Galactic Nexus/Episode 7: Arboreal Discord III

**Arboreal Discord III** is the seventh episode of the first season of Galactic Nexus.

## Story so far

"As inscribed in the prophecy, a young man named Frisch Celerent walks on a path where the future of being the ruler of time and space, the Harvester, awaits him. As the researchers were investigating on the anomaly, a black jet makes its passive entrance. But knowing that they will eliminate those who know what they are doing, the researchers sent out their automatons to provoke it. Unfortunately, it seems that this obsidian dragon, whose pilot calling himself the *assassin of the skies* and living up to such a title, was able to deal with their automatons and rendering their attacks moot. A remarkable show, it is! Thanks to this aircraft, now Master Altus will find a lead to whatever the researchers are doing. So such marks the sixth page of the history of the Harvester in another realm." — Irissia

## Roleplay

"Have these idiots not learned the last time? Hahaaa, this is great!" the man said to himself, piloting his jet away from the jet to gain some distance, his camera feed having picked up the newly improved Metal Jack. Guess he was gonna have to try something new now...

The newly improved Metal Jack quickly flies up into the clouds & re-emerges right behind the jet, having using new cloaking detecting metal vision implying that it's a distraction for its new attacks, his chest laser blasts at the engines of the jet, having sensed the slight cloaking distortion of the jet & the laser charging sequence from before, trying to blast the aerial assassin out of the sky, while EggPlankton & his group quickly extracts more of the chaotic energy into the tubes to make a run for it with the other villains.

It seemed Metal Jack had the drop on the pilot, since he detected his jet via the heat radiating off of it... however, what Metal Jack lacked was the element of surprise. That, and the capability of removing the jet's stealth-coating for others to see, since it involved bending visible light itself to make it seem invisible. The pilot still had his camera feeds in that 360 degree vision radius, so he definitely saw Metal Jack coming. It was obvious to him that he somehow figured him out, so now he had to react. Luckily, he can do just that.

He saw Metal Jack was getting in position to attack, so all he simply did was slow down the jet, rolled it upside down, and curved it downwards towards Metal Jack's direction - not directly at him, just the direction he was at. The result would have the jet be upside up again and below Metal Jack, giving the pilot the chance he needed to boost away from him at Mach 2 speeds again, all before he could fire his chest laser blast, or at the least have the chance to focus it on him.

Having most likely outmaneuvered him, the pilot was now able to conduct his plan. He flew the jet forward, towards the opening where EggPlankton and the others were at. They could definitely hear him coming, but they couldn't see the jet. So when the jet's dome shield dissipating its frontal hexagons to allow its weapons to fire... it surely had that element of surprise.

"...BBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRTT!!!"

The loud sounds of two 30mm rotary autocannons firing could then be heard, as well as the infrared laser. Both were firing upon the opening where EggPlankton and his group were - which exposed him entirely as the stealth-coating disabled itself. The man was literally doing a strafing run at them.

Of course, while all of this fighting was going on, another tear opened up in the middle of the assembled group of 'villains' and Locar; dropping a solitary figure in the midst of the group. This figure had unkempt auburn hair kept at a medium length, with a crystal steel gambeson worn underneath a dark blue hooded surcoat, in addition he was also wearing a pair of denim jeans with metal plates sewn onto the fabric for added protection in the form of make shift armored leggings, in addition to what looked like leather wraps around his feet and open toed grass cutting sandals.

Shockingly enough, he also seemed to wear white medical bandages over a majority of the visible parts of his body, leaving only a small portion of the upper right side of his face exposed. Revealing a dark emerald green eye that was filled to the brim with fear, uncertainty and terror at suddenly being displaced to another location filled with strangers. He landed in a crouch, and seemed to be in a battle read posture as evidenced by him being hunched forward and tended for any sort of attack, though at his full height he was 5'7", and he weighed in at about 70 kilograms.

