The lawless zone of the New Federation.
Just as the name implies, this place lacks the laws and rules that other places should have, and as for fairness?
Living on the dark side of the world, one shouldn’t bother dreaming of such non-existent things.
Surviving here, people can only rely on themselves in the end.
Pitch-black alleys, layered whispers, and eyes hiding greed—for mercenaries and the ordinary residents of this area alike, these are actually common sights.
Yet, within the darkness and shadows, people often dream.
If the night sky wasn’t all one saw when looking up…
If there existed another life one could choose…
Unfortunately, most people living here have no right to choose.
Because they are either disposable “black gloves” used and discarded by the New Federation government, or lost lambs who haven’t yet set a path for themselves.
But there was one person who became the lucky one among the countless lambs.
Perhaps it was just luck, or perhaps her unique nature, compared to others, finally won the favor of the gods.
In any case, she received a gift.
And the content of that gift was a ticket to Lahai-Roi Star-Torch Academy.
This made the young girl ecstatic.
Even if it came with a price already secretly marked…
But so what?
The girl, tired of living in the gutter, would ultimately grasp it without hesitation.
And when the girl, who had once experienced only darkness, left the New Federation and discovered…
Every day at the academy was even more wonderful than she had imagined.
Bright corridors completely different from the gloomy dark alleys, and confident discussions that were the exact opposite of hypocritical whispers…
Everything here was incredibly dazzling, and each thing made her more eager to understand them.
Only then did the girl realize…
it turned out that the colors of ‘living’ could be so brilliant, so hard to let go of.
Not just living for the sake of living, but for herself.
Buzz!
Buzz!
Buzz!
But when the academy’s expulsion notice finally came down, and the bright red alarm lights sounded…
The girl thought of the manga and novels she had read at the academy before.
She had read many of these things during her time at the academy, and some of the lines and plot points remained fresh in her memory.
“Really… are we just going to run away like this?”
“Megumi, follow the others from the academy to a safe place.”
With no time for further talk, the Rover gave Megumi a word of instruction before running outside.
Click—
As the sound of the dormitory door closing echoed, Megumi saw the scene outside through the window.
Thick smoke rolled in from outside the academy, and the teachers and students inside were rushing to safe places alongside the mechanical constructs; all the beautiful scenery of the past had vanished.
There is no need to say what the Rover went out to do.
Although Megumi didn’t fully understand her past, from the way she had previously acted with such hatred for evil to eliminate that so-called Remnant Star Society, Megumi felt that her role in this world was probably that of a “hero.”
So now, after this great hero instructed him, an ordinary person, to stay safely in a secure place, she was going off to save the world.
What about Lynae?
Could she have taken advantage of the chaos to escape?
After all, that way she wouldn’t have to worry about being caught by the academy.
No…
She wouldn’t do that.
Because the academy she loved was currently facing a crisis, and she surely must be going to fight that Void Magnetic Storm and the Void Worm.
And what about him?
Just as the Rover and Lynae defined Megumi as an ordinary person, Megumi felt the same way himself.
He felt he was no different from all the other ordinary people in the world, just a bit luckier.
If you encounter a Void Magnetic Storm, run—that is this academy’s rule for ordinary students.
Sigh.
Thus, Megumi stood up under the gaze of the White Jade Dog and walked toward the dormitory door.
Finally, he looked back at the Jade Dog that had been staring at him.
That was his own shadow.
“Let’s go. It’s time to help my friends.”
At this moment, the atmosphere inside the academy was one of panic, and the students felt uneasy about everything around them.
The Void Magnetic Storm was about to strike, which meant that the Tunnel Swarm Creatures contaminated by the Void Magnetic Storm would eventually turn from little helpers in the academy into their enemies.
But that wasn’t the most terrifying part.
The infection from the high-concentration Void Magnetic Storm, the rampage of the Exoswarm, plus the invasion of the Void Worm…
At this moment, the academy students had no idea what to do.
“Beep… beep…”
At this moment, an octagonal, disk-shaped Tunnel Swarm Creatures signal light in the crowd turned from green to red.
This was the message that a crisis was imminent.
“Waaah! The Exoswarm! The Exoswarm are going to—”
Swoosh!
Just as this student screamed out, he felt something streak past him at high speed.
“Screech!”
After a cry, the huge, owl-like bird wearing a mask emitted purple electricity, causing the Tunnel Swarm Creatures that was about to rampage to shut down on the spot.
Megumi had also arrived in the crowd at this moment.
He had previously been attracted by the students’ shouting and had come to check on the situation.
From here, he could clearly see what was happening outside the academy.
That huge blue worm…
Without a doubt, it was the monster he, Lynae, and the Rover had shaken off earlier.
Besides that huge worm, Megumi could also see two figures beside it.
It was Lynae and the Rover, who were currently riding motorcycles, seemingly trying to lure the monster away.
“Tch.”
Seeing this, Megumi couldn’t help but feel anxious.
He only possessed two Shikigami right now; if he summoned the Jade Dog to guard this place, relying on just one Nue would certainly not be enough to help the Rover and the others.
But there was certainly no time to tame a new Shikigami on the spot…
“Dr. Luuk Herssen?!”
At this moment, a scream erupted from among the students.
Megumi turned and saw Dr. Luuk, whom he had met once before.
“I’ll handle things here at the academy; the threat of the Void Worm is far greater than that of the Tunnel Swarm Creatures.”
As if he had seen through Megumi’s thoughts, he spoke gently but with a hint of encouragement.
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
Thus, Megumi mounted his motorcycle and sped off in the direction of the Void Worm.
On the way, he was thinking of ways to use his own methods to inflict damage on that monster.