Chapter 3

At the highest peak of Sakura Island, far from residential neighborhoods and the neon lights of commercial areas, stood the Pavilion of Eternal Vigilance.

The building, a black steel and glass structure that mimicked the architecture of the Heian era, was the legislative heart of the Nippon Empire.

Inside, in a boardroom where the floor was a pool of purified water, three men—dressed in elegant clothes worthy of an excellent Edo play—were debating the importance of a single person.

“I still think it’s reckless to entrust the integrity of our defense network to such an unstable individual,” declared Councilor Tanaka, a man with a stern face and ash-gray hair. “We’re talking about a fourteen-year-old girl who, two weeks ago, was a middle school student, and now, due to an archetypal awakening that should be perfectly normal, she’s been classified as an anomaly? The powers she gained and her intelligence are one thing, but are we really going to entrust access to the Jade Grid to a… cat-eared ‘Oracle’?”

Facing him, the Minister of Technology, Ishida, sighed as he adjusted his neural interface.

"You are witnessing a common Therian awakening, Tanaka-dono. The Nine Shoguns and the Emperor are seeing a high-level spiritual synchronization, one considered rare even within the Latin Confederation. This is not an ordinary Therian awakening, but a resonance exceeding 70%, granting the power of a myth."

—A Mythological Resonance of over 70%? Did something so strange really happen!?

In response to the Councilor's puzzled question, Ishida nodded. "Yes, his spiritual interaction with the Cat archetype resonated with the ancestral legends of our land at an absurd level compared to the common Therians recorded so far, as unheard of as it sounds."

As humans whose bodies magically resonated with animal archetypes, it was not uncommon for Therians to acquire special abilities related to myths and legends about animals.

For example, there were Rabbit or Hare Type Therians with Passive Luck, increasing the fortune of themselves and those around them if they liked them.

However, spiritual resonance determines how many special abilities you gain during the transformation, as well as their power level.

The highest recorded success rate in the history of the Age of Sorcery is only 54%, and the individual in question was already a Great Hero of the Latin Confederation!

And yet... Hanako easily surpassed him... It was unheard of!

According to the latest divination tests, her special ability allows her to "feel" the earth's flow as if it were an air current by attuning herself to its magical energy and perceiving potentially catastrophic changes in deep meditation. Her intelligence is also exceptional, as she created a magical flowchart with incredible efficiency for the use of thaumaturgy, so she is clearly a genius who cannot be ignored even by simply mentioning her intellect...

Magical Flowcharts were what sorcerers used to refine their life force into Mana needed to cast spells, and each of these charts granted different magical attributes to your energy depending on the mythological foundation on which they are based.

However, Hanako, that boy/girl of only 14 years of age, literally created a successful magic flowchart that allows him/her to generate mana that can interact and manipulate to a certain extent the electronic technology with sorcery—the so-called Techno-sorcery—that many magic researchers had been searching for for years.

Someone like that would be coveted by anyone.

"If we want Japan to maintain its technological sovereignty against pressure from other nations, especially from United China, Goryeo, and Westphalia, we need to further develop these skills at the Atlantis Academy. With the Academy's specialized knowledge and its top-tier professors, it shouldn't be difficult for this young genius to achieve much more..."

The three nations mentioned wield considerable influence in this part of the world. And although Westphalia is a European empire, it still holds considerable power in some regions, possessing numerous colonies on various islands in the sea.

The Japanese Empire must always remain competitive against neighboring kingdoms and empires or it will lose its position as one of the 8 superpowers of the new era.

—The technology and sovereignty of our Empire is only half of its importance—intervened the third person at this meeting, with a deep and resonant voice.

He was the High Priest of the Central Temple, a man dressed in white silk robes that seemed to emit their own light. He wasn't a politician, but in Japan, his word carried as much weight as the Emperor's.

