Imperial Legacy

Nathan and Velvet walked at a fast pace towards Zone 7's Second Exit, which was where Mecha Knight Akar indicated he was heading with the other Royal Knights since that was the only way out that was not blocked off. However, 1 system hour had not yet passed, so they weren't in a rush to get there yet.

"So… you say you've lost your memories after things went haywire, huh?" Velvet asked, "You don't even fully remember me, one of your closest friends back when we were all together?"

"I still remember when we were all just recruits that didn't know each other at all at the time, just hoping for a chance to make it up the ladder and eventually earn a name for ourselves in the [[Kalpas Empire]]."

The Kalpas Empire was yet another extremely familiar name to Nathan. But, when he first heard of the name of that empire from Velvet, a feeling of resentment also arose in his chest, for a reason he had no idea.

"…Well, it's not like I've fully forgotten everything. I still remember Leo, another friend of ours." Nathan replied.

"Aha! So you remember Leo, but not me? Humph!" Velvet responded as Nathan chuckled uneasily at that accusation.

"No… that's not it… I just remembered him as those guys in the meeting talked about the Gods of the Cosmos. I recall that he always used to talk about the Gods as if he was some sort of religious fanatic."

"Hm… true. But, on a planet ruled by the harsh Kalpas Empire, an empire known to be full of religious fanatics who worshipped [[The Primordial Emptiness]], the Worldly Desire Incarnate or something, anyone could be ensnared into that trap." Velvet muttered, "The ones who did are still trapped on the planet that the Kalpas Empire still rules over, while we already left, or more so escaped."

"Haha, but it's funny, that you ended up joining a [[Mercenary Corps]], and I ended up going to another planet's Mechanical Legion and becoming the leader of a small unit. And, not to brag, but this entire spaceship belongs to that planet, by the way."

Nathan remained silent.

"I can only hope that Leo escaped that planet as well, alongside the others. It would be good if we could all meet up again as well." Nathan said, "But maybe that time will come soon enough."

Velvet agreed.

"Also, let's talk about how you managed to become a Mecha Knight, one of the highest-tier battle models available at the moment!" Velvet said, punching him jokingly, "You're amazing! I don't know how I would've amassed enough credits to do that!"

Nathan felt a small smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

"I'm not so sure how I did that either. Anyway, I believe we're here now."

Zone 7's Second Exit was now right in front of them, and Mecha Knight Akar stood imposingly with his Blaster Greatsword, as he waited for the last two to arrive.

"Finally, you two have come." Akar said, "We will now commence the mission, which both I and Mecha Knight Nathan will be leading. Remember, we will face not only a Juvenile Space Sea Lord but a group of Serpentine also. Our survival depends on us succeeding this time."

The Royal Knights nodded, while Nathan came forth. Nathan and Akar shared a brief handshake, and thus, commenced the plan. They had to head to Zone 0, which was far from where the Serpentine Planetoid was, around Zone 16.

The Second Exit opened after a moment, and they entered Zone 6's Inner Layer, which already had a terrible stench to begin with. Not to mention the overgrowth that covered the walls, presumably from the Serpentine Planetoid that had stuck itself onto the spaceship.

Nathan brought out his plasma blade, and the entire group crept through Zone 6's corridors as stealthily and as fast as possible.

[Ether Distortions Detected, Nathan. Would you like to adjust the left hand into Plasma Saber?]

Huh? Plasma Saber? …Yes, I would.

Automatically, Nathan's left hand adjusted into a neon-blue Plasma Saber, which he only now recognized was his main weapon, while his plasma blade was just a backup. Meanwhile, two Space Sea Lord Younglings approached, and while Akar and Velvet halted the others, Nathan had already charged forth and wiped out the two of them one by one.

"Hm…" Akar grunted, once Nathan took care of the Space Sea Lord Younglings, "I knew it… our current approach to the plan isn't working at all."

"What do you mean?" Nathan asked.

"At the moment, there is no need to be cautious, and if those beasts continue to disrupt us, we will just fall victim to the Leviathans easily. So, we must make haste!"

Mecha Knight Akar rose and began to sprint down the corridor, followed by the others. He realised that taking any more time would put them at risk, and at far more risk than potentially alerting a group of Space Sea Lord Younglings or Xenobeasts: Beta.

The best thing they could do for now was to sprint until they had reached their destination. They slashed through small groups of Beta-1s and a few Beta-2s on the way but didn't encounter any more Space Sea Lords.

Until, in Zone 3, Inner Layer…

[Nathan, a new threat has been detected, that has been wiped from your internal system's database. Would you like me to identify it for you?]

Huh? What are you talking about? There's almost no creature around that I haven't fought against before.

[Correct. But, it appears that your internal systems, as well as your memory database, have been altered by an unusual occurrence. I am not yet sure whether it has something to do with the crashing of the spaceship or not.]

Huh…

"Eurgh… what is that horrible smell?" Velvet whispered, "My hypersensitivity is bad in situations like this…"

"Look." Mecha Knight Akar said, pointing to one of the nearby rooms, and in there, was a Serpentine, devouring a rotting corpse.

[Serpentine detected. Reptilian beasts with large, membranous wings and black scales. They are exceedingly hostile, pose a great threat to normal humans with their corrosive venom, and are extremely aggressive, but also incredibly sly for creatures who act on instinct.]

"…So that stench you've been smelling was probably its venom dripping onto the floor," Nathan told Velvet.

"Hmph. We don't need to worry about the Serpentine." Akar said, approaching it, "In this place, since they can't fly, they're dead meat."

Mecha Knight Akar's Blaster Greatsword charged up, while the Serpentine screeched, and in a sudden flash of neon-red light, the Serpentine was blasted into fleshy clumps.

"…Huh," Nathan uttered.

"I knew that the Blaster Knights had that sort of destructive utility, but, even as a Mecha Knight now, to be able to create a blast like that with no noise emitted at all…"

"We must hurry. We are almost there to the Main Zone." Akar said, secretly, but also eagerly awaiting the battle against the Juvenile Space Sea Lord once again.