Ch.273Queen Aurore (3)

And then I got completely destroyed.

Eidel Rheinland instantly subdued five Great Omega Inspectors and reached out toward Zernya von und zu Trisha Adelbein, who was treating the wounded.

Slash!

Fortunately, thanks to Sonia blocking in time, Zernya wasn’t harmed.

Sonia, catching her breath, asked the trembling Zernya.

“Are you alright?”

“Y-yes… I’m fine.”

“You owe me one now.”

Aurore let out an admiring sigh.

“So not all of you are complete idiots. The contractor of Virgo, and the avatar protecting humans.”

There was a reason for the queen’s composure.

Many inspectors had already died or been injured.

Yet only two minutes had passed. They still needed to hold out for another eight minutes.

Rustila Kersil reorganized the formation with herself and Sonia as the core. I and Zernya moved to the back, with Ireh Hazlen taking the rear.

Zernya spoke with an anxious voice.

“How are we supposed to defeat that thing…?”

“You’re only realizing that now? Once you encountered my forces, your defeat was predetermined.”

Aurore yawned and snapped her fingers. The crimson-contaminated inner walls of the spaceship writhed and spat out grotesquely shaped flesh.

It looked like a bathtub made of blood and muscle.

“I am more merciful than I appear. Surrender quietly and entrust your bodies to this cultured flesh. If you become one with our legion, I will forgive all your past transgressions.”

“You want us to become wombs for monsters?”

“It’s a simple process of accepting your fate. The ecstasy of producing infinite life and the exaltation of conquering the universe—not a bad price to pay, wouldn’t you agree?”

“No thanks, I’ll pass.”

“…How foolish.”

The queen snorted and waved her hand. The flesh creatures charged forward, revealing their bright red gums. Rustila and Sonia raised their weapons on both sides.

Slash!

Blood splattered.

The divided blood masses attacked again.

Attack after attack.

I had already figured out the trick.

I swung my Callipers along the trajectory of future vision.

Slash!

The pungent smell of blood.

The sensation of flesh being struck by metal blade traveled through my fingertips.

[Estimated time remaining: 7 minutes.]

“How annoying.”

I’m starting to get the hang of this.

After three minutes of combat, I realized the queen wasn’t using her full power against us.

Of course, Aurore is the strongest of the Darwin system.

A monster who can casually kill outer gods with a snap of her fingers—she could crush us with her eyes closed.

I’m certain.

She’s restraining her power.

I could see a breakthrough to buy time.

“Aurore!”

I raised my voice to catch the queen’s attention.

Simultaneously, I communicated with Cartesia and made a request from the bottom of my heart. If she didn’t want me to die, she would surely grant this request.

[“You always choose the most troublesome things to do.”]

[— ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ deploys <Imaginary Space>.]

Success.

Aurore’s eyebrow twitched. She contorted her face and raised her voice.

“You’re absolutely desperate to die!”

[— ‘Emperor of Elegant Finale’ summons ‘Fragment of Love’.]

[— <Imaginary Space> activates!]

The next moment.

The world turned black as if it were a lie.

***

“Eidel…?”

Ireh Hazlen stepped on the spot where Eidel had disappeared with a dazed expression.

“H-he was just here a moment ago…”

Next, Zernya was surprised, and even Rustila and Sonia, who were in combat, glanced back and couldn’t hide their shock.

Eidel had disappeared.

Along with Queen Aurore.

At the same time, in the place where the queen had been, the last fragment of the corrupted black Virgo appeared and wailed.

Aaaagh!

Rustila was the first to regain her composure.

“…It seems he’s gone somewhere with the outer god.”

“Isn’t that terrible?”

“No, no, no, no!”

“Everyone, please calm down. It’s not like he died before our eyes. Right now, we need to defeat the enemy in front of us and quickly treat the injured inspectors.”

Rustila and Zernya gritted their teeth.

“…You’re right.”

“That bastard Eidel will probably come back alive from wherever he is. That’s just how he is.”

“Miss Zernya is right.”

Rustila focused on reality, and Zernya, as always, badmouthed her husband. Sonia indirectly knew of Eidel’s survival through Cartesia.

Only one person.

Only Ireh scanned his empty space with a hollow expression.

***

As soon as the scenery changed, I looked around. As expected, I saw a familiar face.

“Cartesia!”

“I told you not to call me by name, didn’t I?”

What can I say? We were in the Imaginary Space, the headquarters of the outer gods.

There was no need to panic. It was the place I was dragged to whenever I passed out. By now, it felt as cozy as my own home.