“The importance of this young woman is not merely tactical,” the priest continued. “As the Minister said, on a spiritual level, Hanako-sama is more than just an ordinary Therian. Her awakening through the animal archetype of the Cat now spiritually links her to the rhythm of the earth, and if her mind suffers, the Jade Grid, connected by the rivers of divine energy from the Kami and the earth, could see its flow disrupted. Furthermore, as you know, cats are guardian symbols of the Demon Gate (Kimon)… which makes her ideal for more effectively blocking demon-created singularities once she masters her divine gifts…”

The priest closed his eyes before continuing solemnly, "We did not send her to Atlantis merely to be a tool; we sent her to control her power and become a vital force, maintaining the balance between our technology and the will of the divine spirits, and, of course, to protect our land from demonic incursions. Her protection is the protection of the Empire of Nipon."

"And what about that boy with her?" Tanaka asked, frowning. "That old man's grandson... Goro. Records on his family are suspiciously vague. Magical energy analyses show absurd spikes during his private training, but there's no data on his Magical Energy Trait, and it's unknown whether he's upper-class or elite, though he's believed to be an extremely high-level martial artist for his age. The boy doesn't even log into our jade network, as if he's isolating himself—a social freak, that's what he is."

“Emma is a necessary variable,” Ishida replied cautiously. “He’s the only one who can maintain Hanako’s emotional stability and, by extension, that of the Sanctuary Maiden, Keiko. As long as the two of them are by their side, the probability of the girls becoming emotionally unstable drops to seventy percent.”

"So be it," Tanaka declared, though his gaze remained doubtful. "But if that girl causes even a single international incident in Atlantis, the responsibility will fall squarely on their shoulders."

♦♦♦♦

While the threads of power of the Japanese Empire were being tightened in the heights, in the Neo Tokyo district the air was much calmer between Emma and the Cat.

Both left the Kaguya house, avoiding Hanako's parents in the kitchen (who were tense about something completely different than before), and headed to Kaminagi, towards the Crystal Sanctuary...using those expensive teleportation circles.

Hanako decided not to say anything about Emma almost crying as she spent almost all the money she earned selling some "Drops" on the black market, although she smiled subtly in secret, amused; knowing full well that she usually used that money on Old World antiques.

And with that as a footnote to the story of their journey, they finally arrived at the entrance of the sanctuary.

Under the shadows of the enormous trees and the Torii gates, the path was adorned with paper lanterns that floated through small fields of repulsion, dimly illuminating the cherry blossoms that fell like pink snow.

Upon arriving at the sacred precinct, they found Keiko finishing her prayers.

Upon seeing them, the Shrine Maiden rose with an elegance that seemed to belong to another era. She walked toward Hanako and, without saying a word, encircled her in a warm, maternal embrace.

—Welcome back to the real world, Hanako-chan— Keiko whispered.

Hanako, who normally hated excessive physical contact, remained motionless for a second before relaxing against Keiko's shoulder. The maid's presence was like a balm, silencing the noise of the outside world.

"Thank you, Keiko-nee," Hanako replied quietly. "But don't get used to it. I still hate people."

"I know, I know," Keiko laughed, letting go of her and looking at Emma conspiratorially. "Shall we go to the festival? I heard there are food stalls from the southern regions this year."

—...Okay - After hesitating for two seconds, Hanako nodded, and her two friends smiled.

The three of them went down to the place where the festival was being held.

♦♦♦♦

The Kaminagi district festival—the Heisei-no-Haru-Matsuri—was an explosion of color and sound amidst the eternal cherry blossoms.

The food stalls gave off aromas of takoyaki and yakisoba, mingling with the smell of incense and old wood.

Emma walked in front, clearing a path through the crowd, while Hanako stayed close behind her, using her friend as a shield against the world.

For a moment, Keiko and Hanako's situation and the political intrigues of the powerful felt like something distant at that very moment, for everyone.

They were just three teenagers enjoying a spring afternoon.

