One minute earlier, high above Tengu City at an altitude of ten thousand meters, an aerial warship named Fraxinus was locking onto the landing point of a new "Spirit."
The streamlined alloy hull reflected a layer of flowing light. Faintly, it appeared to be some kind of stealth system.
"Control error. Values exceeding normal indices. Confirmed intense Spacequake. Locking onto impact point..."
"Thank goodness! Not the city center—it's the southern coastal area of Tengu City!"
At this moment, the command bridge of the aerial warship was a flurry of activity.
The bridge was shaped like a semi-ellipse. At the center near the entrance stood what was clearly the captain's seat. Gentle stairways extended down along both sides. Following the steps downward, one could see crew members operating precision electronic consoles on the lower level.
Screens installed throughout the bridge glowed intensely, asserting their presence within the otherwise dim environment.
"Identify the Spirit's codename upon manifestation."
From the slightly elevated captain's seat came a voice far too young and adorable for someone holding the position of supreme commander. Draped in a deep crimson uniform, the girl issued her command.
Her waist-length red hair was tied into twin tails with a wide black ribbon. Petite in stature, with wine-red eyes like finely aged vintage, she sat cross-legged, a lollipop between her lips.
She looked no more than thirteen or fourteen—still middle school age. It was hard to believe she could be the head of a department within a formal organization.
"Comparing detected Spirit power fluctuations..." The bald, middle-aged operator's fingers flew across the touchscreen keyboard. Soon, a flash of delight crossed his eyes.
"Commander! The fluctuation has no prior record. That means this Spirit is manifesting for the first time!"
"A new Spirit?! Excellent. Get Shidou moving immediately—before the AST (Anti Spirit Team, Anti-Spirit Task Force) screws things up."
Crunching the lollipop in her mouth, the red-haired twin-tailed girl, Itsuka Kotori, spoke excitedly.
The database of "Ratatoskr" had found no matching Spirit waveforms.
That meant this Spirit was manifesting for the first time. She had not yet suffered attacks from the AST during prior manifestations, nor had she developed hostility toward humanity.
In other words, she was still ignorant of the world.
Wasn't that the easiest kind of target to win over?
With the seasoned love experts aboard the Fraxinus backing him up, wouldn't this be a piece of cake?
The only downside was that her brother's love would be divided yet again. Ugh... I wonder what type she is. Hurry up and conquer her, Shidou.
Thinking about the lively household filled with all sorts of girls at home, Kotori felt a twinge of jealousy and immediately asked, "How intense is the Spacequake?"
At that moment, on the central screen of the bridge, a tiny black dot was rapidly expanding at an exaggerated speed, instantly plunging into the coastal waters of Tengu City.
The next instant—
RUMBLE—!!
With the explosion, the screen turned completely white.
Though they knew it was only an image feed, everyone on the bridge instinctively squinted and raised their arms to shield their faces—except...
"What's going on?" murmured a woman standing to the left of Commander Itsuka Kotori's seat. She looked utterly listless, her face heavy with fatigue.
"Hm? Reine? What did you say?"
"Nothing. Just that this new Spirit seems very powerful."
Dressed in a flax-colored outfit resembling a military uniform, the woman—named Reine Murasame—appeared to be in her twenties. She spoke in a dazed, sleepy tone.
Her unkempt silver hair was loosely tied behind her head. Dark circles shadowed her otherwise beautiful face. From the pocket of her uniform peeked a battered teddy bear covered in patches.
"Indeed. A Spacequake of this scale... this is probably the highest level in nearly twenty years."
Kotori nodded solemnly as she looked at the massive Spacequake spreading from the coastal embankments toward Tengu City's urban area. The destruction radius had already exceeded thirty kilometers.
Since the SSS-class Eurasian Sky Disaster and the S-class South Kanto Sky Disaster thirty years ago, the world had continued to suffer Spacequakes—but their scale had been far smaller.
The highest recorded since then had been AA-class, and only once: Berserk.
As for other Spirits—such as the identification codes: Efreet (B-class), Diva (C-class), Princess (B-class), Hermit (C-class)...
