WARNING! ANOMALY IS CONFIRMED TO BE THREAT LEVEL 7! CAUTION IS ADVISED!

Leon cursed his luck. Everything was going so well. He had punched through the enemy lines, devastated over 80% of the enemy forces, and even got revenge on the damn bastard that had tormented him. Then this thing just happened to show up out of nowhere and could potentially grow into a massive disaster. One thing became clear for both Leon and LUXION. They had to take it down. Right here, right now.

"LUXION! Get the Type C Raiders out of there along with the Type Bs! Have the Type As form up far away from it! Don't fire until you bring in the fleet close enough to bombard this place. We can't let it leave."

Leon commanded before he glared at the target. Luckily the Savage Scarlet is too busy dealing with a trio of pirate-operated Armors to pay any attention to him, yet. The thing easily tore through the inferior materials of the mechs with its claws. One swipe is all it took to split apart the two Armors that tried to engage it in melee straight ahead. Which is a mercy compared to what it did to the last one.

"No! NO! NOOOAAAAAAAAAAA-", The unfortunate pirate screamed in horror. The Savage Scarlet had cut off his mech's arms, legs, and head, before proceeding to devour what was left of the Armor, with the pilot still inside.

CRUNCH!

Blood and scraps of metal spilled from its maw as it chewed, seemingly savoring its meal before moving on to the two previously downed armor. All while Leon watched in a safe distance away to not be prioritized, for now. Sure he likes seeing pirates, slavers, and other scum bags suffer, but he didn't outright eat them alive...feeding them to man eating monsters on the other hand-

"I'll go make sure it stays in place."

"I advise you to be cautious, commander. If it manages to assimilate Arrogance-"

"I know LUXION. Just focus on moving the fleet into position but don't fire until then. With this thing obtaining those boosters, it will be able to close in the distance before anything we got can kill it."

"Affirmative."

Leon then focused his attention on the Savage Scarlet, just in time for the unknown mech to return his gaze. Already having devoured its meal, but judging by how it glared at Arrogance with its hungry red optics, it was far from satisfied.

The two stared down at each other, sizing their opponent and trying to search for weaknesses.

It was intense. Both did not move, yet both looked ready to launch themselves at each other at any time.

Leon already knows the advantages Arrogance has, he had designed the thing himself, along with its disadvantages. He knows what to cover the mech's weak spots by exploiting its strengths. Yet against an unknown opponent like this one, he had to be cautious.

He didn't have to beat the thing. The primary goal is to buy time...but if given the chance, he wouldn't hesitate to eliminate it.

The fight begins with Arrogance bursting through the air at high speeds toward the Savage Scarlet, who met its advance with its own. Its back thrusters roaring to life as it flew forwards.

The two mechs met in the middle, sparks flying into the air when Arrogance's wrist blades and Savage Scarlet's long claws clashed.

The enemy armor strikes fast, swiping and stabbing rapidly like an animal. Arrogance dodges and parries the attacks with keen precision.

Some of them managed to bypass his guard but the energy shield surrounding Arrogance's frame stopped them. Angered by this, the Scarlet Savage primes its thrusters, its claws readied to pierce through steel. It lunged for the strike.

Leon saw this and reacted at the last second, controlling his armor to dodge to the side, letting the enemy fly past him, yet it didn't let up.

Upon landing, it swiflty turned and charged at him again. Leon tried to dodge it, but the enemy armor unexpectedly stopped right in front of him. It's claws grabbed onto Arrogance's arm with a tight grip.

'Shit!', Leon cursed before his Raider was thrown away and crashed in the debris of the ruined fortress, creating a cloud of dust that obscured his vision.

He switched to infrared, just in time to see the Savage Scarlet barreling down on Arrogance. Gritting his teeth, he rolled his Raider to the left, narrowly missing getting his mech's chest pierced by sharp steel claws.

The Savage Scarlet turned its head, only to be met with a strong kick that threw it off its feet. It tumbled back, giving Arrogance enough time to stand up.

The enemy armor regained its bearings at the same time the Raider did and it was angrier than before.

"RAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

It began to change. Metal plates shifted, parts disengaged and reattached with other components. In just a few seconds its arms had gotten bulkier, and its claws were now replaced by 10 rotating barrels, it also grew two extra appendages from its back that were shaped like the missile launchers of the Type A Raiders.

