Novus stared silently at the occupied glass pod that was full of soothing fluids- it was a terrible sight to to behold, so much so that he found himself wanting to pull his eyes away from the sight, and yet he found himself completely unable to do so.

It was Anastasia inside the glass pod- her unblemished body suspended within the green, life-supporting fluids of the pod, as the instruments that carefully monitored her body for any signs of life produced not a single sound or beep from the monitors.

She had truly died fighting one of the bastards who had barged into their humble abode, completely unannounced.

Still, he couldn't shake off the great sense of sadness and grief he was feeling- this woman had showered him with unconditional love for many years, something that not even in his previous life he had experienced.

There was that horrible sense of sadness slowly eating away at his heart, as he could feel himself about to cry and let out tears, only for it to be completely suppressed by his stoic nature- he was beginning to blame himself again for everything that happened... Perhaps it was because of him that she died? Maybe if he had just arrived to help her in time, maybe he at least could have changed the outcome a bit differently than this...

"... Is there truly no way to bring her back?"

"... I'm afraid so, dear..." Whitlea, who was standing close to him, would answer back with a slow, equally dejected voice. "The nanomachines managed to fully repair most of her body... But..."

Novus would quickly respond, slightly irritated that she had even considered to pause. "But?"

"... No matter what method I used.. Her heart was a unique case..." she looked down in defeat as she said that. "... Her heart is made of a completely unique material that is virtually impossible to repair or replicate..."

"... I see..."

There was nothing he could do at this point- There was no way to bring her back to life no matter what form of advanced technology was available in the castle. For a few moments, Novus would once more stare aimlessly, this time towards the apparatuses that helped to preserve her dead body, as his fists clenched in frustration with the fact that he was completely helpless in this situation.

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"... However... While I dug through one of her personal logs in the lab, I found something of great interest..."

Almost immediately, Novus would quickly walk towards her and grab her by the shoulders, looking deeply into her eyes with a great desperation written all over him.

"What is it then? Is it something that can bring her back... Please, just tell it quickly..."

Whitlea looked at him with concern- she understood why he was acting like this, and so she did not pay heed to his erratic behavior too much. After all, how he was behaving wasn't even completely unreasonable in the first place.

"... The logs were about this.. Other facility similar to this castle..." Whitlea would pause, trying to remember the exact and proper details. "... Based on the data, there is this... Individual who manages that other facility... Someone who's somewhat similar to Anastasia, I think... Her name is Thurien..."

Novus' eyes would widen in shock.

"S-somewhat similar? There's another being like her in existence?"

"... Not quite, dear." Whitlea would then begin to explain. "... This... Individual named Thurien... Both her and Anastasia were 'built' by the same group... I think they call themselves..."

"I think they call themselves the G-D-I? Or Guh-Di? I don't really know how to say it properly..."

That word... Novus was all too familiar with such an acronym- it was the name of the organization that humanity had founded in order to combat the threats that had arrived on earth, which were the elves and those overtly terrifying dragons.

This entire thing had now completely gathered all his attention by this point- there was no way he was going to stop now.

"... This... 'Other facility'... Do the logs have their exact coordinates?"

Whitlea would give a short nod. "Indeed, dear. That place is located southwest from here, approximately 1345 kilometers awa-"

"We're going there now."

"... I-I understand, dear, but there's no need to rush..." Whitlea would try to reason with him- going there immediately was not practical after all, and they would only be just putting themselves in another form of danger.

"Oh, yeah? and why is that?"

"Well, you see, when I probed into one of those soldiers I dealt with... he called himself 'General Triton' I think?" she would then begin to explain once more. "... Well, in short, after lining up the details and polishing some stuff up, I found out one more interesting thing."

"Stop pausing and get straight to the point."

"... Geez, alright, fine..." Whitlea sighed, shocked with his sudden outburst, though she would, nonetheless, continue to speak after a few seconds. "... In short, this 'Neugomian Empire' is sending this 'crusade' towards the same coordinates where that other facility is located..."

"... Then those bastards are probably already attacking that place as we speak."

She would give another affirmation with a nod." Precisely. While I'm not against going to that place in order to find a solution for our... Situation right now, I would advise that we prepare a bit before we make our journey..."

She was making a point there, Novus thought.

"... Alright then, we'll be making preparations now then." Novus replied. "We have to go to that place at once... Even if there's a slight chance that we can bring her back, we have to take it without hesitation."

"Ah, speaking of preparation..." he would continue, as he suddenly remembered something very important. "... What of that 'surprise' that mother had mentioned?"

That parting gift his mother had prepared when he was about to leave in a few weeks... Looking back, the fact that he had even considered leaving her behind like that made him a bit sick with himself: what more chaos would have happened to this place had he left earlier than what he originally planned?

"... She's actually already prepared for activation..." Whitlea, who was already about to leave, would confirm again as she looked back at him. "Would you like me to begin the first activation sequences?"

"Yes. Begin doing so as soon as possible."