74 Save 40 - Airi's Power

During the war event in the game, players had to face Bandel after defeating his vice-captain. When the protagonist and his friends almost defeated him, something happened.

This was a rarity, Bandel's mobile knight evolved. This was not explained, as many considered it part of the final boss transformation.

Bandel's mobile knight transformed into some sort of creature, of course, it was a robot, after all.

The name it received as the last stage of the final boss was, Diabolos.

◇◇◇

Aboard Liebe, the royal ship that was supposed to be used to defeat Brunhilde before her fight against Bandel.

They were all watching a strange shape from far away.

"...Alisa. What is that?"

"...I don't know, but... I'm scared for some reason..."

Airi was holding Alisa's hand, both of them were sweating in terror as their eyes seemed to tear up at the horrifying scene they saw.

Liam and the other two couldn't speak, they were shaking too at the sight of something unimaginable to anyone.

The only one not seeing it was Erselica, but that was because she was on the floor kneeling praying.

"Please, my god. Help us...that thing...that guy is the worst thing that could happen to us."

She was crying and no one could hear what she was saying.

"Please protect onii-chan and us from it! I could never beat it in the game! I'm scared, please protect us!"

Her teeth were trembling as she spoke.

Bell was at his side and could only do one thing, analyze the situation. He sent an analysis to Battler for his master to see.

◇

"...What the hell is that?"

He couldn't believe his eyes.

This thing is supposed to be, is that guy?

Impossible, this thing doesn't look human, let alone machine-like.

It's almost like it's a fusion of the two.

I watched him and even "he" couldn't believe it.

He checked his hands very curiously, his fingers were claws, just imagining an armor with claws was strange.

Now, he looked at his fingers with great interest, he was almost a child. He turned his head to see and touch its wings and tails.

Really, what the hell is this?

I'm scared just looking at it!

"Master!"

A voice message came in, I don't know who it's from, but if he called me master, it means he's my ally.

I checked the message.

"Analysis of the creature. Error in the analysis! It can't be analyzed! Its origin and what its body is made of is unknown."

What it said was clearly not good.

"Cannot analyze its chemical composition, cannot analyze the strange radiation it emanates. Recommend escape immediately!"

Hey, don't tell me that.

"Alert! The unknown being is doing something."

I immediately looked at him to see what he was doing after hearing that.

I don't get it.

It's looking at the horizon in a different direction than this one.

...

No, wait. What the hell?

I can see that something is gathering on his horns.

It's very visible, it's black and seems to be bulging in them.

They get bigger, it looks like a sphere growing on both horns.

"Danger alert!"

Again the voice rang out.

"He is gathering a mysterious and incalculable amount of magical power in one place!"

"The radiation emanating from the strange creature corrodes the ether!"

The spheres grow larger and seem to be spinning at great speed, they are hovering inches away from the horns.

"This strange pattern has been named as dark matter! The master must flee immediately-!"

Before the voice finished speaking, that happened.

"Anagenesis!"

The strange creature shouted something and then, a large beam of black light was shot to an unknown location.

It was about 3 seconds as long as the beam lasted.

Then...

Kaboom!!!

A huge black mushroom shaped explosion could be seen at a great distance.

"Danger!!! The death probability rate is over 100%!!! The radiation caused by the dark matter is a powerful poison that kills everything it touches!"

The large black fungus was still growing.

"Master, ruun!"

Little by little it was disappearing.

"It's coming towards you now!"

I didn't react in time for it. I realized it too late.

As I turned to the direction where that thing was, I didn't find it there anymore.

"...Rudel."

A very monstrous deep voice was calling me from somewhere.

Something touched me delicately.

I turned around quickly, and found it.

His wings, they were real wings. It was flying up and down flapping. His arms were drooping, his tails wagging slightly.

"It's playtime!"

I couldn't believe it, even though I see it with my own eyes.

This thing swung its tails at me and I was propelled flying at tremendous speed into an enemy ship.

A great roar rang out.

When the screen cleared. I noticed a group of bodies crushed by debris and Battler.

This is not good. A single light hit did this.

"Enemy approaching!"

A message came out, as I watched the direction where the message indicated, it was coming fast to collide with the ship.

Battler got up and flew away. At that precise moment, a huge explosion sounded behind me.

I activated a magic circle. A bazooka came out of it, then other circles manifested and cannons of different sizes appeared.

Out of the flames came this thing, read it and....

"Rudel, let's play!"

"Go to hell!"

I fired point blank without mercy.

It seems to be a hit.

"Guhahaha, this is so much fun!"

But I was wrong as that guy was heading to hit me. I shot him again, he was too close, but I didn't care.

I was hit a bit by the blast, after spinning around a bit, I steadied Battler.

Once again, I watched him laugh through the flames.

This time his laughter was more terrifying. It was because he pulled something similar to a sword out of his body.

This sword was long, curved, and had a large eye in the center.

"Rudel, amuse me more!"

"Get away from me!"

He shouted as he fired endlessly at this thing.

◇◇◇

The battlefield between the kingdom fleet and the combined fleet had been going on for minutes after it had begun.

Allied and enemy ships were firing nonstop.

Normal cannons and magic cannons were seen opening fire ignoring whatever was in between.

The fleet of the kingdom was only about 300 ships.

Although, their number was gradually decreasing.

This was due to something similar to the game that was going on. That was the aggressiveness of the enemy soldiers.

In the game, they talked about a background, this was due to the fact that before going to war, in order not to feel fear or panic and only desire to kill.

They were fed pills made of mushrooms that grow in the commonwealth.

They managed to obtain a unique and dangerous warrior called, berserker army.

"Kill the scum of the realm!"

"The kingdom must die!"

"Pay for your sins, you damned demons!"

In a certain fleet of a noble house, a large number of ships, soldiers climbing on their decks and mobile knights attacked them.

That was because their fleet was the toughest and strongest, they only had 20 ships at their disposal and about 35 mobile knights in total.

That fleet was being attacked from all sides. The amazing thing is, they are beating them.

"Behind you!"

"U-uwahh!"

