Ch.352Gravity Bomb (10)

Looking closely, I saw that it wasn’t just Darwin’s Legion. Monsters and avatars from Maxwell’s Forces and Descartes’ Forces had also gathered. They really brought a diverse collection.

“The one with yellow eyes is the ringleader!”

“Heeheeheehee!”

“Slice! Slice! Let’s dice them up!”

The monsters charged forward in a straight line, making phlegmy sounds. Their objective was clear: to eliminate me, Seti, and the graviton turret.

Clang!

The sound of metal split the sky.

“Protect the turret and the researchers!”

“We just need to hold out for ten minutes!”

It was the swordsmen. The elite soldiers gathered around Stellarium swung their swords and fired their guns. Combat drones also took flight in unison, blocking the monsters’ advance.

That’s when it happened.

Crack!

Queen Aurore severed her own arm.

Psssht!

Dark blue blood sprayed out.

The queen manipulated her blood to create a long spear. Already, new flesh was growing from the stump of her arm.

Zwishak!

The queen hurled the spear with all her might. The spear fell precisely in my direction. The acceleration of gravity combined with the queen’s strength created a fierce sound of air being torn.

Woooong!

If it hit me, I would die.

Tap!

Rustila leaped. She soared nearly fifteen meters into the air and slashed her sword upward.

Chang!

The spear and sword met. The blood spear resonated, emitting blue light as if trying to absorb the energy from the sword.

“Kugh!”

Rustila groaned. She deflected the spear at an angle and landed on the ground. Simultaneously, another attack came flying.

Rustila and the queen engaged in close combat. Despite having support, she was essentially tying down the queen alone. When had she become so strong?

“Not bad.”

A smile appeared at the corner of the queen’s mouth.

Whoosh.

The queen exhaled. Rotten stardust was drawn from the atmosphere. I couldn’t imagine what would happen if someone inhaled that.

“Medic!”

Doctors stepped forward. Zernya did the same. They mobilized all healing constellations to purify the air.

I put on a gas mask and moved away. The queen’s gaze followed me. She deflected the swordsmen’s attacks without even looking at them. Her eyes were fixed solely on me.

“Where do you think you’re running to?”

Whisk!

The queen pivoted. Rustila’s sword strike cut through empty air. The queen pursued me without even paying attention to Rustila.

That’s when it happened.

Bang!

[— <Stealth Barrage>]

[— <Enhanced Bullet>]

[— Allies’ evasion, attack power, and health greatly increase for a certain period.]

Ireh fired spirit bullets in succession. A hazy smoke spread around us. It was both a buff and an escape method that could hide us even from the eyes of outer gods.

Ireh shouted while reloading coins:

“Brother, go ahead!”

“Young master, miss! This way!”

Sonia pulled me along. As I ran, I looked back. Rustila, Zernya, and Ireh stood side by side at the front line.

I could understand Rustila being there, but seeing Zernya and Ireh at the front made me worry. However, I couldn’t afford to waste time.

[— Buff strengthened by ‘Great Triangle’ effect.]

[— Resistance to outer gods increases!]

“Professor Rheinland!”

A familiar voice called me. It was the astronomy team.

“Here’s the data on the black holes suspected to be the queen’s base!”

I quickly reviewed the data.

There were three candidates.

“One near X-1, SDSS J270622, and MDS 1088.4. One of these three is the queen’s black hole.”

“The one near X-1.”

“As expected… right?”

The celestial structure of this universe differed slightly from what we knew on Earth. Black holes that should exist were missing, and ones that shouldn’t exist were present.

A prime example was the supermassive black hole near Cygnus X-1. This was a celestial body that didn’t exist in the original world.

Without a doubt, it was Queen Aurore’s “string.”

“I’ll relay this immediately.”

I entered the control room and sent a message. I needed to request position designation and firing assistance from the eastern, northern, and western turrets.

[Northern turret, no issues.]

[Western turret, no issues.]

[Eastern turret, under attack by outer gods.]

The battle wasn’t only happening here.

[Alert from eastern turret. Currently engaged with avatars from Descartes’ Forces. Guarantee resolution within 10 minutes.]

“…Hmm.”

My heart raced.

If even one thing went wrong, humanity would be finished. The universe would perish. We needed a moment of luck.

If the eastern turret fell, we couldn’t capture the queen. To think it all depended on luck. Everything could turn to nothing in an instant.

“God…”

Even someone without religion like me couldn’t help but pray.

But then:

“Kid, I’ll be back.”

“Huh?”

“Going to clean up my home.”

Cartesia said that and disappeared with a pop.

The Sagittarius black hole.

She had gone alone to attack the black hole occupied by Renatus.

“…”

My mind went blank for a moment before returning. I didn’t have time to worry about what might happen to Cartesia. After about five minutes, a message came from the Callisto branch.

[Eastern turret, loading complete.]

It wasn’t luck.

From the moment we earned Cartesia’s favor, humanity’s victory had been predetermined.

***

Aurore felt a sense of déjà vu.

‘The resistance is fierce.’

It was similar to the last great war, no, even more troublesome.

Clearly, the number of enemies was decreasing in real time. The bodies of soldiers, researchers, doctors, and civil servants were tangled like noodles. The humans killed by Aurore herself numbered in the hundreds.

Nevertheless.

“Can’t you see straight?”

The humans hadn’t lost their fighting spirit.

For the first time.

The queen felt anger in their eyes.

“How dare you, inferior creatures!”

