Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 26 - Chapter 5

Vandarion’s Insanity

Friday, December 31st

The grenade’s explosion had started a fire in the subcontroller. That fire caused a chain of explosions that drove Nana and Darkness Rainbow out of the Type Two. Yet as they fled, someone else was moving into the Type Two. It was the Type Two’s owner: Vandarion. He was intent on using the power of the metal dragon and his space fortress to finish off Koutarou and the others.

“Granado?!”

Welcoming Vandarion in the main controller, however, was a critically wounded Granado. Unable to accept the sight at first, Vandarion instinctively froze up.

“Vandarion-sa... ma... I-I’ve... failed...”

Because Nana had kicked away the grenade, the blast had entered the passage where Granado had taken cover. The result was grievous. Granado couldn’t afford to let himself be captured, nor could he let them just take Green away. Moreover, he was bad at fighting, so in order for him to eliminate the assault unit that had infiltrated the Type Two, a grenade was the perfect plan. He’d had the right idea. Nana had simply reacted in an unexpected way. Granado, gravely injured, had crawled his way to the main controller after the fact.

“Get it together, Granado! A wound like this will heal right away! I’ll prepare the best doctors for you!”

Once he came to his senses, Vandarion kneeled beside Granado and held him up without concern for the blood he was getting on himself. He couldn’t leave his long-time comrade lying on the floor.

“D-Don’t be unreasonable, V-Vandarion-sama... Agh...”

“Granado!”

“Hnngh... This is my... b-body. I know... what condition... it’s in... I won’t... last long... I’m glad I could... see you one last... time...”

However, Granado had sensed his death was near. It was because of that that he’d made his way to the controller without bothering to try and do anything for his wounds. It was all so he could see his lord one final time.

“Don’t you die, Granado! Are you planning on leaving me alone?!”

Vandarion could also tell that Granado’s body was rapidly losing its strength. That he would die before long. He knew it; he was just unable to accept it. Granado was the only person who understood him. The only one who had strived for greatness with him. His only friend.

“T-To rule... is a lonely thing... A true... king among kings... must be able... to endure that...”

“Don’t you lecture me, Granado! You will live! Alongside me! You’re the one who said that you would see me through to the end! All the way to standing at the top of this nation!”

Decades had passed since the two men had first met. Vandarion had always been seeking greatness, but he hadn’t done it all on his own. He had always had Granado and his advice by his side. He thought it would always be that way. And together, the two of them would see Vandarion the supreme ruler of all things. That was the promise they had made each other.

“...Even though this body may perish, I will always be at your side... I will without doubt watch... as you seize the whole universe, Vandarion-sama...”

And with those words, Granado expelled all the air in his lungs. It was almost as if he let out a heavy sigh. What he’d exhaled was actually the last of his life, but just like a sigh, it faded into nothingness.

“Hey, Granado...”

Vandarion shook Granado. Though Vandarion still held his body in his arms, Granado’s spirit was gone. Vandarion shook him again and again, but there was no response.

“Stop messing around! Open your eyes this instant! That’s an order!”

Vandarion knew what had happened. Logically speaking, he knew. But his heart wouldn’t believe it. The reality before him was a roadblock to his ambition. Achieving victory together with Granado was the future Vandarion sought.

“Are you listening, Granado?! Why don’t you say something with that sharp expression of yours like you always do?! Do what I tell you!”

Decades had passed since the two men had met, and ever since that day, they had worked together to set this grand plan in motion and attain their goals. Only Granado truly understood Vandarion and shared his dream. But Granado—and their future together—was no more. Tears, the likes of which Vandarion had never shed even in front of Granado, now streamed down his face.

“Granado! Hey! Answer me, Granado! Please!”

No matter how much Vandarion called to him, Granado never answered. Vandarion’s ambition, for all it was worth, could not return to him the life of his lost best friend.

“...Granado...”

Snap.

A fallen friend, a ruined ideal, and a murdered dream. Under the weight of it all, something snapped inside Vandarion. It was like a seal had broken, releasing something that had long been stagnant on the other side of Vandarion’s heart. It poured out now, consuming Vandarion. Drowning him.

“Heh... Hahaha... Ahahaha!”

What the floodgates had unleashed was insanity. Granado was the only thing in Vandarion’s life that kept him in check. He was what kept Vandarion in touch with reality and his humanity. But without him, that safety had been removed. There was no longer anyone or anything that could reign in Vandarion. There was nothing left to stop the insanity from consuming him.

“Then you may watch from there, Granado... I will line your grave with the heads of the Blue Knight and the royal families!”

The insanity began distorting Vandarion’s goal. He was supposed to use the Blue Knight and the royals, including their deaths, as tools in order to take over the country. But now he only craved their deaths for vengeance’s sake. With Granado gone, Vandarion was so overcome with uncontrollable emotion that he mistook the means for the end. All he wanted was to destroy the people that had everything he’d lost. Everything he should’ve had.

“Hahahaha! That’s it! That’s it! I’ll mow down everyone who gets in my way, not just the Blue Knight and the royals! Their bloody corpses will be the foundation of my country! You won’t have a grave, Granado, but a monument! And I will fill it up with the heads of our enemies!”

Finally, Vandarion’s hostility slowly began to turn on the country of Forthorthe itself. His desire to destroy it was slowly overtaking his desire to rule it. His hatred and his frustrated grief were that intense. While Vandarion still wasn’t aware of it, that was the path his heart had started to lead him down.

The Type Two stopping was a stroke of luck for Koutarou and the others, as they needed to safely extract Elfaria, Ceilēshu, and the still unconscious Green. But even though the Type Two wasn’t moving, the space fortress’ defense system was still kicking. While Koutarou and the others had no way of knowing, Granado had reached the main controller and activated the fortress’ defense system before he died. Because of that, there were plenty of enemies obstructing their way out. It was like the complete opposite of Koutarou’s long, desolate walk to the center of the fortress when he arrived.

I guess that means that he really doesn’t trust anyone other than Granado in the end...

Koutarou couldn’t help thinking that as he swung the beam sword in his hand. All of the enemies before him were automated weapons. All that was sent flying as Koutarou swung his sword was a mix of oil, metal, and plastic. Nothing he fought was flesh and blood. Koutarou felt it was a representation of Vandarion’s empty, untrusting, mechanical heart. He also felt it was similar to how he himself had been before meeting Kenji.

“How annoying! They’re all over the place!”

Theia repeatedly shot off her beam rifle while voicing her irritation. For each enemy she destroyed, another appeared to take its place. A space fortress of this size was manned by what seemed like an infinite number of robots and automated weapons. As a result, Koutarou and the girls were still fighting their way through them and hadn’t reached the port where Blue Knight was docked.

“Annoying, huh? Yeah, I guess so.”

Koutarou reflexively flashed a dry smile. Theia had called the situation annoying. That must have been how he was too. He couldn’t keep himself from smiling at the thought.

“Did you say something, Koutarou?!”

“No. But we’ll need a bold move to deal with this!”

However, he couldn’t just keep smiling. He had to safely get Elfaria, Ceilēshu, and the other girls out of this place. He couldn’t afford to be delayed here.

“Agreed! Kiriha, can’t we do something?!”

“The enemy is focusing their attacks on Koutarou and the royalty, so we’ll use magic to create sufficient decoys.”

Kiriha had noticed that the automated weapons were prioritizing Koutarou, Elfaria, and the princesses as targets. Accordingly, her plan was to disguise Koutarou and the royals while making the unmanned fighters under Ruth’s control look like them to take their place. The idea was to have Koutarou and the others make it all the way to Blue Knight while the automated weapons were busy going after the decoys.

“All right! Yurika, Aika-san, I’m counting on you!”

Koutarou quickly agreed to Kiriha’s strategy. As Darkness Rainbow had already used up a lot of mana infiltrating the Type Two, he left the task at hand to Yurika and Maki.

“Got it! I’ll change the appearance of Satomi-san and the others!” Yurika called.

“Okay, then I’ll create the fakes!” Maki agreed.

The two magical girls would divide the spells between them. Creating the decoys was the more difficult task, but Maki’s specialty in indigo magic—mind-affecting magic—gave her an advantage in making illusions.

“Instant Disguise! Modifier: Multiple Targets!”

“Perfect Illusion! Modifier: Multiple Targets!”

Their spells activated with the desired effect. Koutarou, Elfaria, and the princesses now looked like regular Imperial Army soldiers, while the unmanned fighters took on their appearances in their stead. It was a masterful use of magic.

“All right, now go!” Ruth shouted.

Ruth put the final touches on the diversion by using her bracelet to order the unmanned fighters away from the group. The majority of the enemies began chasing after them. Thanks to that, most of the fire was drawn away from Koutarou and the others, which eased the pressure on them considerably.

“Please hurry, Master. The fakes won’t last for long.”

“Got it! Let’s break right through!”

The only problem was that the unmanned fighters weren’t as strong as Koutarou and the others. Moreover, as they were in the middle of escaping, Ruth couldn’t control the fighters directly herself. She had to leave them on autopilot and trust the AI to do the work for her. But without Ruth’s guidance, she knew the odds were against them. They were so outnumbered that there was no way that they’d hold up for long. That’s why Koutarou and the girls had to hurry and escape before that happened.

“Huh...? What is...”

Everyone was making a mad dash for the port, but someone in the group stopped.

“Sanae! We gotta go!”

“I know, but...”

The one lagging behind was Sanae. Koutarou quickly called for her to pick up the pace, but she remained motionless. She was staring behind them, clearly bothered by what she was sensing.

“I thought so... There’s no doubt!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Koutarou, this is bad! Something I don’t get is chasing after us!”

Sanae pointed behind them and tried to warn Koutarou of the danger. The unusually grave expression on her face told Koutarou that this was serious.

“Explain it so I can understand!” Koutarou shouted to her.

“It feels like Purple or Tayuma!” Sanae shouted back.

“What?!” Purple exclaimed.

All of Darkness Rainbow reacted, but Purple in particular stopped running. She turned and squinted her eyes in the direction Sanae was pointing. As she did, her eyes opened wide and her jaw dropped.

