"..."
Seeing the small spacecraft descend, Ariel became extremely wary.
She instinctively assumed a combat stance and went on guard alongside the puppet spiders beside her.
Her gaze continually moved across the Trailblaze team, lingering especially on Jibril. She stared at the Flügel for a long while, scrutinizing her from head to toe.
"Invaders, you took away my children."
Snap!—
With a sweep of her hand, dozens of complex magic circles appeared behind her, unleashing a storm of dark-energy projectiles that blotted out the sky.
"Aaaaaah—"
Spider covered her head and fled in panic.
You want me to deal with her?!
How could I possibly defeat an enemy like that?! Her attributes are already close to the upper limit, aren't they?!
You've got to be kidding me! She's the Demon Lord! Wait, doesn't that mean the Origin Taratect is technically my grandmother?!
I'm finished!!—
Rumble!!!—
The energy shield blocked her attack.
As the smoke and dust dispersed, Schwi hovered in midair. Three pairs of metallic, wing-like armaments unfolded beside her, while countless holographic interfaces appeared before her.
Dense and complicated streams of data flashed past her eyes. Using computation as a medium, she constructed countless physical weapons.
[False Epigraphy: Klein Field]
"Schwi, calm her down."
Jibril waved to Schwi.
"It can't be helped. Ariel is rather agitated right now. We'll probably have to beat her up before she'll sit down and talk properly."
"Don't go too far. The Commander still wants us to recruit her."
"Understood."
Several lines of code flashed through Schwi's eyes.
"Confirmed. Initiating nonlethal attack against the target."
"Whoa!—" Spider, Silver Wolf, and the others were seeing Schwi fight for the first time.
"Wait, is she a robot? Something like an Angeloid?"
She looks so young. Is she really going to be all right? That's a Demon Lord over level one hundred!
Maybe we should all attack together. I don't think Grandma would mind if we overwhelmed her with numbers...
"No, no! In a situation like this, protecting ourselves is obviously more important, isn't it?!"
All sorts of strange thoughts ran through Spider's mind, as well as those of the three department heads. She had not yet completed her evolution and felt an instinctive racial fear toward Ariel.
She shrank backward, frowned, and pulled Jibril in front of herself as a shield.
"..."
Ariel stared at Schwi with faint puzzlement, but said nothing more.
Boom!—
A sonic boom exploded across the ground as she launched a surprise attack on Schwi at a speed nearly impossible for the naked eye to follow.
The battle erupted in an instant, while Wakaba Hiiro aboard the Astral Express immediately picked up a bucket of popcorn.
"She is the oldest divine beast, having existed even before the System was established. Aside from the gods, she is also the strongest being in this world."
"Are you sure those young girls you sent out will be all right?"
"Hm?"
Setsuna took a sip of tea.
"I'm more worried that Schwi might accidentally use a dangerous weapon. Reviving Ariel and repairing the planet afterward would be rather troublesome."
"Eh?"
Rumble!—
Ariel launched several consecutive waves of attacks, combining martial arts with dark magic and bombarding the Ex-Machina without pause.
[Lösen: Imperial Armament Database]
Schwi opened her hand and connected to the Starsea Empire's central database.
With her computational power running at full capacity, she could casually construct any skill or weapon previously recorded in the database as simulated data.
Even shortly after completing her modifications, Schwi had already been able to casually beat Jibril into the ground. Now, she had grown even more proficient at using the system.
[False Epigraphy: Excalibur]
Rumble!!—
A radiant golden sword formed in her right hand. She slashed downward, unleashing an enormous torrent of magical energy.
Boom!!—
Rampaging energy scattered in every direction, flattening the ground within several kilometers as a massive golden cross blossomed in the sky.
"Hmph!!!"
Ariel dodged the strike and flashed directly in front of Schwi.
Her next blow was about to land on the seemingly frail little girl.
Snap!
Schwi projected an antique pistol in her left hand, while an enormous clock appeared behind her.
[False Epigraphy: Zayin]
[False Epigraphy: Aleph]
Bang, bang!
One shot struck herself to accelerate her time, while the other struck her enemy to stop theirs.
The Demon Lord froze in midair for a brief moment.
"Time-space magic? No, that's Kurumi Tokisaki's ability..."
Himeko and the others watched in utter astonishment.
Crack!
The time-stop effect did not restrain Ariel for long. The instant she recovered from her daze, she saw that Schwi had already widened the distance between them and projected a massive purple bow into her hands.
She nocked an arrow and aimed at Ariel.
[False Epigraphy: Apollon]
Rumble!—
The arrow pierced straight through her chest.
Ikaros' ultimate weapon unleashed a violent energy storm, causing even the entire continent to tremble.
Had its power not been deliberately reduced, it would have been sufficient to pierce the entire planet.
"Urgh..."
Ariel clutched her wound and glared furiously at the mechanical angel in the sky. Drawing a deep breath, she unleashed an even more powerful torrent of purple magic toward her.
Demon Lord-class magical power gathered into a single stream, carrying a terrifying might that made the heart tremble.
