[ February 13th, 2088 (Thursday, Evening) ] - [ The Witch's Pocket Dimension(?) > BDV Iron Convoy #015 (Cargo Ship) > North-East Pacific Ocean > Earth ]
-
The Sea Witch's pocket dimension had become a battlefield worthy of a nightmare.
The once tranquil tropical beach was gone.
Black storm clouds churned overhead.
Thunder rolled across a sky that no longer belonged to reality.
The ocean itself had become Amaryllis's weapon.
Towering pillars of seawater erupted from the sea like living serpents, twisting around monstrous coral-covered tentacles that lashed through the air with enough force to split cliffs apart. Every strike tore through the beach, carving trenches into the white sand as walls of seawater exploded skyward.
Hovering high above the chaos—
Niero shot across the heavens like a crimson comet.
His newly awakened Astra Kavacha MK-01 gleamed beneath flashes of lightning, its sleek black armor outlined by streams of blue-white plasma. Behind the smooth faceless visor, his crimson hair danced wildly in the storm winds as blazing Nova-Spark energy trailed behind him.
He banked sharply.
A building-sized tentacle crashed through the space where he had been less than a heartbeat earlier.
BOOOOM!!
The impact blasted a tidal wave into the air.
"Too slow!"
Niero twisted his body mid-flight.
Nova-Spark energy surged through his right arm.
At the same time, scarlet spiritual flames flowed over his gauntlet as Spirit Manifestation Constructs (Tier 01) reinforced both his body and weaponized his strike.
His fist met the incoming tentacle.
CRAAACK!!
The impact echoed like artillery.
The enormous limb burst apart into a storm of shredded flesh, coral fragments, and black blood that rained across the beach.
The remaining tentacles barely paused.
They attacked from every direction.
Left.
Right.
Above.
Below.
Water spears.
Coral spikes.
Entire pillars of seawater trying to crush him beneath overwhelming mass.
Niero accelerated again.
To Amaryllis, it was as though a bolt of living lightning was weaving through her attacks.
He slipped between one water pillar—
Rolled over another—
Then punched straight through a third.
The Nova-Spark explosion detonated from inside the column, vaporizing thousands of tons of seawater into blinding steam.
The shockwave rippled across the entire pocket ocean.
"RRRAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!"
Amaryllis screamed in maddened fury.
Every severed tentacle regenerated as new ones erupted from her grotesquely mutated body.
"She really doesn't know when to quit..."
Niero clicked his tongue.
"Fine."
"If punching isn't enough..."
"...let's test something else."
His eyes narrowed.
He extended one hand.
Invisible force gathered around him.
〈Psychokinetic Skill: Ghost Blade〉
Dozens—
Then hundreds—
of invisible psychic blades materialized around his body.
With a flick of his wrist—
They fired.
The air itself screamed.
The unseen blades sliced through the battlefield like a storm of invisible guillotines.
SHKKK!
SHKKK!
SHKKK!
Smaller tentacles were severed instantly, tumbling from the sky before crashing into the sea below.
The larger ones—
...were another story.
The psychic blades carved deep into the thicker limbs, opening long gashes through flesh and coral, but they stopped roughly halfway before losing momentum.
The massive tentacles continued writhing despite the wounds.
Niero frowned.
"...Tch."
He clicked his tongue in disappointment.
"So Ghost Blade doesn't have enough output against monsters this big."
Another volley of psychic blades carved apart a swarm of smaller coral appendages rushing toward him.
"Still..."
A faint grin spread across his face.
"It'll be perfect for clearing fodder."
Below him, the ocean erupted once more.
Amaryllis unleashed another forest of titanic tentacles, their shadows swallowing the storm-lit sky.
Niero inhaled slowly.
Nova-Spark energy surged around his body once again.
He then rocketed forward through the storm.
The beach beneath him shattered with every sonic boom.
Water pillars lashed upward.
Tentacles whipped through the sky.
Coral spears rained like artillery.
Yet to Niero—
everything had slowed.
Not because the world itself had become slower.
He had simply become that much faster.
Each attack entered his perception like droplets suspended in glass.
He slipped between them.
A slight tilt of his shoulders.
A twist of his hips.
A burst of crimson-and-cyan Nova-Spark from his boots.
Every dodge carried him closer.
Until—
He was directly in front of her.
Amaryllis' abyssal eye widened.
Too close.
Niero drew back his right fist.
Crimson Supernova energy surged around his arm.
Blue-white Nova-Spark lightning erupted across his forearm.
Then scarlet spiritual flames ignited over the entire limb as Spirit Manifestation Constructs reinforced every muscle, tendon, and bone.
Three different energies spiraled together.
Red.
Cyan.
Pink.
The mixture compressed into a single incandescent point around his fist.
The surrounding air distorted.
Even the rain evaporated before touching it.
"...Got you."
He threw the punch.
BOOOOOOOM!!
The impact should have shattered her chest.
Instead—
BWOOOOONG!!
A circular ripple burst outward.
Like striking the surface of an invisible ocean.
The blazing fist stopped barely centimeters from her body.
A translucent barrier shimmered into existence.
Not glass.
Not mana.
Not Dark Script.
It resembled an immense sphere of liquid reality surrounding her.
Concentric waves spread across its surface from the point of impact.
Niero's eyes widened.
"A barrier?!"
Then—
The ripple reversed.
The entire shield flexed inward.
Before exploding outward.
KRAAAAAAAM!!
An incomprehensible force detonated from the barrier.
"...What—?!"
The repulsion blasted straight into Niero's body.
