[AN: A bit late, but here is another 'bonus' chapter. Tomorrow we will have a planned Sunday chapter!
Q&A Corner. Q: Why did Marc had to 'die'?
A: It was needed for several reasons. First is a beautiful time skip that allowed girls on the outside to advance their abilities. However that was just a secondary objective. The main one is to tone down Kaya, because she is definitely the most OP among the valkyries. Her OPness even rivals Marc. She lost two of her most powerful Serpents, and I made her consume five more, so only one is left. It also toned down Marc slowing his full access to the epic Dragon Powers, because he needs to suffer more hehe. Because c'mon when he gets full amount of his powers and have everything for a flick of his fingers it's not gonna be fun xD
Edit: Forgot to add:
https%3a%2f%2flh3.googleusercontent.com%2f-7rzg4...l-evil.png [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7rzg4B7DbgU/VUTOrdgeyCI/AAAAAAAAAgc/Wdb51Hb_xvE/w199-h237-no/Crystal-evil.png]
So evil, it must be Demon Emperor's Influence]
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[???: Do you desire strength?]
[Mersa: Yes...]
[???: Do you desire power?]
[Mersa: Yes...]
[???: Then come here...]
A light humanoid figure stretched a hand toward her.
Mersa absentmindedly walked towards it...
Step... Step... Step by step...
And she arrived there...
She stretched her hand...
...
----------------------------------------
Morning that day...
----------------------------------------
From far away, from a deserted place...
[My Lord...]
[Please hear me out...]
...
Again...
What was that?
...
[--Kaya--: Right?]
[--Calla--: Now that you mention this...]
[--Lily--: Definitely.]
[--Kaya--: That jaw is definitely Marc's.]
[--Calla--: Right and the collarbone is also similar.]
[--Lily--: Ragna-nee likes her lord's collarbone I see...]
[--Calla--: N-no! Please don't misunderstand, remembering every single detail about their lord is retainer's responsibility!]
[--Kaya & Lily--: ...]
...
Marc slovenly opened his eyes.
[--Marc--: Why it's so noisy this early in the morning?]
Marc wasn't a morning creature.
[--Kaya--: Fufu, we found an interesting detail, it seems like you are becoming more and more similar to your old self.]
[--Marc--: Hm? Really?]
[--Calla--: Yes m'lord.]
[--Marc--: I see, most probably my dragon blood is acting on it's own. I guess... Time to go back to sleep...]
[--Kaya--: !! Shujin-sama! Please do your duties properly! Right now there is no time for sleep!]
[--Marc--: ... What kind of outrageous torture is that?]
[--Kaya--: Today you should have a serious discussion with those girls.]
[--Marc--: ...]
[--Kaya--: Shujin-sama always postpones things he considers troublesome. Huh. We are doing it today. No excuses.]
[--Marc--: ... They left.]
[--Kaya--: Huh?]
[--Marc--: I just extended my link senses, they are not inside the academy anymore...]
[--Kaya--: Hmm.. Then...]
[--Marc--: zZzzZZz...]
[--Kaya--: Shujin-sama!!]
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They weren't too surprised when they saw those two white haired girls. Those soldiers were already completely assimilated to surprises from those three. They were already so incredible that something like a sub-trans didn't shock anyone anymore. For example Celina was stronger than most UHigh sub-races, so much that they were honestly suspecting her of dyeing her hair. Mersa... Better not to speak about that one. Something along the lines: too much blood shed, she couldn't wash it off anymore.
But this...
Scary.
So scary...
A group of men were incredibly frightened by a spectacle in front of them.
A smile...
A group of men were terrified.
Mersa was smiling...
OMG!
The Crimson Ice Queen was smiling while thinking of something.
A War Machine was smiling absentmindedly.
A Killing Machine that cut down thousands without a shred of emotion was showing a smile.
Every single soldier gathered on the other end of the room trying their best to stay low.
They had no idea what was going on, but if by any chance they wished to avoid being used as a guinea pig for the Crimson Ice Queen.
Did she finally break and started finding pleasure in destroying Mechs?
Shudder...
[Nova: You guys! Disperse! I know what you are thinking, but it's nothing like that! How can you trample on feelings of a maiden.]
[???: Maiden?]
A soldier imagined a Maiden Mersa... A bedroom scene... There she was wearing a nightie... Holding... A...
Bloody knife that just killed the trespasser.
