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The matter of the intruders did not affect my daily routine much. Even the outcome of the investigation ended with Misseger telling me, the women and children have been spared, and that was it.

I did not bother questioning her further – Andassis the Seventh really had no reason to deceive me on such an inconsequential matter.

In fact, the king was more than busy with recent events. The palace was on high alert, though I would still spot the king from time to time, and perhaps glean some passing information off him.

Essentially, he was hurrying about in preparation for their countermeasures against the kingdom of Ertalon. Lest one forgot, they were the true masterminds of that recent party in the lab.

If there was someone most affected, it would be Meister Belud. It was his disciples who turned out to be spies, and Misseger spared no efforts in digging out this fact. Her decision to use psychic magicks indiscriminately against the two meisters’ students was not well-regarded.

Meister Amori was a member of the royal family, thus he was never likely to make a fuss out of this, but Meister Belud was no loyal family member. He was a temperamental dwarf to begin with, and this stint in the kingdom was only temporary Thus he was beside himself when he learnt of his disciples’ fate. Though it was worth noting that he himself was a suspect by association.

It was only after a round of intense surveillance that he was declared innocent. Freedom returned, the dwarf immediately went on strike. It took the combined efforts of Andassis the Seventh and Meister Amori to finally convince him to return to work, but that did not mean he was happy about it either.

For the first few days, his face was blacker than a hammer, raring to find trouble with anyone he could -not me, of course.

In spite of that, the dwarven meister was still a valuable team member.

Thanks to the completion of the first prototype, the only question that remained was how to preserve as much strength of the first inside the subsequent mass-produced pieces.

It took another whole week of tests and discussions to finally iron out a new prototype.

The Meditation Stones were still required, but the amount required per armor was reduced from three to one. This had the effect of increasing the activation time from 0.5 seconds, seen in Wyrm, to 3.0 seconds. The synchronization rate had also taken a hit, meaning there was a greater time lag between the pilot and the machine.

However, the reduction of two Meditation Stones meant that we saved a total of 4000 gold pieces per suit. Yet even that was an underestimation of the future cost savings. With the roll-out of these machines, the prices of Meditation Stones would only skyrocket. No amount of legislation would reverse this trend. The lure of money was no small temptation, one that could even supersede the law at times!

The durability of Wyrm was in large part due to the use of dragon scales and Redleaf’s arrays. Such extravagance was naturally impossible in a mass-produced magitek armor.

The scales alone were a headache. Adding on the fact that carving those arrays required manpower and were prone to failure, the cost would be astronomical.

In the end, it was decided that the magic resistance would be provided from the use of Duranium. For its cost, it was one of the better magic resistant metals.

The dragon skeleton used in Wyrm was also swapped out for any high-level magical beast skeleton. The outer armor plating was changed to use a newly-developed alloy, invented by Meister Belud himself. Its durability could withstand the full-force strike of a six-star, bordering that of a seven-star’s defense.

Even so, the total cost of producing magitek armor came out to 25000 gold pieces…

Thankfully, the effectiveness of a magitek armor far-outweighed its cost. A trained pilot could easily take on a five-star, while an ace pilot could take on a six-star!

This newly-developed model capable of mass production was called the Messianic Knight. It was a full set of jet-black armor that was very reminiscent of heavy infantry -Redleaf gave the aesthetics a flat 0/10.

Aesthetics aside, this new model was a force to be reckoned with, whether we were talking about its physical defenses or magical defenses.

Its armaments were a greatsword or a spear, basically medieval weapons. Of note was that the Messianic Knight model inherited the shoulder cannons of Wyrm, albeit at a lower firepower.

All in all, it took us two months to finish the first batch of mass-produced Messianic Knights. But that celebratory mood was swiftly dampened by the onset of bad news… War had broken out…

Andassis’s northern neighbor, the kingdom of Ertalon had declared a surprise war. With lightning-fast tactics, they had swept up ten territories, and were on course towards the heartlands of the kingdom!

The reason for their rapid progress was simple -the nobles in those lands had surrendered.

This news arrived at the dead of night, rousing the king from his slumber with a fury that nearly blew the palace up…

On the morning of the following day, a visibly older, and visibly tired king came knocking on our lab door with his bodyguard.

Honestly speaking, his visit caught me off-guard. Shouldn’t he be busy working on the war? What was he doing here? A movie?

The majority of his lords had already surrendered to the enemy. Those who did not give up at first quickly did so upon seeing the massive army of the enemy. Even those who chose to fight to the death could do nothing against a giant army of 20000.

With the threat of a giant army on their doorstep, and treacherous nobles to contend with, the kingdom was in turmoil. The peasants were fearful, and the remaining nobles were contemplating switching sides. By this point, the king was on the verge of collapse… So what was he doing here?

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The Nature Elves have a command hierarchy with an elven queen, an elven king, and, finally, the Elder Council.

Their queen serves till death, with each queen said to be born from a fruit of the World Tree, possessing immense magical talents from birth.

Each elven king is chosen from the strongest of warriors, with a tournament held every decade.

The Elder Council is made up of twelve elders, each representing one of the twelve strongest clans.

Nature Elves possess a functional society, focusing on the arts, love and freedom. While they do eat meat, they value life highly, and mostly subsist on a diet of plants and fruits.

——- From <>

“The logic is sound, but the children… they are innocent…”

I paused at that point and gave Andassis the Seventh a compassionate look. At this point, I didn’t need words to tell him what I wanted, unless the old man wants to go senile on me right now!

“Oh, my Nana, you’re just the kindest girl!” Redleaf suddenly chimed in, having found the time at last to stop munching on her snacks. Having done that, she threw a scornful look at Misseger for her callousness.

Even so, the maidservant wasn’t fazed as she retorted sharply, “The dignity of the royal family must not be sullied. An example must be made to remind them that such a transgression is not without a heavy price!”

Just looking at her eagerness, bordering on bloodthirsty, I could tell this was a woman that probably wouldn’t get married!

But as the king’s maid, I guess she wasn’t going to get married anyway…

“Your Majesty, what are your views?”

“Hmm… Lady Mo Na, does make a fair point.” Andassis the Seventh cleared his throat a little to relieve the pressure from my intent stare. “Misseger, I admire your loyalty, but perhaps following Lady Mo Na’s suggestion would be for the best.”

“I… understand and obey, Your Majesty.”

“In that case, once Misseger sorts out the innocent women and children, the rest will be…” a glint of murder flasthed in his eyes, “dealt the capital punishment.”

“Understood.” Misseger bowed. “With your leave, Your Majesty, I will depart to make the preparations.”

“You may go.”

With that, I had done all that I could do. The Viscount had committed a treasonous act, so regardless of my efforts, someone had to hang for his crimes.

Now that our ice queen was gone, our topic shifted to the actual results of the trial combat, and thankfully, the atmosphere was a lot less icy.

“Even if I wasn’t able to witness it myself, after tonight’s unexpected incursion, suffice to say, the power of a magitek armor has surpassed our greatest expectations. It is now a question of mass production.” Andassis the Seventh took the lead with his statement, followed up by a poignant question of his own. “Lady Mo Na, when can this begin? And the cost…”

“The costs of constructing Wyrm was beyond my expectation, I’ll admit, but I need not impress upon Your Majesty the effectiveness of this first prototype. As for when… it can start at a moment’s notice, though, the cost will have to be determined after deliberation with Meister Amori and Belud.”

With Ferti’nier’s help, a mass-production version of the magitek armor could be made available easily, but procuring the ingredients required were not my forte.

“Mhm… a fair point… What time is it now?”

Prince Sersan took out a golden magical pocket watch. “Two hours past midnight, Father.”

“Is it that late already? Let us continue this discussion early in the morning, I do not wish to disturb Lady Mo Na’s rest any further.” Andasiss the Seventh yawned at that point. Not being a young sprightly prince anymore, he was starting to feel the fatigue of the late night, thus this opportunity to rest was a welcome one.

His son, however, wasn’t all too keen on leaving, but even that was quickly remedied by a quick glare.

Before leaving, the king nodded my way one last time. “Lady Mo Na, we’ll take our leave of you now. Have a good rest, we will catch up at noon.”

“As you wish, Your Majesty.”

With my promise in hand, the king and his entourage left.

The prince gave me a longing stare, but quickly turned around as well when he noticed the murderous look thrown his way by his father.

“Have a good rest, Lady Mo Na. Doris, I’ll leave the lady’s care to you.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Yet even after the men were gone, there was still another clingy visitor left behind.

“Aren’t you leaving, Redleaf?”

