The image on the monitor in the command room was just as the Brave was about to collapse.

　Mia, who was watching the scene, her eyes widened and her breathing was erratic.

''Ki, shi--sama?''

　I couldn't understand the images in front of me.

　I feel like I'm having a bad dream.

　Mia holds her head in her hands and her hair is a mess.

'It's a lie. It's a lie. This isn't real!'

　Mia cries.

　Finn, who had been kind to her - who had protected her - had been knocked down by Aroganz.

　Mia couldn't handle that.

　The one who turns his sad eyes on Mia is Bartolt.

　He doesn't speak to Mia, but looks at the monitor.

'I told you so much not to make Mia cry--you're a stupid little boy after all.

　The subordinates around him have despairing looks on their faces.

　The strongest knight in the Empire had been defeated.

　And Arcadia's power reactor had been destroyed.

　It is nearly impossible to re-establish itself from here.

　The core of Arcadia, a magical creature, turns its bloody eyes on Bartolt after taking a glance at Mia.

''Bartolt, if we continue like this, we will be defeated.''

　Bartolt crossed his arms and did not look at the magical creature.

'No, no. We've lost.

"We will not be defeated!　I have lived my entire life dreaming of destroying all the scrap metal at the bottom of the sea and destroying the old humans!　I've endured a mind-boggling amount of time!'

　It doesn't seem to be possible for a magical creature to endure that much and the result is defeat.

　Bartolt snickers.

'Arcadia's power reactor has been destroyed. This fortress will fall soon enough.'

"Not yet!　It's not over - I will capture the magic and destroy their stronghold!　Even if the main body of Arcadia is gone, we will not be defeated!'

　The atmosphere of the demonic magical creatures takes the breath away from those around them.

　They have an attitude that they don't care what happens to the Empire if it's for the sake of their own - the newcomers' victory.

　The only thing that matters is that they have to be able to get their hands on it.

(I was a fool to believe in this guy and challenge him.)

　But I don't regret taking the fight to them.

　If he hadn't fought, someone else, not Bartolt, would have stood up and started the struggle for survival.

　The reason why Bartolt had challenged him to fight at this time was to do well, win or lose.

''What happens if we destroy the kingdom now?　Are you going to devastate the world again?

"It is better to destroy them than to be ruled by the old humans.　--Barthold, give me a hand.

　The magical creature reaches out a hand.

　The hands that came out of its body were very small, but a number of them came out and approached Bartolt.

　It slashes through them all with the sword it was holding.

''Bartolt!''

"The hero of the kingdom needs to live. If you can't beat him, you will live, and we, the people of the Empire, will live.

　If it was Rion's character that Finn had told him about, he wouldn't destroy him because he was a descendant of the newer races.

　Neither did Bartolt intend to destroy the descendants of the old humans from the beginning.

　The reason they still had to fight was because neither of them wanted to live on their shoulders.

　But if they lost, they would be convinced.

　I have no choice but to be convinced.

　If that happened, the emperor, Bartolt, would be executed.

　The entire family might be targeted.

　That's how much he was prepared to challenge them.

'The strongest knight in the Empire has been defeated. Arcadia will also sink - we have been defeated.

　I held up my sword to slay the magical creature.

　Then the magical creature opens its big mouth and smiles.

''Then I shall ask my master to do it!　Milliris, don't you want to get revenge on him?　Don't you want to kill that bastard who killed someone in your name with your own hands?

　The magical creature reached out its hand to Mia.

　The magical creature's thin, small arms wrapped around Mia as she sat on the floor.

　But it didn't touch Mia.

　It was meant to be a hostage to Bartolt.

　Bartolt lowered his sword.

'Your master is supposed to be Mia, right?

'Yes. That's why I say we fight together!　I would do this much to destroy all the filth of the old humans and other filth!''

　The magical creature, who thoroughly disliked the old humans, turned its large eyes to Mia.

　When Mia looks up, the light is lost from her eyes.

　Bartolt reaches out his hand.

''Mia!''

　Mia watched Aroganz on the monitor.

　Watching her pick up Brave's great sword, she cried out.

''Fine. If I can get my revenge on the knight-sama, I'll do whatever it takes.''

Stop!　Mia, the war is over now!

It's not over!

　Mia's face is filled with tears and anger.

''It's not over yet. I will avenge my knight-sama's death.''

'Well said!'

　The magical creature enveloped Mia, then opened its large mouth and swallowed her intact.

　Bartolt pounced on the magical creature.

'How dare you, Mia!

　But the magical creature's arm bounced off of him and blew him away.

　The magical creature fused with the floor as Bartolt's men rushed over to him.

　Veins began to float and pulse in the command room.

　Bartolt watched the scene as blood poured from his forehead.

''Mia!''