That's how night visit scene ended.
Shudder...
[Nova: YOU!]
[Celina: Sigh, we are to arrive at the HQ and report this officially anyway so I guess we can tell you guys earlier. Yesterday, Vorst the Golden Knight woke up.]
Silence...
A calm before storm.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!
[???: Really Master Sergeant? That's THAT Golden Knight right? THE GOLDEN KNIGHT? The Neo-Aris right?]
[Celina: That's right Corporal. That's why Second Lieutenant is like that.]
A mystery was solved.
Corporal was a great engineer also from Athena's Institute - Cadet Vera Mina. With efficient scripts and runes left by Marc operating a single Controlled Bot was possible even for a normal person. But of course it comes with enormous amount of effort. Having achieved the 2nd LCT Vera Mina highly looks up to Celina who's age is not even fifth of hers.
[Vera: Master Sergeant!! I heard that before that incident you too were also included in the love quartet!]
[Celina: W-wha? N-no, I... Um.. *Blush*]
[Vera: Master Sergeant! Fight! I'll be rooting for you!]
Next to her a man chuckled. From the enormous Bear clan, it was Renves Muir with a Master Sergeant rank. His power level was 2nd MCT and he was one of the two highest in this special squad. However he knew that both the Witch Queen and the Red (maybe White now) Commander could still beat him...
[Renves: You will have to fight our Crimson Ice Queen, my condolences Master Sergeant. I'm sure they give you two ranks of posthumous promotion afterwards.]
With that a huge laughter erupted. They were fighting together for more than two years now, the sense of camaraderie was strong. Although Mersa was totally unresponsive both Nova and Celina were quite popular within the crew.
[Vera: Hahahahaha, First Sergeant! I guess you will be sharing same fate.]
[Nova: What? No! In a battle between women I won't lose so easily.]
[Renves: Huhu, it all depends on whether our ace will play cleanly or not.]
[Vera: Right. First Sergeant, please remember that everything is permitted in love and war.]
[Nova: Uuuuu...]
A soldier who previously imagined the bloody night visit scene smiled mischievously. He was a Corporal, in this elite group he was no different from a rookie - Neum Zac.
[Neum: But even in the feminine department Second Lieutenant is not lacking anything at all.]
A psionic disruption appeared out of nowhere and the offender was flattened on the wall. Mersa was listening to the whole conversation since the name 'Vorst' was said.
[Mersa: W-wha?! *Blush* But is that t-t-t-true? V-vor-chan will l-l-like me? *Blush level 459*]
[Neum: Whoa... Second Lieutenant! It's crushing, it's crushing...]
The atmosphere in the space ship became totally relaxed. They all were happy for them, especially for Mersa who regained her old spirit.
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Sub-race: #@^!#%
Both Mistglan and Claire were looking at the results of Vorst aptitude test in silence.
[Mistglan: I kind of get the Mid level aptitude, also that the core power remained unchanged at 2nd HST but...]
[Claire: Sub-race...]
[Mistglan: What the hell is that result?!]
Vorst was sitting in front of them tilted his head.
Mistglan turned the holo-monitor towards him.
[Mistglan: I'd prefer Neo-Aris over something like THIS!]
[Claire: Vorst, how do you feel? Any strange changes in your body?]
Inside his soul realm Marc looked at Lily and Kaya... Both of them looked at each other and seemingly came to an understanding as they both nodded at the same time. Noticing that he felt at ease.
[--Marc--: Lily.]
[--Lily--: Hehe, I hear and obey.]
[Vorst: Um... Oh! Right, I had a dream...]
[Claire: A dream?]
[Vorst: A very strange dream. There was an enormous lizard-like creature.]
[Claire: A lizard-like creature?]
[Vorst: Yes, I had that dream several times before too. I made my M-Armor to resemble that creature.]
[Claire: Oh, why?]
[Vorst: Because it seemed very familiar, and operating the M-Armor was very comfortable.]
A satisfied smile appeared on teenager's face as if he remembered a very pleasant experience.
[Claire: I see, by instinct?]
[Vorst: *Nods repetitively.*]
[Claire: I see, can you tell me a bit more about that dream?]
[Vorst: There were a lot of lizards walking around several of them even had wings. One of the biggest ones came down and told me: Our descendant, it's time for you to wake up... Then I woke up.]
Hearing this type of talk two of them looked strangely at the teenager only to suddenly realize that his mind was supposed to be only at the 11 years old level.
