Chapter: 59. Elemental Sovereign (Part 1)
The night was as dark as ink, enveloping the entire sea.
Having barely regained a sliver of magic, Alice encountered the sudden appearance of Kanade and others. Maria declared that she would stay behind to hold them off and urged her to escape with Professor Amakusa.
Alice did not believe that Maria could match Kanade.
But for now, this was the only method.
Tonight she had complained more than once—why she hadn’t prepared some “elixirs.”
Although these taboo substances, modified from “vaccines,” had significant side effects and could potentially contaminate both the body and soul, they could temporarily provide magic to the injector.
Unfortunately, the Star Council had always worried about conspiracies involving special circle sema and the three major academies within the “elixirs” and had not stored any.
So Alice could only swallow the bright red pills she had always relied on, letting the special ingredients ignite the dragon blood within her veins, actively entering a state of “blood imbalance” to acquire as much magic and combat power as possible.
Now half-dragon, Alice spread her wings and, with Professor Amakusa in her arms, tore through the night sky, sprinting in the opposite direction of the Star Council’s base.
Although she did not know where her destination lay, she was very clear that she could not let Professor Amakusa fall into the hands of special circle sema and the three major academies’ ability users; he was key to stopping the β system.
Her dragon wings unfurled in the night, resembling a pair of blood-red crescent moons.
The air rolled behind her, sweeping low over the dense forest and cliffs by the sea, rustling a large number of damp leaves and startling the roosting night birds.
Before fleeing, Alice had discarded all electronic devices on her person, as had Professor Amakusa.
This was to minimize the chances of being tracked by the β system.
However, all of this seemed to be in vain.
Above, a cluster of satellites moved silently.
These satellites, developed and launched by special circle sema and the three major academies, were now entirely controlled by the Alpha system.
Its sensors continuously scanned from high above, covering the entire area centered on the Star Council’s base.
Even the faintest magical fluctuations could hardly escape its “heavenly eye.”
What it detected was the magical response leaking out from Alice after entering the blood imbalance state.
The Alpha system sent her location coordinates in real-time to the nearest X-class ability user’s communicator.
Compared with the exhausted Alice.
The X-class ability user, upon receiving the coordinates, could catch up with her in less than a minute.
They, harboring the “End Fragment” within their souls, could utilize the power of “End,” their bodies enveloped in a purplish-black light, leaving distorted trails in the air.
Before Alice could react, a sharp sonic boom sounded near her ear.
Instinctively, she turned around, controlling her vibrant red blood just as a purplish-black energy arrow pierced through her petite body.
Her wing membranes tore, blood splattered across the night sky, mingling into a dark red mist.
Severe pain surged, and her body uncontrollably began to fall, yet she still tightly protected Professor Amakusa in her bosom.
Below lay a dense forest, dark as an abyss.
The two crashed heavily into the damp vegetation and soil, rolling and crashing against several thick old trees until they finally disturbed a large area of mud and fallen leaves, creating a deep pit.
The soil soaked her hair, and the chill seeped into her body through her clothes, with her body temperature rapidly dropping.
Alice struggled to rise but found that she lacked even the strength to lift her arms.
Footsteps sounded nearby.
From the depths of the forest, three figures slowly materialized.
In Alice’s increasingly blurred vision, she recognized their identities based on their attire—X-class ability users.
One of the strongest combat powers of special circle sema and the three major academies.
If Alice were in peak condition, she might have managed a fight in a one-on-one scenario.
However, at this moment.
The three X-class ability users had already declared her death sentence.
They advanced step by step, the chill of death slicing through the remnants of Alice’s consciousness.
“Don’t… touch her.”
Just as Alice was about to give up, a trembling arm slowly extended.
Though Professor Amakusa was covered in injuries, he still struggled to rise, standing before her.
“She has nothing to do with the β system… what you want is me.”
He supported his nearly toppling body, speaking laboriously to the three.
No response.
Whether it was Professor Amakusa or Alice, the X-class ability users would not spare them.
They never questioned the orders issued by the projection.
One of the X-class ability users raised an arm, and a purplish-black magical light condensed within it—signaling the imminent death of the two before them.
In the sky above.
The orbital weapons of the space-based satellites had entered the final cooling phase.
“Elemental Fusion” was ready.
Just a few more minutes.
The target island would fall within the attack range.
By then, the “End” on the island, as well as the people who could be tainted by it, would be turned to nothing under “Elemental Fusion.”
—————–
On the other side of the battlefield.