"It has fucking range?!"

Arrogance shouted in surprise, just as the Savage Scarlet let loose a barrage of bullets and missiles. The blue and silver armor is last seen crossing its arms out in front of its chest before its form is bombarded, picking up a cloud of dust and smoke that covered its form.

The scarlet armor did not let up, it continued to let loose every single ammunition it had at Arrogance while it roared in rage.

Finally, after 5 whole minutes of firing nonstop, the enemy armor had completely depleted its ammo. It seemed to grin wickedly just as it began to walk forwards and devour whatever remained of its prey.

However, it stopped. It sensed that something was wrong...and it was right.

The cloud of dust and smoke was blown away by a strong gust of wind, revealing a still intact and undamaged Arrogance. Standing defiantly with a silver semi-transparent energy barrier in front of it. It's shoulder guards had opened, revealing a complex component that emitted the very barrier that protected the mech.

"HAHA! Not even a scratch!"

Arrogance laughed with glee...before noticing that the Savage Scarlet was no where in sight.

"Oh shi-'

Suddenly reappearing in his vision, the enemy machine leaped over the barrier and delivered a powerful kick to the head, sending Arrogance flying through the air and crashing into a couple of wooden buildings.

The Raider groaned before picking itself up. Its head shot up and Arrogance raised its arms, just in time to stop another kick from the Savage Scarlet with it's hands. Leon growled, deciding to give the thing a taste of its own medicine.

His armor's grip on the thing's leg tightened before Arrogance began to spin around in place. Leon watched with glee as the Savage Scarlet was spun around like a toy, surely leaving it disoriented by the motion and it's increasing momentum. He even smashed it against a couple of buildings that were still standing out of sheer spite.

Despite this, it raised one of its extra appendages from it's back, which had now turned into a long scythe-shaped blade, and brought it down on its own leg. Cutting through like it was made of paper. It was free but it still carried its momentum. The Savage Scarlet yelped as it was thrown away from Arrogance before it crashed into the mountainside. Stone cracked, pieces of the wall fell and boulders were dislodged from above. Sadly none of them fell on top of the machine, only around it.

Not that Leon cared because he was too stunned at starring at the severed appendage in Arrogance's hands. Looking at it in shock, he questioned the reasoning for the damn thing to even consider this risky move, "The hell was that thing thinking?'

This, however, is a mistake because while he was busy with his thoughts a large boulder is thrown his way.

Reacting to this, Arrogance's right arm glowed with silver energy before he let lose a punch that obliterated the boulder into tiny pebbles.

However, he didn't expect the Savage Scarlet to burst through the rubble of boulder. With its approach being hidden by the giant rock, it was able to deliver a successful blow on Arrogance that severed its right arm completely.

In mid-air, the Savage Scarlet knocked Arrogance away and grabbed both the severed arm and leg.

Leon gritted his teeth as he forced his mech back onto his feet, only to stare ahead in shock.

The Savage Scarlet placed its leg back in its original position and it repaired itself before his eyes. It then held his armor's arm in both its claws before it opened its maw wide open, ready to feast.

"OH NO, YOU DON'T!"

Leon activated the failsafe he prepared just in case a part of his mech was torn off during the siege. A precaution to make sure no one can learn anything from it. He had planted a special kind of bomb designed after the Zerg's banelings in every single valuable part of Arrogance and he watched in satisfaction as the arm blew up in the Savage Scarlet's face.

The abnormal entity howled in pain, not just because of the blast but also from the acid that had been mixed with the bomb that had gotten onto its face when it detonated. While it was busy, Leon had Arrogance walk over to a downed Type B Raider and picked up three round shapes objects attached in its waist.

Smiling at the item he scavenged, he turned his attention back to the Savage Scarlet, who had already recovered from the acid and was now glaring menacingly at Arrogance.

"LUXION, how much longer?"

"Five more minutes, commander. The remaining sky pirate forces are delaying the fleet."

"Ignore the ones that are running away. Focus only on moving the fleet in place."

"Yes, Commander!"

Leon turned off the coms, his eyes now entirely focused on the machine before him.

