Warfare Augmented Intelligent Frame Unit

Chapter 130 - A Whole New World

Chapter 130 - A Whole New World

A cold chill slithered down my spine as Fei's synthetic voice crackled through the phone. Though Myrrh hadn't put the call on speaker, Fei's frantic cries pierced through the tinny speaker with such urgency that I could hear every word.

"What about Neil and Dianca?" Myrrh asked, her voice shaky with tension.

"Dianca... She... she kidnapped Neil!" Fei's panicked voice echoed like a shriek in a cavern.

My breath hitched. For a moment, I nearly laughed—nervous and disbelieving. The idea of someone like Dianca—a bubbly, sweet-natured girl—abducting a hardened ex-terrorist like Neil? It was laughable on the surface. If anything, logic and their backgrounds would have had Neil dragging her away, not the other way around.

But then, a memory resurfaced. The words etched into the Gospel of the Machine God.

[Eliminate Dianca Fritz]

My knuckles whitened as I clenched my fists. A storm brewed in my chest, heavy with dread. I stepped closer to Myrrh, my gaze fixed on her as the tension between us tightened. Sensing my need to hear more, she silently activated the loudspeaker.

"Where is she taking him?" I demanded.

"I-I don't know!" Fei stammered. "Dianca just—just transformed into a Frame Unit without any warning, and then pwooosh! She grabbed Neil and shot up into the sky like a missile!"

Her synthetic voice quivered with disbelief. 

"It all happened so fast, I didn't even have time to react. I wanted to chase them, but my DERE armor doesn't have aerial capabilities! If I had a support unit, I could've done something!"

I frowned, thoughts racing. "Wait... how did Dianca even manage to fly without a support unit?"

"She... she sprouted these bizarre wings—like giant human hands," Fei stammered, her synthetic voice trembling with unease. "It was so creepy just looking at it..."

Giant human hands?

My skin crawled at the image. That wasn't something any WEEB System could generate. Even the most twisted configurations of the TSUN armor couldn't manifest something that unnatural. My thoughts spun in a vortex of disbelief and dread. Just what the hell is going on? And more importantly—what exactly is Dianca?

Myrrh narrowed her eyes and scanned the night sky, her long hair swaying gently in the breeze. A second later, she pointed sharply toward the northwest.

"Over there!"

I followed her finger. At the far edge of the horizon, a glimmering streak of light cut through the sky. It looked like a shooting star—only it was rising, not falling. We couldn't confirm if it was Dianca in her Frame Unit, but it was heading straight in the direction of our dormitory.

"We saw a launch near the dorms. Zaft and I will go investigate," Myrrh declared with fierce resolve. "In the meantime, report the kidnapping to KAWAII Headquarters and find Agent Feena."

"Got it!" Fei responded without hesitation.

The moment she confirmed, Myrrh ended the call with a sharp tap, her expression now steeled with purpose.

Myrrh exhaled softly, then turned to me with a bittersweet smile. "I'm sorry, Zaft. Whatever it is you were about to say... it'll have to wait."

"I know," I replied, my brows knitting together. "Chasing Dianca comes first."

I tightened the strap on my smartwatch while Myrrh raised her morpher skyward. Without hesitation, she called out—

"Frame Unit, Awaken!"