“What is the meaning of this?! The gates of hell are opening?!”

While she couldn’t directly see it since it was on the other side of a wall, her eyes detected abnormal mana. She saw negative emotions forming a vortex, continuously giving birth to powerful gray energy. As Purple was an expert in necromancy, she was sensitive to this kind of phenomenon—especially so after the time she herself had been swallowed by something like it. But it was that sensitivity that led to her astonishment now. She couldn’t believe the gates of hell had appeared in a place like this.

“Purple...”

However, Dark Blue—who had actually worked to open up the gates of hell before—could imagine how this had happened.

“Green was the one who originally had the information on the gates of hell. So if Green’s Future Forecast was being used―”

“Then they’re using the gates of hell too?!”

“I think so!”

Green had been captured by Vandarion for her power. Assuming Future Forecast was all he was after was a mistake. There was no way something as incredibly powerful as the gates of hell wouldn’t have attracted his interest.

“Be careful, everyone! It’s coming!” Sanae warned.

The abnormality that Sanae had sensed—the gates of hell—was rapidly approaching. Less than a minute after Sanae first noticed it, it was already upon them.

Crash!

The gates of hell, wearing the body of a massive, metal dragon, appeared before Koutarou and the others. There had been a thick wall between them, but it had easily torn through it like it was paper.

“Ahahahaha! I’ve found you! I’ve got you now, Blue Knight! Using this power I was given by Granado, I’ll make sure to kill you this time! Unlike two thousand years ago, I don’t need Signaltin! I’ll obtain everything with this power!”

Using Vandarion’s insanity as fuel, the gates of hell produced energy without end. It was absorbed by the mechanical dragon, giving it power far beyond what it was designed to have. It seemed Vandarion’s threat was very real. If this power continued to grow as it had with Tayuma or Purple, the Type Two very well may be capable of bringing ruin to all of Forthorthe.

The Type Two’s eyes gleamed and fired lasers. It was the same as the attack it had used against Theia and the others once before, so if they worked together, they should be able to block it again.

Smash!

However, despite their barrier being as strong as possible with Sanae in charge of spiritual energy, Clan in charge of the science, and Yellow in charge of the magic, the Type Two’s lasers easily broke through it.

“This is nothing— Whoooaaaa!”

“Uncle, please!”

The Type Two’s attack power had significantly increased. The laser that broke through the barrier assaulted Koutarou and Shizuka. Sparks flew from Koutarou’s armor and Shizuka was covered in small burns. If the laser had hit anyone else, it likely would have been enough to take them out altogether.

“We can’t win like this! Keep him occupied as we retreat! We won’t be able block the attacks soon!” Theia quickly ordered.

Retreat seemed like their only option now. With Sanae’s spirit sight and enhancements alongside the support of the magical girls, they could dodge most of the Type Two’s attacks. The only real problem was wide area attacks like the laser. And since that laser now had enough power to break through their barriers, Koutarou and the girls wouldn’t be able to last long. At this rate, they’d be looking at more than sparks and small burns soon.

“Landlord-san, can you buy us fifteen seconds?!”

Koutarou only had one idea for a retreat, and since he didn’t have time to think of anything else, he decided to put it into action right away.

“I’ll do it!” Shizuka shouted.

“I’m counting on you!” Koutarou shouted back.

He needed to buy a little bit of time for his plan to work. It would come in two stages. The first required Shizuka to go all out with the Type Two while he put his armor to work on a certain task. And though Koutarou had a plan, the other girls couldn’t tell what he was thinking just by looking at him. Clan was the first to question his actions.

“Wait, Veltlion, just what are you going to do?!”

“I can’t be picky about the means in this situation!”

“Kyaaaaah! E-Everyone, prepare to protect yourselves! Things are about to get really messy!”

Clan’s face paled. She knew how the Blue Knight was on the battlefield better than anyone else. That’s why she could tell that Koutarou was up to something based on his expression and the tone of his voice. She then used her bracelet to check his armor’s logs to try and figure out exactly what he was doing. Clan had a bad feeling about it all. An extremely bad one at that. That was why she told the others to protect themselves.

“Let’s change, Uncle!”

“Looks like it’s finally my turn!”

Shizuka transformed from her half-dragon form to a full-on, massive dragon. She became the Fire Dragon Emperor Alunaya, the ruler of all dragonkind that the Type Two was modeled after. As Shizuka’s body couldn’t withstand such a transformation forever, there was a limit to how long he could fight like that. But thanks to that vast energy Alunaya had, he was the only one cut out to fight against the Type Two.

“Uncle, if we’re going to do it, let’s make it flashy!”

“Then I’ll go straight in at full power! We’ll carve a new legend in these fifteen seconds!”

The Fire Dragon Emperor was covered in crimson scales, and when he used his power, he was wreathed in flame just as crimson. But right now, those normally red flames were burning so brightly that they’d turned white. It was a sign that the Fire Dragon Emperor had summoned his full strength.

“Oho, so this is the Fire Dragon Emperor Alunaya! How interesting! Why don’t we compare which dragon is the superior beast?!”

The Type Two revealed its fangs as it readied to intercept the Fire Dragon Emperor. Being mechanical, the Type Two shouldn’t have had any emotion, but looking at it now, its bared fangs made it seem like it was smiling. It was as if Vandarion’s own emotions had possessed it.

“The first thing that comes to mind when I think of dragons is breathing fire! Why don’t we start with that?!”

Fwooooosh!

The Type Two opened its metallic jaw wide and fired the beam cannon in its mouth. The beam cannon accelerated heavy metal particles through a long barrel with the help of electromagnetism, and as they reached their peak, they were released at a frightening speed. The white torrent that shot out from the Type Two’s mouth assaulted the Fire Dragon Emperor far faster than the speed of sound.

“You think to challenge me with flame? You fool!”

Pfwaaaaah!

In response, Alunaya lived up to his name by spewing flames from his mouth at full force. They were even hotter and brighter than the fire surrounding him. They were so dense with energy that the flames themselves condensed into plasma. A direct hit would incinerate any foe before they even had a chance to feel the pain.

Bwooosh!

The Type Two’s beam cannon and the Fire Dragon Emperor’s plasma breath met each other in mid-air. The Fire Dragon Emperor’s breath was stronger in terms of temperature and power, but the Type Two’s beam was thicker and covered a wider area. As a result, Alunaya’s fire breath pierced through the center of the beam and assaulted the Type Two. It lost most of its strength as it pushed through the beam, but it also scattered the beam wide enough that it became quite weak. In the end, neither attack did much damage at all.

“Are you okay, Uncle?!”

“Don’t worry! This is nothing!”

“Ahahaha, as expected of the Fire Dragon Emperor! That’s what I was hoping for! Now try this on for size!”

Still shooting flames and beams from their mouths, the two dragons closed in on each other. Once they got in range, they broke out into close-quarters combat.

“Shizuka, it’s your turn!”

“Okay!”

While in full dragon form, Alunaya was usually the one controlling the body as he was more knowledgeable when it came to fighting as a dragon. But there were still situations where giving control to Shizuka was more efficient, and close range combat was one of them because of her talent in martial arts. As of late, the two of them had begun fighting by taking each other’s merits into account. Now Alunaya was wielding his powers as a dragon while Shizuka was making use of the techniques she’d been training her whole life. In terms of hand-to-hand fighting ability, it was no exaggeration to say they were the strongest.

“How foolish! It seems you don’t understand that fighting at close range is what this machine does best!”

But while Alunaya had reached the height of strength for a living creature, the Type Two had a mechanical advantage. The Type Two worked together with a powerful computer system, making use of precise and fast motors to move. Its ability to collect and analyze vast amounts of data and make predictions based on that data coupled together with the motors that gave it a reaction time far faster than any human allowed the Type Two to move and act at supernatural speeds. It also wasn’t constricted by a skeleton or joints that limited its movement range. It could move and bend in unnatural ways. Between that and its overwhelming speed and power, the Type Two was unfettered by the same restrictions placed on living beings.

“Fear not, Shizuka! Keep pushing forward!”

“Hyaaaaah!”

“Fools! Allow me to teach you that you flesh and bone creatures don’t stand a chance against my machine!”

Alunaya had conventional power, born from his own strong body and Shizuka’s long training. In comparison, the Type Two had innovative power, born from cutting edge, state-of-the-art technology. Both sides pushed their powers to the limit as they clashed.

Slam!

A scaled fist and a metal fist collided. Both parties had struck with all their strength, so the blows largely cancelled out each other’s momentum. However, the fight didn’t end there. After that, they started fighting by making full use of their individual abilities and powers.

“And then we do this!”

Shizuka had assumed that the first strike would fail, and accordingly had prepared a second one. Using the momentum from their fists being knocked back to spin around, she aimed for Type Two’s head. Normally a move like that would have been a roundhouse kick, but making use of a dragon’s body, she attacked with its massive tail instead.

“Do you think you can defeat my Type Two with an attack like that?!”

The Type Two’s pilot was Vandarion, but he was just a normal human. He couldn’t match the skills of a martial artist like Shizuka. He also wasn’t used to the controls for the Type Two. As such, most of them were left to automatic operation. Vandarion gave general directions and the AI took appropriate action based on the situation at hand. That was true even now—the Type Two followed Vandarion’s instructions and decided intercepting Shizuka was the best course of action.

“It’s that fast?!”

Bam!

Shizuka’s tail attack was blocked by the Type Two’s arm. The armor plating on it was thick and the barrier it used was sturdy, so the blow didn’t do any real damage. Even so, Shizuka saw an opportunity.

“But it’s not moving too fast for me to hit it!”

Unlike the Type One Revised, the Type Two had a human operator, so it was somewhat slower. It couldn’t move so quickly that it would put Vandarion at risk. Shizuka’s instincts were telling her that she’d be able to land a hit on it.

“Is that all?! It’s my turn now!”

“Ugh!”

However, Shizuka quickly realized that her thinking had been too naive. The Type Two quickly moved to corner Shizuka and Alunaya with slashes from its fangs and claws. It was certainly moving slower than the Type One Revised had, but it was making more reasonable decisions based on the circumstances. It had sacrificed reckless speed for improved prediction capabilities. Strategically, it was on a completely different level, in no small part because the system had been updated using the data gathered from the Type One Revised.