"Okay. I don't know if you can understand me but if somehow you do."

Arrogance raised its remaining arm and made a "Come here" gesture with its hand while also simultaneously giving it the middle finger.

"Come at me you fucking bitch!"

Whether it understood his words or not, the Savage Scarlet roared as it propelled itself towards Arrogance. Teeth and claws all posed to kill.

Leon on the other hand smirked. He readied his mech's wrist blade as his enemy drew near, not a hint of fear upon his face. Instead, he felt excited. This reminded him so much of all those fighting games he used to play.

The thrill of battle, especially a battle between two powerful mechs, was so nostalgic that he couldn't help but smile.

"Let's dance."

With those two words, Arrogance jumped back at the moment the Savage Scarlet struck the ground it used to be on. At the same time, the blue and silver armor threw the items it had scavenged, which upon closer inspection, turned out to be larger versions of the Terran's shredder grenades.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

A special kind of explosive meant to, as its name implies, shred a target's armor and health, had unfortunately done little to no damage to the Savage Scarlet.

Leon looked closer and realized that the mech had grown two layers of extra armor above the first one. He was impressed but didn't have the time to dwell on it any further when he had to maneuver his armor to dodge the enemy's swings and slashes.

Arrogance skillfully parried a strike directed at its chest and a downward slash aimed at its head with its wrist, all the while it retreated backward.

CLANG!

CLANG!

The Savage Scarlet opened up its maw, revealing a rotating barrel inside, one similar to a Type A's railgun.

Leon immediately recognized this but had no time to dodge when the enemy armor fired. The shot impacted Arrogance's shield first but even that could not endure against a point-blank shot this powerful. The shield shattered and destroyed Arrogance's left leg. Acting quickly, the mech grabbed the severed limb and threw it to the Savage Scarlet, detonating it upon impact and temporarily blinding its enemy.

With the help of its thrusters, Arrogance backed away and balanced itself on top of its only remaining leg, 'Okay, I need to give Arrogance a lot more upgrades next time. Can't have this happening again.' Leon thought to himself while checking his mech's systems.

Currently, the mech is at 49% integrity. It was still holding itself together and its shields were already recharging itself, albeit slowly. Its core, which is located inside its chest, is still stable and functioning properly. As for Arrogance's remaining arsenal, all Leon could work with is a wrist blade, his mech's hand canon with 7 shots of plasma left, a weaker version of an energy barrier, since he only has one shoulder guard left, and sufficient psionic energy for a single Death Grip, the same one he used to kill the four-armed armor, after finally recovering enough.

However, if push comes to shove, he still has one last ace up his sleeve.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! I hear you, you rusty cheap Dehaka knockoff!"

Arrogance's hand shifted into a canon as it raised its head, glaring at the fuming Savage Scarlet. It emitted an animalistic growl at Leon's comment. This would be their final confrontation. This is where their battle ends.

"Commander, the fleet is almost in place."

"Excellent!"

"However, there has been a development commander."

"Can it wait after we destroy this thing?"

Leon narrowed his eyes, his mech's jet thrusters revving up while the scarlet-colored armor readied its own before dropping down on all fours.

"No sir. Further scans have shown that a strong but slowly weakening psionic signal has been detected inside the Savage Scarlet. After switching through a few more scans I have confirmed that there is someone inside."

"You mean the pilot?"

"Negative. The scans show that the lifeform is indeed human, but they inactive and growing weaker. I hypothesize that the armor has a mind of its own and is using the person inside as a power source."

"...are you sure of this?"

"I am 99% assured, sir."

Leon let out a groan. Just as he had already formed 2 plans to destroy the enemy. Ugh! The timing of that!

'Keep calm. Focus on the mission. Adapt to the situation.', He thought to himself as he calmed down. Leon then began to change his original plans and strategies, forming a brand new one on the spot just as the Savage Scarlet looked ready to make the first move. 'Whoever you are inside of there, you are one lucky person.'

"LUXION, drop a Flash Bomb on my location on my signal and send me the Predator Pride, it's time to demonstrate Stetmann's greatest accomplishment."

"Yes, Commander."

Leon closed his coms and took in a deep breath. He knows that this was going to be close, that even one mistake can jeopardize the entire operation. If he wanted to disable the Savage Scarlet without harming the person inside, he has to time this perfectly. This means he is going to have to do a lot of stupid and suicidal stuff.

