The group pressed on in their intended direction.
March 7th couldn't help herself. Glancing back at Sylvia's expression, she blurted out, "Sylvia, you don't look like you're gearing up for a big fight at all... I'm getting the vibe you're planning to capture that Doomsday Beast and roast it for dinner."
"Do you think you could even scrape a single piece of meat off that thing? Please," Sylvia shot back with a roll of her eyes, returning the snark.
March just chuckled, scratching her head before sticking her tongue out playfully at Sylvia, like a mischievous kid begging for forgiveness.
Sylvia, however, made no secret of her intentions.
"Alright, fine. I'll admit I've got a bit of a personal agenda here. You all know that Mount No.1 was originally an elite unit of the Antimatter Legion—a Trampler."
"Mhm, mhm, you mentioned that when you were teasing March earlier," Stelle chimed in, remembering clearly because it was March's wild imagination that had prompted Sylvia's explanation in the first place.
"Hey! We agreed not to bring that up again!" March protested.
Ignoring the bickering between March and Stelle, Sylvia continued, "I don't have many hobbies, just a slight collector's streak. When it comes to mounts, I've always fantasized about taming a dragon, riding one through the starry seas. How cool would that be, right?"
"..."
Dan Heng's expression turned a bit subtle, but March and Stelle were nodding along vigorously.
"Totally, totally."
As for Himeko, she merely blinked, seeming to have already guessed where Sylvia was going.
It suddenly dawned on her that Sylvia might not be as strait-laced as she'd imagined.
And just as expected, Sylvia's next words followed:
"Just look at it... a creature like the Doomsday Beast. It looks like a dragon, its abilities are dragon-like, it even roars like one. So doesn't that make it a dragon?"
And let's be reasonable here.
Both are large, fantastical beasts that show up right at the start of their respective stories.
With a physique like that, isn't the Doomsday Beast even more like a traditional, classic wyvern than something like Dvalin?
Sylvia certainly thought so.
"Yeah, that's ri—... Huh?!" March had been nodding along blankly, but halfway through her agreement, her brain finally reconnected, and she realized what Sylvia had just said.
"The Doomsday Beast counts as a dragon? That's such a stretch! Wait, hold on... you're getting me sidetracked."
March raised a hand as if to pause the conversation, then launched into another round of complaints.
"Don't tell me you're planning to assimilate that Doomsday Beast too, turn it all fiery like the others? Provoking the Antimatter Legion like this, aren't you afraid a Lord Ravager will come after you with everything they've got?"
Fighting and killing—that's a normal dynamic, right?
But you waltz in, brainwash their elite units into your personal pets, then turn them around to attack their own side.
Do you have any idea how utterly humiliating that is for a commander?
When she played games, she hated that kind of 'humiliation' the most.
But clearly, March's complaint didn't quite land with Stelle.
Stelle's eyes were practically sparkling, gripping her bat excitedly. "That's so cool! If we catch it, can I have a ride too?"
"Hey—is now really the time to be talking about cool?!" March felt utterly drained from all the complaining. Was this really the moment for that?
Who was it that said she was reckless? Right now, Sylvia seemed ten times more impulsive.
Himeko stood by with a gentle smile.
Though Sylvia's declaration had surprised her too—capturing an enemy was far more difficult than simply defeating it.
But thanks to Sylvia, the tense atmosphere among the group had dissipated quite a bit.
At the very least, March's previously tense muscles had visibly relaxed.
--+--
The group made quick work of the scattered Voidrangers along the way, soon arriving at their target platform.
The platform was deserted.
Isolated from the vacuum by a special device, this spacious platform, much like a traditional one, had no walls.
So Sylvia had a perfectly clear view of the deep space outside and the breathtakingly close planet, The Blue.
This equipment that could contain the space station's atmosphere, preventing any leakage—it had to be one of Herta's creations, right?
Sylvia had always been curious about this platform back when she played the game.
Now she was finally getting to witness this marvel firsthand.
"Wait, March—!" Ever vigilant, Dan Heng issued a warning the moment he spotted the figure.
Sylvia, meanwhile, rested a hand on March's shoulder and stepped forward, placing herself at the front of the group.
And there, just beyond the platform, the colossal Doomsday Beast circled the void, its massive fleshy wings beating, its gaze locked dead on their location.
Himeko glanced at Stelle once more.
"The Doomsday Beast... it really followed us here."
This confirmed Sylvia's words. It seemed the location of the Stellaron was now clear as well.
Sylvia watched the Doomsday Beast soaring through the void, finding it more and more appealing—those fleshy wings, that slender frame, the graceful long tail, and those powerful limbs.
Not bad, not bad at all!
This was the romance of a gamer!
Today, she would become a Dragon Knight.
"All of you, stay right—"
Sylvia hurriedly tossed out those words.
Whoosh—
Fierce flames erupted from her body in an instant. A massive, crimson greatsword materialized, wrapped in intensely condensed fire that radiated a terrifying aura.
Without using the Hazard Trigger, Sylvia instantly maxed out her body's load, pushing her output to its absolute limit.
Then, without giving March, Stelle, or the others even a moment to respond, before the greatsword's theme music could even play a second note—
Thud—
With a dull sound, Sylvia shot upward like a blazing meteor, streaking straight toward the gigantic Doomsday Beast outside the station!
"Roar—!!!"
The Doomsday Beast, already in a dive toward the platform, was incensed to see a mere human daring to charge toward it.
It let out a furious bellow, intending to crush this overconfident ant with its sheer bulk.
For Sylvia, seeing the beast come right at her only fueled her excitement.
At the moment of impending collision, Sylvia's left hand shot up and swept outward!
A web of fine threads instantly ensnared the Doomsday Beast's body.
Flaming strands tightly wrapped around the roots of its wings, its limbs, and its head.
Yanking her left hand back hard, Sylvia flipped through the air and landed squarely on the beast's neck.
Her right hand drove the greatsword downward with force!
The blazing blade easily pierced through the armor, plunging deep into the Doomsday Beast's body to give Sylvia a firm anchor.
Simultaneously, a massive surge of flame erupted from the sword, beginning to corrode the beast's enormous frame.
Fierce fire spilled recklessly from every gap and seam in the Doomsday Beast's carapace.
"Roar—!!!"
This time, the creature's horrific screech transmitted directly through the sword into Sylvia's ears.
At the same time, the giant beast's dive toward the platform was violently altered—by Sylvia's binding threads and its own frantic struggles.
It shot past the platform at a grazing angle, accompanied by the screech of grinding metal and the tremor of the platform's structure, soaring back up into the void.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.