~~~~~~A Couple Hours Later~~~~~~
"It would seem one of them is still alive." A woman who didn't look older than twenty with red wine coloured hair looked at debris field before her from the inside of her spaceship
Her spaceship sensors showed her that inside the debris field, there was an alive individual.
"To think that someone survived the swarm." There was a curious smile on her face. She wonders how these Iron Cavalry guys look like.
To fight these space bugs, they should be considerably powerful.
It could be useful for their cause.
"Hmm?"
Her sensors began to go haywire at that moment as… a black hole…
"No… a gravity well just appeared?" She looked confused, as this was something she had no experience with before.
The woman turned her ship around and saw multiple white and golden spaceships just appear from thin air.
She hadn't seen their design before.
'Some sort of undiscovered space-faring race?' The lady pondered for a couple of seconds, but then her ship got grabbed by some sort of force.
"Oh, this is not good." The wine-red-haired beauty commented on her situation as she took her weapons. It would seem she would need to make a quick exit.
As her ship pulled into one of the cruisers, she saw that an impressive-sized army was waiting for her in the hangar.
There were energy-pike-wielding armoured men alongside rifle ones. They were from head to toe wearing heavy plates with glowing golden drawings.
Whatever tech is used on the ship's hull is used on the armour.
That means that they are most likely immune or can negate a lot of damage.
As her vessel got dragged in, she decided to get into a position.
~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~
"Sir, one of the groups we sent to the neighbouring system found a spaceship and living pilot of one these mechs." Rex, the Commander of Royal Guard, said to Marcus.
The Inventor was tinkering with the pilots' DNA and bugs; he was checking out all of the kinks of these two opposite factions.
It turns out that the concept of this universe is quite potent, even for the mass production of troops.
He ponders how to assimilate that into his Faction and improve growth, efficiency and power.
"Interesting."
"Set course for this system." Marcus looked at the Commander.
"At once, sir."
"To think that there is someone alive in such place." Kallen looked surprised by this.
"Indeed, life finds a way." He smiled, as he knew what he would be getting soon.
Though he was surprised that there was a spaceship in this section of a galaxy, as far as he was aware, this place should be like a wasteland after what the swarm did.
Those bugs wrecked everything.
"I wonder if we will meet proper aliens now!" Elysia commented with a happy voice, making Kallen and Marcus look at her.
"Technically, my faction is aliens, too, you know." The inventor reminded her of that.
"It doesn't count! You come from an Earth!" She pouted at his remark.
"Alien is a term used for anything that comes from outside your world. That includes us." Belfast reminded her of the meaning of the word.
"Even if it means that you know what I mean, I mean little green guys and flying saucers." Elysia pouted even more. Why, Belfast doesn't understand what she means!
"Oh, those, I created those in my world." Marcus joked as he remembered his collection system.
"...You did?"
"Yep, my Assimilators have them. I was using them for animal collection and 'sending messages'- "he air quoted. Since I use time travel, people assume that they were around for hundreds of years." He joked at the whole concept of this troll.
"I-I see…" The pinkette looked a bit devastated.
"Regardless, we should be going to the hangar. The trip won't be long." He made Kallen stand as he stood up from his favourite chair and motioned to walk.
The group left his workshop and began to walk towards the lift. It's time to see what he caught.
~~~
Sounds of bullets spread through the hangar as the wine-red-haired lady tried out how well her weapons worked.
"Well, this is disappointing." She complained that her SMG were not working on them.
She holstered her weapons and looked at a possible weapon. Sadly, the hangar bay in this area was empty!
'These guys are weird. Don't they need to run maintanance on their stuff?'
Her eyes scanned the hangar bay. There was no fuel, tools, or cables, and she couldn't even see machinery. This race was weird!
Instead, all she got was these armoured guys surrounding her from all sides. She was able to leave her ship before they broke in, but after? The girl wanted to use her surroundings to escape and maybe get an alternative means of transportation to run away from these warships.
"Surrender; there is no escape for you," One of the knights said to her as she saw them getting into a battling stance.
"Yeah, how about no? I still have things to do~."