"Well...let's get started then."

Extending its wrist blade and reading its hand cannon, Arrogance bursts off. At the same time, the Savage Scarlet let out a howl filled with fury before it dashed forward to meet the blue and silver mech head-on. The roars of Arrogance's engines and the heavy foot stomps of the Savage Scarlet were drowned out when the two mechs clashed once more as blade and claw locked in combat. However this time, Arrogance decided to fight offensively.

It kicked the scarlet armor's right leg, causing it to stagger and creating an opening for Arrogance to free his sword to slash at the Savage Scarlet's left shoulder. The blade pierced through its armor and was close to cutting the limb off but Arrogance dashed back when the Savage Scarlet launched its head and snapped at the space where it used to be.

The scarlet mech then pounced forward, scratching Arrogance's cheek as it dodged to the side. However, Savage Scarlet was expecting this and used one of its legs to kick Arrogance's side. Leon's armor was thrown off balance, almost falling if not for its jet thrusters. The scarlet armor saw this as an opportunity and lunged at the disoriented mech, this time, it had succeeded. The Scarlet Savage pinned Arrogance to the ground, keeping it in place for it to deliver the finishing blow.

It tried to raise its right arm to stab its prey, yet nothing happened. It turned its head, finally seeing the problem. Arrogance's blade is still lodged in its shoulder. Speaking of the mech, Leon used his enemy's moment of surprise to do something risky. He pulled back his mech's head before he proceeded to head-butt the Savage Scarlet.

The force behind it was enough for the scarlet mech to sit back and Arrogance aimed its cannon at its damaged shoulder and then fired twice. The hot rounds of plasma destroyed its target and the Savage Scarlet's arm fell to the ground with a thud. Roaring in pain, the enemy armor punched Arrogance's head before it was thrown off by a blast of plasma to its torso. Thankfully that part of the mech was a lot more durable because if not then the person inside would have died.

Arrogance picked itself up from the ground before searching for its wrist blade...only to see that it was nowhere in seek. Which most likely meant that-

The mech turns its optics to where the Savage Scarlet fell. To his displeasure and horror, the enemy mech was in the middle eating the last bit of the plasma-edged blade.

'Oh great, this can't be good.'

Leon hoped that he was wrong...but he wasn't. He witnessed every blade and claw that the Savage Scarlet has become coated in blood-red colored plasma. The only thing that made the situation a little bit better was that it still was missing an arm. The same arm that Arrogance fired a plasma shot at, completely turning the mechanical limb into slag all the while its owner watched.

The Savage Scarlet wasn't so happy about this when it let out a roar before flying toward Arrogance at high speeds. He tried to lock onto scarlet-colored armor but due to its rapid movements, the blue and silver colored mech was forced to fire and hoped it would hit. Unfortunately, two of its plasma shots had missed and now he was left with only two. Praying to whatever deity was out there, Leon aimed at where he predicted the Savage Scarlet would be next and fired his last two shots.

Time seemed to slow down for Leon as he watched the two balls of plasma dart through the air towards the Savage Scarlet...and impact its scarlet frame.

BOOM!

"HAHA! YES! I GOT!"

Leon celebrated in his seat, cheering at his accomplishment...until it dawned on him that he was supposed to save the person inside the living mech.

"Oh shit, I hit it..."

Arrogance stared at the cloud of black smoke. Waiting for it to dissipate and see just how much damage his shots had done, he hoped to any being above that it wasn't too bad.

Fortunately for Leon though, he didn't have to wait long, because the Savage Scarlet had emerged from the smoke, its armor damaged but slowly healing.

"Oh, thank goodness it's fine...", Realization then soon dawned on him, "...oh shit! It's still standing!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The damage to its frame soon healed and once it did, it sprinted towards Arrogance with the intent to kill.

Out of ammo and any physical weapons to defend itself, it seemed to be the end of Arrogance as the Savage Scarlet closed the distance between them.

"Heh, idiot."

Just as Leon planned.

"Now!"