“Not tonight. I want to sleep with Nana.” She flashed me a smitten smile while she clawed the air in front of me like a hungry wolf. “Come to me, my delicious little Nana.”

“…”

Why does it feel like I’m on the losing end if we sleep on the same bed?

In the end, Redleaf reluctantly got off my bed in exchange for more movies from my electronic AI.

The next day I awoke to the sounds of sniffling in the background. It was only when I was lucid enough to get off my bed that I discovered it was Redleaf who was crying.

“What’s the matter, Redleaf, did someone bully you?”

“No one did, but the leads of this movie are so tragic. They can’t even be together in death… Just the thought of that makes me want to cry…” She started crying again.

“Those movies aren’t real…” I reminded her in an exasperated tone.

“But I still want to cry…”

“… Fine, just cry. Once you’re done crying, you will feel better…”

“Kay.” She answered and actually began crying in earnest.

I swear… does she always have to be so affected by a movie? Is this their nature?

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Redleaf… you’ve really taken this as your own home, haven’t you…

Her wants didn’t go unanswered long before Doris came back with a tray of snacks of sweet creams and honeys. With a smile, Redleaf gladly dug in.

Looking at her enter “afternoon tea” mode, Misseger knew that the elf had no more questions. Turning back to her master, she continued reporting, “Two months ago, Viscount Nollens was found to have secretly transferred his assets to the Kingdom of Ertalon. Thanks to our royal mages, we managed to capture the Viscount before he managed to abscond…”

This revelation was big. There was now a high chance that the mastermind was connected to Ertalon. But why would the personal maid of the King know about how some viscount was secretly transferring his assets to another kingdom two months ago? Especially since he did so secretly.

Clearly, our dear Majesty had his intelligence forces monitoring the entire kingdom, and the person in charge of this department was most likely this mature-looking beauty in front of us!

As for why no one noticed these intruders before they proceeded to intrude… Well, I really didn’t know. Perhaps a mistake? Or perhaps on purpose? Either way, that had nothing to do with me.

But now that we had the culprit responsible for this security lapse, another problem arises. I did not know this Viscount Nollens, and even if he had seen me before, he shouldn’t have known about the progress of the lab.

The progress was a highly-guarded secret, with only the King and the Prince, and perhaps their closest confidants, having access to this information.

If such confidants were responsible for the leak… then this kingdom wasn’t that far off from its doom. In that case, the most likely people to have leaked were those working on the project!

Now, just because the brass of the lab were always fooling around and watching movies, didn’t mean they weren’t tight-lipped when it mattered. Every researcher was monitored as required. Even with his royal ties, Amori had never left the palace since starting on this project, not even once, let alone those under him.

The only way those working underneath him could sneak out this bit of information was if they had some method we weren’t aware of yet.

Some very arcane methods, brimming with fantasy…

“My apologies, a matter has appeared which requires my attention…”

Without warning, Misseger suddenly bade her farewell, having received a signal from an unknown source.

A while later, Misseger came back with news that was no less shocking than her first.

“We’ve captured the traitors. They are a disciple under Meister Belud, and one of the serving girls, along with a bunch of other accomplices who had been bribed…” Misseger began recounting her findings in detail, overturning everything I knew of this world in the process.

Arcane methods? All they needed was a piece of scrap paper an elementary kid used while passing notes…

“Because every person that enters the lab has to be checked by magical arrays; only such crude methods could work… truly, unexpected…” Sersan quipped, having finally found a window for him to squeeze himself into. “Misseger, how did you uncover all this? What admirable efficiency!”

“Just round up everyone in the lab and have their minds checked magically.”

That’s… really crude and effective…

“I see… What about Meister Belud and Amori?” The prince clearly did not expect that answer either.

“I’m sure they will understand once we explain the situation to them.”

“Hah, humans.” Redleaf chimed as well, before returning right away to her tea, munching on a crisp basket, without a care for the annoyed look on Misseger’s face.

Ignoring that bit of derision, Misseger turned to address her own employer’s son in a tone that was neither disrespectful nor respectful, “Your Highness, is there anything else you wish to ask?”

“No. Nothing else…” His smile went crooked, clearly not comfortable with such rough methods. Unfortunately, that only earned him the disappointment of Andassis the Seventh. A fact which he only just realized.

At the end of the day, the Prince was heir to the throne, and a monarch shouldn’t shy away from such decisive methods when necessary. Leaving a loose end often resulted in greater tragedy in the future.

In fact, that last question by Misseger was probably a test, one which the Prince failed. Or at least he showed himself too soft, or average.

Unable to bear with this disappointment any longer, Andassis the Seventh turned to address me, albeit with a beaming smile on his face. “Lady Mo Na, how do you feel we should deal with the Viscount and his family?”

“Their punishment? Is there a need to ask my opinion?”

“As the victim, Lady Mo Na naturally has the right to decide their fates.”

“Oh, is that so?” I was a little taken aback by that. Something felt off, but I didn’t know what. “Right, but what was the original punishment?”

“Hmm…”

Andasiss the Seventh glanced in the direction of Misseger, who immediately got the message and picked up the conversation. “According to the law, their whole clan is to be executed.”

“All of them?”

“You mean… even the children?”

“This is a matter of the Royal Family’s honor!” Misseger answered firmly. “If we do not punish them for their misdeeds, then no one would follow the law. Especially since this matter concerns the kingdom’s secrets.”

“That’s true…”

Even if the punishment was overly harsh and devoid of human rights, it was a punishment of this time. Something minor like human lives was nothing compared to the dignity of the royal family.

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“Lady Mo Na, are you alright?” asked Andassis the Seventh.

“Nana, I heard someone was trying to steal our Wyrm?”

A certain prince who was being glared at by his father: …

“I’m fine, but there was an intruder, as you said, though he did not succeed.” I nodded to those gathered before taking a seat next to Redleaf. “Perhaps Baku would be a better choice to convey the situation.”

Seeing as I was already picking up my coffee to drink, Andassis the Seventh promptly turned to his loyal bodyguard for a continuation.

The scarred man tensed up a little as he started organizing his thoughts. A while later, he began in a deep voice, “The enemies were led by a human overlord by the title of ‘The Magician’, Bardoka. He had two other eight-stars as his vanguards, of which one was a silver-furred werewolf, while the other was a vampire known as the ‘Crimson Mist’. Other than those three, there were twelve human mages who knew dimensional magic… The werewolf managed to escape using a dimensional tool during the chaos, but the rest were all killed by Lady Mo Na. The commonality between them was that they had no faction backing them… perhaps mercenaries…”

As the king patiently listened to the scarred bodyguard, I could catch glimpses of his brows twitching, even a glance or two in my direction. Glances of incomprehension and even fear. However, those only lasted for a second, else I would really have to re-evaluate my safety in this kingdom.

After all, a king was one of the most paranoid occupations around, plots and assassinations abound. According to the setting I gave him, I never once told him I was strong, so he probably saw me as just a harmless offworlder.

Naturally, that last part was no longer true. Seeing as those opponents I defeated were not just any old cat or dog on the street. That vampire alone was at the peak of eight-stars. Had it not been for my sojourn on Gaia, my own strength and that of my Shadow Guardian’s wouldn’t have grown to the point where it could survive that bloody mist.

As for the last opponent I defeated, that was a full-fledged overlord! Definitely your run-of-the-mill opponent.

To put it bluntly, I could kill the king if I wanted, and Baku, his eight-star bodyguard, could do nothing about it.

Thankfully, my performance thus far was flawless, giving my rich king of a backer no reason to doubt me. Though, the look he gave me now was a lot more fervent. An overlord alone could raise the level of a duchy to a kingdom. And while Andassis was clearly of a higher tier than a duchy or a principality, being able to marry an overlord was still highly beneficial for the kingdom’s evolution.

Maybe I can be the Wu Zetian of this world? If I’m willing to give up my principles of a man, a kingdom is practically at my fingertips!

No, no, no… what am I even thinking?!

Amidst my inane musings, Baku managed to recount the rough situation, leaving none of the important details out, including my Inferno Lion.

“Nana, you’re a summoner?” Redleaf grabbed my hands and began swinging it about in excitement. “Quick, let me have a look at your cute little fire kitty!”

Fire kitty?

I bet my Inferno Lion would be hopping if it heard that…

“Now’s not the time for messing around, and my Inferno Lion is meant for combat, not for petting.” I rejected her with a crossed look.

“Your Majesty,” I turned to look at Andassis the Seventh, “I do not think this was a mere coincidence. That intruder appeared right as Wyrm was complete, and was even able to infiltrate the palace so easily and slay a dozen guards… Furthermore, the leader of the group did not seem to have seen me before, he knew of me… this was no coincidence!”

