Blue Ray (3)

A being wreathed in a seething, murderous aura severed the heads of two of the three in a single instant. Even as they died, the two never learned what had taken them.

"GYAAAH!!"

The last of them, six-armed, frantically threw itself backward—

Whuum—

but a grip of ghastly blue blades had already closed around it from behind. From the compound eyes of the ambushing monster, streaks of black ghost-fire streamed down in rivulets.

-!!

In that instant, the monster sensed something deeply unsettling.

This fast?

Fwoooosh—

The very strike that had obliterated the Blue Ray was surging in anew—a blow of truly monstrous force that tore through space and hurtled in like a lightning bolt.

The flash that had been a distant spark was suddenly at point-blank range.

There was no time to hesitate.

And yet the reason the many-eyed monster could remain so unhurried, so composed, was simple: it had recognized that the attack was not aimed at it.

The flash's projected path lay roughly midway between the starlight-haired human woman and this place.

Evidently the shot had been loosed to protect the starlight-haired woman. As expected, they had grasped nothing of its true purpose.

The compound eyes confirmed the goal would be achieved. These enemies had misread its objective entirely.

Once it finished purging every one of the vermin parasitizing the Dimensional Tree and sealed the passage…

But the monster was forced to wrench its body aside in haste.

Shaaaa—

The crimson flash blazed into gold and materialized without warning, right before its eyes. A movement so unnatural it was as if causality itself had been twisted—as if the shot had been aimed here from the very beginning.

The monster's compound eyes flew wide with disbelief.

Th-this power…!

Beeeep—

"So it slipped away in the end, after all. Survival will be difficult for it, mind you."

"…."

Karlstein's eyes ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sank deep. His analysis of the waves the monster radiated pointed to a Double Number entity.

Worse, a dangerous specimen specialized in stealth and mobility.

"Is it a previously registered entity?"

"No, Master. It appears to be an entirely new type."

"Hmm…."

If he'd known this would happen, he would have packed more reliable armament. He'd brought only two weapons suited for throwing, at that.

A shame, but nothing to be done. No one could have predicted something like that would pop out of nowhere.

Double Number. Two-digit entities were a different breed altogether from the Triples. The mere fact that this one had lain hidden from every observation instrument known to man spoke volumes about its danger.

And considering that Single Numbers generally took no interest in the course of humanity's affairs, it was right to regard the Double Numbers as the monsters' de facto leadership.

Regrettable as it was, this affair had been best concluded here.

Besides, the gains from this incident were not inconsiderable.

Had the thing kept its concealment, no one could say what calamity it might have blossomed into later. Merely forcing it into the open—and blasting away its upper half—was a tremendous result in itself.

As for why it had shed its stealth at all…

Most likely it was to kill the psychic entities.

Did it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠simply hate them more than it hated humanity?

Karlstein did not think so.

If anything, the monster's behavior looked like a deliberate attempt to prevent contact between humanity and the psychic entities.

And that implied a great deal.

It differed markedly from the behavioral patterns the monsters had shown toward humanity until now. Strategy, one might call it. This was no mindless, irrational hostility—it was enmity of a far more sophisticated order.

"Haha."

At that, Karlstein laughed.

This was, in fact, excellent news.

The enemy was acting strategically? That meant the same logic worked in reverse. For an opponent to have a strategic goal meant that goal could be turned against it.

If they intended to block contact between humanity and the psychic entities, then all this side had to do was force that contact. That alone would deal the monsters a genuine blow.

So how could he not laugh?

Even with half its upper body blown away, the thing had stubbornly slaughtered three psychic entities before fleeing—remarkably tenacious vitality, right down to wrenching open an Astral Passage and hurling itself through.

Had Maxien, at that close range, not bisected it cleanly into upper and lower halves, they might well have faced it again someday, restored and ready on some future battlefield.

Where Maxien had stood, the monster's severed lower half and a silvery liquid now drifted weightlessly in the void.

The Double Number's corpse was slated to become material for ether weaponry. Studying it would yield better countermeasures and better arms.

Moreover, the monster had tried to collect the silver liquid—and failed. By the time it had finished killing the psychic entities and gathered roughly half of the fluid, Maxien was already at its throat.

Thanks to which, the remaining half of the silver liquid had been secured.

Except…

"There is an anomaly in the astral signal readings from that region."

The thing had done something on the far side of the passage; the aberrant readings made that much clear.

"Hm."

So it was true—those monsters genuinely knew how to handle the Astral Dimension.

Just as humanity harnessed the Astral Dimension to work its warp drives, the monsters appeared to do the same.

This was not the first time monsters had been observed using astral passages. But never before had they used them so brazenly.

Which meant they had been that desperate.

The corner of Karlstein's mouth curled upward.

Since the Double Number's appearance, the crushing pressure that had weighed on the surroundings like a vise was steadily subsiding.

"You can't determine exactly what the anomaly is?"

"That much is beyond us, Master."

"Hm."

In other words, the monsters' command of the Astral Dimension still outstripped humanity's.

But.

For how long, exactly?

The monsters evolved without end.

But humanity, too, advanced and evolved without end.

The pace of technological development?

The mere fact that humanity had retaken the Wall proved as much.

So long as its emperors refrained from the idiocies of the previous one, anyway.

And that was not all.

Hadn't a powerful new instrument touching upon the dimensions itself very recently fallen into his hands?

"Master, are you quite all right? That power of yours…"

"Hm? Ah, right…."

Karlstein looked down at his own hand. Golden fragments were writhing and shimmering in the air around it.

"It'll settle down after a bit of rest."

"Master."

"Aren't we about to end up walking the rest of the way?"

"…."

Into his field of vision drifted an Imperial vessel braking hard, then scrambling frantically into reverse.

"Ordinary people could never endure that, you see."

"Well… regardless, hurry along the next update while I rest."

"Understood, Master."

"It seems the community side will need pushing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠forward quickly as well."

"Implementing it immediately."

Karlstein's eyes burned hot and bright.

The community had undergone a sweeping update.

It was nothing grandiose, on its face. But for users from Earth, it was impossible not to feel a deep, aching familiarity.

And naturally, the users' reaction went beyond heated—it caught fire outright.

Users worn down by the tedium of their otherworldly lives, in particular, had no choice but to welcome the change.

What set this update apart, above all, was that for once users could not only spend their points—but earn them.

Amid hopes that were not quite hopes, the sponsorship system and Galaxy TV went live.

And the momentous first streamer turned out to be, surprisingly, a rather famous figure.

"Greetings, one and all. I am Raymond, the Lich King of LichIsRich. Keh keh."

On the screen, a bare-bones skeleton was grinning with dreadful delight.