The two of them walked out of the conference room one after the other.
Since the other party's actions had, after all, been helpful to their side, Kotori decided not to dwell on the earlier spike in her blood pressure.
She asked kindly, "Would you like us to provide transport technology? We can send you directly to the surface from here."
"No need."
Amber replied, "I have to intercept DEM before they arrive. Starting from the ground would only slow me down."
"In that case, time might be too tight."
Kotori frowned. "Mitsuki just said DEM will make contact with the Princess very soon. By the time you suit up in your armor, the two sides will likely have already met."
"Please rest assured, Commander Kotori."
At that moment, a beautiful girl who had been waiting outside the door spoke up with a smile.
She wore black silk maid attire, her ash-golden short hair covering her left eye, while her exposed right eye—a wine-red hue with a teardrop mole at the corner—gleamed with amusement. "Lady Durandal is different."
"Different?"
Kotori's frown didn't ease in the slightest. It wasn't just because the other had addressed her so familiarly—even with the added "Commander," it felt somewhat inappropriate—but more so because she had no idea what this unexplained "different" was supposed to mean.
"Just take me to the drop pod first." Amber said.
Seeing how insistent she was, and noting that the one who seemed to be her maid showed no sign of objection, Kotori swallowed her further doubts and didn't press the matter.
She led the two to the nearest airlock and opened the hatch.
A tremendous wind pressure instantly rushed into the chamber, but none of the three were ordinary people. They stood firm, completely unshaken by the gale.
Noticing the maid's thoughtful gaze fixed on her, Kotori knew the other was wondering how she could remain so steady on her feet. But she felt no need to explain, leaving the other to her speculations.
Besides, she was plenty curious herself—why wasn't this maid affected by the wind pressure either?
What was her name again… Rita, or something? There didn't seem to be any information on her in the database… It looked like she wasn't just an ordinary maid.
Probably a trained soldier, or perhaps… also a Valkyrie?
"I've already sent DEM's coordinates to you."
Kotori said.
"Understood. I'll head out now then—Rita."
Amber first nodded to Kotori, then turned to the maid standing behind her.
"Have a safe journey, Lady Durandal."
Even though the girl wasn't wearing her Valkyrie armor, Rita showed not a trace of worry for her safety. She bowed with a smile, every bit the picture of a proper maid.
Kotori secretly gulped. Had the Schicksal already developed technology to equip armor remotely?
Or was what she was wearing right now already a form of armor?
Or maybe… No, that couldn't be… She was still human, right? How could anyone fight without armor?
Before Kotori could speculate further, Amber leaped straight out of the airlock. As her figure dropped, an object resembling both a shield and a skateboard—cyan-blue on top, white below—suddenly materialized beneath her feet, carrying her swiftly forward into the sky.
"What in the world is that?"
Kotori's eye twitched.
She's a Valkyrie, isn't she? Not a Magician using a Realizer to deploy a free-form field and alter physics in the area.
So how is she withstanding the wind pressure at this altitude of over ten thousand meters, not to mention standing so steadily on such a tiny aircraft?
"There's no need to be overly surprised."
When faced with a young girl like Kotori, Rita had ample patience and kindness. "Lady Durandal is different. Just remember that, and it will be enough."
"…You think saying 'different' explains everything?"
Kotori naturally couldn't accept it so easily. This was completely unlike any Valkyrie she had ever known!
Meanwhile, soaring through the air, Amber let her thoughts drift slightly.
It had been six years since she arrived in this world.
When she first got here, she never expected that Dark Amber had already preceded her. According to Dark Amber, she had arrived forty years earlier and, sharing the same system backpack, had directly borrowed Mobius's character card.
After meeting, the two exchanged their respective experiences.
Dark Amber had traversed worlds twice before. The first time was in the world of Black Bullet.
Using Tiamat's character card, she cleansed the planet's surface, reshaping all of humanity within the Sea of Chaos, leaving behind only a paradise for the Cursed Children.
She had also taken the opportunity to quickly decode the genetics of the Gastrea using the Herrscher of Death's core.
Without relying on the Sea of Chaos, she directly solved the Cursed Children's genetic defects through medical means. Using Gastrea genes as a base, she created a prototype for MANTIS warriors.
The Valkyries in this world were said to wield the power of Stigmata, but in reality, they were MANTIS warriors fused with Gastrea genes.
It was only due to Dark Amber's whimsical naming sense that they were called Stigmata—after all, she had already established the Schicksal.
As for Valkyrie armor, that was even less noteworthy.
She hadn't spent her years in this world idly. She had studied the powers of this world's Magicians extensively.
Although before the appearance of Mio Takamiya, Magicians were practically as common as street dogs, it was more than enough for Dark Amber—armed with the knowledge in her head and this world's magical energy—to develop Valkyrie armor.
Heck, it wasn't just Valkyrie armor. In fact, she had mostly figured out how to create free-form fields as well.
Before Mio Takamiya appeared, free-form fields didn't exist. They were a result of Westcott's research into the borderworld—a truly remarkable achievement.
But in terms of research progress alone, Dark Amber had actually advanced far beyond Westcott. She just hadn't equipped Valkyrie armor with free-form fields.
Unlike Westcott, who only managed to capture one Spirit—the first one, Nia Honjo—and had no further chances afterward, Dark Amber had been capturing Spirits left and right in the early days.
She didn't even need to lift a finger herself; the MANTIS warriors under her command—who didn't even carry the Valkyrie title yet—could handle it.
After all, the early Sephira Crystals hadn't been purified, and the Spirits' powers weren't particularly strong back then.
After defeating the Spirits, she brought them all back to her lab to analyze the Sephira Crystals.
With the power of Creation at her disposal, she had no fear that removing the Sephira Crystals would kill the girls.
Besides, Mio Takamiya would eventually extract the crystals and cause their deaths anyway—better that she take them out herself.
Once the Sephira Crystals were removed, the girls were returned to their original lives. And each time, after just a few days of research, the Sephira Crystals would vanish into thin air.
Truth be told, she had already prepared to confront Mio Takamiya. If nothing else, at least she herself couldn't die.
Even if she were truly killed, she would simply return to Amber's side—since, according to the system's designation, she was Amber's property and under the system's protection.
But at this stage, though Mio Takamiya was already unhinged, she wasn't so far gone as to kill indiscriminately.
So Dark Amber had merely continued extracting the Sephira Crystals without taking further action.
Unfortunately, as the Sephira Crystals became purer through purification, the Spirits' powers grew accordingly.
The MANTIS warriors gradually went from capturing the Spirits alive to barely being able to hold back the frenzied Spirit girls—driven mad by the impurities in their Sephira Crystals.
That is, until Amber arrived.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.