was also from “him.”

[Nova: VOOOOOOOOORST!!]

She attacked once more, mutilating the remains of the machine further…

[Nova: Marcdrak…]