“Come on! What’s the matter?! You talked such a big game, I expected you to live up to it!”

“In that case...!”

Shizuka focused Alunaya’s mana into her right fist. Doing that would lower their magical protection, but it would significantly increase the power behind their attacks. Hitting the Type Two, which could move in ways that normal creatures couldn’t, multiple times was hard. With that knowledge, Shizuka decided to go for something more desperate.

“Hahahaha, you fool! Doing that is the same as killing yourself!” Vandarion sneered.

It was clear what Shizuka was trying to do. The way Vandarion saw it, any drop in Alunaya’s defense was basically an increase in the Type Two’s attack power. To him, it seemed like Shizuka had chosen to put herself at an even bigger disadvantage. And that, as far as he was concerned, was a foolish misstep.

“The new legends will hail me and Granado! Now die, you old dragon!”

The Type Two faithfully abided Vandarion’s will and attacked Alunaya’s body with its scorching hot claws. Alunaya, who was trying to unleash an all-out attack with his right fist, had his left side completely open.

“Urghhh! Gwaaaaah!”

“Hahaha! Ahahahaha!”

Alunaya’s cries of pain and Vandarion’s mocking laughter echoed throughout the room. The Type Two’s claws had sunk deep into Alunaya’s scaly hide.

“Fools! Mere fools! What made you think a two thousand year old fossil would even stand a chance against state-of-the-art weaponry?! The age changes with each passing hour, you know!”

“...Too bad for you, Vandarion. If there’s a new legend being written here, we shall be its heroes.”

“You’re a sore loser!”

“Why would a two thousand year old fossil win? Well, that reason is simple. After all...”

Alunaya revealed his fangs in a grin as he grabbed hold of the Type Two’s arm. If the opponent is too fast, then let them attack to lure them in and capture them. That was Shizuka’s desperate plan.

“Now, Satomi-kun! I don’t know what you’re going to do, but do it!”

Booooom!

In that instant, a massive, glowing white light pierced through the thick walls of the space fortress and headed straight for the Type Two.

“Impossible, that’s―”

“We’re using state-of-the-art weaponry as well.”

With its claws in Alunaya and Alunaya holding it in place, the Type Two was unable to move. It was a sitting duck. The white light struck and sent it flying into the wall of the fortress.

Rrrrumble...

The entire facility shook from the impact. The white light, as it turned out, was Blue Knight’s anti-ship energy sword. While Shizuka distracted Vandarion, Koutarou had prepared Blue Knight to attack from outside.

While it was called a sword, it only really looked like one from the point of view of Blue Knight. To anything smaller, a direct hit from the anti-ship energy sword was more like a being rammed by a spaceship. The power of such a blow had not only sent the Type Two helplessly flying, it had pinned it to the wall. Having to penetrate the walls of the fortress before reaching the Type Two had actually significantly reduced the momentum of the blow, but the massive sword still had all of Blue Knight’s weight behind it. The much smaller Type Two didn’t stand a chance.

“Kyaaaaaaaah! Noooooooo!”

With the wall of the fortress now punctured, air was being sucked out of the building at an alarming rate. Most everyone had grabbed on to something nearby or made use of magic or science to stabilize themselves, but one person in particular was too slow on the draw. It was Yurika, known for her poor reflexes. She looked like she was about to be sucked out of the fortress along with the air.

“Yurika-san!”

But fortunately, Yurika had a very competent friend. Harumi grabbed her hand before she went flying.

“S-Sakuraba-senpai!”

“Please hold on!”

“Thank yooooouuu!”

While Harumi had a weak constitution, she herself wasn’t all that weak. After grabbing Yurika, she was able to pull her to the handrail she was holding on to herself. And so thanks to a helping hand, Yurika was able to escape immediate danger.

“Jeez, who knows what that man will do when he gets angry...”

Clan was controlling the gravity around her to counteract the sucking power. Because of that, it looked like she alone was standing in a patch of a calm, normal world. It afforded her enough comfort to complain about Koutarou’s exceedingly dangerous move.

“But it was worth doing,” Theia interjected. “Even Alunaya-dono was having trouble dealing with that monster. Koutarou made the right decision.”

Theia made skillful use of her combat dress’ boosters to resist the sucking power and remain fixed in place. Because of her perspective, she had the best grasp of the situation. The overwhelming mass and sheer size of the anti-ship energy sword had defeated their enemy in a single hit. And as the Type Two wasn’t an opponent that could be taken down by any normal means, they would have ended up with a tragedy on their hands if they’d kept twiddling their thumbs for too long. Theia felt that smashing open the space fortress was an acceptable way to avoid that.

“I like it! Not bad!”

“That sure does seem like your kind of strategy, Crim-chan. I guess I don’t hate it either, really.”

Darkness Rainbow witnessed Koutarou’s handiwork as well. They were watching him while using magic to protect themselves. Air had already drained from the area around them, leaving them standing in a practical vacuum. Yet even so, nothing looked as if it was amiss. To magic experts like them, something as expected as the lack of pressure in a vacuum wasn’t a big deal.

“Are you okay, Landlord-san?”

“I’m not okay at all. I must weigh at least three tons now...”

“That manifestation isn’t my real body, so the only actual damage is the mana it used up.”

“Looks like you’re okay then.”

“I’m not okay! Did you hear me?!”

Alunaya had taken some serious damage from the Type Two’s claws, but his dragon manifestation being made of mana meant that neither he nor Shizuka were actually hurt. The only real damage was to Shizuka’s maiden heart. Ever since Koutarou had asked Shizuka and Alunaya to buy him time, he’d been seriously worried for them. It was quite a relief to see that they were unharmed now that it was all said and done.

“I know how you feel, but let’s get out of here,” Kiriha urged them. “Not all the enemies are defeated yet.”

“Kiriha-sama is right. The weapons that attacked us were all sucked out of here, but the space weapons on the outside are closing in,” Ruth added.

While everyone was safe for the moment, the danger had yet to pass. The Type Two had been defeated, but most of their original enemies remained. Escaping as quickly as possible was the wisest move.

“...Wait! Something’s still strange!” Sanae suddenly shouted.

“The gates of hell haven’t closed! Vandarion is still alive and well!” Purple shouted right after.

Just as everyone was getting ready to escape, those words stopped them all dead in their tracks. How could that be? They knew they still had enemies ahead of them, but it really didn’t look like Vandarion would be any threat to them considering the condition the Type Two was in.

“Really?!” Koutarou asked.

“Yeah!” Sanae called. “That messy gray thing is still swirling!”

“The gates of hell breathe in the will of the user and give power in return! Since it’s still present, that means someone’s still using it! It can only be Vandarion!” Purple explained frantically.

Rumble...

That was when Blue Knight’s anti-ship energy sword began shaking. However, Koutarou wasn’t doing anything to it. Something else was trying to move it.

“Hahahaha! This is fantastic, Granado! The weapon you made really is the strongest! There is surely nothing else like it in the entire universe!”

Sanae and Purple were dead on. The Type Two—which should have been totally crushed—was still moving at the tip of the sword. It was using both of its arms to try and pull free from the sword.

That’s impossible! To think it could push the sword away with that difference in size!

The Type Two was around thirty meters long. In contrast, the anti-ship energy sword was several hundred meters in length. It was several dozen times its size, and more than several thousand times its mass. The disparity was so large that there was no way the Type Two should even be able to budge the sword. It would be like a human trying to push a building. But nevertheless, an unbelievable scene was unfolding right in front of everyone’s eyes. Seeing it for himself, Koutarou made a swift decision.

“Hey, Blue Knight, let me in the bridge!”

Following Koutarou’s instructions, one of the hatches along the side of the bridge opened up. Koutarou activated his emergency boosters and flew up towards it.

“Koutarou, what are you going to do?!” Theia called after him.

“I’ll keep him busy with Blue Knight! You guys hurry up and get out of there!”

Koutarou was going to stall the Type Two using Blue Knight. Seeing that it was strong enough to push something several times its size and mass, he couldn’t think of any other way to fight it. But since he would be using Blue Knight to stall the Type Two, the girls wouldn’t be able to use it to escape. Instead, Clan’s Cradle, which had carried Darkness Rainbow here, would be their way out.

“But I can’t leave you behind!” Theia yelled.

“Hurry up and go! There’s no time to spare!” Koutarou yelled back.

Since Koutarou had already entered Blue Knight, his voice reached Theia over the comms system. Before the transmission was even over, Blue Knight began moving, thrusting the sword further in as the Type Two tried to push it away.

What’s going on? Something’s clearly different from when Landlord-san fought it! It’s like it’s getting stronger and stronger!

As Koutarou tried to thrust the sword, the Type Two pushed back with equal force. It was nearly impossible to believe, but the Type Two was now on par with the Blue Knight and it was only getting stronger. Slowly but surely, it was pushing the sword back.

“Don’t waste any time! I don’t know how long Blue Knight will be able to stop him!” Koutarou shouted to Theia again.

“I refuse! I don’t ever want to leave you alone again!” she shouted back.

“You idiot! Are you trying to take Elle and Princess Ceilēshu down with you?!”

“That’s unfair, Koutarou!”

“Hurry up and go!”

As Koutarou urged Theia to flee with the others, the anti-ship energy sword began glowing white. He was going to make up for what he lacked in pure strength with an energy-based attack. Koutarou being forced to resort to that despite the proximity of Theia and the others made her see the grim reality of the situation for what it was. And with that, Theia grumblingly made up her mind.

“Hmph... Men, let’s leave this to Koutarou and escape!”

“Are you sure about that?!” Clan questioned.

“We have to get mother and the others to safety first or else we can’t even fight!”

Theia wasn’t going to leave Koutarou behind. She was just temporarily retreating to save others. After making sure Elfaria and Ceilēshu had escaped, she’d be back, armed and ready to fight. Theia personally was resistant to the idea, but it’s what she knew she had to do as a princess.

“It’s a tactical retreat. Karama, Korama, calculate a relatively safe escape route!”

“Calculations are already done! Ho!”