One boy used the sword he had to pierce a soldier's stomach.

He wasn't the only one, there were other sailors, none of them were knights. They all wore armor for protection.

They were fighting on deck with their swords and spears.

On the side of the ships, likewise, mobile knights were fighting relentlessly against large enemies.

The allies had old armored units, compared to the enemy's equipment, they should all be dead.

The reason that this did not happen is because these armored units were repaired, not with normal equipment, but with superior equipment.

Equipment that both they and the ships were repaired and equipped with Ixion technology.

That noble house that fought harder than any other was the Bradford family.

Bram was tired even though he was only a few minutes into the battle.

His brow was covered with sweat. He watched the sailors, commoners from his territory fight with no real combat experience. The only experience they had was of disposing of monsters that entered the territory to attack.

Bram looked around wearily, the captain's cabin was even under attack.

Then, his eyes went to the floor. There, stood his older brother, Lyle.

"...Hey, firstborn, how long will you be there?"

Her breathing was heavy as she watched her surroundings in case someone attacked them.

Lyle, covered in light armor instead of heavy armor like his brother. He held his double-barreled shotgun with both hands.

This weapon was built by Rudel(Ixion), the impact and force is supposed to be greater. He created it to hunt animals and eliminate invaders.

Lyle was trembling on the floor.

What were they doing here? He wondered looking at the battlefield.

◇◇◇

A few hours earlier, the Bradford family was cleared of any charges.

They were being held on charges they didn't understand. While they were recovering from the damage to their personal property, a message arrived via fax.

This was held by the jobs Rudel opened.

A commoner who worked there came running to the feudal lord's residence.

Walt, the head of the house read the communiqué.

It said that Rudel was cleared of any accusations, that it was all the fault of some old idiots or something like that.

Walt, went into a rage as he read it.

"Stupid sooon!"

Walt, gathered some sailors and went to the capital to see Rudel.

Before they arrived, they got another communiqué.

This time it was of an impending war, Rudel in the document said "get out all of you, nobody stays in the territory".

Rudel was worried about his family and the commoners.

Walt listened to him and returned to the territory.

But it was not to escape, but to gather sailors and go fight alongside Rudel.

Why were they doing this?

Escape was the best reason they could have, since they are neither knights nor soldiers. They are just a simple house of country barons, why risk their lives?

There was only one answer.

"I can't abandon that stupid son!"

"Besides, my father said before he died, that, if I dared to leave these lands without having fulfilled my ancestor's wish, I will be cursed!"

"Who the hell is this ancestor, I never heard of him! Why should I be guarding this useless land that is separated from the boundaries of the kingdom?"

"You damned old dead and stupid Rudel!"

"You'll give me a heart attack at this age!"

Was what Walt shouted as he fought on his mobile knight.

His sword would slash at his enemies, cut through metal and it would either fall into the sea or explode.

Walt, had no combat experience, only what he learned at the royal and military academy.

He was being cared for by sailors, none of whom knew how to pilot one properly. Fortunately, the mobile knight came with a fighting program that helped the pilot fight like a pro.

It was a gift from Ixion in case the worst happened.

The head of the house watched through the screen, as his fleet mercilessly ravaged the enemies.

Several enemy ships were ramming ships of the kingdom. They mutually exploded in flames or fell together.

In contrast, the Bradford family's ships, when hit only the enemy was destroyed.

He could not believe how amazing all this was.

A certain thought went through his head as he used his sword to cover himself from two enemies.

(What did I do to deserve this? I didn't ask to be born in a rural area, it's better than being a commoner yes. But... it's horrible to live in the countryside).

(My parents had three children including me. My mother and younger sister passed away from the flu. At that time, we couldn't buy any medicine. Only my father, me, my older brother and my grandfather lived in the house).

(Before entering the academy, my brother ran away. No one knows why or where he went. I only know that his death was obvious since pirates were around a lot at that time).

(Me, my father forced me to go. He could not have any more children as his libido died from work like my grandfather. My family was only a few children, I had no more relatives).

(After graduating, I married Sonia, the mayor's daughter at that time as no one wanted to marry or relate to a peasant. Our family was poor, just to imagine a nobleman marrying a commoner was an embarrassment to many).

Walt was succumbing to the strength of the enemy, a third enemy was approaching from behind.

(I cursed my life and sometimes wanted to run away like my brother...).

The enemy was approaching to pierce him from behind.

"That was until that headache was born!"

Before being hit by the enemy in his rear, Walt, stepped aside and the three of them hit each other.

He stepped up to thrust his sword into one, steal the spear from the one who came from behind and pierce his head and then hurl it at the last one.

"Rudel is my reason for being here! That little rascal, always belittling me, throwing in my face that the territory has improved, our lives and even putting two companies in my name!"

More enemies were closing in on him, this time he used a rifle given to him by an ally.

"Who the hell do you think you are brat, you've got my blood and you came from your mother, don't think you're a big deal just because you're a viscount, you're still a Bradford, so don't try to brag that you're sending us away because you don't want us in your way!"

Walt was firing relentlessly at his enemies.

"I'm your father! Do you think I'll let the stupid third son fight alone!"

"Don't fuck with me, Rudel! Your father will go to help you and then, beat you for belittling him!"

Bullets were hitting the enemy until they ran out, then, he drew his sword and flew at the enemy.

"I won't let my son do his father's work! I'll get you home safe!"

As Walt struggled, inside his cabin, a strange black insect-like thing was on his back, the thing slowly seemed to dry up until it did.

◇◇◇

(...This is absurd.)

Bram watched to see that no one came near until Lyle got up.

His gaze was drawn to his older brother who lay on the floor.

(Why am I here?)

(I'm the second son. I always tried my best to be recognized so that I could inherit the territory).

(As the stand-in in case the heir dies or is unable to handle the territory. I prepared for it... unfortunately, it will never happen).

Bram was sweating as his sword held steady, an enemy soldier came running towards him.

(I went to the knight academy. Inside, many recognized my skills and even said I should be the next head of my house).

Their swords clashed, Bram was pressing hard on the handle of his sword so that the enemy could not feint and hit him.