Their Spacequake magnitudes had hovered only between C and B.
Even Nightmare—known as the "Worst Spirit"—if one disregarded her other dangers and considered only Spacequake scale, ranked merely C-class.
Although a Spirit with a smaller manifestation Spacequake was not necessarily less destructive, this was still the most direct comprehensive risk assessment method. The larger the Spacequake upon manifestation, the more dangerous the Spirit.
Wiping the cold sweat from her forehead, Kotori genuinely felt her confidence falter. Can my idiot brother really handle this...?
After several seconds, Kotori suppressed her anxiety and stared fixedly at the screen as the image returned.
"At this level... the casualties will definitely not be small."
Slumping against the back of her captain's chair, she spoke dejectedly.
The screen flickered back to life, revealing a completely transformed Tengu City before the eyes of everyone aboard the Fraxinus.
From the coastline into the mainland, a massive hole had been carved into the earth. That was the only way to describe it.
Until just moments ago, Tengu City—rebuilt from the ruins of the South Kanto Sky Disaster—had been thriving.
But as the towering smoke gradually dispersed, nearly half the city had been shaved away into a deep crater.
The wound was as smooth as if sliced by a blade.
The commercial districts, residential areas, streets, rail lines, asphalt roads, even the underground shelters that should have existed there—everything within the Spacequake's range had vanished without a trace.
Beyond that lay the storm zone formed by the explosive aftershock. All buildings bore the aftermath of something like a devastating typhoon.
"Commander, this Spacequake exceeds AAA-class—above S-class."
With a distinctive, refined voice, the tall man standing to Kotori's right bowed lightly in a manner reminiscent of a butler.
He had wavy golden hair and a nose bridge that didn't resemble a typical Japanese profile. He looked like a young man straight out of a boys' love novel.
"Current comprehensive danger assessment: SS. Spacequake scale: S. Astral Dress: unknown. Angel: unknown. Spirit designation: not yet assigned."
"Isn't that basically saying nothing? I'm not blind..."
Itsuka Kotori ignored the internally perverted man beside her and kept her eyes locked onto the ice-blue figure descending onto the seabed.
That tall? That mature... and that big! Are we juvenile forms while she's already an adult form?
...
"This energy forcibly wrapping around me hasn't caused any harm at all..."
Floating in midair, Esdeath slowly scanned her surroundings. For a moment, she truly could not understand.
This energy did not attack her, an intruder. Instead, it had helped her destroy this world. What was this? Was the world's will so eager to throw itself into Her Majesty Selene's embrace?
"Hm?"
Sensing something, Esdeath abruptly raised her head.
"Is that this world's armed force?"
In the distant sky, several points of light suddenly shone like stars.
Soon, Esdeath saw dozens of young girls clad in form-fitting combat armor, carrying various weapons, flying toward her at high speed with the aid of propulsion units.
"A special all-female unit like the Sisters of Battle? Wait... what's going on with them? Are they serious about that armor?"
Esdeath glanced at the exposed, tight-fitting battle suits covering the girls' youthful bodies and froze for a moment. Her eyelid twitched. Such large areas of exposed thighs, abdomen, chest, collarbones...
Was that truly combat attire and not some sort of lingerie?
It was not unreasonable for Esdeath to think so. In the past few years since becoming the Herrscher of Ice, she had not participated in the Astartes Legions' external conquest wars. Her knowledge was limited, her perspective still lingering in the pre-Imperial era.
Back then... such revealing garments did exist, but they were toys for the amusement of nobles.
Among the two female combat forces she had encountered—the Sisters of Battle and the Sisters of Silence—which one did not wrap themselves tightly from head to toe?
Even within the Imperial Assassination Unit and the Jaegers directly under her command, though there were many female members, she had never seen anyone dress so flamboyantly.
Admittedly, her own Herrscher attire and even the Empress' battle dress were not without question—high heels, short skirts, stockings—but those designs at least stopped short of excess. Compared to that, these suits, barely more than armored bikinis, were on an entirely different level.
