Editing Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 10 Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 3===

Waves were breaking against the concrete pier. Looking past the damaged portion of Midgardsormr, one could see NIFL's fleet on the other side.

Dawn was approaching with a slight white glow on the horizon. Twinkling stars should be in the night sky, but were impossible to see from below due to the red mist of blood covering us.

What we needed to do next would be best served by a wide-open space with good visibility. Hence, we left the clock and went to Midgard's harbor.

"Tia—I'm counting on you."

I took a deep breath and reached out to Tia. Standing behind, watching over us nervously were our companions.

"Don't worry, Yuu. Tia won't take anything from husband."

Smiling, Tia held my hand tightly. A flash of electricity exploded near the horns on her forehead.

Closing her red eyes, she spoke words like an incantation.

"Akashic Record—Connected. Searching for information regarding the second dragon, 'Ultimate Wisdom' Atlantis—Opening weaponry data. Anti-dragon weapon Marduk... Confirming unreleased data. Download... Start."

This was the connection to Yggdrasil that I had experienced a number of times so far.

However, it did not feel unpleasant or give me a headache this time. Currently, I did not feel the terror of having my memories eroded either.

Tia transmitted information while making sure not to increase the strain on my brain. The form of the impossible weapon, which I had created multiple times so far, was further approaching completion inside my mind.

While entrusting everything to Tia, I comprehended the outline of this new power.

Indeed, its scale was not something I could create on my own. However, as long as everyone did it together, it was possible.

"—Complete. Disconnecting."

The download of weapon data finished at last with Tia's announcement.

"How is it... Yuu? Can you use it?"

"Yeah, it's a bit big in scale, but there's no problem. Also, judging from the current situation, the bigger the better."

Looking at the red mist of blood covering Midgard, I smiled back at Tia.

"Wonderful! Then Tia will give Yuu dark matter next!"

"Then let us do the same together. Nii-san, all yours."

Mitsuki placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Mononobe, take my dark matter—Receive all of it!"

"The principal is at her limit. Failure is not an option."

"My prince won't fail. That's that."

"Mm, Onii-chan is reliable in key moments."

"Mononobe-kun, I believe in you."

Following Mitsuki, everyone touched me.

Using the massive amount of dark matter flowing into me, I transmuted matter according to the blueprints in my mind.

Through the almost complete data and what Tia had told me earlier, I understood Marduk's true form.

Marduk was what Atlantis, the ancestors of humans, had created as a counterweapon to oppose hostile entities from other worlds.

Hence, every piece of weaponry possessed enough power to rival world authorities along with special effects corresponding to respective threats.

Leviathan, controlling repulsive fields, Vritra, whose main body was located in a higher dimension, Hraesvelgr, which could not be attacked by physical means—using their own power, Atlantis created countermeasures to resist these lifeforms.

And right now, this crisis in front of us... could be opposed using this power!

"Hyperspace reversion rocket-assisted artillery—Abyss!"

Flowing out into the air like bubbles, dark matter traced out its outline.

What materialized was a breathtaking gigantic rectangular box. Although it did not feature a long barrel like previous weapons, the box held within itself a massive quantity of destructive weaponry.

This box was a launcher containing a large number of warheads—a missile pod.

I aimed this weapon, which was connected to my consciousness, at the red night sky.

Then I unleashed the power sealed in the box.

"Full fire!!"

Bang bang bang bang bang bang—

The lids of destruction opened together, launching countless missiles into the sky.

Leaving white vapor trails, the missiles scattered in the sky and detonated simultaneously at coordinates I had preset in advance.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!!

Countless "holes" opened up in the red sky.

Abyss was a disintegration weapon that forcibly created hyperspace that was not supposed to exist at the same spatial coordinates, thereby causing the world's corrective force to erase everything at those points together with the surroundings.

No matter how powerful the red blood mist's ability to regenerate and multiply, it was irrelevant in the face of complete eradication.

Piercing the sky with black spots with glowing outlines, countless holes began to implode successively.

Impossibly superimposed spaces were crushed by the world—disappearing together with the light.