[Claire: I see... Ok Vorst, you can go back, Mersa and the rest will return late so you can meet them tomorrow, please get some rest.]
The green eyed boy left.
Silence...
[Mistglan: What kind of sub-trans is that?]
[Claire: I think it's something similar to the legendary Crystal sub-trans...]
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
[Mistglan: That caliber?]
[Claire: ... Mist, you've been living for less than 800 years, so you do not know about the Forgotten Legends.]
[Mistglan: ... The Forgotten Legends?]
[Claire: ... Five thousands years ago a first Alien emerged.]
[Mistglan: The Crystal Queen.]
[Claire: That's right. The Crystal Queen revealed our Crystal descent, that in the past life on Earth began from a part of the Crystal race.]
[Mistglan: Right.]
[Claire: But I also found an old Crystal archive. In fact there were two ancient races. Crystals and... Dragons.]
[Mistglan: ... Dragons?]
[Claire: An ancient race, from what I gathered their look was very similar to enormous lizard-like creatures. Those two were constantly fighting each other without rest. Then an unknown calamity came and both of them disappeared without much of a trace. The Crystals planted the Crystal Queen to continue their legacy, the only survivor of the Crystal Race. Have you ever wondered why we aren't Crystals to begin with?]
The Liger turned speechless, he never thought about that. Pieces of puzzle in his head started to come together.
[Claire: That's right. Furthermore on our mother planet Earth there were many legends of the beings we called Dragons.]
[Mistglan: ... Then we might be of the Dragon descent too?]
Headmistress nodded.
Somehow Lily's blatant lie took a realistic turn!
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Ripple ran past the galaxy.
The Golden Knight have awoken!
And with that the Crimson Ice Queen was no more!
Several paparazzi managed to get a hold of a photo of the white wolf girl in her officer uniform... smiling!
SHOCK!
But that was not all!
The extremely popular Red Commander also had a change in sub-race!
Celina Za changed into the White Commander!
This couldn't be a simple COINCIDENCE!
What's more the news portals easily dug out the fact that Nova Aria the Witch Queen was also pursuing the boy in the past.
Hot topic!
Gossip was proliferating.
Every single person in the Top Brass of the Crimson Empire shuddered. They all saw those extremely strange powers that the boy in question invoked. What will he do now that he escaped death? In future the might of the Kollos Alliance will only grow!
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He woke up...
Several calming runes were floating around Nova but they just couldn't stop her excitement.
In the past five years she managed to give up a bit on him... But with his return the attraction only strengthened! After all not only he sacrificed himself for her, but he also made sure to give her as much power as he could before he let go.
That kindness...
That warmth...
[???: I-I-I-I LOVE YOU!]
A sudden shout brought the Witch Queen out of her dreamlike state. With a shock she turned her head towards a close by tiger girl that just shouted out her lungs... She didn't know this Celina Za. Normal Za-chan was a timid girl that would rather do some more fixes on her Drones than stand out from the crowd like this...
[Celina: You don't have to answer. I just wanted you to know Vorst-chan.]
A sudden confession. Not only the boy who came out to welcome them but everyone else around was equally shocked. Before anyone had a chance to react Celina summoned a Scout Drone and after mounting it she took off with her face fully in crimson shade.
Silence...
[Mersa: V-vor-chan...]
Without being capable of uttering another word she also took off in an incomplete (Blitz) speed.
[Vorst: ...]
[Nova: ...]
The rest of the crew was also in shock.
[Nova: ... Huhu, Vorst-chan is quite a lady killer.]
Her words were directed at the 1.8m youth that stood there before her. He was a bit thin, much thinner than his imposing attitude. Similar to the small boy from several years ago, and that unyielding gaze that was completely overpowering everything right now was showing a hint of trouble. She just had to tease him.
[Nova: Anyway, I won't trouble you any longer Vorst-chan, you must have a lot on your mind tonight.]
With that blue haired girl followed the other two.The rest of the crew turned their face towards the boy who stood there with a bitter smile...
[--Lily--: Heh.]
[--Kaya--: Fufu, Shujin-sama has to reap what he had sown.]
[--Calla--: *Nods*]
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Nova was seriously troubled...
This kind of thing had to happen. It was inevitable, however no matter how much she thought about it she just couldn't find a reasonable solution to this problem.
