As Faye's gaze turned to her, Shizuka's eyes widened slightly. Faye looked…different than how she had when Shizuka had last seen her.
'She looks taller than the last time I saw her,' Shizuka thought. 'And…was she always this…good looking?'
Shizuka then shook her head to clear her thoughts. She was getting off track.
"What the hell happened in there?!" Shizuka asked.
Faye stared at Shizuka for a moment, trying to think up a believable lie to tell her. Faye couldn't tell her what actually happened. On the off-chance that Shizuka actually believed her, it would just expose the existence of the Vampires. And then, those eight Level 2s would have died for nothing.
Eventually, Faye let out a sigh.
"We were…attacked by a Beast Horde," Shizuka explained.
Shizuka kissed her teeth in annoyance. A "Beast Horde" was like a swarm of Beasts. And while they were somewhat uncommon, they did happen.
"We managed to fight them off, but we lost a decent chunk of our numbers in the process," Faye continued. "Additionally, the Portable Portal got damaged as a result." She glanced away. "Despite the Portal being damaged, in our desperation, we still attempted to use it. Expectedly, it malfunctioned. Instead of sending us back to the Base, it simply relocated us to another location deep in the wilderness of the Planet."
Faye let out a theatrical sigh.
"It took me hours to make it back to the Shelter," Faye replied. "And by that time, the remainder of my soldiers were all dead. Either collapsed from exhaustion or was killed by Beasts."
Shizuka gave Faye a skeptical look. Even damaged, that didn't match with her understanding of the mechanics of Portals. Then again, no one had ever been foolish enough to try to use a damaged Portal.
Shizuka clenched her fists in anger, not at Faye, but at Nathan.
'Nathan, you were a fool,' Shizuka thought. 'Even if it was a 'simple mission', it was still a Red Portal Planet! We gave it that designation for a reason! What kind of idiot would send a group of Level 2s to a Red Portal Planet?!'
Now, thanks to him, the base was down eight soldiers. Soldiers who could have been used for more menial tasks like cleaning or operating machinery.
Just because they were Low-Levels didn't mean that they weren't needed!
Shizuka let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose.
She then looked back at Faye.
"Let's go report this to Head General Paul," Shizuka replied. "Although I'm sure he's going to be furious."
***
Back in the conference room, Tsukuru and Starrk continued to stare at one another.
Eventually, Tsukuru let out a sigh.
"Alright, here's the deal," he said, catching Starrk's attention. "I summoned you here to…be the commander of my army."
Starrk's eyebrows raised in interest.
"Your…'army'?" he repeated.
Tsukuru nodded and then glanced to the side.
"As you've seen, Humans in this world possess special powers," Tsukuru explained. "We call these 'Abilities'."
Starrk's eyes tensed slightly as he remembered how Tsukuru had teleported that tablet into his hands.
"One of one Skills allows me to create sentient life-forms who fight by my side," Tsukuru continued. "It's similar to your 'Camrada' technique. Only they are solid creatures and don't explode when they hit something."
Starrk thought for a moment as he took in Tsukuru's words.
Camrada. It was a technique where Starrk ripped off fragments of his soul and used them to attack enemies. Once separated, these "Soul Fragments" would take on the form of ethereal, light-blue wolves that would pursue the enemy. Being comprised of pure Spirit Energy, these "wolves" were able to pass through solid objects and even reform when attacked. And, as Tsukuru had just said, they would attack by exploding on contact.
An amused smirk crept across Starrk's face. He resumed his earlier hunched sitting position with his hands under his chin.
"Looks like you made your ownLilynette," he replied.
Tsukuru's eyes widened as he thought about it for a moment.
Lilynette Gingerbuck had been a special Arrancar in the sense that she hadn't been naturally born. Rather, in a desperate attemptto finally have someone to talk to, Starrk had split his body into two. It was similar to a cell dividing.
Slowly, a smile crept across Tsukuru's face.
