It’s War! The Battle on Coastal Waters Part 2

"It really is massive, it is..." When she saw it from Schwertleite's cockpit

monitor, Yae couldn't stop herself from commenting on the starfish-shaped

Upper Construct.

It resembled a pentagram from above, but from the sides it looked almost like

a small mountain.

It slowly rotated its body as it floated slightly above the beach, sending sand

everywhere. Its muddy-gold body shimmered in the sunlight.

"How will we handle this?"

"No point wasting time wondering about it! We gotta hit before we get hit,

let's go! [Boost]!" Elze's crimson Frame Gear, Gerhilde, charged toward the

starfish with the vernier thruster on its back. She moved as swiftly as ever.

"[Fighting Spirit]! Take this, [Cannon Break]!" Gerhilde's right fist enveloped

itself in chi, smashing into one of the starfish's limbs.

The pile bunker on Gerhilde's right arm flew forward and smashed further

into the Upper Construct's body. Cracks started spreading out across its surface.

"And here's another!" Gerhilde dug its feet into the sand before following up

with a strike from its left fist. The pile bunker on the left arm echoed the

movement of its right-arm counterpart, driving deeper cracks through the

enemy's form.

Muddy-gold fragments splintered to the ground, and the tip of the starfish's

arm fell off entirely.

"Guh..." Unfortunately, the limb regenerated even as the broken parts melted

into sludge below.

"Figured I wouldn't get lucky and find a core there, huh." Elze jumped

Gerhilde back, grumbling softly.

"It's okay, sis! The regeneration you just caused helped me trace the cores!"

Linze spoke through the comms from above. She'd been using Helmwige to

observe the enemy from above.

Regular and mutant Phrase alike needed to divert magical power from their

cores to regenerate. That meant tracing the flow of magic through their bodies

would allow you to find where their cores were.

"It seems like there's one in the middle, and one in each of its five legs."

There were six cores in total. That was a lot, even for an Upper Construct.

"Six, huh? And we must destroy all of them at once, yes?" Hilde muttered to

herself from inside Siegrune's cockpit.

"Linze, do you think we can call over Leen and use the Brionac?" Brionac was

an enormous magical cannon. It was a guaranteed one-shot weapon that made

use of the [Spiral] and [Explosion] spells to fire a specially-charged drillbit

bullet.

It could only be used by Leen and Linze at the same time, since it required

massive amounts of magical energy to activate. Even then it only allowed for

one shot, making it pretty unwieldy in general.

"We could do that, but... We only have one shot, and if we leave behind even

one core then it would've been wasted..."

"Hm... The battle would definitely be harder if Leen-dono and Linze-dono

were put out of action, it would..."

"Everyone, look out!" Hilde suddenly yelled out, prompting the others to look

at the starfish. It had stopped rotating.

Its five limbs started cracking before splitting from the middle and falling to

the ground at the tips. Each limb-tip was loosely connected to the middle

portion by stringy, muddy-gold tentacles.

Those tips reared upward like snake heads.

Suddenly particles of light began gathering at the end of each.

"Ah?! We must dodge, we must!" Yae yelled out, and everyone in the area

scattered.

The tips of the disconnected limbs fired out thin lasers, weaker than the ones

from the Dragon.

Everyone in the vicinity could hear a sickening hissing sound as the very sand

around them melted into goopy puddles.

"Watch out! Incoming!" Elze cried out.

The limb-tips swiveled around and started charging up laser blasts once again.

Five lasers began cutting through the air, headed directly for Yae and the

other Valkyrie gears.

"Lestian Sacred Sword: Second Wardance!" Hilde leaped from the beach in

her Siegrune, slicing one of the tentacles and bringing the detached limb-tip

crashing to the ground.

The tip was then slashed into ribbons in the blink of an eye, melting down into

goop on the beach. A small red orb, two meters in diameter, was among the

goo. It melted down too.

But the smashed limb-tip quickly regenerated, returning to its former

appearance in seconds.

The core was regenerated inside it as well, so they were back to square one.

The whole group jumped back to put some distance between them and the

lasers.

"Just as we'd thought... Destroying one limb does nothing."

"Yeah, we're gonna have to get them all at once."

"But there's only four of us."

"Then we need two more, we do... Shall we ask Yumina-dono, Lu-dono, or

Leen-dono for aid?" With two more, or even with one more, they could launch

a coordinated attack on all five limbs at once. Then they'd be able to quickly go

for the central core as a group before it regenerated itself.

But given the current battle situation, it'd be hard for Yumina, Leen, and Lu to

leave their support roles with the knights.

"Two more, huh? How about us?"

All the girls cried out in sudden, surprised unison.

They had no idea where the source of that voice had come from.

As if out of nowhere, there was someone standing on Schwertleite's shoulder.

There was someone standing on Siegrune's shoulder too.

One held a three-meter crystal blade, certainly not something you'd expect a

woman of her build to be carrying. The other held a large bow in her hands, and

a mighty quiver on her back.

"Moroha-aneue and Karina-dono?! How long have you been here, how long?"

Yae stared in wide-eyed shock at the sight of her fiance's elder sister atop her

Frame Gear.

"We weren't planning to help at first, but sitting around and watching just

wasn't enough... I came by hoping to mop up a couple weaklings or something."

"Moroha called me over. It'll be a nice way to while away some time,

though." The two of them spoke playfully, since it was basically just fun sport to

them. They were both strong enough to claim something like that fairly easily.

"So if the five of us go for the limbs, then Karina can shoot an arrow for the

middle, so..."

"No can do! We're just here to support you, so we're not gonna do anything

that extreme. The one to land the final hit, let's see... Linze. You can do it."

"What...?! M-M-Me?!" Linze practically shrieked in response. Karina spoke so

casually about it, but Linze fully knew that if she screwed up the last hit, then

they'd be back at square one again.

That was quite the burden for a timid girl like her.

"Just be calm and it'll work out. You've been through some hard times, right?

But you made it through. I think you'll be okay. Why don't you show Touya how

much you've grown?"

"O-Okay!" Linze answered with renewed vigor.

"Alrighty then. Then me, Elze, Hilde, Karina, and Yae will go for the cores in its

limbs. When we do that, Linze'll go for the center core. Got it?" Moroha grinned

as she spoke, hefting her sword over her shoulder. Hilde was a little confused as

to how they were hearing Moroha so clearly when she wasn't using a

communicator, but she chalked it up to divinity stuff and didn't think too hard

about it.

