Ares: Never Grow Up
Merlida's Strength

"Help us to restore this world!"

POV: Ares

"..."

"..."

Me and Merlida were silent when they heard the words coming out of Vani's mouth. To confirm the truth, I glanced at Ken whose gaze was as serious as Vani's. For a moment I thought, what I experienced today feels unreal, it still feels like a dream to me. My body is shrinking, the power it's sharing and the rules, and the nonsense about saving the world that I don't know how.

"Sorry ... Vani ... I .. need time to think," I said very slowly. But looking at Vani and Ken who were nodding their heads, it seemed like they could still hear my words. After saying that, I stood up and walked towards the hole to enter earlier.

"Where are you going?" asked Vani with a worried expression.

I turned to her with a stiff smile, my eyes avoiding her gaze. "I want to get some fresh air, and see things. Maybe it can help me think more clearly" I said, half of which was a lie. Actually I'm not comfortable being here after delaying the answer to their question.

"I-I! I WANT TO COME TOO!" Merlida's voice surprised us all. I was still wide in shock as I looked at Merlida who was now standing up and walking towards me.

"Huh? The merlida? I thought you agreed to be quiet??" Ken wondered with his funny puzzled expression.

"I also .. needed time to think, so I thought it would be better if I went with Ares" said Merlida, playing her fingers in front of her.

I've been watching Merlida since, it seems .. This kid used to be an introvert?! Or is he shy? The way he talks and the way he interacts seems like a nervous person, well but at least he's not that happy.

"... All right, give us an answer soon? We'll be leaving town in 3 days, we can't stay here for long" Ken said. Me and Merlida seem to feel the same way.

HOW CAN WE ADAPT TO THIS BODY IF EVERYTHING I SEE IS CUTE?!

I could see Merlida who couldn't bear to see Ken moody. Unless Vani has been with Ken long enough, so Ken's cute magic has no effect on him?? Might as well.

"Well, we'll work on that, see you later." I immediately climbed up to the top, followed by Merlida below me.

"Hupp! Ouch!" As soon as my hand touched the ground, I raised my body as much as possible and helped Merlida to climb. I extended my hand into the hole and after Merlida received my helping hand, I pulled her up well.

"Thank you" he said as he cleaned his slightly dirty clothes. I also rubbed my hands together to clean the dirt and dust in my hands.

"Yes yes, then ... Where do we do it now?" I asked Merlida without looking back at her, my eyes looking at the darkening afternoon sky. The rain had stopped a few hours ago. The human corpse that was scattered like dirt had also disappeared somewhere.

"How about to the nearest minimarket? Since there's no one to look after, can't we just take the stuff before it expires?" Merlida gave me a suggestion while staring at the highway on the right. After I remember, there was a small minimarket, but the goods there were also quite complete.

"Good idea, let's walk there" I said in agreement with Merlida's proposal. We both smiled and walked there immediately. Our footsteps were silent, none of us started talking first.

"Ah, I haven't seen the level of fit I was shown by Ken earlier," I murmured while looking at the back of my left hand.

Do I just have to concentrate? All right, just try it.

Srett.

Slowly the writing appeared.

65%.

Gee? It's even higher than Ken's. Does this mean it's good? Worth it, even though I've made quite a lot of things, but the chast is filled just a little, not even half.

"Well? 65%? Higher than mine! I'm only 59%!" said Merlida while peeking at my hand. I quickly hid my hand and looked at her in shock.

"Hey .. haahhh, I'm really surprised!" I sighed while rubbing my chest slowly. Merlida who saw me only laughed a little and then looked back to the front.

"By the way, are you a native of this town? Ares?" merlida asked while watching the flower on the side of the road that had just bloomed.

I looked in the direction he was looking and said, "Yes, I'm from here. Ah, but my birthplace is not here, what about you?" I asked him back.

"Hoo, so so .. well what you said is true. This place has not changed much, it feels so hard to believe that this world has experienced a great disaster" I added. After that we walked back in silence, our eyes still busy looking left and right, enjoying the cool and silent afternoon breeze in this city.

Vehicles that are no longer operating make the air we breathe feel cooler, and maybe because of the fall of the rocket, the power generation system has died in this city. The only light at night is moonlight.

"HELP!"

Deg.

Merlida and I fell silent when they heard the voice of the child asking for help. For a moment Merlida and I looked at each other. "In that direction?" I asked Merlida, who was answered with a nod of the head.

"Come on!" Merlida and I ran to the origin of the sound, although the direction we were heading was different, but we could not ignore the voice that asked for help.

The closer we got here, the sound of the child's crying became clearer. There are even other voices.

Like the sound of a punch and also the smell of scorching.

"Haha! Who are you going to ask for help with?! Is anyone coming here?!"

Me and Merlida finally saw the scene. A group of small children attacked one other small child who looked weak. They hit even using their strength to make wounds on the bodies of small children sitting on the asphalt.

"Hey kali-" my words stopped as Merlida closed my mouth. He shook his head while looking at me seriously. "Don't be noisy, just leave it to me" he said.

After that, he kept his hands out of my mouth. He stood behind a building, like he was hiding. But he closed his eyes.

What's he doing??

I'm still watching Merlida. Until suddenly a fragrant smell burst into my nose. The smell of roses is very fragrant, to create a deadly impression.

"You smell of roses?" As I stared at Merlida again, from under her feet sprouted a thorny stalk with a rose adorning the stalk. The pink-colored aura that was exuding adorned her body beautifully.

This ... Merlida's power?

Merlida opened her eyelids, revealing her black eyeballs that turned pink. Merlida then looked at me and glanced back at the horde of children who attacked the other child.

"Huh? What's this smell? It smells so good." The children there immediately stopped attacking because their focus was on the fragrant smell produced by Merlida. As I focused too much on the children, I didn't even realize that Merlida's thorny tendrils had reached around their feet.

"Strong."

SRASHHH!

CRASS!

"ARGHHHHH!"

"YYYYYY!"

Merlida's spiked tendrils tied the children's legs and lifted them into the air. The sharp thorns in the tendrils scratched their thin skin like paper until I could see their blood flowing down through the Merlida tendrils.

"Maybe ..." I stared at him with a frightened and amazed look.

The dangerous beauty.

"My name is ...

The Queen of Rose."

Btc ...