This was Ishvati Delaroja, a fourteen-year-old Prismite from the same time as Locar, however the two did not know each other, and Delaroja had questions, he could feel that there was at least one other Prismite, he could see the Raiment; and upon noticing the others and the metal 'dragon' spitting its 'flames' with the most horrible of sounds at the group he had landed in the middle of. He immediately leaped backwards and sprang into a defensive, yet battle ready stance. All without muttering even a single word.

Out of sheer reflex, and due to the horrible sound and the literal death this 'dragon' was bringing upon the group, Locar instinctively relocated himself back to Sveionagoria.

Dr. EggPlankton, Jack-4 Commander, HenchCombats & Vulcan & Archer trying to duck for cover, while the Jack-4 Robots bravely taken the shots for their members of the EggPlankton Empire, who we're taken by surprise of the autocannons surprise. "There, hit the jet, hit the jet!" Vulcan said who was in panic a bit, having noticed the Jet decloaked itself for this attack.

"Metal Jack! The Cube! Think outside the box! We can't let our investigation efforts go up in smoke!" said EggPlankton while trying to protect the energy tubes filled with vital chaotic energy, that is unbeknownst belonging to a much higher & darker power, the Hollow Empress.

Or was it? No one really knows...

Yet.

Though with the jet now visible, Metal Jack who was quick to respond to the command, spots the Cube Robot still trying to recharge & the robot quickly boosts forward to grab at the Cube Robot, racing after the jet fighter from underneath & tries to activate the EMP of the Cube Robot again from underneath & tries to toss it at the fighter jet from underneath it & tries to back away at a good distance, hoping that this next EMP, though not as powerful as last time due to the recharge time cut in half because of the intense battle, will hit.

"This better work or we're done for!" said Archer while trying to keep the team of villains, including the EggPlankton Empire, hidden within the forest.

A massive ring of silver light inscribed with several layers of Prismionic script manifested under the wake of the Jack-4 battalion, encompassing the whole area they occupied.

What in the world is happening now?

"What the?! What now?!" asked EggPlankton, wondering what is happening to his battalion of Jack-4 Bots, while the HenchCombats look around with Vulcan, Archer & Jack-4 Commander & even Metal Jack to see who had summoned the massive silver light ring.

Unfortunately, no could be seen conjuring such a circle. How did it appear then? And what does it do in the first place?

No one among them really knows.

"What's happening?" asked Bluebot, while shaken from the sudden surprise.

"It appears to be a ring of silver energy." said Redbot while examining the energies.

"Thank you, captain obvious...!" said Yellowbot, while also confused on what's going on with Everburn, Serpina, Locar & the other villains.

"Uh, boss? Is this a good thing or a bad thing?" said Greenbot with a nervous look, while the Jack-4 Robots look skeptical on what's going on as well & why they are surrounded in a silver ring of energy.

Since the Jack-4 battalion did not manage to do an evasive maneuver, including the robotic entities that went to examine the circle, there was no good news for them. Solely bad news.

If they would attempt to move... they seem unable to, after the silver ring manifested a second ago, which had dissipated into white particles. Neither can they move, no matter how they were forced to (by digital commands), nor retract any of their weapons in their arsenal if they had any attempt of utilizing them now.

What is this? Magic? Or some other supernatural force unknown to Dr. EggPlankton and his henchmen? But it does not end there...

Based on the sight of this Prismionic circle, Locar entered a proper battle ready stands; this time sticking his right hand out in front of him as what looked like golden Prismions coalesced in front of the palm of Locar's hand; where upon he would stick his hand into the ball and pull out a khopesh that seemed to be distinctly gilded with a gold hilt that seemed to have etchings of a coiled snake engraved into the hilt; the blade itself seemed to be a primarily emerald green coloration with flecks of gold staining the khopesh.

With that, Locar was ready, and as a result he began to move towards the prisoners; if an attack came, odds are it might be to rescue the prisoners.. Well, that's what he was thinking anyways, reinforced by the fact that Serpina herself mentioned that she kidnapped Darkstorm's daughter.