Moroha and Karina leaped down to the ground.

Karina pulled out two bevel nata blades from nowhere, and wielded them in

each hand.

She deftly deflected several lasers using her newly-manifested crystal

weapons.

The four fiancees stared at Karina from inside their cockpits, dumbfounded by

her incredible skill. They eventually chalked it up to divinity stuff and didn't

think too hard about it.

"Alright. Let's hustle. Everyone except Linze, spread out and destroy your

target core within a minute. Got that?!"

"Gotcha!"

"Very well!"

"I understand, I do!"

"We got this!"

"Y-Yes, we'll be fine!"

"Then let's go, ladies!" Two goddesses, and three Frame Gears, charged along

the sandy beach.

The starfish's limbs darted after them, hunting them down with laser strikes.

But each and every one of the girls managed to dodge, deflect, or slice back.

There was actually only one of them who managed to cut the laser, though. But

that wasn't really a big deal.

"Kokonoe Secret Style: Sword Flash!" The first one to make its way through

was Yae in her Schwertleite. She tore through one of the muddy-gold

appendages with strikes swifter than the naked eye.

Yae immediately spotted the exposed core, and stabbed her katana right

through it.

The core raised a loud shattering noise and crumbled into pieces. That was

one down.

"[Boost]!" Next came Elze in Gerhilde. She pummeled the limb firing lasers at

her with the pile bunkers.

She started with punches clad in divinity, and drove her pile bunkers into the

cracks. It could hardly even be called a fight; it was almost like deep excavation

or mining work. She was pulling chunk after chunk of corrupted phrasium from

her enemy's body.

"There it is!" The core became dislodged and rolled out of the limb. Gerhilde

scooped her right arm upward and struck the core with her uppercut. Two

down.

"Hup, hup..." Karina ran across the sand on foot, deflecting laser after laser as

they fired her way. She displayed every instinct one might expect from a

hunting goddess, tracking her prey with merciless precision.

Karina jumped into the air, landing atop the wriggling limb. She brought her

machete down, splitting it like chopped firewood. The core within was sliced

down the middle. It crumbled instantly. It was a casual and anticlimactic finish.

Just another successful hunt. Three down.

"Lestian Sacred Sword: Fifth Swirl!" Hilde charged forward in her orange

Siegrune, clashing head-on against her target.

It brandished a crystal blade in its hand, creating a spinning wind around it

and splitting apart the muddied phrasium.

The red core was swept by the updraft, casting it into the sky above.

"Hmph!" Siegrune's blade danced through the air, cleanly splitting the core in

half as it fell back to earth. Four down.

"Good job, girls. Now I'll go for mine..." Moroha smiled broadly, casually

swinging her forty-centimeter-wide blade and slicing apart the lasers that came

toward her.

Once again, very casually, she swung her blade in the direction of her target.

Even though there was still a considerable distance between them, the

shockwave from her motion sliced the limb to pieces.

Her attack, which seemed to rend space itself, cleanly split the core in half.

Five down.

Moroha, who hadn't moved a single step throughout all of that, looked up to

Helmwige.

"Looks like it's time for the finale." Linze knew from Helmwige's readings that

the central core had begun sending out magical pulses to regenerate the rest of

the body. The final core was smack-bang in the middle, she needed to hurry.

If the regeneration was allowed to continue, then everyone else's hard work

would have all been for nothing. She couldn't afford to lose here.

"... H-Here I go!" Linze gripped the controls in front of her and started a

sudden descent toward the starfish.

She focused all her attention on the monitor, lining up the sights for her

revolver cannons.

The moment the sights lined up with the core's location, Linze pulled the

trigger and held it down for dear life.

Pew, pew, pew, pew!! The hail of crystal bullets fired in rapid succession,

raining down upon their target.

The middle of the starfish's body was dented and pelted by bullet after bullet.

Eventually the muddy-gold shell gave way to the red core. But Helmwige's

furious flurry of bullets didn't stop, landing blow after blow on to the exposed

weak point and cracking it.

But the central core was roughly twice the size of the other cores. It wouldn't

break as easily. If Linze didn't do something, the other cores would regenerate

before she succeeded.

"I won't... Give you the chance!" Linze suddenly had Helmwige shift from

flight mode into regular Frame Gear mode.

The shift in forms meant that Helmwige was no longer capable of flight, and it

would come crashing down to the ground. But that was exactly what Linze

wanted.

"Hiyaaaah!!" Linze cried out with righteous force, and expertly navigated a

drop kick on to the cracked core below.

This technique was something Linze had learned without even realizing it.

After all, she had been carefully watching her older sister's training more than

anyone else. It was the ultimate crystallization of her bond with Elze. An attack

picked up simply by paying close attention to her sister's style.

The incredible hit utterly obliterated the central core. With that, the starfishshaped Upper Construct was done for.

The great creature's body began melting down into sludge. All the

participants in its death moved away and watched it from afar.

"You did it, Linze! That was totally awesome!"

"You truly resembled Elze-dono, you did. What a wonderful attack."

"Indeed. It was quite the amazing strike. I knew you could do it."

"R-Really? Ahaha... I got so into it, it was like my body moved on its own. I'm

really happy it worked out..." Linze blushed a little, but she was smiling.

Thus, they had won their fight. Linze turned her gaze toward the shoreline,

and she saw that Touya's fight against the two-headed Dragon was drawing to a

close as well.

◇ ◇ ◇

The two-headed Dragon launched bladed spines toward Reginleif.

But the twelve crystal spheres orbiting the Frame Gear easily countered them.

The Fragarachs had taken sphere form, and operated as autonomous

defensive satellites.

"Alrighty. Time to wrap this up... I need to check in on Ende, and I'm a bit

worried about the knights too." The battle was shifting to our favor.

Unfortunately, the Lesser and Intermediate Constructs had been stronger than

we'd anticipated. Some of our knights had been overpowered, but things still

looked positive.

Sue and Elze's teams had wrapped up their battles, so they'd definitely be

able to go help the regular knights. I needed to hurry up and go help the others.

The two-headed Dragon opened both of its mouths, preparing for another

beam blast.

"Nope, not happening." The twelve spheres transformed into two lances that

propelled themselves toward the gaping mouths.

The lances crashed their way into the Dragon's maws before spreading open

like umbrellas and starting to rotate.

The two lances began drilling through muddy-gold carapace until they pierced

through the backs of the Dragon's throats.

Both heads cracked and shattered above the jaw, and they melted into sludge

like usual.

