After the breakfast, the time for Vill-V's execution came. The projected Mei and Mobius gathered together once again inside the conference room. Vill-V's only saving grace was Aleph's presence.
"I-I don't have a choice here, do I?"
Both Mei and Mobius gave her a silent look as a reply.
"T-this is a deal! The Divine Key Project, you say? I'll be its research head!"
Thus, a new deal was made.
*****
***
*
A dream.
That was what it was.
"...It feels very strange."
Ainsworth stood up from his bed. As usual, he headed for the bathroom to wash his face. The cold sensation of the tap water completely woke him up from his fuzzy state.
"What should I do first… oh, yes, there's the approval papers…"
Wearing a plain white t-shirt, he walked straight into his office.
After signing off loads of paperwork, he was ready to visit his secret space. That was the place where he stored his most confidential invention as of the moment.
Just then…
"Did I forget something..?"
Ainsworth thought hard. He went through the things he went through before.
"MANTIS… am I dreaming..?"
His vision spun rapidly. It briefly went into darkness before being greeted by a familiar ceiling.
Aleph found himself sleeping on a couch.
"Hm…"
Across the couch, he saw Mobius' sleeping face. She wasn't wearing her glasses. Her hair was also messy. Nevertheless, it wasn't enough to reduce her charm.
'A blanket? That's right, we…'
The events from the past two days reappeared in his mind. After settling Vill-V's issue, she became the official head of the Divine Key Project. She had to meet a certain threshold at a specific duration, so as to avoid her slacking off.
These thresholds weren't definite. Moreover, her funds would also return once she starts producing good results.
Simply put, the two made her stop playing around and start treating it seriously.
When it was settled, what came next were the surgeries. Unsurprisingly, everything went smoothly.
Firstly, that was due to the huge bank of honkai genomes that Fire MOTH stored for over two decades.
One has to know that an emperor-class honkai beast could spawn despite the lack of a major eruption (i.e., Herrscher). Although they are physically stronger than the current recorded Herrschers, they are easier to deal with.
It lies in their inability to affect things at a wide-scale. Unlike Herrschers who could cause major honkai eruption as well as varying authorities that alter physics, emperor-class beasts have their weaker version.
The Yaksha, for example, was the accompanying beast of the first herrscher. It was a fox that specialized in speed. It was fast enough to turn into a blur during their battle against the herrscher. If it weren't for the fact that they chose to bomb the entire place, it would've evaded most of the missiles locked at it.
Secondly, his blood made a large contribution. It was found out to be able to neutralize the out-of-control honkai energy. It was akin to the Schariac's Holy Blood in the Current Era. Its effects on the surgery could be said to be a safeguard. Not only did it make everything go smoothly, it also created a bigger buffer zone to stop the surgery once danger is imminent.
Due to its extreme importance, it was also hidden on the official report to be submitted. Mobius knew it wouldn't only cause more trouble to Aleph, it would also lessen her chances of getting the samples from him. There was still an interesting subject, the cure for honkai illness, to be tackled after the Project Soldier.
Other than these reasons, the surgeries' success could be attributed to luck and their own honkai resistance. Only Kevin's Parvati was missing in the genome bank. He was still fused with a similar ice-type honkai beast, however.
As for Elysia's Mahesvara, it was an extremely strong emperor-class that was still alive until now. Only its left arm was retrieved after a fierce battle before it retreated.
'Two hours…'
Aleph thought of their inhuman traits. Back then, Mobius could pull off all-nighters for an entire week. Now, sleeping for two hours is enough to restore them to their peak state.
'Four… plus us. It's six.'
Currently, there are a total of six MANTISes. Aside from him and perhaps Elysia, the rest are expected to gain a huge power spike.
'Three… no, four more days.' He recalled Mei's cover-up to this entire thing. 'I need to help them get accustomed to their new strength within four days…'
They were extremely lucky in a way that Mei managed to create a suitable schedule for the three of them, especially Elysia. The latter often had surveillance directed at her.
Aleph quietly stood up from the couch. He went straight into the training room, to which he heard the sounds of fighting.
Bam-!
Several shockwaves made of air spread out from the two people sparring.
'Miss Sakura's strikes became faster… and Kevin is adapting fast.'
The weapons used by the two were a curved blade and a greatsword, respectively. Nobody used any form of strength outside physical prowess.
Although Kevin was adapting quickly to his current state, Sakura's sword was extremely fast. It was the perfect combination of both skill and sheer physical strength. Since the weapons were dulled whilst being enhanced with honkai-related materials, they were extremely durable.
"Hey."
The moment the two heard Aleph's voice, they abruptly stopped.
"Let's go for a sparring match. Two of you… against me."
Kevin sported a surprised look. As for Sakura, she retained her flat look, as if used to hiding her microexpressions to others.
"You won't regret this, right?" Kevin asked him.
"I won't."
"Remember not to get back at me in some ways."
"I'll forget about… two of your previous pranks at most."
"...Alright, then."
Both Kevin and Sakura gave each other a nod. They waited for Aleph to choose his weapon… which turned out to be a wooden staff. It was more accurate to call it a wooden pole. Its only merit was its length being similar to a nyoi-bo (Nyoi Staff). That, and the metal found on both its ends. It was also a honkai-enhanced weapon, thus increasing even the wood's durability.
Recalling Kashimo's moves which he carefully analyzed, Aleph couldn't help but let out a smile.
"You two first."
Once again, they witnessed Aleph's strange confidence. For now, it sounds completely arrogant.
Though, it won't take long before they understand it.
Sakura was the first one to arrive in front of Aleph. The latter remained still to the incoming sword at his face.
'Feint. Left hand. Disarming, alright. She's cautious.'
He shifted his position slightly. In Sakura's position, his left hand went to his back. It caused her to shift her target.
Swoosh-!
She changed her grip from a vertical strike into a downward curved strike. She threatened to strike at Aleph's liver, a testament of her ruthlessness.
Unfortunately…
Sou-!
Aleph lowered his stance and struck straight to her sword.
Bam-!
His right arm holding the staff parried it in an upward diagonal strike. He met her blade head-on and managed to strike faster than she could react.
Sakura controlled her balance to maintain her footing. She slid down several feet away from him.
'It's quite numb. She's really tricky with her techniques.'
For curved blades, eastern blades in particular, the trick to winning lay on their techniques. These techniques relied on their control of the blade (i.e., sudden twists in grips, following the blade's weight) to carry out tricky attacks that the opponent would not expect or be able to react to.
In other words, it's based on speed.
Aleph watched Kevin and Sakura closer. His brain was acting extremely fast with Great Sage's enhancements. His mind was split into several parts that analyze the entire battlefield.
'It's quite satisfying… fighting.'
For a moment, Aleph understood a bit about Kashimo's fanatical mindset regarding fighting.