Ever since I came back to the Western Human Realms, my life was very discreet. Of those who have seen me, they were all the king’s men.

So how did the mastermind know of me? There had to be a traitor.

“We’re of the same mind, then. Adding up all these circumstances, there was no way this was a mere coincidence.” Andassis the Seventh agreed with narrowed eyes, burning with an anger that could barely be contained. When he finally continued, his voice was noticeably darker. “Perhaps these last few years of peace has left everyone complacent…”

An ominous statement, one even more so because it was said by a king. While I might not know Andassis the Seventh personally, when a monarch said that, a power shuffle was imminent.

Just then, a set of hurried footsteps interrupted us, followed closely by the sound of the door opening.

“Your Majesty, we’ve found the culprit. It was Viscount Nollens who let those intruders into the lab… as for the person who leaked the information… we are still searching…”

It was Misseger, the king’s personal maid, who brought us this news. It was also then that I realized the king had been missing one of his usual entourage. In other words, before I had arrived, he had already sent out someone to investigate.

As I would expect of a king like him -he doesn’t miss a beat. Yet for every smart person like him, there were a dozen stupid ones.

“Already?” Redleaf gasped in surprise. “But how do you know which unfortunate soul is our traitor?”

Misseger looked at Redleaf for a second. She knew this was a woman who even her boss would not offend, thus she answered dutifully, “Tonight’s guard duty was handled by the Viscount…”

“That’s all?”

“Even if this was an honest mistake, it’s serious enough for capital punishment.”

“Hmm, true.” Redleaf nodded, though I could see she felt a little embarrassed for having to ask such an obvious question. She straightened her back and as if nothing had happened at all, said to Doris, “Go fetch me some refreshments, I’m feeling a little peckish…”

And off she went…

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“Can you be any more of a dead meat…”

Ahhh! I’ve been made fun of by Ferti’nier again! No, this mustn’t stand!

Channelling the rage from the maligned blame, I yelled the chant at the top of my lungs. With gusto. “Wyrm Transformation: Activate!!”

As arcane words filled the air, I could feel the earring on my left earlobe explode with dimensional magic, enveloping me in darkness. A moment later, I found myself within a sealed space.

This is… the cockpit of Wyrm…

The controls of Wyrm were modelled to be basically the same as an exosuit. By using meditation stones, I was able to completely sync up with Wyrm, meaning this entire magitek armor was now an extension of my body.

Why do I feel like I’m back on Gaia again…

“Oh? The view isn’t half bad. Now. Let’s start on Wyrm’s combat test.”

Her timely reminder brought me back to reality. I swept my eyes over the twelve black-robed casts still in the midst of carving that array around me. With a mere thought, I commanded the Heavensbreak system to split up into 72 rhombohedrons, spinning right towards each of them like deadly shurikens.

Thanks to the suddenness of this attack, they did not even have time to blink before they were all chopped up into pieces.

“Blast! How did you get in there?!”

In a mere breath, the tables had been turned. The casters were dead, and that masked jester knew his miscalculation had allowed his opponent to mount a comeback.

“Territory: Boundless Will!” He thrust his hand up and yelled. As the invisible Territory washed over the entire room, Wyrm’s movement became sluggish as if I was in quicksand. Even the 72 rhombohedrons of Heavensbreak stopped dead two meters before the man.

“This time, I won’t hold back, Lady Mo Na, just be still and wait for me there. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt when I tear apart that armor, limb by limb! I’m sure they won’t mind if I bring back the parts instead; they can always put it back together.”

“A psychic Territory, how interesting… but that’s just perfect for testing out Wyrm’s Pseudo-Territory Resistance.”

Pseudo-Territory Resistance… That’s right, the array system which Redleaf helped to carve onto every scale of this armor. The composite array known as the Pseudo-Territory Resistance!

As long as the mana was available, this ability could block most effects of a Territory; this jester’s Territory happened to be in the job scope.

But do I need to chant to activate it again? You know what, now’s not the time for choosing.

“Pseudo-Territory Resistance!”

The scales on Wyrm immediately burned a bright red, following which I felt the pressure on Wyrm disappear in an instant!

“Impossi–”

And he was dead… the 72 rhombohedrons flew right into him unimpeded, now that the wall blocking them was gone. Practically mincemeat at this point!

So, it’s over? Doesn’t feel real, to be honest. I thought he was going to put up more of a fight… maybe he’s a fake?

Oh right, there’s still that werewolf outside, my Inferno Lion wouldn’t be able to defeat him alone.

Being my personal magitek armor, Wyrm was equipped with flying arrays, of which the cost of carving them were high -but His Majesty had the money anyway!

Having rich friends really does pay off!

Now that the big bad boss in the lab was taken care of, I eagerly flew off to find the silver-furred werewolf whom I left behind. However, I arrived only to find a certain scarred bodyguard with his guards, coming to help late as always, like a bunch of movie cops. Because the troops hadn’t seen my Inferno Lion before, the scene was a right mess, with no one able to tell if either my lioness or that werewolf were the true enemies, or both. Even if both of them were fighting each other…

Baku had the bright idea to have the troops circle the two of them while they watched, however that ended up blocking me from entering the scene immediately. That and the fact that the other ordinary troops hadn’t seen me in Wyrm before; the sudden arrival of a gigantic scaly armor looked every bit like another enemy ambush.

But the werewolf was under no such illusion. The moment he laid eyes on me, he knew the plan had failed. Thus in the midst of the chaos, he activated his own dimensional escape tool…

“Lady Mo Na, is that you?” As the bodyguard of the king, Baku had naturally seen Wyrm before. While he might have reacted with wariness when he first spotted me, he quickly understood that I was on his side. “Lady Mo Na, are you all right?”

At three meters tall, I was towering over the nearly two meters tall Baku by a whole meter. Coupled with the fact that I was covered in monstrous red scales, I must have looked like a frightful sight to the soldiers.

“I’m fine, the enemies inside have been taken care of by me, you can send your men in.”

With a click, the back of Wyrm parted, allowing me to easily dismount from the machine. This was the actual manner of entering and leaving Wyrm. The Dragonscale Earring was actually the pilot’s key. A key which Ferti’nier had specifically kept hidden. Even I knew about it recently, let alone those intruders.

In fact, the existence of this armor was known only to a scant few. Yet we encountered an attack on the night it was finished, and by an overlord…

Even if that overlord was now nothing but mincemeat, he wasn’t weak at all. Had it not been for the surprise of losing his Territory, Heavensbreak wouldn’t have been able to mount a surprise attack on him at all.

But more importantly, who was the one who leaked this information to that jester.

Seems like I need to have a talk with Andassis the Seventh.

“Is His Majesty nearby? Bring me to him.”

“Right now?” Baku was surprised but quickly nodded. “Alright, His Majesty has specifically stated that Lady Mo Na can visit him at any time.”

Ten minutes later, I was in my apartment with Andassis the Seventh, Sersan, and Redleaf. The three of them were currently being served tea by Doris…

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The enemies carving an array into the room had me very worried, especially when it was a massive ten meter wide array. Furthermore, the carvings were highly intricate; I couldn’t even begin to fathom what they meant with my limited arcane knowledge.

Not that it mattered. As long as Ferti’nier, our resident Devil King, understood the array, we were fine.

“That’s a teleportation array, they are trying to move the Wyrm away by force. Had they kept this array hidden for longer, we might have been in trouble, but thankfully, we still have five minutes to spare.”

All right, let’s get to it!

With a focus in mind, I ordered my Shadow Guardian to disrupt the unfinished array.

However, those twelve casters had already noticed me the moment I entered, let alone while I was considering my next plan of action. In spite of that, none of them even deigned to look me in the eye. Like an unfeeling robot, they proceeded with their frantic carving without skipping a beat.

It was about then that my Shadow Guardian emerged eerily from the ground, its hand curved into a reaper’s scythe aimed right at one of the black-robed caster’s backs.

But just when I thought that I had them, a shockwave so powerful even the naked eye could see the distortions shook the room, blasting away the shadowy scythe…

What the heck?!

“A Territory -there’s an overlord hiding somewhere.”

What! Why didn’t you say something earlier?

“I thought you had some inkling when you sent your Shadow Guardian ahead. There were two eight-stars acting as door guards after all; isn’t it obvious that the person guarding the core would only be more powerful?

I… was just being cautious there… I did just get blown up…

“Hah. And here I was thinking our little brother got smarter.”

