Chapter 132 - Unveiling Truths
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"Here you go," Khione informed, her spell finally casted.
⟨⟨Cryogenic Pillars⟩⟩
The air crackled with an intense cold as Khione's spell took form. Pillars of ice rose majestically, their surfaces glistening with cyan light that added an ethereal glow to the scene.
Concurrently, MKI Tenebrion slowly moves its mechanical body. It starts off by forming a pressurized plasma, precisely aimed at me. Ah, I gotta move now.
"I'll be going, then." After informed, I grappled and swung pillars to pillars. This time, I played it safe and took the 『Leviathan』. "Got to learn about you for now."
Since my encounter with Khione and the others, I've found myself struggling against foes that defy the conventions of my gaming knowledge. It's a bitter realization that I'm relying too heavily on my understanding of the game mechanics, damn it!
This is not a game anymore; this is reality.
Swinging through the air, I unleashed a barrage of bullets upon the colossal mech. The chaotic dance of bullets, a testament to my agility, hit the target with precision.
"—!" The mech's eyes glowed, signaling an impending attack. In a split second, I twisted my body midair, narrowly avoiding a devastating beam. "So close...!"
Undeterred, I continued firing. The advantage of being a Gunslinger allowed me to focus on dodging while simultaneously bombarding the enemy with bullets. I got to thank Seia for being my sparring partner at this.
『MKI Tenebrion: 60,852/64,260』
Pushing another attack, MKI Tenebrion launched a myriad of missiles, all projectiles surfaced from its back. With a full tilt, I changed my target to the missile. Dodging those missiles would be an ease, if not for the reason that it can home on enemies. Uwooh!
Boom! The missiles, each in turn explodes as I bombarded them. Completely cleared, I turned to change my target to MKI Tenebrion. However,
"It's gone... Don't tell me—?!" I spun around to find the mech now behind me, its turret aimed directly at me. "You're fast—"
⟨⟨Shatterstorm Surge⟩⟩
"Eh—?" The space near the mech fractured unexpectedly. Before I could react, the MKI Tenebrion transformed into frozen ice and was sent hurtling away. There's only one person who can do this...
"I came to help," Khione remarked, her hand raised.
"Is that okay?" I asked. I know we talked about this before, but... "Wouldn't that be against the rules?"
"Hn, I'll ignore this one time." Khione nodded. "In return, tell me about that thing."
"Oh, for a deity to be interested in something..." I remarked. In the distance, the MKI Tenebrion rapidly approached, propelled by what seemed like rocket propulsion beneath its feet.
"Don't get the wrong idea," Khione replied, her tone sounded serious. "I don't sense any life on that thing. It feels uncanny..."
"Oh?" Didn't Khione know about robots? Since they've lived for who-knows-how-many, I had thought she already had an idea about it. "They're machineries—a fabrication created by human."
"Eh?! You mean to say..."
"Yeah," I interjected. "They're a creation created practically for something. This time, that thing we're fighting against... was made for destruction—"
"Alright, I've heard enough." Khione interjected; rage visible to her face. "I'll help. At the very least, I had reason to interfere this time."
"...Got it," I guess it's a given she didn't like these machineries. After all, it was something opposed to her existence. At the very least, we can subdue this Boss faster.
Nonetheless, I guess he's taken an interest in me instead, huh. Sora originally was supposed to encounter this mech, but I guess it can't be helped. The storyline was all over the place, there's nothing to follow anymore.
"...This just turned into something very troublesome." I mused, heaving a huge sigh. No matter how I see it, it'll most likely end up in another big trouble. Well, it was bound to happen someday, I got to prepare myself before then.
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[Bellatrix POV]
It's been a while since my little sister joined Sai and headed to an arduous, exhausting journey. On my end, life at the Academy continued as usual—fulfilling my duties as the academy president. The routine paperwork and administrative tasks persisted, but amidst the familiar surroundings, my thoughts were consumed by concerns for Lemuen. I understood that the time would come for her to forge her own path, but...
"Ugh, pondering it is useless," I mused, my voice tinged with melancholy. "I hope Lemuen is okay..."
As I groaned, lost in contemplation about my sister, a sudden knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. Swiftly, I composed myself. After all, maintaining professionalism was crucial for someone in my position. However,
"Yō," A familiar face entered the room. This guy sported a delinquent aura on himself, even wearing such an outlandish coat that further adds to her unpleasant vibe. "Did I come on a wrong time?"