But the broken pieces immediately regenerated and reformed the heads in no

time at all. I wasn't exactly surprised, but it was worth a shot.

"Now, let's see about those cores..."

I used my divine sight to look the Dragon up and down. Chest, belly, and tail...

There were three in total. It was a little annoying, but easily manageable.

I called one of the two lances to Reginleif's hand, and transformed the other

into twenty-four daggers.

I then merged those daggers with the lance, and formed a much larger heavy

lance.

"Alright, let's do this." I charged toward the two-headed Dragon, heavy lance

in hand.

I smashed Reginleif right into the Dragon's chest, caving it in slightly through

sheer force of momentum.

It had a tough exterior, but I'd expected that. The defense was certainly

higher around its chest than it was on its heads; even the heavy lance wasn't

working its way through the damn thing's body as fast as I wanted. I wished it

would just die faster so I could get to the others.

"Apotheosis!" Reginleif suddenly found itself surrounded by my divinity. With

that, the heavy lance started to cut through my enemy's body like butter.

The lance kept sliding through the corrupted phrasium until its tip pressed

against the chest core.

"Shatter!" Reginleif mercilessly shattered the core to bits.

I quickly turned the lance around with a swift U-turn, and then I charged back

toward the Dragon.

This time I was aiming for the core in its belly.

The heavy lance used its divinity-clad aura to shatter the carapace and meet

its mark.

Reginleif pushed onward, smashing through the other side of the Dragon,

crushing the second core in the process.

"It's over for you now." Reginleif turned once more, and flew toward the

Dragon's tail like an arrow.

The tail core was much less protected than the other two, and thus it took

only a simple thrust from the heavy lance to obliterate it.

Black smoke began rising up from the two-headed Dragon as it crumbled.

The last of the Upper Constructs had fallen, bubbling down into waxy goop.

"That was pretty easy, huh. Now then... Time to go help every-"

"Touya! Three-o'clock! One of the mutants!" Yumina alerted me to an

Intermediate Construct shaped like a sea anemone. It had two Chevaliers

caught in its tentacle-like snares.

The tentacles sucked both Frame Gears into the mutant's body, absorbing

them in a matter of seconds.

"Flora! Are those pilots okay?!" Flora was stationed at the emergency medical

center on the beach.

"They're okay, you see. The two of them used their emergency escape

devices." I was relieved to hear that. Deaths may have been an inevitability

when it came to some wars, but I still wanted to keep any losses to a minimum.

The Frame Gears that got eaten were from Brunhild. It had probably taken

advantage of an opening in their defenses when the two of them were moving

to support others.

The tentacled anemone looked a little tougher than the rest of them.

I hefted the heavy lance and prepared to take it out, but it suddenly started

moving strangely.

It began backing away from the shoreline and heading into the sea.

I watched it, confused, as something worse suddenly happened. Space itself

cracked around the anemone, creating a rift in the air.

The sea anemone shuffled backward into the space between worlds,

vanishing into the crack with the two Chevaliers it had stolen.

And then, like a video being rewound, the crack in space sealed itself back up

again. The anemone had escaped.

"Wait, was that...?"

I was frozen in shock by the unexpected event. I'd seen something behind the

anemone, through the gap in space. It was distinctly humanoid. It was probably

another Dominant Construct, lurking in the shadows. "...Worrying about it

won't do anything. We need to get this battle finished." I tuned Reginleif's

communicator to the general channel.

"The Upper Constructs are all dead! This isn't a battle anymore, it's a hunt!

Wipe out all the remaining enemies, don't leave any alive!"

"HOO-RAH!" The knights all roared ferociously. The Frame Gears all charged

ahead with renewed vigor, smashing mutant after mutant.

We'd already dealt with around eighty percent of them. The only major part

of this conflict was in the hands of Ende and his group.

I shifted my Fragarachs to daggers and sent them to support the knights. As I

maneuvered the blades, I activated my divine sight to look over to the [Prison]

Ende was battling inside.

It was a little rude to peek on them, but I was a bit concerned.

The [Prison] was cut off from the outside world, but my divine sight allowed

me to view the unusual battle going on within.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Leto. Luto. It's been some time." Melle raised her voice, but the twin

Dominants only replied with smirks.

"Before I left Phrasia, did I not entrust you two with the duty of advising the

new Sovereign? What happened?"

"Haaaah. Do you really think that we wanted to babysit your successor? We

wanted something more fun, something more engaging."

"Indeed. That's why we joined Yula in crossing across worlds. Yula, Gila, and

even Ney so earnestly went out there to search for you... But we didn't care

about that at all. We saw a golden opportunity, you see. We realized that we

didn't have to exercise restraint in these new worlds we'd cross through."

Melle narrowed her eyes in response.

"And just where is Yula now, hm? Isn't he the one behind all of this?"

"Who knows? We don't exactly interact with him very often. Ever since Yula

gained this golden power, he's been off doing all kinds of things. We don't know

the details, and we don't want to know." Melle sighed quietly. She knew that

Yula had always been a secretive sort. But she was a little surprised that he

hadn't revealed any of his plans to the twins, who were supposed to be his

allies.

Back on Phrasia, Yula was considered the most accomplished scientist around.

Even Melle couldn't help but be impressed by his endless thirst for knowledge.

But that thirst paved the way for a dark obsession. Yula would sacrifice

anything, employ any method, all without regret. If it was for the sake of

discovery, he'd use and abuse anything he could get his hands on. His heart was

clearly ice cold.

"It doesn't really matter to us what Yula is doing. Isn't that right, brother

dearest? So long as we're having fun, we don't really have any complaints. Now

then, is that all you wanted to ask us? Can we get around to killing you now? In

truth, we don't really need the Sovereign's power anymore, but it might be a

nice little addition to our forces if we can claim your core here and now."

"If you so much as touch Lady Melle, I'll take your cores and crush them into

dust."

"My, you certainly do talk the talk. Pity you can't walk the walk, Ney." Leto

taunted Ney with a smug, sadistic grin.

Ney glared back with fury boiling over behind her eyes.

Luto, who stood by his sister, suddenly turned his gaze toward Ende.

"We allowed you to escape last time, Endymion. But this time we'll ensure

you meet your end. It might be a little nice if we gut you in front of the

Sovereign, don't you think? It would add a little spice to the confrontation. But,

hm... How shall we kill you? There are so many methods to pick from."

