The focus shifts back to the Rover.
Just as the Rover finished discussing the Sun-Replacement Ceremony with Mornye, an unexpected incident occurred at the Research Institute.
In short, they discovered an intruder near the academy’s humanoid weapon, Hyvatia; as the weapon went berserk, it caused several pieces of research equipment to malfunction.
Since most of the people at the Research Institute were merely researchers, even with vehicles available for evacuation, there was no guarantee these “nerds” could successfully stop the rampaging Hyvatia.
“The surveillance data near Hyvatia is up! There’s a student there!”
Inside the Research Institute, the Rover and Mornye clearly saw the student in the surveillance footage.
It was Lynae.
“This is bad! The Research Institute’s train power has been cut off due to Void Magnetic Storm contamination! There’s still a student on board!”
At the same moment, Megumi’s figure appeared on another surveillance screen.
“This is the freshman recommended by the Black Shores!”
After identifying him by his appearance, the faces of several researchers turned pale.
Behind the construction of Star-Torch Academy was the support of the Black Shores, the world’s largest organization fighting against Tacet Discord.
As an academy exploring how to combat Tacet Discord, occasional student sacrifices during their time at school were, in fact, unavoidable.
Though it sounded cruel, this was the world people lived in…
Tacet Discord loomed everywhere, and the wailing never ceased.
Let alone sacrificing oneself for academia; even if one stayed at home thinking they were safe, they could die the next day from a sudden, unannounced meteor strike.
Someone once proposed a hypothesis: whether it be the Tacet Discord or the wailing, they were all tests.
A difficult problem to test whether humanity is qualified to move further forward.
Nothing more, nothing less.
“Quick! Find a way to contact that freshman!”
At that moment, a teacher from the Research Institute immediately issued an order.
While sacrifices in the fight against Tacet Discord were unavoidable, this person had only just enrolled on their first day!
If he died like this, wouldn’t Star-Torch Academy be held accountable?
“That freshman’s Cassette isn’t equipped with a Terminal, we can’t contact him…”
By the end, even the researcher checking the surveillance couldn’t help but let their voice trail off.
The other party’s behavior defied common sense; in this era, not even having a Terminal was simply too much.
Fortunately, when they saw Megumi summon a Shikigami to escape danger, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Hyvatia’s ultimate goal in her rampage was to attack the Research Institute, and the Rover naturally wouldn’t let that happen.
Beep beep.
On the battlefield, Hyvatia looked at her blade after swinging it.
She seemed very surprised by the result of her previous strike.
Whoosh!
While Hyvatia was dazed, she felt a threat coming from behind her.
Clang!
She quickly swung her blade to block, only to find that her opponent’s strength was actually on par with her own as an artificial weapon.
Clang.
After locking onto her target, she found the enemy was a student with black hair and golden eyes.
“Rover?!”
Lynae, who was not far away, naturally recognized this person; it was the Rover, who had already arrived on a vehicle to launch a surprise aerial attack.
However, faced with Lynae’s surprise, the Rover did not respond.
Because on her way here, she had seen the scene of Megumi being attacked by Hyvatia.
He had come here for his friend, only to end up like that.
But Lynae’s presence here was definitely abnormal; it contradicted her previous reasons for leaving Megumi and herself, which was very suspicious…
Though the Rover didn’t want to doubt her friend like this, at this moment, she had to look at things rationally.
The Rover’s strength was immense, and with Lynae’s help, they finally succeeded in beating Hyvatia to her knees, temporarily neutralizing the threat.
But that didn’t mean the matter was over.
“…”
Neither of them spoke after defeating Hyvatia.
Normally, Lynae would have greeted the Rover like a big Golden Retriever.
But just now, they had seen Megumi disappear with their own eyes.
And the culprit…
“So, why are you here right now?” the Rover asked bluntly.
Lynae clenched her fists, her eyes downcast.
Whoosh!
Just as Lynae opened her mouth to explain, a sudden movement occurred in the shadows not far from her and the Rover.
The shadows there suddenly became as deep as black mud.
Seeing this, the Rover immediately drew her swift blade, but then, as if remembering something, she immediately sheathed it and ran over.
“Phew! I almost suffocated myself!”
Megumi emerged from the darkness, gasping for air.
Just before Hyvatia’s attack was about to land, he had performed an emergency redevelopment of his Ten Shadows Technique.
The source of this ability was interacting with shadows; after previously transforming the Jade Dog into a semi-shadow state, Megumi had gained a deeper understanding of his power.
So, at the moment the enemy’s attack reached him, he submerged himself into the shadows.
While it sounded like an invincible move, doing so had its limits.
After sinking into the shadows, Megumi felt like he was drowning and could only delay his time inside by holding his breath.
For the remaining time, he could only pray that the academy would send reinforcements quickly.
After all, Megumi’s current development and application of his abilities were quite worrying, so he could only place his hopes on external forces.
Fortunately, he finally managed to wait for his savior.
“Whew, Rover, you’re here. Thank goodness.”
Seeing the Rover appear before him, Megumi breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he saw the robot’s body not far away.
It was covered in bullet holes and sword wounds, with the sword marks being particularly prominent.
Indeed, the Rover possessed extraordinary abilities.
“Megumi, are you alright?”
Seeing that Megumi was fine, the Rover also breathed a sigh of relief.
“Yeah, I’m perfectly fine. Hey! Lynae, you still haven’t given me and the Rover a reason for standing us up!”
After replying to the Rover, Megumi looked at Lynae behind her, hoping she would step forward to ease the awkwardness.
After all, he had chosen to separate from the Rover earlier, only to run into such an embarrassing situation shortly after.
However, when Megumi looked at Lynae, he found that the originally sunny ‘Golden Retriever’ now had a dark look on her face.
Did something happen between her and the Rover?
But hadn’t they been fighting together just now?
“What’s going on here!”
Just as Megumi was feeling confused, the scholars from the Research Institute finally arrived.