What just happened?
After the radiance dissipated, the two young ladies exchanged looks with each other. A few seconds ago, they were in a scarlet world that resembled hell. But at the next moment, they returned to this pitch-black, terrifying space. Unlike earlier, the menacing Chaos Beasts were nowhere to be seen. Not only that, but the entire space had also scattered with machine parts. The perfectly preserved machines from before had turned into metal scraps as though the place were bombarded.
“This is…” Mini Bubble Gum looked at her surroundings and gasped. But shortly after, she recalled something and turned around abruptly, grabbing Canary by the arm. “Big Sister, we saw Leader just now! It’s Leader, right?!”
“Ah… Yes…”
Facing Mini Bubble Gum’s sudden questioning, Canary was startled. Then, she nodded hesitantly. Indeed, they saw Rhode just now and Canary could still feel the warm touch on her hand. They were so close with Rhode, so there was no mistaking it. But if it was only an illusion, wasn’t it too vivid for it? What exactly did they encounter?
“Miss Canary? Miss Bubble? Are you two alright?”
Erin went up to them curiously and asked. However, Canary and Mini Bubble Gum didn’t realize that the moon princess’s eyes were glinting dubiously and curiously at the same time. They weren’t aware of this fact, but Erin was certain that when the Chaos Beasts attacked them earlier, Mini Bubble Gum and Canary had as though woken up abruptly from their nightmares and immediately retaliated against the Chaos Beasts. At that moment, Erin discovered that they were no longer ordinary humans. Instead, they returned to being the formidable humans who followed Rhode around, just like in her impression. But what left her dubious was that they didn’t seem to know why they were here, as though they were totally another person.
Although Erin had a lot of doubts, the Chaos Beasts were equally hard to deal with. That was why she didn’t ask too many questions and quickly countered the enemies with them. As the trio combined their strength, they wiped out the enemies cleanly. But at that moment, Erin saw the black slate erupting another blast of glaring light and the two active young ladies in battle instantly stopped moving.
Not only that, but also when Erin leaned in to check on them, they were like lifeless corpses and their souls had as though disappeared from their bodies! This phenomenon bewildered Erin, leaving her at a total loss. But all of a sudden, they ‘revived’ before her eyes and judging from their behavior, they didn’t seem to remember everything that they had done.
This is interesting… what has exactly happened?
“W-We’re fine, Your Highness Erin…”
Facing Erin’s concern, Canary didn’t know what to say. Her head was in a complete mess. If it were in the past, perhaps she would treat it as just a hallucination or that she was under too much mental pressure. But now, as she gazed at Erin before her, she couldn’t lay down the doubt in her mind. After all, even a character who belonged to a game came to the real world, so what was there to be impossible?
“Let’s leave this place.”
Although Erin had a lot of doubts, she didn’t show her feelings. After all, Canary and Mini Bubble Gum really seemed like they knew nothing. If Erin were to continue questioning them, perhaps she might make the situation even more chaotic. Therefore, Erin decided to temporarily put this matter aside. She turned around, strolled to the black slate, and scanned it from top to bottom. Then, she extended her arm and lifted it up. This time, nothing strange happened. She held the black slate, turned her hand around, and put it away in her bag. She had a hunch that perhaps this black slate was the key to solving the mystery.
———!
At the same time, bright rays of light shone from the openings above, enfolding Erin, Canary, and Mini Bubble Gum entirely. Upon witnessing the radiance, the trio turned around in astonishment and witnessed a dozen heavily-armored soldiers charging out from the openings. After spotting the three of them, the soldiers were startled. They raised their rifles and aimed at them quickly.
“Ahh… we’re in trouble.”
Canary let out a sigh at this scene. This was what she was afraid of. As an ordinary, university freshman, she was a so-called darling. Not to mention the police, she didn’t even cause trouble for teachers. But now, she was in trouble with foreign soldiers? Argh… this escalated too quickly!
“…!”
The heavily-armored soldiers lifted their weapons, snarling and aiming at Canary and Mini Bubble Gum. Looking at this scene, the flustered Canary and Mini Bubble Gum raised their hands subconsciously. No matter what, they were only civilians, and it wasn’t possible for them to not be afraid with rifles pointing at them with their black muzzles. As soon as they raised their hands, the soldiers seemed to let loose a little and didn’t continue to pressurize them. But… the problem was that not everyone was as submissive as the two young ladies!
Facing the soldiers who brazenly stopped them, Erin grimaced and stood in front of Canary and Mini Bubble Gum, which instantly baffled the soldiers. Well, they couldn’t be blamed. Apart from Erin’s beautiful appearance, her dress up was also alarming. Although modern technologies allowed humans to build bases on the moon, it didn’t mean that they could do as they pleased. Facing the harsh environment on the moon, humans had to wear spacesuits in order to survive the terrifying conditions. But now, this young lady stood before them without being protected by space equipment at all.
Is she even a human?!
From a certain angle… Erin wasn’t actually a human.