(I trained very hard... but it didn't help. Lyle is not the problem, I hated Lyle for being the heir. The real problem is Rudel!)

One more soldier was coming towards Bram.

(Why the hell are you, the younger brother, humiliating me!)

(I'm your big brother! Why have you destroyed my dream?)

(You found an island, you found a lost object, you fought enemies I never dreamed of or imagined, you're someone close to a duke's daughter, plus you have a commoner for a friend).

Bram pushed the soldier backwards causing him to fall on the one behind him.

(I envy you Rudel!)

He started running towards them.

(Despite being unlucky, you managed to destroy the reality around you! You achieved goals that I never thought were possible!)

Bram sat on the enemy and repeatedly thrust his sword at them.

(I'm ashamed to admit it! I'm envious of my little brother damn it!)

(I also want to be someone who destroys reality like you!)

(For that reason I...!)

Bram stood up, his hand, sword and face had red liquid dripping down.

"I'll help you little idiot! I'll go help you to get us all back home!"

"I know you will become a great noble!"

"So wait for me ex-crybaby! I'll go save your ass and then tell those two that you're a catch, even if it's an obvious lie!"

At Bram's feet, lay a strange insect that gradually dried up until it disappeared.

◇◇◇

(Why is this happening to me?)

Lyle was sitting, gripping his gun tightly, watching Bram screaming his head off.

(I... I just want to live in peace. I'm the heir to a barony. Who the hell wants to run a near-desert territory like that?)

(The population comes to just shy of 200, that's pretty low for any barony! A town of commoners has more residents and, I never knew of the feudal lord living on the same land!)

The Bradford barony did not have a special area to live in like other rural nobles. His residence was on the outskirts of the village, only about twenty yards away.

A feudal lord had his own residence far away from the village. The reason was that seeing the landowner and his workers living nearby was an unpleasant idea.

Lyle was never able to socialize with other nobles or get betrothed for that reason.

Bram also applied for the same thing, no one who knew or knew of the Bradford family would think they were actually nobles.

To top it off, they lived just outside the border territory of the kingdom, it's almost like being an exile, but they still had to pay taxes just to say they were part of the kingdom.

(I always cursed my birthplace, for that reason in the academy, I changed my hair to a simpler one since black hair is a rarity in this kingdom. There are hardly any families that do not possess it. I never knew how rare my hair was until people stared at me, so I also wore contact lenses to hide my iris).

(Everything was supposed to be going well...until that Rudel nuisance was born!)

An enemy soldier was approaching Lyle, while Bram, shouted euphorically.

"Die, scum of the realm!"

Lyle saw him, his hands were shaking, he pointed his gun at the soldier and pulled the trigger.

"A-get away!"

He pulled the trigger and the soldier was pushed back by a great force.

Red liquid came pouring out and some fell on Lyle, part of his chin, hands and gun were covered with it.

A round object rolled towards him.

He reached over to grab it and as he opened it, his face paled.

Inside that locket, was a family portrait; a father, a girl and a woman holding her.

Then, a dying voice was heard.

"Kill...demons...of the realm..."

The voice came from the man Lyle shot.

No, it wasn't just him. Other voices could be heard from other soldiers who stood up bloodied.

They were all screaming dying as they bled and spat blood.

"Finish....with.... the kingdom!"

"The kingdom... must pay..."

"Altfode... I will avenge my family!"

The sounds of swords and gunfire came from different places.

The fallen soldier stood up and walked over to Lyle.

(Why do I have to go through this just for you!!!?!)

Once again, Lyle pointed his gun at the man and pulled the trigger.

"Rudel, it's all your fault!"

Lyle began to cry.

"You're a fucking coward, I hate you, I loathe you, I despise you!"

The soldier stopped moving and Lyle.

"Why didn't a wimpy coward ask for help, do you want to carry this weight all by yourself!"

"You fucking idiot! I'm sure you must be puking right now since these guys remind us of us!"

He released what his heart was holding in.

"Coward, crybaby, virgin, idiot, stupid littleeee brother! Why do you wish you were the only one who wanted to go through this?"

(I hated my life! I hated my family! I hated being a baron! But you, you little idiot, you taught me that being that is better than being you!)

(They call you a traitor, you almost get killed, you fight weird and scary guys and now you're going to war! Aren't you afraid? Of course you are!)

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

(I know you must be suffering right now! That's why... I... as your big brother, I'll come to you and hug you you damn fool. Stop carrying the weight of it all by yourself!)

(My problems are nothing but immature garbage.)

"I'm glad I was born in Bradford House! A poor, simple-minded country barony! I'm grateful to be Walt and Sonia's son! To have Bram, Pola and Rudel as my siblings!"

Someone approached Lyle.

"It hurts!"

And smacked him hard on the head.

"What the hell are you doing yelling you idiot!"

It was Bram who did it.

"I was just lightening up you know! Having to kill these guys is really tiring!"

"Hah, tired? You're tired already? Better go inside and get some sleep, heir! By the way, hand over your post to me if it's too hard for you to do this."

"Are you an idiot second son, why the stately Lyle, will you cede your title and position to butler Bram!"

"Who are you calling a butler, you rotten fruit!"

"Same to you, shitface!"

The two were trembling as they shouted at each other face to face until some soldiers appeared.

They realized too late.

"What do you think you're doing fighting right now you stupid sons?"

Walt came to save them by swinging his metal arm at the enemies.

Lyle, spoke followed by Bram.

"Nobody asked you to come old man!"

"We can take care of this place without you!"

After saying that, Lyle and Bram ran making competition to a box, it was locked. They broke it open and inside, there was a new weapon Rudel(Ixion) created it was called a grenade.

They had learned before they left how to use it.

They approached the shore, removed several safeties and threw them like crazy.

Several explosions could be heard. Among them, an enemy boat exploded by Lyle's hand.

He was amazed himself and Bram shouted.

"Stupid heir, let's make a bet!"

"Huh?"

"Let's see who can finish the most enemies until we get there and rescue Rudel, if I win, I'll be the new boss, okay?"

