"You're not going to do it, right? RIGHT!?"
Aoto was grabbing and shaking Scarlett's left hand, but Scarlett didn't even turn to look at him, her position firm and unyielding.
Without turning, she said, "Sorry to not tell you about it, but it's not my first time. I have done even worse things than this. And why are you reacting so much? Haven't you killed people as well?" she said in an emotionless tone that sent chills down Aoto's spine.
At that moment, Aoto was actually having a short-term existential crisis. Was the Scarlett standing in front of him actually the same Scarlett he knew since childhood? The one he knew more about than his own family members?
"Y-yes, but I never killed innocents. I'm not fond of killing innocents, dang!" he said, letting out a nervous and awkward chuckle that barely masked his distress.
"Then I'll show you how," Scarlett answered, as a faint green aura enveloped the area around her. She activated her psychokinesis, and the dust and stones on the ground started to hover slightly in the air, defying gravity.
The confused people in the surroundings felt a chill run down their spines. For some reason, something felt quite wrong. The atmosphere started feeling tense and suffocating, as if the very air had grown heavy with menace.
Many of them trembled and immediately decided to run away, their faces pale with fear.
As Scarlett was about to unleash her wrath, huge sirens started blaring from all directions.
WEE...WOO....WEE..WOO....
The district lights turned red, and even digital screens turned red as if showcasing an alert of the highest priority.
Scarlett paused and looked at the sudden change. Then all the digital screens started showing her image on them, her face displayed for all to see.
"Please Evacuate...Scarlett Nova–Danger: Calamity Class"
"Please Evacuate As Early As Possible"
Robotic female voices kept repeating the warning, combined with the sound of the blaring alarm, creating a cacophony of panic.
At once, the whole area turned into absolute chaos and panic. Everyone started screaming and running away as far as they could, some tripping over others in their haste. Some who saw both Scarlett on screen and then in front of them fainted on the spot out of sheer terror.
"Phew... it's better this way. She will only fight enemies. We just have to wipe them out and we're done," Aoto said to himself, feeling somewhat relieved that civilians were evacuating.
"But why didn't they show my face, huh? Am I not a threat? I'll kill them," Aoto shouted, stomping his feet in anger at being overlooked.
Scarlett was still standing firm without moving, as if waiting for all enemies to come at once.
But then she slowly turned to Aoto with an awkward expression. "Actually, all these alarms and red lights... I'm starting to feel kinda nervous," she admitted, her voice uncharacteristically hesitant.
Aoto stared at her in disbelief. "...."
"What? Weren't you just talking about annihilating the whole kingdom a moment ago?" he shouted in pure frustration, but deep down, he knew the reason—Feyre's effect had not fully been wiped away yet.
He shook his head, forcing himself to focus on the situation. "Focus... focus... enemy can attack from anywhere," he muttered, trying to stay alert.
The moment he said it, the ground trembled as two giant robots came into sight.
Each was about eight meters tall, walking on two legs, but none of them were humanoid. One had a chubby body, especially the large belly with the head of a penguin.
While the other one had four arms and a tiger face, its mechanical eyes glowing menacingly.
Before they attacked, several missiles shot from high up in the air, ready to annihilate both Scarlett and Aoto in one go.
But before they could hit, Scarlett casually created a psychokinetic barrier, stopping them from getting any closer effortlessly, as if swatting away annoying flies.
"Is that all? I'm disappointed," she sighed, her voice filled with disdain.
"Let me handle these two," Aoto said, stepping forward eagerly.
He took out a wooden stick from his pocket and using his unique skill, he altered reality, turning the stick into a blazing bow that burned with intense fire.
Stretching the fiery strings of the bow, he shot out a pure blazing arrow made from his mana, the arrowhead glowing brilliantly as it left the bow.
The arrow cut through the air directly toward the two robots in blinding speed, leaving a trail of fire behind it.
BOOM!...
A huge explosion happened, turning a few meter radius into a ball of fire that consumed both robots completely.
"Bullseye!" Aoto shouted, jumping in the air out of joy, his earlier frustration forgotten in his moment of triumph.
But just as the fire settled down, both of the robots were still standing, with only some burn marks marring their metal bodies. There were no lethal wounds on them at all, their armor seemingly unbreached.
"Tch, quite sturdy, huh? Then take thi—" Before Aoto could complete his sentence, Scarlett moved at terrifying speed that defied comprehension.
She jumped into the air and landed a straight kick on the penguin-headed robot with enough force to shatter mountains.
BAM!