"Yeah, I gotta admit I'm stuck thinking too, you mutated bastard. I'm

wondering just how I should go about beating the crystal snot out of you." Ende

rolled his shoulders and spoke casually, refusing to give in to Luto's provocation.

Luto adopted a slightly frustrated expression, staring Ende down and spitting

a few words back.

"Did we give you brain damage or something? How exactly do you intend to

hurt us, hm? You couldn't do a thing last time."

"Well, I was thinking I'd get right up close to you like this." Ende suddenly

appeared in front of Luto; it was if he hadn't moved his body at all. His motion

was so swift it resembled teleportation.

"Wha-?!"

"And then I was thinking of putting all my power behind a right hook." Before

Luto could even react, Ende's arm had pulled back and pushed forward,

slamming a clenched fist right into the Dominant Construct's cheek.

Luto flew backward, his neck bent at an odd angle. He writhed slightly as he

rolled along the ground.

"Brother dearest?!" Luto kept crashing and rolling along the ground until he

hit the wall of the [Prison] and finally stopped. Leto looked on in shock.

He scrambled to his feet and glared in confusion over toward Ende. Deep

cracks ran through the carapace on his right cheek, but they quickly mended

themselves.

"You wretch... How dare you?!"

"Don't get mad because you can't walk the walk, Luto. Anger clouds one's

judgment, you know. Emotional weakness creates physical weakness in the

heat of combat. That's one of the things my master taught me."

"Don't talk down to me! Don't get so conceited, you little shit" Luto snarled,

kicking up off the ground and madly charging at Ende. He swung out his right

fist toward Ende's face, almost in an attempt to pay him back for the earlier

blow.

But, just at the last second before impact, Ende caught the incoming strike

with his palm.

"Wh-?!"

"That's it? Elze is a lot scarier when she uses her [Boost] spell. If I couldn't

block something as weak as that, then my master would definitely chew me out

about it." Luto's eyes widened as his confusion deepened, and Ende was quick

to take advantage of that. The white-haired youth spun around and delivered a

brutal backspin kick to the Phrase's lower back.

"Bwugh!" Luto was blasted back yet again, kicking up sand as he rolled along

the dunes.

"Guh!" His sister, Leto, attempted to rush to his aid. But she found her path

blocked by Lycee and Ney.

"Out of my way! Move!" Leto suddenly reshaped her arm into a wretchedlooking muddy-gold blade. She brought it swinging down toward Ney.

Even though it was only a trace amount, that blade was imbued with the

wicked god's divinity. Ney was a Dominant Construct, but she was far less than

the divine. If she didn't dodge, there's no way her body would be able to resist

the slash.

But... What Leto felt in the next instant was not the satisfaction of having

cleaved through her enemy. She felt a hard resistance against her limb, and a

clashing sound.

She looked at her arm in confusion, and saw Ney blocking it with a sword.

Ney smiled wide, almost laughing at her mutated foe.

"I was a bit worried for a sec, but it looks like that Touya guy was right! It

worked!"

"J-Just what is that blade?!" Leto swung her sword-arm again, and then a

third time. But the silver-white blade in Ney's hand parried the hit at every turn.

That was to be expected, of course, for Ney's blade was no ordinary weapon.

It was one of the sacred treasure blades that Ende had pilfered from another

world after his loss to the twins.

Touya had taken them back after all that business was dealt with, but he'd

allowed Lycee and Ney to borrow them for this battle.

Even if they were Dominant Constructs, they were still Phrase lifeforms. That

meant there was a chance they could be consumed by the mutants, or

converted. Touya decided that granting them the divine weapons would give

them the necessary protection. After all, the blades had just been laying around

in his [Storage].

Touya got permission from the other gods and had then handed them over.

"You know, Ney. I've been thinking about this for a while, but... You and your

little friends really piss me and my brother off! You're always getting in the way

of our fun!"

"That's really funny, actually. I was just thinking about how much you piss me

off! How you always did whatever you wanted, and how you never gave Lady

Melle the proper respect. We were allies before so I put up with it, but now

you're my enemy... So I can tear you apart and finally be rid of you!"

"Shut the hell up, bitch!" Leto screeched, flailing her sword-arm furiously in

Ney's direction.

Even though Ney had a sacred treasure, Leto was still a lot stronger than her.

It was taking all of her power just to deflect the strikes raining down on her.

But, taking advantage of Leto's distracted state, Lycee took her chance to

strike. She slashed at the blade-arm, severing it cleanly and saving Ney from

further peril.

Leto's right arm thudded to the ground and began melting into slime.

"Gh... I didn't even notice you! You always have been forgettable, you bitch!"

Leto jumped back, regrowing her missing arm in a flash.

Lycee stared back at her, brandishing the divine blade in her hands.

"Are you okay, Ney?"

"Yeah. I'm okay, somehow... Couldn't you have helped a little sooner?"

"You two were having a conversation, I didn't want to interrupt..."

"Th-That wasn't really a conversation..." Ney was a little bewildered by

Lycee's nonsensical reasoning, but she just shrugged it off.

Even back on Phrasia, Lycee was considered an oddball.

She wasn't a bad girl by any means, but she often behaved in an atypical way.

Hell, she'd even been part of Yula's group with Ney, but somehow she ended up

joining Endymion without anyone noticing.

Ney originally believed she'd been tricked by Ende into doing that, but she

couldn't exactly deny that Lycee probably did it on her own. Still, Ney would

take any chance she could get to yell at or punch Ende, so she was happy to

pretend like he was a bad influence on the girl she viewed very much as a little

sister.

"Hm? So you'll both be facing me? Very well. If you want to fight so bad, let's

make it a real one!" Leto's body shifted, as a muddy-gold metal spilled out from

inside her. It began coating her, fixing jagged armored pieces on to her arms,

legs, torso and more.

In a short while, every part of her body aside from her face had been covered

in the thicker material. It was some kind of enhanced version of the crystal

armor that other Dominants could equip.

"You bastard, Endymion! Don't you dare mess around with me! You're

nothing, you hear me?! Nothing! Gahahahah!!" Ney and the others glanced

over toward the sudden yelling, and saw Luto clashing with Ende. He'd covered

himself in the golden armor as well. It certainly wasn't surprising that the two of

them were so synchronized.

"Now, let's take this from the top. I'll crush you to bits, Endymion."

"Indeed, it's as my dear brother says. Lycee, Ney. I'll pulverize your cores. I'll

eat you alive."

Luto VS Ende

Leto VS Ney and Lycee

The Sovereign stood away and watched. The battle within the [Prison] was

about to reach fever pitch.

