A flaming serpent danced!
A crimson brilliance left a srizing afterimage, and bursting sparks were as brilliant as fireworks. In the wake of the flashing streak of light was a sharp blade, slashing straight down at Mammon!
CLANG!!
A blinding flash erupted!
The vast command center was instantly illuminated.
Inside the space, where only the stubborn warning lights remained, it was as if a "Little Boy" had risen in the midnight sky.
Screeeech—
The blades t in mid-air.
Lashing tongues of fire sputtered wildly in all directions.
Whether it was the sowhat fragile control consoles or the incredibly sturdy alloy floor, everything was instantly lted into bottomless holes upon contact.
Mammon was using the power of the Dominion of Destruction.
It was worth noting.
Even for soone as powerful as him, the word "use" was the only way to describe his handling of the Dominion. As subordinates of the Antimatter Legion, the Sky People who walked the Path of Destruction were considered ordinary Pathstriders.
Unwatched by their Astral God, their understanding of the Dominion of Destruction was extrely limited, leaving them in a state of knowing what it did but not how. They didn't even possess the power to truly "manipulate" the Dominion and could only activate it through fixed routines.
But Hiko was different.
Although the Authority of Fla she wielded was not as powerful as the Dominion of Destruction, she could perform extrely precise operations. The Astral God of Order had already fallen, and among the beings who walked the Path of Order, the Emperor might not be the strongest, but as the Grand Sovereign of Order, he could exercise a portion of the authority belonging to an Astral God.
The most direct manifestation of this.
Was that all subjects of the Empire could gain mastery over any of the subordinate Authorities the Emperor possessed.
Adding to that was an Imaginary energy reserve that surpassed the normal standards of the cosmic sea—this bonus ca from the grace of the Tree: the more a civilization fought against the Quantum Sea, the more Imaginary energy it could draw from the Imaginary Space. This was a fundantal law of the Imaginary Tree.
The first exchange was an even match.
Screeeech!!
The swords scraped past each other!
The ultimate expression of the Authority of Fla turned the greatsword in Hiko's hand into a pure molecular fuse.
Her own raw power was only at the Primordial Species level, but supported by Imaginary energy that was not much inferior to her opponent's, and with the additional boost from her Valkyrie armor, Mammon gained no advantage in this clash.
And the mont he switched from offense to defense, a surge of high-temperature steam suddenly erupted outwards!
Hiko had switched the type of Authority she was using.
Instantly changing the molecular motion from extrely high to extrely low, she used the impact from the Authority of Ice to forcibly create distance between them.
The two energy blades Mammon had used to intercept Hiko's slash changed from their previous crossed, X-shaped posture to a completely parallel, "door panel" shape. By converting the molecular motion pattern, the previously hyperactive "kinetic state" beca an indestructible "static state." While this energy shield lacked sharpness, its defensive power more than doubled for the sa energy output.
Having blocked Hiko's attack with his twin blades, Mammon was preparing to retract his power for a counterattack—he still had two unused energy blades on his back—but Hiko's sudden retreat rendered his coiled quick-draw strike completely useless.
---o---
"You, my friend."
"Are pretty strong."
Hiko had to admit that her opponent's individual combat capability was definitely superior to her own.
She considered her own level of Imaginary energy control to be top-tier among the Primordial Species. As a science officer, the ability to precisely control one's own energy was key to the success of many experintal projects. Besides teaching theory, this was precisely the area of instruction she was responsible for at St. Freya Academy.
And the Sky Person opposite her...
Despite having a higher level of raw power, he had sohow managed to control his energy leakage, which was an extrely difficult feat.
According to Hiko's original plan.
The battle between them should have, at the very least, blown this command center to smithereens. But from the mont they clashed until now, although it was only a single exchange, the collateral damage from the energy collision was less than 0.01%.
"You are not bad either, alien," a slightly "sticky" voice ca from Mammon's translator. It should be noted that without the aid of a direct chanical link, the Sky People could not directly transmit their thoughts into another's mind.
"In your civilization, a level like yours should at least rank... in the top twenty, right?"
Mammon answered Hiko's question earnestly.