"Fuck you you fucker, I'll accept just because I'll win!"

"Stop talking shit! Captain, head for the center of it all!"

Walt was yelling at his sons and then at the captain who was struggling in the cockpit.

He heard his boss and shouted.

"All fleets, we're heading for the center to help Master Rudel!"

The enemies inside had been drastically reduced to the point that the fights were countable with one hand.

As they rested in that hail of crossfire and moved forward, Lyle, slipped.

Bram, laughed at him. Lyle didn't understand why he slipped, but under his feet lay a black insect-like thing, it was very large and disappeared leaving an invisible puddle.

As they streaked through the sky pounding the enemy fleet, the Bradford men had the same thought.

(Don't you dare die, Rudel you idiot!)

◇◇◇

The place was the Bradford barony, to be more precise, the family home.

Inside, there were Sonia and Pola in the kitchen.

"Mommy."

"Yes, honey?"

They were chopping meat and vegetables. A woman came into the house to take away a basket of cut potatoes.

"Why are we doing this?"

"What do you mean?"

Several yards away from the house, some men were hustling.

"I heard from my friend, Jessica-chan, that she has seen the noble neighbor leaving in his ship to a direction that is not to the kingdom."

"Well, that's because there's a big ruckus going on somewhere."

The men making a fuss were shouting so loudly that they could be heard clearly.

"Come on, cut some more wood!"

"The soup is getting cold!"

"The meat is almost ready."

It wasn't just men, it was also women there, even children.

Many of them were gathered and they were all shouting in amazement.

"Fuss?" Pola said as she chopped carrots.

"Yes. Someone is causing trouble and the capital called for reinforcements. Your parents and siblings went to help."

"Is that so, then why did some soldiers mistreat my brothers and dad badly?"

"Umm, it's because they are horrible soldiers."

"I see."

Now they were cutting onions.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

Sonia stopped chopping when she heard what her daughter said.

"Is Rudel onii-chan a bad person?"

"...Why do you say that?"

"Well...when those soldiers questioned me, they said horrible and cruel things about him."

"Do you believe them?"

"No! I know he's a nice, sweet big brother!"

Sonia laughed a little when she heard that.

Her daughter asked her what she was laughing about.

She replied.

"It's just... I just see how much you love him."

"Huh? It's normal to love your family."

Sonia looked at the knife and then back, there were some boxes there.

"I wonder... if that boy sees me as a good mother?"

In those boxes there was only one where Rudel was as a child, the rest were the other members of the house without him.

A tear ran down her cheek.

"I... I never treated him well, I never gave him the love that a mother should give her children. It's because I was upset with him..."

Pola looked at her mother who was shedding more tears.

"Do you know there's a rumor that your family will be blessed if you have two boys and a girl?"

"Yes?"

"I... I hated my own son for not being a girl...I even thought of cutting off his problem so that he would grow up as a girl, but his father said no, that we could achieve great things with him."

"I was reluctant at first, but then not anymore."

"For several years I treated him badly, never gave him the love he needed and.... I even tried to sell him! What kind of mother does that? I wouldn't be surprised if she hates me or others but you or wants to sell us as punishment."

Pola watched her mother cry, tried to cheer her up.

Then she smiled at her.

"But... then that boy as he grew up did unimaginable and fantastic things. I asked myself, several times what I did to deserve this son who helps his home without expecting anything in return."

A certain memory came to her mind.

It was of when Rudel had returned home with Brunhilde.

Sonia had gone out into the territory to look for her husband, she expected to find him courting girls and drinking with the commoners, instead, she found him with the mayor looking at plans on how to enlarge everyone's houses.

Rudel handed over money to make the commoners' houses more livable and humane.

As time went on, the territory improved from a village to almost an ancient housing estate.

On another occasion when he returned home.

She found a large mountain of dresses, shoes, necklaces among other fine and expensive items.

Sonia was upset, she thought Rudel wanted something in return, or say it's not for her, but left them there for her to see.

But, a letter was on top of that mountain of gifts, as she opened it, it said.

"Happy Birthday, from your least favorite child."

She cried, not because of the gifts, but because of the contents.

She for the first time understood, that her son saw himself as a nuisance to her.

From there, she never saw him again as the last semester of freshman year began.

At another event in her family.

The commoners the moment they heard that Rudel was a traitor were upset, they never thought he was.

But she did. Sonia felt ashamed as a mother for not having a single good thought for her son.

She cried because she knew that her son was going to defend the kingdom, he was going to save them all because the only thing she was sure of was that this boy can achieve the impossible.

She calmed down after crying and then told her daughter something that none of her children knew.

"Pola. Do you know who your great-grandfather is?"

"Huh? No and I didn't know I had one."

"Well, you had one and a grandfather. Your grandfather died of overexertion at an advanced age. Besides, he, your father and your brothers gouged out their eyes."

"Eyes?"

"Yes. You gouged mine out."

Pola made a big "oh" of astonishment, then asked a curious question.

"And, if they look like my grandfather, and I look like you. what does my great-grandfather have to do and who does Rudel onii-chan look like?"

Sonia answered after wiping her tears.

"Hehe, Rudel and him have the same look."

"Really!"

"That's right, I think I was taking it out on your brother, since your great-grandfather always seemed to look down on me, but then Rudel was born and I thought he looked just like him."

This time it was Sonia who cried out oh.

"Now that I remember, he would say something that identified them from the others. He didn't use the family name but clans, the truth, the history of this family is very strange."

Pola looked at her mother in amazement.

"Does our family have a history?"

"It does, if I remember correctly... it all started with a certain Leo who came from abroad... your great-grandfather always talked weird things about how we shouldn't stand out and keep the lineage alive. Sometimes I think he was just rambling because of age."

"Anyway. The commoners are making quite a feast for when your brothers return to your father. They'll be very hungry, especially Rudel."

"Yes!"

Mother and daughter smiled again to cook.

"Pass me the knife over there please, this meat is very tough."

"Sure."

When Pola came down from the bench where she was standing, she touched something and she screamed.

"Mom something slimy I touched!"

