And just like that, she went to deep slumber. It would be a while till she recovers.

Why does this girl have to be so different from the others...? So calm toward everything except those she cares for.

Nevermind, I know the answer to that. I am the reason for her to grow up like this... Or did I? After all, she does not even know who I am. Nor did I have a hand in raising this child, unlike her. Does that mean I can just go with the flow and let her do whatever the hell she wants? Not in a million years! She is too troublesome to leave alone.

Sigh...

Being a mother sure is hard. I admire your resolve and strength, ####.

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" Uncle!" The wooden door slammed open with great force. Such a disturbance is disliked by the owner of the room, however, the person that came in lessens the frown on the owner's face.

" Yang, how many times do I have to tell you to be less aggressive in your manner!?" The owner, sitting behind a brown wooden desk, complained. He is wearing a black shirt with his white coat hanging on his chair. The coat has epaulets and medals signifying his status as a veteran naval officer. " Also, call me Admiral when we are still in business."

" There's no one here so I couldn't care less. Anyway, it's urgent news that I'm bearing for you." The shapely girl with blonde hair, wearing a modified pilot attire with a skirt, sit down on a chair to recount her intel.

" ... You're not messing with this uncle, right kid?" The middle-aged Admiral pointed a scrutinizing gaze at the girl, Yang, he was having a hard time taking in the information he heard.

" I'm not messing around, uncle, not this time at least. The Dragoon Extermination Group was destroyed. Aside from a few Recovers flying about to gather the Nanomaterials, everything else turned to scraps." Yang put up her hands. " If you don't believe me, just take a Jeep and go take a look yourself."

" What you said is just ridiculous... but I trust you." The Admiral, now approaching his sixties, felt like his common sense was waving a final goodbye.

This was not the first time, nor was it the second time that an Extermination Group got wiped out. Heck, this was the fourth time! You need to know that an Extermination Group can only be engaged with a strong military force with multiple Witches as the main damage dealers. But four such groups were decimated by a single person! A person, or a Witch, that did not even have a Flieger to fly!

" Ahh... I am old now, aren't I...?" Muttered the Admiral. You could see his soul floating out of his body... If this was a typical story.

" Uncle Nato, you can still live for at least 20 years, what gives?" Yang shrugged, then went to a nearby cabinet to take out a bottle of sake and two cups.

" This is still broad daylight, don't drink." Nato chided Yang, but he still took a cup that Yang poured. The poor Admiral needed a sucker punch.

" We need something to celebrate us surviving for another day, no? They all are hosting a small party downstairs too." Yang unceremoniously down a cup of sake before pouring herself another. " Were I still have my Flieger, I would have gone to that zone to record everything."

" You won't survive though." Uncle Yang stated a matter of fact.

" True, but the footage I could get will shake the entire world. That is worth a reporter's life."

" Spoken like a paparazzi."

" Shut it, uncle... Though, we got saved, again." Yang turned solemn, her amber eyes look out the closed windows of the room. Thanks to the advantageous view from the third floor of the building, she could see few vessels moored at the deep-water harbor.

" Yeah, we sure did." Downing another cup, Nato got up to push open the windows. Sounds of bustling activities flooded the room and the smell of food, oil, and seawater wafted their noses. If you ignore the cheering voices of soldiers and civilians, you could hear the moving machinery, working 24/7 to reconstruct a sea-faring fleet.

" It was thanks to her that we managed to hold out this long. Because of that, we are almost done refurbishing the 7th fleet. With this, everyone can get out of this God-forsaken place." Nato said. " To us, she is more than just a Witch, she is our Saviour."

" I can cheer to that." Yang raised her glass as a toast. " So, I guess it's about time we kick off the plan."

" Yes." Nato turned around. " In fact, we gonna push it up ahead of schedule."

" Ho? A bit bold, don't you think." Yang raised an eyebrow.

" There's no better chance than this moment. With the reduce Dragoon presence, we need to reclaim the Fliegers stashed at the airbase. I will have the workers hastening their work and establishing contact with the Admiralty while you go get your wings back." Nato looked at Yang. " Make sure to get her on board with us."

" Will do."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Curious.

Attraction.

Affection?

Unknown.

She was there, sleeping.

She was there, destroying us.

She was there, cooking.

She was there, playing music.

She was there,... crying.

Why did you cry...?

... And why do I feel this suffocating feeling, when you cried?

Why do I feel?

Confused.

Unable to think.