His job now was to hold out until the command center's self-destruct system activated. Although he had already cast aside any thought for his own life, conserving more energy during the fight, whether to take down a few more enemies or to increase his chances of survival after the explosion, was a welco bonus.
"Top twenty!?"
This was definitely the most "sycophantic" flattery Hiko had ever heard.
From the Sky People's perspective, saying "top twenty" was not unreasonable. After all, Mammon himself was a super expert who ranked in the top five of his entire civilization. Judging the enemy by his own standards based on the scale and combat power of their fleet, "top twenty" was a fairly reliable guess.
However...
"Mr. Commander."
"Although I'm very grateful for your 'high praise'."
Hiko changed her stance, her grip on the sword becoming more aggressive.
"But at my level... adding two zeros to that number might be an exaggeration, but one zero is definitely—"
BOOM!
"—more than enough!"
Crimson flas soared, and fiery teors streaked through the air.
The greatsword carved a river-like trench in the floor. Protected by her Valkyrie armor, Hiko used her ultimate move to launch an explosive blow from behind her, charging at Mammon from a low sword stance!
This was a purely offensive posture.
While it guaranteed a 160-degree swing arc, it completely abandoned the defense of her left and upper body. For Mammon, who had fought against all sorts of civilizations, defending against such an attack was almost too easy.
A simple low slash would seal off all attack routes.
If the opponent changed her move, the initiative would fall completely into his hands. If she didn't, a follow-up launch into a mid-body slash would easily finish her. Based on the power comparison from their first exchange, his defensive counter-strategy was absolutely flawless!
The problem was...
CLANG!!!
Mammon parried the first blow as expected.
But the second blow didn't co from the sa opponent!
SQUELCH!!
His head, along with his arms.
In the blink of an eye, Mammon was sliced into chunks of at. The parts of his body not covered by armor even turned to ash and vanished in an instant.
"You... you people..."
Although one couldn't see the expression on the chunks of at.
A strong sense of unwillingness could be heard in Mammon's voice.
"Mr. Commander."
"This isn't exactly an honorable duel."
Sheathing her greatsword, Hiko walked up to Mammon, whose body was decomposing into elentary particles and rapidly dissipating.
"At least... not when they're around."
"..."
"My respects to you, Science Officer Murata."
A figure erged from the shadows, its form completely obscured by black armor and a cloak. The giant scythe in its hand flowed like water back into the shadows.
[Vanguard's Edge]
Subordinate to the Plague Legion, they were the rarest type of special combat unit, composed entirely of the purest Newborn Species and their advanced Primordial Species forms. They were masters of the Authorities of Death and Wind.
The entire unit was divided into Infiltrator, Suppressor, and Annihilator squads. The one who appeared beside Hiko was an "Annihilator," responsible for assassinating important targets of all levels.
On a side note.
As a black ops unit, they usually carried out their missions in advance and alone. "Cooperative combat" like this was not their area of expertise. "My respects to you" was their catchphrase, and it was not a complint.
In this regard.
One could only say that the composition of this cobbled-together expeditionary force was... overly complex.
"My respects to you."
"Codena..." Hiko glanced at the identification code sent by Professor Welt. "...Lady 'Shadow'."
The colleague before her was of comparable strength.
Her base power was at the Primordial Species level. By relying on her Authorities and the stealth of her special armor, she had completely forsaken defense to achieve that one-hit kill.
"We have control of all systems."
"The coordinates of the Sky People's ho world have been delivered to Commander Welt."
Beside Lady "Shadow," another mber of the Vanguard's Edge, codenad "Breaker," who seed to have split off from the shadows, slowly rose from the ground.
"According to the intelligence we just obtained, given this supre commander's style of operation, there is a seventy-four percent probability that the coordinates are a trap."
Unlike "Shadow," this "Breaker" was unusually talkative.
"To fully analyze this intelligence."
"It would take approximately one-third of an Imperial Standard Month."
"..."
"That's a bit long," Hiko said, looking at the novel yet primitive electronic equipnt around her. Outside the command center door, the battle, now in its cleanup phase, was about to end.
"Our 'vacation' is only seven days in total."