Ishvati on the other hand, didn't have the same abilities as any of the others that he saw, so he snuck his way towards one of the disabled robots; looking for one that had some sort of melee weapon for him to use, and assuming he found one, he would grasp on to that robot's arm and literally ripped it off, discarding the arm itself in favor of a weapon that looked eerily similar to a cutlass; examining the weapon and finding no flaws, he crept his way back into the battlefield.

The child soldier's lone visible eye suddenly widened, seemingly shocked, as he witnessed the severed metal arm transmuting into a fine, proper cutlass... though it was completely metallic—there were insufficient non-metallic parts for a handle and hilt. Probably some strips of rubber cables that protected the inner circuitry of the arm. However, to compensate, the handle was sculpted in an ergonomic manner, bringing to mind its curvature and texture, all to enable Ishvati a decent grip despite the apparent lack of proper material for a sword handle.

Of course, after examining it for a bit, he gave the cutlass a proper swing. On the robot whose arm was previously ripped off, and with the power behind that swing the unfortunate robot was nearly split in twain, a messy cut that looked more like a bludgeoning strike.

Now, this, might not have been such a good idea... Well maybe, because with a weapon in hand. Ishvati made a rush towards where the prisoners were held. Even in a panicked, bear-frenzied state, he could tell that some individuals were being held prisoner and his conscience demanded that he helped to free them. He knew who his enemies were: the robots and the assembled 'villains'.

After the jet's strafing run of the opening, it continued to boost forward with its dome-shield completely encircling it. He was about to turn around for another run, but quickly he found out that Metal Jack 2.0 was chasing him down.

"Oh okay, it can go as fast as my jet apparently... in this speed~," the man said to himself, glancing towards the throttle before moving it as far as it could go. The jet then began to pick up speed, as it steadily widening the gap between itself and Metal Jack. As if that wasn't enough - the nose of the jet began curving upwards, as if the pilot was intending to go higher. Was the pilot intending to test Metal Jack's resolve by moving further up into Mobius' atmosphere?

Teniahk growls out a warning to Locar, even if she is held captive she wants to make herself appear dangerous.

Looks like Locar had returned to the material plane when he summoned his khopesh. If he were still in Sveionagoria, Teniahk wouldn't have seen him and let out a growl.

Regardless, he just smiled at Teniahk—a whimsical smile displaying the utter lack of fear he had for her. She was not intimidating to the general, furthermore she was restrained and thus posed no threat to him. However, he did lean in to whisper something in her ear, low enough that no one else could hear, especially with the background noise of conflict going on.

"Worry not, I will ensure your freedom once your purpose to me is served."

However, he was barely able to say anything more, as Ishvati tossed the makeshift weapon and caught it with his mouth before sticking both hands outwards; two 'scars' of pure light appearing in front of him, grasping them and pulling out what looked like a pair of shining cutlasses. The leathery handles were brushed with a reddish color, while the hilt was represented by fiery yellow spiritual flames and the blades are a translucent yellow, symbolizing a rather unstable nature to them.

With the cutlasses formed, he leaped into the air, landing in the spot where Locar would have been had he not backed off so as to avoid twin slashes aimed directly for the neck and chest, leaving Ishvati standing in front of Teniahk in a defensive position, essentially making it clear that although he was confused as to where he was, he was not with the villains.

Locar himself found this sort of thing amusing, almost tempted to fight this Prismite himself. However, it would not serve his purposes so he chose to mockingly 'bow' to the 'hero' and sort of slip into the background chaos; all the while Ishvati snarled and hissed like the confused, furious 'soldier' he was.

"If you touch my sister, I will shove your hand right up your tail bone and out your mouth you Lockjaw," Tosha growls out.

Drakon rolls his eyes at him. "Yeah, very threatening baby brother."

Teniahk growls at him. "You have no right to talk, traitor."

Drakon must've forgotten about the confused and furious Prismite who was dressed like a mummy for the most part, the one literally standing in front of the hostages. Well, he would most likely remember because Ishvati was upon Drakon in a split second; having lunged towards him with an angry yowl; crossing the three blades together for a single moment before slashing at Drakon's torso with the cutlasses.