“This way! Ho!”

“Clan-dono―”

“I’m bringing the Cradle in using remote controls now!”

Vandarion’s space fortress had been considerably damaged by Blue Knight’s ramming attack. Thanks to that, the shortest path to the Cradle was now buried in rubble. Theia and the others quickly decided on a new route and made their exit. Seeing that, Koutarou set Blue Knight’s generator output to maximum power.

As the anti-ship energy sword began glowing, it began destroying objects and debris in a certain radius around its blade. The sword worked by using energy to distort space and harness that destructive power. As Koutarou watched it begin to work, he was able to identify what was going on with the Type Two.

“It’s draining energy from the fortress?!”

Several cables were attached to the body of the Type Two. It looked less like they were properly connected and more like they were forcibly thrust into it, but through those cables, energy from the fortress was flowing into the Type Two. That was the real reason why Blue Knight was losing to it in terms of power. It was far bigger than the Type Two, but not bigger than the fortress itself.

“Muahahahaha! This power given to me by Granado is invincible! Even a royal class battleship is but a toy before this power! And with it, I will crush you!”

Vandarion seemed to believe that the Type Two’s external power was coming from Granado or something he’d done. But it sure didn’t look invincible to Koutarou, who was looking on from the outside. To him, the Type Two wriggling around in the center of a mass of cables looked like some kind of leashed monster.

“How about it, Blue Knight?! Signaltin is already gone, and now your allies have run away! No royal, soldier, or citizen will come to save you now! You will die all alone in that giant iron coffin!”

ROOOAAAAAR!

The Type Two roared loudly as it worked to push back the sword, seemingly unaffected by the destructive energy it was emitting. The Type Two was still pinned to the fortress wall by the tip of the sword, but it was slowly pushing it farther and farther away from itself. It looked like it would be able to break free before long.

“I’m not going down that easily!”

Fwoooosh!

After checking the hologram displayed in the bridge to confirm that Theia and the others had gotten out of the fortress, Koutarou activated the Blue Knight’s thrusters. Using thrusters inside was rather insane, but Koutarou didn’t have the luxury of playing it safe. He was determined to keep the Type Two in place regardless of the cost to him or Blue Knight.

“Hahahahaha! You want to have a test of strength against me, huh?! Very well! I’ll show you the power of the supreme ruler that stands above all!”

The Type Two’s strength rapidly increased. Despite the power of Blue Knight’s thrusters, it was gradually being pushed back. The Type Two had already pushed the sword far enough away that it could escape from under it, but Vandarion had chosen not to move. Running wasn’t what a supreme ruler did, after all. He wanted to push the Blue Knight back and win a head-on fight.

“Tch, in that case...”

For Koutarou, on the other had, his pride was the last thing on his mind. Chaos would befall all of Forthorthe if Theia and the others didn’t escape, so he was prepared to stall Vandarion in place even if he was called a coward for his means.

“Hey, Blue Knight! If you see any openings at all, then attack that metal monster! I’ll leave the choice of weapon to you!”

“As you wish, my lord.”

Immediately after Koutarou’s order, Blue Knight fired six missiles. While they were slower than normal ones, they were capable of avoiding obstacles as they made their way to their target. They were sort of like small ships that would ram into an enemy and explode on impact.

“Ha, petty tricks! Do you really think toys like that will be enough to defeat me, the supreme ruler?!”

The six missiles went around the anti-ship energy sword and closed in on the Type Two. Despite the incoming missiles, however, Vandarion showed no sign of doing anything about them. They all struck the Type Two directly.

Boom! Ba-boom! Ba-ba-boom!

The six missiles exploded one after another. Yet once the flames and smoke dissipated, the Type Two still stood in place as if nothing had happened. Several cables had been blown off, but backup cables were already in place.

“How foolish! If that sword can’t defeat me, of course those missiles wouldn’t do anything! But homing weapons are certainly a good idea!”

The Type Two exposed its fangs, seemingly smiling. The next moment, the Type Two fired countless missiles from multiple launchers.

“Blue Knight! Emergency deployment of the distortion field!”

“As you wish, my lord.”

Koutarou immediately gave the order to defend, but each and every one of the fired missiles flew right past him and exited the space fortress through the hole Blue Knight had made when it entered. The missiles then grouped up with the unmanned weapons outside.

“Haha, you fool! You’re not my only enemy!”

As the Type Two fired its missiles, the Cradle had already departed the space fortress and was moving away at full speed. Their current goal was to get to the Hazy Moon, which was hanging back a safe distance away from the fortress.

“Your Highness, several missiles and unmanned fighters are inbound! We’re in danger as things stand!”

Immediately after Koutarou radioed in his warning, Ruth detected the missiles and weapons approaching. There was some distance between them still, but it was only a matter of time before they caught up to the Cradle. Since the missiles and unmanned crafts were all automated or pilotless, they could accelerate at inhuman speeds. By Ruth’s calculations, they’d reach the Cradle within three minutes.

“Theiamillis-san, we’re counting on you!”

After glancing at the data that Ruth sent, Clan immediately called for Theia’s help. The enemy had them vastly outnumbered. It was far more than Clan could handle on her own and, even as the captain of the ship, she didn’t have the time to be stubborn about it.

“Ha! Of course they wouldn’t let us escape that easily!”

Theia understood the situation. She hurriedly jumped into the gunner’s seat and took over the weapon controls in Clan’s stead. She targeted the missiles first since they posed the most immediate danger.

“Take them down!”

Theia squeezed the trigger after taking rough aim. She was using the anti-air laser cannon, which, while rather weak, could be repeatedly fired. The idea was to use a sweeping barrage to shoot down the incoming missiles and fighters. As lasers moved at the speed of light, they were easy to use in such a way even at a distance. The fired lasers cut through space, intercepting the missiles flying at the front of the incoming formation.

“Seventeen missiles have been shot down, but there are more behind them!” Ruth reported.

“Curses, there’s no end to them!”

Theia’s shooting was splendid, and she shot down missile after missile. There was no sound in the vacuum of space, but if there had been, they would have heard a series of booming explosions. Yet even with her marksmanship, Theia hadn’t managed to take out all of the missiles. There were just too many of them, and past them was still the swarm of unmanned fighters. It wasn’t a hopeful situation.

“Kiriha-san, can’t we do something?” Harumi asked.

Harumi personally was growing increasingly anxious about not being able to do anything. Koutarou had stopped her from using magic, and now Signaltin had been shattered. Even if she’d had full access to her powers, however, the distance between the Cradle and the enemies would make her powers harder to use. In the vastness of space, magic wasn’t very effective. All Harumi could do now was ask Kiriha about possible countermeasures.

The Type Two and Vandarion’s power exceeding my expectations is quite a problem...

Kiriha herself was regretting how naive her predictions had been. She never dreamed the enemy would be so powerful that they would need to use Blue Knight just to stall him. It put them at a disadvantage in more ways than one. If Koutarou wasn’t using Blue Knight to fight Vandarion, they would have used its accurate warp to escape already. But now they were stuck on the Cradle, braving what dangers may come to try and make it all the way back to the Hazy Moon. And though she was disappointed, Kiriha knew dwelling on it wouldn’t solve anything now. She quickly pulled herself together.

“Clan-dono, can’t you issue a remote order for the Hazy Moon to warp?”

Kiriha’s idea was to bring the Hazy Moon to them. Like Blue Knight, the Hazy Moon was a royal class battleship. It had warp capabilities far more accurate than standard ships. Kiriha wanted to make use of that and arrange a pickup of sorts.

“It’s possible, but then we wouldn’t be able to escape.”

Clan had her reservations about Kiriha’s plan. It was easy enough to bring the Hazy Moon in with a warp, but it would cost them their easy way out. Once the warp drive was used, it would have to be charged and serviced before they could use it again. And if they were unable to escape with a warp, the situation wouldn’t change all that much even with the Hazy Moon.

“That doesn’t matter, so please do it now!”

“I’m going to trust you on this one, Kii!”

In the end, however, Clan put her reservations aside and put her faith in Kiriha. Theia was still putting up a fight, but if they didn’t do something, things were only going to get worse. That’s why Clan believed Kiriha was in the right. It was better to do something—to try anything at all—than it was just to sit there and do nothing. Clan swiftly punched the necessary commands into her bracelet and gave her orders to the Hazy Moon.

Thanks to observation satellites, Theia and the others could be tracked from the space fortress. The sight of missiles and advanced weapons swarming after a single small spaceship was almost comical. Watching through one of the screens in the Type Two, even Vandarion was amused.

“Take a good look, Blue Knight! The empress and princesses are in danger because you’re taking your time!”

Vandarion no longer had any real interest in the fate of Elfaria and the princesses. With the Type Two that could now overwhelm Blue Knight despite their differences in size, Vandarion saw no value in things like hostages and negotiations. It certainly seemed like he didn’t need them. Ecstatic at the tremendous power he now held in his hands, Vandarion only considered the lives of Elfaria and the others tools to make Koutarou suffer. And as Vandarion’s power increased, so too did his hostility towards Koutarou.

“Hahaha, are you sure you don’t need to go save them?! You’re the guardian of the royal families, aren’t you?! The savior of this nation, right?! Both the royalty and the citizens are waiting for you to make an appearance!”

“Ugh... Please hold on, everyone!”

All Koutarou could do was pray, but he had to stay so focused on Vandarion that it was hard to do even that.

“Just you wait, Blue Knight! My dragon will devour all! Any moment now, you’ll get to experience the power Granado has given me for yourself!”

The Type Two put force into its arms and pushed the energy sword further back. Despite clearly having the upper hand now, all Vandarion was doing was pushing Koutarou back. He was determined to overwhelm him. He wanted him to taste the helplessness of utter, uncontested, humiliated defeat.

“I’m even using the boosters and I’m still being pushed back! Just how strong is that thing really?!”

As the Type Two pushed, Blue Knight was losing ground faster and faster. It was being shoved backward despite its legs bracing against the floor and its boosters resisting the force at max thrust. The power it was exerting to do that alone was extraordinary. The floor Blue Knight was standing on cracked and crumbled. The boosters had already blown out both the inner and outer walls of the fortress, revealing the stars outside. But even then, even with all that power, Blue Knight was still being pushed back. Blue Knight’s power was incredible, but the power the Type Two was draining from the fortress was truly unbelievable.