"It's better than tipping them off," a male voice rang out. At the sa ti, the two mbers of the Vanguard's Edge bowed their heads to Welt, who had appeared as a projected image.
"Professor Welt."
The communication facilities of the frontline base had been completely captured.
However, Welt did not deactivate his Collapsed State, instead maintaining his combat posture to guard against any "returning" Sky People fleets that arrived unannounced. As the final communication link with the ho world, the number of starships, large and small, traveling to and from here was by no ans small.
"The legion mbers here all ca for military honors."
"We can't just hand over our results to the liaison reinforcents when we're about to get them (calculations are more than halfway done), can we?"
That was right.
Regardless of the pretext under which they had appeared here, the public holiday leave taken by the legion mbers was, after all, only seven days. Subtracting half a day reserved for the return trip, and the waiting ti before that (while Welt and Hiko were still on Earth), the expeditionary force had to find the exact coordinates of the Sky People's ho world and attack within four days. Under a state of war, the legion mbers' public holidays would be very humanely and automatically extended.
"I agree with Science Officer Murata," General Vik said, arriving at the command center at that mont. He shot a subtle and wary glance at the Vanguard's Edge mbers beside Hiko, then picked up where she left off, adding, "This boarding action."
General Vik was a veteran, after all. His words carried so weight.
"The Helljumpers' loss rate didn't even exceed thirty percent. To just leave with our tails between our legs like this... I personally have no objection, but I'm afraid the 'lads' will get emotional."
The Helljumpers were known for their high loss rates.
Although this was their first clash with a cosmic civilization, they were still using their past experience fighting Quantum Beasts for their statistics: a battle with less than fifty percent losses was, in the eyes of a Helljumper, as if they hadn't even shown up.
"Losses?"
"Oh my~"
"Can't you subordinates be a little more considerate of our hard work?"
A sigh echoed simultaneously in everyone's minds.
"Putting a bunch of scrap tal back together... is very troubleso, you know."
"—!!"
A Void Gate opened above.
The two figures who stepped out of it made everyone instinctively straighten their bodies.
[The Sixth Fla-Chaser · Vill-V]
[The Seventh Apostle · Plague Templar]
---o---
"I'm guessing so of you are still wondering why a leader would show up here."
Vill-V's tone didn't sound very enthusiastic. General Vik, who received a casual glance from her, didn't dare to move a muscle, forcing himself to endure the "phantom sweat" trickling down his neck. Over half of the modern Imperial chanical Species' genes had been technologically modified by Vill-V, and the resurrection of chanical Species was mostly done by her hand (the other one who could do it, Xiao Zi, was "recently" not within the Empire). Thus, she held imnse influence among the chanical Species of the Empire.
"It's the Emperor's benevolence, of course~" Vill-V said with a wave of her hand as she slowly descended from the air.
"It's because more than a quarter of you guys (the Helljumpers) ran off to here that I had to co along."
Vill-V swept her gaze around the area.
"Not smart when you should be."
"But your brains sure work fast when it cos to things you shouldn't know."
While Vill-V paused, the Plague Templar's voice, with a缥缈, both near and far, sounded in everyone's minds:
"This Deimos Base can barely be considered a training exercise, a preliminary test."
"You don't have enough people to take down the Sky People's ho world. Even if you could win, you lack the numbers to occupy it."
"Moreover, there is a high probability that the Antimatter Legion has a garrison on the Sky People's ho world."
As the second object of the Plague Legion's loyalty.
This Templar Apostle did not speak much, and when he did, he mostly stated facts.
"The two of us are here, one, to save as many Imperial subjects as possible."
"And two..."
Before the Plague Templar could finish.
Spatial fluctuations, perceptible without any equipnt, appeared in waves around the Deimos Base. An entire "Standard Templar Legion's" worth of Imperial troops, along with a completely new Imperial fleet, appeared directly before their eyes.
"...to bring the reinforcents," the Plague Templar's flat voice continued without pause.
"You have already demonstrated the effectiveness of small-scale combat by Imperial troops."
"Next."
"We need to use the Sky People's ho world to verify..."
"...just what a complete legion is truly capable of."
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