She didn't give up easily, but then she saw tall guys in golden armour walk to the front. They had huge shields.
For a second, she wondered what they would do. Shields moved to the front, and then they began to surround her.
"Are you trying to pin me down?" She tried to grab the closest one, but the moment she got close, some sort of force stopped her mid-motion.
It stuck her in place! Then, more of these tall guys surrounded her; by the end, she was imprisoned by four of them!
'Well, this is just great.'
She sarcastically thought to herself.
Turns out they have some fancy technology for girls like her.
The wine-red-haired girl tried to move, but she felt like she was in an invisible box. She couldn't move her fingers; the only thing that was 'working' was her eyes. She could see her surroundings.
"Kafka secured."
'...So they know me. Now I am feeling touched.'
Kafka realised that they knew her, meaning they could have been after her all along. The question is, how did they find her whereabouts?
However, before she could think more, her vision started to darken, and sleepiness began to take over.
'...'
…
…
…
"It appears my luck is something else."
Her eyelashes trembled as she opened her eyes. For a couple of moments, her vision was blurry, but she quickly got herself together.
She noticed that she was in a cell, attached to a wall by invisible force, and her hands were spread out.
"My… you are into such kinks?" Kafla commented on her circumstances.
"It depends on the individual. I am good at adapting," The guy on the other side of the bars commented.
"I see… so… can I ask why I am locked up? I don't remember this part of the universe being under someone's jurisdiction." Kafka tried to figure out who the guy was before her.
"Well, for one, you attacked my knights."
"Hmm, last I remember, your knights were the ones who pulled my ship into theirs. It was self-defence." She replied in a pondering tone. Her tone was quite nonchalant, as if she didn't care.
"Hmm…" He looked at her, making her feel strange, as if something was probing her.
"Kafka, you don't have a sense of fear; it's a genetic disorder your people have."
That moment, a hologram appeared to his side as she saw a DNA strand spinning.
It doesn't take a genius to know that it was her…
"Tell me something that I do not know." She rolled her eyes.
"Well, this strange disorder makes your instincts behave differently. You do not care about your future or past. Instead, you live for today as you can't understand the purpose of living." He explained to her in such a way that it started to trigger her.
"..."
"Fear is preservation and the desire to continue life, something you and your species lack. I am curious how your species continues to exist." He asked her in an extremely curious tone.
"...Aren't you curious, one? Well, if you are that interested, then you should find out by yourself." She smiled at him, her tone was extremely casual.
"I don't need to do that. As I have you." He smiled back.
"I do love collecting things."
Kafka realised that she had ended up with a greedy guy. How was she supposed to escape from him now? The types like these won't let her escape even if she somehow escapes from these invisible chains. His fleet and his knights won't let her go.
"I am not a collectible type, so why don't you let me go, and I'll find one for you?" The wine-red-haired girl showed him a big smile. It was fake, but a very beautiful one nonetheless.
"Very cute, but sadly, no."
While his words and actions contradicted each other, the girl didn't reply as she watched as he entered the cell and undid her invisible shackles with a hand motion.
She was free…
And at that moment, she tried to strike him. And she did, but it felt like she hit a concrete wall.
"Agh? What are you made off!?" Kafka complained as she shook her hand from pain.
"Something you can't comprehend at this moment~" He teased her as his hand moved.
Her gaze followed his hand. She tried to block it, stop it, and push it aside, but it kept on coming towards her!
She kept on trying and trying, but eventually, the back of his hand stroked her cheek.
"Curious, it appears you are completely immune to it. Even when someone would die from fright, you, on other hand, simply ignore it."
The girl looked at him weirdly. There was a look of understanding. She realised that he was not releasing her… Nope, he is confident enough that if she is out from her shackles, she won't escape his grip!
"..." For a second she wondered how true it was… so she moved… went around him and tried to run away.
She swiftly found the doors and went inside. They opened, and she was out of the holding cells… or so she thought, as there were more holding cells!
Was she in prison? As in a building? The wine-red-haired girl looked around for a bit before dashing in a single direction.