“I will rule everything! The universe will be my dominion! Do you think I’d challenge you with the same feeble power as two thousand years ago?! What a foolish thought!”

“I’ve changed too! I’m not the same as I was two thousand years ago!”

With things as they were, Koutarou made a bold decision. Several of Blue Knight’s weapons began pointing at the center of the space fortress. If Vandarion was getting his power from the fortress itself, Koutarou needed to destroy the reactor. He believed he stood a better chance of managing that than taking down Vandarion directly.

“How about this?!”

Pew, pew, pew!

Blue Knight unleashed a bombardment from the side of the ship. It excluded the main armament, but the firepower was still substantial. Blue Knight’s secondary weapons were comparable to a standard battleship’s main weapons. The attack was enough that Blue Knight tilted to the side from the recoil, even though it had mostly fired beams that had far less recoil than physical rounds.

“You fool! I anticipated you’d attack like that!”

Ping, ping, ping!

Blue Knight’s rain of beams never reached their target. They were all deflected by the Type Two’s barrier, which Koutarou discovered was protecting the space fortress’s generator as well.

“Even that’s no good, huh?!”

“I have the power to push back Blue Knight at full force, and you really thought a petty bombardment would do anything?!”

Wham!

“Whoa!”

Not missing the window of opportunity it had while Blue Knight was knocked off balance from attacking, the Type Two thrust forward and pushed the ship all the way back through the hole in the fortress and out into space. Of course, the Type Two’s attack didn’t end there.

Pew, pew, pew, pew, pew!

Drawing immense power from the fortress, the Type Two unleashed its own flurry of beams. They flew through the gaping hole in the fortress, straight for Blue Knight.

“Blue Knight, emergency―”

“Emergency deployment of the distortion field.”

Ping, ping! Crrrrrackle! Zzzt!

With so many powerful beams, even a royal class battleship like Blue Knight would be critically damaged if they all hit directly. Thankfully Blue Knight was able to get its barrier up in the nick of time, but it didn’t last long. The barrier quickly collapsed under the intense fire. Though worse for wear, the ship itself was able to survive the barrage.

“Wahahahaha, you’re just a shadow of your former glory! Looks like the legends are all myth and no substance! Pathetic!”

The Type Two exited the space fortress after the beams, but it was still connected to the facility by countless cables. Once the Type Two fully emerged, the fortress moved behind it to follow after it. They were moving together and functioning as one unit. In all of Forthorthe’s history, there had never been a weapon like this. It truly was the most terrifying thing anyone had ever seen.

What do I do?! How can I defeat a monster like that?!

Despite that, Koutarou still had to defeat the Type Two. He didn’t even want to imagine what Vandarion would do with it if he was left to his own devices. And in order to keep him from getting his way, Koutarou would be as reckless as he had to be to win.

“Blue Knight, change from battle mode to final attack mode.”

With those words, a change came over Koutarou. There was a stern look on his face and a strong resoluteness in his eyes. He looked like a man determined to use his last resort, no matter how much he’d wanted to avoid it.

“Authentication is required for activation of final attack mode.”

“My name is Layous Fatra Veltlion!”

“Authentication complete. Identity of the Blue Knight himself confirmed. Order accepted. As you wish, my lord.”

There were several warfare taboos in modern Forthorthe. One of them was the use of weapons that were overly destructive or inhumane, which covered things like the bioweapon Vandarion had once used. In order to use such a weapon, a person of adequate authority had to be the one to give the command. These weren’t the kind of weapons that could be used lightly in battle. Someone had to take responsibility when they were deployed.

“Irradiate a wide area with the Genesis Buster.”

“Due to the galactic treaty, a secondary confirmation is required for use of the Genesis Buster.”

“I repeat: ready the Genesis Buster.”

“Command accepted. Gunport opened. Genesis Buster is preparing to fire.”

Thunk!

Following Koutarou’s order, a gunport for a large-caliber weapon in Blue Knight’s left arm opened. The heavy sound it made was so loud that it reverberated through the entire ship. Energy began gathering deep inside the barrel and light started leaking out. However, the Genesis Buster wouldn’t attack with that energy. Instead, it would use something extremely dangerous created by that energy.

“Reduce Vandarion’s prized dragon and that fortress to photons!”

“Attention. Notice to the entire army: The flagship, Blue Knight, will now irradiate a wide area with its Genesis Buster. Retreat from the battlefield at once.”

The Genesis Buster wasn’t a ray weapon, but the term “irradiate” was used because of the light it would produce. Rather than light, however, what the Genesis Buster really fired was antimatter. When that came into contact with normal matter, both would be annihilated in an unimaginable flash of heat and light. The ultimate weapon that created primordial light—that was the Genesis Buster. It brought dawn to the eternal night of space.

“To think I’d end up using this...”

The Genesis Buster was the fated weapon that Theia had tried to unleash when she first met Koutarou. He felt like it was a weird twist of fate that he’d end up being the one to pull the trigger on it.

“Oh... Antimatter, is it? It’s the strongest known weapon in all of Forthorthe, which means if I can withstand it, there will no longer be anything capable of stopping me!”

Vandarion halted the Type Two and had it spread its arms out to either side. It was like he was inviting Koutarou to shoot.

Just watch, Granado! This dragon and space fortress you created will surpass the Blue Knight and the royal families!

Vandarion had absolute faith that he would accomplish his goal of ruling the universe. That fate had chosen him. That not even a legendary hero or the royal families could stop him. And, above all else, that the dragon and fortress that Granado left him would be the start of a new legend. Antimatter wouldn’t be enough to defeat him. Vandarion was just as sure of that as he was that the sun rose in the east.

“Shoot, Blue Knight! Then you’ll see that neither you nor Forthorthe can defeat me!”

“Your Excellency, the Genesis Buster is ready to fire.”

“Then fire!”

“Initiating Genesis Buster wide area irradiation. All personnel, prepare for shock and flash.”

Pwoooosh!

The initial firing itself was no different from any other beam, but just moments later, the torrent of antimatter emitted a dazzling light. The miniscule amount of matter that dotted the otherwise perfect vacuum of space was enough to cause a reaction with the antimatter, but that was merely a harbinger. Its true light wouldn’t be born until the antimatter collided with its target.

Clan’s Hazy Moon had inferior firepower and generator output compared to Blue Knight. That was because some of its function as a battleship had been compromised by the various modifications Clan had made to it over time. But even so, it was only inferior to Blue Knight. The Hazy Moon still far outstripped any normal battleship. And through the use of remote control, Clan put that firepower to full use as soon as the Hazy Moon warped in.

“So what do we do now, Kii?!”

Clan hurriedly gave orders to the Hazy Moon as she asked Kiriha for further instructions. The arrival of the Hazy Moon and the cover fire it offered had certainly helped. With fewer missiles and automated weapons on their tail, the danger to the Cradle had greatly decreased already. But it clearly wasn’t enough. There was still an uncomfortable number of enemy crafts closing in on them. Surely there was another step to this plan.

“You have other ships like the Cradle docked to the Hazy Moon, don’t you? I want you to send all of those out.”

“I see! So that was your plan...”

“Ruth, blind the enemy as the other ships are sent out. Maki and Yurika, I want you two to hide the Cradle while the enemies can’t see.”

What Kiriha had wanted wasn’t strictly the Hazy Moon, but rather the spaceships docked to it. The Cradle was a smaller craft intended for exploration, and it was one of many such vessels housed by the Hazy Moon. They were what Kiriha intended to use to deceive the enemy.

If the Cradle were to disappear on its own, the enemy’s automated weapons would comb the area for it. They’d find it right away. Kiriha would thwart that by releasing several ships and covertly hiding only the Cradle. That way the enemy crafts wouldn’t realize the Cradle had disappeared, and they would waste their time chasing down the other ships. It was similar to the way they’d used decoys of themselves to escape the space fortress.

Originally the plan had been to safely escape by warping out of the area, but with things as they were, simply hiding from the enemy would be a victory in itself. Hiding in the vastness of space would afford them a certain degree of safety. Kiriha was going to protect Elfaria and Ceilēshu without even having to use the warp.

“The missiles and automated weapons have begun chasing after the other ships. There are currently none following us. It looks like we managed to get away,” Ruth reported.

Fortunately, Kiriha’s plan proved effective. The enemy crafts and missiles followed the other ships, which led them away from the Cradle. Ruth was pleased at the report, but the other girls all felt a similar relief.

“Man... That was scary...” Yurika whimpered.

“This was a victory made possible by friendship!” Sanae cheered.

“It looks like we made it out in one piece. Ruth, let mother and Ceilēshu know,” Theia ordered.

“Thank god my weight didn’t have to increase any more...” Shizuka sighed.

However, their brief reprieve didn’t last long. Moments later, a siren began blaring in the Cradle’s bridge. Lights flashed on and off, alternating red and yellow.

Woo, woo, woo!

“What alarm is that?!”

“Attention. Notice to the entire army: The flagship, Blue Knight, will now irradiate a wide area with its Genesis Buster. Retreat from the battlefield at once.”

“The Genesis Buster?! Ruth, what is happening over on Blue Knight right now?!”

Theia, of course, was the first to react. Having initiated the sequence herself once before, she knew exactly what that message meant. Ruth was feeling the same tension and sense of urgency Theia was, and she reported the situation to her princess in a near scream.

“The Blue Knight and the Type Two are both alive and well! It seems that the Type Two is being supplied with energy from the space fortress, and neither the anti-ship energy sword nor bombardments are working on it!”

“What kind of technology would it have to be using to be that strong?!”

“No, it’s not technology at all!”

It was Sanae that answered Theia. She was the one with the best grasp of the situation right now because he could tell where the Type Two’s terrifying power was really coming from.

“What do you mean?!” Theia demanded.

“The power is coming from the guy in the dragon’s head! He’s getting more and more evil power from that whirl! The power from that big machine thing is just for show!”