Sucked into these holes of self-imploding space, the red mist of blood disappeared.

It was almost as though the world was ridding itself of foreign entities. Coming into view on the other side of the devoured and torn canopy of red was a deep blue.

In the sky that had turned clear, stars were twinkling delicately.

"The red is gone from the sky!"

Tia cried out happily and everyone exclaimed.

"The mist has entirely vanished as far as the eye can see!"

"The remainder is up to the principal."

Lisa and Firill commented. They were looking at the clock tower in the island's center.

"—Believe in Charl. It'll definitely be fine."

"Yes... That's right, Mononobe. Oh, but there's something I've been very curious about..."

For some reason, Iris was looking up at me shyly.

"What is it?"

I asked in response, prompting Iris to speak with determination.

"Umm... Mononobe, when did you start calling the principal Charl?"

"Uh..."

Incidentally, it was a promise to address her that way when we were alone, but without thinking, I used it in front of others.

"Oh, actually... I am very curious too."

After Firill nodded, Lisa also looked at me while scratching her cheek.

"Me too... I wanted to ask as soon as I heard it."

"Nii-san, although I intended to discuss it properly with you alone later... Now that the issue has been raised, please explain here and now."

Mitsuki urged me to explain in a business-like manner.

"Well, it's just as friends—"

I explained in a panic but at that moment, a strange sound was heard.

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin—

A high-pitched ringing was coming from somewhere.

"Onii-chan, there...!"

Ren clutched my shirt from the side and pointed at the sea.

Following her indicated direction, I saw a blinding light on the other side of Midgardsormr's damaged partitions.

"The ship's prow... is glowing?"

Ariella narrowed her eyes and murmured in surprise.

Just as she described, the light was coming from one of the battleships in the fleet. From the prow of the biggest battleship.

"That ship... Somehow, it feels similar."

Tia said in a troubled voice.

"Similar to what?"

When Iris asked for an explanation, Tia replied stiffly.

"A weapon from Atlantis... Marduk..."

"What—?"

I felt an intense chill together with surprise.


'Wanting to actualize the meaning of my birth... What's wrong with that?'


Delivered with resolve prepared to forsake his own life, Major Loki's words flashed through my mind.

Judging from the battleship's size and location, it was probably their flagship. But Major Loki was already dead while the others were under Charlotte's control. There should be no one to operate the battleship.

Come to think of it, it was probably a preset command executed by autonomous machinery.

As for why he did this... As a precaution in case all his other plans failed.

"Major Loki—How deeply did you think about the worst-case scenario?"

I gritted my teeth and recounted the bitter thoughts in my heart.

Developments still remained under his control despite having unfolded to this point.

I had succeeded in restraining Code Lost and putting the situation under control without killing Charlotte, yet still I could not escape his control.

"Yuu, if it's a weapon similar to Marduk, that part is the main cannon!"

Tia warned anxiously.

Main cannon—and that type of thing was aimed at Midgard. I did not know its firepower, but if handled poorly, Midgard could very well be obliterated.

The other side's objective was probably to destroy evidence by erasing Midgard and exterminating the Ds. My spine trembled at how obsessed Major Loki was with leaving behind the achievements of a "hero," even when all his plans failed.

"I'll deploy a repulsive field to deflect the trajectory! So everyone, give me your dark matter again—"

"No good! Main cannon is Babel, relying on a repulsive field won't stop it!"

Tia interrupted me and cried out.

I remembered. Marduk's main cannon, Babel, had been the decisive weapon in defeating Leviathan. An imperfect repulsive field was not going to hold.

"T-Then we have to destroy it before it fires!"

Saying that, Iris summoned her fictional armament, but Lisa reached out to stop her.

"Hold on! There must be many people still on the battleship!"

"Umm—"

Iris went pale and stopped.

What to do—

I racked my brain furiously to think. If I borrowed the girls' aid to generate a large amount of Ether Wind, it might be possible to protect ourselves with an outer layer that blocked physical interference. However, it would not be possible to defend everyone on the island.