Emma bought caramel apples and Hanako, after a brief internal struggle, admitted that the grilled fish from one of the stalls was "acceptable to her new palate".

Keiko smiled, finding her very cute, which made Hanako blush. Emma, ​​for her part, kept to herself that a blushing Hanako seemed so cute that she couldn't help but commit that image to memory.

Along with everyone else, who were dressed in yukata and kimonos, they were having a good time.

♦♦♦♦

Night had completely fallen over the Kaminagi district, but darkness was a relative concept on Sakura Island.

The Heisei-no-Haru-Matsuri was now in full swing. It wasn't simply a historical celebration of a lost era; it was a vibrant fusion where nostalgia for the "Old World" collided head-on with the reality of the 30th century.

Traditional paper lanterns did not contain candles, but rather small cores of processed mana that emitted a warm, pulsating light, staying afloat through minor magnetic levitation.

The cedarwood stalls, which sold everything from Oni masks to lucky charms, were staffed by both wrinkled-smiling old men and service androids in synthetic kimonos who calculated the change with millimeter precision.

Emma walked between the two of them, with her hands in her pants pockets, observing the spectacle with that duality that always accompanied him.

His mind saw a massive, glorified cosplay convention; his eyes saw the residual energy flows left by children running around with flares charged with magical energy.

To her left, Hanako was waging a silent war against a new grilled fish skewered on a stick that she had recently purchased.

"The texture is inconsistent, Nya," Hanako murmured, examining the smoked fish as if it were an anomaly. Her white ears, hidden beneath the hood of her oversized hoodie, twitched with each new aroma that assaulted her ultrasensitive nose, so focused that she didn't notice she meowed again. "And according to my analytical spell, the sodium level exceeds the Ministry of Health's recommended standards by 3%...Nya

"Just eat it, Hanako," Emma said, glancing at her with a weak smile as she took a crunchy bite of her own caramel apple. "Your new Therian metabolism will probably burn off that sodium before we get to the next stall. Besides, I saw your pupils dilate when we passed the stall. You say 'inefficient,' but your cat stomach says 'I want to eat that right now.'"

"Shut up, idiot!" she hissed. Her cheeks flushed red, and treacherously, her white tail lashed out beneath the fabric of her clothing.

With a grunt of resignation, he took a ferocious bite out of the fish. A second later, his shoulders visibly relaxed and a sound very much like a low purr emanated from his throat, which he tried to disguise by coughing sharply.

To Emma's right, Keiko walked with a serenity that seemed to create a bubble of calm around her.

Unlike the tense Hanako or the carefree Emma, ​​she moved in perfect sync with her surroundings. Her red and white hakama, immaculate despite the crowd, billowed gently.

People instinctively stepped aside as she passed, not out of fear, but out of reverence for the Maiden of the Crystal Sanctuary and respect for the Seventh Princess of the Nation. Her spiritual presence and dignity were like a gentle beacon in the night.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" said Keiko, looking up.

Above them, the ancient cherry trees were not only illuminated by lanterns. Their branches were intertwined with the Jade Grid, the bio-magical conduits that carried the island's life force and connected all its cities and towns.

Tonight, the flow was visible: rivers of emerald and sapphire blue light ran down the bark of the trees, pulsing to the rhythm of traditional music playing from hidden speakers.

Pink petals fell slowly, shimmering for an instant as they crossed the beams of light before touching the stone floor.

"It's an impressive logistical operation to keep the population distracted from the fact that we live atop a giant, highly unstable magic reactor," Emma replied, though her tone lacked any real bite. Her eyes softened at the peaceful expression on Keiko's face.

She knew how much it cost her to maintain that peace.

Every smile on the faces of children running around wearing Kitsune masks, every couple sharing a Taiyaki under the moonlight, was made possible because she and the other maidens filtered tons of toxic miasma daily.