I… sorry, for being dumb…

“Oh?” Just as I was on the verge of being chewed to nothingness by Ferti’nier, a jester-esque person stepped out of the shadows. The man wore a dove-tailed, black suit, matched with an eerie-looking half white on the crying side, half black on the laughing side mask. “To think I had the fortune of meeting the legendary Lady Mo Na. Seems like luck is on my side.”

“More like your luck has finally failed you.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s right, bub.”

“Bub?”

The masked man clearly did not understand that “bub” was just informal speech. The fact that he was actually mulling over it right now showed he was quite a stickler for details.

While the masked man was busy, my Shadow Guardian took the opportunity to rebound for a counter-attack. In barely no time at all, its twin blades were swinging towards the man’s back.

“Lady Mo Na’s little toys are always so adorable. Too bad, they won’t work on me.”

An instant before the blades were about to hit, the masked man’s hand shot up, and just like before, my Shadow Guardian was rebuffed by a wall of force… like a ping pong ball against a paddle…

“We’re already in his range of attack, and his abilities do not seem normal either. Little Brother, you’d best be careful, his Territory is undoubtedly strong.”

But, Ferti’nier, even with my lacking strength, I’m sure with your help unlocking my full potential, an overlord should be no problem at all.

“Ah, my dear Little Brother, weren’t you just saying you wanted to test out Wyrm?”

It can theoretically go up against an overlord, but that hasn’t been tested yet. More importantly… it’s over there!

“No worries, your big sis has already been preparing on that front.”

As I was mentally conversing with Ferti’nier, the jester front of me smiled triumphantly, most likely because he mistook my silence for fear. “Lady Mo Na, I suggest you surrender now. I wouldn’t want to have to harm a beautiful lady like you.”

“Hah, you think you’ve won?”

While I might not know what preparations she was talking about, Ferti’nier had always come through for me in a pinch; I trusted her unreservedly. And since the other party was dead set on declaring his victory so prematurely, it’s only right of me to burst his bubble.

“Oh, does Lady Mo Na still have some cards to play?” The jester cocked his head. “The array is almost done, but I wouldn’t mind having some fun before that?”

While the jester continued gloating, a small object quietly appeared in my palms; a gift of sorts from Ferti’nier.

“That’s the Dragonscale Earring, an accessory crafted from the core scale of a red dragon, situated right in the center of its skull. It has already been bound to Wyrm. Little Brother, put it on, and you can use it to reverse summon yourself into the cockpit.”

I just have to put it on? That’s it? That’s quite convenient.

Then without waiting for her to reply, I hurriedly clipped on the earring on my left earlobe. It was carved from a small reddish scale into the shape of a heart -the very girly kind… And even though I had never pierced my ear before, the moment it came into contact with my ear lobe, it automatically pierced into my lobe without resistance.

“You’re finished!” I declared with the utmost of confidence, then… nothing happened…

Five seconds later…

“Lady Mo Na, was that it?” Actually on guard for a moment, the jester sounded visibly amused as he said that -I could tell despite his masked visage that he was on the verge of tears. “If this is your idea of a joke, I must admit, you’ve beaten me.”

Awkward…

Ferti’nier! What the heck was that, didn’t you say I could reverse summon myself into the cockpit? I even threatened him because I believed you. So where’s my summoning?

Now everyone will think I’m socially awkward!

“But, Little Brother, your big sis didn’t even finish speaking before you rushed off in a fit of excitement. Since it’s a reverse summoning, there’s naturally going to be a chant involved, right?”

A chant? What is it? Quick!

“The chant is– Wyrm Transformation: ACTIVATE! With gusto, or it won’t work.”

You’re kidding… and with gusto too…

“Lady Mo Na, why have you gone quiet again? Perhaps… a lesson is in order, I doubt you will listen otherwise.”

Amidst my mental breakdown over having to say that awkward-sounding chant, I suddenly felt a giant, invisible hand grab me, like how a human would grab the nape of a small animal…

Damn it, now I can’t even move… What the heck is this!

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“O Lion’s Majesty… By my command, bless thy emissary with new life… Come forth… burn all that stands before me to nothingness!”

At the end of the day Inferno Lion was just just an elemental creature; its death only meant it had to be resummoned. And with Ferti’nier’s recovery potions, even that wasn’t an issue.

“Be wary, Little Brother, that explosive trap just now was powerful. Anyone able to set up such an array on such short notice wouldn’t be a pushover.”

Speaking of traps, couldn’t you have warned me earlier, Ferti’nier? How about some heads-up next time?

“It’s just a death, take it as a lesson so you don’t get ahead of yourself.”

Ahead of myself? How am I getting ahead of myself?

Actually, let’s not argue about that now, but I want a warning next time there’s a trap.

“If your big sis is in the mood.”

…what good is a cheat if it’s so unreliable.

But since she’s not feeling helpful right now, maybe I should get those three elementals to lead the way instead.

Hopping onto my newly resummoned inferno lion, I quickly followed up by conjuring up my elementals. Weaker as they were, they would be perfect as mine rats to test for dangers ahead.

Under my emotionless command, the three of them proceeded onwards past the rubble of the lab doorway. However, they had barely taken a couple more steps before a flash of silver struck, followed by their instant explosive demise…

“A woman?”

A deep, booming voice preceded the arrival of a three-meter tall, silver-furred werewolf blocking the way ahead. It was he who slew the three elementals I summoned in one swipe. That lightning-fast strike was beyond what any normal human could achieve, bordering on the supernatural.

In other words, this werewolf had the speed of an overlord or a near-equivalent.

But even then, how could he kill off three elemental creatures like that? After all, beings of pure elements weren’t easy to kill- there had to be some trick to his attacks.

However, there was no time for idle chat with my opponent. Not even to bait out information; he was clearly here to stall for time.

In that case, there’s nothing to do but forge on!

“Inferno Lion, charge ahead!”

Back arched for a pounce, its fiery paws burst to life as it took to the air. Unfortunately, even its impressive leap wasn’t enough to shake off the silver-furred werewolf.

Once more, in a flash of silver, the werewolf struck, and an entire leg was severed from the Inferno Lion.

Without its rear right leg, its body began to topple, nearly tossing me off its back in the process.

However, the werewolf’s attack did not end there. Like an unstoppable lightning, it had already circled past the inferno lion and was heading straight for my heart.

All that happened in the blink of an eye, leaving me without a second to react before I was met with impending doom…

Yet when all looked lost, a blade suddenly appeared in my right hand, and as if it had a mind of its hand, the blade swung right in the path of the werewolf’s claws!

Flesh met steel as I was greeted with that grisly but comforting sensation of my sword meeting its mark.

“Be careful there, Little Brother, that strike nearly took your life.”

That was quick thinking there, Ferti’nier… at least you’re finally being useful.

“How rude!”

Naturally, I ignored her griping and focused on providing more mana to my inferno lion, allowing it to rapidly regrow its leg. At that point, I decided to just jump off its back.

“Help me stall him, I’ll make the entry myself.”

“Roar!!”

In a time-sensitive operation like this, only a fool would assume that this werewolf was the only thief trying to steal my Wyrm. Now that he was injured, my inferno lion should be able to buy me a precious few seconds to reach the magitek armor before it was too late.

“Blast! What are you doing with that accursed weapon! Come back here! Damn lioness…”

His pointless howling echoed in the hallway behind me. As I continued dashing ahead, I called forth my Shadow Guardian to scout the road ahead for further ambushes.

Ever since I absorbed Shadowfang, the strength of Shadow Guardian only grew by the day. In some aspects, it was even stronger than me, its owner. Sending it ahead should suffice…

There was only one door separating me and Wyrm. That and a handsome, blonde-haired young man, dressed in the typical garb of a noble, and poised as you would expect of one. “This road is barred, I’m afraid.”

“A vampire?”

The man oozed with the ominous smell of blood. Coupled with his ostentatious dress and ruby-red eyes, I instantly figured out who he was.

His eyes held a crazed spark within them, but only for a brief moment before he calmed his fury down with a false smile. “My fair lady, I believe you’re mistaken there. I’m no vampire. We are all children of the night, the favored of the moon, the noble Bloodkin!”

“When did you vampires get together with the werewolves?”

This wasn’t my first run-in with a vampire, thus I knew nothing would irk them more than calling them vampires, especially twice.

“Oh, my lady…” He started, but never got to finish his words as my Shadow Guardian stretched out into a blade-like form, meeting his turned neck with its razor-sharp edge…

There was no blood spurt as I would expect. The vampire hadn’t been hit by the shadowy blade at all. In fact, he still had on that smile while the rest of his body had already transformed into a blood fog that engulfed the entirety of Shadowfang!