Up above the sky filled with Leon's fleet of flying vessels, one particular minotaur-class Battlecruiser aimed one of its underside guns at the two mech's location and fired, hurling a circular silver object towards the island's surface. Time once more slowed for Leon's perspective as he watched the object falling from the air directly in between his mech and the Savage Scarlet, which had closed the distance and was almost upon Arrogance. Its maw wide open and its claws and blades ready to slash, the armor was just about to deliver the finishing blow...until the unknown object touched the ground.

PING!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

The object exploded into a flash of light as bright as the surface of the sun and released a sound so loud, that every piece of glass left in the surroundings shattered into a thousand pieces. This was more than enough to leave the Savage Scarlet blind and def. The sheer blast of the explosion had knocked it off its feet and it was now thrashing on the ground, roaring, biting, and slashing at the air around it.

It wasn't even able to notice the five blurs that fell from above, two of them going in a different direction while the rest landed around the disabled anomaly. It did, however, feel something wrapping around its remained arm, legs, and it's two extra back limbs. The Savage Scarlet struggled, thrashing around and struggling to free itself, but every time it felt like its restraints were coming undone, more cable-like objects wrap around its limbs, effectively pinning it down.

Yet this was no ordinary foe, it wasn't some kind of lowly beast to be hunted and caught, this is a beast bent on destruction and evolution. It would do everything to survive, even if it meant doing the impossible. It was at that moment that the mech's neck suddenly extended and it stretched out to comp off the restraints of its remaining arm...yet it wasn't able to.

For its head was stopped midair by an invisible force, not that it could even see at all. The head tried to move but the grip around it wouldn't allow it to even budge an inch. Then it heard the sound of metallic footsteps drawing closer. The Savage Scarlet struggled with every ounce of its strength to break free, yet a heavy stomp on its lower torso ceased its movements. It is at this time that its optics finally recovered from the effects of the Flash Bomb and it finally saw who it was standing on top of it.

Arrogance. The silver and blue mech that it had fought and was so close to devouring, stood triumphant over its chained form. However, something was different about it.

"Like my new parts? I had them readied as a backup in case I lose a limb or two."

Arrogance said in a smug voice as it waved with its new arm. It functioned like its old one, despite its structure being that of a larger than normal red-colored Predator unit, minus the head which has been replaced by a metallic hand. Not only that, but it had also gained a brand new leg. Similar in design to Arrogance's new arm but outfitted to be a leg with its head acting as its foot.

"Now then, let's open you up eh?"

Before the Savage Scarlet could do anything, Arrogance has already raised its right arm and pushed it deep into its chest, its fingers digging deep and clutching something inside the rapid armor, which roared out in pain upon feeling its opponent breaching its power source. No, not breaching, taking! The Savage Scarlet finally realized that Arrogance was intending to take its power source, ITS POWER SOURCE.

It wouldn't let that happen. It belonged to it and it alone, If it could not have it, then it sure as hell won't let Arrogance have it. It thought fast and its mechanical body did one last act of defiance. A tail that it had been concealing in a secret compartment shot out from its hiding spot and stabbed right through Arrogance's chest, right where the pilot seat would be.

Silence. Everything was silent as the Savage Scarlet waited for the blood to drip out from the mech...but it didn't. No blood leaked through the breach its tail had created, there was nothing but sparks.

"Hehehehehehe..."

A quiet but slowly growing chuckled echoed through the air before Arrogance's voice box broadcasted full-blown laughter, Leon's laughter. The mech even mimicked the movements of a laughing human, despite it being pierced in the chest.

"Did you actually think that I'd be piloting a prototype mech personally into the siege of one of the most well-defended places in this kingdom?"

Arrogance said while Leon continued to laugh in the place where he had always been, on his throne inside the still cloaked flying vessel where he had been controlling the Arrogance.

"Hahahahaha! Don't underestimate the wonders and versatility of Terran Ingenuity!", Leon said while leaning against his comfortable seat, the floating screen in front of him showing everything that Arrogance's optics see, and currently, he was enjoying what passes as a bewildered look on the Savage Scarlet's face, "Your final attack meant nothing!"

.

.

"N...ack..."

"What?", Leon stopped grinding and sat up, his entire attention now focused on the dying mech who has spoken its first words since he had encountered it, "You can speak?"

"No...tack..."