Now if the slashes actually connected, odds are the cuts would have been made rather deeply in an 'x' like fashion; likely even cauterized instantly as the cutlasses in Ishvati's hands seemed to have a thin coating of hard light on the edges of the blade itself; furthermore there was the makeshift cutlass he held by the handle with his mouth; and Ishvati would have obviously tilted his head to the side in an attempt to slice at Drakon's neck with that third cutlass if the 'x' slash succeeded.

Drakon growls in pain from the cuts and his heated blood burning the wound shut, "Perks of being on dragon's adrenaline for four years."

Ishvati actually stabbed the makeshift cutlass into the ground in front of him, the tang of iron leaving a distinctly unpleasant taste in his mouth. He glanced at the hostages and then Drakon before pointing the cutlass held in his left hand towards the latter.

The message was clear: flee now or prepare to fight.

Teniahk glares at Drakon as she gets up grabbing her snake sword as Tosha puts his gauntlet blades back on.

"Thanks for the save," Tosha says as Drakon gets up with a grunt and grabs his Vengeance Blade.

Ishvati actually spoke this time around, his voice admittedly softer than what his appearance would suggest, rather than hoarse screaming his voice and as... well, just soft, youthful, yet still no less impactful.

"You're welcome.." He whispered softly, generally not fond of speaking above a whisper, before turning his full attention back to Drakon. "Leave, before I kill you here and now.."

Drakon laughs at Ishvati's attempt, "I'd love to see you try little pup," he says sheathing his blade pointing a claw at Ishvati, "As far as I am concerned you are no more a threat to me than my entire family." He extends his wings and flies out heading far from the area.

Teniahk looks at Ishvati putting her snake sword on her back, "I wouldn't have let him leave. He tried to split my parents apart during a war." Tosha puts a hand on his twin sisters back, "Mom and dad will deal with Drakon later, we need to report to them as soon a possible."

"..." Ishvati allowed his cutlasses to dissipate as he grabbed the makeshift one he held in his mouth earlier, lifting it up and examining the blade before turning to face the two hostages and nodding his head, though also directing them to look at the rest of the battlefield if only to ask what should be done about it..? He wasn't really one to talk so he mostly just used gestures to communicate.

Teniahk digs her claws into her palms, " We need to find our father, he will need to know."

Ishvati just shrugged in response, acquiescing to her will simply because he was not going to argue. If Teniahk's father could explain the situation to him and help his children out then he had no complaints nor reasons to not follow. Gesturing for the two freed captives to lead on, he waited for them to leave so he could follow; completely ignorant of the fact that the trio would be followed by Locar through the use of the Sveionagoria.

Teniahk rubbed her left arm as she called for her basilisk.

"I don't think he can hear you, sis," Tosha told her when the basilisk did not appear.

Ishvati simply looked at Teniahk weirdly, as if to ask just what the hell her weird action was supposed to accomplish; however if the basilisk was a flying creature, odds are having it appear would not be a good idea because of the aerial battle that is happening in the background.

The ground shook as a giant, pale snake emerged with a sharp hiss.

"You were saying, Tosh?" Teniahk spoke as she climbed onto the basilisk, patting its head. Not wanting to argue with her, Tosha climbed on as well, holding a hand out to Ishvati.

The latter stared at the basilisk for a second, then at Tosha for another few seconds before exhaling softly and gently grasping onto Tosha's hand, using the leverage gained to pull himself on to the back of the basilisk with a muttered "Thanks.." and a small nod.

Tosha nodded his head as the giant snake slithered away from the enemy camp and making its way to the hero's camp.

"Word of warning, don't stare at the basilisk's eyes for too long," Teniahk advised, hoping Ishvati knows the legend.

Unfortunately, the tilting of his head indicated that Ishvati didn't know the legend, which made sense considering that Ishvati was from a completely different world, he was dressed like someone who wasn't from this world at least.

All the while, Locar continued to follow after the basilisk; the trail was easy enough after all, its size probably left a groove in the ground when it slithered.

Tosha tells Ishvati about how dangerous it was to stare at the Basilisk's eyes for a prolonged period of time.

