"Oh..."
Since everyone had already seen Murasame before, they weren't particularly surprised by the sight of a young Visitor in spirit form.
Elq was even smaller than the little blade spirit, standing a full head shorter than the little fairies.
"The Visitors in this world aren't as powerful as the ones over there, but she's adorable!"
Elysia crouched down and pinched Elq's cheeks.
"Mm..."
The red-haired girl had no idea how to deal with this overly enthusiastic Pink Fairy.
Still, over the past several centuries, she truly hadn't encountered anyone so warm and friendly.
"My soul... has been restored."
"That's amazing..."
Elq lowered her head and clenched her fists.
She could feel that Setsuna had infused her with an unimaginable amount of magical power, directly granting her—a consciousness whose soul had been shattered and imprisoned in a void-like space—the ability to manifest in reality and move freely.
Being brought into the material world filled Elq with wonder. The interior of the Astral Express in particular seemed somewhat familiar to her, reminding her of the starships from long ago.
"Don't let the fact that she's over five hundred years old fool you. She's still basically a child. Just take care of her the way you'd take care of any other little girl."
Setsuna summoned an Angeloid and had her show Elq around the Astral Express so she could settle in first.
"Huh? My hair?"
Chtholly noticed that a small lock of her blue hair had turned red.
"This is?..."
"You were Elq in your previous life. When you come into contact with her, you'll naturally be affected by her to some extent."
Setsuna examined her body.
"I've already severed the connection between you, so it won't interfere with your memories or thoughts. You'll just experience a few physical changes."
"Once we get back, genetic ascension and Meta-Morph surgery can completely remove this portion of the genetic influence."
As he spoke, he looked Chtholly over again, reached out to brush her cheek, and tidied the hair scattered across her shoulders.
"Though personally, I think a few red highlights look better on you."
"Ah—"
Chtholly's face instantly turned red. She lowered her head and shrank back timidly.
"O-Okay..."
Flirting came as naturally to Setsuna as drinking water, but to an innocent fairy who knew nothing beyond fighting, even casual physical contact was enough to leave her blushing furiously.
Whoosh—
Setsuna opened a holographic interface and had Sophon scan the condition of the entire planet.
"We've completed the tasks of taking control of this world and bringing the Leprechauns aboard. Next, it's time to deal with the remaining problems here."
Now that the floating cities had accepted the Starsea Empire's rule and the Leprechauns had been handed over, the only thing left was to eliminate this world's threat—the "Beasts."
"Are we going into battle? Please use us."
Chtholly, Nephren, Lantolq, and several of the other adult fairy soldiers snapped back to attention.
"We've always defended the floating islands against Beast attacks. Sometimes we also accompanied salvage teams to excavate ruins on the surface."
"The underground is very dangerous. In the floating cities, only the Sixth Beast can fly up to attack, but there are many more of its kind down on the surface."
"There are seventeen kinds of Beasts in total. They're very powerful! In less than a year, they wiped out humanity, the ancient spirits, the earth dragons, the dragons, and many other races."
Although the fairies weren't afraid when speaking of their enemies, they still regarded the Beasts with deep respect.
The Beasts had once been human as well, and their origins were connected to a biological weapon developed five hundred years ago by an armed religious organization known as the True World Reimagining Choir.
After such a long time, they had completely mutated into monsters similar to Gastrea or Danger Beasts.
"Oh... it took them an entire year to wipe out humanity?"
The little gray-haired girl rubbed her chin and pretended to think deeply.
"Only?"
Elq and the little fairies blinked, sensing that something about that wording wasn't quite right.
"That's way too slow. They aren't that strong."
The Stellaron girl scratched her head.
"When we clean up a planet, we usually measure it in minutes or seconds."
"Huh?"
Chtholly wore an expression that clearly said she understood nothing and was profoundly shaken anyway.
Setsuna called over the train crew members and assigned them separate missions using the holographic map.
"Everyone split up and wipe out every Beast on this planet."
"Capture a few unusual variants alive and bring them back as research specimens."
...
Hum—
The Astral Express descended all the way down from the floating continents.
After passing beneath the floating city cluster, the devastation covering the surface came into view.
The entire planetary surface had already turned into desert, with endless wastelands stretching across the continents.
Only a handful of broken structures remained, half-buried beneath the yellow sand. They were traces left behind by the humans of the previous era.
The united cities and merchant associations would occasionally organize salvage teams to explore the ruins in hopes of recovering technology and equipment from the previous civilization.
"Mm..."
