Ch.245The Universe’s Strongest Maid (3)

I must protect the young master.

With that single thought, her fist pierced through Fetel’s head. Caught by the sudden ambush, Fetel screamed and tumbled down the sand dune.

[“Darwin types continuously regenerate. Don’t give him time to breathe.”]

Sonia descended the slope in one breath. Using the momentum from her acceleration, she delivered a powerful kick.

Thwack——!!

Fetel’s head burst open.

As his neck was torn off, a fountain of blood gushed upward. Pieces of flesh scattered in all directions. It was a sight that would make anyone nauseous.

Just as Sonia was about to continue her assault—

Whoosh!

A sandstorm blew in from the opposite direction.

[“That’s not a natural wind.”]

Something like dandelion seeds was mixed in the wind. The moment one of them touched the ground, an explosion erupted.

Boom!

The sand dune was flipped over. At this rate, she would be engulfed in flames. Sonia had no choice but to create distance.

Fetel used that opportunity to begin regenerating. The flesh around his neck area proliferated, quickly forming a new head. Soon, he spoke while twisting his neck grotesquely as if nothing had happened.

“What kind of woman are you? How did you find me?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Even the constellations didn’t notice I came here.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Fetel didn’t attack immediately. He was assessing her. Soon he realized who his opponent was.

“I can smell the stench of filthy Descartes. Yes, that’s how you were able to find me.”

No need for further discussion. Fetel spread his wings. Eyeballs resembling lumps of blood revealed themselves.

“Each one of these is my seed. One seed produces fifty offspring. You won’t be able to defeat even one of them.”

He may have been caught off guard earlier, but now things were different. Victory was certain if they fought in this state.

Plop, plop.

The eyeballs fell to the ground. They moved like living creatures and began burrowing into the sand.

“I’ll tear you to shreds.”

The next moment.

With a thunderous roar, the ground shook.

As if a sinkhole had formed, a large amount of sand collapsed at once, and bird-like creatures resembling chickens dug their way out, shaking their beaks.

One, two, three, five, eight.

Their numbers grew rapidly.

They were huge too. Each one was the size of an adult man.

These were monsters humanity had never encountered before. It was impossible to imagine how strong they might be.

Cartesia spoke.

[“He’s using sand as material for life.”]

“What do you mean?”

[“Like planting seeds to sprout seedlings, he’s using desert sand as nutrients to create monsters. Yes, he’s essentially impregnated this desert. Interesting. This is worth researching in many ways.”]

Sonia maintained her expressionless face, but inside she was horrified.

So that means he violated the earth?

[“You could interpret it that way. Anyway, this is a good opportunity. If we can study this avatar’s abilities and apply them appropriately, it might be possible to create children that transcend species.”]

“Is that really possible?”

[“It’s a hypothesis. But my intuition has never been wrong. This will definitely work.”]

Grin.

The corners of Sonia’s mouth turned upward.

A child between her young master and herself. How cute would a child with blueberry-colored hair and pumpkin-like eyes be? The happy thought kept her smiling.

Of course, there was still a long way to go.

Even if her body became capable of pregnancy, the young master already had two wives. And it was unclear whether the young master had feelings for her. She couldn’t help but sigh.

“Children, attack!”

The giant chickens, now numbering in the hundreds, flapped their wings and charged.

Sonia made a quick assessment.

She knew instinctively.

These creatures wouldn’t die no matter how much she hit them.

No, they would eventually die, but without knowing the proper method of attack, it would take an eternity.

That left only one option.

“I’ll have to break their will.”

Shing.

Sonia drew her calipers.

[— Activating <Aggression Induction>, <Species Hatred>, <Confusion>.]

Whoosh——! Thwack!

She struck down the approaching birds one by one. They became disoriented and turned around to peck viciously at their own kind.

Flesh entangled with flesh, and feathers scattered like flower petals. It was like a cockfighting arena.

Fetel was shocked.

“How is this possible!”

It made no sense.

Not only was a mere android using advanced techniques of the Descartes-type outer god, but he was also losing to those techniques.

It was humiliating.

The Darwin type must never be defeated.

Especially not by other types of outer gods!

“Not as impressive as I expected.”

“Insolent creature!”

At that moment.

The calipers sliced through the air and embedded themselves in Fetel’s forehead. Fetel’s head was torn off once again. After regenerating, he raised his voice.

“Do you think you can defeat me with something like this!”

“We’ll see.”

This avatar was truly troublesome.

He wanted to defeat the creature before him as quickly as possible, kill Rheinland, and then return to his master for praise. How wonderful it would be if Swan stroked his head with those beautiful feathers. And then, intense mating with Swan…

“…Huh?”

Fetel was confused. What was he just thinking about?

That’s when Sonia grinned.

[— <Mental Gender Transformation>, <Attachment Craving>, <Infantile Regression>, <Intelligence Reduction> are being applied.]

“How does it feel to become an idiot?”

“Ugh, uwaaaaah——!!”

Fetel desperately plucked the feathers from his head.

This was Descartes’ trick. He needed to snap out of it. He needed to regain his senses!

“You’ve really become stupid. This proves Descartes is stronger than Darwin. V.”

Sonia provoked him, swaying her waist playfully. Fetel, who had been panting, took a deep breath.

Think.

The opponent has the ability to manipulate minds.

That means summoning monsters to attack is meaningless. The same thing would happen again.