"You're impossible, Emma-kun," Keiko laughed softly, linking her arm with his with a naturalness that made several male passersby look at Emma with murderous envy.

Who wouldn't feel this way if they saw an important princess and miko—and a very beautiful one at that—in the arms of just anyone?

Emma just smiled as Hanako looked at them out of the corner of her eye.

The trio arrived at a vermilion red arched bridge that crossed a pond full of Koi fish.

But these were no ordinary fish; some had scales that shone like precious metals, magical beasts descended from species mutated after the opening of the Gates, swimming in purified water at a cost that would make an accountant weep.

They stopped there, leaning on the railing. The reflection of the festival lights danced in the dark water.

The noise of the crowd seemed distant here. It was a moment of calm in the eye of the storm.

“Six days to go,” Hanako said suddenly. She had finished the fish (leaving only the perfectly clean bones in record time) and was now staring at the water with her intense violet eyes. “I’ve been checking the entry protocols for Atlantis. The divination devices at the port are Class A. If they detect an unusual fluctuation in my body’s pneumos that indicates I’m about to enter a berserker state, they’ll put me in temporary confinement before I can even see the Academy gates.”

Her voice had lost its sarcastic tone; now it sounded small, laden with the genuine fear of someone who feels that their own body is a time bomb.

A Therian's greatest fear is losing human consciousness to the instinct of their beast body.

If their Spiritual Circuits become overloaded with ambient mana, they can enter a berserker state where the rational part shuts down and animal instinct takes full control.

And in Atlantis, divination devices are used to monitor students' spiritual stress levels. If they detect anything amiss in the flow of Od, the Therian students could be taken away to be "anchored" to their human identity using specific sound frequencies.

And as far as Hanako knew, it wasn't a pleasant experience; for some, it was even traumatic.

Keiko slowly released Emma's arm and circled Hanako's shoulders, pulling her towards her.

The hacker, who would normally have jumped at the touch, allowed herself to be hugged, her hooded head resting on the priestess's shoulder.

"You won't be alone in that scanner, Hanako-chan," Keiko said firmly. Her white aura expanded slightly, enveloping the cat girl in a protective warmth. "My spiritual power can alter the divination results. And Emma... well, Emma's aura is so dense and chaotic that it will probably confuse the devices long enough for us to get through."

Emma scratched the back of her neck, smiling ironically.

—Thank you for calling me "walking interference," Keiko. I'm flattered.

"It's a tactical move," Hanako murmured from Keiko's shoulder, though her voice sounded more steady. "You're a brute with too much Od..."

Emma shrugged. "I prefer the term Chi...Eh?"

—His?

—...Oh

Suddenly, the night sky exploded.

The fireworks began. But in the Age of Magic, gunpowder was a thing of the past.

What was detonating on Kaminagi were capsules of crystallized mana, designed by pyrotechnic alchemists to release light patterns that defied physics.

Divine dragons of golden and crimson light roared silently as they dissolved into sparks; spirals of blue energy mimicking distant galaxies bloomed and faded; effigies of the protective Kami of Nippon formed in clouds of glowing smoke, visually blessing the screaming crowd below.

Hanako's face, illuminated by the intermittent flashes, displayed a mixture of childlike wonder. Her pupils dilated and contracted rapidly, processing the spectacle with rapt attention.

Keiko gazed at the sky with a serene smile, her hands clasped in a gesture of silent prayer.

For a moment, she was neither the priestess of the crystal sanctuary, nor the purifier of the island.

She was just a sixteen-year-old girl looking at pretty lights.

Emma looked at them both, then at the sky, and finally at her own hands. Hands that had shattered dragon scales harder than diamond.

'As strange as this world is, it can still be as beautiful as the one before it.'

Thinking that way made him feel at peace.

The festival continued all around them, a bubble of joy and light suspended in the night sky; it was a perfect night on Sakura Island.

However, the peace did not last long.