His eyes opened wide as he was launched backwards.
Like a railgun slug.
The sky disappeared.
The beach became a blur.
He skipped across the air before regaining control—
Too late.
Amaryllis was already moving.
The mutated Sea Witch shrieked with manic laughter.
"YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD TOUCH ME, WORM??!!!!"
Her grotesquely enlarged arm expanded even further.
Coral erupted.
Tentacles twisted around it.
Dark energy spiraled through every crack in the monstrous limb.
She swung.
Not at where Niero was—
But where he would be.
The gigantic arm crossed the sky.
BAAAAAAAM!!
"...Ghk!"
The blow caught him square across the torso.
The impact folded his body around the strike.
His vision flashed white.
He became a meteor.
A crimson streak tore through the storm before slamming into the beach.
KABOOOOOOOOOM!!
Sand exploded hundreds of meters into the air.
A massive crater carved itself into the shoreline.
Shockwaves flattened nearby palm trees.
Ocean water recoiled before crashing back into the beach.
Silence followed.
...
A large boulder near the battlefield suddenly shook.
Agent Takeshi Armitage slowly peeked over it with his remaining left arm still clutching his mechanized katana.
"...Bloody hell..."
A shadow rapidly grew over him.
His remaining eye widened.
"...Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
He dove sideways.
A split second later—
KRAAAASH!!
Niero slammed into the sand exactly where Armitage had been hiding.
The explosion swallowed the boulder whole.
Sand blasted over the battlefield like a localized tsunami.
Armitage rolled several times before stopping on one knee.
"...That..."
He stared at the smoking crater only a few meters away.
"...was too damn close."
He brushed sand from his beard.
"I like some dramatic entrances."
A beat.
"...Preferably ones that don't nearly flatten me."
From within the smoking crater—
A faint crimson glow flickered.
Niero groaned.
"...Ow..."
He pushed himself onto one knee.
The new Astra Kavacha MK-01 armor had prevented catastrophic damage, but fresh cracks spread across parts of the suit before slowly repairing themselves under flowing Nova-Spark energy.
High above, Amaryllis floated amidst writhing tentacles.
She giggled.
Then laughed.
Then erupted into hysterical cackling.
"YES!"
"THAT'S IT!"
"COME ON! STRUGGLE! BREAK!"
"I WANT TO WATCH YOU BREAK INTO DESPAIR!"
Her mutated body trembled with ecstatic madness.
Inside the crater, Niero slowly rose to his feet.
His chest rose and fell.
"..."
"...Well."
He rolled his aching shoulder.
"So she has an automatic counter-barrier."
Behind his visor, his eyes narrowed.
"...fuck."
Vuldyr appeared beside him as a holographic projection, rapidly analyzing the brief exchange.
-
[Combat Analysis Updated.]
Witch Aura's Personal Defensive Field detected.
Observed Function: Converts incoming kinetic and anomalous force into localized repulsion.
Current Assessment: Defensive mechanism enhanced, likely originates from the unidentified rhombus-shaped artifact rather than the Witch herself.
-
Niero staggered to his feet.
Sand slid from the crater around him.
Every muscle screamed.
Every breath burned.
Above him, the mutated Sea Witch loomed against the storm.
Tentacles.
Coral.
Dark energy.
That impossible barrier still shimmered around her warped body like ripples across the surface of black water.
Niero wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
> ["I hit her. I know I hit her."]
High above, the monstrous Amaryllis let out a shriek that shook the pocket dimension.
The black rhombus buried within her chest pulsed again.
The invisible barrier distorted the air around her.
Vuldyr's expression became grim.
[Analysis Complete.]
> ["Kiddo. That wasn't just her own defense."]
Niero looked up.
"...Meaning?"
> ["The artifact. It amplified herself, that includes its Witch Aura's personal force field durability."]
Blue holographic calculations streamed beside Vuldyr.
"Before mutation, Amaryllis herself was approximately Rank-C."
> ["Now..."]
She looked toward the pulsing black crystal.
> ["...its anomalous output has elevated her overall defensive capability to approximately Rank-S."]
Silence.
Niero stared.
"...You're got to be kidding with me."
> ["I wish I was."]
He instinctively glanced toward his status.
-
LEVEL : 31
SUPERNOVA STATE 01 — CRIMSON SPARK
Ragna-Kha : ACTIVE
Energy Points: 63 / 250 EP
-
His stomach dropped.
"...Sixty-three?"
> ["It continues decreasing."]
Almost on cue—
62...
61...
The numbers kept falling.
Like grains of sand inside an hourglass.
Vuldyr folded her arms.
> ["Estimated remaining combat time approximately three minutes. If Ragna-Kha expires before this battle ends..."]
She didn't finish.
She didn't need to.
Niero already knew.
The moment that power disappeared—
He would become the same seventeen-year-old boy who had nearly died with coral driven through his body.
He clenched his fists.
"...So..."
He exhaled slowly.
"I either kill her..."
"...or she kills me."
Vuldyr nodded once.
Niero closed his eyes.
One deep breath.
Then another.
Fear.
Pain.
Doubt.
All of it remained.
But beneath them—
something older stirred.
The same feeling he'd grasped inside Ego-Space.
The same conviction that had allowed his breakthrough.
Rebellion.
Not against Amaryllis.
Not against monsters.
Not even against death.
Against possibly invadable fate itself.
His crimson eyes slowly opened.
They no longer trembled.
Far above, the mutant Witch laughed.
"Still standing? How wonderfully stubborn!"
"I'll grind every last bone in your body into dust!"
Niero ignored her.