　The magical creature swells up and then cracks and Mia comes out of it.

　The creature is naked, its entire body covered in silver.

　From the navel upwards it reveals itself, and as it spreads its hands out, black sludge gathers from around it, gradually growing in size.

　Mia does not speak.

　Instead, the magical creature lets out a joyful cry.

'Good, master!　Let's annihilate the old human race together!

　Mia was taken in by a magical creature, and when she opened her eyes, her eyes were red gems.

　As it is, it breaks through the ceiling and walks out.

　Bartolt reaches out his hand.

''Miaaaa!''

◇

　The Arcadia's power reactor was destroyed.

　The members of the team boarded the Ricorne upon receiving the report, but they couldn't be happy about the scene in front of them.

　Noel is stunned.

'What does it mean? This--what's going on!

　What came out of the sinking Arcadia was a star-shaped, stinging black something, which came out of the sinking Arcadia.

　It's about twenty meters in size, but it's still taking in magical equipment and continuing to swell up.

　Creare confirmed the target at maximum telephoto.

'This--the core of Arcadia!　And Mia's been taken in!'

　Marie hugs her wand.

'Why are you being taken in, Mia?

'We won't know because we don't have any information. It's even worse than that. We've destroyed the power reactor, but there's a lot of magic in the air, and the monsters are growing.

　Everywhere they looked, they were all monsters.

　They emerged after gaining flesh and blood by the magic element, while others were attracted by the magic element and gathered from the periphery of the battlefield.

　Creare analyzes the enemies from the data.

'This is not good. It's a very bad situation. That thing is strong no matter what you think.''

　Noel asks right back.

'How much?

''--the Arcadia's main gun, several shots in a row.

How can you be so strong?

　Earlier, it had taken him a while to fire the main gun.

　And yet, he can't be convinced that the power reactor will be destroyed and become stronger.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this.

You're going to be able to find out if you're a good candidate for the job. I was increasing the magic element based on that, but I took it in because it went outside.''

　Marie looks down.

'I thought it was over.'

　Noel is also standing around.

　It was too foul to be stronger than Arcadia.

　We've lost all of the spaceship's defensive ships in the battle so far, and many of the spaceships themselves have been dropped.

　More than half of the kingdom's army has also been lost.

　The magic creature - the Arcadia Core - is absorbing the magic element.

　If this is the case, when they finish capturing the magic element, they will be untouchable.

''--No, we can't defeat the Arcadia Core in any pattern!

　According to Creare's calculations, it was impossible to defeat the Arcadia Core with its current strength.

　The monsters are gathering around Ricornu as well, and his allies are desperately resisting, but there are too many of them to deal with.

　Angier grits his back teeth.

'Is there anything we can do? Something--Libya?'

　Livia, who had been supporting her, stood firmly with her legs spread shoulder-width apart.

　She was sweating and looking forward with a pained expression.

'Angel--Lend me your strength.

Me?　I can lend you as much as you want, but what are you going to do?

　Livia squeezed Angel's hand tightly.

'If it's a monster, I've blown it up with my powers.

　Angel remembers his freshman year.

　'I once blew up a monster that was called a super-sized monster with the power of Libya.

'The one you showed in the fight against the Principality?　Can you do it?

　Angier turns his gaze to Clairvoyant.

''--I can do it, but it's quite a burden. It's not just Livia-chan. It'll be a big burden on Angier-chan as well.''

　Angel smiles.

'I don't care,'

　A number of images were projected around Creare, and they were all numbers.

''-- I'll leave the Holy Tree's energy to Livia-chan. I'll blow up a wide area of monsters, but it'll take some time. Also, unlike before, I'm doing some maintenance, so I don't know what will happen if Livia-chan gets serious.''

　It was different in scale from before.

　Its performance is different from the royal ship, and the energy of the Holy Tree has been added to it.

　Creare couldn't even predict what the outcome would be.

''Please. I want to help Rion-san with our power.''

　As Livia begins to glow faintly, Angel hugs her gently.

'I'll give you a hand too.' --Livia, do it.

　Ricornu was beginning to shine, too.

　Creare will provide support.

'I don't know what's going on. --Just give me three minutes of your time. I'll support you as much as I can, but that's all I need.'

　If you look outside, monsters are rushing in on such Ricorne.

◇

Master, we are in grave danger.

　While it was hard to breathe, the one who came out was Mia, who had the look of a raspy boss.

　With a silver surface and red jewels in her eyes, her figure is naked.

　I make a lighthearted remark as best I can.

'Mia-chan, if you expose too much skin--Fin will be sad.

　Mia reacts as she coughs and spits out blood.

'Keep killing my knight-sama!

　The black stinging mass would fire its spines at them.

　Due to Luxion's autopilot, Aroganz managed to avoid it.

