Chapter 96: Little Painter and Friends

Kallen and Sakura were with ELFs accompanying them. "Hey little guy, can you try and locate someone like this?" Kallen took out a picture of Griseo and showed the little droids.

"Aye aye captain!" They scattered and Sakura sighed. "She's a bit hard to find. This is difficult." They even had to call Phyllis, and she was the one that gave out the approximate location of the little artist.

"Well, of course it isn't. If what Ein said is true, then she might even have a domain that she uses to hide." Kallen shrugged. They continued the search with the little traces they have.

Meanwhile, back in the base. Mobius and MEI were looking at a set of genes that was from Ein. They combined it with Adamantine that was constantly suppressing the genes to a more safe state. Unlike Soulium and honkai that makes it more violent.

"Hehehe... HAHAHAHAHA! Finally! My life's work! It is done at last..." Mobius held it carefully while laughing like a maniac.

"It isn't your life's work Mobius, don't be an ass. It won't even be possible without Ein." MEI deadpanned at her, but the crazy scientist just ignored her.

It was called by Ein as a gene seed. It was the improved version of a stigmata that would turn humans into bootleg versions of Ein as it uses his genes as a base. He also gave it a certain quirk that made the ones that receive it have a compulsion. One that Mobius would know a bit later.

"Quickly! What kind of scientist am I if I don't know how the peak of evolution feels like!" MEI sighed and started to implant it inside of her after some quick preparations.

Mobius excitedly received it and felt amazing. She started to gain immense control of her honkai genes and felt her body change to the atomic level. Slowly changing to an invincible super human that can survive at any environment, consume anything, and adapt endlessly.

MEI's brows narrowed when she saw the changes in real time. She was terrified at how it started turning her colleague into a monster that is unstoppable by normal means.

"Hahhh. I feel... WONDERFUL!" She released a sigh with concentrated honkai energy. Steam and heat accompanied by it as her body turned to a literal generator of the stuff.

"Mobius, calm down. As a woman of science, we need to be rational." MEI was getting nervous as Mobius might go crazy all of a sudden.

"Hehe~ so that's how he could figure put everything. I can see every muscle of yours twitch, every pore on your skin starting to release sweat from a stressful reaction, your brain waves, and I can taste your fear..." Mobius licked her lips and was getting too into it.

Ein appeared because MEI messaged him and he gave a noogie to Mobius. "You're even creeping MEI out Moby, hah. Want me to take that out of you?" She was flabbergasted and immediately bowed down to MEI. "Forgive me MEI! I won't do it again I promise! Just don't tell him to take it out!"

She would rather die, the gene seed was that important to her ideals. It was her ultimate objective and it was reached now. And it wasn't even at the final form as she just got the thing implanted on her.

"Hey MEI, want to see something funny?" He gave her a message that made MEI smirk. Making Mobius narrow her eyes at her. "I swear MEI. If you do it..." She threatened, but Ein was there.

"It's just a flimsy gene seed Mobius. You're too hyped up about it." MEI said and shrugged. Mobius fumed and then the compulsion triggered. "You dare, vile cur!? Insulting the divine gene seed of the Emperor of mankind!? You damned heretic! Taste the wrath of the emperor! Daemon corrupted scum!"

Ein got it all in video and Mobius suddenly gained her wits. Blinking and her mouth closed and open like a goldfish. "Hmm~ That is surely a nice feature. As a woman of science, I don't believe in religion. But it surely amused me Mobius." MEI snickered with a smug smile on her face.

"Wh-what was that?" Mobius couldn't believe she said all those embarrassing lines and paled. "That, dear Moby-chan. Is your punishment for being a creep, I told you that you shouldn't do that anymore." He shook his head with a disappointed face.

He then left and MEI patted her on the back, her smug smile still on her face. "Don't worry, I take it back. The emperor will surely save us all."

Mobius then got another compulsion. "Umu, the emperor protects!" She stood up and saluted, she then paled again. Clutching her head tightly, receiving emotional damage and payback from MEI while her colleague laughed at her boisterously.