◇ ◇ ◇

Luto charged ahead, morphing both of his arms into blades.

The Phrase's crystal armor was a technique that took the life energy from

inside a Phrase's core, and projected it outwardly.

It was similar to the fighting spirit used by Elze and Ende.

Luto, having imbued himself with this armament chi, was now capable of

phenomenal strength and explosive speed.

"Raaargh!" Luto slashed toward Ende. Unlike Ney and Lycee, Ende wasn't

wielding any divine weapons. If he took a strike like that, then he'd surely be

torn asunder.

However... Ende didn't move from his position. He simply exhaled deeply and

focused all his power within a spot beneath his navel.

"Fighting Spirit: Energy Release!"

"What?!" Ende's body began to emanate chi as he garbed himself in raw

fighting spirit. But this wasn't any ordinary chi; it had divinity mixed into it. It

wasn't pure like Touya's, but it was more than enough to contend with the

wicked god's muddied force. This martial chi was truly befitting of the god of

combat's disciple.

Ende's hands, clad in fighting spirit, clapped down on the incoming blade and

caught it. It was almost like a magic trick, but this was the real deal.

"Haaah!"

"Nh?!" Ende then twisted both of his hands, and broke off the arm-blade. He

tossed the blade aside before smacking the back of his hand into Luto's face.

Luto's shattered arm started regenerating as he flew backward. He rolled on

the ground a few times before steadying himself and standing.

Luto turned back toward Ende, but suddenly his body spasmed. An impact

crater appeared on his right shoulder, as if an invisible fist had hammered into

it.

"Guh! Wh-What is this?!"

"Dang, I missed. Seems like my energy release isn't quite good enough for

combat yet." Ende grumbled quietly, his right arm extended. The further the

distance, the lower the accuracy and strength. His abilities still weren't refined

enough to use at range, it was easier for him to just directly punch his enemies.

"Now, let me pay you back for the time you two messed me up." Ende ran full

pelt at Luto. Luto was powered up, though, so he could now read Ende's

movements.

His newly-regenerated arm had been specially grown to be more dense and

durable. He was prepared for the incoming strike.

Ende's punch connected with the defensive arm. It groaned and cracked

slightly, but it didn't break.

He then took his chance to send a thorn-studded punch right back toward

Ende.

But his white-haired foe dodged the strike just barely, spinning in place and

turning Luto's world upside down.

"Gwuh?!" Luto slammed into the ground, finding himself the sudden and

swift victim of an over-shoulder throw.

Ende tried to follow up with a downward punch against his fallen foe, but he

had to jump back to avoid the laser blast coming his way from the side.

The terrible heat ray pierced the space that had previously been occupied by

Ende's head.

The laser carried on until it hit the [Prison] wall and dissipated.

Ende turned toward the source of the blast, and he saw Leto staring at him

incredulously.

"Die, vermin!" She began charging up another blast at the tip of her bladearm.

Ende dodged it with a swift backstep, putting distance between him and Luto.

Luto then used that opportunity to scramble to his feet and slash his blade

arm at Ney, who was in the middle of charging toward his sister.

"Guh!" Ney used her divine weapon to parry the blade arm. Luto quickly

changed his strategy, reaching out his arm further to wrap around his sister's

body. He pulled her toward him.

Leto flew upward, spun in midair, and landed next to her twin.

"Crud, I wanted to beat them while they were separated..." Ende grumbled a

little as he looked over at the twins. They'd taken a defensive posture, standing

back to back.

They were twins, and they seemed to have perfect teamwork. When they

worked together, they could perform far more than twice as efficiently than

they could alone.

"Sorry. We couldn't keep her held down."

"Yeah, sorry."

"It's alright. I couldn't take out Luto, either." Ende stood opposite Ney and

Lycee; they surrounded the twins on either side.

Ende maintained his aura of fighting spirit, kicking off from the ground and

charging forward. Luto came swiping at him with his sword arm, but Ende's

divinity-laden fist tanked the attack with little difficulty.

Luto was rendered defenseless, leaving him open for Ende to kick his side.

But... Leto moved from behind her brother, and jabbed her sword arm toward

Ende like a spear.

"Gah!" Ende had to contort his entire body just to avoid the strike. He

retreated on the spot.

Leto had attacked Ende without even looking in Luto's direction. She kept her

gaze trained on Ney and Lycee, but still managed to effortlessly intercept Ende's

attack.

"These guys are a real pain..."

"I believe that should be our line. I'm angry that you meaningless little mooks

have harmed us to this degree. Yula would laugh if he learned about this. Leto,

sister dearest! It is time to put an end to this!"

"You're right, brother dearest. I'm getting quite tired of this. I'm especially

irritated by that weak little woman just watching our battle from the sidelines.

Let's play our final card."

Leto sneered directly toward Melle, who was hiding a good distance behind

Lycee and Ney.

A cracking sound rang out as several crystal rods, around the size of bamboo

reeds, started jutting out in a spiral pattern beneath the twins.

The rods pushed upward and upward, elevating the duo higher and higher,

liquefying at the top and engulfing their bodies.

A single form remained after the grim transformation, revealing an eightlegged mass where the twins once stood.

It was a great spider. The twins' bodies from the waist upward jutted out

above the spider abdomen and thorax.

There was a demonkin species known as the Arachne. It had the upper body

of a woman, and the lower body of a spider. The giant spider in front of them

certainly resembled an Arachne, but it had two upper bodies that covered both

sexes, and it was made of metallicized, muddy-gold phrasium.

"What is that, your true form or something?"

"This is a power granted to us by Yula. We've kept it sealed until now because

we find it unsightly, but that matters not now. We're going to slaughter you and

consume your wasting corpses!" Luto's voice was the most prominent, but

there were traces of Leto's voice undertoning it. The twins had become one, in

the most complete sense of the word.

Ende could trace the magic flow through its body. Their cores had been inside

their throats when they had human forms, but now both cores had moved

toward the spider body's center, and they were acting as one.

Leto's right arm morphed, and so did Luto's left. Before long, each arm took

the form of a giant pair of scissors, two pairs in total.

They weren't animalistic pincers like a crab claw; they had straight-up become

long, metallic scissors that you might find in a kitchen.

"Take this!" The closed pair of scissors jabbed toward Ende.

Ende leaped backward, causing the weapon to dig itself into the sand.

"We'll tear you in half!" Leto's voice was the more prominent sound in that

scream, with a little bit of Luto's undertoning it.

