Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Chapter 29 - Sky Island #6
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Ragros, true to his nature as one who preferred to operate from the shadows rather than the front lines, was exceedingly cautious. Whenever he embarked on a plan, he always assumed the worst-case scenario.
The seizure of Sky Island and the summoning of a tsunami through the ritual device, leading to the annihilation of the capital.
Among the worst possibilities that could be conceived here, there was only one.
Ragros's own death.
The reason was simple.
If the situation deteriorated to the point where Ragros himself perished, then not only would Sky Island's defenses collapse, but the ritual device would also become inoperable.
Thus, Ragros had pondered.
What could be done to achieve at least the minimum objective if the ritual device could no longer be used and even he himself had died.
Ragros soon came up with that method and prepared a final contingency before lifting Sky Island into the air.
And now, at this moment.
The very instant Ragros's breath ceased.
The final contingency hidden within the ritual device activated.
* * *
It began in the central chamber where the ritual device was located.
The magic circle that activated the moment Ragros's breath stopped absorbed the installed magic stones and triggered one of the long-forgotten spells known as the Prohibition of Gold.
“Dracona Ignis!”
At the moment Queen Reina transformed into a dragon, a lump of flesh was summoned from the magic circle.
Queen Reina, immersed in the joy of rescuing Aru and the urgency to escape quickly, departed without noticing the lump of flesh.
B Section began its fall toward the ground.
The lump of flesh grew in size, absorbing the baby dragons and Hecatoncheires combatants collapsed in the ritual device's chamber.
B Section crashed into the sea.
As towering waves rose, thick, long tentacles explosively sprouted from the rapidly expanding lump of flesh, stretching out in all directions.
“Barrier!”
Ash erected a wall of light atop the castle walls, blocking the waves. Queen Reina successfully escaped beyond A Section, and Integra let out a cheer.
The tentacles continued to extend. Having devoured the baby dragons lying in the corridors, it merged with the entirety of A Section.
The tentacles stretched out.
The lump of flesh covered A Section's outer walls.
Ash, who had been rejoicing at having averted a catastrophe for the moment despite not understanding what was happening, looked up to check on Luther—and was the first to witness the changes in A Section beyond the massive water bubble.
Integra blinked.
Luther's eyes widened, and Sandalphon, who had been laughing heartily, stopped laughing. The High Priest cried out in a scream.
“Your Majesty, the Queen!”
Tentacles stretched toward Queen Reina.
Fortunately, the barriers unfurled by the priests riding on the Queen's back held the tentacles at bay for a moment, allowing Queen Reina to evade them and gain altitude successfully.
But it was too early to feel relieved.
No, in truth, this was only the beginning of the real problem.
[Master! Baby dragons are swarming!]
The flying baby dragons and giant bats that had fled from the exploding C Section and falling B Section now swarmed back.
Yet their direction was strange.
Ignoring the massive water bubble where Luther's group was or Queen Reina entirely, they screamed and hurled themselves toward A Section.
The tentacles seized those baby dragons and giant bats, dragging them toward A Section.
“Ugh!”
One of the priests riding on Queen Reina's back dry-heaved.
The captured baby dragons and giant bats collided with the lumps of flesh adhering to A Section's outer walls and merged seamlessly.
A pulsating, massive red mass of flesh.
Like a giant's heart, it began ascending once no more baby dragons remained to devour.
The High Priest could not comprehend the situation.
Even the shrewd Queen Reina found it too bewildering to form coherent thoughts.
But Luther was different.
The moment he saw A Section steadily gaining altitude—slowly but surely—a single fact struck him like lightning.
The purpose of the lump of flesh.
Ragros's final gambit.
“Integra! Predict Sky Island's trajectory!”
[Huh?! Ah, understood!]
[A Section's projected path... No way?!]
A Section was not merely ascending. It was moving diagonally, slowly but steadily, toward the heart of the capital.
The reason for that.
There was only one. Only a single reason imaginable.
“Meteor drop.”
Abandon the ritual device.
Abandon Sky Island as well.
But at least deliver destruction to the capital.