"Huh? But if there's nothing on the floor, maybe it's some oil stain."

"...Yes."

Pola went on until she grabbed the knife and passed it to her mother.

Under one of her feet, there was a yellow trail of something resembling a black insect that she had stepped on.

That insect had disintegrated leaving a stain.

Neither of them, nor the commoners, nor those on the battlefield, noticed a great white glow emanating from a single spot.

◇◇◇

On one of the borders of the Altfode Kingdom, a great fight was taking place.

Ships were firing their cannons at each other and mobile knights were colliding with each other.

On the flagship of that fleet, was one man, Frey's father, Heinkel.

"General, we received a report that Viscounts Fact and Ooze have fallen!"

He was in the cockpit plotting a plan.

They had been fighting for hours.

The enemy numbers were not decreasing at all, in fact, they were increasing all the time.

"We're losing more and more ships!"

Heinkel had created different countermeasures in the last few hours.

The ships before the current ones were destroyed, the same for the ones before those.

Victory was clear until a large pirate fleet came.

"Yuju, let's take over the kingdom!"

"Now that the junk hunter is dead, Altfode is ours!"

"Kill those assholes in the name of the departed pirate pillars!"

Heinkel couldn't think clearly as they were being attacked from all available flanks.

"Urgent report! The ship the Earl Arses was on was destroyed!"

He reacted to that, then, another message came.

"No, it's a mistake! The Earl Arses is in his armed unit fighting! Apparently he got out before his ship went down."

Heinkel was relieved, but then called him an idiot.

Then, another message came.

"General!"

"What now?"

"I looked over there!"

"...?"

Heinkel turned his gaze to where the soldier pointed. Both he and the others were astonished by what they saw.

"What the hell is that thing!?"

"By the Saint! Run off!"

The general shouted because in the distance, two objects were approaching at high speed.

One of them, the front one, was a strange object they had never seen before.

It was shooting at a black object similar to its appearance, the black object had a sort of tentacles with hands.

When he tried to grab it, the strange object, which was Brunhilde, would shoot at him so that he would not touch it.

Brunhilde flew backwards, somehow, he moved his thrusters to the side so he could fly and shoot.

Unwittingly, they had reached one side of the border.

Ixion was firing with everything he had at the strange creature.

Without even bothering to notice it entered the battlefield.

The fleets of the kingdom were instructed to retreat immediately, some were unlucky.

For these were grabbed by the tentacles with hands and thrown at Brunhilde.

After observing that they were kingdom fleets, Ixion changed course heading towards the invading fleet.

Ixion, was indirectly aiding the humans he wishes to destroy.

"I'm getting sick of you, it's amazing that you're more annoying than the master!"

The black Brunhilde-like thing was grabbing enemy fleets and throwing them at him.

He, mercilessly destroyed them, debris among other debris fell in flames.

He kept going around the enemy area so that the black thing would destroy them instead of the kingdom's fleet.

Eventually, the numbers were drastically reduced as they were fleeing.

Then, he found something that might be of use to him.

In the distance was an island, luckily uninhabited according to the analysis.

On that island were magic stones, he had analyzed their composition and found them to be perfect replacements for dynamite.

He went to the island and made a hole to enter. The black thing followed him, they went through the hard earth as if it were sand.

Traces of dirt hit Brunhilde's windshield, but there was no damage. Behind him was the black thing trying to grab rocks and throw them at him.

It couldn't, due to Ixion pulverizing them with his lasers.

After wandering around, he found a large subway mine of magic stones.

Entering it, he launched missiles, but they did not explode.

Then, looking for a way out, the black thing was behind him.

Brunhilde got out after breaking sharply through the ground and then, destroyed a mountain so that the remains fell on the place where he escaped.

He flew until he was a long distance away.

His radar detected something, that was a large radiation emanating from the island.

The island seemed to be fracturing, cracks were opening from different sides, black tentacles with eyes were coming out of them.

Seeing it, Ixion said something.

"Now it does, perish."

A large tentacle split the subsoil and a gigantic blue explosion accompanied it.

The island was blown to pieces and great fragments of rock were shot up like meteorites.

These hit Brunhilde, but nothing happened to her, similar to throwing mud at a vehicle.

Something was falling from the island in pieces, it was black.

Ixion was analyzing what appeared to be debris.

"Hmph, as expected of me. There is nothing superior to the technology of ancient mankind."

The wreckage was still falling as much of the island was on fire and slowly falling into the sea.

The kingdom's fleet was calling Ixion.

They wanted to know if it was enemy or ally. Apparently, communications were now normal.

Before presuming it was, an alarm sounded.

As he turned his ship's body to the direction of the alarm, he noticed a large black mushroom dazzling the view in the distance.

That meant only one thing.

"The master is in danger!"

Quickly, Brunhilde headed in the direction leaving the kingdom's fleet looking like fools as they approached.

◇◇◇

In the sea where the remains of the black thing fell, they disappeared without a trace. Just after Ixion went to where Rudel.

◇◇◇

Rudel was fighting against Bandel- no, that being is no longer Bandel but something else, Diabolos.

Diabolos was using his sword to hit Rudel as if he were a piñata.

He didn't even put his will into it, he just swung his sword as if it was a pencil he was holding.

"Guhahaha, come on, resist more!"

Wildly he swung his sword against Rudel's axes.

He had already destroyed three pairs of them effortlessly.

Now he flew into the sky and made quick pirouettes so that Battler couldn't keep track of him.

After looking confused, it appeared from behind and used its tails like a whip as if it were just like an uncontrolled hose.

"Guhahaha, that's it, hang in there more, don't end the fun fast!"

After finishing hitting it with his tails, his sword returned to his body in a grotesque manner.

"Let's play rough!"

Diabolos yelled and then laughed as he used Battler as a punching bag.

His fists pounded Battler's chest, torso and head.

Gradually seeing dents, Rudel ran away from him, but Diabolos didn't give up.

He went after Rudel and then....

"Viscount Bradford, we've come to help you!"

A voice could be heard in the distance.

"Let this Feldmann, help you defeat that thing!"