The second pair of scissors came rushing forward, opening up wide and

stretching toward Lycee.

"Lycee!" Ney ran toward her sister, who hadn't reacted well enough in time.

Leto's scissors weren't trying to cut Lycee down the middle; they were aiming

for her neck. She was trying to instantly kill Lycee by shattering her core.

Even a Dominant Construct couldn't regenerate if their core was destroyed.

The act would mean certain death.

Just as the scissors closed around Lycee's exposed throat, they stopped. A

high-pitched sound rang out. It wasn't that they stopped of their own volition, it

was more that they'd been stopped.

"Wh-?!" A phrasium pillar had emerged from the ground in front of Lycee,

blocking Leto's scissor attack by catching the blades.

"Damn it!" Leto channeled more corrupted divinity into the blades,

strengthening them. The pillar was destroyed. Fortunately, Lycee managed to

escape within that time frame.

"You dare get in our way?!" Leto turned and glared toward the source of the

phrasium pillar. It was Melle, the Phrase Sovereign.

"This was a battle that Endymion and the others wished to partake in. I

intended to simply watch over it from afar... Using that as an excuse. But I think

I need to re-evaluate my approach here. You two are still fellow Phrase, no

matter your opinions. I suppose I've been unable to get over that hurdle, and

I'm unable to bring myself to bear arms against you as a result."

"Pah. We've long since discarded the droll life of a mere phrasium lifeform.

We have the power to do whatever we like."

"That's right! We're no longer shackled by that inferior life! We're finally free!

We can kill all those that wrong us, rampage in lands yet unknown, live however

we like! Most importantly we need never serve a Sovereign like you, ever

again!"

"My... You two really are too far gone now, aren't you?" Melle sighed softly,

looking down at the ground. She slowly raised her head and faced the beast

before her.

"I am the Sovereign of all Phrase. Thus I must see to my duty and put an end

to your carnage. Prisma Chain." Phrasium pillars began jutting out of the ground

all over the place. The pillars transformed into connecting chain links that

stretched out and attached to one another. They then shrank down,

immobilizing the massive spider.

"Guh! You little bitch...!" The monstrous spider began to tear at the crystal

chains binding it. Leto and Luto became so preoccupied with freeing

themselves, that they didn't notice the white-haired young man with the

trailing scarf charge toward them.

"Wh-?!"

"Sacred Combat Art... Divine Palm Spiral!" Ende held his palm up, he gathered

divinity inside it. The young man took a firm step forward and drove the swirling

golden light into the spider's body.

A large impact rang out, but... Nothing seemed to happen. Leto and Luto were

seemingly unharmed.

"And with that... I have my vengeance."

"What are you talking ab... Ugh?!"

"What? No... What have you done to us? This can't be, it isn't happening! No!

We..." Leto and Luto began melting into thick, muddy goop.

The two of them realized what had happened in their last moments. Ende's

palm strike had shattered their cores. No damage had been done to any other

part of their body. The shockwave of divinity that had been pressed into them

specifically targeted the points that would kill them.

The divinity of the wicked god, which had been protecting their cores, paled

in comparison to the real divinity that Ende benefited from.

The spider body collapsed completely, black smoke hissing upward from it.

Leto and Luto's original bodies lay there amidst the sludge, and soon they

began to melt down themselves. They were unable to retain their own

structural integrity.

They gasped and moaned, opening their mouths one final time in unison as if

to say something... But no words ever came.

Ney looked away in sorrow and shame. Even though they'd pledged their

souls to the wicked god, they were still her former allies. She quietly thought

about how close she had been to meeting a similar fate.

When Ney finally opened her eyes, she just saw the soot-like outlines where

their bodies once were. The twins, once Dominant Constructs just like her, had

been snuffed out completely.

"Ney... You good?"

"...Yeah. I'm good." Ney gave Lycee a curt response. Even if they had a

complicated relationship, Ney had known Luto and Leto for thousands of years.

It was understandable she'd feel mixed about their deaths.

The bitter mood was suddenly broken by the appearance of a Frame Gear. It

was Touya in his Reginleif.

"Looks like you guys are just about done."

"Yup. Same with you." Ende extended a thumbs-up in response to Touya's

voice.

Just like that, the four walls of the [Prison] around them shimmered away like

snow.

"We just need to mop up the stragglers now. You mind deploying your

Dragoon to help?"

"Man, you can't let a guy rest at all, Touya. Yeah, I'll help. Just be sure to pay

me for my services."

"Sure, sure. I'll treat you guys to whatever. Pork cutlets, tempura, grilled eel,

you name it."

"...Why are you just listing off food? I mean, I understand why but still..."

Ende sighed and glanced back at the three girls behind him. Even though they

didn't take in any energy from calories, they still ate a lot of food. An

overwhelming amount of the money Ende earned from the adventurer's guild

ended up going down their hungry gullets.

Ende had no doubt that the three of them could wolf down a whole Dragon

without issue.

In the end, Ende shrugged his shoulders. He'd have preferred money, but it

would probably end up getting spent on food anyway... Having Touya pay him

with meals would save time for all parties involved.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Guess that's the end of that." I leaned back in Reginleif's cockpit, summoning

a map of the area on the central console. There wasn't a single enemy mutant

left. We'd finished cleaning them up.

We'd suffered some damage, but nobody had died. The biggest losses were

the two Chevaliers taken by that weird anemone, and the Ortlinde Overlord

being pretty heavily damaged. A few of our other Chevaliers were considerably

damaged too.

My head started to hurt just thinking about what would come next. First up

we'd have to arrange a world leader summit to discuss our plans. I had a feeling

that the leaders of the western continent would better understand the severity

of the situation now, at least.

Given that two Frame Gears had been stolen, I wouldn't be surprised if we

had Frame Gear-shaped mutants showing up at some point.

So now I had to think about a countermeasure for something like that... I just

had to hope that Doctor Babylon would take care of it.

If Ende and the others were right, then the only Dominant Construct left was

Yula, but something was bothering me...

The humanoid shape I saw when the anemone fled... It didn't feel like Yula at

all.

It was possible he had called more Dominants from Phrasia to help him, but I

didn't know what to make of the situation.

It was pointless worrying about it, though. We needed to act on what we did

know, not ponder on what we didn't.

I flipped on the common channel along Reginleif's radio transmitter, and

spoke up.

"Attention all soldiers, our mission is complete. I'll trigger my magic to

teleport you all back where you need to be, so hang tight."

