26 Companions Seven

When Harold received the report that the cyborg squad had been destroyed.

He closed his eyes quietly.

For these past ten years, those who had devoted themselves solely to the plan.

Some may have survived, but not enough to count on.

Among them was Grace—someone akin to his own right arm.

"Do not worry, Paul. Your wishes are etched into my mind without omission. The contract will be fulfilled. Without fail."

He intended to exert his utmost effort to fulfill those wishes.

But there was another matter entirely. If what he had seen that day appeared here, he would abandon even Litera in pursuit of its capture.

The Antares had been constructed to subdue it.

One of the two internal walls had been breached. The fleet's anti-aircraft defenses remained, but they were partially nonfunctional after the asteroid attack moments ago.

Half of the automated intercept satellites, Umbrella II, had been shot down.

The defensive capacity of the Harold Fleet could now be said to have been reduced by more than half.

But—

"This time you've bought us? It wasn't wasted."

The final stage of the Laitera construction was complete.

Only one thing remained: pouring in the Ether and sending the information back to the past.

"Then, Mio Higashi. Confirmation. I will fulfill your wish. I will add a condition to the data sent to your past self: ensure that Kusunoki Rei does not die."

"Please."

Jin has arrived.

Mio fell even further into silence upon realizing it.

She knows. He will not give up.

So, she must make him give up.

No discussion. Change the present now.

Because that is what happiness must be for Jin.

"Activating the reactor."

The reactor—likely the largest in existence—seized from the super-sized species known as Stalt.

If this does not reach its target, Harold’s theory will remain nothing more than theory.

Mio entrusts her physical form to her core body.

A sensation of envelopment, as her perception spreads outward.

The missing piece fills. The satisfaction is unparalleled pleasure.

Within the lithe structure of the reactor, a throne-like seat exists.

Mio positions herself upon it.

Deep within—she reaches toward the power once held by the original Queen.

Forces her connection, making herself appear as a part of the reactor.

The process takes only seconds.

"Reactor activation."

The reactor emits a low hum, beginning the refinement of ether.

A faint glow leaks out, softly illuminating the apparatus.

Harold smiles, as the lithe structure greedily consumes the ever-increasing flow of ether.

"Ah... it's moving. My Litela."

A colossal structure built solely to transmit information in the past was consuming an immense flow of ether, striving to fulfill its purpose.

The sight was terrifying, yet reassuring.

It should function exactly as theory predicted.

But time was still needed for the reactor's output to reach maximum.

Even an ether reactor cannot shift abruptly into top gear.

"Shōgō Mio. How much longer?"

"...Probably another fifteen minutes."

At the same moment, the ship vibrated.

Harold took the communicator with a reluctant expression, as if impatiently urged.

"What is it?"

『Enemy assault frame unit and humanoid ASID forces have breached the assault frame launch hatch! They're advancing toward the habitation section! We can't stop them!』

"Seal all adjacent compartments completely. Use hardened warheads to block them shut. That should buy us some time."

"Y-yes, but that only buys us so much—"

"I'll make up the rest. Move quickly."

He issued the order in a clipped tone, shrugging his shoulders with reluctant effort. Not that it mattered to Mio, but something about it felt off.

"A crude interruption at the moment of achieving this century’s great endeavor."

"...Buying time. Going out?"

"No. No need to move Antares. Words alone will suffice."

Mio lowered her head, careful not to be noticed.

If Harold were to leave this place, she would have ample time to send a warning to the past.

She reconsidered.

It was always meant to be a race—whichever came first.

And as long as Mio remained connected to the Reactor, Laitera remained under her control.

Harold could not send information first.

He could not send it at all.

“…Well then, shall I show you I’ve earned five minutes, as promised?”

Harold smiled with cold triumph, reaching for the communicator.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Instructor!”

“I’m alive.”

Jin answered briefly.

He crushed one Reactor instantly, redirecting all defense to the remaining unit.

Given that the Gryphon’s detonation dispersed without direction, it was inevitable that a reinforced twin-model could not be destroyed.

Yet Grace’s detonation struck Jin not in physical form, but in spirit.

