"Wow, another one! This is incredible!"
Inside the Dim Forest, Abby watched the defeated Overlord Class Tacet Discord, the Feilian Beringal, rematerialize through both Rovers' Pangu Terminals as a freshly minted Overlord Class Echo. A low whistle of admiration escaped the little creature.
Five Overlord Class bosses assembled before them, plus a half-step Overlord Lightcrusher whose presence and power yielded nothing to the rest. The visual impact alone was enough to make your scalp tingle.
Because, setting everything else aside, if the two Rovers ordered these Overlord Class Echoes to march on Jinzhou...
General Jiyan and the Midnight Rangers would be annihilated.
An Overlord Class Tacet Discord carried the fighting power of an entire legion. By that math, the six Echoes kneeling before them equaled six specialized legions, each with its own battlefield doctrine.
The Feilian Beringal: close-quarters combat specialist.
The Lampylumen Myriad: assassination and stealth.
The Impermanence Heron: aerial bombardment.
The Thundering Mephis: lightning strikes.
The Tempest Mephis: rapid maneuvering.
And the Lightcrusher: single combat.
"Wait... no! Something's very wrong here!"
Abby's expression turned grave.
"Hm? What is it, Abby?" they asked in unison, exchanging a glance.
The little creature looked down at its own fuzzy paws. Then back up at the six towering, ferocious Echoes radiating menace in front of it. And then the realization hit, the kind that struck right where it hurt.
"Why don't I look anything like them?! I'm supposed to be the Rovers' strongest Echo, but there's nothing intimidating about me at all! I look like I belong with the Common Class mascots!"
"That's... what you're worried about?"
"Pfft. Abby, you're adorable."
Both Rovers laughed at the same time.
It was true. Judging by appearances alone, Abby had about as much in common with the word "intimidating" as a Clang Bang or a Gulpuff did. Pure Common Class mascot energy.
And once this fact fully sank in, Abby wilted.
The Overlord Class heavyweights arrayed before them might not all win beauty contests, but they had presence in spades. Imposing, ferocious, eerie, terrifying. Every one of them looked the part of a catastrophically dangerous Tacet Discord.
Meanwhile, the one who was supposed to be stronger than all of them was... cute.
Something was nine-tenths wrong with this picture. Maybe ten-tenths.
"There, there," she said, crouching down. "Abby, you're different from them. They're soldiers. You're our partner."
"And don't forget you lost your memories too," he added. "Once you recover them and remember what you truly are, I'd bet anything you'll have the most badass form out of everyone here."
"You guys..."
Both Rovers rested their hands on Abby's head, stroking gently. The little Echo noticed something then: the way these two looked at it was nothing like the way they looked at the other Echoes.
Warmer. Softer. The way you'd look at someone irreplaceable, not a tool of war.
Abby's abilities far surpassed any ordinary Echo, of course. But their tenderness had nothing to do with that.
It was something purer.
They treasured Abby because it had been with them from the very beginning. In this entire world, besides each other, no one was closer to them.
"You guys are the best!" Abby's eyes glistened, both tiny paws pressing against their cheeks as its fuzzy body smooshed itself between them in a group hug.
"Oh, and if this makes you feel any better..."
"All units, attention. Meet your legion commander."
On their order, every Overlord Class Echo bowed its head to Abby. If the Echoes were the pillars of the Rovers' legion, then Abby was the one who stood above them all.
As for swearing fealty to a commander this adorable, this devoid of any shred of authority...
The Impermanence Heron and the others showed not a flicker of defiance.
They knew full well that this cuddly white puffball could swallow every single one of them whole. Abby was the natural predator of all Echoes and Tacet Discords. You didn't argue with the top of the food chain.
"While we're here, let's clean up the Dim Forest situation too. The spores that drive the Tacet Discords berserk and harm civilians aren't our area of expertise, but handling the remaining hostiles is easy."
He snapped his fingers and shot a glance at the newly acquired Feilian Beringal. It understood immediately and bellowed toward the canopy.
Nearly every Tacet Discord in the Dim Forest was a Hoochief, and as the ape king, the Feilian Beringal commanded them all. Its roar carried a standing order: from this day forward, no unprovoked attacks on humans.
Had the ape king been killed outright, the leaderless monkeys would have rioted. That was exactly why the Midnight Rangers had never gone for the kill. Even if they could have won the fight, a dead king meant an entire forest's worth of frenzied primates pouring out of the trees. Another war.
Now, with the ape king as their Echo, the two Rovers could control the entire Hoochief population of the Dim Forest through it.
A problem that had plagued Jinzhou for decades, solved in an afternoon.
As for the spore issue, I'll leave the scientists some breadcrumbs from the game's storyline. They'll figure it out. And when they do, this place is going to look amazing.
He glanced back at the massive hollow tree where the ape king had made its lair. In-game, once Jinzhou's researchers dealt with the spore-producing plants, the forest bloomed with pink flowers.
The scenery had been gorgeous on a screen.
He wanted to see it in person.
"You know, every one of these Overlord Class Echoes was the core anomaly of its local region. At this level, a single Echo exerts enormous influence on the surrounding environment."
"The intel from the Governing Pact still lists a couple more. The Inferno Rider near the Port City of Guixu, and the Mourning Aix in Whining Aix's Mire. Those should be the last two Overlord Class targets in Jinzhou's territory."
She scrolled through the data on her Pangu Terminal as she spoke.
Between the Flight module and the intelligence from the Governing Pact, they'd spent the entire day crisscrossing every corner of Jinzhou's borders. Their primary targets had been these dangerous Overlord Class Tacet Discords.
The Governing Pact and Jinzhou's government were more than happy to have someone capable of dealing with threats this powerful, creatures whose every appearance cost lives and resources. They'd even put up sizable bounties for each one.
Only two names remained on the list.
But he shook his head.
"Those two... are complicated. We'll leave them for now."
"Oh?"
Surprise flickered across her face. Anything that gave her partner pause had to be special. Either the abilities involved were extraordinary, or there was a story behind them that made things messy.
If he said to hold off, though, she wasn't going to argue. Besides, something else had just demanded their attention.
A chime rang from both Pangu Terminals simultaneously.
Data Dock level increased!
With the absorption of the Feilian Beringal Echo, their upper limit for Echo absorption had risen.
From Overlord Class... to Calamity Class.