Chapter 192: The Stranded Male Zerg × The Heavenly Garuda Emperor (12): "Hand Over the Male Zerg. Name Your Price."

【Suddenly...

He was hugged.

Huh?

Dream Ares was being unusually clingy.

Carl raised a hand and gently patted his back in comfort.

"There, there. It's over now."

Instead of letting go, however, the Heavenly Garuda only hugged him tighter and tighter.

In the end, Carl had to wriggle and squirm his own way free.

The shadows had disappeared.

All that remained were broken walls and shattered ruins.

The place now looked like the remains of an ancient gladiator arena.

Carl was worried time would reverse itself, restoring everything to the beginning and forcing them to fight all over again.

He waited for quite a while.

Nothing happened.

The arena remained a ruined wreck.

...No rewind?

Still...

This bare, empty place wasn't very attractive.

It looked like nothing but ruins.

Carl gathered his psychic power and decided to add a little greenery.

Flowers.

Grass.

Seeds sprouted from between the shattered stones.

Soon blossoms covered the ground.

Lush green life spread throughout the arena.

It became vibrant and full of life.

Meanwhile...

Ares remained pressed against his back, one arm wrapped around his waist.

Clinging to him like an oversized backpack.

By now, Carl was already used to being hugged by him.

So he simply let him stay there.

Blue butterflies formed from psychic power fluttered from Carl's fingertips.

The entire Psychic Domain finally came alive.

...

When Carl woke up...

The only thing he remembered was Ares hugging him.

Such an affectionate Heavenly Garuda...

It really had just been a dream.

Carl rolled over, intending to continue sleeping.

Then he felt Ares' hands moving over him.

At first he thought the other wanted to do something.

He hadn't yet decided whether to refuse or simply go along with it—

Only to realize...

Ares was dressing him.

Carl: "?"

"What are you doing... I'm sleepy."

After spending an exhausting night inside that dream, Carl hadn't gotten nearly enough rest.

He had absolutely no intention of getting up.

While carefully helping him into his clothes, Ares spoke softly.

"You can keep sleeping."

"It won't affect anything."

"I'll carry you."

His voice was low and soothing.

Gentle enough that Carl briefly wondered whether he was still dreaming.

If so...

Then this must be a pleasant dream.

Half-conscious, Carl thought drowsily.

Curled in Ares' embrace, wrapped snugly inside the warm military coat, he was carried out of the cave.

Carl: "?"

...Wait.

Something wasn't right.

Where were they going?

Still groggy, Carl poked his head out.

It should have been morning.

The temperature was already rising.

Yet everything around them was strangely dim.

The surroundings looked more like dusk.

As though something enormous had blocked out the sunlight.

Don't be ridiculous...

What could possibly block the sun?

Slowly...

Carl looked upward.

A gigantic battleship hung high in the sky.

So immense...

So distant...

It nearly eclipsed the star itself, casting an eclipse-like darkness across the planet.

Its overwhelming presence pressed down on everything below.

That was...

The rescue team?

The Zerg fleet?

No...

If it were the Zerg fleet, the Heavenly Garuda Emperor wouldn't be this calm.

He had carried Carl out of the cave...

As though intending to take him away.

It was the Heavenly Garuda fleet.

Immediately Carl began struggling violently, slipping from Ares' arms.

His bare feet landed on the grass.

He paid no attention whatsoever to the icy ground or the blades of grass prickling against his skin.

The military coat wrapped around him slipped to the ground with a dull thud.

Looking directly at Ares, Carl demanded,

"Is that a Heavenly Garuda warship?"

"Where are you taking me?!"

Ares stared at Carl's pale bare feet resting on the grass.

His brows knitted together.

He crouched down to help him put on his shoes.

Carl immediately kicked him away.

Only then did Ares answer vaguely.

"Isn't leaving this place a good thing?"

"Leaving here..."

"...Only to go to Heavenly Garuda territory, right?"

Carl instantly understood the meaning hidden behind those evasive words.

His heart went cold.

A Heavenly Garuda warship.

If that was the case...

He would rather stay stranded on this deserted planet forever.

Lowering his head, Ares didn't answer.

He kept adjusting the same simple knot in Carl's shoelaces over and over again.

Carl stepped backward.

"I'm not going."

Ares slowly stood.

His complicated gaze remained fixed on Carl.