Fighting Koutarou had only produced more anger and hatred in Vandarion’s heart. He was unhappy that the royal families had showered their support on Koutarou alone. Koutarou had even been given Signaltin while Vandarion had gotten nothing. And on top of all of that, his best friend who had supported him in everything he did, Granado, was now gone. It was unthinkable. It was unforgivable.

Vandarion was going to steal all that Koutarou loved, destroy it, and then dominate Forthorthe, or else he would never feel satisfied. It was that overly intense desire and malice that fed the gates of hell inside the Type Two. But the gates of hell didn’t stop at turning emotions into energy. They broke through the walls between dimensions to summon the power of chaos from an even higher plane of existence. That was the truth behind the Type Two’s abnormal strength.

However, Vandarion was just a normal human and there was a limit to his comprehension of these matters. It was only reasonable that he assumed the power at his fingertips was coming from the space fortress rather than magic or a higher plane. Even if he had an inkling of the supernatural power at play, he attributed it to Granado. It was the creations he’d left behind that were overpowering the Blue Knight, after all. And so, inadvertently, Vandarion made it look like the power of chaos was being supplied by the cables from the fortress. The only one who knew better was Sanae, who could see the flow of chaos directly.

“Impossible! You’re saying the Type Two is just a puppet to Vandarion?!”

“Your Highness, Blue Knight is firing the Genesis Buster now! I’m bringing it up on screen!”

The moment that Theia realized what Sanae was trying to say, there was a flash of brilliant, pure white light. It was a primordial light born to correct the twisted, discolored impurities of the universe. The Type Two, the space fortress, and everything around them were caught up in the light that shone like the sun.

The energy born from the collision and subsequent annihilation of antimatter and regular matter far exceeded any nuclear reaction that could be created by the same amount of fuel. It released a mind-boggling amount of energy in a flash of light. Nothing could survive such an overwhelmingly destructive blast of force. Even Forthorthe’s strongest royal class battleships would be finished by a mere glancing blow. The same should have been true for the Type Two and the space fortress.

“Ha... Hahaha! Hahahahaha! Granado! Hey, Granado! Are you watching?! Can you see the Type Two?! It even repelled antimatter! This is true power! With this, the universe will be mine!”

Defying all logic, Vandarion and the Elder Dragon Type Two ALUNAYA withstood the Genesis Buster. It was a feat that exceeded anything that could be expected of even the most advanced Forthorthian technology, and the sight of it made Vandarion’s threats of dominating the universe seem all the more real. There was no longer anything that could stop him.

“Vandarion... What are you...”

Koutarou was so shocked that he could barely form a proper sentence, but his surprise was less about the Type Two or the Genesis Buster and more about Vandarion himself.

“Almost all of the Type Two’s head was blown away... yet you’re still there...”

The Type Two and the space fortress hadn’t gone unharmed by the attack. The Type Two had damage all over its body, and the space fortress was partially destroyed. There were explosions happening all over the place. Even with how strong they were, there was no blocking an antimatter cannon. But that just highlighted the uncanny strangeness of the situation. From what Koutarou could see, the Type Two’s head had taken the brunt of the damage.

The Type Two had two controllers. There was the subcontroller stretching from the back of the neck to the spine, and the main controller in the head. The subcontroller had been destroyed by Nana before the battle even really began, which meant that Vandarion could only have been in the main controller. The Type Two’s head, however, had been obliterated by the antimatter cannon. All that remained of it was the scorched lower jaw and stump of a neck. Everything above that was gone. Yet even so, Koutarou was still hearing Vandarion’s voice over his comms system. Focusing on his eyes, Koutarou could see a concentration of will where the Type Two’s head should have been. Overturning all reason, even though his body was no more, Vandarion remained in place and he was still intent on killing Koutarou and ruling the universe.

“Hahahaha! Now it’s proven that nobody can stop me anymore! I am the supreme being of Forthorthe!”

Vandarion himself hadn’t realized what had happened. With what could be heard of his shouting through his destroyed comms system, it was obvious the power of chaos was twisting his view of the world, allowing Vandarion to see only the reality he wanted to. It was a world where he got everything he wanted. Even as a spirit, Vandarion was the avatar of avarice.

“Even if that’s the case, I can’t let you roam free in the world of man.”

Koutarou had begun to understand what was happening with Vandarion. That absurd power behind him was a lot like what had happened with Tayuma and Purple, but Vandarion twisting the rules of reality was clearly something different. With Tayuma and Purple, the changes had been inherent to themselves. Vandarion, however, was bending the very logic of the universe. If he escaped in this unnatural form, his rampage would know no bounds. It would be setting a literally unstoppable monster loose on Forthorthe.

“Vandarion, it’s my responsibility to defeat you, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

Clank!

Koutarou readied Blue Knight’s sword. There was a certain intimidation factor to a hulking humanoid battleship lifting an energy sword several hundred meters long, but the Type Two was an even more fearsome sight.

“The hell you are! I’ve waited a long time to kill you! A thousand, two thousand... No, even longer! I’ve waited so, so long for this moment, burning out my very soul for the power and the chance to destroy you! I’ll be the one who wins! I’m going to kill you! And this time, I will take everything for myself!”

Vandarion had already lost his human form, and his trusted dragon was falling apart. But his intense will—his burning desire to kill Koutarou and ruin the royal families—kept his existence in this world. It was an awe-inspiring, forbidding sight. It was almost as if he really was the supreme ruler.

“Playtime is over! It’s time to disappear, Blue Knight! There’s no room for you in the world I rule!”

Obeying Vandarion’s will, the Type Two and the space fortress advanced towards Blue Knight. At first glance, they didn’t appear to be moving very quickly, but it was merely a trick of the eye due to their massive sizes. In reality, they were moving faster than any battleship could. As Koutarou was advancing in Blue Knight as well, the distance between them closed quickly.

“Vandariooon!”

“Dieeee!”

Both sides attacked at practically the same time. Koutarou was repeatedly firing beams out of the anti-ship energy sword in shooting mode to try and inhibit Vandarion. Vandarion countered with his own beams, but then something strange happened. With no warning, beams fired from the Type Two’s head, or where it should have been. The actually head had been destroyed by the Genesis Buster, but it was like it was still there and functional.

“That’s useless! Absolutely useless! Even a mosquito bite hurts more!”

As Vandarion continued charging forward without a care, the beams Koutarou fired scored hit after hit on the Type Two and the fortress, causing major damage. But it had no effect on Vandarion whatsoever. For each hole opened by the beams, a dim, grey energy flooded the openings and recreated the destroyed parts. The recreated parts looked less mechanical and more organic than the original, but they functioned the same nevertheless. To Koutarou, it felt like the Type Two was only getting stronger.

Reality around him is bending to his will! That’s a frightening amount of control!

Blue Knight, however, had no such power. Koutarou had to dodge or block what Vandarion threw at him, and he dexterously moved the machine to avoid Vandarion’s beams. He didn’t have Theia or Ruth to support him, but the safety had been released, and he could tell where the beams would go with his spirit sight. He could dodge a normal barrage.

“Quit moving around!”

“Take this!”

Once he made it through the rain of beams, Koutarou pushed forward. Blue Knight approached the Type Two, sword swinging.

“Bring it, Blue Knight!”

The Type Two prepared to intercept Blue Knight with its ghostly claws and fangs. Their lethal strikes clashed in the middle of space.

Clank!

The momentum of the blows largely cancelled each other out, but Blue Knight was sent backward by the impact. It was simply lacking the mass the combined Type Two and space fortress had. Charging into them was like a compact car crashing into an eighteen-wheeler.

“Urgh!”

“I’ll crush you like this! Just like you tried to do!”

Blue Knight and the Type Two were face to face again. Based on the small movements of what remained of its lower jaw, Koutarou imagined that the Type Two was grinning. But he had no time to contemplate the dragon’s expression. At the rate things were going, he was going to be smashed into an asteroid or satellite. Vandarion could easily use their difference in mass to throw Blue Knight around.

“Oh, I’m not going to let you get away, Blue Knight! I’ll smash you to pieces for all of Forthorthe to see! You’ll die right along with your stupid legend!”

“N-No...”

Something that looked like grey arms stretched out from the space fortress and firmly grabbed hold of Blue Knight’s wrists, keeping Koutarou from going anywhere. Vandarion, however, continued pushing forwards, activating the space fortress’s thrusters in a beeline for a nearby asteroid.

“Come on, what’s the matter? Aren’t you going to run?”

“Not good! I’ll be crushed at this rate!”

The asteroid in question was an imported lump of ice that was used to produce water. The facilities on it, however, had been hijacked by Vandarion and were being used to broadcast footage of the battle throughout Forthorthe. Smashing Blue Knight into that would give the people a particularly shocking shot of their hero being destroyed. It would be everything Vandarion could hope for out of Koutarou’s death, and with that thought, he picked up more and more speed.

“Look, Granado! Watch as I put an end to the Blue Knight! Our wish will finally be granted!”

“Blue Knight, full thrust!”

“You fool! There’s no way that this space fortress would lose in a battle of strength against a mere battleship! You will die here! So just accept your fate and become the first step of my road to supreme rule!”

“Come on!”

Koutarou fired all his weapons, maxed out his boosters, and tried everything else he could think of to escape this predicament, but nothing yielded results. At the rate things were going, Blue Knight would be helplessly dashed against the icy asteroid. Since they were comparable in size, both asteroid and Blue Knight would likely be smashed into pieces.

“Sorry for keeping you waiting, Koutarou-kun!”

Pew, pew, pew, pew, pew!

As a familiar voice came over Blue Knight’s comms, several energy shells came raining down from above. They pierced through the grey arms stretching out from the space fortress, freeing Blue Knight and allowing Koutarou to get out of the way of the asteroid.

“If you’re going to attack, how about you actually aim for the enemy?”

“Say what you will, but I was in bit of a hurry.”

The energy shells had been fired from a spaceship that was smaller than a standard destroyer. It was a highly mobile combat vessel equipped with a large generator and versatile armaments.

“Then don’t hold back. You’re a good shot, aren’t you?”