◇ ◇ ◇

It had been two days since we'd repelled the invasion. Several world leaders

had gathered in Brunhild to discuss our plans.

As I'd expected, actually seeing such a terrible battle happen before their eyes

was enough for all the leaders of the western continent to understand the

gravity of the threat. They were well aware that, unless we cooperate, the

world could face ruin.

Primula, Triharan, Strain, Allent, Gardio, Lassei, and Panaches were all granted

Frame Unit VR simulators to train their knights. I asked that they prepare

squads to help fight in coming conflicts.

On the political side, things were all progressing smoothly... But not

everything was going so well.

"Frame Gear mutants, hm... They may take that approach. After all,

appropriating weaponry is a common tactic in warfare. Isn't this why I told you

that our general infantry should have self-destruct buttons installed by

default?!"

"I still think that's going too far..." I had a feeling that nobody would want to

pilot our Frame Gears if they were rigged to blow.

I sighed quietly as Doctor Babylon mulled over blueprints on her desk.

"So... that Yula person, is he some kind of engineer?"

"Ah, well... According to Melle, he's like an engineer, a biologist, a politician, a

smooth-talker... All kinds of stuff... A genius, essentially. Though apparently,

Melle has always been more knowledgeable than him when it comes to more

esoteric stuff like magic."

"Hrmph... And now that genius has a hold of my precious little Frame Gears,

huh? He probably wants to tinker and change them. There sure are a lot of jerks

out there who mooch off the hard work and technology of others and try to

pass it off as their own? Isn't that right, Touya?"

Please don't guilt me like that... I know I've been re-inventing common Earth

stuff over here, but gimme a break...

"Do you think he might be dabbling in Gollem technology as well?"

"Given the Isengard situation, it's likely."

"It's possible that he got interested in Frame Gears because he started

looking at Gollems. Still, I have my pride as an engineer, you know?! I won't

lose. That's why I need you to show me more visual references for my

upcoming projects, okay?"

"Ugh..."

I grumbled quietly as Doctor Babylon inched closer and closer, steam

practically firing out of her nose. It sure sounded proper when she said she

wanted visual references, but she was basically just asking to watch more

mecha anime.

I didn't mind showing them some more, but I didn't want them getting

inspired by something weird. I mean, it was true that weird ideas had done

pretty well for us in the past, but still...

I didn't want us to lose just because I'd been hesitant to help, so I

begrudgingly agreed, leading all of them to the garden.

The usual suspects like Rosetta, Monica, and Elluka (with Fenrir) were

gathered there. But I was surprised to find that Sue, Sakura, Linze, and Cesca

were there as well. Even Paula and the heavenly beasts had tagged along.

"We're fans of this annie may stuff, too!" Linze spoke so excitedly that I dared

not correct her. Now all I had to do was decide what to show them.

Cesca started preparing tea and snacks, so I started flicking my finger along

my smartphone.

...This one won't do. I don't wanna show something scary like a planet getting

cleaved in half. Plus, the ending to this one is so sad that Sue would probably get

traumatized.

...This one's... good, for sure, but it's more like a political drama than an actual

mecha battle anime. It'd probably go over their heads for the most part.

I guess a simple one is probably better. Oh, how about this one... It's less of a

mecha anime and more about plastic models instead. It's a pretty relaxing

show, and it's quite fun too. It also has a lot of robot model designs, so I'm sure

it'll make Doctor Babylon happy... Though I'm not so sure if it'll help them come

up with any new tech.

I projected the screen into the air with [Mirage] and began playing the show.

Then, I left them to their own devices.

"Ohhh, they're watching one of those annie mays? That makes sense..."

Yumina had been curious why Linze, Sakura, and Sue hadn't shown up for

afternoon tea.

Cesca was up there watching stuff too, so Renne came in to refill our tea.

"...Wish I could've watched too..." Lu grumbled softly as she reached out for a

cookie. She was quite the budding anime fan.

Lu was making cookies for the afternoon tea when Doctor Babylon called her,

so she couldn't come up to watch with the others.

"I'll send the shows to your smartphones later, okay?"

"Oh, really? Thank you!"

"That's rather convenient. This thing here... We can share information

between devices instantly. I can imagine it being useful for world leaders to

share or read news..." Leen murmured as she played around with her

smartphone. I wasn't quite sure we'd be able to make great use of info-sharing,

since less than a hundred people had smartphones.

Then again, since most of those people were world leaders, I had access to

information from them pretty easily. They were probably only giving me

information they'd been cleared to share, though.

"In the world I came from, regular citizens had access to news from all over

the world. You could even find out stuff about individual peoples' daily lives if

you wanted."

"Wh-What? Were the citizens constantly monitored or something?" Lu looked

almost afraid of the idea.

"No, no... Nothing like that! It was information that people voluntarily gave

up. Like, uh... if you decided to write something like 'These cookies are really

tasty!' on a certain platform, then anyone with a smartphone would be able to

see what you wrote, friend or stranger."

"I-I wouldn't mind if that happened, I suppose... But isn't it scary to know a

total stranger could learn things about your life?"

"Yeah, a bit. That's why sensible people don't share too much. Most people

only write things that they're happy with other people knowing, but some

overshare..."

I could probably make some kind of social network in this world, but I'm not

sure how well the people would adapt to it...

You'd often see it online, someone posting something like, "I'm objectively

right," only to immediately get flamed by someone saying, "This is literally

wrong. It's so wrong you should feel bad." I didn't really want arguments like

that to break out between users in this world. Especially not if it escalated to

fights breaking out between countries based on shitposting.

I guess a blog would be a better start... Actually, yeah, that's a good idea.

"Hey, Lu. Would you be interested in starting a cooking blog?"

"A cooking what?"

"You can take pictures of the food you make and post them to a special

virtual space with instructions on the recipe and stuff. Then others would be

able to see and try their hand at cooking on their own. That would allow people

from different places to try different dishes that you can show them. Like, uh...

if someone from another country decided to look at your blog, they could see a

Brunhild-original recipe on there and try making it at home."

Fortunately, the ingredients available on the western side of the world were

pretty similar to the ones in the east. That wasn't too surprising, since both

worlds were pretty similar.

I was sure that most people would be able to make Lu's dishes, except maybe

the more niche stuff. The Grand Potentate of Lassei showed me that his side of

the world had rice, too.

"That sounds quite good, yes! We could share dishes from all kinds of

countries, not just Brunhild. That would probably bring the people closer

together."