"Luminosité Eternelle."
Schwi recited an unfamiliar French phrase.
[False Epigraphy: God Is Here With Me]
[False Epigraphy: Ship Hull Construction]
Rustle!
She projected a fleur-de-lis banner in one hand, spun it once, and planted it before herself, surrounding her body with a protective barrier.
A vast array of weapons unfolded beside her with a series of mechanical clicks, resembling a ship's rigging.
Bang bang bang bang bang bang—
Metallic streams from kinetic weapons and beams from high-energy weapons rained down together in a concentrated bombardment.
Boom—
The ground that had only just been flattened was instantly riddled with craters.
Before the puppet spiders could even counterattack, they were torn to pieces by the firestorm autocannons.
The magical shield and barrier Ariel had raised were shattered by the kinetic weapons in an instant.
She could neither see through nor predict which weapon or spell Schwi would use next.
Her opponent could construct the skills of nearly anyone in the Starsea Empire from data. Even if the replicas were weaker than the originals, their sheer variety more than compensated for it.
Sometimes she used Elf magic, sometimes the weapons of Heroic Spirits, and sometimes she directly projected technological creations.
So long as the right skill was used at the right moment, it could produce an astonishing effect.
"Confirmed. Target's health has fallen to the designated threshold. Initiating capture."
The next moment...
Schwi raised her head. The surrounding space distorted once again as Honkai energy dispersed in every direction.
[False Epigraphy: Subspace Lance]
Bangbangbang!—
Six Subspace Lances formed from Honkai energy pinned Ariel in place, leaving her unable to move.
[False Epigraphy: Taixuan Eminence]
Schwi constructed a Xuanyuan Sword and recited the mnemonic chant.
Orange-red clouds spread across the sky, gathering overhead into an enormous golden sword that descended directly upon Ariel.
Sword energy filled every inch of space. There was nowhere to hide and no possibility of escape.
Although its power was far inferior to the original technique wielded by Jingwei, the precision of the False Epigraphy system still reproduced more than half of its divine essence.
Rumble!!—
The Taixuan Eminence's effectiveness against individuals did not merely target the body, but the mind as well.
Ariel had no opportunity to fight back. She only felt an immense surge of energy simultaneously invade her body and mind.
Scenes began flashing before her eyes like a revolving lantern.
Then her vision went black, and she lost consciousness on the spot.
"Wait, I haven't..."
...
Half an hour later.
Inside the starship's bridge...
"Hello? Hello? Wake up?"
"She took quite a beating. She isn't dead, but I doubt she'll wake up anytime soon..."
"Does anyone have a healing potion? Pour a couple down her throat."
The miniature Herta puppet pried open the unconscious Ariel's mouth, pulled out several bottles of mysterious red liquid, and poured them into her.
"Uh, these are specialties from Overlord. They're used to restore health and have some medicinal effect. Both worlds are built around games and systems anyway, so we might as well try them."
"Mm..."
Spider examined Ariel's status.
[Origin Taratect Ariel (LV139)]
[HP: 3,566/90,098+330 MP: 83,221/87,665 SP: 83,225/89,862]
[Average Offensive Ability: 3,921]
[Average Defensive Ability: 5,997]
[Average Speed Ability: 6,504]
[Average Magical Ability: 21,518]
Under Schwi's relentless barrage, Ariel had barely managed to use any of her own attacks before her health bar was nearly emptied.
Her various attributes had also plummeted due to the severe damage to her body, leaving them even lower than Spider's current values.
Fortunately, Schwi's control over damage was extremely precise. After the potion was poured into her, Ariel's own skills began rapidly restoring her condition as well.
"Schwi, are you really that strong?"
Silver Wolf and Spider stared at the little Ex-Machina as though they had seen a ghost.
They had originally assumed she was merely an enhanced Angeloid. Instead, Schwi could casually deploy all manner of skills. Fighting her was equivalent to facing every team in the Starsea Empire at once.
"Schwi is a prototype equipped with the Imperial Armament Database and False Epigraphy module. In total, Schwi can use 360,000 skills and weapons stored by the Starsea Empire."
"Schwi's processor was also specially constructed by the Commander."
Schwi answered.
"Hiss—"
Silver Wolf decided that once they returned, she would ask the Engineering Department for a False Epigraphy device to play with.
Even if an ordinary person's computational power could not compare to that of an Ex-Machina, they could probably still use a considerable number of skills.
"Mm..."
While everyone was talking, Ariel slowly regained consciousness.
Supporting her forehead with one hand, she groaned softly several times before gradually opening her eyes.
The first thing she saw was the group of Angeloids surrounding her to monitor her condition.
Distant memories in her mind abruptly overlapped with the figures before her.
"!!!"
Ignoring her weakened body, as well as Herta, Silver Wolf, and Jibril beside her, she rolled over and seized the nearest Angeloid.
"Sariel?!!"
"Is that you?!"
"You are... No, wait. Do you know Sariel?!!"
—
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