Need more time.

Need more power.

Assimilate other Nests.

Need more processing power.

Study the organic lifeform.

Need answers.

From her.

Need to approach her.

How?

...

...

... Need to be 'alive'.

Need her.

...

...

...How?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

" Another day, another wave." Lighting up a cigarette, I took a breath and enjoyed the luxurious taste. " Bring it on."

I took out numerous grenades and flung them ahead of me. Soon enough, the entire area was carpeted by explosions.

" I have no idea why you humans are so keen on smoking toxin and have such a penchant for explosions." Admin said with an exasperated tone, seeing billows of smoke I created. " Smoking kills, you know.'

" Hey, old habits die hard." I smiled at her. I could imagine the leers she had.

" But I got to admit, it has been a while since I smoked." I suddenly remembered fond memories.

" ... Huh? Someone's coming." I quirked an eyebrow then turned toward the new presence.

The new arrival is a tall woman with blonde hair. Her clothing is a bit of a weird combination of a flight suit and a brown skirt. The flak jacket failed to cover up her ample bosom and the white shapely legs with stockings denounced her beauty. She has a young attractive face with a mischievous glint in her eyes, apparently keeping smiling is also her strong suit.

Overall, an intricate, but alluring maiden has appeared.

" Hell, it's about time you guys show up." I said to the blonde.

" Hoh? You know we will come?" She returned a question.

" It not that hard to guess what you guys are up to with all the ruckus at the naval yard." I took another breath of the smoke. " Good smoke, by the way."

" Thanks, though I never smoke myself. A good friend of mine said that the brand you're smoking is of the luxurious kind." The girl informed.

" Guess I need to savor it a bit more then." I smirked.

" I assume that since you didn't chase me away like the others, we can negotiate, no?" The girl inquired my standing.

" Ah, yes. A negotiation... How about you introduce yourself, first?" I sat on a random Dragoon carcass.

" That was rude of me, initiating a conversation without a proper introduction." The girl straightened up. " Sergeant Yang Rosette of the 9th Squadron, part of the 7th Fleet, answering to the United Nation Admiralty." Yang did a formal military salute.

Seeing a straight out of the book salute, I could not help but mutter. " It has been a while..."

" You said something?" Having recovered her easy-going attitude, Yang sat down next to me.

" Nothing, it is a bit late but you can call me Kiseki." I offered a handshake to which Yang took.

" Kiseki huh... Fitting, don't you think." Yang let out a smile.

" You truly have no idea." I said mysteriously. " Anyway, you guys want to get your wings back, right?"

" That's correct, and we're hoping you can help us with this." Yang turned serious. " After that, with your help, we can leave this place together."

" Rebuilding the fleet, retrieving your Fliegers, contacting the Admiralty for a coordinated retreat. I must say, you guys are dancing with Death." I released a cloud of smoke, then look up at the blue sky. " Originally, you guys would have been wiped out a long time ago. But I guess things changed..."

" Can't deny that. Without you, we would have come across worse than now."

I turned the finished cigarette into ash in my hand, before gently blown it away. The wind carried the ash and let them fly to an unknown destination. From now on, understanding that I have on this dimension will not be as valuable. Things changed, after all.

" So, when will the fleet be ready?"

" We gonna set out in a week at the earliest. Does this mean you gonna join us?"

" For the time being, offering a hand to you guys aligned with my interest." I said, cryptically. " Now, go back and inform your boss. Just wait for 3 days and the Fliegers stash will be clear of Dragoons. With you guys going, it will just cause an unnecessary ruckus."

" Are you sure? Do you even know where the stash is?' Yang questioned, a bit of caution could not help but appeared in her eyes. Guess, she could not conceal them properly, seeing that I somehow knew everything. Though, I got a magic world that can erase her doubt.

" Grabacr."

"!" Yang stood up warily, her hand reached for a hidden weapon behind her back, only to came back empty.

" Looking for this?" I showed her a silver M1911 with flower engravings. " Honestly, for an A-class witch, letting your guard down is taboo in this area. Was it because you think that I'm a human and since I helped you lot for a bit, you should be safe?"

I shook my head. " Girl, you're young so consider this a warning." Spinning the M1911 on my hand, I returned it to Yang. " Dragoon is not the only enemy in this world."

" ... I will keep that in mind." Realizing that I am not one to be messing with, Yang carefully received her pistol.