Instead—
he slowly raised his right arm.
Palm open.
Fingers spread.
"..."
He didn't know why.
Instinct.
Nothing more.
His hand slowly closed.
As though grasping an invisible handle.
Grasping hard as if he is making a fist against her.
"If I'm gonna leave here alive,-"
"-I have to kill you. Even if I have to tear you apart with my bare hands."
But then suddenly, within a single heartbeat—
His right fist suddenly exploded with light.
Not Nova-Spark.
Not Ember.
Not Crimson.
Something heavier.
The light became almost blinding.
White.
Gold.
Cyan.
Red.
The air itself screamed.
Reality distorted around his hand.
The storm overhead recoiled.
Even the ocean seemed to hesitate.
Amaryllis stopped laughing.
"...What?"
The light condensed.
Compressed.
Forged.
Not from metal.
Not from Mana.
But something in between.
Layer after layer folded over itself like a star being hammered inside a forge.
The radiance slowly faded.
Something remained in his grasp.
Niero blinked.
"..."
"...No way."
Resting in his hand was a weapon unlike anything he had ever seen.
A massive rectangular cleaver.
Not elegant.
Not ornamental.
Brutal.
Its proportions resembled an oversized executioner's blade fused with sleek machinery.
The spine formed a thick reinforced hilt, while the grip was wrapped in dark alloy etched with glowing Astra conduits.
The edge itself shimmered with impossible sharpness.
Across the broad side of the blade—
painted in bold, chaotic graffiti—
were two enormous words.
GOD EATER
The letters looked less engraved and more like reality itself had been vandalized.
Niero stared.
"...That..."
"...is the coolest thing I've ever held."
Vuldyr, meanwhile, had completely frozen.
Streams of data flooded every holographic screen surrounding her.
One after another.
Faster than she could read them.
-
> [NEW ENTRY DETECTED]
> [ASTRA CODEX UPDATED]
-
Her eyes widened.
> ["...Dear void..."]
Niero looked over.
"What?"
She swallowed.
> ["I've identified... what.. this is."]
Blue holographic text materialized between them.
-
[ASTRA ARM]
Designation: Unknown
Manifest Name:God Eater
Classification: Astra Arm
Origin: Empyrean Reliquary
Current Compatibility: Confirmed
-
More lines appeared.
Many remained locked.
Most were unreadable.
Only fragments could be deciphered.
-
Associated Stargod from the Empyrean Reliquary: "The Outsider"
Status: Sealed
Authority: Unknown
Synchronization: Incomplete
-
Vuldyr slowly looked up from the holograms.
> ["...Kiddo. This isn't just a weapon."]
She stared at the impossible cleaver.
> ["It is an Astra Arm. The personal divine weapon of a Stargod."]
Niero looked back at the blade resting comfortably in his hand.
> ["And you finally got your hands on it...]
Despite its immense size—
It felt nearly weightless.
Natural.
Like it had always belonged there.
Far above—
For the very first time since mutating—
Amaryllis stopped smiling.
The instinct born from the Hollow screamed at her.
Danger.
Real danger.
She unconsciously took a step backward in the air.
The transformed Sea Witch shrieked.
Every remaining tentacle surged forward at once.
Not one.
Not ten.
Hundreds.
An ocean of writhing coral-covered limbs descended upon Niero, each thick enough to crush an armored vehicle, their sharpened tips glistening with Dark Script.
"DIE!!"
The air screamed.
Niero inhaled once.
Then tightened his grip around God Eater.
The weapon almost seemed to respond.
It hummed.
No—
it hummed.
Like a predator finally recognizing its wielder.
"...Let's see what you can do."
He vanished.
A crimson-blue streak tore across the battlefield.
The first tentacle reached him.
Niero swung.
There was no dramatic clash.
No explosion.
Only—
SHHKK!
The building-sized tentacle slid cleanly apart.
Its severed halves continued flying several dozen meters before erupting into black blood.
"...Huh?"
Niero blinked.
That...
was almost too easy.
Three more tentacles converged.
His body moved before he consciously decided to.
A pivot.
A step.
A reverse slash.
The enormous cleaver carved through all three simultaneously.
Another five.
Then eight.
Then twelve.
Each swing flowed naturally into the next.
No wasted movement.
No hesitation.
The weapon felt impossibly alive in his hands.
Not controlling him—
but perfectly understanding him.
Like two dancers who had practiced together for years.
Every motion became instinct.
Every cut inevitable.
Tentacles that moments ago had shrugged off Nova-Spark blasts now fell apart like wet paper.
Or tofu beneath a chef's knife.
Chunks of mutated flesh rained across the artificial beach.
Amaryllis froze.
"...Impossible! My tentacles! My beautiful tentacles!"
Niero glanced at the blade.
"...YOU'RE CHEATING, SON OF A BITCH!!!."
God Eater answered only with another low metallic hum.
Behind him, Vuldyr's holographic displays exploded with new readings.
> ["Kiddo! The weapon itself isn't simply sharper. It possesses extraordinarily high anomalous penetration, a feat granted by the Astra Force. It is cutting directly through the empowered Witch Aura."]
Niero looked back toward Amaryllis.
Only now did he notice it.
That invisible distortion surrounding her.
The same shimmering barrier that had effortlessly blocked his strongest punch earlier.
Her personal defensive field.
Her Witch Aura.
Except now—
he could actually see it.
Golden Eye overlaid new information.
-
[Witch Aura]
Personal anomalous force field generated by a Witch.
Current Output: Rank-C >>> Rank-S
Status: Greatly amplified by unknown anomalous artifact
-
"...So that's what stopped my punch."