Emma stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes shone with sudden intensity. Beside her, Keiko and Hanako also stopped.

It was not a sound they perceived, but a change in the pressure of the flow of pneumatic particles in the environment.

Emma felt the space twisting in an unnatural way.

Hanako somehow heard that something had just broken with brute force, something invisible that was part of the whole.

And Keiko sensed a malicious existence appearing out of nowhere.

-What is it--

Emma's words stopped abruptly.

—Well, at that moment, from a side alley, a figure suddenly emerged, running at an astonishing speed.

She was a girl of supernatural and mysterious beauty. Her skin was so fair it seemed to glow, and her deep blue hair cascaded over her shoulders.

She wore light, almost tribal-like clothing, and her body was adorned with bright cyan tattoos that vibrated with pure energy. Her eyes, filled with utter terror, met Emma's for a fraction of a second.

'Miku-chan!?'

The girl's unusual resemblance to her favorite figure stunned Emma for a moment, but she quickly began to act upon sensing the danger.

"Back off!" Emma shouted, pushing Keiko and Hanako aside. Keiko moved nimbly while Hanako literally jumped like a cat, letting out a rather embarrassing "Meow!?"

A metallic clang tore through the air. A nearby building collapsed as a gigantic Mech, at least 6 meters tall, burst onto the main street with the fury of a beast.

But it was not a conventional Imperial machine....

Its chassis appeared to be made of a mixture of metal and organic muscle tissue that pulsed with a malignant red light.

Its limbs ended in what looked like claws, and its "eyes" were a unique visor that emitted a lethal scan.

The bio-organic creature gave no warning. Its toothy mouth roared with a sound reminiscent of a bestial scream, and it lunged straight at the tattooed girl, ignoring the terrified crowd.

—That's it...! I can hear the cries of tormented souls inside that thing! What kind of sacrilege is this...!?

Keiko exclaimed, paling with horror at the sound of tortured spirits. Emma just clenched her fists. The air around her grew heavy, denser, so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"Keiko, protect the people. Hanako, find a breach in its system," Emma ordered, her voice now devoid of any trace of relaxation. "I'm going to stop that thing."

The blue-haired girl tripped and fell right in front of them, staring at the metal giant that seemed to raise its claw to crush her.

Although she had never seen a similar boss in War of Atlantis, Emma didn't hesitate. She launched herself forward, her chi swirling and her aura bursting in a flash of light that illuminated the entire plaza.

The gigantic Mech lowered its claw—which suddenly began to glow ominously with a blood-red aura—with the force of a wrecking ball; but the impact found not flesh, but Emma's forearm.

Unable to withstand the kinetic force, the ground beneath the young man's feet gave way, creating a three-meter crater, but he didn't even flinch. The sound of hot metal slamming against Emma's body produced a high-pitched screech that shattered the windows of nearby shops.

The claws tried to burn him with high temperature but his strengthened Aura and flesh did not yield at all.

"Is it really bio-organic, huh?" Emma muttered, faintly sensing the viscous pulse emanating from the machine's chassis. "It has a disgustingly unnatural aura, almost like miasma."

The crimson mech crouched and leaped, trying to gain height to crush the insect that stood between him and his prey, but Emma used the enemy's own strength to her advantage.

With a fluid hip movement, he deflected the claw towards the ground and delivered an upward kick to what appeared to be the shoulder joint.

The impact not only dented the reinforced metal, but also sent out a shock vibration that caused the Mech's biological fluids to splatter onto the asphalt.

Emma knew she couldn't use her full power. They were in the middle of the Heisei festival; a single blast at 100 percent capacity would demolish three city blocks and cause civilian casualties.

It had to be surgical.

The machine recoiled, its red visor flashing furiously as it opened its ferocious mouth. From its back sprouted several metallic tentacles ending in high-frequency needles that lunged toward Emma like snakes.

The young man moved among them with an elegance that bordered on the impossible, his feet barely touching the ground.