But Erin wasn’t in the mood to care about their thoughts. She knew that these people attacked her earlier on and they were clearly threatening her too. Moreover, they were related to this slate, so they were most likely lackeys of Chaos! At this thought, Erin said no more. She swung her right hand straightaway and along with her movement, dazzling magical radiance appeared abruptly around her one by one, forming an elegant and massive magical ritual. Looking at the dreamy magical brilliance, the soldiers were distraught. They had never seen anything like this in their whole lives. They raised their rifles, pointed at Erin, and fired.
“Ahhh!”
Canary and Mini Bubble Gum were horrified. Even though they were almighty in the game, it was entirely different for them in reality. Even though one was a thief who robbed a car in the game, it didn’t mean that one could rob a bank in real life successfully! Therefore, facing the soldiers, the two young ladies panicked. Mini Bubble Gum had even extended her arm before her subconsciously.
But at the next moment, the situation took a sudden turn.
Along with Mini Bubble Gum’s action, dazzling golden rays of light erupted from her palm, turning into a translucent barrier that enfolded the trio. As the rifles fired, the thin, mirror-like defensive barrier deflected all the bullets! Meanwhile, Erin pointed her right finger forward and suddenly, a dozen magical breams burst out of her fingertip. There was no playing with the moon princess’s strength. Even though it wasn’t an all-out attack from her, it was enough to blast them away entirely, not to mention they were on the moon with lesser gravity!
“B-Bubble?”
Canary widened her eyes in disbelief at the defensive barrier before her. Of course, she knew what that was. It was the sacred shield of a cleric! But… that was a skill in the game, so why was Bubble able to cast it?
“Huh? Huh? Huh??”
Upon realizing what she did, Bubble was flabbergasted. She spread her arms apart curiously and along with her action, two circles of holy white light emerged! Then, the two white circles overlapped and enveloped the trio swiftly. As soon as they were shrouded by the white light circle, Canary felt her body becoming incredibly nimble. The heavy and clumsy spacesuit on her was as though non-existent. Not only that, but her head also felt unprecedentedly clear. She saw through the enemies’ movements and even read their thoughts!
This is… a spiritual spell?!
“Oh-oh-oh, Big Sister, I can use my spiritual spell now!!!”
Spiritual spell? How is that possible?
Canary turned to Mini Bubble Gum beside her, before shifting her gaze to her hands. Shortly after, she felt warm energy flowing from her heart to other parts of her body through blood vessels. Then, she was astounded to all of a sudden witness two small fireballs coalesce in the middle of her palms!
“This… this is…”
Staring blankly at the fireballs, Canary’s head went blank. She no longer knew how to face everything that was happening right now. Was this a dream or reality? She was just an ordinary student, so how could she possess such mystical strength? Before she figured out what happened, dazzling lights shone from the shattered openings once again and several soldiers arrived as reinforcements. They raised their weapons and aimed at the intruders before them, pulling the trigger.
Meanwhile, perhaps due to her human instincts to survive, Canary had as though returned to the game as she turned around and pulled a distance apart from the soldiers. She moved her right hand swiftly, drawing several mysterious symbols in midair. Then, she chanted under her breath and pushed both hands forward. She had done this motion in the game countless times and it was one of her most commonly-used counterattacks. But Canary didn’t expect herself to behave in this delusional way like some game addicts reported in the news.
And the results exceeded her expectations.
As she pushed her hands forward, the symbols drawn in midair suddenly transformed into two intertwining flame dragons that pounced on the soldiers. As the soldiers’ vision flashed, they were devoured by the flame dragons instantly, flying backward and disappearing without a trace.
“This… this…”
Looking at this scene, Canary was at a total loss. She gazed blankly at her hands, but quickly returned to her senses because now wasn’t the time to ponder over it. Since so many soldiers had arrived, it meant that their group was targeted! Perhaps the Americas Region’s armies were rushing to the scene now!
“Bubble, Your Highness Erin, we have to leave right now!”
“What are you afraid of, Big Sister? Your Highness Erin is so powerful, and I’m eager to try out my skills. Since they’re just a bunch of foreign idiots, I won’t feel bad even if I kill them… woah!!” As though protesting against her words, a dazzling beam of light shone from above and brushed against her, scaring the little fella into shrinking her head. Then, she lifted her head and frowned. It was a massive tank in the shape of a steel spider peering out of the opening. Its blinding searchlight shining on the intruders.
“There is no end to this.”
Gazing at the tank, Erin wasn’t nervous at all. On the contrary, she expanded her arms and her slim and slender figure suddenly grew in size. In the blink of an eye, an enormous dragon appeared before everyone.
“Let’s go, Miss Canary, Miss Bubble. There’s no point in staying here any longer.”
***
The base command of the Americas Region was brightly lit in attention. Judging from its appearance, it wasn’t any different from usual. But if one were to look carefully, one would find that it was heavily guarded. The fighter aircraft, Falcon III, whistled across the sky. On the surface, searchlights shone on every inch of the moon, leaving no stone unturned.
