The Mech Touch

The two had entered a different chamber, one that was marked by many different symbols and markings.

Cynthia started to set up her supposed ritual with the help of Helena, the cyborg cat hovered to the side while feeling completely useless.

Ves had already played his part by delivering David's skeleton. Helena had brought the bones to the center of a ritual circle.

Cynthia soon began to call in several large storage containers that contained a lot of blood.

"That's not regular human blood." Veronica spoke as she sensed the potent power contained with the red substance.

"That is correct, my son. We have drawn them from the bodies of your father as well as the expert pilots under our command for as long as the Oblivion Empire has existed. They are not the most ideal sources to draw upon, but they are the only empowered humans that we have on hand."

"What about the piece of the crown you broke off earlier?" Veronica asked.

Her mother smiled in amusement. "The blood of an immortal god is far too precious to waste on such a trivial purpose. Now please be a good boy and let your mother work."

A sense of anticipation built up in the secret ritual chamber.

As power began to flow through the blood and the Unending alloy components built into this mystical construction, Ves began to feel more and more palpitations in his heart.

Through Veronica's senses, he could vaguely discern how his mother's preparations were supposed to channel large quantities of energies in many special ways.

Each different component consumed energy to produce a specific reaction. The combination of these reactions were supposed to generate an outcome that ultimately led to his mother coming back to life!

At least that was what she claimed.

Ves began to feel a bit uneasy about this. From snapping a piece from that powerful crown to setting up a ritual that likely involved all of her subjects, this was starting to look more than a simple resurrection attempt.

Either his mother used to be far more powerful than he originally thought, or her ambition was to elevate herself into a higher life form!

He did not have a problem with either possibility. In fact, he would be happy if his mother became a lot stronger through this ritual. He only hoped that she wouldn't pay too much a price to attain so much power.

Ryncol Larkinson eventually came down to observe the preparations. He had even less of a clue of what was going on than his son.

"So mother told you nothing?"

The ace pilot and father crossed his arms and smirked. "Heh, I wouldn't even understand if she told me everything. She does not need to explain herself. I trust her and she trusts me. That is what marriage is all about. Don't you share the same kind of relationship with your own woman?"

"Eh... we're doing okay." Veronica lamely replied.

"This stuff may look discomforting to you, but we have very little choice, Ves." Ryncol explained. "We are in direct opposition to the most powerful human cult. The 'dark gods' they have been able to send through their portal have forced us to fight hard in order to prevent these powerful intruders from wreaking havoc. We have managed to hold out on our own for the time being, but the more time goes by, the more the Compact is able to bring their more powerful assets to the fight."

Veronica turned and glanced at her 'father'. She could feel the raging power that he kept contained within his body!

"You've become an ace pilot. You've actually beaten your brother Ark in becoming the first Saint of the Larkinson Clan!"

"That may be true, but in my current state I can only last a few rounds against the gods of the Abyss Empire. Your mother and your sister are much more effective at killing them than me. I still have a lot to go before I can properly protect my family."

That caused the cyborg cat to frown. "I think you are plenty strong enough, dad. It must be your mech. I haven't been able to work on the Devil Tiger for a decade or so. I have learned a lot more about mech design. I also have a huge batch of phasewater that is sitting inside my special vault. Once this is over, how about bringing me to your ace mech so that I can upgrade it into a transphasic machine?"

"You can do that?" Ryncol asked in surprise. "I mean, you're a cat..."

Veronica arrogantly lifted her metallic head and tail. "Who says that cats can't work on mechs? I can operate a mech workshop just fine with my paws instead of human hands! If that is not possible, I can transmit my commands directly through a data link. I can redesign the Devil Tiger all by myself!"

This was one of the best parts about keeping Veronica with his parents.

Ves could finally contribute more directly to their fight, either by designing and upgrading the Oblivion Empire's mechs or transferring over valuable Red Ocean-exclusive exotics such as phasewater!

That reminded him of another possibility.

"Father?"

"Yes, my son... daughter..., err, this is starting to become confusing."

Veronica shrugged her feline shoulders. "Just call me whatever you want. Anyway, I was wondering if you have any materials to spare. Parts of this chamber happen to be made out of an alloy that is extremely valuable to me. I have also detected other materials that I could make good use of back in the Red Ocean."

"I see no problem with that, Ves, but you will have to discuss the details with your mother. She is in charge of all of this. Now that you are here, I suppose we can open up a direct trade channel and exchange what we need from each other. I have heard so much about transphasic mechs that are becoming more and more common in the Red Ocean. They are starting to emerge in the Milky Way as well, though not as much in our little corner."

Ves saw a lot of promise in this trade channel. As long as the Mech Designer System did not pull a fast one on him and closed this particular- loophole of the rules, he could transfer all kinds of cool stuff between the Milky Way and the Red Ocean!

This trade channel had the potential to make both the Oblivion Empire and the Larkinson Clan incredibly rich!

The resources and goods they could exchange through the Vault of Eternity could also accelerate the growth of both sides!