The ground below cracked violently, spiderwebbing across the pavement in all directions. The robot wasn't spared either. Its entire body crumbled like a tin can, body parts flew everywhere as it was torn apart, falling to the ground in a heap of twisted metal and broken circuits.
The other robot could only take a single step backward, its processors struggling to comprehend the speed of the attack, but before it could do more than that, Scarlett was already standing in front of it, her presence overwhelming and terrifying.
SWEEP!
She casually ripped one of its four arms apart as if it were made of paper, and then—BAM!
Just one casual punch and she sent the robot flying across the buildings, crashing through walls and disappearing from sight with a sound like thunder.
All of this happened in a single blink of an eye, as if at one moment they were fine and then in the next second, one had been completely torn apart while the other had vanished entirely.
Aoto sighs, his shoulders slumping slightly. "There was no need, I could have handled them, I'm not that weak," he said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.
"I know, but we're running out of time. The war has most likely already started," Scarlett says, looking at her own palm as if examining it for something only she could see, her expression distant and focused.
"Besides, I could feel punching them," she added, a strange note of satisfaction in her voice.
"What do you mean by 'feel' punching them?" Aoto asks in confusion, his brow furrowed as he tried to understand what she meant.
"For me, most things are soft, even quite durable things feel like tofu to me. Just one slight squeeze from me can break them easily. That's why I have to be extra careful to not break things more than I want to," Scarlett explains.
"But these robots, I actually felt that I hit something, not some soft pudding," she says, a small smile touching her lips for the first time since they'd arrived.
Aoto raises his eyebrows in surprise. If Scarlett was saying this, then the robots must have been specially durable.
Not to mention, they withstood his attacks like nothing, even though he wasn't as powerful as Scarlett, he was still powerful enough to be a Holy Knight member. The robots must have great elemental resistance as well.
At the same time, from the severed head of the chubby penguin robot, some crackling sounds came and then became clear, as if someone was speaking through a damaged communication device.
"Scarlett Nova, hear my words," it said, grabbing both Scarlett's and Aoto's attention instantly, the voice calm despite the destruction around them.
Scarlett walks toward it and puts her leg on top of the head, as if ready to crush it at any moment, her expression cold and unyielding.
"Formidable indeed. I had sent all of my robots to the battlefield, with only these two left. Even they were no less strong than an S-rank adventurer, yet you defeated them in the blink of an eye," the voice said, a note of admiration mixed in its tone.
"You, who are you? And why are you helping Mystveil? Do you not fear being obliterated by me?" Scarlett said in her bone-chilling tone that promised death to anyone who crossed her.
"Hahaha... it's just an alliance based on mutual benefit. Although I don't think you should be concerned about it. The war has already started," the voice replied, sounding surprisingly unconcerned about the threat.
"As for who I am? I think you know me better than the people of my own kingdom. We're from the same planet, Earth after all," the voice added, dropping a bombshell that left Aoto stunned.
"Earth? A summoned hero?" Aoto said, but no answer came from the voice, which continued as if he hadn't spoken.
Instead, it said, "As a fellow Earthian, let's settle this matter outside of the kingdom. At the border between armament and demon realme, I'll be waiting for you two. Let's have a battle—just me and me alone."
Aoto immediately felt a surge of hope. If they could just defeat the king, the Armament Kingdom would already be out of the battle with their leader gone.
But Scarlett was still feeling some doubts, her instincts telling her something wasn't right.
"And why would you put your life on the line for a temporary alliance?" she asked, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. Somehow her question made perfect sense.
"Hahaha..." the voice chuckled. "Who said I want to put my life on the line?" the voice said and took a light breath that was somehow audible through the damaged speaker.
"I just need to waste your time," it added, the words landing like a lead weight in the pit of Aoto's stomach.
The moment the voice said it, the whole ground trembled violently, making even Aoto lose his balance for a moment. But Aoto wasn't just any ordinary person to lose balance from just some trembling.
It was as if the mana in nature itself had shifted slightly, causing the mana inside him to tremble and making him lose his balance, Just like a motion sickness.
And then, a blinding white light shot into the air, so bright that it made both of them shield their eyes instinctively.
It was like a beacon of light, piercing the clouds and heaven itself, reaching toward the stars with an intensity that spoke of immense power being unleashed.
"Judging by the distance, it's coming from near the borders of Mystveil," Scarlett said in a solemn voice, her expression grave as she realized what was happening.
It clearly meant that the ritual had started!
"Now come, I don't think you have much time," the voice said with a chuckle.