On the island about to be destroyed, the battle gradually reached a fever pitch.
With the appearance of Mana, the illusionary realm previously cast across the island by the pseudo-god, Bai Ling, shattered with a loud crash.
The X-class ability users on the scene regained their senses, the leading man feeling immense humiliation; enraged and embarrassed, he had originally intended to tear the pseudo-god Bai Ling apart with his own hands, but was ordered to stand down by the captain, Mana.
Was it to prevent unforeseen complications?
This time, Mana decided to take action herself.
The pseudo-god Bai Ling thus sensed an oppressive force far exceeding that of facing the other X-class ability users.
Even if it wielded the powers of “Fog,” “Dusk,” and “Azure Thunder,” one would think this would be insurmountable for ordinary A-class ability users.
However, before this girl, it felt as powerless as an infant.
Mana’s platinum hair waved in the wind, her red eyes like burning stars, and the purplish-black starlight at the center of her pupils was highly conspicuous.
In order to gain power.
Under the arrangement of the projection, she actively embraced the “End Fragment” and obtained the power of “End.”
At this moment, “Mana Hirakawa” existed in the strongest form, merging with the “End Fragment” as the “supreme masterpiece” of a vessel, a presence that could only be seen in the bad end of the original game “Stellar Pull 2.”
However, unlike the original game “Stellar Pull 2,” Mana had injected a “vaccine,” keeping the “End” consciousness’ invasion at bay, allowing her to fully command the powers of End while maintaining her own self.
Her ability “Fictional Kingship” at this moment gained the enhancement of the same-origin “Star Authority,” transforming into one of the strongest abilities in the original game “Stellar Pull 2”—“Final Codex.”
Drawing from the traits of the “Last Fantasy Creature—End,” Mana no longer needed to see the magical forms of other abilities with her own eyes to “replicate” them; she could directly create “from nothing,” generating all abilities that had been born and existed before “End.”
On the game level of “Stellar Pull 2,” this meant she could directly read the database and select the abilities she wished to use, paralleling the male protagonist, Kanade’s “Rewrite.”
This was the strongest form of “Mana Hirakawa” replicated through the projection via “memory.”
However—
Compared to the original game “Stellar Pull 2.”
The “End Fragment” currently possessed within Mana’s soul was limited, preventing a full restoration of the power seen in the bad end; even the abilities she could create were restricted to a certain area.
Yet even so.
It was more than sufficient to face the pseudo-god Bai Ling.
As the starlight in Mana’s eyes burst forth with dazzling brilliance.
In that instant, the sky seemed to be covered by purplish-black light.
Purplish-black thunder exploded from the dark clouds, tearing through the night sky, resonating with a high-frequency crackle as it pierced through the massive illusory body of the pseudo-god Bai Ling, the scent of charred flesh quickly permeating the battlefield.
Even if the pseudo-god Bai Ling sparked the Azure Thunder authority to retaliate immediately.
The azure lightning, upon contact with the purplish-black thunder, shattered like glass—the disparity in magical power was simply too great; the “authority” that once symbolized power was utterly powerless against the ability enhanced by “soul resonance.”
Before the pseudo-god Bai Ling could react from the pain of being pierced by the thunder, a roaring gale, swirling with frost and pressure, bore down on it; the eye of the storm flickered with a profound purplish-black radiance, amplifying the power and magic of this ability through “soul resonance.”
With cold, cutting temperatures, it sliced through the body of the pseudo-god Bai Ling, even tearing apart the fog domain enveloping the battlefield into shreds.
In the brief clash, the pseudo-god Bai Ling fell in response.
Though the authority of dusk was attempting to restore its body, the authority of fog had completely lost its power.
However, what caused the pseudo-god Bai Ling some concern at that moment was—Mana’s attack method.
It roared as it propped itself up again, unleashing the full power of the Azure Thunder authority, transforming its head into a massive eye.
This represented the “Judgment” force contained within the Azure Thunder authority, already locking onto the girl hovering in mid-air, with the ensuing “Condemnation” already poised to strike.
This was the pseudo-god Bai Ling’s most destructive blow.
Seeing this, Mana merely remained expressionless as she raised her arms.
Purplish-black flames and cold air intertwined and fused in her palms.
At that moment, the pseudo-god Bai Ling was almost certain of it.
This attack method could undoubtedly be—
Elemental Sovereign.
“Elemental Fusion.”
As Mana whispered softly, the pure magic fused in her palms shot forth like a meteor streaking across the night sky.