"Yes, you're right. We could probably spread Mismede's cully around like

that. It might get citizens interested in what the rest of the world has to offer."

Yumina and Leen nodded in approval. Food was often the first step of general

interest, so that sounded good to me.

Then again, food worked differently in different cultures. It took a little bit of

forcing to get the people of Egret to try eating those Tentaculars, after all. Still,

none of the world leaders had any issues with the varied meals I'd served them

when they came to Brunhild.

In the end, the blog readers would be able to consult the recipes anyway. It

wouldn't be like they were forced to cook everything.

I don't think there's anything I've eaten around the world that I've hated,

come to think of it...

Wait... Hold on... That shitty stuff I had back in Yulong! It was that Orc meat

char siu rip-off!

Some monsters tasted delicious, like Dragons and Bloody Crabs... Tentacular

was also good, depending on the preparation. I personally hated the meat of

humanoid monsters like Orcs, but there were probably people who enjoyed it.

"Hmm... Well, I'd like to start with snacks and sides, I think. I can probably

manage that, Touya. I'd really like to."

"Alright, let's give it a shot, then."

I borrowed Lu's smartphone and took a photo of the cookies.

"So you could use this photo, then write down the ingredients and the steps

for making them. Portion sizes, what utensils you'd need, and so on. Think

that'd work?"

"I think so. It's just like learning from the recipes you taught me first, right? I

don't have a problem with that."

Ah... Right, I gave her most of the recipes. Maybe I should just look up Earth

recipes and then copy and paste them... Oh, wait... The ingredients have

different names here. I'll just leave it to Lu.

I think we should consider some special apps. Maybe a [Fireball] app that

launches fire if you press a button. That'd be cool... But a touch extreme.

Defensive apps that activated [Shield] or [Reflection] sound good, though!

I decided to think more about this later.

I returned to the lab and found everyone engrossed in front of the anime

screen. Your eyes'll turn square if you stay that close, you know?

"We need to start developing flight-units! Some kind of simple combinationstyle one."

"No, ma'am! It has to be a beam sword, ma'am! If we condense magic

particles into a specific space, we can turn it into a beam sword!"

"No, that won't do at all! It's gotta be cannons! We could reduce the size of

the Brionac and feed it power directly from Babylon!"

"...If we use Gollem G-Cubes as a transmission medium, we should be able to

amplify general output."

Welp. Didn't take them long to start brainstorming. Can't you guys just sit

back and enjoy the show like Sue?

I was glad that they liked the show, but later on, Sakura kept singing the

opening theme over and over. That was a little bit annoying.

◇ ◇ ◇

Isenberg, the machine city, was once the proud capital of Isengard. But now it

was in a sorry state of decline.

Ever since the witch-king fell, nobody was left to bring order back to the

place, and thus it lost citizens by the day. There were many political reasons for

the exodus, but most people left because of the strange black clouds in the sky.

One day, the citizens of Isenberg noticed black clouds above them. The

ominous clouds would often rumble with thunder and spew black rain below.

The people viewed it as an omen of death and made haste to depart.

The capital, at this point, was a desolate land. There wasn't really anyone left.

The scout Gollems, Bastet and Anubis, had finally arrived at this forsaken city.

They found themselves at a loss when they realized the extent of the carnage.

"Sis... Just what is all this?"

"I can't say for sure... Whatever it is, it's... not right."

The bodies of the dead littered the city streets. Everyone who hadn't fled was

now a corpse on the ground. The departed had twisted expressions of anguish

painting their faces. Oddly, there were no signs of injury on any of them.

The bodies were strewn about in all kinds of places. Some were on stairwells,

others slumped over dining tables, others fallen on park benches. It was as if

they'd all died suddenly during their daily routines.

But the strangest thing of all was the condition of the bodies. There were no

signs of decay. It looked as though they'd only died about an hour earlier.

But Bastet knew that this couldn't be possible. The clothing on the bodies was

frayed and weathered, evidently exposed to the elements for a long period.

All they could deduce from this was that something here was terribly wrong.

"Was it a disease, maybe?"

"Maybe, but we shouldn't jump to conclusions. Let's investigate."

The black dog and black cat dashed up to the top of the tallest building in the

city, the Isentower.

The royal castle had previously been the tallest building, but it was destroyed

when the witch-king went haywire.

The two scouts figured climbing up to the top of the Isentower would give

them a vantage point. The doors to the tower were closed, but that didn't

exactly mean much to the duo. Their claws were fashioned from crystal

materials even more potent than orichalcum, so the entrance gave way to a few

simple swipes.

The noise was incredibly loud as it rang out into the desolate city... but

nobody came to investigate. It seemed there were no survivors holed up in the

tower.

The two animals began ascending the black iron stairwell. They'd seen from

the outside that the top of the tower was home to an enclosed viewing

platform, so they continued higher and higher.

When the two made it to the top, they approached one of the windows on

the viewing platform and looked down upon the city.

From there they saw the sprawling city streets, the black clouds in the sky,

and... it.

"...Just what in the world is that?" Anubis muttered, almost fearful, prompting

Bastet to turn and look his way.

The two of them had eyesight far beyond humans. In fact, their sight was

better than that of regular cats and dogs as well. Hell, the distance they could

see at would even give an eagle a run for its money. And, with those cameralens eyes of theirs, they looked far to the south of Isenberg. There, they saw a

great mass of gold that dominated the landscape.

The mass of gold was composed of pencil-like pillars that jutted out of the

ground. A cluster of massive, muddy crystals.

Bastet didn't see this as some randomized formation. From her point of view,

the sprawling structure almost resembled a crystal palace.

"What should we do, sis? Do we investigate over there?"

"...No, I don't think that's wise. Look at the area around it. If we got too close,

it would be very dangerous."

"Huh? What? Wait... Augh! Th-That's so gross..."

Anubis refocused his gaze, looking around the crystal mass. He couldn't help

but notice that part of the formation on the ground was moving. He increased

the magnification of his vision and realized what he was looking at. Skeletons.

Numerous muddy-gold human skeletons, marching in formation as if in an

unconscious trance.

"There are too many there for us to try getting past. We're running out of

time, anyway. We need to head back, or we won't be able to meet with the

Grand Duke at the designated hour."

"Ohh, okay!"

"Our job is to extract information, remember? If we overreach and end up

being unable to report back, all our work here will have been for nothing. Let's

conclude our mission here and now, and then return to Brunhild."

"Okey-dokey." The two animals turned and began walking down the cold iron

stairs of the Isentower.