“Even though this is no creature of flesh and blood, my blood fog has the ability to corrode anything in this world…” However, he never got to finish this sentence either before his face suddenly contorted. “How… how is it an epic-grade…”

Wrapped up in blood fog, the Shadow Guardian undid its transformation, revealing a two-meter long, blackish greatsword that promptly swung down on the vampire’s head like it was a cake.

This time, there was no escaping death for the monster. And now that its prey was defeated, the Shadow Guardian returned to the darkness.

“Next time, try actually fighting instead of showing off… if there’s even a next time…” I triumphantly stepped over the corpse of my fresh prey and entered the storage location of Wyrm.

What entered my view were a dozen black-robed figures frantically carving a giant array into the floor. In the center of this array was a dome that kept Wyrm safe.

“A dimensional barrier: once deployed, even an overlord would be hard-pressed to break it. Whad’ya think of your big sis’s anti-theft system?”

What else is there to say but “well done!”

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Why am I doing this? It’s all to boost the fighting capabilities of the Western Human Realms, isn’t it? So that the humans won’t just go extinct during the Apocalypse!

“To protect the world from devastation. To unite the world in… peace and love… Basically that…”

Almost sounded like a certain rocket there…

“In that case, Lady Mo Na’s magitek armor should have a name worthy of her lofty ideals.” Amori paused for a second, then upon noticing my stunned silence, laughed. “How about I have the honor of christening it the Messiah”!

The Messiah? Kind of ostentatious, isn’t it?

“That’s good, that name is not bad at all!”

“It’s a good name… but the Adamantite King wasn’t bad either…”

Redleaf and Meister Belud were in agreement for once; they really did find the name to be both imposing and oozing with justice.

However, I hadn’t voiced my opinion yet, causing some deal of consternation in Meister Amori. “Lady Mo Na, does the name not please you?”

“No… rather, it sounds too pretentious…”

“Definitely, but is saving the world not the point of this project?”

“…”

Just like that, the first magitek armor was christened the “Wyrm” of the Messiah series. Any further magitek armor modelled after the Wyrm would be known as the Messiah-class.

With the advent of the first magitek armor, a slew of further research would only follow. Soon, a host of other variants would come to being as well. Hopefully, this would help stem the tide of the Apocalypse…

Now that the naming was over and done with, everyone returned to their individual rooms to rest, leaving only the guards to watch over the completed armor.

Even though no one had tested the suit out, I could already tell that its systems would allow me to fight toe to toe with an overlord.

Upon returning to my own room, I found that the excitement of the day had gotten the better of me, thus I pulled Doris over for a couple of movies. Finally, at the stroke of midnight, I was able to catch some sleep. Or rather, I had to, unless I wanted a splitting headache tomorrow.

Then it happened…

“Little brother, you need to wake up, quick. There has been an unknown intruder in the lab. Some rat is trying to make off with your magitek armor. You need to hurry.”

???

What the heck? A machine-theft scenario?

That’s right… don’t all Gundamns start like that?

Whenever a new model is developed, the enemy always turns up to try and steal it!

This is fate! Especially since my Wyrm is clearly more powerful than some over-merchandised robot! It would be insulting if no one wanted to steal it!

But why am I even considering that when someone is trying to steal my own suit?

…

Someone is stealing my suit!

That cur. I’m going to turn him into hotdogs once I get my hands on him!

“You understand the situation now? Fortunately, your big sis had the foresight to install an anti-theft system. That was what gave us the warning. Little brother, you had best act quickly. While your big sis doesn’t feel that there’s any human who could break her security arrays in such a short time, you can never know.”

Shet, sorry for being a little addled…

I jumped off the bed, quickly threw on a pair of pants, not even bothering to take off my pajamas, instead putting on a black cape over it. “Doris, there’s been an intrusion in the lab. I’m heading there now to stop the thief, you’d best be careful yourself!”

“Lady Mo Na? Where are you going?” Situated next to my room, Doris barely climbed out of bed in time to watch me race out the door.

Upon exiting the apartment building, my first instinct was to spread open my wings, but I immediately stopped myself.

I can’t reveal myself yet…this is the Western Human Realms, and this is the palace of Andassis, not Gaia.

The purple wings of a fallen angel was the equivalent of royalty, and if someone were to see me… I would be in trouble, to say the least…

Looks like I’m running…

“Inferno Lion!” I summoned forth my inferno lion in its normal size and leapt onto it with ease. “To the lab!”

Naturally, the inferno lion understood where I meant thanks to our shared link. With a kick of its flaming paws, it sped off like a blazing rocket, not at all slower than my wings.

In under a minute, the entrance to the lab came into view.

The doorway was a bloodbath. Each of the dozen or so guards had fallen, their finely-crafted armors no use against the impending death.

The normally sealed shut doors were flung wide open, yet to reach the lab, there was still a hundred meter long tunnel to traverse.

“Inferno Lion, forward!

I commanded without hesitation. Unfortunately, the enemy was already prepared. The moment my summon stepped through that door, an intricate, red array burst to life. Like a waiting mine, it blew apart the ten meter tall, reinforced doors of the lab…

Boom…

A tremor shook the area around us. My inferno lion instantly vaporized from the ensuing blast, while I was flung unceremoniously from its back.

The shockwave threw me against the walls next to the entranceway. My ears rang painfully from the blast and my eyes swirled uncontrollably. The only thing I knew was that I had fallen for a trap…

That red array was clearly powered by fire magicks, but the resulting explosion was purely a physical attack. Thanks to that, the Inferno Lion was blown apart.

In its normal state, it had the power of a seven-star, and for it to just die like that…

This was a difficult opponent we had on our hands…

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In the blink of an eye, three months of research and development were over and done with. The magitek armor was complete, and ready for testing tomorrow.

During these three months, our uninvited researcher, the ever talkative Redleaf, wasn’t entirely a nuisance as she first seemed. While she might have griped about the armor at first, the moment she realized this was to be my personal suit, she promptly changed her tune, even going so far as to improve the suit.

Although, if we were being perfectly honest here, she was more focused on making it beautiful. And thanks to that, our development was lengthened by half a month…

In her own words, a lumbering hunk of metal like that is an affront to our Nana’s beauty. But what would you expect from Stubby? His sense of beauty is even more non-existent than his height. Now, step aside and let a master work!

Just like that, the lab created a three meter tall suit of armor, covered from head to toe in red dragon scales, forged to slender elegance, sporting a resplendent set of 72 red metallic rhombohedrons arranged like wings.

It was a work of art, undoubtedly. Even those red metallic rhombohedrons were covered in red dragon scales, giving the entire armor a draconic warrior-esque look.

The main reactor of this armor was the crystalline core of a red dragon overlord. Thanks to dragons being innately replete with mana, the capacity of this dragon crystal was five to ten times that of an equivalent magical beast crystal. The internal structure itself was forged from the bones of a red dragon, and if one were to count in the red dragon scales painstakingly arranged by Redleaf, this was truly a red dragon in all but name… a moment of silence for our brave comrade’s sacrifice…

No wonder dragons have always hated humans… eating their meat and drinking blood probably didn’t help either…

Aesthetics aside, the main weapon was a pure-red dragonslayer greatsword measuring 350 cm in length, 290 cm for its blade, and 30 cm wide. In exchange for this weapon, and in no small part due to Redleaf nudging the dwarven meister, I was to screen ten movies for the master blacksmith.

Naturally, the weapon was steeped in dragon blood, an epic-grade weapon, through and through.

This massive weapon was actually forged by Meister Belud when he still wasn’t a meister. In order to earn that prestigious title, he wanted to forge a great weapon, thus he came up with this dragonslayer greatsword. Back then, he was hailed as a genius blacksmith amongst the dwarves, and that pushed him to seek to create a great weapon as proof of his worthiness to the title.

Unfortunately, the resulting weapon wasn’t an epic-grade. Even with all the precious materials and effort he poured into the weapon, he failed. The shock struck him like lightning.

But the genius that he was soon thought of a solution for this problem: steeping the weapon in the blood of a powerful magical beast to enhance it.

As ambitious as ever, he wanted only the best for his weapon. Thus did he decide to use a pureblood red dragon’s blood.

However, a pureblooded dragon’s blood was exceedingly rare. Most such dragons live on the Dragon Isles, only a scant few ever roam outside of those islands. Even then, they tended to be discreet. Such dragons weren’t allowed to be hunted, so to speak, lest one incurred the wrath of the Dragon Isles. There was once a kingdom that dared flout this rule, and it was now history.