Ishvati just nodded his head in response, admittedly he wasn't too comfortable riding it after getting knowledge of the dangers of it; but he had no choice, it was a convenient mode of transportation.

The snake starts to gain speed as they near the frontline.

Locar just kept following the trail of the Basilisk, this was just too easy for him, he enjoyed it when it was easy.

The basilisk swerves sharply flinging Tosha, Teniahk, and Ishvati into the air. Tosha grabbed Ishvati by the hand as he expanded his wings as Teniahk did the same.

"We will need to fly the rest of the way. The basilisk exerted too much energy to get us this far."

Ishvati simply nodded, grasping Tosha's hand as their wings expanded; allowing Tosha to carry him since Ishvati didn't have wings of his own.

Of course, Locar noted that they were going to fly, letting out a series of chuckles that bordered on maniacal laughter for a few moments before composing himself; he glanced back at the tattered white scarf like cape that was torn in two right down the middle; willing the Prismions on the underside of the cape to move the two ends outwards and away from each other; torrents of black flames igniting underneath the ends of the cape in a continuous stream; allowing for Locar to achieve liftoff so he could continue following the group.

Teniahk rubs her left eye as she feels Nista getting anxious.

All in all, nothing would really change in terms of Locar following the two from the Sveionagoria. Ishvati hung from Tosha's hands as they took flight and all.

Meanwhile, down on the ground where EggPlankton's battalion of Jack-4 automatons found themselves being unable to move... things were about to get worse for them.

So much worse.

A sphere of light gleamed in the distance, before beelining straight towards them. The light wasn't necessarily bright, but it would be wise to not look directly at it. Strangely, the light impacted the ground, and nothing happened for a second... then a small blast of energy - at least that's what it could be called right now, had suddenly ignited from the point where the light impacted. The blast would get a good portion of the automatons, and anyone else who was in its range, as it... did nothing. At least not at the moment.

But EggPlankton may find the automatons who were caught in the blast were suddenly unresponsive to his commands, as if they were malfunctioning. Anything organic - basically not a robot, would find that they would be unaffected by whatever is happening.

While the Metal Jack continue the chase on blasting more lasers at the jet engines of the jet, EggPlankton inspects the Jack-4 Robots & then begins to look around for the source of the silver rings & light beam attacks, trying to command his robots to back away from the source of light attacks & then said "Alright, who is the wise guy that froze my bots into place?"

"Don't know whether it's light, ice or time element capabilities that made it possible." Vulcan while he, EggPlankton, Archer & Jack-4 Commander get themselves ready in self defence on who shot that light element based attack.

"Listen, this investigation has been interrupted enough as it is. Whoever you are that froze our bots into place. Please show yourself now so we can talk thing out." said Archer, who is trying to call out this new intruder or something else entirely that they're facing now, while Jack-4 Commander readies it's Arsenal of weaponry, to be safe.

Still no one could be seen. They cannot expect to see the perpetrator with only naked eyes.

The back pieces of the jet's dome-shield was so far holding up against Metal Jack's lasers - at least those that managed to hit it, since the jet was now preforming evasive maneuvers in accordance to the lasers, which it seemed to be acting out randomly in attempts to throw Metal Jack off. This was happening while its speed continued to accelerate, approaching Mach 3 speeds as a matter of fact. Or had it already reached that point? It was hard to tell.

"Come and catch me in the exosphere, I have a surprise for you up there!" the pilot said out loud to himself, as the jet continued its way up. At this point it was going to experience aerodynamic heating either by its high-speed or just by leaving the planet's atmosphere.

"... Incorrect," a raspy metallic voice of a young man reverberated in the forest. The content of the statement was hinted to be directed towards Vulcan.

As for the automatons affected by the blast of energy, well... they remained unresponsive for a few seconds before they would do something surprising, and possibly shocking. The Jack-4 robots suddenly beeped a couple of times while the irises on their visors (if any) changed from their standard color to a red color. If it was already red then it would be blue, and vice versa. All affected would then extend their arms out to point their weapons at EggPlankton and the rest of the group that weren't affected.

