SOS CH 46: Thanks (Patreon)

Omid was meditating inside his Frame.

Not all mecha were created the same and while some were nothing more than standard machines, a few were extremely customized to suit the needs of the pilot.

The Scorched was something in between. It was a special Mecha he had been bestowed by the royal families when he was younger and still part of the army and the royal knight.

How proud he had been then when everything was working well and he could say that he was a true knight fighting for the greater good of his species. Fighting through the sea of stars, conquering more planets, and making sure they were growing well toward eventually becoming a stronger civilization.

Becoming a type 3 was nearly impossible as they would have to fight the Empire for that but growing quietly was not bad.

Back then he was happy.

Back then, he was proud.

For nearly 300 years, he lived as a Knight, watching generations of Kings and Queens come and go, all more stellar than the previous one. All more worthy of respect and admiration and his loyalties.

At least this was the case until King Shahryar and Queen Scheherazade.

His concentration was disturbed as pictures of a forgotten past filled his mind. The sea of white flames surrounded him and burned him, the suffocation he felt as he was being looked down upon as nothing more than a bug or even less than an insect by someone who stood so much above him it was like looking at an insurmountable mountain.

—Leave, never come back.

He shuddered as the voice of the very person he swore to serve and protect sounded in his ears. Years may have gone by but this was a voice he could never forget and one he would always recognize as it had once filled all nights with nightmares he could not escape from.

“Why reminisce about a forgotten past,” Omid slowly opened his eyes as he muttered those words and pushed down the growing useless feeling of rage and fear that were hidden deep inside of him. Whether this was out of helplessness or a simple desire to forget once again, he did not know. The loyal Knight was dead long ago and all that was left was nothing but a scum pirate with the blood of many innocents on his hands.

He was different from Cassim or Alibaba. He did not dream of justice or revolution. His heart had long since cooled down as he realized the reality they were living in and that he was nothing but an insignificant cog in the great machine that was reality.

He was tired of fighting for the sake of others. Tired of upholding a code while knowing full well that others managed to get ahead farther in their lives simply by acting as they wished.

This was why, on that day, he swore to fight only for himself. Only him and no one else. Only by doing so could he reach higher in life. Justice was nothing but an illusion and only strength reigned supreme. This might be an exaggeration for many but this was nothing but a simple reality that many indigenous races learned fast and one he learned as well after becoming a pirate.

[Attunement: 2%]

Looking down at the numbers showing, Omid felt no surprise. He knew very well that this was a process that could be completed on time. Some Mecha were specially created to support the cores of the previous and forgotten Universal empire but as one could expect, The Scorched was not such mecha. If it was, the attunement would have been nearly instantaneous and the change would have been immediate.

Even so, He could feel that his body was slowly changing as he attuned himself to the core. His ability to feel and absorb Dark Matter from the exterior was increased and his interior reserve had grown, albeit barely. But the true winner, in this case, was his Mecha. It was also a little overloaded currently as the hardware was simply not powerful enough to contain and accept this core. But the future would be positively marvelous.

“I am growing stronger.”

This was nothing but a hint of progress but for him who had stayed stagnant for so long, this simple progress was no different from the most beautiful gift he could receive. This was the absolute proof that he was right in gambling and entering the Gate no matter how dangerous it seemed and the proof that once he came out of this place, he would be great.

He clenched his fist and scoffed as he remembered a few words he once heard when he was still friendly with Alibaba, “I told you there was no such thing as having a Blazing Heart.”

Just remembering that happy-go-lucky bastard made his blood boil.

All he had always lacked was an opportunity and now he got one and he would use it to the best possible to reach the highest level.

He would become known through the galaxy, he would step on anyone no matter who they were, and never again would he be humiliated.

“I will become strong.”

He was Omid of the Scorched Earth. He was a noble Djinn, a Yellow Flame and now he had the power from the all-powerful and vanished Empire that once controlled the entire universe.

This was his story, this was his time to shine. Becoming one of the strong would become nothing but a given for him. But for that to happen, he had to accomplish something first.

He brought his hand forward and re-activated the communication. He had been forced to keep it shut to avoid any sudden call while he was attuning as it could have caused a deviation in his own internal circuits and damaged him severely.

“01 give me your situation.”

He waited a few seconds but received no answer, causing him to frown,

“01.”

Once no answer came back, an ominous feeling washed over him,

“02.”

He continued the call of order but realized that he was still unable to get an answer, something flashed in his mind and spoke in the air.

“I ask for permission to see the number of candidates remaining.”

[Permission accorded]

[Mission type: One vs Many]

[Initial number of participants: 20]

[Updating the number of remaining participants.]

Omid waited, hoping that he would be wrong, that this was nothing more than a bad dream.

But the reality was often disappointing.

[Number of participants updated.]

.

.

.

.

[Number of survivors remaining: 3]

He widened his eyes, but he was not even allowed to properly register this information when an alarm sounded everywhere and a new screen appeared.

[Number of participants remaining: 2]

Omid grunted and it was then that his com sounded. Since only two people were remaining, he understood well who it was and he decided to open the communication.

A picture appeared in front of him, showing a young man sitting in the cockpit of a Mecha. Everywhere, blood and flesh could be observed as if a great massacre had occured.

But for Omid, the most shocking thing was undoubtedly the face of the young man sitting there. Though he was older looking, this was undoubtedly…

“You…”

[Hi! This is your friend, Noah, here. I just wanted to tell you two things.]

The young man, or rather, Noah, laughed while playing around with a ball in his hand and Omid realized that it was the head of one of his subordinates. The eyes of the dead were filled with terror as if they had witnessed some great horrors.

[Firstly, thank you for the meal. It was delicious.]

On those words, the young man crushed the head into meat paste between his hands, his smile not even flinching as brain matter, blood, and skulls splattered everywhere on him.

[Secondly, you are next. Soon, I will find you, and then…We will eat you.]