First, she needs to find a window, a map, or some sort of console to get a general idea of where she is.
After a while, she heard a voice in her head.
"Interesting. You have no sense of fear even when you face the unknown."
Kafka stopped for a second and looked around; her mind continued to think logically even in this situation.
'Can you leave my mind? It's not interesting if you are keeping tabs on me… ALL the time!' The girl complained, knowing that he is reading her mind.
"I am an inventor and part-time scientist. Sadly for you, at the moment, you are my test bunny."
She huffed hearing that. Who knew that her 'trait' could lead to this…
'Just be aware that test subjects can bite back.' She slightly narrowed her eyes, imagining all the painful things she wanted to do to him!
"Hmm, I know. That is why I am pushing you to the limit."
*Roar*
A monstrous roar spread through the area she was in.
Kafka stopped for a second, trying to figure out what it was.
Before long, at one of the corners, she saw something reveal itself.
It was a monstrous reptile with saw-like teeth… A big predator at least twice as tall as her, towering over her and blocking her way forward.
"Let me guess… You want to see if I am afraid of big lizard." She commented in a bored and deadpan tone. This was getting boring for her…
"Precisely, if my guess is right, you will find a way to beat it without dying."
Kafka rolled her eyes at this information. This guy is treating her like a guinea pig! For real! It's starting to piss her off!
"Aren't you afraid that I will kill your pet?" She asked him while checking her gloves and coat. The girl was making sure they were clean after all that had happened to her so far.
"No worries, they all are genetically engineered since conception to be your fellow test subjects. In other words, their whole purpose of existing is to help me understand your lack of fear."
The wine-red-haired girl raised her eyebrow when she heard that.
This guy is hardcore. Reminding her of those guys living in THAT space station.
"Hmm, then let's make a deal. I will pass your tests, and you let me go?" Kafka tried to get something out of this.
"That would be difficult as I have thousands of possible tests. From facing gods to devils. I want to know if your soul feels fear."
His response made her deadpan again. Turns out he is crazier than most.
"You know what? I will kill this thing, and then I will find you and will do the same." All of a sudden, she got a bit angry, as this was getting very annoying.
"Great, then do so."
***ROAR***
More roars erupted as more identical predators came out from…somewhere.
"This is more like it!"
With more of these creatures around, she can distract them with her much smaller size.
However, she misunderstood the part where he said 'engineered'.
The most common understanding is that they were already created but then altered midway to fight her, not that they were designed from beginning to end to fight her.
That is why her basic tricks like that…won't work.
As she got closer and tried to skid through, they didn't lose her; instead, they kept on following her without any issues.
She tried to confuse them and get between two to make them keep following, but the beasts adjusted and turned around in a very orderly fashion.
The frown on her face kept on increasing as she realised that her tricks were not working.
Soon, another three came out from somewhere. Making it six now!
"..."
"Come, show me what the infamous Kafka can do."
It doesn't help that he is treating her like entertainment, either!
So as not to get surrounded, the wine-red-haired girl dashed towards three new ones and tried to dash through, but one of them slashed her arm, shredding through her white shirt.
"Agh!!!"
Blood erupted from the wound, and the force behind the strike sent her rolling across the hard floor.
Soon enough, the predators began to surround her.
One of them moved in for the kill, and Kafka simply stared at the incoming jaws of sarated teeth.
There was no fear, no eye flickering… nothing; she simply gazed at the predator's mouth.
But then…
It stopped inches away from her face.
"...Beautiful."
The beast pulls back, and Kafka's gaze goes to the side. She saw him looking at her.
The wine-red-haired beauty wondered… how he could pop in and, most likely, pop out like that.
"To stare at jaws that dominated my homeworld for twenty million years without fear is very impressive.
I think you are something else." He nodded with a smile. She can see that her condition is making this guy extremely happy and entertained.
And that is not good… for her health.
Kafka looked at her wounded hand. It was… bad. If this goes on, she will die from blood loss.
"If that is the case. I am bleeding. You don't want me to die, now do you?"
"Heh, that is something you shouldn't worry about."