The realization clicked instantly.
It hadn't been Amaryllis herself.
It had been this impossibly strengthened Witch Aura.
Without God Eater—
he never would have pierced it.
For the first time since the battle began...
he actually had a way to win.
Then—
Vuldyr's voice suddenly became urgent.
Much more urgent.
> ["Kiddo."]
Niero didn't take his eyes off Amaryllis.
"What?"
> ["...Bad news."]
"More of it?"
> ["The Astra Arm's manifestation has granted you immersive damage out put, but- ]
His HUD flashed.
> [- it drastically increased your Energy Points consumption."]
-
[ Energy Points ]
48 / 250
↓↓↓
46...
44...
42...
-
The numbers weren't ticking anymore.
They were plummeting.
Niero's eye twitched.
"...Please tell me that's a visual bug."
> ["I wish it was."]
Vuldyr performed another calculation.
Several warning windows appeared simultaneously.
-
[ WARNING ]
> [Astra Arm Active]
>[Supernova State Active]
> [Ragna-Kha Active]
Combined Energy Consumption Rate: Extreme
-
She looked directly at him.
> ["You now possess enough offensive capability to threaten the S-rank Witch."]
She paused.
> ["But...you have approximately..."]
Another calculation completed.
> ["...one minute."]
Silence.
"..."
"...Only ONE minute?!"
> ["Fifty-eight seconds."]
"..."
"...Seriously?"
> ["It is now fifty-seven."]
Niero stared blankly.
Then looked toward the enormous mutated Witch.
Then back toward his rapidly draining EP.
"...Fantastic. So the universe finally gives me the legendary sword...and yet immediately slaps with an expiration date on it."
Vuldyr gave him a completely unapologetic nod.
> ["That is not something you should focus on! If your Energy Points reach zero..."]
> ["God Eater will demanifest. Supernova State will collapse. Ragna-Kha will deactivate. You will return to your normal state. Worse, in this situation right now where, most likely, there won't be another miracle popping up!!"]
She didn't need to explain further.
Normal condition meant...
Exhausted.
Half-dead.
Standing in front of a Rank-S mutant Witch.
Niero sighed.
"...Right. I guess this is what Aunt Alura would call it an "all-or-nothing" gamble."
He tightened his grip around God Eater.
"...I've got only one shot."
Without another word, he accelerated downward.
A crimson streak shot across the battlefield before stopping beside the massive boulder where Agent Takeshi Armitage had taken cover while clutching the stump of his severed arm.
The veteran agent looked up—
Then stared.
"..."
"...Kid."
"What in the hell is that glowing meat cleaver?"
Niero glanced at the Astra Arm in his hand.
"...Long story."
He looked back toward the towering mutant Amaryllis gathering another tidal wave of attacks.
"But right now..."
"...I'm pretty sure it's our only trump card."
The entire beach shook.
Not from an earthquake—
but from Amaryllis' fury.
The mutated Sea Witch had finally stopped laughing.
Now—
she only screamed.
"YOU LITTLE BOTTOM FEEDER!!"
Her voice thundered across the artificial sky.
"GET OUT HERE!!"
"COME OUT SO I CAN BREAK EVERY BONE IN YOUR BODY!!"
"GRIND YOU INTO PASTE!!"
"AND FEED WHAT'S LEFT OF YOU TO MY LOVELIES!!"
Her single blue eye had become bloodshot.
The abyssal-black eye radiated pure insanity.
She no longer looked like a Witch.
She looked like a natural disaster wearing the remains of one.
Agent Takeshi Armitage peeked over the edge of the boulder.
"...Little excessive, don't you think?"
Niero didn't answer.
Because the monster suddenly regenerated.
The severed tentacles Niero had sliced apart moments ago erupted from fresh masses of coral and writhing flesh.
One.
Five.
Ten.
Dozens.
Within seconds—
the enormous appendages had completely regrown.
"...You've got to be kidding."
Amaryllis shrieked again.
Every tentacle slammed downward.
BOOOOOM!!
The beach exploded.
Massive pillars of seawater burst from the surrounding ocean like gigantic serpents, twisting into hundreds of additional liquid tendrils.
Dark Script circles ignited throughout the storm.
Coral spikes launched in relentless barrages.
Anomalous beams carved trenches through the sand.
Then—
something even worse.
Great pulsating masses of flesh erupted from the sea.
Hideous spheres composed of fused Scuba-Scums, mutilated undead passengers, and mutant sea creatures writhed together into grotesque biological cannonballs before being hurled across the battlefield.
Each impact scattered limbs.
Tentacles.
Teeth.
Coral.
Black blood.
The peaceful tropical beach had become an apocalyptic nightmare.
A child throwing a tantrum could break toys.
Amaryllis threw the battlefield.
Niero and Armitage remained crouched behind the only boulder still standing.
Chunks of coral and molten sand rained overhead.
Armitage calmly glanced toward the carnage.
"...Well. She's certainly committed."
Another explosion rocked the stone.
The veteran agent looked sideways at Niero.
"Look, kid! I don't give a damn at this point."
"You could tell me you're secretly one of those magical-girl Sororitae."
Another impact.
"You could tell me that oversized glowing butcher cleaver came from Heaven."
Another explosion.
"I honestly stopped caring five minutes ago."
He smirked.
"As long as we both get out of this hellhole alive, I'll listen to whatever crazy plan you've cooked up."
Niero remained silent.
Thinking.
Calculating.
Watching.
His crimson eyes tracked every movement Amaryllis made.
