A News Station Somewhere on Earth

Three, two, one… and we’re live!

“Hello everyone, I am Megumi Faltz here with the latest war update!” Megumi exclaims with a bright smile on her face and her microphone held to her face as she stands next to a board with a screen showcasing the current state of the frontlines. “As you all know, it’s been two months since the ceasefire ended and the war resumed, and since then, we’ve been seeing a vast improvement in our own side of the war thanks to our beloved Princess!”

On the screen, the millions of viewers around the world can see video of the Apex Predator and Princess to both the Demons and Humans charging through the undead in the Arctic, tearing them limb from limb with ease all while not even getting so much as a scratch in return. Then the screen shifts to show her causing pandemonium on the Eastern frontlines against the demons there, the twenty-two year old girl transformed into her quadrupedal beast form and tearing the demons to shreds without even an ounce of hesitation. And to top it off, thousands of blades made of the blood of the very demons she is tearing apart repeatedly tear into the other demons, with the only pause in the chaos being the few times a Class V demon tries to push her back only for her to vanish again after transforming into blood and merging with the blood raining down all over the battlefield by her own skill. She then reappears again somewhere else on the battlefield to continue fighting the Class I through IV demons in order to give the vastly lower number of Guardians a break.

“The Apex Predator is the youngest known Class V being on both Earth and Tartarus, beating out even the Demon King himself, and she has been the crux of our battle against the demon forces that have only grown since the event commonly known now as the Night of Blood that kicked off the True Demonic War,” Megumi continues before the screen repeatedly changes from one recording of Scarlet battling to another. Then it starts showing her older recordings from before she had reached Class V, including clips from her battles in the Ranking Tournament back when she was Class I, the first clips of her fighting in Fractures, clips from her time in the annual Interschool Tournament, and even clips from the very first Fracture she contracted in. “While the Class Vs of Earth have been recovering alongside the majority of the rest of the Guardians, the Apex Predator and the Knights have been holding their own against the demon threat. A threat that has only grown over the ceasefire as the demons completely replaced all of their losses with the sole exception of the Class Vs through new forces from Tartarus.” Megumi pauses with a grin. “But the Knights aren’t who we’re here to talk about.”

The screen suddenly changes again to show an intimidating image of Scarlet standing in her lycan form covered in blood with her eyes glowing amidst the blood rain falling down around her. And then another image appears alongside it of her standing there looking even more intimidating in her bipedal beast form, and then another in her quadrupedal form.

Finally, one last image appears where she is simply standing on a rooftop with her hands in her armor’s pockets while looking out at the night sky above a city.

“We’re here to talk about the Apex Predator and only the Apex Predator. The focal point of our side of the war, the granddaughter to the Demon King, daughter to the White Knight of Humanity, and the one many believe to be our hope against the approaching Void Invasion,” Megumi says, her voice getting more and more excited as she continues. “And to start things off, here is a man some of you may know as the leader of Scarlet’s old team, the Druid!”

A man wearing a black and green set of magi-tech armor that looks somewhere between a business suit and a set of armor with half a cape going down behind one shoulder starting underneath one of his pauldrons steps into the view of the camera. He has black and green hair with vibrant green eyes and a piercing gaze that matches his outfit, and has the mana level of a Class III Guardian.

“How are you doing, Druid? I’ve heard your team is the current most-likely-to-win team in the upcoming Interschool Tournament, so how do you feel about that?” Megumi asks as a black seat rises from the floor alongside a long counter, with another seat appearing near Michael letting them both sit down.

“I’m doing well, but we’ll see how the tournament goes when it actually happens,” he says with a light nod of his head, resting his arms on the counter.

Megumi smiles at him and winks, “Just as humble as the rumors say.”

The neutral expression on Michael’s face almost breaks at that but he just keeps looking ahead without giving anything away about his current feelings.

Then Megumi leans forward and asks, “What do you think about Scarlet Art Asger de Archeron? She was in your team a while back at the same Class as you but has now advanced all the way to the peak of humanity. Do you have any comments on that?”

“I think she deserves all of her fame and power,” Michael says with a slight crease to his forehead. “She’s gone through far more than most people do, even if she was given the etched skills of her bloodlines. So she more than deserves the power. And as for how I feel about her personally?” He pauses for a second while glancing at the screen then back to Megumi and the camera again. “She’s one of my best friends, and the others in my team all agree with that sentiment fully.”

Megumi instantly grins at that and claps once, saying, “Excellent! It’s always a sad thing when former teams and even current teams end up having bad blood due to jealousy, so it’s great you and your team aren’t like that!” Then she leans forward once more, a smirk stretching across her face, “But on the subject of your team, have you heard the rumors online about you?”

Michael’s eyes widen slightly at that, indicating that he did. But he just asks, “No, I haven’t.”

“Well then, in that case, is it true that you used to only accept girls into your team before Scarlet left? And if that’s the case, then why was that?” Megumi asks, a twinkle of amusement in her eyes that she’s sure has Michael wanting to squirm.

The man simply remains calm and answers with a light shake of his head, “That wasn’t the case. It was entirely a matter of coincidence.”

Megumi’s grin grows a little more at that reply but she decides to let it go and move on as the screen behind them changes to show clips from years ago back when Scarlet had to work with Sylver in the Fractures she entered. Then she looks at the camera and says, “Well you’ve heard it here, everyone, those rumors of the Druid being a flirt are nothing more than rumors! But now that we’ve cleared that up, how about we bring in our second special guest! You all known him as Sylver! A Class IV Guardian from the Silver Association! The same Association as the Apex Predator!”

Sylver walks into the view of the camera, joining the two and taking his own seat, the man’s silver hair having grown long as his now equally silver eyes occasionally spark with bits of silver electricity.

“So Sylver, how did you used to feel watching Scarlet as her senior member of the Association?” Megumi asks while tilting her head ever so slightly.

The man in question just shrugs and answers honestly, “I was rather upset that I had to babysit a newcomer to the Association.”

Megumi smiles, having fully expected the man’s bluntness. Which was part of why they decided to invite him to the show.

That and she couldn’t get a meeting with the Apex Predator herself considering how famous and important she is now.

“So you felt like a babysitter? But how did you feel when watching the rookie you had to babysit shoot straight past you?” Megumi asks, her hands resting on the counter now.

Sylver once again answers honestly, “I didn’t really care beyond the relief that I wouldn’t have to babysit her anymore.”

The show’s host blinks in surprise as she almost blurts out ‘what?’ in surprise but manages to keep her silence.

I was… not expecting that. Then again, he doesn’t show up on media much, so there isn’t all that much data on how to speak with him.

“Really? That’s a good outlook to have,” Megumi says with a nod before moving on to the next question.

I still wish I could’ve gotten the Apex Predator herself to come here. But I understand she’s busy. Probably off killing demons in the Arctic or the Eastern Front right now.

Megumi takes reassurance from that thought as she and the two famous Guardians in front of her continue talking under the view of the camera.