In addition, this guy was one of the top dogs in the whole Imperial Academy. Together with his guys, they bring unintentional fear to the fellow students...
Nevertheless, once you got to know him, he was surprisingly down-to-earth, contrary to his appearance. "Of course not. So, is there any reason you came here, Jett?"
"Should I need any other reason to see such a lovely maiden like you—Uwooh?!" I quickly conjured a number of skeletal hands, surrounding him before he finished his words.
"Stop that, it's embarrassing." I bashfully remarked. Jeez, just how can he say such embarrassing thing. Has he no shame? "If you don't have any meaningful reason to come here, you're free to go out. It's already night, you know?"
"Kidding! I'm kidding! Haha, please stop your spell." Jett replied, raising both his arms. "Seriously, I have something to talk about."
"President, can you let this go one out?" One of his peers, the one always sticking to him like a glue, interjected. "He's seriously about to talk something... significant?"
"Huh? Why the question mark?" I asked, utterly confused. "So, what is it you want to talk about, Jett and Vice?"
"I guess it's a bit important considering that guy attends in this Academy but actually, we went to the eastern continent to do some business." Explaining, Jett hands me a several pictures.
The pictures were visibly rough, but I could identify the contents with scrutiny. They depicted two women standing on a shoreline beside a giant serpentine. Although more figures surrounded the serpentine, the images were too blurry for identification. The girls were quite familiar. "This is..."
"It was taken by a brat who was coincidentally taking a picture for his project. It was thanks to this piece of evidence that they had confirmed something major to their Kingdom—the death of the legendary serpent, Vaconawa." Vice explained.
"The serpentine was a poison to the kingdom's lives, notorious for wreaking havoc if the residence didn't meet its needed." Jett added. "Right now, they were searching for that Hero. Curious, we asked them to give us a picture of the person and here he was."
Jett gave me another piece of picture. This time, it was a blurry photo of a red-haired guy together with the two women in the earlier picture. There's no mistaking it.
"You said your sister was with him and they're currently on an adventure, right?" Jett asked, her eyes keenly pointed at me. "I'm sure you were familiar in the picture right there. I don't know if you know him already but I'm going to ask you just in case, just who is that guy?"
The two women in the picture were also familiar. That green-haired girl was none other than my sister, and the girl with wings and an unusual deadpan expression was Akari, if I recalled correctly.
Although, "To tell you the truth, I actually don't know." I replied, shaking my head. "However, there's one thing I could only say: that guy was able to assert what he wants and even manage to convince me to take my sister to his journey."
In response, both of them had their eyes widened in tandem. "For the president to say that, just who is that guy..." Vice remarked, dumbfounded.
"Moreover," I added. "I could assure you the context of this picture was the truth. After coming here to ask me to take Lemuen with him, he told me that he beat Vaconawa in order to persuade me to take Lemuen with her."
"Looks like something a fraud would say." Jett remarked. "Anyhow, we'll investigate this further."
"We'll be going then, president." Vice greeted before walking away. Jett followed suit but stopped midway and turned into me.
"You know about Sai, right? The fact that he was considered the worst student in this Academy."
"Yes, I know." I nodded. "But after knowing him, he seemed to be the actually opposite of what the rumours told about him."
"Right, I also thought myself." Jett replied. "That's why hopefully, he won't become someone who will become our enemy one day."
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[Sai Crimsonheart POV]
"W-Wow..."
[Mass Destructive Contrivance, 『MK I Tenebrion』 has been defeated]
With Khione's intervention, the tide of the battle shifted dramatically, transforming what once was a formidable foe into a helpless heap of mechanical debris. "I don't know what to say anymore..."
MKI Tenebrion lay scattered across the wintry ground, its once menacing presence reduced to lifeless remnants. Such a scene was never in the game; Khione aiding the player in a boss battle was a completely novel experience for me.
What left me even more astounded was the realization that Khione hadn't unleashed her full power during our encounter with her. Now, witnessing the extent of her magical prowess, I couldn't help but marvel. If we were to fight her again, who knows what would happen this time...
"Did you get what you wanted?" Khione asked, snapping me out of my contemplation.
"Y-yeah, coming." I replied, securing the Treasure Bag and settling back onto the Snow Malamute. As I mounted, Khione wrapped her arms around my sides, ready to embark. "Let's go..."
Amidst the flurry of unexpected events, my mind swirled with thoughts as we traversed the wintry landscape on the back of the Snow Malamute, the night air sending shivers down our spines.