Dressing like that on a battlefield—were they courting death? Unless they intended to seduce the enemy into surrendering. Or was it that the less fabric there was, the stronger the defense?
"It's a new Spirit. There's no matching data in the AST database. Everyone, stay alert!"
The leader—a stern-faced female warrior with a black single ponytail—observed Esdeath for a moment before speaking through her radio.
"Yes, Captain Kusakabe!"
"Whether new or recorded, if it's a Spirit, it must be killed."
Clad in a black mechanized suit, a silver-haired girl with blue eyes stared expressionlessly at Esdeath below.
Ryouko Kusakabe shot a glance at Origami Tobiichi beside her and sighed inwardly. This junior was undeniably capable, but the moment she encountered a Spirit, she stopped listening to reason and fought as though she had a death wish.
But this was not the time to address that.
I'll talk to Origami after the mission is over.
Raising the weapon in her hand, Ryouko Kusakabe shouted loudly,
"Spirit elimination operation—commence!"
In an instant, dozens of girls pulled their triggers almost simultaneously.
Bang bang bang!
Hundreds of micro-missiles, flames trailing from the propulsion units mounted on their backs, shot straight toward Esdeath on the seabed below.
Esdeath merely lifted her head indifferently.
The next second—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Countless fiery explosions erupted around her in an unbroken chain. The already ravaged seabed was once more engulfed in clouds of dust.
Seeing no movement within the smoke, one AST member said with delight,
"Captain, did we succeed—"
Splurt—!
Blood sprayed everywhere.
"Koharu!"
Spitting out a mouthful of blood and flesh, the AST member called Koharu lowered her head and saw an ice-blue hand protruding through her chest. Her head tilted, and she instantly lost consciousness.
"Y-You dare—"
"Dare what? What, should I stand there without resisting and let you attack me?"
Frozen blood icicles fell from the sky. Esdeath withdrew her hand from the body and, with a faint smile, flung it aside.
Visible to the naked eye, the corpse rapidly froze and grew brittle, covered in crystalline frost.
"Since you've chosen to enlist, as warriors—have you prepared yourselves to die in battle?"
Though she wore a smile, there was not a trace of emotion in Esdeath's voice.
As soon as the frozen corpse hit the ground—crack—it shattered into blood-stained ice fragments.
"Damn Spirit! You all deserve to die!"
Esdeath's smile was naturally interpreted by the AST members as provocation. Flames of anger and hatred burned in their eyes.
In recent years, they had always been the ones chasing down Spirits. Those Spirits had mostly fought defensively, rarely attacking proactively. They had not suffered casualties for a long time.
Now, this newly manifested Spirit had killed one of their sisters immediately upon appearing. Such overwhelming killing intent—how could it not enrage them?
"Spirit? That's what you call me? Interesting. If this world is only at this level, then Roboute is being overly cautious."
Facing the torrent of furious firepower from the AST, Esdeath could not even be bothered to dodge. She drew in a breath at her chest and abdomen. The air solidified into ice crystals—then she exhaled gently.
"Haa—!"
A freezing breath swept across the glowing projectiles, covering an extremely wide area. Several AST members who failed to evade in time were brushed by the icy gale.
"Too weak. Far too weak! Where are your world's transcendent lifeforms? Why are they hiding behind mere mortals like you?"
In the blink of an eye, the propulsion units on their backs froze solid. Their bodies were encased in thick ice and plummeted downward, blooming into blood-seeping ice roses upon impact.
"Miko! Kumi! Rina... damn it! I don't know what you're talking about! I'll kill you!"
So many subordinates who had fought beside her day and night were reduced to nothing in an instant. Even as the commander, Ryouko Kusakabe found it hard to remain calm.
"Only a handful dead, and you're already like this? Are you truly soldiers? I sense no battlefield killing intent in you at all. Recruits?"
"Well, whatever. Fighting ants like you doesn't interest me in the slightest. If it won't come out on its own, I'll force it out."
Ignoring their blazing fury, Esdeath spread her arms.
"Freeze. Ice Storm Commander-in-Chief."
Crack crack crack—!