Rudel realized that fifteen armed units were heading towards him.

"Get away you idiots!"

Rudel shouted as he saw Diabolos annoyed heading towards the enemy.

The kingdom soldiers drew their swords and rifles and began the attack.

"Don't get in the way of my fun you filthy pests!"

But it was useless, the bullets were absorbed by his body, the leader Feldmann; was the first to die.

Swinging his sword at Diabolos, he struck the blow, but there was no effect.

Using his claws, he cut him in half as if he were cheese his armed unit.

It fell into the sea.

Then to the others, it pierced the belly where the pilot was located, one after another died while trying to fight and defeat that creature.

"Stooop!"

Rudel was approaching at high speed, Diabolos saw him and smiled.

"That's it, give me more fun! More entertainment! More, more, more, more! Guhahaha!!!"

He moved to fight Battler again, he drew his sword from his back and his weapon along with Rudel's axes, clashed.

Blow after blow from Rudel was thrown, even kicks, but Diabolos didn't move an inch.

Rudel, retreated at great speed and then, decided to use an ace he had.

Battler's chest was glowing, its center had a small reactor, the flashing red light was getting brighter.

Diabolos laughed very loudly.

"That's it, show off your best toys!"

He, didn't back away, he stood there still as his horns seemed to gather something, it was dark matter.

The black circles were spinning at great speed, they became one after growing much larger.

Battler's red light shone to the point of looking like a star, it was there that two colossal attacks collided with each other.

"Eat this!" shouted Rudel.

"Anagenesis!" Diabolos did too.

Two great bolts of black and red energy crashed into each other.

The power was so strong, small debris flew out in all directions.

They hit the sea and fleets, enemy or allied.

After a while, both forces collided with each other, generating a huge explosion that sent many flying.

Battler spun around and spun until it crashed into the sea.

As Rudel tried to focus his brain on what happened.

"Guhahaha, again, it's so much fun!"

Bandel was coming flying with his sword impacting Battler.

There was no vision of both of them, they could only see each other from the surface, bubbles and explosions.

◇◇◇

"...Why?"

"Why are they fighting?"

"...It hurts so much."

The battlefield near the flagship Liebe, was in chaos.

"I don't want to die!"

"Help, please!"

"I want to go home!"

The kingdom's fleet was fighting hard against the enemy fleet, to make it more terrifying, the magical beasts were wilder for some reason.

It no longer matters if they were enemies or masters; they attacked whoever, their eyes were red, they bit the wood of the ships to get inside, screams and explosions manifested from different sides.

"I won't let them get close!"

Bell, shouted as the robot bodyguards used machine guns to fire at the magical beasts approaching the royal airship.

Piercing sounds of gunfire could be heard. Everywhere the robots were firing large caliber, high velocity guns, at another end they were using rocket launchers to shoot the larger ones.

Liam and the other two were watching this, they were scared.

Liam thought.

(This is different than what I faced with my allied forces!)

Liam nor Chlust let alone Frey were moving, they were in armed units, but they didn't move at all, they just stood and watched as the robots relentlessly took out the monsters.

Also.

"Hii!"

They watched as an escort ship was destroyed by commonwealth forces in a suicide attack.

While behind him, something similar was happening.

He turned around and watched as another escort was exploded into flames by incoming monsters.

The escort and guardian ships had been destroyed in their entirety. There was no one and nothing left but Bell and the robots protecting them.

Erselica clung to Bell as she screamed.

Bell, on the other hand...

"Come on, come on, I'll destroy you all!"

She was beside herself as she taunted the monsters.

The only people who didn't seem to see the situation, were those two.

"Airi, are you okay!"

It was Alisa who was calling out worriedly to her friend.

Airi was crying on the floor.

Alisa was clutching her shoulders.

"Be strong, this will end when Rudel-!"

Alisa's words were interrupted by a cry of pain.

"Why are they fighting!"

"This makes no sense!"

"Stop, please...already...don't hurt each other anymore..."

Alisa, didn't understand what was wrong with Airi.

"Help, please!"

Suddenly, a voice came from the side of the ship.

It was a mobile knight who came flying straight at the royal airship without a leg and with several wounds.

"I'm Jake, from His Highness's student army, let me up I beg you!"

Both girls raised their heads to look at him, they didn't care who he was, they just saw a person in danger.

"Hurry quickly!"

Alisa shouted as she saw the frightened boy flying at high speed.

He was only four meters away... he didn't make it.

As he approached, from below, a monster with the mouth of a whale grabbed him as it streaked across the sky.

The sound of armor being chewed up and screams of pain echoed loudly.

They saw that, the robots immediately shifted their focus to that creature.

Alisa was trembling after seeing a person, a fellow academy member being eaten alive.

"Ahhhh!"

Airi screamed loudly.

Alisa didn't know what was wrong with her, but instead she.

"Huh?"

A tear was running down her cheek.

She wiped that tear away, but more kept coming down and with intensity.

"Why, what is this, why am I crying?"

A small cry was coming from her, she wasn't the only one.

"Onii-chan, help me, I'm scared!!!"

Suddenly, Erselica was also crying for some reason.

Despite being scared and terrified, this is the first time she's done so since this all started.

"Anomaly detected!"

Alisa heard Bell say something, she didn't understand what he was saying.

"I don't want any more!"

"I want to go home!"

"I want to see my wife and children again!"

Different cries and tears could be heard in that battlefield.

Alisa while crying thought.

(What is this?)

(Does my heart hurt so much?)

(Like... if a part of it was ripped out while I was alive.)

"The anomaly is not localized, but it is growing with magnitude!"

"It's been labeled an emotional seizure!"

Bell kept saying things that Alisa didn't understand.

"Ahhh!"

She turned her gaze toward a scream she heard.

Something had crashed into an enemy ship, it was Rudel who came out on his knees.

An object flew and crashed into the same ship, it was Diabolos.

Alisa watched helplessly as Rudel was beaten by the creature's arms as if it were a game.

He was lifted up, and then, thrown against a realm ship that was on fire.

Diabolos laughed as he watched.

(Rudel... why can't I do anything for you?)