The only dragons that could be hunted were those that had been exiled to the human realms, perhaps for their evil deeds, or whatnot. These dragons did not enjoy the protection of the Dragon Isles, not unless they somehow managed to prove their worth once more.

A dragon may prove their worth by successfully becoming a Demigod. The elders and Dragon King were all Demigods. An alternative would be to survive 100 years of being hunted in the human realms… an option that was in no way less difficult than becoming a Demigod, but it was an alternative.

However, the fact that dragons had such an alternative would imply they had prior arrangements with the various major races of the world to help them punish said dragons.

Yet such an arrangement was also a testament to how their race did not wish to execute one of their own, not without the most egregious of reasons. The birth rates amongst the dragons had always been chronically low. Thanks to that, their population number was always a precarious balancing game.

Bringing all that back to the present, the whole reason why Meister Belud was serving in the kingdom of Andasssis was all because of our brave comrade, the Red Dragon…

In fact, the dragonslayer greatsword in question was the very weapon used to slay our dear comrade. The boiling fresh blood washed over the massive weapon by a tidal wave, enhancing it to an epic-grade weapon in one fell swoop!

Even so, the Meister had to serve as the kingdom’s head blacksmith for twenty as part of his deal.

The weapon itself was fashioned with brute force in mind. Other than its unparalleled sharpness quality, the blade would be wreathed in flames when swung, causing severe burns on any target struck. Naturally, this greatsword was extra lethal to dragonkind, though it was also effective against other larger magical beasts, albeit at a lower rate. And to top it all off, this greatsword had the ability to summon a dragon soul to its wielder’s aid, though it required an inordinate amount of mana.

Other than the dragonslayer greatsword, the magitek armor came equipped with magical arrays hidden beneath shoulder flaps that functioned as mana cannons.

Essentially, these mana cannons fired off projectiles of pure mana –Arcane Bolts

As an offensive spell, Arcane Bolt wasn’t particularly exceptional. But thanks to Ferti’nier’s adjustments to the arrays, and the fact that the armor’s mana reactor was an overlord dragon’s crystal, the improved mana cannons were able to fire out Arcane Bolts the size of a football -more than enough to kill off a fully armed two-star warrior. More importantly, these projectiles had an additive effect on subsequent hits. As long as the projectiles kept peppering this same target, the projectiles would grow more powerful with each hit. Theoretically, one could fire off these projectiles in a fully-automatic manner and defeat any foe.

Next were the 72 rhombohedrons metallic plates that functioned as wings. Naturally, these were modelled after an angel’s wings, with each rhombohedron being 35 cm long. These were known as the Wings of Heavensbreak, a very imposing name… one that Belud and Redleaf argued over for three whole days. In fact, Meister Belud only won the naming rights after offering up his masterpiece greatsword for what was essentially free. He just felt the name suited the armor better.

That was definitely a scam… it did not matter that Belud was grinning from ear to ear when he heard he was going to watch ten movies…

And honestly, this obsession with heavens was bordering on unhealthy. The market nowadays was either “Blazing Heavens” this or “Defying the Heavens” that…

But back to more important matters, the Heavensbreak system of 72 metallic rhombohedrons were the most unique weapon system equipped on this magitek armor. They could split up into 72 individual blades that could be fired at enemies. They could form up into a floating shield or even to slice. Truly, a perfect marriage of form and function… which was only to be expected, given it was designed by Redleaf. I bet in her elven eyes, the former was the most important factor.

As a whole, my personal magitek armor had other idiosyncrasies, but that was for another day. It was just strong, and that was what mattered. Defensively, it had the scales of an overlord dragon, enhanced by a hardening array Ferti’nier gave to me, which I handed to Redleaf.

Speaking of this array, Redleaf was beside herself when she learnt of it. Not only did she engrave every single scale with that array, she did so happily. Thanks to her hard work, I merely had to expand some mana to resist the Territory of an overlord.

This unique ability was named the pseudo-Territory resistance by Ferti’nier. But despite her assurances, there was no telling how true this ability was to its namesake till we actually tested it. And tomorrow was the date of that test -kind of exciting, actually.

“How about a christening? Even without a test, I’m sure this magitek armor would perform admirably!”

As I gazed at the towering red suit of armor before me, my eyes glistened with excitement. If I could, I would ride it into battle right now!

“How about the Adamantite King?” The dwarven meister immediately perked up when he heard we were naming it. “That’s an impressive-sounding name!”

“As if!” Redleaf objected. “How about the Draconic Hero? It’s an armor made of a red dragon, it only stands to reason that the name fits this!”

“Maybe not… The name just doesn’t sit well with me.”

Hero… aren’t they supposed to kill devils?

“Hah! Lady Mo Na doesn’t like your names either.”

“Shut up, Stubby.”

“Like my short legs ever blocked you from watching a movie!”

“Like I ever cared. I just don’t like Stubbies like you!”

“You looking for a fight?”

“Bring it on!”

“All right, that’s enough! Otherwise no one is watching a movie tonight.”

The two of them immediately fell silent… Geez, why do I always get stuck with people who can’t seem to think of a good name…

It was then that I noticed the smiling elderly man watching us from the sidelines.

That’s right… There’s still one more person here. I can ask him for his opinion. No matter how you cut it, Meister Amori seems like a cultured man.

“Meister Amori, would you happen to have any suggestion for the name?

As if he was waiting for this very moment, Amori broke into a wider grin and nodded. “Since Lady Mo Na has requested of me as such, then may I first start by asking what is the purpose of this armor?”

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The next day after Andassis the Seventh was forcefully dragged over, nothing had really changed. Doris woke me up and helped me with my morning ritual. But when it was time for breakfast, Redleaf happily skipped in and joined me for a meal, after which we left for the underground lab.

From today onwards, Redleaf was a member of our little research group. Her job was to… monitor our work. Simply put, she was the new boss of this lab…

As always, the lab chugged along like a well-oiled machine. Yet the moment she stepped in, she started complaining about how the lab was stuffy. How the forging temperatures were too high. And how the prototypes looked like a pile of scrap metal. Essentially, nothing was right…

Upon learning that I had a room of my own, Redleaf promptly dragged me into it…

“Nana, let’s watch a movie!”

Looking into her golden pupils, I couldn’t help but find myself at a loss for words, though not in the way one would expect.

Lady, aren’t you here to be our supervisor?! Are you sure now’s the time for movies?

“But Redleaf, aren’t you here for work?”

“Work?” Redleaf was surprised for a moment, but she quickly remembered what I was referring to and said, “Oh, that? That brat, Amori, can handle it for me. Enough stalling, let’s watch some movies! A zombie one!”

Brat? He’s at least fifty years old… I get it now, Redleaf is basically the highest authority in this kingdom; even the king has to satisfy her whims. Well, in that case…

I had Lingling pull out a zombie flick that I had stored up for a long time, and one that I hadn’t watched either. Surprisingly, Redleaf wasn’t repulsed by those zombies. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying the movie.

“Humans really are masters at killing themselves.” She commented as she watched the male lead fight for scraps with the survivors, causing some of his own teammates to perish in the process. “But these human alchemists are quite accomplished in their arts. It’s no small feat to turn a few hundred thousand people into zombies in just days. Even a devil invasion might not produce so many casualties.”

There was no disputing that fact.

Actually the elves weren’t a monolithic race either. As far as I knew, Dark Elves were an offshoot of the Nature Elves. Their differing religions led to a schism and worsening relations. But unlike the humans, neither branch engaged in large-scale warfare, though I’m sure it took considerable effort to achieve such a state.

“Knock. Knock. Knock.”

Just as I was pondering over Redleaf’s quips, I heard a set of knocks on the door, followed by the gruff voice of Belud the dwarven blacksmith. “Lady Mo Na, may I come in?”

“Hold on a second.”

I paused the movie and closed the holographic screen. Having done that, I turned to look at Doris, signalling for her to open the door. Redleaf was decidedly unhappy about this disruption, judging by the creases between her brows.

“What are you doing here, Stubby? Can’t you see this is a girls-only party?”

The dwarven meister glared at Redleaf for a second but said nothing more. Instead, he handed over an alloy sample to me and started reporting. “Lady Mo Na, this is the new alloy. Its durability has surpassed magicite, and its conductivity does not lag behind either. As of right now, this is the most perfect sample we’ve produced. I’m sure it can serve as the main material of the shield you requested. Have a look.”

I held the still-warm alloy in my hands and couldn’t discern anything useful, thus I handed it back to him. “I’m afraid I’m not very versed in this field. Meister Belud, if you’re okay with the results, then so am I.”

