Seren tensed up without realizing it. She should have wanted this moment more than anyone, yet strangely, her heart was complicated. She had thought she could make a contract with the devil if it meant cutting off this evil connection. She had prepared by sharpening her heart like a blade.
But why did she become so dull and shrink when that moment was right in front of her? Perhaps it was because such signs showed on her expression despite trying to hide them.
"Um, excuse me."
Someone called out to Seren. When she turned around, she saw a young man standing there with an awkward smile. The fierce-looking young man was wearing specially crafted armor.
"You are..."
"Ah, I'm Mark. I'm a second-generation member of the Starlight Knights."
Mark introduced himself that way. The rookie who had gotten into a quarrel with Osian over standing in line on the day they were recruiting knights now showed a somewhat reliable appearance after time had passed.
"So why did you call me?"
"This..."
'Is he hitting on me because he's attracted to my appearance even in this situation?'
Subtly asking for her contact information and such things were experiences she'd had so often she was sick of them. She thought Osian's knight order would be somewhat different, but men just can't help themselves, can they? With such thoughts, Seren's expression changed strangely when she saw what Mark had handed her.
What she thought was some kind of gift to win a woman's favor was just a simple candy that could be commonly found on the street.
"What is this?"
"It's candy. It's sold on the street, and it's really delicious."
"I'm not asking because I don't know what this is."
When she snapped sharply for a moment, Mark's eyes darted around. Even though he had become somewhat manlier, he was still the youngest and most naive in the knight order.
"I meant why are you giving me such candy? This is something only children would like."
"Well, you seemed nervous."
Seren was dumbfounded by Mark's words. Who was saying who was nervous right now?
'When he himself is even more nervous, with his skin turning pale.'
Mark had followed his seniors, but now that he was actually going to fight artificial knights, he seemed quite frightened. It would be even more so since he heard that those guys used the same starlight as himself.
Despite being in such a state, the way he worried about her seemed a bit pathetic to Seren. However, Mark seemed to have pulled himself together in that brief moment, as he didn't withdraw the hand offering the candy but pushed it forward even more.
"Pl-please accept it!"
Seren sighed briefly.
"Look here. If you think you can win my favor with this..."
"No. That's not it."
Mark said decisively.
"It's not particularly about winning favor. It's just that your nervous appearance, how should I put it, reminds me of my younger sister."
"...Younger sister?"
It was an incredulous reaction to being told she resembled his younger sister, but Mark seemed to interpret it as a question about whether he had a sister.
"I have a sister. She's my only family, so I have to support her somehow. Even though she's such a sister, she really loves this candy. She said eating it makes her feel at ease. So I kept carrying it around. In case someone was having a hard time, I could give them this to help them feel better."
"That kind of..."
What kind of stupid reason was that? Seren was about to snap at him like that, but she couldn't bring herself to say it out loud. From Mark, she didn't feel the sticky lust toward others that she commonly saw. Being sensitive in such matters, Seren could tell.
Instead, he felt only pure concern for her that was truly sincere. That must have been why she silently accepted the candy.
"Th-then I'll be going now."
Mark retreated with an awkward smile. Seren stared blankly at the candy placed in her palm. It was cheap candy made by mixing low-grade sugar together. It was something that could be easily obtained anywhere on the street. She would never have been interested in such a thing. Even if she had received it as a gift, she would have thrown it away without mercy.
But strangely, she didn't feel like throwing this one away. Seren put it in her pocket with a small sigh.
'What a strange person.'
Still, it seemed like her tension had eased a little.
District 37 was quiet. It was hard to believe that the White House's secret laboratory was located in such a place.
It wasn't just anything else—hadn't there been an uproar when Battle Trench Company made unauthorized strategic weapons in the nearby District 38? He acknowledged that the districts were vast, so the physical distance was far. But when such an incident had occurred in the very next district, staying in place until now wasn't something that could be done with ordinary nerve.
'If not that, maybe they're taking advantage of the fact that it's dark under the lamp. Whatever the case, it's not something you'd do with ordinary confidence. Well, these are people conducting such experiments, so expecting normal thinking would be ridiculous.'
Moreover, this laboratory was the most important among the White House's various laboratories. It was also the place that Seren, who had been pursuing them for many years, had finally found. Most importantly, it was also the place where artificial knights were being created.
'For such a place.'
Osian gazed at the laboratory disguised as a closed factory. Looking at it in the pitch-black darkness, it only appeared to be an ordinary factory in an industrial complex. Naturally, it shouldn't look suspicious to others, but it was strangely quiet.
'I thought they would at least deploy minimal security forces, but there's no sign of even that.'
There were no forces guarding the entrance, not even personnel patrolling the surroundings. If he hadn't heard from Seren, he would have really thought it was just an ordinary factory.
"It's strangely quiet."
Asmer also seemed to sense something, muttering quietly. It wasn't just him who felt this quietness like the eve of some event to come.
Even the knights who had been full of vigor swallowed nervously, showing signs of slight tension.
"This is interesting."
Osian twisted his lips up slightly. The factory entrance he was looking at was wide open. It was as if they were openly telling them to come in.
"They are inviting us now."
Despite their secret laboratory's location being exposed, they showed no sign of panic and were instead waiting for them to come, even with the front door wide open. Was it a trap? Or a fair fight? Osian saw it as the latter.
"Does that mean it doesn't matter if we come?"
"Right. That means they're confident. No matter how many of us come charging in, they think the artificial knights they've created will be stronger."
At those words, intense fighting spirit erupted from the lined-up knight order. It was such a hot fighting spirit that even Seren was startled and unconsciously had to step back several paces.
