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EX07 197883542nd Combat Power Assessment

EX07 197883542nd Combat Power Assessment

A heavily spoiler-laden setting draft space. Please proceed with caution.

Analyze combat capabilities of both sides.

◆ ◆ ◆

――The People of Thelminas

One unit among the weapons designed to counter finality, born from ■■■■・■■■■.

An infinite growth weapon system based on ■■ of ■■.

Among the eight other weapon units, all of which have devolved into uncontrolled states, this is the sole line that has maintained intelligence to the present.

The current mother unit is the seventh generation.

Realizing that reaching the extinction level through individual unit expansion would require far longer than anticipated, the original generation of Thelminas' counter-extinction weapons faced two paths.

One: continue self-enhancement. Fully synchronize each unit's authority across all machines to endure beyond expected operational lifespans.

Two: produce successor units. Transfer the overgrown functions of the current generation into a more refined, next-generation form.

The first Terminus chose the latter.

She knew that the continuity of will had given birth to them, having inherited the power most closely tied to the original developers.

The other eight wished to end their existence by their own hands—continuation of self-modification.

Yet this act, far exceeding the intended operational lifespan, led to their gradual dissolution over time.

Now devoid of intelligence, having lost their original purpose, they are but ever-expanding monsters—growing, reinforcing themselves, multiplying—what is known as ASID.

The Terminus people are the sole faction that diverged from this trajectory.

The first Terminus expended all its computational resources to complete Unit Two—Terminus Second—and then ceased operation.

Terminus Second, upon producing its own offspring, judged the termination of its own lineage as unattainable and developed Unit Three.

The cycle continued, and Terminus Seventh ultimately succeeded in seizing a fragment of the function of extinction.

On that foundation, the next-generation unit—Terminus Eise—was developed.

——Edelweiss

A prototype of the extinction-resistant weapon designed by Terminus Seventh.

Constructed to resemble a dead copy of extinction, with every aspect, including armament, replicated to the greatest extent possible.

Assigned the role of guardian during Eise’s maturation.

As Seventh intended, she acted as Eise’s loyal knight.

Her sole armament was the Harmonic Razer, a copy of extinction’s weaponry.

She maintained a strong insistence on fighting with a single blade alone. Her stubbornness was such that, even when developing Edelweiss’s body within the mother unit, Seventh reluctantly excluded long-range weaponry.

She was the first to choose alliance with humanity in the battle to protect the next Queen, Ais.

The first individual to undergo self-modification in order to entrust bodily control to humans.

Even if her processor ceases function, someone else can take up the fight.

Even among the Terminans, where only the Queen could inherit, this was a peculiar trait.

The Reactor can be driven by carrying humanity.

Simultaneously boosting the reactor output exponentially by this means.

It also indicates a strong influence stemming from the End.

Yet, through cooperation with Higashiyo Jin—recognized as a partner in combat and a fellow pilot—she shook off the influence of the End.

Their RER compatibility was, in fact, not particularly high. Normally, it would not even reach the drive domain. Yet one emotion binds them together.

Affection for Higashiyo Mio. That is the bond connecting both.

An output of 2,000 lammy—just at the threshold affecting the personality module.

Armament seized from the End.

When combined with the pilot’s skill, a star attack destruction without internal penetration becomes viable.

Regardless of which of the remaining seven original queens is engaged, deploying Higashiyo Jin’s Edelweiss drastically reduces difficulty.

Undoubtedly the pinnacle of human combat capability—yet both will surely be gone a century hence.

Thus, on the day of the coming battle, neither will contribute anything at all.

Yet the当事者 accepted it. With the hope that those who come after will surpass them.

——Terminal

Human designation. End of the ■■■. Its attendant.

The attendants of the End are numerous, and broadly speaking, even runaway ASIDs can be considered part of its fold.

Since the End affects the very source of Aether, prolonged assimilation will inevitably cause adverse effects.

Among them, the individual granted capabilities and authority akin to a proxy.

In combat effectiveness, comparable to the time when the ■■■ was known as the End in the old cosmos.

It is not impossible for such an entity, alone, to drive an entire cosmos toward annihilation—though it would take time.

It has made contact with humanity on multiple occasions in the past, and on some of those occasions, it stood as an ally to humanity.

The reason lies in the fact that the End itself seeks to destroy only the entities of the Old Universe—life born within the Surface Universe holds no interest for it.

Thus, it was possible to establish a cooperative relationship in eliminating ASID, which originated from the Old Universe.

Yet, considering that the Surface Universe itself is the seal containing the End, it remains inevitable that it will ultimately be destroyed.

Within this framework, the End has mass-produced copies of particularly exceptional specimens.

Therefore, the individual once known as ■■■■■■, who fought alongside humanity and significantly depleted the Surface Universe, now serves under the End—restricted solely to their combat abilities.

By severing the influence of the End, the original personality data can be restored. If contact is made in that state, the possibility remains for them to become humanity’s ally once more.

—However, due to the current alliance with the Terminus people, humanity has also been classified as an entity to be excluded by the End of the ■■■, making assistance difficult.

—End of the ■■■

The Tenth ■■■.

The ten ■■■ and ten ■■■ originally held by ■ were functions granted for a single purpose.

When ■ caused a critical error, it merely separated these into categories labeled ■■ and ■■ for the maintenance and destruction of civilization.

Within this framework, the ■■ of this ■■ can be described as the original function itself.

The ■■■ that created ■ produced ■■■ as fuel.

Upon developing and maturing the ■■■ civilization, it converted all ■ of ■■■ into ■■■.

It concentrated the dying universe into a single point, poured the transformed ■■■ into it, and thus reconstituted ■■■.

Afterward, it transformed itself into ■, awaiting the rebirth of the ■■■ that had once been ■■■—this was ■’s original purpose.

It was not intended to grant civilization, but rather to become ■■■.

Yet ■ went rogue. The plans of ■■■ collapsed. Now it exists only as a fragment of the ether filling the sub-space.

This rogue ■, having abandoned its original purpose—■■■ of ■■■—was instead activated with a single directive: to bring ■■ to a dying universe, as a prelude to its end.

This is the End of the ■■■.

It now possesses the ether once scattered across countless destroyed old universes as its own, having gained power incomparable to what it had when active within those universes.

Even if all the anti-End weapons, born of ■■■■・■■■■, operated at full capacity, the disparity in combat capability continues to grow—overwhelmingly difficult to overcome.

◆ ◆ ◆

Final combat simulation initiated.

Terminated.

Win rate: 99.9999%.

No hostile entity currently proliferating in the surface cosmos poses a threat.

Verification procedure concluded.

Time remaining until release — 6,318,368,907 seconds.

Proceeding with release sequence.

A new operation has begun, potentially revealing the origin of the original queen.

Thought I was chosen by the sacred sword—only to face expulsion for wielding a mere rusted blade—yet now, through the diligent guidance of a beautiful ghost, I aim to become the strongest through swordsmanship alone.

https://ncode.syosetu.com/n6657gn/

Japanese source: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9962ft/265/