At this moment, the atmosphere in the base command was incredibly heavy. Commander David Chris gnashed his teeth, staring at the screen before him with bloodshot eyes, where there was an enormous, pitch-black creature expanding its wings and battling the air forces.
“Reporting, HQ! Reporting, HQ! The enemies are too powerful! We can’t deal any damage to them! S-Stay away, stay away… Ahhhh….!”
On the screen, the massive dragon snapped its jaws open and a dazzling white brilliance enveloped it completely. The video ended abruptly and the ‘rustling’ of the screen resounded in the dead-silent meeting room. David stared grimly at the white image like it was his father’s murderer and fell into silence. Then, he turned around and gazed at his subordinates who held their breaths.
“Can someone tell me exactly what is going on? Where did that monster come from?!”
David was beyond enraged. In fact, all the damage that Erin had done in the Americas Region when she first teleported there was already made known to the entire moon. Even though there were differences in opinions between countries on earth, on the moon they more or less shared information with one another. It was due to this that they knew a terrifying, dragon-like monster had appeared in the Americas Region. What made matters worse was that the monster wasn’t afraid of nuclear warheads either!
The entire moon was in an uproar. Even though directors of sci-fi movies occasionally created characters nuclear warheads couldn’t stop, that was essential for the plot, after all, in order to pave the way for the protagonist to save the world. But if one were to meet such a monster in real life… that would be a true bother!
Therefore, from the start, everyone felt unsafe, afraid that the monster would come find trouble with them. But shortly after, they realized the situation wasn’t as terrifying as they imagined. Before meeting Canary and Mini Bubble Gum, Erin destroyed a total of three bases on the moon located in the Americas Region. Based on the intelligence from other regions, it seemed like the monster was searching for something in the Americas Region. Even if other regions were to approach the monster, it wouldn’t be interested in attacking them.
As a result, the other regions watched passively from the sidelines. It was apparent that the monster was attacking only the Americas Region, so they must have done something to enrage it. Since it had nothing to do with them, they weren’t afraid at all… And this left the commander of the Americas Region blowing his top. They sought assistance from other bases. After all, the moon was still a mystery to humans (secrets on earth weren’t fully uncovered by humans yet, not to mention the moon). If this monster was a native of the moon, shouldn’t everyone face the trouble together? At this moment, everyone should join hands and resist the threat!
But it was a pity that the monster wasn’t afraid of the nuclear warheads and didn’t seem to cause any threat to other regions. Although every country had their own secret weapons, they weren’t meant for slaughtering dragons. Moreover, if their secret weapons were revealed and they didn’t manage to kill the dragon, wouldn’t their secret be exposed? This kind of unfair trade shouldn’t be done… and this was the deep-rooted bad habits of humans…
As old allies, the Europe Region instantly agreed to the Americas Region’s help-seeking. Of course, they didn’t forget to remind the Americas Region that this might implicate the ecological balance of the moon. Therefore, they had to seek advice from experts before letting all members of the moon base judge and decide how they should face the terrifying monster. Then… there was no more then.
On the other hand, the Asia Region’s response was extremely cautious. They requested the Americas Region to share more information as they experienced firsthand how powerful the monster was. Of course, they also didn’t forget to ‘remind’ the Americas Region that they had civilians who were dragged into the earlier incident in the Americas Region and went missing. They hoped that the Americas Region would search for their whereabouts. If the Americas Region couldn’t cope with it, they would send out a team of ‘rescuers’ to search for them…
As for other regions, they either used all sorts of excuses or expressed that they were afraid of stirring up the fire. This left the Americas Region fuming. Back then, the Americas Region was considered the greatest and no one dared to defy them. But it was a pity that ‘a phoenix with its feathers plucked wouldn’t be as great as a chicken’. After being pushed to second place, the Americas Region gradually weakened and now internationally, no one gave a damn about them. They were also badly battered on the inside. Sigh… it didn’t feel good dropping to second place after being the first. In the past, they were the ones who intervened with internal affairs of other countries, but now they were kindly ‘reminded’ by them instead… If you don’t do something about it, we will be intervening with the situation, alright?
This is ridiculous!
David’s blood boiled as even the president of the country called him personally to ask about the progress. Even though only leaders of respective countries knew about the situation so as to avoid causing panic among the people, who would believe they didn’t do something for a monster to appear on the moon and only attack the Americas Region? The president requested David to find out where exactly the monster came from, the reason it attacked the Americas Region for, how to defeat it, and if possible, capture it!
This gave David tremendous pressure because the monster had already disappeared. The massive dragon vanished without a trace and not even 24-hour satellite search could track its location. What made matters worse was that he didn’t know why the monster attacked the Americas Region. But even so, he sent soldiers to investigate the base that the dragon destroyed, in search for any possible clues…
Beep———!
At this moment, a rapid electronic beep rang, followed by a hurried and anxious voice.
“Reporting, Commander. We received news from the front line. We have lost contact with the investigations team heading to D3! We have lost contact with the investigations team heading to D3!”
Upon hearing this report, David’s complexion turned ashen.