“Sure. But you should know my tardiness is partially your fault too, Koutarou-kun. Because you bought up DKI, this was just left neglected.”

“Well, anyways... Thanks, Elexis.”

“How bizarre... You know, hearing you say that doesn’t sound so bad.”

The one operating the combat vessel overhead was Elexis. He’d fixed up the ship, which had been left in one of DKI’s warehouses, and chased after Koutarou and the others in it. He figured that, depending on how things went, they might need the extra firepower.

“Curse you, DKI whelp! Peskily showing up just when I was about to settle things once and for all!”

Vandarion seethed when he realized the extent of Elexis’s interference. He was of course surprised at his arrival, but he was even more surprised that Elexis’s attack had been effective against the Type Two and the space fortress. It irritated him to no end, stoking his sense of rivalry.

“Your turn’s already come and gone, DKI brat!”

“I’m just a young master now. Koutarou-kun bought up DKI, after all. That being said, this machine is without a doubt a piece of DKI craftsmanship. That attack was surprisingly effective, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, what kind of magic did you use?”

Koutarou was just as interested as Vandarion was in the attack that had done real damage to the Type Two where the Genesis Buster had failed.

“Go on, Maya,” Elexis urged her. “You explain it.”

“Fine... It’s simple. No matter how powerful they may be, the gates of hell are maintained with magic. You only need something to negate that.”

Elexis had fired special energy shells to get Vandarion to back off of Koutarou. From there they grouped up. They were going to work together and fight.

“I’m amazed you had something so convenient,” Koutarou commented.

“We developed them so that we could safely use the gates of hell. We learned after our experience with Purple,” Maya explained.

Their original plan to use the gates of hell to defeat Koutarou wasn’t a bad idea. But having realized the danger of it all after Purple ran amok, they created a weapon that nullified magic. Using that weapon to save Koutarou was nothing short of ironic, although the primary reason Elexis and Maya had brought it with them was so that they could nullify Green’s Future Forecast. While it hadn’t ended up being necessary to save Green after all, it was certainly proving its worth now.

“Wouldn’t you have won if you’d used this during our last fight?” Koutarou asked.

“Just winning there like that would have no meaning whatsoever. We can’t become like Vandarion has, can we?” Elexis countered.

“No, absolutely not.”

And so Koutarou and Elexis stood side by side again. They weren’t after the same future, but they both needed Forthorthe to remain intact to pursue their dreams. If it meant facing an enemy who threatened that, they were both willing to put their individual goals aside and work together for a greater good. For common ground. They could always settle their differences once the world had been saved.

“Crawling up like insects, one after another! How pestering!”

“Unlike you, we’re weak, so we need to team up to survive.”

As Koutarou said that, he recalled Sanae once saying that it was the privilege of heroes of justice to team up together. Koutarou and Elexis weren’t exactly heroes of justice, but as they were now, working together to fight evil, Sanae’s assessment was close enough. Koutarou found it so amusing that he unintentionally laughed.

“What’s so funny?!” Vandarion fumed.

“It’s just as you say. We insects have to come out in droves.”

“Oh? Koutarou-kun, do you have an idea?”

Elexis changed channels and radioed in to only Koutarou so that Vandarion couldn’t hear. Even with anti-magic energy shells, they wouldn’t stand a chance without a plan. In terms of raw power, Vandarion still had an overwhelming advantage.

“Even an insect can take out a giant with a poison sting, I suppose.”

“I’m planning on doing it like the Blue Knight.”

“Like the Blue Knight, you say?”

“Yeah. A method you’re very familiar with.”

Koutarou didn’t give a clear answer to Elexis’s question. He knew there was still a chance Vandarion was eavesdropping on them even on a private, encrypted channel.

“Hmm, I see...”

Elexis has known Koutarou for a long time, and he had a good grasp of his personality. He could imagine what Koutarou meant by handling this like the Blue Knight.

“But... are you really okay with that?” Elexis asked.

“There’s no other way. I don’t have the luxury to choose my means.”

“My, that really is unfair, Koutarou-kun.”

“What now, all of a sudden?”

“It’s because you keep doing that that the royal families and citizens keep giving their all. Two thousand years or more...”

“Yeah, well, I’m counting on you for the rest, Elexis. It’s a strange turn of events, but you’re all I have.”

“I can’t really promise anything. There’s no guarantee that I’ll make it out safely myself.”

“Then I guess we’ll both just have to trust in our comrades.”

“Indeed. Let’s leave the rest to them while we do something about this.”

“Yeah!”

Clank!

Koutarou had Blue Knight ready the energy sword once again. Just like before, he repeatedly fired beams while charging forward. Vandarion reacted the same way too. The Type Two and the space fortress charged forward again to meet Koutarou and Elexis.

“It seems like you were plotting something, but I’ll just crush you together now!”

But unlike last time, Elexis’s combat vessel was behind Koutarou. With his assistance, things would unfold differently.

Elexis’s combat vessel charged after Koutarou. Inside the bridge, which was almost the size of a cockpit, were Elexis and Maya. The vessel had been designed so that it could be comfortably operated with a crew of two.

“We’re supporting Koutarou-kun’s charge!”

“Are you sure you don’t need to be stopping him?”

“I’d love to, but he’s the Blue Knight!”

“All right, all right.”

Elexis’s combat vessel was named Gelaurudis after a famous female Forthorthian pirate. He thought it was appropriate.

“Maya, go all out!”

“Are you really okay with me doing that?”

“It’s the only way if we want to survive.”

“Good answer. Then let’s go, El!”

Maya’s body was largely a machine, so by modifying a few connections, it was possible for her to freely operate the ship. She was currently sitting in the pilot’s seat, but she wasn’t touching the controls. Since she was directly hooked to the ship, there was no need for that. In other words, the ship flew however she wanted. And since Maya had plenty of combat experience, its movements were very logical and sharp. Indeed, Elexis thought the ship was quite aptly named.

“Now go forth like the Blue Knight, Koutarou-kun!”

“Leave it to me! You just do what you need to as the young master!”

“Ha! Allow me to live up to your expectations!”

Elexis’s primary role was attacking, but he was also in charge of the use of various equipment and the comms. In short, he was in charge of everything that Maya couldn’t do as she steered the ship. Elexis had a tendency to take his time while aiming, but in return, his shooting was quite accurate. With Maya’s expert steering and Elexis’s precise marksmanship, despite being a comparatively small vessel, Gelaurudis’s combat capabilities surpassed that of a standard destroyer.

“El, it can’t be seen yet, but there’s a flow of mana coming from two o’clock! Something is coming from over there, so blow it away!”

“Understood!”

Pew, pew, pew, pew, pew!

The most outstanding trait of the ship, however, was its ability to deal with enemies protected by magic. The ability to convert between physical energy, spiritual energy, and mana was a specialty of DKI and Darkness Rainbow, and Gelaurudis put that to use. The main armament of the vessel converted the vast energy born from the generator into mana, and then reversed the magic polarity of that mana to create and fire anti-magic shells. Against regular targets, it didn’t do anything a normal energy shell wouldn’t, but against targets protected by magic, it had the powerful effect of cutting through that magic. It worked similarly to Signaltin, but it was controlled more scientifically.

“Curse you and your pesky tricks, you little brat!”

“Vandarion, you stole that power of yours from us. Of course we know its weakness!”

The anti-magic shells fired by Elexis broke the mana that Vandarion was concentrating on into pieces and stopped it dead in its tracks. Vandarion had been trying to create a massive whip of mana to sweep away Koutarou, Elexis, and Maya at the same time. But with his plan nipped in the bud, he grew even more resentful of Elexis. Elexis had leisurely waltzed onto the stage Vandarion had carefully created to destroy the Blue Knight and the royal families. His meddling was unforgivable. Vandarion’s aim shifted from Blue Knight to Elexis and Maya’s combat vessel. Part of the reason was to put an end to their annoying ability to nullify his magic, but most of it was because Vandarion didn’t like Elexis.

“Die! Die, die, dieee!”

The space fortress fired a hail of missiles. It was debatable if they were actually missiles or not, but since Vandarion thought of them as such, they traced an elegant arc in the air like Vandarion was used to seeing and assaulted the combat vessel.

“Elexis!”

“Don’t worry about us, Koutarou-kun! Just keep on charging!”

“He’s right, boy! Believe in us a little, will you?!”

Maya skillfully avoided the flurry of incoming missiles. Rather than having eyes in the back of her head, it was more like she had eyes in all directions. Subtly accelerating, decelerating, and rotating, Maya dodged the missiles by a hair’s breadth.

“El, work harder!”

“I am! And you know I am!”

“That’s not enough to be my man!”

Of course, Elexis’s cooperation was a necessity. There were missiles that Maya couldn’t avoid even with her expert steering, and the combat vessel was still in one piece because Elexis was able to shoot those down.

“You’re a terrible woman, you know... Although I suppose that’s one of your good points, really...”

“Did you say something?!”

“I said I love you.”

“You filthy liar!”

Not only were Elexis and Maya safe, but they had likely distracted Vandarion long enough that Koutarou would be fine as well. Blue Knight continued forward in a charge. Vandarion tried to attack here and there, but it was only to try and restrain his movements. After surviving the Genesis Buster, Vandarion didn’t really consider Blue Knight that much of a threat. Moreover, since Vandarion considered Koutarou a bitter rival, he wanted to save the main dish for last. He’d have to take care of Elexis and Maya before then.

“Argh, moving around like a pesky little dragonfly!”

Growing increasingly irritated at being unable to shoot down Elexis and Maya, Vandarion decided to go for a more drastic attack. Instead of using multiple, extremely mobile missiles like he had been, he opted for a slower-moving one.

“Maya, that’s a colony buster!”

“What’s that?!”

“It’s what it sounds like—a massive missile used to destroy space colonies or strategic sites in a single hit! It’s sluggish, but it’s equipped with a powerful warhead that’s enough to blow us to pieces even if it doesn’t hit us directly!”

“Now of all times?! Do something about it, El!”

Vandarion’s plan was simple. If the fast missiles couldn’t catch them, he’d finish them off with a missile that had a massive blast radius. Even if their Gelaurudis was swift, its small frame made it especially vulnerable to large explosions. If they even got close to one, they would be done for.