Cartesia stood beside me, her hair fluttering.

“Is this the best plan you could come up with? I’m so disappointed.”

“The queen is after me anyway.”

“You’re sacrificing yourself alone?”

“It’s much better than all of us getting hurt together.”

“Jumping into a fire pit for others… I don’t understand it.”

Cartesia flipped her hair sarcastically. She laughed as if she found it absurd.

“That’s why it’s interesting.”

Cartesia looked straight ahead with star-filled eyes. I followed her gaze.

Before us stood Queen Aurore, emitting a terrifying aura.

The queen twisted her lips.

“Eidel Rheinland. You deliberately walk into death. Foolish. Truly foolish. Do you really not know that this dimension is our species’ playground?”

Outer gods under her command gathered around the queen.

Hee hee hee.

Ominous laughter overflowed.

Some outer gods were erecting their reproductive organs or drooling at me. As expected of the Darwin system, they displayed disgusting and obscene aspects.

Nevertheless.

I laughed along with them.

Because I had gained the upper hand.

Now was the time to fight with words, not bodies.

“Queen Aurore. If you kill me or turn me into a pregnant vessel now, you’ll regret it for a long time.”

“What do you mean?”

“Laplace.”

The queen’s eyes narrowed.

I continued.

“A higher-dimensional outer god. One who can be called mortal. An entity everyone knows about, but no one knows what it truly is. Your ultimate goal is to defeat it and protect your habitat, right?”

“……”

“Your expression says, ‘How did you know that?'”

This was also information that Ireh had discovered.

The supreme god who would bring about the end of all dimensions.

Codename: Demon of Laplace.

While fighting against the highest outer god of the Maxwell system, Ireh realized that there was more to the outer gods’ frequent invasions of our universe than simple territorial expansion.

Laplace’s ‘core’ exists somewhere in the universe where humanity lives.

“If you don’t find and destroy Laplace’s ‘core’ in time, this dimension will collapse too. And to destroy it, you need tremendous power that can remain in this dimension for a long time.”

“……”

“The reason you controlled your strength against us in the underworld wasn’t because you were being lenient. It’s because once you use your power strongly, it takes ages to replenish it. If doom approaches before then, knowing the core’s location won’t help you stop it.”

“…Hu, huhuhehe.”

The queen laughed, touching her forehead.

“To think you knew even that much?”

The queen stopped the outer gods who were about to advance. She reined in her subordinates who were whining about being itchy, and seemed to be thinking deeply by herself.

After a long silence, the queen muttered.

“I had my suspicions, but you’re no ordinary being. Or perhaps you’re something else wearing a human skin…”

The queen shook her head.

“Well, fine. You’ve already rejected my call several times. Not content with refusing my mercy, you’ve even inflicted considerable damage on my forces. You must pay the price for that.”

“…Ha, so it comes to this after all.”

I tried to persuade without fighting, but the Darwin system isn’t known for its high violence for nothing. It always ends in fighting.

“Power speaks louder than words. If you want to continue this conversation, prove that you’re not just a smooth-talking insect.”

Still, her tone had changed.

From looking down on me to demanding I prove my worth.

Now I really had no choice but to fight.

Fortunately, I had Cartesia.

“Wait.”

This time, it was Cartesia’s voice, not mine, that stopped Aurore. Aurore frowned with displeasure and charged.

“Kill them without mercy! Anyone who stops will be beheaded!”

“I said wait.”

Swish.

About twenty outer gods appeared at Cartesia’s feet.

These were unfortunate friends who had been captured by Cartesia when she needed prana while tormenting Ireh, and had begun their life as slaves.

“M-mistress?”

“Why are we suddenly…”

The approaching Darwin system outer gods hesitated momentarily.

“…What is that?”

At that moment, Aurore twisted off the neck of the first outer god who had stopped.

“I told you not to stop.”

“That’s not it, Your Majesty. Those creatures… they’re our kind, yet they’re taking human form so shamefully?”

“I suppose they transformed to understand the enemy, like me. Why can’t you understand that?”

“I’m talking about those clothes!”

One outer god shouted.

“Those are called maid uniforms, worn to signify that inferiors have submitted to superiors!”

“…What?”

It was then that Cartesia pulled out a tentacle that looked like a whip. She lashed the maid outer gods and raised her voice.

“Now, fight for the young Eidel.”

“For our mistress’s master… you mean?”

“Stop talking nonsense and go fight!”

“Y-yes, ma’am!”

For the first time, the queen wore a blank expression.

And so began the all-out war between the horrifically shaped Darwin system flesh masses and the beautiful maid army.