Simultaneously, the “Eye of Judgment” above the pseudo-god Bai Ling finally completed its charge.
Azure thunder gathered and took shape, transforming into a massive lightning column with a diameter of several tens of meters, cascading down with enough power to vaporize an entire island, slamming violently towards the slender girl in the air.
The two attacks intersected in the air in the same instant.
Purplish-black and azure blue collided violently, the space compressing to the point of creating a sensation of stasis, as if time had frozen at that moment.
Then—
“Boom!!”
The terrifying energy wave swept outward like a tornado, the ground of the island cracking and collapsing under the violent tremors, mountains shattering, waves retreating, and a storm of fire raining down, wreaking havoc in the sky.
Amidst the smoke and dust raised by the intense magical fluctuations.
A purplish-black radiance first pierced through the haze, with Mana, suspended in mid-air, remaining unscathed before the pseudo-god Bai Ling’s strongest attack.
On the other side.
The pseudo-god Bai Ling, merely having taken the brunt of two elemental fusion strikes, had its authority of dusk completely shattered.
As the dust settled—
What lay before the crowd was a weary, magically exhausted figure of the pseudo-god Bai Ling.
Its massive form, once as towering as a mountain, had once again transformed into a palm-sized puppet.
Even Kanade, without utilizing “Rewrite,” might not be able to defeat the current Mana.
Just as the projection had promised.
The Mana of now, displayed the overwhelmingly powerful force akin to that of the “true protagonist.”
It was simply—
The reborn “Elemental Sovereign.”
……
……
The fog realm that had initially blanketed the heavens and the earth had long since dispersed, and the authority of dusk vanished into the void as the magical power drained away.
In the distance, the setting sun disappeared completely.
The pitch-black night sky once again covered the land.
The ground beneath began to crack like a spider web, fractures spreading in all directions; that last strike had utterly destroyed the island.
A massive rift tore open at the center of the battlefield, swallowing distant buildings and foundations.
Seawater began to flood into the island.
“Take it back.” Mana glanced at the collapsed DD-chan, ordering the nearby X-class ability user, then turned to instruct the other X-class ability users:
“Everyone else, follow me to rescue the remaining people on the island; the target seems to have already fled the island. Team C has gone to handle it; our current task is to save the people on the island before it completely sinks to the seabed—”
Before Mana could finish her command, a voice suddenly came through the communicator from the projection.
This was actually the final warm reminder.
The space-based orbital weapon was about to launch, so the projection found another excuse to have Mana and the “uninformed” X-class ability users evacuate the island.
“…I understand.”
Mana, after hearing the projection’s words, replied coldly.
At this point, the rescue operation did not require her intervention; the X-class ability users present were enough to handle everything.
She handed over command of the scene to the leader of Team A, and once again, purplish-black radiance surrounded her form. In the next moment, her figure transformed into a shooting star rushing towards the distant gigantic spaceship.
Meanwhile, other “uninformed” X-class ability users on the island gradually gathered back, all boarding the spaceship.
As the distant gigantic spaceship and several star-shaped machines performed spatial leaps.
Everything returned to silence.
On the ruined island, only a few X-class ability users secretly commanded by the projection remained in place.
At this moment, the lead man slowly turned his head; his gaze landed on the collapsed DD-chan.
“I think you know…” the lead man said, revealing a sinister smile:
“You won’t be brought back alive to the Star Academy.”
He slowly descended to the ground, walking step by step towards the motionless DD-chan, muttering curses under his breath:
“How could I let myself lose face like this in front of the captain…”
“Don’t think you can die painlessly—”
He clearly still brooded over being deceived by the illusions earlier, and the emotions of embarrassment and anger seeped from the twisted killing intent emanating from him.
Yet DD-chan completely ignored him.
Its mission had already been accomplished, and it had never considered surviving.
In the moments before the end of its life, it only wished to quietly, one last time, appreciate the beautiful starry sky.
As its consciousness slowly descended toward the edge of darkness, a blurred vision of dazzling starlight came into its view.
Silver-white starlight illuminated the night sky.
Once upon a time—
It had seen a scene like this.
Perhaps it was from that moment on that it started to fall in love with the stars—especially this brilliant silver star.
Just like that most beautiful star in its memory.
——…Silver-white… Star…?
At that moment.
DD-chan seemed to realize something and froze.
In the Night Sky, the high-hanging stars cast their silver glow upon the earth.
Beneath this starlight, a string of footsteps approached slowly from afar—