He tried persuading him gently.

"Don't you want to contact your family?"

"Using Heavenly Garuda military communications?"

Carl sneered, his eyes filled with mockery.

Ares pressed his lips together.

His fingertips curled involuntarily.

He had always known this Male Zerg was covered in thorns.

Yet...

Those thorns still hurt every time they pierced him.

Lowering his gaze to his own hand...

He reached for Carl's.

Even if those thorns wounded him...

He still intended to take Carl home.

He couldn't possibly leave a Male Zerg alone on this planet.

Carl slapped his hand away.

Refusing to let him touch him.

The atmosphere instantly froze.

High above them...

A formation of smaller ships descended from the massive flagship.

They were coming to receive their Emperor.

Carl pressed his lips tightly together.

Despair filled his heart.

He should run.

But...

Where could he possibly run?

Could he really escape an SS-rank Heavenly Garuda?

Suddenly—

A brilliant flash tore across the sky.

A silver-white beam of energy shot directly toward the Heavenly Garuda flagship overhead.

The flagship immediately deployed its defensive barrier.

Ares turned sharply.

The moment he saw it...

His expression darkened.

Farther away...

The Zerg fleet revealed itself.

The empty space surrounding the deserted planet instantly became a battlefield where the two fleets confronted each other.

Carl still hadn't understood what was happening...

When a familiar psychic voice suddenly echoed inside his mind.

It was his male parent.

『Run.』

Instantly...

Carl felt as though he'd found his anchor again.

Although he still had no idea what was happening...

His body obeyed instinctively.

Turning around...

He ran.

Putting as much distance as possible between himself and the Heavenly Garuda Emperor.

Ares reached out to grab him—

Then suddenly staggered.

A sharp pain exploded inside his mind.

One hand pressed against his forehead.

Carl stared in astonishment.

...I actually hurt him?

His psychic attacks should have been completely blocked by the Heavenly Garuda Emperor's psychic barrier.

Since when...

Could his psychic attacks penetrate that barrier?

Still confused...

He suddenly fell headfirst into a spatial rift.

Ares' pupils contracted.

He teleported after him instantly.

Only to be kicked backward.

A pair of icy silver-gray eyes flashed before him.

The last face Ares saw...

Was that of the Zerg Marshal.

"Ulysses?!"

His eyes widened in fury.

Ignoring the pain of shattered ribs rapidly healing themselves, Ares teleported forward again.

He was too late.

The spatial passage closed before his eyes.

Just...

One step too late.

Ares suddenly turned toward the Zerg flagship.

Black wings unfurled behind him.

He shot into the sky.

Inside the Zerg ship...

Ulysses handed the rescued Male Zerg over to his male and female parents.

The moment Carl emerged from the spatial passage...

He found himself pulled into his male parent's embrace.

Only then did he truly realize...

He had been rescued.

His eyes grew hot.

Still stunned, he allowed himself to be held.

Looking over...

He saw the concern in his female parent's eyes.

He felt the reassuring hand resting on his shoulder.

"It's enough that you're back."

His female parent smiled gently.

Carl's nose stung.

He almost burst into tears.

Yet...

Compared to the joy of being rescued...

His heart felt strangely empty.

On one of the ship's displays...

A rapidly approaching mech appeared.

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor's mech!

General Sorens' expression darkened.

"Marshal."

"I'll engage him."

Ulysses understood exactly how he felt.

He simply nodded.

Carl stared blankly.

He tugged lightly at his male parent's sleeve, hoping he would stop him.

That was the Heavenly Garuda Emperor.

Could his female parent really defeat him?

What if he got hurt?

And Ares...

He...

Carl's thoughts went completely blank.

He didn't even know how to continue thinking.

Joshua gently patted his arm, reassuring him.

Under ordinary circumstances...

If his Female Lord were facing the Heavenly Garuda Emperor alone...

Of course he would worry.

But now...

The Marshal was here as well.

Ulysses would never allow his General to come to harm.

As long as Ulysses stood there...

The entire army possessed an unshakable pillar of confidence.

Even Joshua—

Whose political views often clashed with Ulysses—

Had to admit that, on the battlefield...

No one could rival him.

Outside...

General Sorens' mech had already engaged the Heavenly Garuda Emperor.

"Get out of my way!"

Ordinarily, a Zerg General would have made for a respectable opponent.

