“So that’s how it happened.”
“Yes. And so…”
“So what do you mean Laika absorbed it with Phase Siphon?”
Alicia asked, as expressionless as ever.
As you might have guessed, I had successfully completed my mission in Ice Shell and returned to base.
After returning, I was in the midst of recounting ‘what had happened’ to Alicia, who hadn’t been able to grasp the full details of the operation due to the communication breakdown.
It wasn’t because Alicia was personally interested in my story.
Rather, she needed to report the mission’s progress separately to higher-ups, and to draft the relevant documents, she was inevitably listening to my story, despite having no interest in it.
So, I had just finished telling her up to the point where Laika encountered Seo Serin’s remains.
Without any further questions about the remains, Alicia seemed to be focusing on other parts.
I was dumbfounded.
“Hey, I just told you about the moment Laika encountered Seo Serin’s remains, which was her lifelong wish.”
“I know.”
“Then you should be a little curious about that part.”
“There’s no particular need to include such details in the report.”
What a heartless person.
To my glare, Alicia retorted bluntly.
“More importantly, I think I can guess that part without hearing it. Laika’s reaction in that situation would be obvious.”
…Well, that was true too.
“Still, since it came up, I’ll ask. What happened to the body? Or perhaps, Commander Seo Serin was alive?”
“…To answer your latter question first, she obviously wasn’t alive.”
Seo Serin had a large penetrating wound in her abdomen, visible even from a distance.
After dying in that state, she was captured by the Frost Phantom and imprisoned within an ice wall as prey.
She merely maintained her appearance from when she was alive due to the cold weather; she was essentially a corpse.
That’s why.
After discussion, we concluded that evacuation was impossible and buried the body nearby.
Laika, of course, chose the location.
To the place where she had parted ways with Seo Serin, where a large spruce tree grew.
–Is this place okay?
–Yes. I like it here.
With Seo Serin’s remains, we placed the forget-me-nots that had been made into dried flowers and covered them with soil.
Afterward, we set up a burial mound and a simple marker… and finally, scattered a handful of forget-me-not seeds.
As the Frost Phantom disappeared, the chill that had swept through the Ice Shell area also vanished.
So, undoubtedly, before long, the grave site would become a large field of forget-me-nots.
Thinking this, we saluted the grave and concluded the farewell that had been delayed for a year.
Such was the ending.
“Ah, we also secured proof of Seo Serin’s death in battle so that compensation could be paid to her family. This is separate from Laika, but it was done concurrently.”
“…So, it was wrapped up well, all things considered.”
Alicia, muttering, still had an indifferent expression.
However, how should I put it? It wasn’t as if there was no hint of genuine relief whatsoever.
Seeing that, perhaps even Alicia, who seems indifferent to everything, possesses a human side?
“So what is it? What she absorbed with Phase Siphon.”
…She doesn’t give me a chance to interpret it positively.
Anyway, now that I had told her everything, I could no longer avoid Alicia’s questions.
However, it was too complex to answer verbally, so I held out my PDA screen to Alicia.
What appeared there were the messages received at the time.
[Bioroid ‘Laika’ has absorbed residual phase using the skill . Her damaged body is partially recovered.]
Up to this point, it was within the normal range.
The problem was what came next.
[Bioroid ‘Laika’ has absorbed the Frost Phantom’s ‘Unique Phase’ using the skills and .]
“Unique Phase?”
“A special ability only possessed by Monarch Legions.”
“I know that, but what does it mean that she absorbed it…?”
“I don’t know either.”
Although I didn’t know for sure.
“It seems Laika absorbed the Frost Phantom’s abilities.”
As I said this, I scrolled down the PDA screen.
The message that appeared next.
[Bioroid ‘Laika’ has a new Unique Phase.]
Unique Phase – Frost Shard
You can now materialize phase energy into colossal ice.
“…Is something like this possible?”
“Apparently.”
For now, as the message window stated, it seems Phase Siphon and Synchronizer activated simultaneously, causing this phenomenon.
It’s not entirely impossible. Multiple skills sometimes combine to produce new effects.
Some of these synergistic effects have had patterns discovered and are known as ‘formulas’.
Because of this, skills are sometimes set up specifically to target those formulas.
However, in Laika’s case, specifically regarding the combined effect of Phase Siphon and Synchronizer, there was naturally no known information.
Phase Siphon is a skill customized by Sumire, and Synchronizer is a discontinued item that was never properly distributed on the market.
From what I can see now, it seems to work by absorbing the Legion’s Unique Phase… effectively stealing a portion of the power of the defeated Legion.
How efficient this will be, and how useful the absorbed power will be in the first place, is an unknown territory.
We’re going to find out from now on.
“In that sense, I tested it, and it’s completely useless right now.”
“Completely?”
“Yeah. After a long period of concentration, all I managed to create was… a few ice cubes for drinks.”
That much isn’t even enough to make an iced americano.
Therefore, utterly useless.
“But I’m going to try to develop it gradually.”
Alicia nodded.
Then, as if something suddenly occurred to her, she asked this.
“Aside from that, it’s quite impressive that you returned safely.”
“Huh?”
“Laika lost an arm, didn’t she? There must have been quite a few Legions on the way back…”
Ah. That topic.
Come to think of it, I can’t leave that story out either.
“It was actually incredibly dangerous.”
