Roon x Nero (kinda) (no cringy sex ahead)

ARC II Part 4.1

ARC II Chapter 4.1
Z46, Z24, Oriani and Bristol reached the woods' gates after leaving the Academy.
"Alright team! We'll split up for this exploration!" Bristol announced after moving in front of the other girls.
"Splitting up is never a good idea..." Z24 commented.
"Hah, this isn't a horror movie! It's an old, abandoned lab, what could be inside?"
"Don't tell me you're afraid, o Mighty Devil?" Oriani asked.
"I am afraid, but not for me. I'm worried about you and Bristol." Z24 covered up her fear.
"That's considerate of you, but we'll be perfectly fine!" said Bristol, "Me and Oriani will go one way, while you and your Counselor will go another!"
"And of course you'll have to take pictures as well, so take this!" Oriani handed Z24 another digital camera.
"Are you sure you'll be fine?" Z46 asked them.
"It'll be a piece of cake! We'll get all the photos we need, and maybe we can find some interesting stuff too! Don't worry about us!" Oriani answered.
"Well then, my Great Counselor, lead the way!" Z24 exclaimed.
Z46 nodded and pushed the gates open, leading her friends to the abandoned laboratory.
"Here we are." She announced after arriving before the huge metal doors, which had been broken down during her first visit.
"Woaaah..." Bristol took a peek inside, noticing the long stairway which led underground, "It's pretty dark! Not to worry, I've got my trustworthy lantern with me!" She exclaimed before turning on her lantern, "Follow me!"
Bristol and the others walked down the stairway as they chatted.
"Wait, how will you and your Counselor see in the dark, Devil?" Oriani asked.
"We don't need human tools such as lanterns or flashlights, obviously. My eyes can illuminate our path."
"What the hell is she saying..?" Z46 thought.
"Really? You're incredible, Devil!" Bristol exclaimed.
"Please, that is only a tiny taste of what I'm capable of." Z24 smirked confidently. Eventually, the group reached the end of the stairway and set foot into the lobby. Oriani immediately ran inside and snapped photos of various things in the room, while Bristol brightened them for her.
"They're already caught up into their investigation." Said Z46 while looking at them, standing next to Z24.
"So it seems. Well, we have our own camera as well, we can venture into other areas." said the Devil.
"Oriani, Bristol! If you want interesting info, head into the cafeteria and then into the dormitory. Although you will also find... very unpleasant surprises there." Z46 explained to them.
"Got it! While we do that, you explore other zones!" said Bristol. Z46 nodded and looked at Z24.
"There's only one problem now: we need a source of light. And since you said you can use your eyes as one and those two believe you, we can't ask for another lantern or something." She said.
"That's because we don't need another source of light. My eyes are enough." Z24 explained, "You don't believe me, eh, Counselor? Come with me." She proceeded towards the corridor in the opposite direction from the cafeteria. Z46 followed her.
"Wait, you can actually..?" Z46 asked. Z24's eyes suddenly began emitting a bright, yellow light. Z46 didn't expect it at all.
"You underestimate me, Counselor." She turned to her while smirking.
"Since when can you-" Z46 was pretty shocked by Z24's hidden ability.
"I know you're surprised, Counselor, but we shouldn't waste any more time. After all, I'm curious about this place too."