But today...

Ares had no interest in fighting anyone except one person.

A devastating charged particle cannon blasted directly toward Sorens' mech.

Sorens naturally wasn't foolish enough to stand still and endure it.

But...

Behind him stood the Zerg rescue ship.

It wasn't a warship.

It lacked heavy weapons.

It lacked powerful defensive systems.

Inside were his Male Lord.

His hatchling.

And every member of the rescue team.

He had no choice but to activate his mech's energy barrier and absorb the attack himself.

Watching the rapidly falling energy reserves displayed on his screen...

Sorens silently calculated.

Unexpectedly...

After less than two seconds...

Ares cut off the sustained particle cannon himself.

Charging forward instead.

He wanted close-quarters mech combat.

...Aerial melee?

Sorens couldn't understand what the Heavenly Garuda Emperor was thinking.

Still...

He welcomed it.

His hatchling had vanished for weeks.

Had fallen into Heavenly Garuda hands.

Who knew what hardships he'd suffered?

Sorens had been suppressing his anger this entire time.

He desperately needed a Heavenly Garuda to vent it on.

Compared to long-range combat...

Close combat was infinitely more satisfying.

Inside the rescue ship...

Carl looked anxiously from one screen to another.

Their movements were so fast that he couldn't keep up at all.

Meanwhile...

Ulysses noticed the movements of the Heavenly Garuda fleet.

They had quietly surrounded the rescue vessel.

Yet...

As though following some specific order...

Not a single warship opened fire.

They merely attempted to encircle it.

On the Zerg side...

This was only a rescue vessel.

The Heavenly Garuda side, however, had deployed a genuine combat fleet.

Whether comparing manpower...

Or firepower...

The Heavenly Garudas possessed an overwhelming advantage.

If they truly launched an attack...

The handful of combat mechs protecting the rescue ship wouldn't be enough.

Everyone aboard would likely perish.

Yet...

They behaved as though restrained by something.

None of them dared fire upon the rescue ship.

Ulysses knew exactly why.

Because...

The Male Zerg was aboard.

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor still hadn't given up.

He still intended to take the Male Zerg away.

Ulysses let out a cold snort.

Walking over to the control console...

He used the rescue ship's limited firepower to casually destroy several assault ships attempting to tighten the encirclement.

Whenever he found an opening...

He fired another few shots at the Heavenly Garuda Emperor to interfere with him and support Sorens.

Ares grew increasingly irritated.

The battle should have ended quickly.

Instead...

The rescue ship kept interrupting him with precisely timed artillery fire, dragging everything out.

He quickly realized the Zergs' objective.

Delay.

Delay until reinforcements arrived.

Delay until the Male Zerg could be safely evacuated.

Only afterward would the real battle begin.

But...

The Male Zerg was exactly what Ares wanted.

He couldn't allow them to keep buying time.

Sorens' mech was already more than half destroyed.

Ares no longer wished to continue wasting time.

Carefully adjusting his firing angle so the rescue ship wouldn't be caught in the blast...

He blasted Sorens away with a single shot.

Then...

Facing the rescue vessel directly...

He said coldly,

"Ulysses!"

"Since you've come..."

"Why don't you come out and fight me yourself?!"

"Marshal."

"The Heavenly Garudas are requesting an open communication channel."

The captain of the rescue ship—who had effectively become little more than logistics support—reported.

General Sorens had already been defeated by the Heavenly Garuda Emperor.

His mech required immediate repairs.

Ulysses himself couldn't leave the ship.

If he did...

No one would remain to protect everyone aboard.

He certainly couldn't rely on the Heavenly Garudas continuing to refrain from opening fire.

After weighing the situation...

He accepted the communication request.

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor's face appeared on the main screen.

His gaze immediately searched the ship.

The moment he found the Male Zerg standing safely in the back...

He visibly relaxed.

Then his eyes shifted toward Ulysses.

His expression became solemn once more.

"Hand over the Male Zerg."

"You name the conditions."

Ares spoke in a deep voice.

Joshua instinctively tightened his hold around the Male Zerg in his arms.

His expression wasn't pleasant.

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor looked completely baffled after receiving such a hostile glare from an unfamiliar Male Zerg.

"...?"

The one he wanted wasn't this Male Zerg.

Although...

Looking carefully...

Their facial features did seem just a little similar.】