Although the Frost Phantom had been subjugated and the hive shattered, the Legions that had already spawned still remained in the vicinity.
In the midst of that, with Laika losing an arm, our combat strength plummeted.
Because of this, we went to great lengths, circling around to avoid enemies and using phase disruptors, thinking we had barely managed to escape.
“…At the last minute, several B-rank Legions appeared.”
“Several B-ranks, you say?”
Yes.
Specifically, it seemed to be about four of them.
All of them were B-rank.
That level would be quite troublesome even for a fully prepared Laika.
Naturally, Laika, with one arm gone and bruised and broken all over, couldn’t possibly contend with them.
“…Then how did you make it back alive?”
I hesitated for a moment.
Whether I should tell this story or not.
But still, I couldn’t just pass over it without telling.
Also, something I realized while working with her for about the past three months is that Alicia, while blunt and absolutely refusing to engage in combat, isn’t a bad person.
More than anything, Alicia’s understanding and cooperation are absolutely necessary for the ‘goal’ I am pursuing.
So.
“Don’t report this part to higher-ups.”
“Then there’s no reason to ask. It’s not something I’m personally curious about either.”
…Are you going to throw cold water on someone who just steeled their resolve?
“I’m saying to keep it recorded and known only within our base.”
“If it’s an order, I will do so.”
“It’s an order.”
“Yes. I’ll note it down.”
Alicia pulled the keyboard closer to her chest.
I took a long breath, then began.
“Shion appeared and saved us.”
****
The story goes back to the day after the Frost Phantom was dealt with.
Laika and I, having finished our overnight bivouac, set our return route together.
Just like when we entered, instead of going straight back through the center of the basin terrain, we decided to circle along the outskirts.
In the process, we were able to avoid most Legions using the radar.
Even the occasional ones that appeared could be defeated by Laika after a fierce struggle.
The problem occurred at Betelgeuse Point, the entrance to Ice Shell.
In that vicinity, several B-rank Legions, undetected by radar, appeared.
If it had been just one, we might have been able to handle it somehow.
But as I told Alicia, an exhausted and damaged Laika couldn’t possibly contend with all of them.
Synchronizer couldn’t be activated again either.
This was because the Phase Resonance Rate, which had momentarily reached 100%, had dropped to 99%.
In such a situation, Laika, as expected, suggested that she would risk her life to divert their attention so I could escape, and the situation was truly spiraling into the worst.
No, truly.
We had no choice but to die.
We had succeeded in that dangerous mission, even defeating the Frost Phantom.
We had just managed to recover Seo Serin’s remains.
And the gift Shion had left behind, it had finally regained its meaning.
To die there, absurdly and insignificantly.
A life-threatening crisis.
…I couldn’t complain that it was too much.
Unlike what appears in media, death on the battlefield is not particularly noble.
Most die absurdly and insignificantly.
Simply because I wanted to add meaning to that insignificant death, and because I wanted to make a different choice this time, I said.
–No, I’ll draw their attention. Laika, you go back.
–And… find Shion someday.
–Find her, and tell her I’m sorry.
–And tell her thank you.
Looking back now, those words were quite cringeworthy, but at the time, I didn’t feel any awkwardness at all.
Again, I was on the verge of death.
At that moment, I said such things quite seriously and without hesitation.
The ensuing moment of desperation.
———Whoosh
A strange sound, like the wind, was heard.
It wasn’t from Laika beside me.
Nor was it from the Legions blocking our path.
The sound came from behind.
Behind my back, someone had appeared.
…It was a Bioroid.
A Bioroid with a pure white mask on her face and an alluring black dress covering her entire body.
She was slowly approaching where Laika and I were.
Was it reinforcements? My wonder lasted only a moment.
I saw the air around the Bioroid was tinged with a dark purplish-black hue.
The meaning of that aura was very clear.
‘This one, is it a Corrupted…!’
Corrupted.
A Bioroid brainwashed and controlled by a Legion.
In other words, another enemy.
So, neither Laika nor I could rejoice at her appearance.
We despaired much more.
Since a Corrupted appeared from behind, even the plan of one person drawing attention while the other escaped became impossible.
In that moment, as despair piled upon despair, leaving me speechless, the Corrupted extended her hand towards us.
Soon, an enormous amount of phase energy gathered at her fingertips.
What that energy struck was.
———Boom
None other than the Legions.
A mistake?
Without time to judge, a second and third laser beam poured out, each hitting another Legion.
Each time, the B-rank Legions were helplessly destroyed, until only one Legion remained.
Even that last Legion was shattered by the Corrupted’s laser.
Immediately after. The Corrupted turned to face us.
She removed the mask that had been covering her face.
Soon, a beautiful face was revealed.
That face, for a moment.
For a truly brief moment, I didn’t recognize it.
Because her expression was too different.
It wasn’t the gentle smile she always wore when looking at me.
Instead, what appeared on the Corrupted’s face was only an expressionless gaze mixed with a hint of disdain.
Nevertheless, I knew.
Because everything except the expression was identical.
Red eyes. Pure white skin and delicate features.
And, a tear-mole, which is not standard on Shion’s model, Lilith, but is only present on Shion.
‘…Shion?’
It was clearly Shion.
So, I was so surprised that I froze for a long time.
Barely, barely managed to say something.
‘Shion, how are you here…’
“You.”
Shion spoke.
“You cheated, didn’t you?”