This was all because of Eidel Rheinland. If not for Eidel, that anomalous human, this galaxy would have long been Aurore’s.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that one great person had changed the course of human history.

And that made her even angrier.

Because she thought she might lose to a mere creature.

“Queen——!!”

A sharp voice came with a sword strike.

Whoosh!

A wave of Aether followed. The queen quickly extended her hand. Pron and Aether collided, creating high-temperature heat.

The soldier with a yellow ponytail leaped again.

“Just try to touch even a hair on my husband!”

It was Rustila. She was targeting only Aurore, trying to tie down her feet.

From Aurore’s perspective, she wasn’t as annoying as a fly… no, Rustila was quite strong for a human, very strong indeed.

‘Is it because of that black-haired woman?’

The queen turned her head.

Ireh Hazlen.

A human that Shterm had been watching closely for some time. She had a unique constitution that didn’t deplete Aether, allowing her to stack buffs indefinitely.

No wonder each of Rustila’s strikes was so powerful.

‘They work better together than before.’

Probably due to the Great Triangle effect or whatever it was.

‘But it’s futile.’

The queen smiled and waved her hand.

Kuooooo!

The sky split, and a gigantic monster appeared.

It was an oval-shaped avatar with no eyes or nose, just a mouth. It was slightly larger than the graviton cannon. This massive being slowly began to descend toward the graviton cannon.

“I’ll swallow you all at once.”

The queen lowered her hand. She intended to devour the entire turret. Drones and regular batteries fired ion beams, but they couldn’t even scratch the avatar.

If that thing came all the way down, it would truly be the end.

“Tsk.”

The queen staggered.

‘Did I overdo it?’

The avatar she had just summoned was hastily created with all of the queen’s power. She had made it with the determination that if they didn’t die, she would.

If the avatar decided to devour her after eating the turret, she wouldn’t have a proper way to stop it.

That’s how certain the end would be.

‘Do I care?’

The queen also didn’t care about the inferior creatures before her. Her pride came first. If she were to die, she’d rather die at the hands of her own creation than at the hands of humans, which would be humiliating.

“Farewell, inferior humans. I’ll turn you to dust before you even have time to despair!”

“Stop it! If it falls, we’re finished!”

Rustila shouted. Following her instructions, the surviving swordsmen filled their swords with as much Aether as possible.

‘Eidel.’

Rustila thought.

‘Even if I have to sacrifice my life, I’ll protect you.’

She had created a child with him against fate. That alone was enough to make Rustila happy. She recalled her academy days. The days when she met Eidel and fell in love.

This must be what they call a life flashing before one’s eyes.

Was she going to die?

Here?

Even so, she would have no regrets. If she could protect Eidel, Lucia, and by extension, humanity and the universe from the outer gods.

Zwishak!

Rustila and Aurore clashed once more. Aurore stretched her mouth corners to her ears and raised her voice.

“The brat you spawned will be thoroughly used as material for my legion. Consider it an honor to have your breath cut off here, and praise my generosity!”

“…Shut up!”

Rustila swung her sword. The swordsmen under her command also delivered slashes. Streams of light penetrated the sky and lodged into the giant avatar’s mouth one after another.

Puff!

The fog was thick. Rustila frowned.

“Ah…”

A scratch.

Was that all they managed?

When Aurore created the avatar above, she focused on hardening it at the expense of other functions. So it wouldn’t break no matter what attack it received.

In the end, even Rustila’s attacks, loaded with attack buffs, only managed to leave a few scratches.

“How foolish.”

Aurore twisted her lips.

And the next moment.

Thwack!

A tentacle flying from a blind spot struck Rustila’s side. The pain that penetrated her suit bleached her mind white.

An attack that came from outside her field of awareness.

“Ugh!”

Rustila fell helplessly to the ground.

“Commander!”

“2nd Company! Catch Commander Rheinland!”

Zernya also saw Rustila falling. Her constellation informed her of the injury. Broken ribs.

Ireh was also startled. Despite all the defensive buffs she had applied, one hit had done that much damage. The tide of battle could turn so easily.

Rumble.

The avatar increased its descent speed. Aurore pulled back and chuckled.

“Stupid humans. You didn’t know that we of Darwin’s Legion are the legion of adaptation? Your pathetic attacks can be countered after experiencing them a few times.”

Zernya and Ireh ran to Rustila. Zernya began rapid treatment, but it seemed unlikely that Rustila would return to battle immediately.

“That’s what happens when you become complacent after momentarily overwhelming me.”

The queen regained her composure. Perhaps she could survive this and return. She could also eliminate Eidel Rheinland.

She could conquer this galaxy and regain her former glory.

With such expectations swelling, the queen lowered her hand.

“Devour them.”

And simultaneously.

Thudududung.

The gun barrel began to rotate.

[X-coordinate set]

[Y-coordinate set]

[Z-coordinate set]

[Error check complete]

[Location successfully specified. Activating dimensional amplifier.]

Thump, thump, thoong.

Following the dimensional conversion device, the 7-dimensional space literally began to “bend.” It was like folding paper, bringing two distant points together.

So Aurore could feel it. The fact that her black hole was physically not far away.

If they fired a shell here, it would directly hit Aurore’s black hole.

‘Already?’

As Aurore was about to hurriedly issue commands in panic, that’s when it happened.

Step.

A leisurely footstep was heard.

“Everyone has held out well until now.”

Step, step.

“Now we counterattack.”