__

After some time, Kallen and Sakura entered a place that was freaky. Their information lead them into an underground building that looked like a backdrop of an art that has a multitude of colors. They called Phyllis for more information and she named it the studio for sure.

"Uhh, this place is kinda weird. I have a bad feeling about this." Kallen said and Sakura nodded. "It isn't kinda weird Kallen, it's definitely unusual." They then started their journey deeper.

And after walking for a few minutes, they saw a guy with a mask. Sitting like a yankee on a rock unmoving. He then cracked his knuckles and neck, menacingly.

He sighed and released steam at the mouth of the mask and sides. "You guys have been coming for some time now. And you're the strongest yet... I don't know about you, but I wish you aren't as fragile as the others."

He stood up and stomped on the ground, his muscles bulged. Rippling with immense strength as the ground trembled. "Because I won't have fun otherwise." He then launched himself like a bullet at the 2 explorers.

"Kallen!" Sakura prepared herself by going into an Iaido stance and Kallen filled her arms with honkai energy. "On it!" The man then raised his arms up and made a hammerfist. Roaring as he attacked, he tried pummeling Kallen to the ground. But the ground only cracked, the momentum absorbed.

"Royal release!" Kallen equipped a gauntlet and countered at his face with immense force. When her fist hit his face, it created a shockwave that carved the ground meters deep.

Sakura then released multiple judgement cuts at his location. Bombarding it with slashes and raining summoned swords at the place.

"Hehe~GUHAHAHA! Yesss! That's it! This is starting to get fun! Your slashes are too weak unlike SAKURA, try harder!" He appeared to be unharmed, his clothes had cuts, but that was it.

"Tsk, Kallen. This guy is hard as hell, you know what to do." Kallen nodded and they started to use their suits. The temperature in the area was also rising as Kalpas started getting heated.

Sakura disappeared in a burst of speed and concentrated a single slash at him. But due to him being used to SAKURA's blade of setsuna, he quickly dodged and the area behind him was cut in half as far as the eye can see. "Tsk. How did he dodge that?"

Kallen then entered the fray by raining bullets on him that he caught with his hands. "Hehe, those don't work on me girl!" He threw them back, raining shrapnel at Kallen. She blocked and Sakura got in position for an uppercut.

"Rising dragon!" She released all of her tensed up energy and was further accelerated by a jet of energy at her elbows. "Heh, too weak!" He countered it with his own blow and they clashed. Blowing away Sakura.

Kallen narrowed her eyes and used trickster. Appearing behind him and started hacking him with her claymore. Kalpas laughed while blocking or parrying the blows. "More! It's not enough!" He then caught her sword with one hand and kicked her on the abdomen. Launching her like a rocket and crashing against numerous trees.

"Kallen!" The white haired nun then used trickster again, but her arm was blue and she turned to her honkai reactive form. "Eat this!" Giving a hook that cracked his mask and making him fly as well.

He then corrected himself on the ground and breathed heavily. "Heh, HAHAHA! You Kevin's kid or something? But you're too weak!" He started to transform to his honkai cascade form and looked like a being made of pure heat. (pic here)

"Hehehe! HAHAHAHA! I'll grind you to dust!" Fireballs started falling and the ground melted into lava. Kallen then countered it with her own cascade form and froze the surroundings. Their opposite powers clashed and the realm was getting unstable.

A person then fell from the sky. Making a tremor at his landing. "Leave, now." It was Kosma and he noticed that Griseo's studio was getting a bit too rowdy.

"Heh, not until we find what we need." Kallen then squared up with Kalpas. They clashed against each other, turning the lands into a hell scape in his side, and a frozen tundra in the other.

"The worlds are endless, infinity its span. But my will is sharp, my blade an extension of my unyielding spirit. And with it, there's nothing I can't cut!" Sakura got a glint in her eye and focused. Her hands on her blade steady and unwavering, filled with power.

"Muni no Ken! Divine Rend!" Sakura released a slash that embodied her will to the sword, to cut anything and everything in two. Kosma noticed the threat and transformed into his honkai cascade form. Looking like a terrifying demon, just like Vishnu.