Each time a needle passed nearby, Emma struck it with the back of her hand, deflecting its trajectory without breaking it, redirecting the inertia of the attack towards the Mech's own body.

While all this was happening, the crowd of civilians was in a chaotic state of fear in the face of the biomechanical threat, but Keiko moved nimbly to help.

He extended his arms and the crystals he always kept hidden in his sleeves floated up, creating a magical barrier that prevented debris from falling on civilians.

"That way!" Keiko ordered, her voice ringing with an imperial authority that calmed the panic. "Follow the trail of white light!"

The blue-haired girl stood up, trembling. She looked at Keiko and then at Emma.

Her cyan tattoos began to glow again, responding to the purity of Keiko's spiritual power, which created a path of light that made people instinctively follow her as a spiritual guide.

"Hanako, can you tell me what that thing is?!" Emma shouted as she dodged a mechanical tail sweep that snapped a lamppost. She sensed a familiar flow of magical energy and realized Hanako was up to something.

"There are no records!" Hanako replied from the roof of a shop (God knows when she got up there), her fingers moving over a holographic interface in mid-air with data appearing and disappearing every second. "This thing has no signature from the Solomon Union or the Confederation. Its source code is... Nya? It doesn't exist?! I can't even properly analyze its parameters, something's interfering with my mana...!"

—Can you turn it off somehow!?

If that were the case, it would be great, as it would prevent her from standing out even more, Emma thought.

However, Hanako's response quickly dismissed that idea—"My hacking attempts barely affect it! Without the code, it's impossible to shut it down! It's like a living being that rejects my magical interference!"

Hanako bit her lip, feeling helpless to do more. She could only leave everything in her friend's hands, contributing the knowledge she'd gained through her magical analysis of the opponent.

Finally, important information appeared on the screen, causing Hanako to open her little mouth, her ears and tail rising into the air.

—Meow...Emma, ​​although I couldn't find its code, I discovered that its core is in the center of its chest, behind that layer of muscle tissue! If you don't hit it there, it seems to regenerate infinitely!

Emma nodded as she dodged another attack, at which point the Mech proceeded to emit a sonic roar that paralyzed the civilians who had not yet fled as its whips moved frantically, some heading towards them with lethal intent.

-Damn!

Emma felt her heart sink when she saw that. However, she soon stopped worrying.

That's because suddenly, a subtle sacred light sprouted from the ground and enveloped the Mech in less than a millisecond, from which emerged a bunch of golden chains with mystical Japanese carvings that caught its grotesque limbs.

This was Keiko's doing, who was tenderly frowning with her arms raised, the crystals on her delicate neck shining as if they were supporting her in the invocation of this divine force.

However, it barely helped.

The Mech's arms and legs, which emitted a subtle squeak and black smoke as if the chains were burning it, soon broke free from them by force.

But their tentacles didn't have the power to do that on their own, and that was help enough.

Emma, ​​whose face lit up dimly from the phenomenon, took advantage of that second of distraction with the divine chains to close the distance.

The machine, which was about to tear off the rest of the tracks, noticed him immediately and tried to grab him with its front claws, but the young man slid under its legs, delivering an open palm strike to the Mech's "knee".

The flesh and metal bent inwards, forcing the giant to bend.

"Now!" Emma jumped, propelling herself onto the enemy's chassis.

In midair, he concentrated his chi into his right fist. His aura became so dense that the air around his hand began to crackle with static electricity. His fist slammed into the muscle tissue of his chest.

Instead of an explosion, there was a dull sound, like a heartbeat amplified a thousand times, which made the earth tremble slightly, giving the momentary illusion of an earthquake about to happen.

Emma's energy pierced through the biological armor, ignoring the external resistance, and exploded directly into the energy core.

The Mech shook violently, its red lights turned to a pale blue and finally went out.