If he attacked from a distance, someone with her skills would dodge everything, and if he engaged in close combat, getting hit by those calipers again would be the end. He didn’t want to take that risk.

Just then, a good idea came to mind.

Fetel took out a crystal from his pocket.

He forcibly shattered the crystal, awakening the constellation sleeping inside.

[— ‘Fragment of Devotion’ is descending!]

At that moment.

A burst of light exploded forth.

It was so bright that Sonia had no choice but to squeeze her eyes shut. Fetel used that opportunity to rush past her.

Thinking about it, there was no need to face that android avatar. Killing Rheinland would accomplish his goal.

Fetel planned to leave Sonia to the constellation while he attacked the Delaus Laboratory.

Kill two birds with one stone.

The most convenient tactic in the current situation.

However.

[“…Where do you think you’re going?”]

The awakened fragment of Virgo did not allow him to escape.

Swish!

A golden glowing net spread in three directions.

One toward Fetel, another toward the monsters he had created, and the last toward Sonia.

Its speed was several times faster than Fetel could run. Moreover, it had homing capabilities. Fetel had no choice but to be caught.

He tried desperately to break free, but it was unexpectedly tough and solid.

“No…!”

Fetel doubted himself. He couldn’t understand how he had made such a stupid decision.

[— Currently applied: <Intelligence Reduction>]

“This damn thing——!!”

Fetel flailed like a fish caught in a deep-sea trawler.

[“Did you think you could use me as you pleased and escape unscathed? How presumptuous. I shall deliver a fitting punishment to the servant of a filthy outer god.”]

[— ‘Fragment of Devotion’ uses <Sacred Thunder>.]

Sonia’s hair stood straight up.

The next moment.

Crash!

Lightning struck from the clear sky.

“Arghhhh!”

Fetel’s entire body was roasted to a crisp as he took the direct hit. The Aether penetrated and squeezed his core. Fetel resisted as much as possible by dividing his cells.

[“As expected, you don’t die easily.”]

Virgo struck him with lightning several more times. Fetel writhed in agony and thought.

He had inherited 70% of the outer god’s power. Yet he felt such intense pain from these attacks?

In truth, his master Swan wasn’t a particularly powerful outer god. The black hole was small, and the electric charge wasn’t substantial. Swan’s only notable talent was mimicking constellations.

On the other hand.

Among Virgo’s four fragments, ‘Devotion’ possessed the skill set most effective against Darwin types.

Soon, cracks formed in Fetel’s core, and his body began to collapse.

[“How persistent. You still cling to life even after all this. This is why I hate Darwin types the most.”]

Virgo’s gaze turned toward Sonia.

Sonia was also caught in the net.

However, Sonia had allowed it intentionally. She could have dodged but chose not to move.

Sonia adjusted her katyusha and straightened her electrically charged hair. Despite being trapped in the net, her expression remained impassive.

[“Avatar. Descartes type. You seem quite composed. Is this the composure of the strong?”]

“Why would you attack an ally?”

[“Ally?”]

Virgo narrowed her eyes.

[“An outer god’s spawn claiming to be an ally? What an absurd statement to make so casually.”]

Snicker.

Sonia laughed.

“My master’s wife is the owner of the ‘Fragment of Purity.'”

[“Nonsense!”]

Crash!

Lightning struck.

[“How dare you spout such obvious lies. Of all fragments, ‘Purity’ taking a married woman as a new contractor? Why not just claim that constellations and outer gods are equal beings?”]

“It’s the truth.”

[“No, this can’t be…”]

The reason for Virgo’s surprise was simple. Despite being struck by lightning, Sonia remained unharmed.

[“How can you deflect my attack?”]

“That’s because I’m not human. I’m an android.”

Sonia smiled as if amused, then suddenly began sobbing. Virgo couldn’t make sense of her emotional shifts.

It was perplexing.

Moreover, a Descartes-type avatar with Maxwell-type characteristics was the worst possible opponent for ‘Devotion.’

“This is getting tedious. I’ll remove this now.”

Sonia used her calipers to strip away the net. It happened so naturally that Virgo momentarily didn’t register the oddity.

[“How did you remove my net…! Wait, what are you doing?”]

“Collecting the avatar’s feathers. They’ll make good research material. Now that I’m done, you can kill this one.”

There were too many bewildering aspects.

Not only did she show no aggression toward a constellation, but she was even suggesting that another avatar could be killed. Wouldn’t they normally team up against the constellation in this situation?

In any case, she was definitely not an ordinary avatar.

After completely pulverizing Fetel, Virgo looked at Sonia. Now that she noticed, this avatar was wearing a maid uniform. She sighed deeply as she looked at her ruined clothes.

“And the young master gave me this…”

[“Why do you wear such impractical attire?”]

“Because I belong exclusively to the young master. I insist on wearing this outfit while on duty to never forget my spirit of devotion.”

[“Young master?”]

“Would you like to meet him? By the way, our young master is an ordinary human.”

Virgo reluctantly nodded.

She didn’t know who this avatar’s master was, but her interest was piqued.

A human commanding an outer god’s avatar?

And he supposedly had a contract with another of her fragments.

Whether it was a lie or not, she needed to verify.

[— ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ feels uncomfortable.]

[— ‘Fragment of Devotion’ feels uncomfortable.]

And so began the strange companionship between a constellation and an outer god.