“I’d be happy to, but you’ll have to hold your horses!”

Since they’d be through if the missile got close, Elexis would need to snipe it from afar, which wouldn’t be an easy feat with a swarm of missiles chasing them down. While the size of the large missile made it an easier target than most, it still wasn’t something that could be done right away just because someone said so.

“All right!”

A few seconds after the missile launched and Elexis took aim, there was a bright flash. The missile in question had been hit. While the explosion was considerably larger because it was in a vacuum, there was no sound for the same reason. The flash of light was the only proof the missile had been destroyed.

“Jeez, that’s bad for my heart.”

“I’ll gladly make you as many hearts as you need.”

Fortunately, the explosion was far enough away that the Gelaurudis was unharmed, but it could have been a dangerous situation if they’d taken just a few seconds longer. Knowing that, both of them were extremely relieved.

“Jeez, you idiot! Now’s not the time to be saying things like that!”

Though she had relaxed for a moment, Maya quickly pulled herself together. The radar she was connected to detected more large missiles.

“Three more of the same were launched! They’re all headed this way!”

“I shouldn’t have said as many as you need!”

“You really are an idiot!”

A single missile was enough to send shivers down their spines, and now there were three. The situation was bad in triplicate. They now had to process three times the targets moving to surround them before they got too close.

“Elexis, leave one to me!”

Fortunately, Koutarou relieved some of that burden. One of the missiles would pass near Blue Knight, so he volunteered to intercept it for them. Blue Knight had much more serious hull integrity and better barrier output than Elexis’s small combat vessel. It wouldn’t be a problem unless it went off right next to it.

“I’d be happy to, Koutarou-kun! That leaves only two!”

“Hurry up and shoot them down, El!”

“That’s exactly what I’m trying to do!”

Despite the bewildering movements Maya was making as she dodged incoming fire, Elexis started shooting down the other missiles as they approached. The highest priority was of course the larger ones, but they were still done for if one of the smaller missiles made a direct hit. Suppressing his emotions and remaining calm, Elexis slowly but surely disposed of the missiles one by one.

“There’s the first!”

The umpteenth destroyed missiles unleashed a flash of light much brighter than the rest. It was one of the large missiles. Koutarou destroyed the large missile near him at almost the same time, leaving only one left.

“The last one is―”

“El!”

Bang!

An intense impact shook Elexis and Maya. Gelaurudis had been hit.

“What happened?!”

“It was a laser! He shot us using the flash as cover!”

The moment the bright flash from the colony buster lit up the area, the large laser cannon installed on the Type Two’s body sniped combat vessel. From the angle it was fired, the laser moved in a straight line and scored a direct hit. Elexis and Maya shifting some of their attention away from the Type Two and the space fortress had come back to bite them. But not even the most competent soldier was perfect. Vandarion simply had more battle experience, and he’d taken an opportunistic move.

“How’s the damage look?!”

“The second and fourth anti-magic cannons are offline! The third is critical! Eighteen percent of the posture control thrusters are malfunctioning, and mobility has decreased by 8 percent!”

The damage to the combat vessel was severe. Almost half of the cannons capable of firing the anti-magic shells had been rendered unusable. Moreover, the thrusters for posture control had also been damaged, drastically reducing the ship’s mobility. It was clear that either was a fatal problem in a situation like this.

“Muahahahaha! What’s the matter, brat?! Done already?!”

Vandarion boasted triumphantly. He could tell what kind of damage Elexis’s ship had taken, and the end of him would mean the end of Koutarou. The end of Forthorthe. With one shot, he’d put the country in checkmate.

“Elexis!”

“We’re okay, Koutarou-kun! Let’s charge in!”

Elexis swiftly decided on a plan and accelerated the combat vessel. Having a large generator and thrusters for its size, the combat vessel shot forward. It was still being targeted with missiles and lasers, but it went so fast that it seemed to be ignoring most of them. Koutarou hurriedly set his boosters to max thrust and chased after Elexis and Maya.

“What are you going to do?!” Koutarou called in over the comms.

“Now that it’s come to this, we can’t bother with appearances! We don’t have much time!” Elexis responded.

With only half of his attack power and his mobility dropping, Elexis knew that they’d be at a bigger disadvantage the longer they waited. That meant they had to end things quickly—before Vandarion could act—no matter how big of a risk it meant taking. Elexis believed that this would be their last chance.

“How unlike you, Elexis...”

“I’ve gradually been swayed by your way of doing things, Koutarou-kun.”

The combat vessel continued to speed forward in what was practically a straight line. That made it easier for the laser to take aim at them, but Elexis didn’t seem to mind. No matter how many lasers grazed the ship, it only continued to accelerate.

Of course, the missiles also had an easy time chasing a target moving in a straight line. Following after the combat vessel, the missiles began forming a swarm. Elexis continuously bombarded them, but he wasn’t seeing much return on his efforts. The smaller missiles were serving as shields for the larger ones and lasers, preventing Elexis from hitting his real targets.

“Well then, Elexis, would you like to join my band of knights?”

“That sounds good. Could you look after those girls too?”

“That’ll depend on how hard you work.”

“Perfect! I was just about to show that off!”

Elexis accelerated even more, charging straight at the Type Two and the space fortress like he intended to ram them. Not even Blue Knight could keep up with that kind of acceleration. Only the missiles stalking them trailed behind Gelaurudis. Their remaining anti-magic cannons all turned towards the bow and opened fire.

“What, you want to die an honorable death now that you’ve been cornered?! Even though you have a weapon that might harm this machine, do you really think that it can be destroyed by a desperate act like that?!”

Vandarion bombarded Elexis’s vessel with lasers. As it closed in, several of the shots hit and the vessel took major damage. But even so, it didn’t relent in its fearless charge. Even Koutarou began suspecting that Elexis was going to sacrifice himself to ram the Type Two.

“The bet ends here. We win, Vandarion.”

“What?!”

“I’m dropping the crystal, El! Hang on tight!”

The lower hatch of Gelaurudis opened, and something large poked through. It was a massive crystal emitting white light, which promptly exited the hatch. As it did, the Gelaurudis took a sharp turn and just barely missed colliding with the Type Two and the space fortress. Elexis’s real goal had been to slam the glowing white large crystal into them.

“You think you could defeat me with something like this?!”

Vandarion’s intuition told him that the crystal wasn’t a threat. He couldn’t detect any high energy readings or explosives from it. Since he didn’t understand magic, he had no way of knowing that the crystal was the source of their anti-magic shells.

“Go! Create a path for Koutarou-kun! Carve open the future for Maya, Darkness Rainbow, and all Folsaria!”

Since he’d already lost to Koutarou, Elexis considered his most pressing concern to be the promise he made to Maya and the others, and that was to arrange for the return of Folsaria on equal footing with Forthorthe. Elexis hadn’t worked together with Koutarou just to save Green. It was a necessary step in the future of Folsaria.

Kabooooom!

There was an intense shockwave that shook space itself. As magic and anti-magic collided, it sent out a surge of mana that flooded the surrounding area. It crashed into Gelaurudis’s magic barrier in a roaring explosion, but the main explosion happened after that.

The second explosion, a nonmagical one, made no sound at all. In terms of scale, however, it was on a completely different level from the first. It was the swarm of missiles that had been chasing after the combat vessel all exploding at once. The annihilation of magic and anti-magic had left a big hole in the ship’s barrier, and the missiles poured in through that hole.

Gelaurudis took massive damage from the explosions. While it had escaped collision with the Type Two and the space fortress, it hadn’t been able to withstand two explosions one after another. Having already taken serious damage, the alarm in the bridge screamed as red and yellow warning lights flashed. Finding them annoying, Elexis cut them off.

“That’s better,” he muttered.

“Jeez, it’s finally quiet,” Maya sighed.

Once the alarm was cut off, silence filled the bridge. Most of the ship’s instruments had already stopped functioning, and the damaged systems had cut off. There was nothing left to make noise in the ship, and since they were in the vacuum of space, there was no sound coming from the outside either. The only thing still working was the monitor displaying what was happening outside. The screen showed twinkling stars on a pure black background.

“Hey, El.”

“What?”

Maya and Elexis sat side by side on the double-seater, staring at the monitor together as they began talking. The steering system had been compromised, so the ship couldn’t change direction. The comms system wasn’t working either. And without a way to steer or call for help, they were left helplessly drifting through space. Talking to each other was all they could do.

“Do you think the boy will win?”

“Of course. He’s the Blue Knight, you know.”

“Is that your pride as a Forthorthian talking?”

“He’ll definitely win. It’s Koutarou-kun, after all.”

“Yeah... Then I guess there’s no need to worry. Those girls will survive, and Folsaria will too...”

“Don’t worry. Like I said, it’s Koutarou-kun we’re talking about.”

“That’s true. Heh...”

Maya leaned on Elexis’s shoulder and lightly laughed. Elexis’s eyes opened wide in surprise for a moment, but in the end, he simply smiled and said nothing about it.

“Hey, Maya, do you remember when I asked if you wanted to voyage to the sea of stars if we lost?”

“I remember refusing that.”

“How harsh. But I’ll ask once more... Why don’t you go on a voyage with me?”

“Hahh... You could just be honest and say that there’s no way of getting back.”

They had done all they could. They were both convinced of that, so neither of them had any regrets. And here, alone together and sharing that feeling, the mood between them was quite different from usual. Whether or not either of them really noticed it would forever be a mystery, but it was clear that they were both enjoying themselves.

“I can’t help it. I’m a romantic after all.”

“I know that. It’s one of your good points.”

“You’re being awfully nice today. What brought that on?”

“It’s because the stars are beautiful.”

“It’s the perfect weather for a voyage, isn’t it?”

“Heh, let’s leave it at that...”

The small ship carrying the two of them quietly ventured into the vastness of space. Having lived their lives under constant pressure to fight and defend themselves, neither one of them had ever had such a quiet moment. This was the first either one of them had attained true peace of mind. Nobody knew how long their voyage would last, but both of them knew better than anyone that no matter how long it might be, not a second of it would be wasted.