The Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups began to look terrified. Even Merveille who was normally calm had a look of utmost shock on her face. Opera nearly dropped her hand fan. The Kurvaz soldiers' mouths were open. The humans looked at the two groups wondering what happened to them.
"Nero?" Red said his eyes wide open in shock. "What are you saying? Is this some kind of a joke?"
Blanck said to the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups, "You all heard her. Or are all of you deaf?"
"Th-That is impossible!" exclaimed Merveille.
"Whoa, hold on a minute," Masaki looked at the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups. "Why are you all looking so scared now?"
"Do you know who this Bruno is?" Gilliam asked Merveille.
"Know him?" said one of the Kurvaz soldiers. "He's our former boss!"
"What?" Ryusei said in surprise.
"If he's just your former boss, then why are you all so terrified?" asked Kai.
Merveille calmed herself down and said, "Allow me to explain," She proceeded to tell the humans about Bruno, how he tried to use the Shades to attack Shepherd Republic and his demise.
"So, an enemy which you thought was dead has come back to life?" asked Kyosuke.
"That's freaky!" said Tasuku.
"But, it makes no sense. How could Bruno come back to life? It was confirmed that he perished along with Lares!" stated Gren.
Beluga gave Nero and Blanck a serious look. "Be straight with us. Are you sure that Bruno is alive? Or is this just a practical joke?"
"Oh, you starting to doubt me and Nero now?" said Blanck. "Is it because of what the two of us did back then to your home?"
"Get to the point," Beluga raised his voice.
"It is true," said Nero. "The man called Bruno Dondurma is alive and well. How he has returned to life we do not know,"
"Then, how did you know he's alive?" asked Gren.
"It's quite simple. We met him,"
Everyone except Nero and Blanck became surprised. "You did? Where?" asked Red.
"Relax, maggots," Blanck replied. "I'll explain," Blanck told everyone that he and Nero have been travelling to different worlds and dimensions. On one of their travels, they chanced across this world and entered it. While Nero and Blanck explored the world, they met Bruno by chance and ended up fighting with him.
"The old fart was more powerful than we thought he was. He was able to summon Shades on his own. Nero and I were forced to retreat because the piece of trash nearly overwhelmed us,"
"After the fight, you decided to alert someone in this world about the Shades correct?" Lamia asked.
"Well, Nero suggested that so yeah. Well, it's not that I care about doing such a thing anyway," said Blanck.
"What do you mean?" asked Yuuki.
Blanck then said in a rude tone, "You know why I offered my help here? It's just because I've got nothing else to do. In fact, you think I like helping you humans? Humans are nothing but insects that should just be exterminated,"
"What are you saying?" Carla snapped at Blanck. "This is a serious situation we're talking about here! How can you say such a thing? In fact, what's wrong with helping humans?"
"You're one to talk," replied Blanck. "I despise humans because of one reason. In my world, humans use to live in it. But, they ended up destroying each other in wars like a bunch of imbeciles and-"
"Blanck," Nero stopped Blanck from talking. "That's enough. We're here to lend our aid. Not to ignite further conflict,"
"I wasn't talking to you, Nero!" Blanck snapped. "Listen here. If you have a problem with what I'm saying right now, you can join these filthy humans. I'll just get outta here!"
"Hey," Bullet said to Blanck sternly. "I don't know what your problem is but, if you continue to act like that, you're going to end up having people hate you,"
"As if I care! If people hate me so much, I'll just bash them in the head with this!" Blanck pointed his broadsword towards Bullet as he spoke.
"Are you crazy? You'll be a murderer then!" Bullet exclaimed.
"Bullet, please calm down. We shouldn't argue right now," Kusuha tried to calm her boyfriend.
"Calm down?" Bullet said. "He's being a narcissist!"
Hearing this, Blanck walked menacingly towards Bullet while holding his broadsword. "You wanna fight, pal? Cos if it's a fight you want I'll butcher you up right-"
"Blanck," Merveille spoke in a voice loud enough to stop Blanck from moving. She then asked him, "May I ask you a few questions?"
"What is it?" Blanck responded rudely. "I don't wanna waste my breath on you,"
"Oh, I'm sure you will," Merveille replied. "Tell me, how could you and Nero possibly come back to life?"
"Yeah, I thought the two of you were absorbed into the Dahak's reactors back when I fought Tartaros," Red said to Nero and Blanck.
Blanck kept his broadsword behind his back and said, "That's none of your business. I'm not going to spill the beans on some trivial matter like that. I'm only concerned with the Shade attacks in this world,"
"I understand. And do you mind telling me why you and Nero have actually come here?" said Merveille.
Nero and Blanck became confused upon hearing Merveille's question. "What are you talking about, mom? We came to warn you about Bruno," said Nero.
"Yeah, duh! Were you even listening to what I and Nero said!" exclaimed Blanck.
"I did listen to both you and Nero's words. My point is you two coming to warn us were merely part of the reason the both of you are here. Am I not right?"
Everyone except Merveille started to look confused. "Merveille, what are you saying?" said Red. "If you're trying to say that they're going to backstab us-"
Merveille lifted a hand to stop Red from speaking. She then said to Nero and Blanck, "You two came to punish me for what I have done to the two of you right?"
Nero and Blanck each had a look of shock on their face. They became speechless. At that moment, Tetsuya said to Merveille, "Punish… you?"
Ryusei said trying to look amused, "What… exactly are we talking about?"
Silence filled the room for a few seconds. Then, Gren stepped forward and said, "We are talking about Merveille's past," The members of the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups save Merveille were surprised and looked at him.
"Gren?" Elh asked in surprise.
Gren turned to the humans and said, "I do not mean to open up emotional wounds here. But, if you must know what we are currently discussing about, I will explain. However, what I am about to say might shock all of you,"
"We are prepared. Do please go ahead," said Lefina.
Gren nodded. Slowly, he told the story of the origins of the Shades. He explained about Baion and Merveille creating Red, Nero, Blanck, the Titano Machina and the Shades. Gren also spoke about Red's past in the orphanage the latter lived in as a child. Furthermore, Gren said that Blanck's hatred towards humans was because of the humans of the Old Earth's foolishness in fighting each other.
The humans looked at Red, Nero and Blanck after hearing Gren's story. Their faces showed a mixture of sympathy and shock. "Oh, my goodness," Mai said while shaking her head slowly.
Arado looked down to the ground and said in a voice loud enough for Seolla and Latooni to hear. He had a sad look on his face. "They were just like us. Back when we were in The School,"
Merveille chuckled to herself. Her face had a smile which seemed to hide her past. "My, my, aren't we talkative right now," she said.
Hearing this, Gren said, "My apologies, Miss Merveille. I shouldn't have spoken of this subject,"
The room was filled with silence again. No one knew what else to say. After a few minutes, Filio broke the silence. "Well… aside from Merveille's past… I think I'll go and hand over the sample of the Shades to the analysis department. Blanck, do you mind handing it over to me?"
"Whatever, here you go," Blanck walked towards Filio and gave him the sample. Filio then walked out of the meeting room. Right after he left, Tetsuya started to speak.
"I suppose the meeting is over now?"
"Yes," said Merveille. "The meeting is dismissed,"
"Alright," said Tetsuya. He turned to the SRX team and said, "Let's go out,"
The humans walked out of the meeting room. The Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups stayed in there along with Nero and Blanck. "Well, this is quite a way for our meeting to end, huh?" asked Red.
"Whatever," said Blanck.