Airi was crying with his face looking at the ground. A tear fell into the ring-shaped hole.

"It has been detected that the source of the anomaly? Is it coming from Irisdina!?"

The teardrop fell on something, at that moment, a strange mechanism began to move like the hands of an ancient clock.

Alisa, turned to look at Airi because of what she heard.

"...Huh? ...Airi, is that you?"

Looking at her friend, Alisa didn't understand what was going on.

Airi was glowing, her hair to be exact.

Slowly, it was swaying as if it had a life of its own, the color from light blonde changing to a beautiful pure white.

She was growing a little more, not just her hair, her body seemed to take on an appearance that didn't match her age, as if she was in her early twenties.

Her clothes, the uniform she had, was replaced by a white dress, a pearl necklace around her neck and a flower bracelet on her wrists.

Raising her head, she looked at Alisa.

Alisa herself was startled to see someone she didn't know.

The blue eyes were no longer there, instead, golden eyes like Alisa's hair were reflected.

Alisa wanted to ask.

"...Are you really Airi?"

When "Airi" spoke.

"...Alisa."

The voice was the same, but the tone of voice was very mature for a teenager's.

"Give me your hand."

Alisa didn't know what happened, but without a doubt, she gave her hand.

A warm, kind, caring feeling emanated from that touch.

Alisa said without thinking.

"Airi, are you all right?"

"Airi," he smiled at her.

"Better than ever. Alisa, lend me your strength."

"Huh?"

Alisa did not understand what she was talking about.

Airi turned on her profile so that they were face to face.

"I want you to help me. Help me stop this war and protect Rudel-san."

Airi held out her other hand, Alisa didn't know what was happening, but her free hand moved in sync with Airi's to touch each other.

Their fingers intertwined.

"Alisa, lend me your power."

"My power?"

Airi flashed a very warm smile.

"The power of love you have, both yours and mine, we will use it to protect everyone."

Once again, as if in synchronicity, Airi's and Alisa's heads bent to touch their foreheads.

Their eyes were now at the same level.

"Think." Airi said.

"Think about what?"

"Happiness, whatever has made you happiest in the world, think about it."

Alisa closed her eyes and thought.

Both of their hair swayed as if it had a life of its own.

(A happy memory...)

Her mouth moved to release what made her happiest.

"Being saved and meeting Rudel..."

"Incredible."

"Meeting you and becoming friends."

"Make it so much more incredible."

A certain memory came to Alisa's mind.

"The day we went to the island of Rudel... we bathed in its hot springs and... called each other by our friends' names! That was the day where I smiled wholeheartedly and was grateful to be alive!"

"A stronger memory and feeling, think about it!"

Airi's brooch began to sparkle, Alisa's earrings too.

They were both being covered by a transparent white blanket.

Alisa screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Being in love with Rudel, really my heart was happy to find out that I loved him! I love you too as my sister! I want to be together with you forever!"

"Thank you. I love you both equally."

Alisa opened her eyes and watched Airi glowing.

She let go of Alisa's hands and stood in a spot almost near the front of the ship.

She closed her eyes and clasped her hands together as if to pray.

"Protect them."

Those words were uttered with a calm and serenity.

◇◇◇

Diabolos was directing his fist at Battler, he had dents in different parts.

Before he could touch him, his fist was destroyed.

"Huh?"

Rudel didn't understand what happened, much less the monster itself.

They both stared at the right hand that had been destroyed by something.

That was...

"This is it!"

A white shield, it had a winged heart engraved on the crest.

Diabolos used his other hand to try to break it, but it was destroyed as well.

Rudel took that opportunity to kick it and fly away.

As he walked away, he noticed more oddities.

"What the hell is going on?"

All the fleets and mobile knights were being covered by the same white shield.

This one appeared out of nowhere and gradually stretched out in its entirety to cover humans, be they enemies or allies.

Even, Rudel's own shield was covering Battler.

"Roaaaaaaahhhh!!!"

A loud scream sounded, it was Diabolos who flew out towards Rudel, his hands had regenerated.

"Come on, get out of here, what's wrong with you?"

Rudel couldn't handle Battler who didn't move, Diabolos had reached his position.

He was directing his regenerated fists at Rudel.

Rudel's face showed fear, but that's when Diabolos shouted.

"Rooooaaahhh!!!"

Something was wrong with him, Rudel didn't understand what the reason was, he only saw that creature screaming.

A message came to Battler, it was from Bell.

Rudel opened the electronic message and there was a recorded video.

It was Airi, Bell's voice could be heard in the background.

"Master it's an emergency! Irisdina, you are causing a strange anomaly in the environment!"

The recording showed things Rudel never noticed. It wasn't just Diabolos who was suffering.

All the monsters were doing it too!

They were all screaming in unison. Then, one by one they were turning to ash, all the monsters were disappearing.

Rudel now turned his gaze to Diabolos, he was turning to ash too.

"Ahhh, damn it!!!"

Little ash was coming out of him, right there, he let out a scream, and all the monsters turned towards him.

It looked like a tumor growing with every monster that hit his body, he turned into a big hot air balloon.

Gradually the balloon became small, after a while of growing, it finally returned to normal.

"Damn idiots!"

Diabolos shouted in anger, his horns began to gather dark matter, he aimed it not at Rudel, but at the kingdom's fleet.

"Don't you dare!"

Rudel screamed and could do nothing as he could not move.

"Anagenesis!"

A great black beam was fired towards the kingdom fleet.

But, it was there that mankind knew something that in the game never happened.

The beam hit the fleets with the white shield, as if it were a magic mirror, the black beam was repelled and rebounded until it fell into the ocean generating different explosions.

Rudel did not understand what was happening.

Diabolos much less, but he got annoyed and did the same thing again.

The black rays were shot to different parts with great speed and force, but the shields repelled that attack effortlessly.

Big explosions were happening in the sky or the ocean because of what happened.

The blue sky was darkening due to the intense bombardment.

On the ship where Airi was, he threw a bigger beam at it.

It could not even reach and was propelled by a strange force into the sky.

