[Nightmare]

Chapter 138 [Training Preamble]

"Good~morning!" Marie sang.

Her natural beauty and presence triggered gawking gazes from the power-weebs that had never heard her speak.

"Good morning, Fairie Marie!" The super-otakus replied in unison.

Marie's eyebrow twitched, but she regained her composure.

The power-weebs caught on and enthusiastically joined in.

"Good morning, Fairie Marie!" They yelled.

"Deep breath, Marie." She whispered to herself.

"Proud announcement!" Helix called out.

Everyone stopped talking the instant his voice reached their ears.

Helix sent a bitter chuckle inward.

"If you turn around and face Mr. Stalkwalker, you'll see a massive crack above its left eye."

Everyone turned around quickly to stare at the skull behind them.

It was the size of a yacht with a massive hull and had the same general shape because it belonged to a canine head.

"Fairie Marie used an earth pike to smash that thing's head!" Helix announced with a pleasant voice.

"Its dazed state allowed mages and Knights to clamp down its head and attack its spinal cord.

She saved countless lives and ensured our victory by doing it!"

"Noooooo way!"

"That's amazing!"

"Wow!"

"She must be strong!"

"Strong and beautiful!"

The otakus and weebs found a topic they all agreed about.

It was helpful to their situation to promote unity.

Marie's eyes were trembling in a state of confliction.

Once they lifted the view and accepted that the situation was impossible, Helix and Tilo started praising her for preventing the Stalkwalker from getting up.

In retrospect, that was a critical moment in the fight and allowed it to be hurt enough to eventually bleed out.

"That's right! She's beautiful and strong!" Helix called out with a dazzling smile.

The people turned around and smiled at him.

He seemed much more… approachable now, somehow.

Helix snapped Marie out of her daze.

He had a charismatic aura to him.

She looked at Charlotte and Riley, who also looked mildly surprised.

It was so subtle yet intangible.

The experience felt similar to Ghost Walker Trigger with the slightest random output.

It was unnoticeable, yet it drew a person in.

"For that reason, the 88th Brigade of the Kozen Royal Army gave her the honorary title of War Goddess Marie!"

Once the Knights comprehended his message, they started clapping.

The clapping became louder, louder, and louder until the flood gate broke, and roaring cheers filled the stadium.

"That's right! Your leader is a War Goddess!" Helix affirmed.

"She prefers the name Marie when spoken to directly, [but] if you wish to give her a title, address her by the official title she earned!"

There was a proud smile on Helix's face when he spoke the words.

The Knights erupted into applause.

"War Goddess Marie!"

"War Goddess Marie!"

"War Goddess Marie!"

Chanting took over the stadium.

Helix felt nauseous on the inside, but he had no choice.

He sent Marie an apologetic smile and she nodded in support.

Beyond saving his partners from the humiliation, it was necessary.

Removing cultivator language was an important challenge they'd have to overcome.

RPG language was much more preferable in retrospect.

Moreover, they were preparing their new [troops] for war.

She was annoyed, but he was doing the right thing, and she was secretly pleased for [his] public praise.

"War Goddess Charlotte earned her title when she leveled the creature with 100 G's of gravity and set it on fire.

War Goddess Riley earned her title when she took boulders from Marie's earthquake and shredded its legs with a tornado.

Give it up with your War Goddesses!"

The Knights looked at the women with shock in their eyes.

Everyone knew how powerful [Helix] was, but hearing the extent of the women's power was mind-bending.

They couldn't believe it.

However, when they saw Riley blush, everyone lost control.

"War Goddess Charlotte! War Goddess Riley!"

"War Goddess Charlotte! War Goddess Riley!"

"War Goddess Charlotte! War Goddess Riley!"

Satisfied by the result, he concluded the statement.

"That's all. Please continue, Marie."

Everyone calmed down and was extremely excited to hear her words now.

Marie was Helix's girlfriend to the weebs and a super-otaku to their peers.

However, now she was a War Goddess with unimaginable power, and they respected her as much as Helix.

"T-Thank you." Marie stuttered when she realized it was her turn again.

She bowed gracefully after collecting herself, and cheers followed.

