Ch.124Extinction Device (9)

# Chapter 124: Extinction Device (9)

-KWAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Perhaps it was because of the massive amount of energy being released all at once.

The main cannon’s muzzle and part of the frontal armor of my small, precious Leviathan couldn’t withstand the energy and melted into a puddle.

But the firepower obtained at such a small cost was truly astonishing.

“Screen restored!”

Although most of the external cameras had been blocked right after firing to shield against the tremendous light, heat, and energy.

After the main cannon finished firing.

When the massive amount of light disappeared and the cameras were extended from their hatches, the sight that greeted us was…

“Ooooh…!!”

“We did it, we did it!”

The “head” of the Extinction Core, which had been displaying such a relaxed attitude before us, now had a hole wide enough to be compared to the full width of our battleship.

“It completely penetrated through.”

“…Hmm.”

Contrary to my expectations, the hole was so large that we could see the opposite side of this central area where we were located.

Just as I was about to clench my fists in excitement at this absolutely spectacular sight,

‘Oh right, Riel!’

I immediately called Riel, who should have been launched right after we fired the main cannon.

‘Surely she wasn’t caught up in our main cannon blast…?’

Of course, I was confident that couldn’t have happened, so I naturally expected Riel to answer the communication, but…

-Beeeeeep…

‘…Huh?’

The moment I heard the sound that only occurs when communications can’t be received.

‘No way, no way, no way, no way.’

All kinds of terrible thoughts rushed into my head, while I felt the blood draining from my body and my chest tightening.

‘No, don’t bullshit me, there’s no way Riel would die so meaninglessly.’

Having fallen into a complete panic, I quickly began hyperventilating, which only intensified my panic.

“Minister?”

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?”

Seeing my condition, people around me rushed over, and I was about to think that Riel might actually be dead, but…

At that moment.

-Crackle…beep!

-“Minister! …shit, I’ve got…hurry!”

Through the bridge’s communication system, Riel was signaling the success of the operation.

Although the static was so severe that I couldn’t understand properly.

The moment I heard those words, all my debuffs were removed, and I let out a sigh of relief.

“Phewww…yes, success.”

However, there was the minor embarrassment of the people who had rushed over in alarm now looking at me with strange expressions.

“What are you all doing? Quickly get back to your tasks.”

“Yes, sir!”

Since what mattered to me was that Riel was safe, I quickly dismissed those looks and contacted Riel.

“So Riel, the operation was successful?”

-“Yep! But…Ash… this isn’t working well…”

But since the communication was still poor, I asked a nearby operator about it.

“Why is the communication like this?”

“It seems that the massive particles generated by this ship’s main cannon firing are disrupting the communication waves.”

“Hmm.”

“I’m afraid we’ll just have to wait for this to naturally subside, Minister.”

At the operator’s words, I leaned back in my throne and decided to wait for Riel’s return.

-“Ah shit! …can’t…go…dammit!”

-Bang! Crack! Kwa…bang!

All while listening to the ASMR of Riel’s various curses and work sounds as she collected the Ash.

And just a few seconds later.

-Crackle…

-“Minister! I got the Ash!!”

As if the particle storm had subsided, Riel contacted me through a much clearer video communication.

-“So Minister, could you please send a shuttle for me?”

At Riel’s words, I felt my head tilting involuntarily as I calmly replied.

“…Weren’t you going to follow the plan?”

-“…Huh?”

At Riel’s voice, which seemed to say “don’t lie,” I pointed my finger toward Riel’s lower area and said:

“The Extinction Core is already undergoing a chain reaction due to energy backflow from the main body, so you can return according to the original plan.”

-“Ah shit!”

Unlike the main cannon I had just fired.

Since these were just sporadic explosions rather than one massive detonation, there was no way Riel would die from them.

I decided to watch the situation with a much more relaxed attitude than before.

And not long after…

-KWANG!

-“TALLYHOOOOOOO!!!!”

With some strange battle cry, Riel used the massive explosive force to land back on my small, precious Leviathan.

Moreover, as she landed with debris created when the biogel she had attached to shield herself from the explosion burned away.

‘Oh.’

It reminded me of a superhero landing from a superhero movie in my previous life, and I inwardly exclaimed in admiration.

After seeing this, I was about to have Riel return inside the ship…

“Minister, I’m sorry but the ship’s power systems haven’t recovered yet.”

“Hmm.”

Hearing that the power systems still hadn’t recovered, I nodded and said to Riel:

“Riel, sorry but please wait there for a while.”

-“Why though?”

“The power systems aren’t normalized yet, so even if I want to let you in, the hatches won’t open.”

After saying just that and ending the communication.

‘Ah, that was exhausting.’

I felt the tension in my body finally releasing with the thought that everything was now over.

The power system recovery would take at most a few minutes anyway.

After that, we would leave the destroyed Extinction Core and the now inactive fortress planet, and return to the Empire through the gate that should still be open.

Thanks to that, the return journey would be very comfortable, and I was just thinking about catching up on some much-needed sleep when.

-CRACKLE!!

Startled by the sudden communication noise, I straightened my back in surprise.

Of course, such noise could happen anytime, so I was about to slouch again, but…

-Crackle…click!

-“You, ship, betrayal…”

“Oh my.”

That unexpected but familiar voice.

When the voice that the Extinction Core’s AI had been using came through the ship’s communication network, I felt a chill run down my spine.

And everyone else had the same reaction, so it was only natural that the cheerful atmosphere inside the ship instantly froze.

Of course, regardless of our reactions, the Extinction Core’s voice continued to come through the broadcast.

-“Language, language…sentient?”

“Ah.”

-“Sentient! You, betrayal!”

Apparently having discovered Riel and Ash outside the ship, the Extinction Core’s voice was expressing clear hatred even through the garbled transmission.

And at that moment, a new event message appeared before my eyes…

-Ding♬

[Pause]

[Event: The method of final struggle is always predetermined.]

[The Extinction Core, believing it had control over all situations, has suffered irreversible massive damage due to its carelessness.]

[Especially since the core part responsible for most calculations has been completely destroyed, it would normally have waited for death in an almost vegetative state, but…]

[By chance, part of the Extinction Core’s consciousness has succeeded in avoiding eternal death and surviving.]

[Now moving solely on hatred and anger, the Extinction Core has activated its final method to annihilate you along with this planet, disregarding even its own death.]

[The Extinction Core’s final command has been activated, causing all nanomachine planets and fortresses in space to self-destruct, inflicting massive damage to their surroundings!]

[In particular, the universe where the Extinction Core is located will be completely destroyed regardless of planetary systems and affiliations when the time limit ends!]

[Time remaining: 30 days]

‘…Wait, suddenly an escape-within-time-limit event here?’

That was my first thought upon seeing the event, but looking again, I realized the problem wasn’t just that.

‘It’s going to destroy this entire universe…?’

Seeing the insane stance of returning an entire star cluster to nothingness.

With a horrified reaction, I immediately deactivated the pause to alert everyone to the situation.

[Pause deactivated]

“Everyone, atten…”

“Everyone, I’ve just been informed by the Extinction Core that it plans to blow up this entire universe.”

“…That is true, so everyone prepare to depart quickly.”

Although my words were cut off, Levia had said everything I was going to say anyway.

So I supported Levia’s words and decided to encourage the ship to depart as quickly as possible.

——————————–

“I’m back!”

“Good work, Riel.”

Of course, before departing, we didn’t forget to bring Riel and Ash inside the ship.