Chtholly, Nephren, and several other fairy soldiers remained tense, constantly on guard in case a Beast launched a surprise attack.
"Be careful. If we get surrounded here..."
"Don't worry. Leave it to us."
Gudako patted her chest and led Crew Six onto a shuttle, cracking her knuckles in anticipation.
"Clear the planetary surface and capture live specimens. Time limit: half a day. Whoever's slowest isn't allowed to join the Commander's parties anymore!"
"Want to come watch?"
"???"
"Huh? Cough, cough—"
Raven coughed several times. Ana, the little gray-haired girl, and the others thought about it. Even though they hadn't progressed far enough with the Commander to join any parties yet, I can choose not to go for now, but you can't take away my right to go!
Rumble—
Members of Crews One, Five, and Six formed teams and jumped down one after another.
Boom—
The moment they landed, the ground beneath them began to tremble.
Countless restless monsters were stirring beneath the earth.
Rumble!!—
A colossal monster as large as a small mountain burst from underground, its entire body covered in red-and-black armor, with countless eyes embedded between the gaps in its shell.
Yellow sand and dirt poured off its body, and every step carried enough force to shake the earth.
"The Fourth Beast!"
Chtholly cried out.
Around the Fourth Beast, countless smaller "Beasts," shaped like twisted worms, crawled out from cracks in the ground.
In the blink of an eye, they surrounded the squad.
Whoosh—
A pair of beautiful butterfly wings formed from energy appeared behind Chtholly. She drew the weapon Setsuna had given her and instinctively assumed a combat stance.
Click—
Someone else moved faster than she did.
"It really is rare to get a chance to stretch my body... though these opponents are a little weak. I suppose quantity can make up for quality."
A girl with short brown hair, dressed in a Valkyrie uniform, drew an enormous scythe.
Clack—!
The scythe locked together.
Before Chtholly and the other fairy soldiers could react, Rita had already flashed directly in front of the Fourth Beast.
Slash—
Honkai energy extended from the blade, and with a single strike, she bisected the hundred-meter-tall monster at the waist.
Without pausing for even a moment, she stepped into an elegant dance and leapt straight into the surrounding sea of Beasts.
Like a dancer, she carved through the lumbering monsters with her scythe using movements that were dazzling yet beautiful to behold.
She moved so quickly that the watching fairies could only see afterimages.
Even while surrounded on every side, not a single "Beast" could touch her. She even avoided every drop of splashing blood with effortless grace.
"Experience points!!!"
Seeing so many bizarre creatures, Kumoko became even more excited.
She immediately drew her scythe as well and joined the slaughter.
Back in the labyrinth, I was always the one getting chased around everywhere. Now I finally get to mow down mobs too?
Looks like I'm actually pretty strong?!
Shiro became more addicted the longer she fought, unleashing one magical skill after another and vaporizing the tidal wave of Beasts in moments.
"Oh..."
Chtholly stared blankly for a moment.
"So strong..."
When fairy soldiers faced elite monsters like these, they often had no choice but to blow themselves up and trade their lives one for one. Yet to these people, it was nothing more than a casual swing of a blade.
Before she could even finish marveling at that, earth-shaking explosions erupted in the distance alongside the chanting of Noble Phantasms.
"Ex... Calibur."
"Still using Excalibur, still using Excalibur. Saber, move aside, it's my turn!—Strelizia, launch!!"
Rumble—!
The red-and-white mecha charged wildly around the battlefield and had only just stolen the spotlight for a moment.
"Shatter! Mountain-Shaking Star's Firewood!"
Boom!!!—
A purple arrow of light descended from the sky and directly flattened an entire ruined city.
"Holy Lance, release the anchor."
"It is the storm anchor that tears open the heavens and binds them to the earth, the light fired from the farthest reaches..."
A spiraling golden lance gathered within the clouds. The power of the Spear of Finality swept across the land, shaking heaven and earth.
[Lösen: Teigu Database]
[False Epigraphy: Hull Construction]
"..."
All kinds of strange Noble Phantasms and weapons saturated the planetary surface with firepower.
Since there were no humans left on the ground, there was no need to worry about collateral damage. Anything below planet-destroying weaponry was free to fire at will.
Wherever the strike teams passed, even the surface layer of the ground itself was forcibly shaved away.
"Ah..."
Chtholly, Nephren, and the other fairies, who had originally wanted to help, trembled and huddled close to Setsuna instead.
They had discovered that their combat abilities weren't even remotely on the same level as those older girls.
Who am I? Where am I? The Starsea Empire is terrifying.