Ch.66Celestine Incident – Ship No. 1 (3)

Mezulen would later become a xenobiologist.

While Maxwell’s Forces are said to be full of steel monsters, their basic structure is similar to organic beings. Unlike Darwin’s Legion, they don’t multiply infinitely, but they have the strengths and weaknesses of living creatures.

The characteristics, habits, and weaknesses of spiders.

Mezulen knew them all. Because she knew them, she could unhesitatingly thrust her Plasma Sword into Lüzelraktia’s spinnerets.

[“Hnngh…”]

Looking at the avatar making such vulgar sounds, I was certain.

Lüzelraktia’s core was definitely in her spinnerets. And as if to prove my deduction, a status window appeared.

[— Avatar ‘Lüzelraktia’ has received a critical hit.]

Pop!

The sound of eyeballs bursting. Two of Lüzelraktia’s eight eyes couldn’t withstand the pressure and melted like honey. A thick, black liquid like tar oozed out.

[“W-who, who just… Who just did that…!”]

A heavy mechanical sound reverberated through the hull. An overwhelming presence. Mezulen hiccupped and quickly hid herself.

Being small makes it easier to disappear into the crowd.

Of course, even if Lüzelraktia discovered Mezulen, she couldn’t chase after her. She had already taken a critical hit, and the EX-class swordsmen were keeping her in check.

[“Eek, eek! I-I won’t let go…!”]

She seemed to have lost a lot of health, as her four pairs of legs were just twitching and couldn’t move properly.

“Cut off her legs!”

The swordsmen brought their swords down on the avatar’s legs. Lüzelraktia blocked them using her threads. It was her adamantine thread, spun with her last desperate effort.

And then, something unexpected happened.

[“E-even if it costs me my life…”]

She looked at me and said.

[“I’ll kill you at least…!”]

Those words were her final declaration. The avatar’s own death. But in exchange, she would scatter massive amounts of pron. She would soon become death itself, the destroyer of this ship.

[— Avatar ‘Lüzelraktia’ is weaving <Life Thread>.]

Pop! The remaining four eyes of the avatar burst. Her face, forearms, and eight legs melted into a slimy mess.

A final attack performed by burning away her life.

[“D-die…!”]

Crack!

Copper wires pulled taut. A web covering the entire ship. She sacrificed herself to turn every metal component in this ship into a weapon.

“Everyone, get back!”

The swordsmen, sensing something was wrong, distanced themselves. An avatar’s suicide was almost unheard of. Even experienced veterans would be taken aback.

Anyway, there was only one way to stop this rampage.

[— Area skill <Heavenly Judgment> is about to activate! 3 seconds…]

Extract the core before the skill triggers.

“Ha.”

When I came to my senses, my body was already moving ahead of my thoughts.

A life-or-death gamble. Adrenaline raced through my mind. Extracting Lüzelraktia’s core was similar to defusing a time bomb.

The survival instinct etched into my bones screamed for me to back off.

But.

I had to stop it. I could do it.

I moved to the dying Lüzelraktia’s blind spot. Then I thrust my calipers into her spinnerets.

[— 13500 pron has been paid.]

[— EX-level conversion, using <Total Mental Failure>.]

Click.

I felt something.

The core.

***

[— Congratulations! You have defeated avatar ‘Lüzelraktia’.]

[— You have acquired 100,000 pron as a defeat reward.]

[— You have acquired an additional 15,000 pron as a collaboration reward.]

The swordsmen earned coins, and I received pron.

Luckily, since I dealt the final blow, my income was several times more than expected. Not bad.

“How about investing in vitality?”

“Strength isn’t bad either.”

I overheard the swordsmen chatting as they wrapped up the situation.

I wish I could increase my physical abilities like them. Unfortunately, pron can only affect the mind.

The rewards didn’t end there.

“Here’s the avatar’s core.”

I handed the core extracted from Lüzelraktia’s spinnerets to the white-haired captain.

“Quite large. Good, student. We’ll take care of this.”

“Are you sending it to a laboratory?”

“It’s just a trophy to us, nothing more useful. Why would we want to keep something so creepy?”

The white-haired captain laughed heartily. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me was unusual.

Before he could say anything, I took out a note.

“If you’re sending it to a research institute, please use this address. It’s an email that goes through the Stellarium Physics Department laboratory.”

“I appreciate the suggestion, but we have procedures to follow. If we don’t report to the country, we could be arrested for embezzlement.”

“Stellarium is a government institution too.”

“Student, I see you’re quite sharp.”

The email I provided was none other than Professor Feynman’s contact. It wasn’t necessary to route through that email, but if they did, it would greatly help in reducing the time needed to analyze the properties.

The more avatar cores we have, and the faster the analysis is done, the more it helps gravity bomb research. If we learn how to destroy the inner shell of the core, we can also increase the destructive power of warheads that reach black holes.