As he said that, Kafka instantly noticed that the pain was gone!
Her gaze went back to her hand. It was clean! There was no cut, and even her shirt was all patched up!
The girl inspected it for a second. She quickly realised that…it was like the event didn't even happen!
Eventually, her eyes returned to him. She looked intensively.
"Who are you, or more precisely, what are you?" She asked with curiosity written all over her face.
"Someone you will stay with for a reminder of your very long existence." His smile deepened. Kafka stared blankly at him.
"..."
"..."
The pair didn't speak for a few seconds, just gazing at each other.
"Even in the face of possible eternity, you don't flinch. That is something else." His smile was gone, and instead, he had a look of disbelief on his face.
"That's because I don't feel it. I am certain we established that." Kafka sighed as she slowly got up on her feet. The cold floor is something she doesn't like staying on.
"True, but your SOUL can sense it." He appeared before her, and his right index finger moved towards her.
She gazed at his approaching finger. That moment, she felt something!
Her eyes grew big as sweat began to drip from her forehead, and her breathing got haggard.
All of a sudden, she had this urge to run away! To hide, to disappear! Yet, she could not. Before long, she started to tremble.
Yet, the finger got closer and closer before it stopped inches away from her nose.
*GASP*
Kafka gasped as she backpedled, ending up on her ass and then continuesly retreat from him.
"See? That is your natural fear for your life." He said with confidence, as he lowered his finger.
"..."
After a couple of moments, the wine-red-haired beauty looked at her hands. She felt it! Whatever it was… it spooked her to the core!
Never before had she felt anything like that! It was refreshing! Even… addicting?
"...So…this is fear?"
"Indeed, your mechanism for self-preservation. You felt the desire to run away, didn't you? Desire to save yourself." He explained with spread arms.
"All I needed to do is threaten your existence. Not your physical body, but the very essence of you."
His explanation revealed something Kafka didn't want to believe.
Whatever this faction or nation is, this guy has access to truly insane abilities.
"...I see…" She took a deep breath and calmed herself. For some reason, her logical mind wasn't as logical anymore, but she still got up on her feet, even if her legs were shaking a bit.
She is being… cautious, something she has never felt before.
"So what now? You found out that I can sense fear," the wine-red-haired girl asked as she dusted herself.
"What is it you want?" He asked her.
For a second, she had a blank look.
What does she want now? Now that she felt fear for the first time in her life, her question about her life purpose is somewhat explained. She felt the urge to protect it, to live as long as possible.
…
…
…
Her staring continued for a while.
"It would seem you know all the answers. Don't you feel that it's boring?" Kafka asked something she noticed about him.
"Having all the answers doesn't mean I witnessed and experienced everything."
He leaned closer to her.
"Did you ever wondered how war between mechs wielding lizards and hive mind of soul sucking vampires would look like? Or what about the universe next to this one? Or opposite to this one?
The possibilities ARE endless!"
The girl who listened to him had a look of realisation.
"...Are you… Aeon Aha?" The girl dumbly asked him, the way he speaks and desires… amusement? Reminds her of the Aeon of Elation; the Laughter is like that!
"The Elation? Sorry, but no."
"Then you are its Emanator?" She looked confused, as there was no way an Emanator could have this much power. She couldn't even hurt him, move, or touch him properly! It was like he was here, but, at the same time, he was realities away!
"Sorry, but no. My name is Marcus Goldman, the Supreme Commander of Technocracy, the God Emperor of Klaxia, the Father of Technocracy, Heir to Solomon, the Ruler of Underworld and Conqueror of Atferlife.
Recently, I have been Conquering Time itself so that you can add that to my list of growing titles." He announced himself with a bit of fanfare as he was extremely happy with the latest experiment, regarding Kafka's Fearlessness and actually getting his hands on Firefly, so he was appearing quite jovial… to the point that Kafka thought that he was Laughter itself!
"...Never heard of you."
"Of course you didn't do that because I only invaded this reality two days ago."
Her eyes widened to a large degree!
"...You are an invader?"