"LUXION, turn up the volume.", The AI followed his command and he, along with LUXION, was now able to hear his mumbles clearly.

"Not...attack...but..."

The Savage Scarlet...grinned.

"DISTRACTION!"

It was at this moment that Leon finally caught the subtle glow of the mech's 'heart' where the impressed person was kept. Before he or LUXION could do anything, the dim glow from the chest of the Savage Scarlet became a blinding green light. Leon had to shield his eyes while LUXION tried to command the units around the mech but as soon as the light came, it was gone...and the scarlet armor's entire chest piece along with it. All that's left of the Savage Scarlet is its remaining limbs and head, which kept its wicked grin.

Leon and Luxion were left speechless. Both were silent as stone as they tried to process what had just happened. Only being able to let out three words while in their states of shock.

"What. The. Fuck?"

Three Days Later

Three days after the Seige of Devil's Crown, news had reached the capital that the central nest of piracy in the entire kingdom had fallen. That 'The Hook' had stormed into the pirate's den and brought judgment to every single pirate on the island. Of course, everyone was skeptical of this. Naturally so since Devil's Crown was a mighty fortress that nobles weren't able to take down for decades.

Yet that all changed when slaves and former captives from that island had been brought onto a baron's territory and dropped off by a large silver-colored ship that no one had ever seen before. It dropped humans, demihumans, and elves onto an empty field of an empty island close to the baron's main household before it disappear into the night sky in a flash of light.

The Baron ruling this territory generously took them in when one of his patrolling ships discovered them. He showed them kindness and gave them food and shelter, an act that left those poor hurt souls shocked since they never would have imagined a noble to show them such acts. It had left them in tears. Plus they were more than willing to tell their stories, stories about how The Hook had invaded the place of their prison and liberated them from their captors.

Soon, a few of those refugees that still had family left went off to go back to their homes. Many tears of joy were shed on those days of reunion. Of course, they shared their experiences with their loved ones, and it just so happened that some of them were nobles as well. This is how the rumors of Devil's Crown's destruction suddenly became a matter that the higher nobles and even the king and queen have to confirm themselves.

The Crown and several high nobles sent a quarter of their army to scout out the island to see if it was true...and they were surprised to find it was. Nothing was left of the fortress in the center of the island, nothing but rubble and the hundreds of thousands of corpses of pirates, which were all arranged on the ground to form a symbol of a hook. Two things became clear that day, one is that the center of all pirates in that region of the world was no more and that the existence of The Hook, which many had waved off as a myth, was starting to be acknowledged by everyone in the kingdom. Though the part of him being a vengeful ghost and leading silver soldiers is still up for debate.

He became a rising hero in the minds of commoners and the younger nobles, and a few of the older nobles, while the rest see him as either a real nuisance for severely crippling their illegal schemes or a brand new piece on the board, one that can be very beneficial to them and their future plans. A few would even start to send out search parties and set up posters around the kingdom to find this elusive hero.

As for those who had nowhere else to go, the young Baron, who had accepted them, gave them an offer they could not refuse. Citizenship in his territory. Free food, water, clothes, and shelter for an entire month while also giving them fair jobs with decent pay, enough to get them back on their feet and rebuild their lives, plus no taxes! They accepted this wholeheartedly with smiles on their faces. Despite how unbelievable it may be, this was real. They had walked out of the darkness and had once again seen the light.

After countless years in slavery and captivity, they were finally free! And it was all thanks to their mysterious Hero, The Hook, and the kind young noble who gave them the means to rebuild their lives, their kind young master, Leon Fou Bartfort. However, there never came a day when they weren't thanking the one who had truly freed them...not really knowing just how close he actually is.

Speaking of him, Leon is currently busy drinking tea while watching several humanoid androids filling out the paperwork for the new residents of his territory in his new office, which used to be his father's office until he became Baron. With the title, it is now he who is responsible for taking care of the place, but that doesn't mean he can't have his AI deal with the paperwork that came with the position.

"All done Commander!", All the androids spoke in unison as they placed the many stacks of paper in their proper places.

"Thank you LUXION! I wouldn't know what I'd do if I didn't have you helping me.", Leon said, genuinely thankful for his AI's multiple capabilities.