Z24 and Z46 walked through the corridor: at one point, it branched into more corridors.
"Where shall we go first, Counselor?"
Z46 looked at the left side of the corridor they were in: right before the next corridor, 'Section A' was painted on the wall. Some of the paint was corroded due to the lack of maintenance. As she looked at the words on the wall, she remembered about the documents she had read during her first visit: the documents about the infamous incident talked about a 'Section F', which was the area where the incident occurred. Z46 figured that the corridor on the left led to a section of the laboratory itself, where the scientists worked.
"This hall leads to the laboratories of the facility. What about the other one?" Z46 asked.
"It says 'Storage Room A' on the wall here." Z24 answered after looking at the right side of the corridor.
"The laboratories most likely have the most interesting things. I suggest we head to Section A first." Said Z46.
"Let's go there, then!" Z24 brightened the left corridor and walked towards it, while Z46 followed. As they ventured further into the corridor, the color of the walls and ceiling shifted to a green color, although the paint had surely corroded and the color they saw was different from what it actually was.
"I see a metal door down there. There's a big 'A' in the middle." Z24 observed.
"Yes, but I assume it requires some kind of authentication in order to open. Plus, the power isn't even on." said Z46.
"We don't need any authentication nor power: all we need is a gap between the two doors, and there is one." Z24 approached the door and took advantage of the gap between the two doors to force them open.
"You surprise me again.." Z46 approached the doors too.
"I'm the Devil of the Iron Blood, aren't I?" Z24 smirked.
"I don't know if it's just your fantasy or you're actually some sort of devil..."
"Obviously I'm a Devil! THE Devil!" She stepped into Section A, followed by Z46.
The section contained many rooms along its walls, which were used for research and documentation. The Devil and her Counselor looked into a couple of these rooms and they all had the same layout: desks, chairs, drawers, stacks of paper, computers, closets. Z46 opened the closets and found out they contained some E-cubes.
"So these closets were once full of E-cubes?" said Z46.
"Most likely. And the computers must've been used to analyze them." said Z24,
"I'm guessing that if the experiments had  eventually succeeded, they would've used all these cubes to construct ships..." she concluded.
"E-cubes can do much more than just building warships. They are unlimited sources of energy, therefore they can aliment anything. As far as I know, they are also the crystallization of thoughts and desires. Surely they have many, many purposes. More than we know." Z46 explained.
"Thoughts and desires...? Wait, so if I wish to be an actual Devil, the E-cube inside of me could make it happen?" Z24 asked; she looked at Z46 anxiously.
"... Perhaps, it could." Z46 answered, "But it's just a theory."
Z24 opened her hands and moved them next to each other: holding them in front of her chest, she ejected her cube from her body. The cube lay on her palms as she stared at it intently.
"... Sometimes, I wonder what these cubes truly are. Have you ever wondered this, Counselor?" Z24 asked.
"Many times."
"I believe your theory works. Somehow, it works. You know, after your 'revelation' as my Counselor, I felt something changing within me. I don't know how to explain it, but... Before that happened, I knew well that I wasn't a Devil. Now... I'm starting to think I'm really a Devil. Do you have a feeling that you're actually my Counselor?"
"I have to admit... During that speech, I felt like some sort of wise Counselor. But my knowledge hasn't changed, of course. Could these just be impressions? Or did we get so invested into our roles that we're starting to feel like we are the imaginary characters we made up? We are kids, after all..."
"I want to believe it's because of our E-cubes! Maybe they're the reason we're feeling so invested! Maybe I have really become a Devil, and maybe you have become my Counselor!"
"We will find out overtime. Now let's focus on our investigation." Z46 cut the conversation short and took some pictures of the closets storing E-cubes, afterwards they left the room.
"If the power were on, we could check the terminals too." said Z46 while walking slowly across the corridors of Section A alongside Z24.
"I'm sure they also documented their researches and experiments on paper. We just need to find the documents."
"Maybe they're kept in some sort of archive?"
"We won't know unless we explore. It would be much better if we had some sort of map, but we don't."
However, their conversation was cut by a sinister growl behind them. The Devil and her Counselor froze in place, not making a sound.
"The abominations.... They're still here.." Z46 mumbled.
"The what..? Are you talking about... The specimens..?"
Whatever was behind them growled again, this time the sound was closer.
"Z24... You're the mighty Devil of the Iron Blood. Use your powers."
"Aside from emitting light from my eyes, I can't do anything else.."
"Come up with something right now. If my theory about E-cubes is true, your rigging might be able to shape-shift into anything you want. I don't think using our guns is convenient here."
"Unless we use armor piercing shells... Those shouldn't pose any threat to the building!" Z24 summoned her rigging, which opened its mouth containing the main gun turret. She turned around as her rigging aimed its turret at the target: the creature was similar to the descriptions in the scientists' personal documents which Z46 had seen in the bedrooms. Although it was definitely a woman, it lost every recognizable trait of its gender, as well as its race. A large hole in its chest revealed the E-cube which had been forced into it during the experiment. That cube caused the body to deform greatly and alternate between flesh and metal. Several bones were visible through the ripped flesh, most of the skin was missing and the remainder was decayed. The creature had two arms, one was skinny and pierced by numerous metal shards while the other was exaggeratedly wide and long, its flesh also pulsed like a heart. The creature's legs were both skinny and mostly made of metal.
The two destroyers looked at the abomination in disgust and shock as it began running towards them once they turned around. Z24 quickly fired at the monster's cube, but due to fear she narrowly missed the beast's core.
"SHIT!" Z24 shrieked as the beast turned its attention to her, sprinting towards her rapidly and furiously. Z46 summoned her own rigging which opened its two mouths and pointed its four guns (arranged into two double turrets, one for each mouth) at the creature, firing shortly after. Three out of four shells landed on the target, which got stunned, but unfortunately the core hadn't been hit.
"You're horrifying and resilient at the same time... I have no choice then." She said as she drew her sword against the creature.
"You have a sword?? You look so cool!" Z24 exclaimed.
"This isn't the moment for compliments!" Z46 got in stance as the monster was now rushing towards her: after getting close, it roared while charging a punch with its huge arm, however Z46 swiftly slashed the corresponding shoulder and severed the limb before jumping above the creature and severing its head in mid-air. As she landed behind it, the monster fell on its knees as a mixture of oil and blood gushed from its neck and shoulder and its head rolled on the floor.
"You're amazing, my Counselor!!" Z24 excitedly yelled as she ran to her and hugged her tightly.
"Uhm... That was nothing special, really.." Z46 awkwardly hugged back; "It's too early to celebrate, Devil, let's keep exploring."
"Right.." Z24 let her go and they left Section A.