----------------------------------------
Celina was feeling a large amount of guilt.
She had no idea. The words just came out of her mouth the moment she saw him.
She knew about Mersa, but somehow... She just had to voice what her heart was shouting out. Did she always was this selfish?
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Mersa was immersed in a deep thought...
Vor-chan...
[Vorst: I'm mine. I'll never belong to anyone else.]
His voice was replayed in her head...
Vor-chan has that unyielding personality...
This green eyed Vor-chan was different from that gray eyed one. This one had that unwieldy free nature that refused to bow down to any one...
Yes, those two were different. He told her so too...
So the old Vor-chan is already gone huh?
A sadness washed over her again. In a flash she a childish face of the old Vor-chan replayed in her mind. All the serene years they spent together. And...
That last relieved smile in the communication system after the black scorpion incident.
That Vor-chan is gone...
She started to shed tears again...
For the gray eyed Vor-chan...
This green eyed Vor-chan...
This one that she really fell in love with...
She will have to protect him no matter what.
No matter the cost...
...
A dream...
A white space...
A hazy figure...
A light humanoid figure came...
[???: What do you desire?]
[Mersa: ...]
[???: What is your desire?]
[Mersa: Power...]
[???: I can give you Power.]
[Mersa: I want more Power...]
[???: Do you desire strength?]
[Mersa: Yes...]
[???: Do you desire power?]
[Mersa: Yes...]
[???: Then come here...]
A light humanoid figure stretched a hand toward her.
Mersa absentmindedly walked towards it...
Step...
No matter the cost...
Step...
In this exchange... Will she lose herself?
Step...
That was fine...
Step...
He... He will have Celina. He can also have Nova.
Step...
It was fine. She was fine with that.
Step...
She can give up her happiness if it will save him...
He already did that for her.
And she arrived there...
She stretched her hand...
GRAB
Another hand grabbed hers.
She immediately tried to pull away...
But it was too strong!
This strength...
However she immediately stopped resisting...
Because...
When she turned her head...
He was there.
His emerald-like eyes were faintly shining with violet light, his face full of faint killing intent. With a pull he took her into his embrace.
[???: You... Don't interfere she had already chosen.]
With that a light figure stretched it's hand towards her.
Mersa was seemingly pulled to it, but... but... his embrace was too comfortable... She wanted to stay there... In the end... She still...
[???: (AEGIS)]
A huge white serpent with girth surpassing 1m appeared out of nowhere and coiled around them as if to protect them. A golden shine appeared and a scaly semi-transparent shield created from a strange power was created. A power that was exerted on Mersa immediately dissipated as if it never existed.
[???: Aegis, Kill.]
A voice full of coldness was released from behind them. The serpent started moving...
[Vorst: Wait Kaya.]
The serpent stopped.
[Kaya: Humpf.]
An extremely beautiful woman came into Mersa's sight. Her face was cutely distorted in a frown. Vorst's eyes were focused on the blurred figure.
[Vorst: She's mine. Don't even think about laying your hands on what's mine. Next time you try this... You'll die.]
[???: ...]
With that the humanoid shape dissipated.
[Kaya: Aegis come back. Shujin-sama, should we really let it go that easily? It targeted one of our family.]
The white serpent moved towards the woman and mysteriously 'entered' her and disappeared without a trace.
[Vorst: I couldn't feel any nefarious intention from it, so I let it off the hook this once.]
[Kaya: I see. Next time I will definitely kill it.]
Her jade like irises didn't have a shred of warmth in them.
[Vorst: Mer-chan.]
[Mersa: V-vor-chan?]
[Vorst: Mer-chan. If it's power, I can give you as much as you want ok?]
[Mersa: Okay...]
She calmly nodded, she felt safe in his arms, this... She had to admit she didn't want to let go.
[Vorst: I need to go, I can't be in this place too long.]
With that she reluctantly separated herself from his embrace, but she was troubled over another matter...
[Mersa: V-vor-chan! W-who is that woman?]
A smile appeared on the face of the woman, her vertical slit pupils were sending Mersa a warm gaze. Her attitude was a complete opposite from a moment ago. She definitely was extremely friendly towards her.
[Vorst: ... She's.. my lover.]
SHOCK
[Mersa: L-L-Lover?]
[Kaya: Hehe, Mer-chan we need to discuss a lot of things, come to Marc's... Vorst's place okay?]
[Mersa: O-Okay...]