"Indeed, I will start with this galaxy, then move on to the next one and so on, until this reality or universe, as you say, is mine." He explained to her with a small smirk.
"...You are crazier than I ever thought." Kafka shook her head for a second.
"But it does sound fun." But then she smiled at him.
"Heh, are you interested in joining?" Marcus asked her as he saw the change in her behaviour.
"That depends. If you want me to work for you, then my price is steep, and I have a list of requirements." She smirked at him, as she wanted a load of stuff! This was because of what she had to go through!
"Oh? You want material stuff?" He asked, a bit dumbfounded. Here he was… someone who could practically grant anything she wants, and yet she is asking for meaningless material stuff.
Or she didn't grasp the meaning of his titles?
"I am a girl. I like shiny things! Besides…" She leaned forward and whispered into his ear.
"After what you did to me, do you think I can return to how I was?" Kafka spoke in a sultry voice.
"You made me experience something I never experienced before. So you will keep doing that, you need to take responsibility for that~"
Marcus chuckled hearing that.
"So it's like that."
~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~
A magic circle manifested high above Earth's orbit as a massive warship blasted out from it.
Aboard the ship, a trio of girls were gazing at a fleet of warships before them.
There was an Assimilator piece behind this armada.
"It appears…everything is fine." Erina looked around, seeing ships in defensive formation, but then her eyes went to the side. In the distance, she could see even more ships. There was something going on there.
"...Erina-sama… the… moon is shattered." Hisako, her assistant, pointed out.
"Yes… I can see that." The cherry blonde girl looked at a reconstruction of the moon. Whatever happened here, it caused its destruction.
"That would be Sirin. She ended Honkai, but it caused the destruction of the moon," Sakura explained to them.
"I see."
"Take us to the Assimilator. We will collect Sakura's sister and then visit the planet's surface." The Nakiri Heiress ordered the captain of the ship.
As the warship was flying to the centre piece of Sirin's Assimilator, Erina pondered the sudden acquisition of a Flagship of her own.
Marcus gave her a new ship instead of his, which confused her for a second. She is not a fighter, so why does she need a seven-kilometre-long warship that can blow up worlds?
Regardless, as the ship docked in the hangar bay, she was greeted by custom-coloured Royal Guards. These were Sirin's guards. It would seem she had no chance to collect her soldiers.
Makes sense since Marcus demanded immediate departure.
"Mistress Erina, please follow us." The leader of the Royal Guard motioned to follow them.
With a nod, the group of three followed the bulky knights.
They went to lower levels. Erina realised that Sirin had converted the cargo areas into stasis safekeeping areas instead of keeping animals.
Seeing people frozen in time is a bit…
"...Umm, this is creepy," Hisako commented as she saw people frozen in different positions. Green aura fields surrounded them as they were kept in glass-like containers and stored on specially prepared metal shelves.
"It is…" Erina is a bit concerned, but she understood what Sirin did. The girl wants to win Marcus over; she is even willing to do this.
Her gaze went further as she noticed that the majority of the shelves in front were empty.
'They could store thousands if not millions here.'
Eventually, they arrived before a pink-haired girl, familiar to Sakura, frozen in disbelief.
The girl was gazing up before she was captured. Most likely seeing the smaller pieces of Assimilator arrive above her city.
"Rin!"
Sakura moved forward, but the glass wall was in the way. She gazed at her sister and then at the cherry blonde chef.
"...Can you let her go?"
Erina looked at the knight, who nodded. Moments later, the glass wall opened, and the green aura around Rin disappeared.
The girl stumbled for a second as she tried to understand what she was seeing!
One second, she was outside gazing at something absurd; the next moment, she was here, her sister in front of her!
"Sis?"
"Rin!"
Sakura hugged her tightly.
"...What is going on?" Rin asked, as she was extremely confused!
"Shh…" the older pinkette didn't say a thing as she kept hugging her little sister.
"Well, it would seem you got your sister back. We should get to the planetside. I want to see what kind of dishes exist in this world." Erina eventually spoke after letting the pair have their moments.
Rin looked at the side, noticing these two new girls.