“All right, we will use this.” Belud handed over the alloy sample to his disciple, and in the most official-sounding tone ever, said, “Take it, I still have some matters to discuss with Lady Mo Na. You’ve already seen the process, so I’ll leave the rest to you. Do a good job, once I’m done here I’ll go check up on you.”

The dwarven meister’s disciple was a stout man in his thirties. Squarish face, with an oily short hairstyle. His body had the distinct odor of sweat, and his arms were thicker than a girl’s thighs.

He was stunned at first by his teacher’s trust, his eyes turning red soon after. “Teacher, you’re really leaving this to me?”

“Yes, yes. And do a good job of it. Amongst my pupils, you’re the most talented, so I’m expecting much from you.”

“Understood! I won’t let you down!”

Oh you sweet, innocent child… For some reason I felt the need to say that to him…

Now that his disciple was gone, Redleaf finally snapped at the dwarven meister. “So why are you still here, Stubby?”

“I have something to discuss with Lady Mo Na, that’s why.”

“Well, then start discussing and scram.”

“Meister Belud, what is it you wish to ask me?”

“Lady Mo Na…. so… what are we watching today?”

“Huh?”

Ten minutes later…

“The head! Hit the head! That’s the weak point!”

“For a mere zombie to have three stages of transformation, are all otherworldly zombies so powerful?”

“Those “guns” seem quite powerful as well, perhaps I can try replicating them…”

Even though this wasn’t his first movie, Meister Belud was still as boisterous as before. To the point where Redleaf’s own enjoyment had reached rock bottom.

“I say, that’s enough out of you. If you’re here to watch the movie, watch it! And stop being such a nuisance! Otherwise, scram!”

“Hah, all I did was talk. Not like a certain someone who wanted to throw a spell at the screen.”

“Huh? Would you care to repeat that, Stubby?”

“Once I invent a gun, you will be the first to taste it!”

“In what? A hundred years? Just go back to your digging, the esoteric arts of alchemy aren’t meant for the likes of you.”

“Just you watch, I will succeed!”

In the end, no one watched the movie…

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Before the dwarf could leave, however, Redleaf calmly hopped off my body, chest upright and eyes scornfully looking at the blacksmith who barely reached up to her chest. “I was wondering who it was that was speaking -so it’s you, shortie.”

Acidic as always, I see…

“Hah, an old hag like you shouldn’t be acting so young either. You’re like what? A few centuries old?”

“Who are you calling a hag, Stubby!”

“And what’s wrong with short legs? Did they cause you to age?”

“There’s nothing wrong with being short, it just hurts my neck to have to look down so much.”

An arrow right to the heart, I could already see the dwarf turning visibly redder as she kept digging at his sore spot.

Maybe I should stop them soon… Yes, I should!

“Meister Belud, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

“Oh, Doris came to the lab not too long ago…” Belud started explaining without much thought, but the moment he spoke of the lab, he quickly stopped. He sneaked a glance towards the impatient elf at my side, then continued, “Doris said you won’t be coming in today, so I was a little worried, that’s all…”

“I wasn’t planning to interrupt…”

No, you weren’t! That was just a movie screening, how did this apocalyptic scene even happen?! It’s all Redleaf’s fault! Not the movie!

“I didn’t expect you two to be so passionate…” He paused awkwardly. “Forget I said anything. Since Lady Mo Na is fine, I will take my leave, there is still a mountain of work to be ironed out. And that old hag just rubs my beard the wrong way.”

Having said that, he just left without even looking at Redleaf.

“Stubby, who did you say was old?”

“A good dwarven man doesn’t fight with a woman!”

This time, he left for real.

“Hmph! Damned Stubby! How infuriating!” She griped under her breath. Yet while she might not be in the best of moods, I had to admit she still looked quite adorable while throwing a tantrum.

Finally, after cooling down somewhat, she ran over to give me a hug. “Nana, let’s continue watching that movie.”

“…”

My precious apartment can’t take much more, lady.

Thankfully, someone else came to the rescue -it was Doris and her anxious-looking master, Prince Sersan. Clearly, he was the first choice she had in mind when seeking help, though it was still too late…

Like the police who always arrived after the matter was resolved, Sersan entered to find a mess, but one that was mostly settled. Except for the matter of that movie. Because of that ongoing rivalry with his father, Prince Sersan rarely came to visit me. Thus, he rarely saw a movie as well. Now that he was here, this was as good a reason as any to watch it.

With these two so eagerly awaiting a screening, and after weighing the pros and cons myself, I decided to just screen the movie.

The choice was still the same as before: Seven Winters. But Redleaf had given me assurances that she wouldn’t go on a rampage this time, else I dared not screen this movie again.

As promised, the movie screening proceeded without a hitch. Even as the ending approached, she did not try to rend the holographic screen apart. Though she was noticeably glummer as a result.

With that out of the way, I quickly sent her packing before dinner time, after which I took some time to visit the lab. To my delight, progress was still on track, even without my supervision. Finally, it was back to my apartment for dinner.

By the time I was back, I found the room back to normal, despite Redleaf’s earlier rampage. Doris had taken this opportunity to call a few other maids to tidy up the place in my absence. Thanks to that, I was able to get a restful sleep.

The next morning… I was visited by Redleaf once more…

“Nana~~ I’ve come to watch another movie again…”

“…”

Give me liberty, or give me death… Actually, just give me death…

For three whole days afterwards, Redleaf came over to watch a movie. Each time, she would stay till dinner before leaving. Thanks to that, I could only visit the lab right before dinnertime. After a quick showing of face, I would head back to my apartment to rest.

This isn’t going to work, at all. Watching a movie with Redleaf is fun and all, but I have important work to do as well!

As a side note, during these three days of effective absence, Meister Belud would always pop by to visit me, and quarrel with Redleaf. Naturally, it was impossible for him not to notice the movie screening, so our little party grew larger. But that also meant he wasn’t actually working hard during these few days either.

Thanks to Redleaf’s disruption, my daily routine of visiting the lab for my magitek armor turned into a tiny gathering of quarrelsome movie-goers. Sigh… my apartment really can’t take more of this, and neither can I.

Finally, on the fifth day, ever-talkative Redleaf came to visit me. However, she did not ask to watch a movie. Instead, she posed a rather difficult question.

“Nana, what are you researching with Stubby?”

“…”

“Don’t take me for a fool. Even if I might not know what it is you are developing, I know you two are up to something.”

Still in the middle of munching on a delicious, freshly-baked slice of bread, I had no choice but to put it down. After a moment of silence, I said, “How much do you know?”

“Not much, but I would prefer to hear about this from you, Nana.”

“I’m sorry, but this is the kingdom’s secret.” I flatly refused her. “Unless His Majesty says so, I can’t divulge this information.”

After all, his treasury was sponsoring my little exosuit – I shouldn’t just leak his secret all wily nilly.

“Oh? So I just need to get Lil’ Seven’s approval? All right, I’ll go fetch him right away.” Having said that, she just got up and left.

Lil’ Seven? You mean Andassis the Seventh? I guess she can technically call him thanks to their age difference… she is a few centuries old…

Roughly half an hour later, Andasiss the Seventh came knocking with his bodyguard, Misseger and a smiling Redleaf. He, on the other hand, had a very stiff smile all the way.

Redleaf clearly held a special position in this kingdom, seeing how its king was basically at her beck and call.

Your Majesty, it seems like I brought you trouble anyway… oopsie…

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By now, the movie had progressed significantly. It was at a turning point and Doris had already returned from her mission. Through his devious machinations, Li Aotian managed to force a marriage upon Wushang that the latter could not refuse.

Even though I knew that this turn of events was only temporary, the girl beside me did not, given this was her first movie. But more importantly, she was very, very vocal about her opposition.

“Li Aotian! I’m going to murder that cur!”

Arms bared and nails ready to claw, she leapt at the holographic screen, eyes burning with an unquenchable rage reserved only for a kinslayer.

“Wait! That’s just a movie… and the screen isn’t even a physical object, so you can’t touch it…”

I quickly grabbed her in time, preventing her from any potentially destructive acts.

“Let go of me! I will I rend this cur asunder. How dare he besmirch a person’s romance like that!” Redleaf kept struggling against my hug as she raged on. Realising that this was getting nowhere, she finally began to gather her mana. “Star of destruction…”

As the chanting began, a surge of mana began to coalesce around her. So strong was the shockwave that I was nearly knocked away…

“Stop her, quick! That’s the forbidden spell: Meteor Shower…”

What?! A forbidden spell?!

Ferti’nier’s reminder nearly blew me away as well… Sheesh, girl, do you have to go that far?!

