Sera stood breathing heavily in Harold''s laboratory. She had been here fighting for hours, but still she couldn''t even scratch Harold with her glaive. The worst part was that the A.I. made a Harold with very realistic personality.


    "1564 for good old me, how many do you have, I forgot to count... Oh, I remember! You didn''t win a single time!" He slowly walked and squatted in front of Sera. He reach out his hand and grasped a handful of her hair, making her squirm from pain. In the next moment he spoke in a whisper.


    "You should just give up already little angel. You can''t even defeat my simulated self, how do you plan on killing the real me?" In the next moment a fist broke Sera''s jaw, sending her flying, then a kick hit her on the side before she even landed.


    Unlike what someone would expect she just laughed at this performance. The point of this exercise was never to defeat Harold''s virtual self, but to learn everything about him. She wasn''t even using her own powers and every time she died the simulation reset so she couldn''t use her stronger form.


    Before Harold could hurt her more, she stopped the simulation. It was already getting late and she was curious if any news had come from Central Command.


    With a silent command the VR closed and she opened her actual eyes for the first time in hours. Her head was a bit woozy as she stepped out of the machine. It took her a few minutes to finally get used to walking again, but her eyes were still full of strange spots, making it harder to see.


    Without much care for her sight Sera began walking out of the building, but she couldn''t make it out of the room, before she bumped into an excited looking Melinda.


    "I''m so sorry Sera... I mean my Lady!... I tried to send you a message, but your watch has been turned off, so I came here to tell you the news in person!" With a few quick movements Sera brought her watch back online, which instantly showed the new messages from both Melinda and Bran.


    She read the one that Bran sent her first. It was a report of the collection mission. There was no real issue and the vehicles are already back with about ninety percent of the carcasses. The rest were probably taken by some other monster. Overall the mission was a success.


    The reason they collect these materials is a bit obvious. They needed to use the bones for bullets and other structures, the skin was really good for either covering vehicles or building material and the meat was for eating, of course. Nothing went to the thrash from a monster corpse.


    Also for some reason they needed to use their materials to create weapons, armor and other items. The scientist told Sera, that each corpse holds a small amount of life essence even after death, which makes it possible to use them as a stabilizer when it comes to making soul items.


    After she quickly read through Bran''s report, she finally looked up at Melinda who looked like she would begin strangling Sera, if she made her wait any longer. Sera smirked a little, which Melinda fully missed as she opened the message from Central Command.


    "Ascended Seraphine!


    This message is from the Federal Alliance''s Central Command! You are hereby informed of our next offensive which will be against the infamous New Constantinople! You and your main leadership will head to the gathering point immediately and reinforce the offensive! The maps and leader of the offensive had been sent in a classified message!


    Good Luck!"


    As Melinda read it aloud, Sera just looked towards the ceiling thoughtfully. The silence persisted around them. Soon Sera nodded to herself and ordered Melinda to gather everyone in the operations room.


    Without saying anything Sera moved towards the computer and circled one name that was about 50 kilometers away from New Constantinople. It was a small destroyed city named Tekirdag. Bran looked at it for a few moments, but before he could''ve made any kind of conclusion Melinda chimed in.


    "I think the Aegean Sea would be the best option. The message was priority and it didn''t explicitly gave us a time to get there, but it said we should go immediately... But the real question is, do we all go? The order said that Lady Seraphine and her team should go, but that would leave New Athens unprotected!"


    Sera didn''t answer for a few minutes. Eventually when she evaluated and re-evaluated every option, she turned away from the large screen and towards her captains.


    "The Aegean Sea it is. The answer for your previous question should be obvious. You and Bran will stay here. I will take Hector, Percy and Kathy. If they wanted my full team, they should''ve made better preparations!" Find your next read on M V L


    "All of you know what to do. We leave first thing in the morning. Be ready!" She looked at each of the captains, then pointed towards the door and said, "Everyone is dismissed, except Bran!"


    They didn''t ask questions, just went outside silently. All of them had a lot of things to take care off before the day ended.


    Inside the room Sera and Bran were staring at the map, neither saying a word. The silence lasted a long while, it was quite comfortable for both of them.


    "You will only be able to contact me in case of emergencies... They will definitely monitor my every long distance communications." Said Sera in a whisper, still not looking at Bran.


    "Do you think they have an idea of your plans?" This time her eyes met Bran''s and she reached out her hand grabbing one of his own.


    "I''m not sure... I didn''t give them any reason to, but they had probably already guessed that I wasn''t fully under their control... I guess we just have to see it through!" On her face a small smile appeared. It took a lot of effort to try and mimic the right emotions, but judging by Bran''s own smile, she got it right.


    There hand where still holding each other and after making a bold decision, Sera leaned in and gave a kiss to Bran. They closed their eyes, getting fully absorbed in the moment.


    The kiss was calm, one with a lot more meaning than any amount of words could translate.


    Sadly every moment has to end and so did this one. They separated and Sera left the room, leaving Bran inside.


    He stayed there for a few more minutes, staring at the next operation''s target, then his eyes slowly turned towards his hand, which was still warm from Sera''s own. As he thought back on the moment a small loving smile appeared on his face.


    It was obvious that Sera had no feelings towards him currently, but he still appreciated that she tried to pretend.


    Eventually with the same goofy smile he left the room, he had a lot of things to take care off in preparations to Sera''s leaving.