"Umm…who are these two girls? Are they your friends, sis?" the younger pinkette asked, but Sakura quickly, with barely hidden nervousness, explained to her.
"Not quite." The Ex-Assassin of Cocoon pulled back and looked at Rin." This is Erina Nakiri. She is the future Empress of the Empire that invaded Earth."
Rin paled when she heard that. She quickly got out of Sakura's hold and bowed to Erina. Some sweat was on her forehead as she tried to calm herself.
This was crazy! Why her silly sister didn't explain from the very beginning!
"I-I apologise for my rude behaviour!"
"Relax. Everything is fine." Erina waved her hand. She realises that Marcus' influence is a bit crazy.
She has seen similar nervousness from people before. But this was even more than that.
"Since you got your sister, you can show me the cuisines of your world." The Chef girl said to Sakura.
The older pinkette nodded seriously as she was ready to do her part.
"Then let's go." Erina motioned to follow her. Rin paid a bit more attention, and she noticed that this cherry blonde girl was indeed like some noble girl or an heiress; the way she held herself told her that much.
The girls began to walk towards the lift. Rin looked around. She saw people behind glass walls in different frozen shapes. They looked like they had been taken by surprise.
'This place is creepy.'
Rin's eyes ended up on a familiar person. Her eyes widened in surprise! She saw… Eden! The famous idol!
'Not surprised that they got her…'
The younger sibling of Sakura thought to herself, they most likely got all sort of famous people.
But what for?
As she wondered about this, they entered a lift that would take them to the hangar.
"Where should we start?" Erina asked them. "Is there something you recommend?" The cherry blonde asked as she leaned against one of the walls.
Now that she thinks about it. This is the first time she is out of Marcus' protective eye. He can do whatever she wants!
'Well, first, we need to test their food. See if they have something delicious. If they don't, then I will teach them. This is a world under our control.
There is no way I will allow one of our domains to have lackluster dishes.'
"We could start from my homeland. Once there were can move west."
"...West, you say?" Erina perked up. She mentally summoned the map of this place.
She immediately noticed a familiar land. Except for one glaring difference…
There is an extra continent in the Pacific Ocean. Or at least she thinks that it is called Pacific.
"Yes. This is our Homeland." Sakura pointed at a familiar set of islands.
"...Japan…"
"...Umm..no. We call it Sakura Islands."
Erina looked surprised for a second.
'This is an alternative world.' Cherry Blonde just realised that she was on Earth, but it was quite different!
It was a strange experience.
"Sakura Islands, you say. Tell me, is it named after trees that have pink petals?" the chef girl inquired in a curious tone.
"Yes." Sakura seriously nodded.
"Fascinating. I do come from the same land, only by different name from an alternative Earth." Erina explained her circumstances.
"...I see. It does make sense, as the Empire is Interdimensional and time-travelling." Sakura realised the same thing as Erina did. If this is the case, then she will see all sorts of people with different realities and different Earths, not just alien worlds like that Frozen one she saw before.
"Precisely, it's quite exciting! I want to know what kind of food recipes they have, including ingredients, techniques, or tools!" The Heiress gushed at the idea.
She then looked at her assistant.
"Hisako, aren't you excited!? Imagine how much you can improve your medical cooking!"
The purple-haired secretary grimaced internally. While part of her is curious and excited, a big part of her is resisting as she doesn't want to get carried away like her Mistress.
"...In a way, I am. It's just that I never had the chance; being Sirin's chef is… time-consuming." Hisako explained herself.
"You should practise your time manipulation a bit more. Once I did it, cooking became even easier." Erina lifted her right index finger and made a horizontal motion, leaving behind a green streak of light.
It became a horizontal clock. It showed time, like a clock!
"..."
"..."
The pair of sisters noticed that and were a bit spooked. When someone speaks so casually about time manipulation, it sends shivers through a regular person's mind.
If someone likes that, do use it on them. Will they cease to exist? It doesn't matter if it's backwards or forward; one would die or cease to exist.
But this girl… speaks like it's another Tuesday in the shopping mall!
~~~
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