After a moment’s consideration, the white-haired captain accepted my note.

“Anyway, the casualty count is complete, and you’ve done well. May I ask your name?”

“It’s Eidel.”

“Yes, Eidel. I’m Lucardo. Your abilities are truly exceptional. That weapon in your hand seems to have special powers. Was it bestowed by a Patron Deity?”

Lucardo asked, pointing at my calipers. I briefly answered yes. Lucardo remarked with admiration.

“It has an interesting form. It seems to possess special power against avatars.”

“You knew?”

“I’ve been eating sword rice for years, so I can’t help but know. By the way, you seem to be loved by a quite high-ranking Patron Deity.”

“What do you mean?”

“Such weapons aren’t easily obtained. You need sufficient communion with a Patron Deity. At minimum, trust, embrace, and love are required. It’s essentially a gift received only in relationships as deep as sworn brothers or spouses.”

That’s some elaborate backstory.

But I received this not long after meeting Cartesia.

Perhaps this doesn’t apply to foreign deities.

“Student Eidel.”

Lucardo looked at me with a strange gaze and said.

“Would you consider joining the military?”

“That would be difficult because of graduate school.”

Lucardo frowned deeply. What’s this? I don’t think I said anything offensive. He raised the corners of his mouth bitterly.

“Ah, right. Well, good work. We’ve fixed the orbital elevator, so go down to the lobby with your friends. We’ll just check if there’s anything wrong with the aircraft and come down soon.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

After giving a ceremonial greeting to the soldier, I got into the elevator. With this, the commotion on the first floor was over.

But it wasn’t completely over.

Ships 2, 3, and 4 still remained. The avatars appearing there must also be thoroughly defeated. Whether I kill them or someone else does.

Such conditions didn’t seem to matter. While I was turning over various thoughts, Welton poked my shoulder.

“Kristin should have seen you.”

“Why?”

“She’s always calling you corrupt or whatever. Doesn’t this prove you’re not here through unfair admission? True skill can’t be hidden, I tell you.”

I sighed. Though he was joking around, Welton hadn’t fully released his tension. For ordinary people, encountering an avatar without a constellation is a terrifying memory in itself.

“By the way, what exactly are you?”

Welton asked. He was probably asking based on all the unusual things I’d done from the reassignment test until now.

If it’s difficult to answer, laugh it off. Instead, I changed the subject.

“Just worry about Kristin.”

“I am.”

Welton’s expression crumpled. Kristin had been taken to the emergency room. Since her survival was uncertain, one could only pray, whether gods existed or not.

“She’s quite a nice kid, it would be a shame if she died like this. She needs to live. She still has a year and a half left to graduate.”

Hearing those words, I lowered my head. Mezulen, leaning on the opposite side, sighed with a snicker. It didn’t seem like the right time to talk to her.

It wasn’t just her. Everyone was tired and sparing their words. I too was keeping my mouth shut to organize my thoughts unless someone asked me something.

I could hear Mathers and James talking.

“From what I hear, the other ships must be in chaos too. They say all communications are down. We somehow survived, but I’m worried about what will happen to the students there.”

“What can we do? Those who are meant to live will live, and those meant to die will die.”

Mathers’ responses were consistently blunt. His tone was laced with irritation. But looking at his face, you could tell. His emotions were in extreme turmoil.

“Kids, it’s the first floor. Get off.”

Enabeth, the EX-class swordsman escorting us, said. Only then did life slowly return to the faces of the students who had been keeping silent.

And what awaited us after returning to the mother planet was.

“W-what is this.”

Flickering lights damaged beyond repair. Liquid irregularly splattered. The pungent smell of blood, and cool, musty air.

Human limbs scattered everywhere. Irregularly twisted pillars distorting the original space. Around them, eyeballs that had lost their owners rolled around like balls.

“F-fuck.”

Mathers cursed.

“What the hell is this goddamn scene?”

“Ah, aah.”

Thud.

Female students lost strength in their legs and collapsed. Mezulen also covered her mouth with a tearful expression.

“N-no…”

It was truly a scene of devastation.

[— Due to the effect of <Mental Stability>, emotional disturbance has been offset. You maintain your normal mental state.]

Caught me off guard there.

I clicked my tongue and was the first to step out of the elevator. Ms. Enabeth, who had been standing with a stunned expression, finally drew her sword and moved.

I asked Ms. Enabeth.

“Weren’t there EX-class swordsmen in the lobby?”

“Yes. About one squad.”

“Then does this make sense? Shouldn’t EX-class be able to hold their own against avatars to some extent?”

“Wait a minute…”

Her wandering eyes stopped at a certain point as I pressed her. Only then did I also sense something was amiss.

There were no bodies of the swordsmen to be seen.