There were no downsides as long as they were able to keep the existence of this secret intergalactic trade channel a secret from everyone else!

The thought of being able to circumvent the network of beyonder gates made him feel excited beyond belief!

"Ah, I think your mother and your sister are almost ready." Ryncol noted. "I need to go and organize our people. Their participation is essential."

The chamber had become filled with blood scribbles. Ves had no idea how they even worked, but he could feel a portion of the power they contained. Different kinds of spiritual energies already started to flow around the chamber.

"Come, brother." Helena said as she grasped the cyborg cat. "You do not want to stay too close to the center."

The two siblings moved to the furthest edge where most of the markings had diminished. There, they waited for their mother to commence the full ritual.

"Uhm..."

"Yes, brother?"

"Does mother have any use for phasewater?"

"I do not require any phasewater, Ves." Cynthia said as she worked. "I am aware of what you want to propose, but my methods are my own. Phasewater does not have a place in my body."

"Oh, okay..."

Around half an hour passed by. Veronica could detect an increasing buildup of spiritual energies. She discovered that most of it consisted of spiritual energy that had originally been drawn from the Golden Laurel Wreath Crown!

So much energy had accumulated that Ves grew a bit concerned. The Throne of Light could easily blow up if his mother lost control!

"It will be fine, brother." Helena said in a reassuring tone as she stroked Veronica's back. "Mother is an expert at this. She knows more about this than you ever will. You cannot imagine how much power she used to wield. She may have lost her body, but she has retained enough of her knowledge to piece together this grand ritual."

Veronica's tail flicked in concern. "I hope you are right, sister."

Cynthia Larkinson's energy manifestation grew more solid as the energy building up below the deck reached a threshold.

She began to tap into those energies.

A purple corona began to surround her form. Her eyes burned like purple stars!

"FATE HAS CONVERGED ON THIS DAY."

Her empowered words seemed to bend the fabric of reality around her! The ritual chamber became more and more active as the spiritual energies coursed through the markings, causing them to generate many different effects!

At the same time she began to channel the ritual, the subjects of the Oblivion Empire outside had stopped what they were doing and prostrated themselves in the direction of their sovereign!

Every person in the main fleet of the Oblivion Navy fell to their knees and began to devote their hearts and minds to the Lady of the Night.

No matter their backgrounds and no matter their motives for entering the dangerous Nyxian Gap, each of these humans managed to find salvation within the Oblivion Empire!

Now, the time had come for them to pay back the favor. Each of them were willing to do so, no matter whether they were ordinary spacers or powerful expert pilots.

As the citizens of the Oblivion Empire began to pray to their leader who they considered to be a goddess, Cynthia began to gain a mysterious boost that enabled her to exert more control over the powerful energies coursing through the ritual chamber!

A trickle of potent energies began to channel into the primordial human skeleton that Ves had brought back from the Red Ocean!

This caused the extraordinary bones to suck in everything that was sent in their direction!

Just like how Ves had once filled up David's skull with different kinds of spiritual energies, now the entire set of bones began to store a rapidly increasing quantity of energies derived from the stolen crown, Cynthia, Helena and other sources!

The bones began to glow with power and potential. They shone in a predominantly purple light, though hints of blue occasionally flickered from their surface.

Slowly but surely, the skeleton became more saturated. Cynthia did not seem to show any signs of struggle at all despite the immense amount of energy that she was currently harnessing!

As the ritual began to approach a peak, Veronica felt more and more charged by the incredibly high concentration of spiritual energy flowing to the center of the chamber!

Once the bones almost became saturated, Cynthia issued another declaration

"I SHALL SPILL THEIR BLOOD ACROSS THE STARS ONCE AGAIN!"

"Wait, what?" Veronica asked.

A bright flash of light exploded from the center!

The cyborg cat was too well-built to get blinded by this flash. Veronica could clearly see that the glowing bones no longer looked as bare as before.

Instead, the crown spike that the Oblivion Empress had previously snapped from the Golden Laurel Wreath Crown had absorbed a huge amount of spiritual energy that somehow caused it to devolve into a single drop of blood.

It was this drop of blood that released the flash of light.

Time and space itself bent around this extremely vivid drop of blood!

Ves immediately felt an overwhelming desire to fly forward and swallow it no matter the cost!

"Stay put, brother." Helena said as her translucent form became more solid and kept a tighter grip on the cyborg cat.

"Myaow!"

That single potent drop of godblood only hovered in the air for a few seconds before falling onto the skeleton.

What happened resembled pure magic.

From that single drop of lifeblood, flesh and other organic tissue began to unfold and fill up the empty spaces between the primordial human bones.

The drop also generated liters of a less potent form of blood, allowing the newly-formed body to gain all of the elements necessary to turn it alive. Before Ves knew it, a complete human body had formed!

No, it was more than that. The body felt so much stronger and more filled with energy that Ves could not mistake it for anything less than the physical form of a pure-blooded primordial human!