“Doris! Leave this area first… it’s too dangerous…”

“Go–got it…” Realising the danger as well, she immediately rushed out of the room once she got the go ahead, probably to go fetch help.

Now… to placate Redleaf…

Or so I thought…

“Don’t… it’s just a movie…”

Redleaf’s magic had grown so huge that winds were starting to tear into the room, carrying me along with it, legs dangling in the air. If it wasn’t for the fact that I was hanging on for dear life onto Redleaf, I would have most likely flown off.

“I don’t care whether it’s a movie or just moving! That human is too despicable to be left alive! I will exact revenge on behalf of Wushang!” At this point, her mastery of magic was so strong that she could even stop to comment while maintaining the spellcasting.

“O countless stars in the heavens…”

“You can’t kill him… he isn’t even real…”

“What do you mean not real? Wushang is already on the verge of marrying him!”

“Yes, but she hasn’t!”

“I don’t care!”

“The spell is half done, little brother, you need to hurry!”

Geez! I get it! How old is she supposed to be again?

With my feet off the ground and my hands being the only things stopping me from flying away, there were only my words left…

But there’s no tongue glib enough to fix this now! And if I fail, there’s going to be a bunch of meteors raining down on us soon…

Maybe I should just use my mouth? Like literally, shut her up using my mouth… Why does this feel like the beginning of a cheap harem anime?

“Redleaf, look at me for a second!”

“??” As expected, she turned around to face me, at which point I dragged myself forward to her face.

Finally, when our noses could touch each other, she noticed our closeness and began to blush. Fortunately, she stopped her casting as well.

A chance! I gave it one last heave while throwing my head back. “Stop talking for a second and listen to me!”

Following that, I slammed my forehead down…

“Bang!” Our foreheads clashed, but I seemed to have used too much force. Unprepared due to her casting, she fell backwards like a rock, with me along with her.

“Bang!” Our limbs mashed together in an uncomfortable pile up of dust and bruises. However, Redleaf fared a lot worse than me. Her face was completely red and she seemed on the verge of spitting out blood.

“Redleaf! Are you all right?”

“That’s the feedback from her spell. It was lucky you stopped her in time. Give her some potion first, this is one of my creations and should suit her just fine.”

Trusty Ferti’nier, always ready with a solution at the nick of time!

I hurriedly pulled out the potion in question from my inventory and handed it to Redleaf. Yet her eyes were closed and her consciousness seemed impaired.

There’s no helping it, I guess I will have to feed her.

I parted her lips and popped open the potion with my mouth.

“Gulg, gulg, gulg…”

Finally, after some fiddling around, Redleaf was back to her normal self. Though, she was looking significantly more dishevelled, with her alluring scent still in full bloom. If I didn’t know any better, she had just gone through a vigorous battle. Emphasis on vigorous… ahem…

“Nana?” Redleaf shortly came back to her senses, the discomfort plain in her eyes from being squashed by my body. “Nana, why are you on top of me? I thought I was on the bed…”

“Bed?” I paused for a second. “No, no, no… actually, you know what… you should be on the bed getting some rest… are you able to stand?”

Redleaf tried to move her body, then shook her head.

“Fine, I’ll help you.” I picked up her soft, squishy body and gently lowered her onto the bed… which was a complete mess now, thanks to the roaring winds she summoned.

“Seems like my room isn’t livable anymore, let’s head downstairs…”

Yet just when I thought to head to the living room, the sounds of hurried footsteps echoed from down below.

“Lady Mo Na! Lady Mo Na, are you alright? I’m here, Lady Mo Na…”

A gruff voice, a heavy set of footsteps reminiscent of a beast… Meister Belud!

However, the burly dwarf was immediately stunned to silence when he ran up to the doorway, like the heavens themselves had come crashing down onto him.

“You two… how could you… two women… I’m sorry for interrupting…”

Just like that, he turned around left, pale as a sheet.

What the heck was that about?!

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The fusion of two materials was a complicated affair, one that required more than just mixing equal parts of two materials. The right ratio required countless trial and errors, along with a veritable cocktail of other ingredients to act as a flux. Even a meister like Belud needed to try many times before he succeeded. And succeeded he did, with it came a barrel of ale in celebration…

On top of fixing the problem of the armor’s durability, this series of tests was valuable experience for the dwarf as a blacksmith. After all, magicite and mithril were both rare and expensive materials -not something he would have been able to handle in such large quantities had it not been for this unusual set of circumstances.

Meister Amori was the one handling the internal structure of the armor. Akin to the skeleton in our bodies, this was a complex task that brooked not even the slightest miscalculation. In light of that, I had even considered looking for a necromancer to help -they were very good at skeletons, after all… Not that I was somehow connected to one… and Amori soon proved my concern unnecessary.

A few days passed as such in the lab. Day by day, the progress towards completion marched on. And nothing could fill me with greater joy than seeing that. The adoring eyes of those around me weren’t all that bad either…

However, this morning proved different from the last. Having just finished my own breakfast, the ever-talkative elf, Redleaf, actually left her gardens to come find me as I was leaving for the lab.

Just barely a second after Doris led her through the door, she immediately opened up with a melodic greeting in a voice akin to honey, or perhaps someone a century or two younger than she was… not that one could tell with elves -they all looked like they were twenty to humans.

“Nana, I’ve come to play.”

Caught off-guard, I did not know exactly how to respond to the long-eared, golden-haired beauty in a green dress.

“What’s the matter, Nana?” She walked up to me to feel my forehead. “Your temperature seems fine.”

At this distance, I could smell the scent of flowers off her, mixed in with the refreshing smell of the outdoors…

Ahem…

“Why is your face turning red? You don’t have a fever, or anything.”

Ahem!

Honestly, I was planning to head to the lab, but since she was already here, I couldn’t very well just leave.

Pushing aside her hand on me, I did not know whether to cry or laugh as I asked, “I’m fine. By the way, Redleaf, what brought you to me today?”

“Ah, I wanted to check if Nana has read the book I gave her.” She answered in a stern, teacher-like manner. “Don’t tell me you haven’t…”

“…”

I actually hadn’t. In fact, there wasn’t much of a chance, seeing as I was dragged away by a certain maid right after that. Then we had a movie screening, and this whole affair with the researching…

I really did not have time to spare on a novel.

Or rather, I was busy acting as Ferti’nier’s mouthpiece, seeing as whatever questions those two meisters had for me were met with feigned contemplation. At which point I would beg Ferti’nier for the answer. Oh, how those two meisters would go wide at my brilliant answers! Each and every one of them, a genius in their own right. Truly, that lab was great! Never would I have imagined that I was such a workaholic until these past few days. Stunning.

“No?” She pouted. “What has Nana been so busy with recently?”

Can I say that I was busy experimenting? Of course not!

The research on magitek armor was top secret. State secrets, or kingdom secrets, in this case. Such information wasn’t meant for the casual listener. And while I might not be the king himself, I was a beneficiary of his treasury. Keeping my lips tight was the least I could do.

“Oh, nothing in particular. Just movies. That’s right, movies.”

I knew that if I were to let slip anything now, I would never hear the end of it, thus I decided to pull out my trump card.

“Movie? What’s that?”

As expected, the lure of a never-before-heard term was undeniable to her ears.

“Let’s have a seat, or maybe a lie.” Now that I had her, I quietly had Lingling pull up a romantic tragedy movie.

She immediately jumped when the first image appeared. Thankfully, I was there to stop her, else she would have already tossed a spell at the holographic screen.

“Don’t move, I conjured that up, just sit by me and relax.”

“Oh.”

As expected, that sudden and very loud appearance of the movie company’s logo caught her by surprise. But it didn’t take long before her eyes were glued to the screen, enraptured by even the most mundane of scenes, yelping from time to time.

While she was distracted, I took the opportunity to throw a glance at Doris. She had already been by my side for a few days now; she was more than accustomed to movies. Thus, I had her send word to the lab that I was taking a day off.

Being a maid of the palace, she naturally understood my meaning from a simple glance.

“Ohhh. Nana, what’s that… and that…”

Redleaf grabbed my hands, dragging it all over as she started peppering me with questions, completely oblivious to the departure of Doris.

For the time being, my secret was safe. Now… how to get rid of her…

I began to patiently explain the scenes to her. As she listened, she kept her eyes nailed to the screen. Intermittently, she would squeal in delight and surprise. Seeing that, I finally gave up on trying to end this screening early.

I guess it’s okay to take a break once in a while. I’ve really been working too hard recently.

As a side note, the movie was known as “Seven Winters”, a Wuxia romance film.

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