"You are most welcome Leon.", All the androids smiled at him and Leon smiled back before his facial expression became serious.

"By the way LUXION, have you figured out what exactly happened to the Savage Scarlet's core?

"Affirmative Commander. I was just about to inform you.", This time the AI spoke through the Phantom unit that was always by Leon's side.

"I have just confirmed that what had transpired on that day was an event similar to a warp jump."

"You mean the thing teleported its core? How? Where could it be now? Is the person inside even alive?"

"To answer your questions in order, Yes. How exactly? I do not know the specifics but I have managed to detect magic residue in the place the core used to be. Due to having insufficient data, I am not capable of pinpointing its location, however, I can confirm that it is on the planet. As for your last question, I do not know. Perhaps the person inside managed to survive the sudden transition or has already perished, but I will send out drones to scout out any traces of their presence."

"Well, at least that's something. What about the remnants of the Savage Scarlet? What have you learned from it?"

"I was able to learn all that I can from it. Sadly I wasn't able to trace the origin of the mech, it did hold traces of Zerg biological properties but I was not able to find a single trace of Zerg DNA. The mech merely mimicked the Zerg, they aren't actually part of it. However with it being in such a damaged state, what we gained is minimal but precious. We are now able to effectively use nanotechnology to allow mechanical units to regenerate over time, we are also able to cut down the combining speed of our units by half and unlock brand new combinations, along with effectively combining their traits. Our abilities to scan and reverse engineer other technology have reached new heights. I believe we will now be able to effectively assimilate even Protoss technology...once we are able to find traces of them of course."

"Excellent! Sounds like we benefited a lot from that test run.", Leon once again smiled as he put down his cup of tea on the table and looked outside the window to stare at his thriving territory, "Although it seems we are left with a lot more questions now. I still wonder just how powerful of a psionic that person was."

To be continued...

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Unknown Location

"No, wait! PLEASE-GAH!"

"Y-you can't do thi-AAAHHHH!"

"MERCY! AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

A quivering woman shook in fear as she was backed up into a corner. Praying to whatever deity was out there to save her. She didn't know how it all happened. It was just a normal day for them. A quiet normal evening, a time to enjoy the luxuries of life given to them by birth, but then...that thing came back. It used to be worthless, it was taking up precious space, food, and money. So they sold it to the black market for more gold to continue their lifestyle. But now, just a month after it was sold away, it had returned...a monster.

SPLAT!

The woman screamed when the heads of her husband, children, and her servants, blew up like a balloon, covering the entire room with blood. Paralyze with fear, her body could not move when the monster walked closer to her, one step over the other, each footstep spelled an utterly gruesome and painful demise. All hope left her body as it was raised up into the air, but her eyes were forced open.

Bight scarlet eyes glared at her with absolute hatred.

"W-wh-y? I-I'm yo-your mo-"

"No. You're not."

The woman's words are cut off by immeasurable pain.

CRACK!

CREEK!

CRACK!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!", The woman screamed out in pain as every bone in her body slowly broke, one after another.

"I have no mother. You are but the womb that I came from."

A finger is pushed against the woman's lips and she found that she could no longer open her mouth.

"A proper noble does not cry. A proper noble does not scream. A proper noble must retain their iron mask. A noble has to be perfect."

The monster spoke movingly, its voice echoing in the ears of the woman.

"Those were your words. Words you kept on repeating every day. Tell me, do you practice what you preach?"

The monster giggled. It took delight in seeing the fear in the eyes of its victim, especially when it took out a thorny whip, each thorn having a serated edge.

"Only one way to find ooouuut~"

"HMHM! HMHMH! MMHMHMHMH!"

The woman screamed, she screamed from the bottom of her soul. Yet no matter how loud she tried to be, no words escaped her locked lips.

The monster grinned, raising the whip up high above its head, alongside forks, knives, and sharp shards of rusty blades.

"This life is mine and mine alone. I am done being fate's plaything. I will take control of my destiny, even if the road I pave is bloody. THIS! IS MY FIRST STEP!"

The whip reeled back...then lashed out.

Thus, hell began for the soul, whose silent screams were drowned under the sound of flesh being torn apart and the laughter of the thirsting monster.

"Haahahahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!"

To be continued in "A New Dawn: My School Life Begins!"