They were mutinying!?

*"Surrender. You are outmatched. Failure to comply with result in immediate harm or termination. You have ten seconds to decide."* One of the Jack-4s managed to speak out. Whether they had voice-boxes (or something of that nature) or not, this was a surprise nonetheless.

As the robots were forced to turn against their owner, orange light gleamed at the murky distance within the forest—a masculine figure standing at almost six feet clad in pitch-black armor and raiment, the bulk of which had orange lines engraved on its surface. Horns reminiscent of clock hands protruded from the forehead of the helmet. The faceplate was engraved with orange lines, vaguely forming what was hinted to be a winged humanoid.

All according to plan. They were all cornered by their own battalion by an unknown. The jet seemed like a diversion... or was it intended to be one?

EggPlankton, Vulcan, Archer & Jack-4 Commander are willing to comply to hold up their arms & hands, while holding the tubes of the chaotic Hollow Empress energy. Unknowingly that they're nearby the campsite & Freedom HQ, the one eyed green doctor, EggPlankton said "Who or what are you? It's just a simple investigation of these chaotic hollow energies until this jet fighter tries to interrupt us with all this noise. We can't even think straight on about the energies that are affecting my world as much as yours & everyone else here."

"And what is with all this powerful advanced magic & diversions? Your much more crafty than expected if your behind this." said Vulcan.

The figure gave no answer—there was no obligation for him to. That and he had to keep himself mysterious.

*"Those were simple tactics... but that was more crafty than expected?"* the masculine figure mulled quietly. *"... And the mention of chaotic energies... Looks like he was right."*

With their apparent surrender, the Jack-4s... well they didn't lower their weapons but they didn't open fire, so that's a plus. Regardless, they were unresponsive to EggPlankton and the masculine figure that made themselves known. Perhaps they were made his servants... or maybe another person did, who knows?

"... Those tubes. Hand them over to us, now," the figure spoke as he walked towards them—an aura of intimidation looming over the vicinity, what with his eerie look, thanks to the ethereal raiment.

At any moment, any wrong move from EggPlankton and his lackeys will result in severe casualties.

Having no choice in the matter, in order to spare their own lives & spare each other's, EggPlankton, Vulcan, Archer, Jack-4 Commander, Metal Jack & the Jack-4 Robots all lowered their weapons & accept defeat by handing over the tubes to the masculine figure while EggPlankton explained to the figure by saying "You're lucky that I'm taking care of my team. I suppose I've gotten much too sentimental for my own good. Take them. Our proper investigation will have to wait. I have a feeling that you know something that we don't."

"Agreed. Not getting fried up would be nice." said Archer, while he is a bit relieved.

"Metal Jack, return to station." Said EggPlankton, ordering the Metal Jack to stop chasing the jet & return to the group. "Everyone, let's get out of here. I had a feeling we won't be sticking around for much longer if we knew what's going to happen next." Added EggPlankton as he & his group of villains & Jack-4 Robots turn around & retreated deeper into the forest & jungle, having moving forward by accepting defeat, thou we're unaware of moving closing to Darkstorm's main camp & Freedom HQ.

The affected Jack-4 Robots did not follow however. In fact they all just stood there and stood idly by... well except one of them, which turned towards EggPlankton and his group when they were headed deeper into the forest.

*"Halt. Proceed in the opposite direction. Violating this course of action will result in immediate harm or termination. You have three seconds to comply,"* It said, warning them to turn around and walk in the opposite direction... did it know they were heading towards the camp and HQ?

The figure in charcoal-black armor stood in front of them as a signal to stop them from going towards the path to the aforementioned areas.

Frustrated & even frightened from the strict rules & threats, EggPlankton stop with the group & then turn back to the being to go to the opposite direction, since they already widen the gap to escape to get back to their base, with the team, taking advice not wanting to be killed by the armoured being.

EggPlankton's voice can be heard from a distance in term, he is taking to the black charcoal armoured figure before leaving with the group.

