Chapter 44:  System and Dog Emperor

Because the light puppets inside the base couldn't see outside well, we all became "blind" except for Cyra. She had to decide where we'd run next.

"I see strange dark clouds over the forest to the south, towards Sifur. And many white dots flying around in the sky... No, they seem to be fighting something," Cyra reported after we left the base's shield.

"White dots? Fighting in the sky? Oh no!" I checked my magic watch. It was past 11 PM - not much time left before the cycle began. We'd been stuck in the Empire base so long, I lost track of time.

"Quick, go there or we'll miss it!" I urged. I didn't know what was happening in the forest, but it didn't sound good.

"If those creatures are fighting, Michelle might join in. This Empire weapon could be useful," Adrian reminded me.

"But it's missing a hand and can't even fly. Can it really win? A 'Gundam' that can't fly is useless. It's too slow," I said. I didn't think this half-finished machine could hurt Michelle. I only stayed inside to keep the Empire from taking it back.

"Don't worry, we'll make it! I'm driving so fast for my first time. I'm a genius!" Cyra boasted. I could feel Midas running quickly. We'd reach the spot in about 10 minutes.

But after a few minutes, the shaking slowed down and stopped. We looked at each other, sensing something wrong. Reed frowned and asked, "What happened? The Empire ships can't be this fast, right?"

"It's not ships. There's... there's a man blocking us. He says he's Emperor Reider! He wants us to surrender and come out..." Cyra stuttered.

"Reider?" I forgot about him! Of course he'd be angry we stole the Empire's new weapon. He must have some system to catch up so fast.

"Why's that dog emperor here alone? Is he crazy? What can he do?" Mia asked, confused.

"You've read a lot. Do you know about 'System'? Any ways to deal with them?" I asked Reed, just in case.

"System? What's that?" Reed had no clue about these things from fantasy stories. I lost hope.

"Let me try talking to him. We won't know how strong his System is until we test it," Adrian stood up, ready to act.

"I'll go with you!" I couldn't let him face a System user alone. Two people is safer.

"I wanted you to stay..." Adrian started to refuse, but gave in when I stared at him. "Okay, but stay behind me!"

Cyra opened the cockpit. Adrian and I climbed out to Midas' shoulder.

The air was fresher outside, but we focused on the figure floating in front of us.

"Why do guys like you always fly? Are you even human?" I complained. How was he flying without wings, like Fernando before?

"Tagilu? You're part of this rebellion? Why are you doing this?" He looked at us, mistaking me for someone else. I remembered I still had disguise magic on.

"Midas is too dangerous! We think it shouldn't exist. We must destroy it or it'll drag the whole continent into war!" Adrian lied cleverly.

"Who are you?" Reider stared at Adrian. "You can't have done this with just Niki and three people. Are there more traitors in the lab?"

"Yes, almost everyone agrees with us. You're so unpopular! We destroyed all the key tech. You can't make another one!" I exaggerated. It was really just Idini and Memi. But our light puppets in the base would lose control soon anyway.

"Hmph! I helped improve the design. Those mages couldn't have solved all the problems so fast without me! And you can't just take Midas like that!" Reider got angry and was about to attack. But he seemed to get some info and changed his mind.

"Wait, you're not Empire soldiers!" He saw through our disguises. "And you're not Tagilu. So the Niki inside isn't real either. Who are you really? Republic spies?"

"Huh?" How did he know? He wasn't totally right, but it was shocking. Reider isn't a light mage, so he shouldn't sense our disguises. Was this his System's power?

"No, not Republic spies either. Could it be..." Reider paused again, then called out all our real names.

"Are you Cyra, and is Feliciana driving Midas? Or are you Feliciana? What about Reed and Nicola? You should all be together, right?"

"How..." Adrian looked at me, amazed by this crazy situation.

I didn't know what to say! Even if his System saw through our disguises, how did he know our real names? Did the System show him all our info? But Nicola and Reed never appeared in front of him! How did he know about them?

"How do you know Nicola? Don't say your System told you!" I asked seriously, confirming his guess. Reider seemed very mysterious now. It wasn't just about hiding our identities anymore - he almost knew everything about us!

At first I thought he might be an old classmate who survived somehow. But my high school friends should be angels now. And he used our new names in this world, not our old ones. Very strange!

"How do you know I have a System?" Reider was surprised, then looked like he understood. "Oh, right! You must have peeked into my mind earlier. That's how you know about my System."