The immense mass of metal and flesh fell forward, but Emma, ​​in a final show of strength, put her shoulder under the torso of the machine to guide its fall towards a clear area of ​​the water channel, preventing it from crushing the festival stalls.

—Miau.

Keiko and Hanako watched the display in amazement. Although they knew she was strong, they hadn't expected her to be this strong...and from the looks of it, Emma was clearly holding back.

It was so crazy that Hanako meowed unconsciously, her tail rising, before finally climbing down from the ceiling with an instinctive ease that still surprised her.

Silence returned to the plaza, broken only by the crackling of severed cables. Emma landed softly, breathing calmly, as steam escaped from the wreckage of the Mech and the light of the sacred field faded into nothingness.

The blue-haired girl, who had watched the entire battle from the ground, slowly stood up. Her cyan tattoos still glowed with a rhythmic intensity.

Emma approached her, extending a hand in a gesture of peace while thinking to herself, 'She's almost like Miku-chan would be if she were real...' with a well-hidden feeling of nervousness.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, softening his gaze as he tried not to look like some creepy guy who gets excited at the sight of an incredibly beautiful cosplayer. "That thing won't hurt you anymore. Where did you come from? Who was chasing you?"

The girl stared at him. The pupils of her eyes were electric blue, deep and charged with a strength that didn't match her youthful appearance.

She opened her mouth to answer, but although her voice was extremely beautiful, the words that came out were a succession of guttural and melodic sounds, a language full of clicks and strange vowels that bore no relation to Japanese, English or any language that Emma knew.

"Huh?" Emma blinked, confused. "What did he say...? Hanako, can you translate that?"

"Absolutely not..." Hanako said, approaching cautiously, her cat ears twitching suspiciously. "My database contains six thousand languages, including extinct dialects from the Ancient Era. This isn't a known human language, not even a fairy one. It's... It seems like another language from an unknown civilization? Perhaps..."

The unknown girl, seeing that Emma did not understand her, took a step towards him.

His expression of terror had long since transformed into one of absolute admiration.

For her, seeing a male like this defeat the "Great Crimson" with his bare hands and without destroying the environment was a feat of a legendary warrior.

He approached Emma until he was just inches from her face. She was a little shorter than him, but her presence was imposing.

Suddenly, she reached out and stroked Emma's cheek with surprising gentleness. Her tattoos glowed with a pinkish hue as she emitted a melodic purr, quite unlike Hanako's, which was wilder and more deliberate.

With a graceful movement, the girl leaned forward, rubbing her forehead against Emma's and encircling her neck with her arms, in what appeared to be a ritual of partner recognition and deep admiration for a superior warrior.

Her eyes shone with an instinctive seduction, that of a woman who has just found the strongest specimen in the region.

"H-hey!" Emma stammered, completely red-faced, as she inhaled the scent of exotic flowers and ozone emanating from the stranger's skin. Having this lifelike version of Miku—or so he felt—getting intimate with him was incredibly stimulating.

"Nyaaa! Let go of him right now, stranger!" Hanako suddenly yelled, her fur standing on end and her tail whipping as she hissed. "That's an invasion of my friend's personal space! Get away from him before he hits you!"

Hanako didn't realize it, but she was acting like a jealous kitten watching a burglar cat trying to mess with her mate; challenging her right to reproduce.

Keiko, for her part, didn't scream, but the air around her turned icy. The crystals on her necklace began to float, vibrating with a white light that betrayed her inner turmoil.

"Emma-kun..." Keiko said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes, an expression far more frightening than the fifteen-meter-tall Mech. "Looks like you've attracted a very... grateful visitor. Don't you think it's time you helped her stand up and stopped using your neck for support?"

Emma was caught between the fascination of the mysterious girl and the murderous aura of her childhood friends.

His departure for Atlantis Academy was only a few days away, but it was clear that trouble had decided to arrive early, welcoming him even before he could begin his plans to become the strongest guild master of all....