"Tia will stop it! Tia can hack it once Tia goes near!"

Deploying her fictional armament wings, Tia took flight.

But at that moment, the bizarre noise grew more high-pitched and the light on the ship grew stronger and stronger.

"It's coming...! There's no time!"

Firill screamed.

"Our only choice is to block it head on!"

Ariella declared sharply and walked to the front of us.

"Lend your dark matter to me, everyone! I will deploy the biggest shield possible!"

"Mm!"

Ren immediately nodded and hugged Ariella's waist. I hastily placed my hand on Ariella's shoulder while Iris and the rest of the girls pressed their hands against Ariella's body.

"Tia will hurry to the ship while we're blocking it!"

"Got it!"

Tia nodded and flew into the sky.

At that moment, a beam of light was released from the ship. This was a terrifying light filled with darkness inside. It was extremely similar to the energy beam accompanying the supergravitional zone produced by Babel.

"Deploy shield—Seras Athena!"

The shield appearing over the sea blocked the scene of despair.

Expanding radially, the shield's form was reminiscent of a crystalline snowflake.

Accompanied by rumbling, the shockwave split the sea surface in two.

Blocking the battleship's attack, the gigantic shield glowed at the edges.

—BLAM!

But after a few seconds, deep cracks appeared in the shield.

"Guh..."

Ariella raised her right arm, the one equipped with her fictional armament, and made a pained sound.

"Sorry—I'm probably not helping much."

With the smallest generating capacity, I could only pass on a small amount of dark matter. Regretful of that, I apologized to Ariella but she shook her head lightly.

"It's fine... Mononobe-kun, you've already given me plenty of power. Last time... I quizzed you... on why my fictional armament was defensive gear, right?"

While doing everything she could to maintain the shield, Ariella asked in fragmented speech.

"Yeah—But my answer was totally wrong..."

The correct answer was because she must not wield a weapon in any shape or form. Aware of her own talent in murder, she had deliberately avoided giving herself a weapon to kill people easily.

"At the time, Mononobe-kun, you said... I did it... to protect Ren and the others. It was definitely way off... but... this answer is... very admirable. I want it to be true. That's why—"

Ariella's fictional armament was gradually disappearing. She was probably pouring all of her dark matter into the shield.

"I have to protect everyone. The people I must protect are behind the shield. I will block it no matter what comes!!"

Dark matter appeared at the shield's cracks, repairing the damage.

Despite cracking, shearing and shattering damage, the continuously repairing shield persisted in blocking the shot while lingering on the verge of collapse.

"Onee-chan, do your best!!"

Ren cried out as hard as she could. Large beads of sweat were appearing on her forehead. Right now, what sustained the shield was probably the dark matter from Ren's generating capacity that far exceeded the average.

Squeezing every last drop from her massive capacity to generate dark matter, she passed all of it to Ariella.

"Do your best, Ariella!"

Seeing Ren working hard, I continued to output my minuscule dark matter and encouraged Ariella.

"Yeah!!"

Ariella nodded firmly and continued to block the light of destruction with the giant shield.

—Bigii!!

The instant a critical noise sounded, the moment of termination arrived.

Ariella's shield had not been penetrated. The light illuminating the shield's outline instantly vanished.

"Ah—"

Ariella cried out in surprise then lost balance and fell over.

"Onee-chan!"

Ren cried out frantically. At the same time, I caught and supported Ariella.

"Don't worry... I'm just, a bit dizzy."

Ariella smiled wryly and looked at the shield collapsing on the sea surface.

"Tia-chan made it!"

Looking out at the battleship afar, Iris observed energetically.

The glowing horizon was turning red while the stars were gradually disappearing.

"...What a long night it was."

Mitsuki's voice was filled with fatigue as she sat down on the ground. It looked like she still had a fever. Sure enough, she had been pushing herself the whole time.

"Yeah, really long..."

After I concurred, the portable terminal in my shirt pocket vibrated. An incoming call.

I pressed the button to pick up and held the terminal to my ear, only to hear the voice of my cheerful "friend"—