The explosion was so intense and big that it seemed to be an eclipse.

Rudel was astonished, he didn't understand anything until the recording became distorted.

It seemed to be cutting off the signal until he heard.

"Rudel-san..."

Airi's voice that seemed to be addressing him.

"I'm going to fight by your side."

Then Airi, extended his right hand, and a light generated from the ground to his hand, it seemed to be a staff or staff.

The object in her hand pointed at Diabolos.

Airi, said a single word.

"Attack."

And from the shields, different fractured magic circles were created spinning counter clockwise.

These seemed to be carrying something, no matter the size of the shield, they were all acting the same.

Diabolos was looking exclusively at one ship, it was the real ship.

His horns were pointing at that ship.

But he did not notice that the strange white circles were rotating, generating a small sphere. As he did so, it was there that he could see something Airi never showed in the game.

"Release it!"

The true power of the Saint.

Airi shouted and shields from different directions shot beams of light at high speed at Diabolos.

In a single attack, a white pillar formed directed towards the sky.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

Diabolos shouted after the pillar disappeared after a while.

His body was turning to ashes, but he drew strength from the monsters hidden in the sea that were not destroyed.

"Fucking assholes!!!"

Diabolos screamed, from his body came out a kind of tentacles with a sphere in them.

The sphere seemed to break, but it was just their mouths opening.

From his body, there would also be mouths; legs, arms, forearms and chest had mouths with sharp teeth.

His wings opened large eyes and both mouths, horns and eyes generated a multitude of large black spheres.

The ships and mobile knights with the white shield were also preparing.

This was undoubtedly, the power of the Saint.

This was it, the power of Airi.

"Anagenesis Metria!"

After moving a little away, Diabolos shouted his maximum attack and black beams were fired in different directions, white beams as well.

This seemed to be a battle between interstellar ships, better said.

Beams of black and white lights collided with each other.

Allies and enemies were hit without taking damage, only Diabolos took damage.

In an unforeseen attack, the royal ship fired a large beam of light into its right side.

Almost the entire right side had been destroyed.

The attacks from both sides stopped.

Diabolos fell to a burning ship with half of his body obliterated and bright yellow liquid pouring out.

Even part of his face and horn were obliterated.

Victory seemed to go to the Holy Airi.

"Airi!"

Or so it seemed until she collapsed to the ground suddenly.

Her glow and staff were gone, as was her white dress.

Her eyes and hair returned to normal and the strange mechanism stopped.

She was coughing due to fatigue from using her own magical power without rest.

Alisa grabbed her due to Airi's non-stop coughing.

She wanted to ask her what had happened, but her health was priority.

"Damn them!"

Diabolos shouted again. The shields had disappeared.

Rudel could move now, but he couldn't because of the shock of everything that happened and he couldn't understand what was going on.

"So you're the culprit!"

That's when he reacted, he heard Diabolos stare at the real ship, Liebe.

His hands were not moving because they were shaking.

During the impacts, much of the robots, drones and ships were destroyed.

The others were confused due to the anomaly affecting their systems as they were not AIs like Bell.

Diabolos was concentrating a large black beam straight towards that ship.

Rudel could not move yet.

He ordered the ships to block the attack using their shields to the maximum.

They no longer had any ammunition to want to attack it.

The ships made a defense of standing one behind the other.

Diabolos fired.

The ships could not withstand the impact and were destroyed.

He looked at Rudel and cut off their tails, threw them at Rudel, and it looked like an octopus trying to swallow him.

Rudel still did not react, but Battler did. He tore off the strange tentacles that clung to his body without Rudel's command.

Once again, Diabolos was preparing his attack, this time more powerful and bigger.

The girls and the others were in danger.

"Master!"

At that moment, Rudel received a voice message, it was Ixion.

"I came to help him!"

Battler as he ripped off his tentacles, turned his head to the east and watched as Brunhilde came flying in at high speed.

"I'm going to shoot him from here!"

"Nooo!"

Rudel shouted at Ixion.

"Use your shields and protect the girls' ship!"

Ixion was silent as he got closer and closer to them.

"But. Is it better to shoot him so that so-?"

"Ixion, god damn it. protect the girls by using the shields to the max! Physical attacks are useless against this guy!"

Ixion fell silent and after a brief moment.

"...Understood."

He took Brunhilde to protect the girls, he was already crossing the allied and enemy ships while his shields protected the ship.

"Shields at 600% capacity!"

Brunhilde turned sideways to receive the attack, at that moment.

"Anagenesis metoria!!!"

Diabolos shouted and a gigantic beam of black light was fired at Brunhilde.

The impact was powerful that it knocked the world's strongest airship back a bit.

"Don't think it's a big deal!"

Ixion exclaimed with great force as the attack hit his current body.

The repelled beams struck the sea, sky and ship nearby.

It seemed to be winning Ixion as the lightning decreased his attack power.

Victory was for the super technology.

"Shield power at 500%!"

Until a message was sent to Battler's cockpit.

"¡350%!"

The message was a live notification of Brunhilde's situation.

"¡220%!"

Brunhilde's engine was overheating, causing shield power to be reduced in a very frightening way.

"¡110%!"

Several internal alarms were sounding.

"¡-50%!"

The black beam was already fading as it grew thinner.

"¡-6%!"

There was only a little more to go before Ixion's technology won.

"Shields destroyed!"

But that illusion died right there due to the shields shattering and, the last energy discharges from the black beam pierced Brunhilde.

The outer shell was destroyed, then the inner shell and everything in front of it, that included the ship's core.

It exploded and then the beam went through the aircraft.

Flames shot out from different places as Brunhilde fell into the sea.

"Brunhilde!"

It crashed.

"Ixi-!"

Before it finished saying his name, Rudel watched as his airship, the one he had worked so hard to get, the one that stored his accomplishments, the one that was a super technology and contained his servant's consciousness.

Kaboom!

A huge explosion sound was heard as that airship sank to the bottom of the sea.

That day, the technology of ancient mankind was defeated by a mysterious being who laughed because there was nothing and no one now who could destroy it.

The end of humanity seemed to have come.