185: Cosmic Beast with a Sword

"Yes. Then let it be so."

The warning to avoid touching the weapon wielded by Vilijanila had successfully reached every corner of the Fifth Prime Colony.

Even if the perpetrator and the weapon were no longer within the Fifth Prime Colony, the message would have spread throughout the entire Shibra Smith system by tomorrow.

So if we’ve received such an order, the only thing left for us to do in the Fifth Prime Colony is to head to the scene and look for any unusual artifacts…

“Wait! Vee-sama! Contact detected in the Eighth Leaf Area!”

“Dangerous! It’s swinging horizontally… going wild!?”

“Sat! Permission granted!!”

As Memokushi shouted, a holographic map of the entire Fifth Primordial Colony appeared, indicating the location where the signal was detected.

Johalis also shouted, vocalizing what the signal was doing at the scene.

Upon hearing this, Vilijanira granted me permission.

This permission meant a transfer authorization, a combat authorization—prioritizing resolving the situation over preserving evidence... more specifically, it meant I was allowed to destroy the enemy, the alien monster.

"Got it!"

Thus, I adjusted my position within the Ether Space, confirmed the target coordinates, rewrote the dummy's coordinates, and initiated the transfer.

"«««——!?»»»"

"This thing's terrible."

"……"

What met my eyes as I swiftly teleported into the air was... a panicked crowd fleeing in all directions, the floor stained crimson, and two police officers clearly suffering from mortal wounds.

Then, standing beside one of the corpses, was a man in a suit holding a long, slender blade with a single edge.

The glowing ring of Sw seemed to be malfunctioning, appearing distorted like static.

"But I don't have to hesitate!"

There's no need to doubt who the culprit is.

So, using the application of gravity control mod, I firmly step into the air, extending my flexible titanium stick to maximum speed while bringing it down.

"……"

"!?"

The man moves.

His foot appeared injured, so his turn was slow—but his arm movements were terrifyingly fast. My titanium stick was cleanly severed without any resistance, as if the blade had simply cut through it.

"Cutting through a fully titanium rod like it's nothing..."

"...?"

I stepped back from the man, then threw my titanium stick at him.

Yet even this was effortlessly severed, and deftly deflected as if accounting for inertia.

If it were just a blade with excessive sharpness, the titanium stick would have struck him directly, likely knocking out an ordinary human—but that didn't seem to be the case.

"Who the hell are you? Why are you attacking humans?"

I asked the man while buying time, carefully observing his movements.

He really looks like an ordinary office worker.

Though his suit is well-tailored, suggesting he might be someone high up in a company, I'll overlook the finer details.

His face lacks the care for grooming—stubble covers his cheeks, his cheekbones are slightly sunken, and his eyes lack vitality, appearing hollow.

His feet show signs of injury, with a small amount of blood visible.

Still, judging from the disarray of his clothing, it seems less like external trauma and more like something ruptured from within.

As for the blade itself... a white blade, a guard adorned with intricate patterns, and a hilt that feels unlike any standard system.

And a distinct aura, different from any known operating system.

Yeah, the blade is definitely the one that's an alien creature from outer space.

The man is probably just being controlled.

Still, judging by his appearance—his face and overall condition—it's doubtful he can be saved now.

"..."

"No response at all."

There was no response from the man.

Yet, whether because I was standing guard without any weapons, or perhaps because he realized I was an alien creature from space, the man showed no movement.

Well, it didn't matter.

As previously stated, I was merely buying time.

"Open fire on all sides!"

"!?"

Blaster fire was unleashed from every direction toward the man.

Police officers, soldiers nearby, and even some mercenaries.

Regardless of direction, an overwhelming barrage of blaster fire was unleashed toward the man from all sides except where I was.

The man showed a brief reaction, but in the end, he was just wielding a single blade—there was no way he could deflect the continuous, gapless blaster fire coming from multiple directions simultaneously.

The only remaining concern was whether he had a powerful shield mod, but since he was just a sword-sized space monster, his shield reached its limit in an instant and shattered, exploding straight into the man's entire body the very next moment.

"Got him!?"

As someone spoke, the smoke from the explosion cleared.

The man... well, he was reduced to splinters.

His face and limbs remain slightly, but basically he's reduced to splinters.

"Damn it."

The blade is gone.

Touching the spot where his hand must have landed on the colony's floor, he detects something akin to Ether Space—yet it's a disposable alternate dimension transfer mod, one he's now managed to analyze.

He's likely escaped.

"Vee. It's me. The main body was indeed the blade. The man who wielded it is dead, but the blade itself escaped using a space similar to Ether Space—something I can't detect. I think even Memox would understand that without me having to explain..."

"Satou. Report from Memox. We detected it moving for a few seconds away from the fifth primal colony, but the signal disappeared several kilometers beyond the colony's outer edge—unable to track it further."

"I see. Understood. I'll assist with the officers' interviews and on-site investigation, so come pick me up."

"Understood. We're on our way."

The blade-like space monster seems to have escaped after all.

But disappearance of reaction... That's troublesome.

"Ah, um, sorry. I'm a police officer from the fifth primal colony in the Syblasmiss system, responsible for maintaining order. May I ask you a few questions about your situation?"

"That's fine. However, I'm technically part of the Imperial Military's intelligence unit, so I'm not sure I can disclose everything."

For now, since we've recovered the human fragments controlled by the sword-shaped space monster, let's proceed with analyzing them and answer the police inquiries to the extent we can.