"A strange ceiling again."
Hoshigaki Sora muttered instinctively.
The pain in his head had faded. As his vision cleared, he quickly took in his surroundings and realized where he was.
"Did I black out?"
The planetary origin history he'd just witnessed receded to the back of his mind, replaced by the final scene before he lost consciousness.
At least I didn't pass out during the concert…
That would've traumatized the kids.
He sighed in relief. If he had collapsed in front of them, their simple, trusting hearts might've been dealt a blow they wouldn't forget.
Small rcies, he thought.
But now that his mind was clear again, he turned his attention to what had just happened. To ensure the children's safety, there was one place he had to go.
He sighed.
He had thought this planet's troubles were nearly over—but clearly, things were only just beginning.
Anna's strange behavior finally made sense now.
It looked like she had planned all along to stay behind, alone, while entrusting him with getting the children out.
But with the Lord Ravager stirring… even the Trade Star, three light-years away, wouldn't be safe.
It was just a matter of dying sooner or later. If they were to prevent that future from arriving, it was ti to act.
Sora sat up from the infirmary bed, pulled on his clothes, and stepped outside.
---
Anna and Ouja were deep in discussion, poring over defense strategies.
They didn't know exactly what they'd be facing.
But the fact that their opponent had seized control over the communication rights with the planet's consciousness—that alone made it clear how dangerous they were.
So the first challenge was a practical one: how to fend off an overwhelming force with barely a few dozen defenders.
"If we win, we'll start rebuilding our world. If we lose… at least the children will have a chance to survive on another planet."
Anna's voice was steady, but her resolution was obvious. As the final heir to Camille's royal line, protecting this world was her sacred duty.
And she had decided to perish with it if necessary.
"Even if the planet is gone, the story of our star will survive—if only in the archives."
She had long accepted that failure was a possibility. But if their story could be preserved, then everything she had done would still have aning.
"…First Seat…"
Ouja looked like she wanted to say sothing, but she couldn't find the words. Her straightforward mind wasn't built for this kind of emotional nuance.
Anna chuckled gently. "Just whining a bit, that's all." She waved away the tension. "How's the recharge on the Royal Bello?"
"At the current pace, it still needs more ti," Ouja replied.
To keep the planet's final ship hidden from the antimatter forces, they had left it completely inert—no power, no signals. Just a cold husk, indistinguishable from scrap.
But that ant reactivating it now required a full recharge.
"That's fine. Just make sure it's fully powered. We have to get Sora and the children safely to the Trade Star."
Anna sat back in her chair.
Her hand drifted to her bandaged abdon. Even through the thick wrappings, she could feel the hardened scabs forming beneath.
The wound would heal.
But could Kaemomiar—battered, bloodied, broken—recover too?
She'd never felt the future so bleak. It mirrored the ashen sky outside.
"What if I told you... even the Trade Star isn't safe?"
A familiar voice broke the silence outside the door.
The room turned as Sora and Robin stepped in.
At the sight of them, Anna visibly cald.
"Eh? You two ca together?" Ouja perked up, genuinely pleased to see them.
"Sora woke up and said he needed to see the First Seat," Robin said with a smile. "So I brought him here."
But inwardly, she was curious—what did Sora need to speak with Anna about so urgently?
Sora turned to Anna. "I need your people's help."
Anna's expression turned helpless. She understood now—her plan to have Sora leave alone had fallen apart.
"Sora… you're a guest of this world. You don't have to get involved any further."
"A Lord Ravager is about to awaken on this planet. Even the Trade Star, three light-years away, won't be safe."
His words rang like a hamr—and the entire room fell silent.
"…Eh? A Lord Ravager?"
Robin blinked, wondering if she had misheard.
That was the title of Nanook's Emanators—beings capable of destroying entire planets in his na.
"Um… Miss Robin, what's a Lord Ravager?" Ouja tugged on her sleeve, eyes wide with curiosity.
Robin, still stunned, quickly explained what little she knew.
And when she finished, she turned back to Sora with a grave expression.
A Lord Ravager… is he serious?
The Ravagers were destruction incarnate—avatars of Nanook's will, bringing ruin to civilizations wherever they went.
If one really was reviving here, then yes—nowhere in this star system would be safe, Trade Star included.
Sora didn't elaborate further. His gaze remained fixed on Anna.
"Anna. There's still one way to save this planet."
"Tell —where can I find a bullet like your token?"
Anna's token was a Galaxy Ranger bullet, though its power had long been spent. It could no longer invoke the Hunt Path.
So Sora needed to find the last of them—the Final Bullet.
Anna fell silent, thinking hard. Then she lifted her head.
"The royal palace."
She had grown up in the palace on Planet Camille—how could she forget the sacred artifact the royal family had always revered?
Even as a child, she had wondered why it looked so much like her token.
All she had ever been told was:
"The token and the sacred bullet are the sa—they're teors that cut through the night."
If the Final Bullet still existed anywhere, it would be there.
But—
"We've scouted the area before," Anna warned quietly. "It's not stable."
"…Why?"
"Because that's where the last Doomsday Beast is."
A vision filled Sora's mind—towering ruins, once regal, now broken.
And amidst that debris, a massive figure stood like a nightmare brought to life.
With its twisted claws, it stacked broken masonry as if building sothing—or marking territory.
A monstrous body. Tattered wings. Cracked carapace.
But none of that hid its true identity.
A Doomsday Beast.
The last one that had escaped during the assault on the War Foundry.
Anna had planned to eliminate it once things settled—but after the Foundry fell, she lost her ability to commune with the planet.
"If we're going to enter the palace," she said, "that thing is our greatest obstacle."
Sora stared at the image in his mind, gaze steady.
His decision was already made.
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