"How dare they show pride against us?"
"These arrogant bastards! Do they know who we are!"
"In that case, let's take off all our armor too! Those guys are enough to handle barehanded!"
"No, that's going a bit too far."
Osian chuckled as he watched the knight order getting excited and chattering among themselves. Seeing that scene, Seren could understand why Osian had said such things.
'He deliberately said that to ease the tension.'
No matter how strong the knight order was, their opponents were also those who used the same power as them. Even if they were artificially created, it was the same. Rather, in the process of being created, other things must have been added, so they would definitely be opponents that couldn't be ignored. Osian had eased that tension with just a few light words.
"Everyone listen. Just because the other side is being arrogant doesn't mean we need to act the same way. If you're truly a knight, no matter what the opponent does, you must do your best to defeat them with the skills you possess. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Yes! We understand!"
"So don't let your guard down, and fight with all your strength. Never leave room for regret or remorse."
Having taken control of the knight order's atmosphere like that, Osian took the lead and entered the factory first. Seren and the knight order followed behind him.
As soon as the knight order entered the factory. Thud. The open door automatically closed. Soon, pitch-black darkness arrived. After a brief moment, dim lights were generated throughout the factory.
It was light from some kind of structures installed throughout the factory. The light from the structures flowed in specific directions, blinking periodically. They were a kind of guide lights.
"It seems like that's the real entrance over there."
An entrance cleverly hidden among the factory's structures was visible. It was an entrance leading underground. Naturally, most laboratories are secretly built underground. There are no secret laboratories towering above ground. There were a total of 3 paths that the directional lights guided to. There couldn't really be only 3 entrances leading underground. Nevertheless, they had openly presented only 3 paths.
A knight's intuition whispered. There seemed to be some kind of intention in opening only 3 entrances.
"Asmer."
"Yes."
"You go in through the left."
At Osian's words, Asmer didn't ask why. Their bond and trust were never shallow enough for that.
"Take the Starlight Knights with you too."
"I will definitely seize victory and bring it back."
After Asmer and the Starlight Knights steeled their resolve, they entered one of the entrances. As soon as they disappeared, the guide light that had been leading to one entrance went out.
"W-wait a minute."
Seren called out to Osian to say something, but Osian was faster.
"Next. David."
When Osian called his name, David walked forward with a serious face.
"You enter through the right passage."
"Yes. I understand."
Behind David were his custom automatons Ronald and Reginald. And unusually, there was an additional person following them.
"Laila."
"Yes, successor."
Laila, a second-generation member of the Moon Scar Knights and one of the few holders of Moon Scar, had changed beyond recognition through training. She was already quite tall for a woman, but now she even had a frosty atmosphere.
"Do well and come back."
At the plain words without any flowery language, a faint smile formed on Laila's lips.
"Yes."
So the Moon Scar Knights entered the right entrance, and shortly after, the guide light went out. Only Osian and Seren Gracia remained.
"Are you sane? Dispersing your forces at a moment like this?"
Seren asked accusingly. Even if they all went together it wouldn't be enough, but she couldn't understand why they needed to disperse their forces.
"Because that's what they want. A fair fight."
"A fair fight?"
Seren asked back as if she didn't understand properly. Why was sports being mentioned when they were about to have a life-or-death battle?
"They're cold scientists. The kind who think of human lives like flies. If such people are displaying guide lights like this, anyone can see there's a trap!"
Seren knew about the White House well. She had seen too many terrible experiments and their traces that had taken place there. She had seen how endless human malice could be, and how terrible the results it produced could be.
"And you're sending your comrades to such a place? It's madness!"
"Are you worried about them?"
"Those people? Ha! Are you calling that a question right now?"
Seren didn't understand bonds. She didn't particularly like them either. Like a picture of rice cakes, it was something she couldn't have. But that didn't mean she could tolerate someone who had bonds treating them carelessly.
When Seren got angry, Osian smiled as if relieved.
"Then that's a relief. You don't need to worry too much. Those guys aren't weak. So trust them."
"Trust them? The opponent is the White House. How can you be certain about what they'll do?"
"I'm certain. That they also want this."
Osian spoke with an unwavering gaze and Seren was speechless but she had no choice. Osian had made this judgment based solely on a knight's intuition.
Doctor Cromwell wants a fair fight with them. He didn't know what wind had gotten into the guy who usually approached sneakily from behind to act like this. As Seren said, there might really be some hidden scheme.
But they were knights. Knights never avoid a fight that comes to them. They must always break through with their skills head-on.
"Such recklessness couldn't happen in reality!"
Seren found herself shouting without realizing it. She belatedly realized that she had been too emotional.
"No. What I mean is..."
"You speak as if you've seen it."
"..."
Seren closed her mouth. She chose silence instead of excuses.
"You came to me to warn of danger. That the White House is creating something very dangerous. So be careful. You pretend it's not the case, but your reaction then was as vivid as if you had seen it directly with your own eyes. Your puzzling reaction is the same now. What exactly do you know to react so sensitively?"
"I am..."
Seren avoided Osian's gaze. Her body seemed to become slightly blurred. Was she trying to escape using her ability? But it didn't seem like it. Rather, it was closer to unconscious manifestation.
"I am..."
It was the moment Seren was about to say something.
[You've been standing around the entrance too long.]
A voice was heard from somewhere. Osian and Seren looked in the direction of the voice. In front of the central entrance where the guide light was on, a modified human was standing.
[I'm preparing to welcome guests after so long, so this would be troublesome.]
It was a modified human that looked like a humanized laboratory white rat, but it was a different being that was speaking through it now.
"Cromwell...!"
Seren's expression contorted viciously.