Every tentacle.
Every beam.
Every opening.
His brain running as fast it can, even with his genius-level brain. Thinking up what is the best strategies to fight. With the limited time his newly acquired God Eater weapon, he has to strike now before time ran out.
Then—
an idea formed.
"..."
Without warning—
he reached over.
Grabbed Armitage's remaining left arm.
"...Huh?"
Before the older man could react—
Niero crouched.
Then effortlessly lifted the fully-grown agent onto his back.
"..."
"...Kid."
Armitage blinked.
"...What exactly are you doing?"
Niero adjusted his footing.
Pulled Armitage securely into a piggyback carry.
The veteran instinctively grabbed around Niero's shoulders to avoid falling.
"...Oi. OI. Kid?"
Niero tightened his right hand's grip around God Eater.
The massive Astra Arm hummed.
His Nova-Spark energy flared around both of them.
Blue-white-red plasma danced beneath his boots.
He reached up and forcefully pulled Armitage's arm tighter around his neck.
"Grip harder."
"What?"
"I said—"
Niero yanked his arm into place.
"Grip harder."
Armitage winced.
"...You're making me nervous."
Niero didn't look back.
His eyes remained locked on the towering Witch.
His lips slowly curled into a grin.
Not confident.
Not fearless.
Absolutely insane.
"...Don't let go."
"...What?"
"Seriously."
"Don't."
"Let."
"Go."
Armitage slowly looked at the glowing energy building beneath Niero's feet.
Then at the Astra Arm.
Then at the gigantic enraged Witch.
"...Kid."
"...What exactly is your plan?"
Niero rolled one shoulder.
The energy around him intensified into a roaring cyclone.
His boots dug into the sand.
The beach beneath his feet began to crack.
He smiled wider.
"...Let's just say..."
"...it's gonna be one hell of a ride."
Before Armitage could ask another question—
Niero launched them both like a hypersonic missile.
A crimson comet tore through the storm-ridden sky.
"WHOOOOAAAAA—!!"
Agent Takeshi Armitage's yell echoed across the pocket dimension as he clung to Niero with his remaining arm wrapped around the younger man's neck.
"I TAKE IT BACK!! I TAKE IT ALL BACK!!"
"THIS IS WORSE THAN A ROLLER COASTER!!"
Niero ignored him.
His attention remained entirely on the battlefield.
His left hand clamped tightly around Armitage's forearm, making absolutely certain the veteran couldn't slip free.
His right hand wielded God Eater.
The colossal cleaver blurred.
SHHK!
A building-sized tentacle split in half.
He twisted sideways.
SHRAAK!
Two water pillars were severed before they could envelop them.
A flick of his wrist.
Three coral-spiked flesh projectiles exploded into showers of black gore.
Another spin.
A Dark Script beam vanished as God Eater carved directly through the attack itself, scattering the unstable energy harmlessly into the sky.
The weapon truly was absurd.
Nothing it touched remained whole.
Niero accelerated again.
His Astra Kavacha's propulsion flared beneath his boots.
Rather than flying in predictable lines—
he ricocheted.
One burst.
Then another.
He kicked off the side of a collapsing water pillar like a pinball striking a bumper before launching himself in an entirely different direction.
Every movement was sudden.
Violent.
Impossible to predict.
Amaryllis shrieked.
"STOP MOVING!!"
Her tentacles lashed out with increasing frenzy.
Niero kept cutting.
One.
Three.
Five.
Eight.
Twelve.
Twenty.
His blade never stopped.
Until...
His eyes narrowed.
"..."
Something wasn't right.
He looked behind him.
Then back toward the Witch.
Then toward the countless severed tentacles falling into the sea.
"...Vuldyr."
> ["I see it too."]
Her holographic displays flashed.
> ["The number of appendages is increasing."]
Niero cut another cluster apart.
Almost instantly—
fresh ones erupted from her mutated body.
Again.
And again.
Each severed limb became two more moments later.
"...She's regenerating faster."
> ["No."]
Vuldyr corrected immediately.
> ["It is worse than that. The artifact appears to be overcompensating. The more damage you inflict, the more biomass it manufactures to counteract."]
Niero clicked his tongue.
"...Great. So I'm basically fighting with a massive, grotesque, fucking hydra!"
Agent Armitage, who was still clinging onto Niero for dear life, looked over one shoulder.
"...Did you just say hydra?"
Another violent evasive roll.
"WOAH!!"
"BOY!!!"
"I've already lost a right arm!"
He bounced from another burst of propulsion.
"And my left leg!"
Another corkscrew through a forest of coral spears.
"I AM VERY MUCH HOPING—"
A tentacle nearly clipped Armitage's face.
"—YOU DON'T DROP ME IN THE MIDDLE OF ALL THIS!!"
Niero didn't even glance backward.
"I will try!."
"That's somehow not reassuring!"
Niero smirked despite himself.
"Hold tighter."
"I AM ALREADY HOLDING TIGHTER!!"
Behind them—
Amaryllis stopped attacking.
Just for a second.
"..."
> ["...Kid."]
Vuldyr's voice suddenly sharpened.
> ["Incoming."]
Niero's instincts screamed.
He looked up.
The Sea Witch wasn't chasing them anymore.
She had become completely stationary.
Her remaining eye locked directly onto him.
Her mutated jaw...
began to move.
Crack.
Crack.
CRACK.
Her mouth opened wider.
Then wider.
Then impossibly wider.
Far beyond anything a human jaw should allow.
Bone cracked.
Coral split.
Tentacles peeled flesh apart to make room.