He blocked the attack with his tremendous physical might, offsetting it by using his thick shell and strength. Or else the realm might break.

"Hahaha! Is that all you got girl!" Kalpas grasped Kallen's neck and was being attacked by her shields, but he paid it no heed and slammed her to the ground like a ragdoll.

Kallen backed off before he stomped the ground and spit some blood at the side. "Heh, you're strong. But not as strong as Ein!" She then roared and gathered tons of momentum with royal guard.

She tensed up and punched him on the face, his bones on his cheek and jaw shattered from the blow. He flew away and skipped on the ground like a pebble. She then attacked with more fervor, unleashing shards of ice and entering a stand off. Giving and receiving blows.

"Wait a moment. Did she say Ein? Do you mean Einheri?" Kosma asked Sakura and started to release his honkai form or else lose control.

"Yes, we were tasked to find Griseo. And Phyllis led us here to this place." Kosma face palmed and just decided to watch Kallen and Kalpas fight, containing the damage as much as possible.

"Good! Hit me more girl! You're getting the hang of it!" Kalpas kicked her into oblivion and picked up a pillar of burning stone, he threw it like a javelin at her that travelled at breakneck speeds. "Guhahaha! Entertain me more!"

Kallen dodged and threw her own pillar of ice. They then exchanged blows on their faces, having a fist fight that made Sakura sigh.

"Is your uhh, colleague always that crazy? Mine is a bit too hot headed too." Kosma nodded and crossed his arms. 'Kalpas hasn't changed one bit. He's a bit more calm, but he can still get too heated.'

Kalpas then started to over heat and jumped up high. "Dodge this!" He initiated a dropkick just like a kamen rider. Falling as a meteor of fire and brimstone at Kallen.

"Heh. You underestimate my power." She entered the dreadnought form of royal guard and entered a stance. Kalpas hit her armored chest head on, the heat and flames raging.

Kallen then flexed her back and punched him on the chest, releasing all of the momentum of his kick on his sternum, breaking it in half. She then appeared on top of him and freezed him like a popsicle.

"Heh, not so tough now huh?" Kalpas started to get angry, but Kosma shouted. "Kalpas, they're sent by Ein." He then propped up and dusted himself off, not minding his injuries that were starting to heal.

"Is that right? Give us proof then." He narrowed his eyes at the 2 and they took out a recording. "This is just in case, but if you're with Griseo Kosma, remember when you'd talk about Kevin being your team leader all the time? Then Griseo would say you're annoying as hell. Kevin also scolded you when you were just starting and you cried."

The recording said and Kosma went silent. "That's from the past..." He then turned his back on them and crouched on the ground.

"That's him alright." Kalpas nodded and thanked the heavens it wasn't anything about him.

They then entered the studio and was met with Griseo. "Hello, Griseo-chan! We're here to get you to Ein!" Kallen greeted and Griseo looked at them with slight interest on her emotionless face.

"Kosma, let us go. He is waiting it seems, and he has finally reached us." She nodded in satisfaction and was quick to clean up her art materials.

"Meet my friends, Kalpas and Kosma. What are your names nee-chans." She asked the 2 in a bit of a flirty tone. Making Sakura raise a brow, they introduced themselves and Sakura asked Kosma a question as he looked to be more sensible of the 2.

"Why is she like that? That's not what I expected from her." Kosma frowned and sighed. He thought about it for a moment and just decided to say it. "She's very easy to influence. And you could say that Ein-san had the most influence on her, she's like paper. You put colors on it, and it sticks."

"Hmm, Kallen and Sakura is it? Well, let's go." Griseo patted Kallen while she was leaning and she grasped on Sakura's thighs. "Hoho~ that's surely some nice legs. I'd give it a 10/10." She gave a thumbs up to Sakura that made her deadpan.

Kallen gave a nervous laugh. "Ahhh, how would we explain this to him? I don't even want to know." They then travelled to the base quickly. Dissolving the studio as it was maintained by Griseo's powers.

__

Thanks for reading, Ciao. Happy mother's day to everyone's moms. Though the girls won't be one till later.