All the while, the armored figure stood firmly, looking at the mad doctor with stillness. Not a word was spoken—after all, EggPlankton and lackeys have complied to his demands.

Everburn smirked before moving his way into the shadows with the fiery orange glow of his eyes fading into the darkness.

Meanwhile, the fate of Serpina and her warriors in the forest were yet to be known.

The pilot glanced at his camera feeds and noticed Metal Jack 2.0 had disengaged from the dogfight. It actually surprised him a bit, but he couldn't help but laugh to himself.

"Ha ha, you better run, you artificial abomination!" he said aloud. He noted that now the battle's been won (thinking solely in his favor), he had the jet turn around and descended - obviously not in or near the point of a nosedive, because that'd be pretty retarded. Once he had managed to get the jet back to an altitude where the forest was, he just... kinda began flying around at cruise speed again.

"Well, that was fun...!"

Such were his words until realization hit him in his head.

*"Where the hell do I go now? I'm almost out of fuel,"* the pilot thought to himself, looking over to a gauge that represented fuel. It was nearing the empty side of things.

As EggPlankton and his lackeys had completely disappeared into the horizon, the mysterious figure let out a soft sigh of relief as he held the containers of chaotic energy in his hands. He turned around, with his raiment twirling along.

*"... We're done here,"* he spoke... in his thoughts. *"... Let us regroup with the others. We can use these robots for extra material."*

*"Finally, it's about time for me to stop starving!"* a voice was heard from one of the trees in the vicinity. It originated from Heiz, who could be seen in the reader's perspective as an ectoplasmic apparition of him in his Raiment, thanks to what seemed to be invisibility of ethereal nature... like the two other figures who were with them: Seele and Julia. Except that the latter lacks a Prismatic Raiment.

Apparently, one could guess who the mysterious figure was when he appeared after all the Jack-4 Robots were brought under his heel.

Frisch, the Harvester himself.

*"... Julia, does your spell have a duration?"* he relayed to her via Seele's astral network.

The one called Julia was standing right next to Seele when she heard Frisch's question. So she was the one who took control of the Jack-4s... that might answer a few questions to the reader regarding previous events.

*"N-N-No, th-they're permanently in my c-control... wh-why?"* she asked curiously.

*"... Perfect. Like I said, they will be useful in the future,"* he answered in the same manner as he did before. *"... You have my earnest gratitude."*

*"Ri-Right... m-m-maybe I can u-use them for something, I-I guess..."*  she said, already thinking of the possibilities of what she could do with them. Her thoughts were interrupted when she was given his earnest gratitude, which took her by surprise.

*"O-Oh! Y-Y-You don't have to th-thank me... re-really, I-I was just doing wh-what was asked o-o-of me,"* she answered is a nervous manner, evident by how she was glancing down at the ground (which he might notice through Seele but I'm not too sure). Though seeing how she also had a slight and shy smile, she probably appreciated it after all.

Amid his current physical translucency, Frisch let out a smile as she listened to her. Even though she was not good at dealing with praise, he felt that she appreciated his thanks.

And that alone made him glad—an ally being able to help him in her own volition.

As they were walking back to camp, Verzleinir was standing by a tall structure with a rooftop floor, gazing towards the outskirts of the Republic of Acorn.

"Now more and more people are getting stirred up because of the anomaly. But I wonder how will they stand up to the Hollow Empress herself: Reginull. When she arrives here, that is. Oh, and..."

He glanced over to an armored figure donning a bodysuit with the hue of ivory and a faint sheen of metal. Amethyst and mint-green trimmings lined the surface of the raiment in a messily swirly fashion, reflecting its subtly obscure image.

"Took you a while, boss," Verzleinir spoke, as if to start a whimsical conversation.

"I am just in time for the fun, actually," the enigmatic figure replied—a faint ethereal reverb escaping the helmet. "Her presence has grown somewhat stronger. It is expected that she will make her foothold within a few days."

They rubbed the underside of their helm in intrigue.

"Let's see what you will do to her... or for her."

```
To be continued in the next episode...

```