Though B Section and C Section had already separated, A Section remained enormous.
Its height reached over 70 meters, and its width approached 100 meters.
And its outrageous mass.
A Section's current altitude was several kilometers high.
If such an A Section began free-falling toward the capital, converting all that immense mass into impact force.
The royal palace would be obliterated.
The entire capital would be destroyed.
It was incomparable to B Section, which had lowered its own altitude and plummeted into the sea from a few hundred meters up, or C Section, which had shattered mid-explosion before falling.
A Section continued to ascend.
Now, not just Luther but others could discern the purpose of the floating Sky Island fragment.
But that was the end of it.
Queen Reina could think of no countermeasure.
High Priest Martriel could only gasp in the face of the overwhelming destruction soon to come, unable to string thoughts together.
A Section was too massive.
Dealing with something that gigantic was unimaginable.
“P-Push it away! If not, destroy it!”
Even the sea giant Sandalphon, struck with horror, could not think straight.
He blurted out whatever came to mind, but he knew full well those were impossible methods.
A Section rose.
It even began picking up speed slightly.
[All remaining power in A Section and the ritual device is being mobilized.]
[Powerful energy reaction detected at A Section's core. It's undoubtedly deploying flight magic with the absorbed power.]
[Energy consumption is too high.]
[It can only float for another 5 minutes or so.]
But that was irrelevant to Ragros.
From the moment the lump of flesh was summoned, his sole objective was the capital's destruction anyway.
Five more minutes.
The time remaining until heaven's calamity descended upon the earth.
“E-Evacuate! Issue the evacuation order now!”
Screaming desperately, the High Priest actually attempted to broadcast the news to the ground via communication magic.
How many people could escape in a mere five minutes—or even escape the capital's doom at all—was questionable, but the High Priest was frantic.
And at that moment, Queen Reina headed groundward.
It was a desperate flight, almost a nosedive.
She had to save First Princess Yoru and Third Princess Iru.
Even if she couldn't save others, at least those two.
It was a selfish choice, but she had no alternative.
For Queen Reina, who cherished her three daughters more than her own life, no other option existed.
The Grand General, pushing back the baby dragons, looked to the sky.
Yoru, who had been holding Iru tightly to overcome her fear, lifted her head to gaze upward.
Ash stood from her position.
Though her mind knew it was impossible, she began running toward the projected impact point.
And time passed.
The countdown to annihilation marched on relentlessly.
Sandalphon slumped to the ground. The High Priest bellowed evacuation orders through communication magic at the top of his lungs.
And Luther thought.
Refusing to halt his mind in a bid to overcome the despair before him.
Shatter it with the Buster Cannon.
Impossible.
The target was too large. The Buster Cannon's power couldn't even penetrate A Section—scraping the outer walls would be its limit.
Cling to it and push with thrusters.
Even more impossible.
In a state where he couldn't even properly deploy Night Wing, that was out of the question. Even if Night Wing were intact, pushing A Section—hundreds, no, perhaps thousands of tons—with Luther's power alone was impossible.
Destroy it.
With all power converging on the central ritual device, trigger a chain explosion from within to vaporize it mid-air.
It seemed the most feasible, but still impossible.
There was no way to explode the ritual device from outside.
The only method was direct infiltration, but charging in without knowing the internal situation was suicide.
Even if the chain explosion succeeded, escaping afterward was far from guaranteed.
But it was the only means.
A Section gained more altitude.
Less than three minutes remained.
Luther deployed his damaged Night Wing. Maxing out the boosters' thrust, he kicked off the water bubble and soared upward.
Integra realized Luther's plan.
Thus, she screamed.
[Master! That's reckless! Impossible!]
A Section falls.
The capital is destroyed.
But even then, Luther wouldn't die.
High in the sky, atop the water bubble, Luther, the High Priest, and Sandalphon would survive.
Aru, Yoru, and Iru—the three princesses—would be saved by Queen Reina.
But infiltrating A Section's interior could kill Luther.
Even if everyone else lived, Luther's life would be at risk.
[Master!]
Integra screamed again, but Luther did not halt his charge toward A Section.
