"Do you want to hold my hand?"

Rei felt her brow furrow when she heard Haruto say this, and she turned to him in shock. Haruto wasn't looking at her, but there was a small tinge of red on his cheek that showed he knew just how strange his request was, and Rei felt her own cheeks grow hot as she glared at him!

"Don't be such a creep all the time! You just want to use a situation like this to touch me again, don't you!?"

Haruto clicked his tongue.

"Ah, forget I said anything! I can't even be nice to you without getting pissed off!"

Rei huffed at Haruto, and she turned away again! Like anyone would want to hold the hand of this creep. Right from the day Haruto saw her naked, Rei always knew that Haruto was just a pervert! He had been the bane of her existence since that moment and she was never going to forgive him for it! Rei narrowed her eyes at the battlefield in front of her again, but she swallowed nervously when she felt another tremor travel through her body, and she couldn't stop her hands from shaking! Haruto was looking out of the Zen Mecha as well to see what was happening, but he was surprised when he suddenly felt a shaky hand slide on top of his own. Haruto glanced down at the hand before he looked over at Rei in surprise. Rei refused to look at Haruto no matter what, and she continued to stare outside with a hardened expression, but the red colour on her cheek told Haruto just how embarrassed she was about this, and Haruto couldn't help but grin as he held her hand tighter and Rei's shaking slowly began to reduce in intensity!

Neither Haruto nor Rei knew it, but at that moment, the world of Varigan began to change rather quickly! Most worlds in the Primordial Expanse that exist without any knowledge of magic usually stay that way because they have not yet come into contact with any source of mana or a mage! This meant that the moment these worlds come in contact with a sufficient amount of magic, the world as well as the creatures in it would begin to mutate and change, and they would discover mana! This was the case for what happened with the humans on Earth. Although all the humans thought that their first encounter with magic was ten years ago in the Green Gate, they didn't know that there had already been magical creatures and monsters on their planet long before that, and Gaia had just been taking care of the monsters without allowing anyone to figure out what was happening. The presence of these magical creatures created a steady buildup of magic in the atmosphere, and it wasn't long before humans began to awaken their abilities.

And now that the Varigans were experiencing such an intense surge of mana in their atmosphere, their world was slowly beginning to evolve! The world was absorbing the mana constantly and it was slowly spreading that mana around in a way that various 'pockets' of mana would form in the atmosphere, and in the event that a 'pocket' of mana becomes too unstable, then that pocket would eventually burst open into a Gate of any colour. At the same time, the Varigans themselves were going through the biological evolution that would allow them to fight against the monsters that would appear on the other side of those Gates. And the two partners, Haruto and Rei, were at the epicentre of this evolution! Just like the Five Rulers had been the ones to save Earth from the Green Gate, the two partners were destined to be the light that would give the Varigans hope!

A Moonlight Wolf Pawn-class subordinate appeared from behind the Zen Mecha that Haruto and Rei were in, and it grabbed the Mecha by its heel before suddenly pulling it into the shadows! Haruto and Rei were both shocked when they felt their world darken, and Haruto felt Rei tighten her hold on him even more, but Haruto tried to remain calm even though he had no idea what was happening, and he told Rei to try and remain calm as well! The Mecha was transported across the battlefield and towards the other side of the Valley, and it took about two minutes before Haruto and Rei saw light again as they were brought out of the shadows and deposited on the valley floor! The Mecha immediately opened up and the two of them squinted against the sun as they rose up to look around! They were in a secluded area hidden behind some large hills in the valley, and they were surrounded by other Varigans that had also been evacuated. Rei saw James, the handler, a small distance away, and her face brightened as she began to wave at him while calling out. Haruto's face soured when he saw this, but Rei missed his reaction since she only had eyes for James. Haruto and Rei got down from the Mecha and headed towards the other Mecha pilots and James, and James raised a brow when he saw that their hands were still joined together.

"I'm glad you two got out of that region safely. That battle isn't something we can get involved in. But it seems you two got closer without anyone knowing. That's good."

Rei raised a brow in confusion when she heard this, and it only took her a moment to realise that she was still holding Haruto's hand! Rei pulled back as she had just been burned, and she quickly began to wave her hands at James!

"N-No! It's not like that! H-Haruto was just scared! Yeah, he was scared, and I was holding him to help him calm down!"

Haruto looked at Rei in utter disbelief, and Rei looked away and stared at the floor with an embarrassed blush! Rei couldn't say she had been scared in front of James! It would ruin her image! James just nodded in understanding after hearing what Rei said and he told them both to go get some rest before he walked over to some newcomers who had also just arrived. Rei glanced at Haruto once James left, only to see that he was staring right down at her in utter disbelief!

"So I was scared huhhhh~?"

Rei squeaked and took a step back before she quickly tried to apologise!

"S-Sorry, I just panicked, and James was there, so I didn't know what to do! Uhm, I'll buy you some soda when we get back to the institute as an apology —"

PHWOOM!

Before Rei could finish her sentence, the atmosphere suddenly grew heavy in a way that no one could have possibly predicted! A strange orange circle began to form in the air behind Haruto and Rei, and the circle continued to widen until it was large enough to contain five people easily! And then, without any warning, the Gate began to suck people in! Haruto was the first person to feel the suction from the Gate, and it was a strange feeling to be suddenly lifted into the air and pulled back like a ragdoll! Rei's eyes widened in shock and she reached out to grab Haruto, but she only ended up being pulled along as well, and the two partners screamed as they were dragged into the Orange Gate! The other Varigans that had been resting could only watch in shock as all this happened! Many of them took multiple steps back from the Gate, but there were some soldiers who were too close to the Gate, and the remaining Varigans could do nothing but watch in shock as those soldiers were sucked in as well.

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