The Amberdrop...

"You have done better than expected." The young man, standing in front of Lyla, was her second elder brother, Lyon Amberdrop. Even though she had known him since childhood, every time she saw him, she felt that it was someone she didn't know.

"Why?" Lyla asked, with a frown on her face. She wanted to ask why her mother didn't come to see her, but she controlled her urges. Clenching her fist, she asked, "Do you expect us to fail the mission?"

With a tinge of smile on his rosy lips, the almost twenty years old young man shook his head, and said, "No, I thought you'd never come back."

Lyla stared at him with red eyes, controlling her rage. Lyon saw that his younger sister was biting her lower lips, but he didn't care. He said, "Well, the eldest brother told me you will come back for sure, but..."

"What do you want to do?" cried Lyla.

"Impatient as ever," sighed Lyon, and said, "'you have served your purpose.' That's what he said."

"It doesn't matter at all. He can think whatever he wants. It doesn't matter to me." Lyla didn't want to talk to the young man, especially if it is about that man, her father. "If you have nothing else to talk about, please leave."

"Things might get dirty around this time. It is better to not stick your nose to things that don't concern the family," Lyon said with a smile on his face. "But you don't have to worry about it, dear sister, I will be there to help you."

"I am not your sister," cried Lyla. But the young man was no longer there.

***********

Present time. Meeting room.

Aiden's trial.

Lyla was a little surprised when she appeared in the middle of the argument, however, listening to Aiden she had no difficulty understanding the subject.

She turned to look at Lyon, who was sitting at the corner of the first row, without any expression on her face. She took a deep breath and said, "Yes, what Aiden said is true."

Those lazy eyes of her brother turned sharp, but Lyla didn't care about it at all. "Can you put something on the screen, please?" she asked the host.

It wasn't just the host who was surprised, even Aiden wasn't sure that he heard it right.

'Are you helping me out?' That was what his eyes were asking. 'I am not doing it for you.' Even if she wanted to say, she chose not to. She soon transferred the file, and the scenery changed on the screen.

The vines and roots came out of the ground and formed cages around all the unconscious humans around them. Even the legs of Asher and Elijah weren't spared.

After the cry of Asher, it was the shriek of Elijah that had attracted the attention of everybody. It was the devil, and it was trying to touch Elijah, who could not get her legs free from the bond.

"You're not supposed to do that." The hoarse voice put an end to the devil's action, and the voice said, "If you do that, Aiden might hate you."

If it wasn't surprising enough, then the view on the screen was. It was a giant winged creature made up of moss, vines and bones.

"It is 'Adi', the S-graded beast Aiden had talked about." Lyla explained as she continued, "it is a 'golem', as recorded by Aiden, so it is natural for him to have many bodies, or he might be just able to change his form."

The people in the room had varied expressions on their faces. Some shuddered in fear while others were curious, and the faces of some were especially dark. Apart from the few in the second row, Ivan's expression was as if he had swallowed a bug. Yet, her brother Lyon was still smiling at her.

Irrespective of their expression, the vine coffins on the screen began to shake. It took a moment before the first one bore itself on the ground, and soon the other followed. Soon, there were no vine cages above the ground.

"Even if you're not talking, you've got to listen." Adi looked at the screen and said, "This is the last time ever. Next time we're not going to be so welcoming."

"There won't be any next time. We won't come here again." Lyla said inside the video. However, the giant beast shook his head and said, "Those words are not for you. Tell those words to the people of your place."

"You…" Lyla tried to say something, but Adi didn't give her the chance, and said, "My patience is running out. The next time your people come to this world, I may not be so tolerant."

To everyone's surprise, the video wasn't over. Adi, on the screen, continued to look around and said, "They don't look like Aiden's friend." Adi's words never ended, heart-wrenching cries filled the air.

With hand and leg tied, the video couldn't show what was happening to Enric and others. But from their agonizing cry, they understood that it wasn't something pleasant.

"Take them with you. That is a gift from me." Adi sighed, "If they want more, then tell them to send more." And the video ended.

"As an Amberdrop, I can say that…" Lyla looked at the smile on Lyon's face and continued, "if it wasn't for Aiden I, no, we would have died."

'Weren't you the one who had accused me of doing this to Enric and others, at that time?' Aiden wasn't sure what forced her to change her mind, but looking at the expression on the faces of everyone, he was happy.

'I have to strike when the iron is hot.' Aiden didn't hesitate, and another video played on the screen. It started in the middle of a deserted city, but…

"What the hell are those?" Aiden didn't notice who asked, but he explained nonetheless, "That was another body of Adi, and the devil could expand her body as well. Now that I am looking at it, I think it's better to change the rating of Adi and the Devil."

Aiden did not explain who the third one was. But compared to the building around them and the mountain at a distance, they have no difficulty in understanding that these things are nothing but giants.

'That is good.' Aiden thought, 'the more surprised they will be, more they will want to get hold of the information.' And Aiden was right. However, he received an unexpected response.

"You have made an impressive amount of contribution to the mission this time." The smile on the face of one of the Directors, Aiden frowned, "your effort behind the success of the mission could not be overlooked."

"It might be because of some kind of communication error that we couldn't get in touch with you." The smile on his face became warmer as he continued, "But we shouldn't waste any more time. We should start analyzing the data you've worked so hard to gather."

"Sorry, but who the hell are you?" Aiden's voice was soft, but the effect could not be ignored. The silence in the room deepened, and the chill intensified. Aiden, too, did not miss the vein on the director's forehead.

"I am Ruben." He tried to keep his voice as calm as possible. He said, "I am the Director of Research & Development."

"Sorry Ruben, there is some kind of misunderstanding. The only one who I couldn't contact is my family, but before I came here, I realized that Gen. Lucas had also entered the list. And I refused all the contact requests from the project department."

"Why?" Ruben growled.

"Because you want to kill me." Ruben's face distorted in anger, but before he could respond, Aiden said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it was you. But you know that one of the directors had signed on my death warrant even before the start of the mission."

"And I don't know whom to trust…"

"Shut up," Ruben shouted in rage. "You son of a bitch. The federation has spent millions of credits to train you and feed your family. And now that you're successful, you're trying to negotiate with us. Boy, you should just hand over all the data obediently, otherwise..."

"Otherwise, what?" He questioned back to the surprise of the people standing beside Aiden.

He took a moment to calm himself down and said, "Yes, I am negotiating with you. But if you didn't realize that, let me tell you, it's not the wealth and fame that I'm negotiating for. It's my life that I'm putting on the line."

"That's enough," Aiden wanted to say something more, but the voice that came from the last row stopped him. "You can leave now. We're going to investigate the matter before we decide."

Listening to the empty words, Aiden's frown deepened. However, it soon turned into a smile as he said, "Let me tell you one more thing. You should give up on extracting data from ESS."

Aiden pointed to his head and continued, "I have destroyed the thing you have implanted inside the head. I think the project head might be able to confirm it and let you know."

"Impossible," said the host who was standing beside him.

Aiden didn't wait to see Ruben slamming his hand on the table in front of him or Ivan's red face. As Aiden's body faded, the host confirmed with utter disbelief that the passive signal of Aiden's ESS chip had vanished.