"Yeah," he agreed, as he began scratching his cheek. "I guess I kinda did."
***
Back in Paul's office, he had finally completed one of the stacks of paper when a rather aggressive knock was heard at his door.
Paul let out a sigh.
"Come in," he replied.
A moment later, his door swung open, with Sergeant Shizuka and Sergeant Faye standing in the doorway.
Shizuka had a serious expression.
Seeing Sergeant Faye, Paul let out a small sigh of relief.
"See, Sergeant Shizuka?" Paul asked. "I told you she would be fine."
However, Paul's words didn't make Shizuka's expression relax. If anything, it made it tighter.
"About that," Shizuka replied, catching Paul's attention. "We have a problem."
***
Back in the conference room, Starrk then began speaking again.
"So when do I get to meet my new comrades?" he asked.
Tsukuru smiled.
He extended his hand behind him.
"Summon," he replied.
Instantly, the sound of electronic interference filled the room, and six groups of light-blue, hard-light pixels appeared behind Tsukuru.
Starrk's eyes widened in surprise. He had never seen an ability like this. The pixels began clustering together. While five of them assumed humanoid shapes, the sixth took on the shape of a round ball.
There was a bright flash of light.
Starrk brought his sleeve up in front of his face, blocking the light.
Once the light died down, Tsukuru's six Summons appeared behind him. While the Haunted Knight, the Harpie, and the Metal Slime Spawn looked the same as always, the other three Summons, the Dark Elf, the Hobgoblin, and the Amazon, looked different due to their recent evolution.
All three of the Summons had put on a few inches, making them look no taller than Erin.
Additionally, their wardrobes had changed.
The Dark Elf had the most significant changes among the three. Her full-body cloak and coverings were now gone. She now wore a black cape with a high collar that wrapped around her sternum. The cape draped down her sides, reaching her thighs. She also wore a black, plunging neck crop-top that reached down to the start of her abdomen. She also wore a rather revealing "dress".
It consisted of two somewhat thin straps of white cloth that extended down either side, leaving most of her upper torso exposed. Layers of white cloth were then wrapped around her waist like a sash. The "dress" then ended in a set of flaps that covered her front and back, leaving much of her thighs visible.
Going down diagonally across her right was a thick, brown strap that held her quiver in place. Finally, she wore a set of thigh-high black boots.
The Hobgoblin was now wearing a light-tan crop-top. However, it was tattered along the right side, causing it to droop down, exposing the right side of her chest and the top half of her right breast. Underneath, her old outfit could be seen, proving it to be more of a bra than traditional clothing. Lastly, the skirt covering her lower body remained unchanged.
The Amazon was now wearing a sleeveless crop top over her upper torso. It was made of the same brown leather as before, and had the tan animal fur lining the neckline and hem. Additionally, there were large clumps of fur with canine skulls on top of them, adorning her shoulders like some sort of shoulder guards. There was a long, leather strap going across her sternum in a straight line, fastening the shoulder guards in place.
She also wore a sleeveless, open vest that reached down to her ribs. The vest was made of the same brown leather and was lined with light-tan fur.
Finally, her loincloth had turned into a tattered skirtmade of the same brown leather, with the light-tan fur lining the top.
As the five Humanoid Summons manifested, they all bowed in their own ways.
The Haunted Knight knelt on her right knee, her left knee on the ground. Her right hand rested on her right kneecap, while her left hand was wrapped around the handle of her sword, which she was stabbing into the ground, just above the guard. She also had her head bent down, looking at the ground.
The Harpie performed her typical "curtsey", using her "wings" in place of a dress.
Like the Haunted Knight, the Dark Elf knelt on her right knee, with her left knee on the ground. She had her left arm down by her side, and her right hand across her chest, her bow in hand. She also had her head bent down, looking at the ground.
Finally, both the Hobgoblin and the Amazon assumed the same pose. They knelt on their right knee, their left knee on the ground. Their left arm was punching the ground, while their right arm was resting on their right knee.