"Ahem. Good morning. Today, I'm pleased to announce that, alongside Macron and Lamath, we will be training you." Marie announced in a calm voice.

The audience gasped in shock.

"That includes the Thyme Knights."

However, two seconds later, explosive cheers rocked the arena.

Macron and Lamath gave the group two sets of wide eyes.

They had no idea what was going on.

The group showed up yesterday unannounced, defused a bad situation, and then took full control without royal authority.

So being told they'd be training the soldiers when they were here to fight an attack was bizarre and unnerving.

Marie raised her hand to quell the excitement.

"To clarify, we'll be training you until we join hands to fight the impending battle." She continued.

"We won't know how long that will be until we receive intel from our scouts in two days.

However, whether it be a few days or a few months, we'll train you to be fighters that can take down one of those things!"

When Marie pointed at the Colossus, the stadium boomed with thunderous applause.

"Then, when you crush our impending enemy, you'll get titles." She added sweetly with a dazzling smile.

The Knights devolved into a frenzy.

Many started chanting her name while other people started high-fiving one another.

"I should warn you; the training will not be easy!

We learned from the best, and that's all we know now." Marie warned with a steady voice.

The Knights calmed down, and nervousness took over again.

"However, the training will make you strong, capable, and good-hearted warriors!"

Cheers roared in the stadium once more.

"Helix." Marie nodded with a dazzling smile.

When the Knights heard Helix's name, everyone quieted down instantly.

Helix didn't know whether he liked that or not.

He wanted to be approachable by nature, but his light novel leadership skills only took him as far as speeches and authority.

So it was probably best if people feared him.

At least a little.

"Listen up! Right now, you're a pack of super-otakus and power-weebs!" He called out.

Everyone blushed or cringed at the titles.

"However! After we're done training you, you will be given an official title.

Do you know what that title is?" Helix asked with a grin.

The crowd looked around awkwardly, hoping to see if there was a brave leader to answer.

After a dramatic pause, Helix announced—

"Cheat Knight!" He roared.

Stunned silence followed.

Then there was a chuckle.

A cackle.

Followed by a laugh.

Suddenly the entire arena exploded with laughter, cheers, and war cries.

Macron and Lamath looked at one another with confused expressions.

"Cheat?" Lamath asked.

"Don't look at me. It's a bad thing here too." Macron replied.

Helix and his partners chucked when they saw the inaudible shrugs from the teachers.

"That's right! If you complete your training, you'll stop being super-otakus, power-weebs, Knights, Earthians, and other boring names." He chuckled.

"You will officially be part of the Cheats!

Who wants to embrace the status they expected when they got here!?"

Helix raised his arms in the air, and a wave of battle cries washed over the crowd.

Macron and Lamath understood that the improper usage of [cheat] was deadly and not kind-hearted and celebratory.

Both swallowed nervously.

"There are even a few of you who might obtain the official title of…."

Helix panned his gaze slowly to make eye contact with as many Earthians as possible.

"Broken."

Murderous battle cries exploded from the arena.

Anyone within a kilometer of the stadium could hear the sound.

Eliza had used a Circle of Vanity to sneak into the stadium.

She heard that Helix had returned ahead of schedule and was [leading] people.

When she asked Macron, the man said the Earthians were as docile as newborn puppies around a wolf.

Curious, she collected her Royal Guards and moved into the area to see the new policies being enacted.

However, as she was nearing the gate, the cries became ecstatic.

Helix said [broken], and all hell broke loose when she walked through the archway.

Her guards' faces paled when they heard the Earthians releasing murderous battle cries that rivaled their official army.

"Mam… we should leave, this doesn't sound safe." A guard said.

"Hmmm… just wait ten seconds." Eliza requested.

They had barely made it around a massive, round whitish-yellow boulder and were peering out.

Helix glided his eyes to the right and saw them.

When he saw Eliza in her original disguise, he chuckled inwardly.

He saw the pale faces of the guards and understood he needed to act fast.

Helix leaned over into Marie's ear.

"Princess Eliza has entered the stadium in disguise. So let me take over." He whispered.

Marie's eyes widened in shock.

"What are you going to do…." She whispered.

"You'll see." Helix replied with a slight smile.

—

Power stones and grammatical errors = more content. :)