The lower half of her face unfolded like the petals of some monstrous abyssal flower.
Inside—
dark energy condensed.
Not merely Dark Script.
Not Mana.
The unknown black artifact embedded within her ruined chest pulsed violently.
Each pulse fed more power into the growing sphere gathering inside her throat.
Vuldyr's eyes widened.
> ["Niero! She's charging a high-output anomalous blast!"]
> ["Estimated release in—"]
The sphere flashed.
> ["NOW!!"]
Everything happened at once.
Multiple regenerated tentacles surged in from every direction, attempting to pin him in place.
Niero couldn't evade all of them.
"Dammit!"
He raised God Eater across his body.
The Astra Arm met the converging tentacles.
KRAAAANG!!
The impact shuddered through his entire frame.
The cleaver held.
The tentacles split apart.
But that single heartbeat of resistance...
was enough.
The Sea Witch fired.
A beam of abyssal-black and ocean-blue energy erupted from her grotesquely unhinged jaws.
It wasn't simply a laser.
It was a roaring torrent of compressed anomalous force that tore through the storm itself.
The blast struck God Eater head-on.
The impact detonated the surrounding air.
Niero's eyes widened.
"...GHH—!"
Even with God Eater absorbing much of the force, the sheer power overwhelmed his momentum.
The beam carried him backward through the sky.
His boots carved glowing trails through empty air as every propulsion system screamed at maximum output just to keep him from being obliterated.
Agent Armitage could only shut his eyes and grit his teeth.
"...THIS WOMAN IS INSANE!!"
The beam continued driving them farther away from Amaryllis.
Farther.
Farther still.
Only then did Niero realize something.
"...She's not trying to finish us just yet."
Vuldyr reached the same conclusion almost instantly.
> ["Correct. Trajectory analysis indicates the attack is not optimized for lethality. It is optimized..."]
Her holographic calculations completed.
> ["...to create distance."]
Niero looked through the blinding beam toward the distant silhouette of the mutated Witch.
Despite her madness...
Despite her screaming...
She wasn't advancing.
She was backing away.
Buying herself breathing room.
Recovering.
"She is scared...and desperate..."
> ["Either that or that artifact in her chest slowly eroding her mind that badly."]
For the first time since the battle had begun...
The monster looked desperate.
The beam finally dispersed.
Niero didn't slow down.
He accelerated.
Blue-white plasma erupted from the propulsion systems of his Astra Kavacha, detonating behind him in concentric shock rings as he rocketed toward the mutated Sea Witch once more.
Vuldyr's voice rang inside his mind.
[Energy Warning.]
[Remaining Operational Time: 00:30.]
"Already on it."
Niero leaned forward until his body became almost horizontal.
The wind screamed past them.
Behind him—
Agent Takeshi Armitage had long abandoned any attempt to look composed.
His remaining left arm was wrapped around Niero's neck with enough force to choke an ordinary man.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!"
The veteran's voice cracked.
"KIDDD!!!!!!"
"I HAVE EXACTLY ONE ARM LEFT!!"
"IF YOU DROP ME, I'M GONNA HAUNT YOU TILL' DEATH!!!"
Niero smirked despite the situation.
"Noted."
"...THAT WASN'T A JOKE!!"
Ahead—
Amaryllis saw them coming.
For one brief instant—
fear flashed across her remaining blue eye.
Then madness swallowed it whole.
"NO!!"
"NO!!"
"NO!!"
Her voice cracked into something inhuman.
The artifact embedded within her ruined chest pulsed violently.
Black energy flooded every mutated limb.
She stopped fighting like a predator.
She fought like a cornered animal.
Everything she had—
she unleashed.
Dark Script arrays ignited one after another.
Hundreds of abyssal energy beams tore across the sky.
The ocean erupted into towering water pillars that twisted into monstrous serpents.
Gigantic masses of fused Scuba-Scums, Thrall zombies, and mutant sea creatures were ripped apart and compressed into grotesque biological "meatballs" before being launched like living siege ammunition.
Her building-sized tentacles whipped through the air with enough force to shatter mountains.
The entire pocket dimension shook beneath the onslaught.
"DIE!!"
"JUST DIE!!"
"WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!"
Niero narrowed his eyes.
"...She's panicking."
Vuldyr answered immediately.
> ["Confirmed. Her attack patterns are becoming increasingly erratic. Efficiency has decreased by approximately thirty-seven percent. The mutation appears to be destabilizing her cognition."]
> ["She's losing herself."]
That made Niero's expression harden.
Which also meant—
she was becoming even more dangerous.
He shot straight into the storm.
One beam.
He rolled beneath it.
A water pillar erupted from below.
He banked sideways, barely skimming its surface.
Three coral-speared meatballs hurtled toward him.
SHRAKK!
God Eater cleaved straight through all three.
The weapon didn't merely cut.
It erased resistance.
Chunks of flesh exploded into black rain.
Then—
three massive tentacles lunged simultaneously.
Left.
Right.
Above.
No escape.
"...Got you."
Amaryllis hissed.
Niero inhaled once.
Then moved.
Instead of retreating—
he dove directly toward the nearest tentacle.
His boots touched its slick surface for only a heartbeat.
He slid along its length like a surfer riding an impossible wave.
The instant he reached the junction where the three appendages converged—
he twisted his body.
God Eater came forward.
Its edge ignited with blazing Nova-Spark energy.
Then—
he spun.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The rotation became so fast that his entire body blurred into a blazing drill of cyan, crimson, and white.
A living blender.
A spiraling comet.
SHRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAKKKKKK!!
Tentacles exploded apart.
Water pillars were carved into harmless mist.
Even the surrounding Dark Script projectiles shattered under the storm of spinning blade arcs.
Chunks of coral and flesh rained into the sea below.
A tunnel.
He had literally drilled a tunnel through the Witch's assault.
Without slowing—
Niero burst through the opening.
The distance between them vanished.
Behind him—
Agent Armitage's face had turned an alarming shade of green.
"...Kid..."
He swallowed hard.
"...I'm..."
Another violent barrel roll.
"...I'm gonna hurl..."
Niero didn't even look back.
"Please don't."
"...I'm trying not to!"
Vuldyr interrupted.
Her tone had become far more urgent.
-
[Warning.]
[Remaining Energy: 00:15.]
-
The countdown flashed crimson across Niero's vision.
Fifteen seconds.
The Astra Kavacha's energy output fluctuated.
God Eater hummed ominously in his grip.
His Supernova State was beginning to flicker.
No recovery.
No second attempt.
No miracle after this one.
Niero locked eyes with the towering mutant Witch.
She shrieked with equal parts rage...
and terror.
He tightened his grip on God Eater.
"...This is it."
Vuldyr's voice became quiet.
> ["...Yes."]
> ["...Now or never."]
Niero crossed the final stretch.
The distance between them collapsed.
Fifty meters.
Thirty.
Fifteen.
Ten.
He was finally inside her reach.
Inside her personal space.
Amaryllis' remaining eye widened.
"FOUND YOU!!"
Every surviving tentacle snapped inward simultaneously.
There was no longer any room to dodge.
No room to weave.
Only one path remained—
Straight through.
The grotesque mass that had once been Ocean-Man convulsed beneath her torso.
Its enormous maw split open.
At the same moment—
Amaryllis' own jaw unhinged once again until it resembled a nightmarish flower of coral and flesh.
Both mouths glowed.
Dark energy compressed into twin singularities.
Then—
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
Two colossal beams erupted together.
One from Amaryllis.
One from Ocean-Man.
They merged into a single abyssal torrent that swallowed the sky itself.
The blast struck Niero head-on.
The impact stopped him cold.
"...GHH—!!"
God Eater came up instinctively.
The Astra Arm intercepted the beam.
For a heartbeat—
the impossible happened.
The blade held.
The beam screamed against it.
The entire sky shook from the collision.
Shockwaves exploded outward, splitting clouds and sending the surrounding ocean crashing into walls of water.
Even so—
the pressure was overwhelming.
Niero's Astra Kavacha began protesting.
Cracks spread across the armor.
One shoulder plate shattered.
Fragments of black armor spun away into the storm.
His gauntlets splintered.
The chest plating groaned under unbearable strain.
Warning windows flooded his vision.
[ARMOR INTEGRITY CRITICAL]
[SYSTEM OVERLOAD]
[ENERGY DEPLETION IMMINENT]
"...Move..."
The beam continued forcing him backward.
"...Move..."
His boots dug glowing trenches through empty air.
Every thruster screamed.
Still—
he was losing.
For the first time since awakening Ragna-Kha—
Niero felt it.
The crushing difference in power.
The instinct that whispered...
You cannot win.
His arms trembled.
His vision blurred.
His muscles screamed.
"...NO."
He grit his teeth so hard blood seeped from his gums.
"...NOT..."
"...AFTER...COMING...THIS...FAR!!!"
His mother Emmy's relentless training.
His aunt Alura's enthusiastic encouragement.
Big sister Sophie's teasing.
Little sister Daisy's smile.
Pumpkin demanding food every morning.
Father Creed's unwavering faith.
The breakthrough.
The word that had finally completed his Stellarion Core.
Rebel.
His heart thundered.
His will answered.
No matter how overwhelming the enemy...
No matter how impossible the odds...
Stand up.
Stand tall.
Fight back.
Fight hard.
Rebel.
REBEL AGAINST THE IMPOSSIBLE!
God Eater reacted.
The Astra Arm began humming.
Not mechanically.
Almost...
joyfully.
A radiant pulse exploded from its core.
The graffiti-like letters engraved across its blade ignited with divine brilliance.
GOD EATER
The weapon expanded.
Metal stretched.
The spine-thick blade lengthened.
The cleaver grew broader.
Longer.
Heavier.
Golden-white Astra energy erupted from its edge, extending into an immense energy blade that dwarfed the weapon itself.
What had once been a brutal one-handed cleaver transformed into a colossal two-handed greatsword.
Niero's eyes widened.
"...Whoa..."
Vuldyr stared in open disbelief.
> ["...The Astra Arm..."]
> ["...It's responding to your will."]
The sword wasn't consuming his determination.
It was amplifying it.
Agent Armitage looked between the impossible sword and the beam still crashing against it.
"...I..."
"...I'm officially done questioning anything today."
Niero exhaled once.
Then released his grip on Armitage's arm.
The veteran immediately dropped backward, landing roughly upon a fragment of floating coral.
"Kid?!"
Both hands wrapped around God Eater's handle.
He planted his feet on mid-air by the Nova-Spark energy thrusters.
Every remaining fragment of Nova-Spark energy empowered by the Astra Force poured into the Astra Arm.
The greatsword blazed brighter.
Brighter.
Brighter still.
Until it rivaled the sun.
Vuldyr's countdown echoed inside his mind.
[Remaining Energy: 10 seconds.]
"..."
9...
The armor cracked further.
8...
The Supernova State flickered.
7...
Blood ran down both of Niero's arms.
6...