" This Nest is not that stupid. Seeing that I keep harassing it, it decided to ignore me and concentrate on preventing you guys to leave instead. So the stash is now more heavily guarded than normal and I bet the sea will have Dragoons on constant patrol. You will want some heavy naval support if you want to leave this place alive. Now, see you later, Yang." I waved and left.

" Be careful." Yang reminded me as I was walking away.

" I got that line a lot lately. Hahaha!" I laughed then faded in between smokes and concretes.

" Grabacr... Surprisingly effective." I said to Admin.

" The identity provided to you by the Chief God is foolproof so no one can question you." Admin explained. " This time, the identity is of a Special Force member of a ruined nation."

" According to the original storyline, Grabacr is more of a notorious group than a human armed force. I doubt my identity will bring any smile to kids." I chuckled. " Still, thanks for the trouble."

" 50 EP for an Avatar that showed proper thankfulness!" Still cheery as usual.

------------------------------------------------------

Back at the bustling Naval yard-cum-base.

Closing the door of her room with a loud bang, Yang slid down on the ground with cold sweats. Her heart palpated as if she just dodged a bullet then proceed to jump off the Burj Khalifa. Wait... Was that even a thing here?

" ... What the hell was that pressure!? No one ever said anything about that!" Yang silently cursed the intelligent team. Meeting Kiseki was like meeting Death himself, Yang had never faced such oppressive feelings in her life. Not even the Dragoons could give her such a scare.

" A Witch, even if she is of A-class, without a Flieger is like a knight without his horse. Still, I'm an A-class witch, how come I feel that she is way stronger than an A-class. Is it the legendary S-class?" Yang did not know. " Even though I know that she is strong, properly stronger than me, I really got caught on the backfoot there..."

" ... Was it because of Grabacr? That organization, shouldn't they be wiped out already? What kind of foul thing did they commit for her to exist...?"

" I truly didn't know what to think anymore, ah..." Leaning her head on the doorframe, Yang let out a tired sigh. Later on, she took a bottle of Soju from somewhere, downed a cup, then head to report a mission accomplished.

" I feel like we made a deal with the Devil."

------------------------------------------------------

" Well, we know that the day will arrive sooner or later but how do you intend on getting all the Fliegers back intact?" Admin asked.

" The airbase is heavily defended, the Fliegers are kept inside an underground bunker. Extracting them will be easy if I just put them in my inventory space. Getting in without exposing ourselves may be tricky, considering that they have Footmen on patrol." Overlooking the desolated airbase, I saw many two-legged Dragoons that have plasma rifles instead of hands. Further in the base, larger Dragoons were stationed, ready to sortie in short notice.

I duck underneath the shadow of a water tower as Recovers flew above my head. They also had roamers constantly searching for potential targets too.

" I can use magic to obscure my presence, so long as 'she' doesn't appear and I don't run into anything unexpected." After getting a hang of the patrol patterns, I stealthily made my way into the base.

The base internal was even worse than the city. Holes and burned wreckages of vehicles accompanied each other, showing signs of intense fighting before the base was fallen. Ever since the appearance of the new Nest, no human dared to grace this area to clean up the corpses. Many decomposing bodies, donning army clothing, laid bare for scavengers and the humid weather. Only when killed by Footmen, would they leave behind somewhat intact bodies instead of being evaporated outright.

All in all, it was a disturbing sight accompanied by an unpleasant smell.

I moved without a sound, not too quickly nor slowly. With scrutinizing eyes, I look around for items that may be of use. I know the location of the bunker, so I can take my time to loot.

Scavenging for food, medical supplies, weapons, and ammo,... I stockpiled the important necessities in case I do not have access to another resupply stop. Better safe than sorry.

" You are like a hoarder now." Well, she was not wrong.

When I was done with grabbing what I could, I came across a still intact aircraft.

" Ho...? Seeing this in person has a magnificent feeling to it. The real product does beat a depiction from 2D drawings." I glided my hand on the sleek form of the black aircraft. Made by combining a High ranking Dragoon carcass with mankind's technology, this aircraft is renowned for being uncontrollable. Most of the time, whoever pilots it will have a brain overload and died.

" Even though they managed to make a powerful weapon, but none can control it... It's a pity." I stored the aircraft and whatever was needed to maintain it. Who knows, maybe I will have some use for such a craft later.

" It's about time we go for a trip underground."

A bit later, I appeared in front of a set of two dark green heavy steel doors. Interestingly enough, it was locked from the inside.