A set of elegant dark robes dropped from above and quickly wrapped around the female body. The spiritually-reactive materials and the exquisite design caused the garments to amplify the sense of nobility and divinity of this empty but extremely potent shell!

The most important part had arrived.

Cynthia's expression was filled with glee as she gazed upon her perfect body.

"LIFE IS AT MY COMMAND!"

With that, her energy manifestation dove into the empty physical body and began to merge with it in full.

This was not as easy as it sounded. The primordial human body was an incredibly powerful container, and it took serious effort for a spiritual entity of Cynthia's current level to wrest control over all of the flesh and bones.

Still, her willpower was great and her mastery over energy was too good.

From her heart to her limbs, more and more of the fleshy body began to fall under her control.

As Cynthia began to take possession of her head and brain, she briefly paused when she encountered an unexpected bump.

"AH! YOU! I KNEW YOU WERE HIDING THERE! DID YOU THINK I WOULD MISS YOUR PRESENCE?"

A second entity that felt vaguely familiar to Ves spiked with power. Despite this new presence's relative weakness, it had managed to put up a surprisingly strong fight against Cynthia!

Nonetheless, what little fight the unwelcome intruder managed to put became irrelevant due to the enormous difference in might.

"I SHALL ABSORB YOUR POWER!"

After taking care of this little hurdle, Cynthia finally completed her takeover and fully inhabited her new body!

All of the remaining energies that flowed through the ritual chamber suddenly began to pool into the robed female form that was beginning to lift off the deck and float into an upright position.

The resurrected woman began to spread her arms in order to welcome the influx of powerful energies even further!

No matter what sort of energy she absorbed, she was able to take all of it without showing any sign that she was suffering any indigestion!

Once all of the free energies disappeared into her incredibly potent body, the impressive feminine form slowly descended until it touched the deck.

All of the blood markings had evaporated, causing the chamber to look a lot cleaner than before.

Both Veronica and Helena watched with awe as they witnessed the return of a true primordial human.

The glowing body of their mother looked otherworldly in a way that was difficult to describe. Her skin glowed with sacred power while her movements made reality around her dance in harmony.

What Ves found especially peculiar was that his mother's glow had become a lot stronger and more developed!

The Oblivion Empress had become an entity that he could easily employ as a design spirit for the mechs of her own empire!

What was also strange was that lightning did not appear from above in order to strike her down for violating some kind of rule.

In fact, the space of the Nyxian Gap seemed to embrace her even more than before. It was as if she was operating in complete harmony with her environment!

"I... AM... IMMORTAL!" She declared, and the entire Nyxian Gap seemed to echo in agreement!

The woman herself cared nothing about this, though. She became preoccupied with another matter.

After a brief moment of concentration, Cynthia proceeded to transmit a pulse of power that soon generated a response a short distance away. "What...?"

Both Veronica and Helena looked surprised as a damaged crown appeared out of nowhere and landed onto Cynthia's head!

"M-Mother!" Helena gasped in shock! "That is impossible! How... how are you able to wear that crown?!"

Cynthia began to smirk as she opened her potent purple glowing eyes. "I have used the power of the Golden Laurel Wreath Crown to steal a portion of its authority."

Veronica's eyes pulsed in shock. "Wait, doesn't that mean...!"

"Yes, that is right, my son. To obtain a part of the authority of the crown means that I have gained partial access to the Water Scroll. The result is that I have become an unsanctioned Holy Daughter of the Water Scroll! I may not wield the power of an authentic Holy Daughter, but my gain shall weaken the Five Scrolls Compact. The ongoing war in the Nyxian Gap shall forever change as a consequence!"

"What?!"

"What!!!

Ves used to think he was special because he was a Holy Son of the Metal Scroll, but he learned later on that he was nothing compared to the more authentic chosen of the Earth Scroll and the Water Scroll.

Now, he found that even his mother managed to surpass him in this capacity.

Unsanctioned Holy Daughter or not, the ability to forcibly channel just a fraction of the power of the Water Scroll was a game changer that would shake not just the Nyxian Gap, but the entirety of human civilization!

The Five Scrolls Compact would definitely grow beyond pissed at what his mother managed to pull off with the stolen crown!

Just as Veronica was about to fly forward and ask her mother about the powers she had gained after taking over the Golden Laurel Wreath Crown, the cyborg cat suddenly froze.

Cynthia and Helena initially did not detect anything amiss. They flew closer and began to embrace each other into a hug.

It took a few more seconds for them to notice that the cyborg cat remained frozen in place.

"Ves?" Cynthia asked in an ethereal voice that was imbued with inherent charm. "What is wrong, my son?"

It took a few more seconds for Veronica to regain a bit of focus.

"Something has happened in the Red Ocean." The cyborg cat shakingly uttered. "The Mech Trade Association and the Common Fleet Alliance has broadcasted a galaxy-wide alert. The entire new frontier... is about to undergo an unknown crisis. The Big Two are claiming that the indigenous aliens are secretly deploying some kind of superweapon that will engulf the entire dwarf galaxy! The natives... are striking back!"