''Master, we are currently unable to provide satisfactory support. I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this. I advise you to retreat.''

You won't let me go.

　He grabbed the control stick, but his hand didn't have the strength to hold it.

'Yeah, that one.' -- I knew you were right to leave your trump card.

　As I muttered that, Luxion shouted at me.

''Master!''

You don't have a choice.

　Mia, who couldn't move yet, was being advised by her fused counterpart - Arcadia's core.

'Master. Aim well!　This is the man who killed the man you loved!

　What a disgusting feeling for the magical creatures that are agitating Mia.

　You say you don't like Brave either.

　The top of the deck is becoming covered in thorns.

　Aroganz runs around in the midst of it, but he slowly loses his escape and gets a direct hit.

　His right arm was sewn to the floor.

'Purge your right arm!

Allogants look a little ragged.

　My eyes are getting blurry.

　I'm going to give Luxion an order before I can't move.

　I knew Luxion would probably disagree - but this is the only way.

"Luxion--this is the last dose.

"--!

　But before the medication was administered, Mia was acting strangely.

　The magical creature begins to panic.

''Master!　That white ship is dangerous. Destroy it first.

　Mia's gaze turned to Ricorne.

''--The ship?''

No, stop!

　Seeing my panicked appearance, Mia seemed to have guessed.

''Your significant other is on board, isn't he?　Then I'll make you feel the same way.

　Mia was about to launch an attack towards Ricorne.

''Well, wait!''

　I try to stop it, but with my body right now, I couldn't even move properly.

　Mia looks down at me and says.

'There, you're watching someone you care about die. Just like me!''

◇

　Ricorne was in danger as he was being attacked by the monsters.

　Noel raised the back of his right hand in readiness.

''I won't let them!''

　On the back of his right hand, the priestess's crest, approved by the Holy Tree, shines.

　When the priestess's crest appeared directly above Ricornu, a number of green, shining magic circles appeared.

　From there, tree roots and other sharp leaves were scattered to the surrounding monsters.

　They pierced and broke through, turning the monsters into black smoke.

　The emblem of Noel was protecting Ricorne.

　Humelia hugged the young tree of the Holy Tree.

'Please. Give me strength.''

　When I asked for help, the holy tree made a noise as it shook its leaves without a breeze.

　As the holy tree glows a pale green color, Noel's crest also shines strongly.

　Creare tells me that the power output has increased.

''Increased power output!　Just hold on for three more minutes!

　Noel looks distressed.

　He managed to keep the monsters away from him, but there were too many of them to judge.

''-- Maybe it's too tight for the quicksand.

　As he muttered this, a Republic airship approached next to Ricorne.

　Noel immediately noticed it.

''Lelia!''

　Shining just above the Republic airship was the emblem of a priestess with a slightly different design than Noel's.

　A magic circle had appeared, and she was dealing with the monsters around her to protect Ricornu.

　Lelia's face can be seen on the monitor.

''Sis, we can handle it, right?　It's going to be!　I'll give you a hand because the round one said so, but you really need to do something about it!'

　Lelia was crying her head off.

　Apparently, the spherical artificial intelligence that had been deployed for communication purposes was explaining the current situation.

　Red armor flew out of the airship.

"Sister!　I'll protect you!

　It was Eryk who came sailing out in red armor.

　He made the emblem approved by the Holy Tree appear and defeated the monsters.

　Creare told him how much time he had left.

''Two minutes left!

　With the help of Lelia and the others, they seemed to be able to get through it somehow, but there was movement in the Arcadia Core.

　Rion is fighting with Arcadia's deck, and he seems to have changed his target to Ricorne.

　Creare swears.

''He's decided it's more dangerous over here!

　The Arcadia Core launches an attack on Ricornu.

　Then - the fact that Fact and the other spaceships get in front of Ricornu.

　Marie is surprised.

'Oh, you guys.'

　Under the attack of the Arcadia Core, Fact and the other spaceships explode and fall one by one, unable to withstand the attack.

　Fact's figure is projected on the monitor.

The fact is that the Arcadia Core's attack on the spaceships was unsuccessful. We are revising your assessment upwards.

　I wonder what he's going to say, and then he says something about evaluation.

　Cleare gets mad at me for thinking about the situation.

'What the hell is the matter with you?

"Because of times like these. We fought for what we were fighting for. I see that now.

　The last remaining Facto also explodes, each part of him exploding under the concentrated attacks of the monsters and Arcadia.

　The fact says at the end.

'Waking up in this era--I'm sure--luck--life.'

　That's where the communication breaks down.

　And then Creare quietly announces.

''--they did their job well at the end. Livia, whenever you're ready.'

　Livia shines, and her hair shakes as if the wind is blowing from below.

　Libya's eyes glow as she slowly opens them.

''--Yes.''