It wasn't impossible.
There was definitely a chance.
The capital had Ash.
The Grand General and young daughters, the Holy Knight Order's nuns were there.
No, not just them.
Tens of thousands—no, hundreds of thousands of people remained in the capital.
He couldn't stand by and watch them all die.
With even a sliver of hope remaining, fleeing alone was impossible.
It had been the same in the west.
He had staked his life fighting the Beast Lord.
To avert annihilation.
No, to avert the death before his eyes.
To save countless lives.
[Master is an idiot! Boosters on!]
Integra cried out through tears, ramping the boosters to maximum output to aid Luther.
Luther smiled.
Integra truly was the best support AI.
And Luther had no intention of committing suicide.
He fully intended to return alive with Integra.
A Section drew near.
Less than two minutes until free fall began.
The High Priest and Sandalphon watched Luther.
Queen Reina, who had reached the ground, screamed at Yoru and Iru to hurry onto her back.
Ash desperately ran toward the projected impact point.
And a voice came.
[I cannot comprehend this.]
It was a woman's voice.
Familiar yet unfamiliar, devoid of emotion.
[There is certainly a chance of success. But survival probability is extremely low.]
The calm, monotone voice was unmistakably Integra's.
But the moment Luther heard it, he knew.
It was Integra, yet not his Integra.
No, this was the true voice of the Integra he "knew."
“Integra?!”
Support AI Integra.
Luther Lightseeker's partner in Star Savior.
But what Luther had called out to now was not Star Savior's Integra.
It was his own Integra.
No reply came.
Only the familiar yet unfamiliar Integra's voice continued.
[Star Savior, Savior of the Stars.]
[Modifying plan to amplify success probability and survival odds.]
[Reviewing weapon systems.]
[Ultimate Series—Ultimate One, Star-Cleaving Sword Clairheim Morr confirmed.]
Clairheim Morr, attached to Night Wing, automatically fell into Luther's hand.
New information flooded into Luther's mind.
[Limiter release, level max.]
[Form change, access code: Star-Cleave.]
The original Integra couldn't fully analyze Clairheim Morr.
But this other Integra could.
A blue line originating from Luther's chest extended through his right arm to Clairheim Morr.
A blue line traced along the 1.5-meter blade, golden lights flashing across Clairheim Morr's components.
Star-Cleaving Sword.
Exactly as named.
Star-Cleave's meaning went beyond mere ultra-vibrating blade.
The jet-black blade split left and right around the blue line. From the cross-section, a massive blade of light erupted.
-Kwa-gagagagaga!
The erupting form was a golden blade.
A greatsword of Star-Cleave, 5 meters wide and nearly 50 meters long overall.
[Nanomachine emergency conversion.]
[Night Wing repair.]
[Star-Cleave maintainable for next 15 seconds.]
The half-broken jet-black wings swelled massively, restoring their original form.
But as if in payment, most of the nanosuit's armor vanished, and the real Integra's voice cut off.
[Master?]
Integra's voice returned.
A gentle voice filled with bewilderment, fear, and concern for Luther.
[Wh-What's happening?!]
[I-Is this really Clairheim Morr right now?!]
Integra remembered nothing of what the other Integra had done.
But she was still Integra.
She instantly grasped Luther's status and began support.
[Star-Cleave maintainable for next 12 seconds!]
[Master! A Section is reaching its apex!]
Luther saw it too.
Thus, he focused on the crisis at hand. Gripping the Star-Cleave greatsword with both hands, he charged at A Section once more.
[Boosters on!]
[Output rising 190%!]
Star-Cleave's maintainable time plummeted from 12 to 7 seconds.
But its power intensified. The blade's length shattered previous limits, surging even higher.
“Uoooooo!”
Cleave the star.
Slice away the heavenly calamity that would bring ruin to the earth!
Ash looked back to the sky.
The High Priest and Sandalphon gaped in astonishment, while Aru, barely opening her eyes atop Queen Reina's back, wore a faint smile. Integra shouted.
[Maaaaster!]
Luther swung the sword.
The golden sword that could cleave stars poured down toward the sky island.