“To reclaim the one you love… even if it means sacrificing countless others—don’t tell me you never considered it!”

He had considered it, countless times. Only because the scales balanced equally did Jin stand here now.

Otherwise—by now, he would have stood on the other side.

Let's go. The enemy's defense has collapsed.

He continued to avoid looking at that truth.

Despite the opponent's resolve, Jin's heart still felt uncertain.

With Yuriya and Unicorn's sniping as backdrop, Jin and the others pressed through the enemy's defensive perimeter.

'Ah. The asteroid from earlier proved useful in this situation after all.'

'Fragments that collided with enemy ships drift around here. I expected them to serve as shields if needed.'

Most of them continued drifting backward along their initial acceleration vectors.

But fragments shattered, their momentum altered, struck the ships, lost further velocity, and formed a small debris field in this region.

In the distant future, they may coalesce into another asteroid... but that is a future too far to matter.

For now, they served as Jin's shield.

Reduction in anti-air weaponry, destroyed by the fragments.

They lacked the firepower to pierce through the debris field entirely.

Jin’s plan had accounted for the destruction of the satellite weapons and the subsequent penetration.

—Naturally, it was a strategy that would leave them stranded unless they possessed the skill to easily breach the debris field.

No reinforcements beyond the current members were possible.

Unfortunately, the forces engaged with the captured units could not be relied upon.

At first, he had wanted to leave everything to others, but now found irony in his own position at the forefront.

Yet even this decision had only come after being prompted by someone else.

He began to wonder if, in the end, he was incapable of making important choices for himself.

“—! High-output reactor reaction. This is…!”

Communication interference worsened.

The output surged sharply. The reaction felt directly from the Lombardia-class vessel now directly before them.

Waveform pattern match… shit, Instructor. Matching the unique signature of a super-large entity!

Only my furnace. If she’s activating it… output will increase further.

Mio initiated the Stalwart’s reactor.

No time to spare.

Don’t fire, she glared at the rear.

This communication blackout. The position of our allies.

Deliberately, Jin positioned them along the line connecting the Harold Fleet’s Lombardia-class and the Third Fleet.

A threat—using their own body as shield. Fire, and you lose precious assets like us.

If ignored, there would be nothing left to do. Yet Jin vastly overestimated his own worth.

Now it was up to command.

Bet on us.

Or prepare for full-scale war with the Terminus people—this time for real.

No gunfire came from behind.

“Edelweiss! The hatch there!”

Assault Frame’s catapult.

The black knight guarding the child points to the hatch leading to the hangar beyond. Her Long Sword flashes free from its sheath.

‘Entrusted by Her Majesty, this blade. Observe closely!’

Still in a high guard stance, she accelerates further and charges straight at one hatch.

The blade begins to vibrate.

The tremor escalates instantly, shaking even space itself.

Edelweiss carries forth a storm that could wound her own body, and reveals her concealed name.

‘Behold! This is the end of imitation—Harmonic Razer!’

She brings the blade down in an instant, just before the blade shatters.

Everything along the slash line vanishes.

The vibrational wave propagating through space reduces it to nothing—no trace remains.

A blow that leaves not even dust behind.

Jin trembles at the thought of having torn through a battleship’s armor as easily as paper.

When facing off, she had not yet revealed such power.

An assault frame struck by that would leave not even fragments behind.

Still in mid-recoil, Edelweiss speaks.

‘Stay still for now. Go ahead.’

That last move had clearly been her final reserve.

Even she, whose ether output was immense, appeared utterly drained—unable to move immediately.

‘When you can move, follow me! I’m counting on you!’

There is no time to wait for her return.

Jin and the others press forward first.

In the hangar, maintenance crew in standard suits flee, gasping for air.

The internal structure of the Lombardia-class is uniform.

Reactor reaction is in the habitation zone. The path to it is already inside Jin’s mind.

As they advance through the maintenance shaft, bulkheads seal one after another.

“Get out of the way!”

Using the ether dagger, Jin breaches the bulkhead.

Pressing the blade against the armor, he melts it through.

It takes roughly one minute to break through a single bulkhead.

How many more must they destroy? How much time remains?

Jin and the others press forward, urgency in their steps.