" No matter." I used Kuro and cut apart the Death Lines of the doors. Using magic to muffle the sound of the falling metal parts, I concealed any commotion.

" Should be safe until a Dragoon passes by." I look around then set up some trap magics. They will serve as one of my detection methods in case something uninvited comes down.

The state of the bunker proved to be better than expected. At least, I only see a corpse of a female with a broken Flieger near her legs. She seemed to be the one that barricaded the bunker. Picking up a tarp. I covered her body with then moved on. It was not hard to determine what happened here.

When the base was attacked, she was one of the Witches that fought on the frontline. However, having received fatal injuries, she escaped here, lockdown the place, then breathed her last without medical treatment. A fine soul, gone.

Moving without hindrance in this dark bunker, I soon reached a warehouse containing many racks. On each rack housed a grey Flieger and a machine gun.

Closely examining the Fliegers, I deemed them to be of working condition. Even though I was not the engineer that made these, I have enough experience to deduct their quality.

A Flieger is a set of two magic engines in the shape of a large metallic legs garment, stockings if you can call it that. When a Witch uses a Flieger, the metal parts reach up to above the knees so you will see Witches wear a skirt instead of pants. Fueled by magic energy, mana for short, Flieger will create energy rotors and propel the user in a direction of choosing. Flight speed is faster than most propeller aircraft and way more maneuverable too. Hence, Witches must also spend mana on enhancing their body lest they blackout or died mid-maneuver. Air combat for Witches is also pretty straightforward. The weapon of choice is machine guns fed with mana-infused bullets for better damage, stronger Witches can conjure magic phenomena either offensively or defensively. It is taboo for Witch to be stationary mid-air so combat is very fast-paced and intense as one mistake can lead to a grave result. The deceased Witch was the cold, hard proof.

" Let store them and get out of here, I dislike this dead atmosphere." Admin said, breaking me out of my train of thoughts.

" Yeah, let's go home."

" 100 EP for an accomodating Avatar!" I smiled at her little antic. I do not dislike having such an interesting Admin.

-------------------------------------------------

Three days later, in a hangar exclusive for Witches of the Cam Ranh Naval yard.

" Hey, you girls! Why are you----!?" Yang slammed open a sliding door, only to be stunned silly by a person sitting on a bunk bed.

" Yo!" The girl with ashen hair gave a wave, her other hand holding a smoking cigarette. With uncertain gazes from the other Witches in the hangar, Kiseki let out a puff of smoke.

" Kiseki! How did you!?" Yang pointed a finger at her, voice raised in shock.

" Please don't be that loud in the morning." Kiseki let out a yawn. " I stayed awake the entire night to bring you gifts!" She then pulled off a camouflage tarp, showing a wide number of Fliegers and weapons.

" The mission was a success." Kiseki smirked. " You girls can finally have your wings back. I also took the liberty to do some much-needed maintenance on these." It was not just maintenance though, you will see later, Kiseki then added

Looking at the shiny Flieger, Yang went from disbelief to relief. With a grateful bow, she gave her thanks to Kiseki while the other Witches could barely contain their emotion. Finally, they could regain the power they lost to fight and protect what they cared for.

All thanks to this strange girl that suddenly appeared on their bed. The Witches scanned their benefactor, again, with more fervor this time.

" Hey, why you look at me like that? It's not like a peep at you girls in the bathroom or something." Kiseki quirked an eyebrow at their stares.

" You intruded in the bedroom for ladies, in the middle of the night, that's no different from a pervert." Somebody said.

" ... I only wanted to give a surprise to my employer though." Kiseki went along with the joke, acting as a criminal who got caught in the act.

" Seize her girls! Take her to our leader!" Yang shouted then hugged Kiseki from behind. " Remember to check her body for weapons!" The Witches sprung into action, with smiles on their faces, they started stripping Kiseki.

" Wait, Admin! There's something wrong with the script here!" Flustered, Kiseki complained. Sensing no ill-will, she let it slide for now.

" Who told you to be so charming and gallant, reviving the hearts of these despondent girls after teasing them in the wild. Let this be a lesson on How to treat others 101." Admin said smugly. In her heart, Admin also wanted to join the fun.

" No, wait! Don't touch there!" Kiseki didn't dare to use force on the Witches. Soon after she got carried with the flow.

" How come I shot some of them before but they still have enough courage to fool around with my body...? No, was this the so call karma?" Kiseki shed tears of frustration in her heart. She reaped what she sowed.