The beam continued roaring.
5...
The sword burned brighter.
4...
The entire beach trembled.
3...
Reality itself began cracking around the blade.
2...
Niero drew the enormous weapon back.
His muscles screamed.
Every fiber of his body felt as though it would tear apart.
He didn't care.
1...
Niero unleashed a primal roar that shook the collapsing pocket dimension.
"RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The greatsword came down.
One swing.
Nothing fancy.
No elaborate technique.
Just overwhelming conviction.
A single descending slash fueled by every ounce of his will.
The Astra blade erupted into a titanic crescent of golden-violet light.
It met the incoming beam—
—and cleaved it in half.
The abyssal torrent split apart like fabric before a razor.
Amaryllis' remaining eye widened in absolute horror.
"NO! NOO!! NOOOOOOO!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—!!"
The slash never slowed.
It continued forward.
Through her mutated tentacles.
Through Ocean-Man's grotesque body.
Through the Witch Aura that had become Rank-S.
Through Amaryllis herself.
Straight through the hollow cavity in her chest.
The black rhombus-shaped artifact pulsed once.
Twice.
Then—
CRACK.
A fracture spread across its surface.
Another.
Another.
Until—
SHATTER.
The artifact exploded into countless fragments of black crystal.
Silence.
Then everything erupted.
A pillar of brilliant purple and golden light burst outward from Amaryllis' body, engulfing the entire battlefield.
Ocean-Man disintegrated first.
Then the Witch.
Then the remaining monsters.
The beach itself began collapsing into countless glowing particles.
The sky shattered like broken glass.
The sea dissolved into rivers of light.
The entire pocket dimension screamed as its foundation failed.
Amaryllis' final cry echoed through the dying world.
A scream of fury.
Of terror.
Of utter disbelief.
"RRRRRRRRRRRRRWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Before both she...
and the impossible realm she had created...
were consumed by the overwhelming radiance.
=
=====
=
The emergency lights continued flashing throughout BDV Iron Convoy #015.
Red.
White.
Red.
White.
Every alarm aboard the convoy screamed at once.
The metallic corridors echoed with gunfire, gurgling roars, and the grinding of steel against steel.
Yet amid the chaos—
five teenagers refused to stay hidden.
"ON YOUR LEFT!"
JD shouted.
A Scuba-Scum lunged from an intersecting corridor.
Before the creature could raise its biomechanical harpoon-crossbow—
JD was already moving.
Blue psionic energy exploded around both fists, forming massive translucent gauntlets over his forearms.
"GET OFF THIS SHIP, FUCKERS!!!!"
BOOM!
A straight right cross crushed the Scuba-Scum's mask.
The impact launched the creature backward into two more invaders like a bowling ball smashing into pins.
Black blood splattered across the corridor.
On his right—
Meilin flowed forward.
Gone was the awkward Magical Girl fangirl who blushed and gushing over Sororitae.
Her expression became calm.
Focused.
Predatory.
A Scuba-Scum swung its rifle like a club.
She stepped inside its reach.
Pak! Pak! Pak! Pak! Pak!
Her fists became invisible.
Wing Chun chain punches hammered into its chest and throat with machine-gun speed.
The creature staggered.
She pivoted.
A short palm strike shattered its jaw.
Then a snapping side kick buried itself into its abdomen.
CRACK!!
The Scuba-Scum folded around the impact before crashing through a bulkhead door.
Meilin lowered her stance.
Behind them—
Flick adjusted his expensive-looking glasses with one finger.
"...Honestly. You people are so disgustingly uncivilized."
Several harpoons flew toward the group.
He sighed.
The projectiles froze mid-air.
His psychokinesis seized them effortlessly.
"...Return to sender."
With a flick of his wrist—
forty sharpened harpoons reversed direction simultaneously.
SHHK! SHHK! SHHK!
Three Scuba-Scums were nailed to the corridor walls.
Metal fragments.
Loose pipes.
Broken ceiling panels.
Everything around him became ammunition.
The hallway itself fought for him.
Trailing behind them—
Yumiko screamed.
"E-E-E-EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE!!"
The pale girl all but clung to the back of another student.
Her oversized hoodie swallowed her trembling hands.
Dark circles framed her exhausted eyes.
She looked seconds away from fainting.
"I-I-I-I don't want to die..."
Gertrude looked over her shoulder.
"...You'll be fine."
Yumiko immediately hid behind the larger German girl again.
"I respectfully disagree!"
A Scuba-Scum suddenly burst through a maintenance hatch directly beside them.
It raised its harpoon-crossbow.
Gertrude blinked.
"...Oh oh."
She reached into her hoodie pocket.
Pulled out...
a small packet of jellybeans.
JD glanced sideways while punching another enemy.
"...Seriously? At this time?"
Gertrude popped an entire handful into her mouth.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Crunch.
She swallowed.
"...Mmm."
Mana erupted around her.
Rainbow-colored energy spiraled outward before rapidly hardening.
Layer after layer formed around her body.
Soft-looking.
Bright.
Almost candy-like.
Yet the moment the transformation finished—
she stood clad in a full suit of bulky Mana armor that resembled polished jelly, complete with oversized gauntlets and reinforced boots.
The Scuba-Scum swung first.
Its coral blade struck her shoulder.
Thunk.
It pierced her armor-
but it seems it barely hurt her.
Gertrude looked down.
"...Rude."
She drew back one massive, glossy candy-armored fist.
Then punched.
BOOOOOOM!!
The impact detonated like a wrecking ball.
The Scuba-Scum disappeared.
Not metaphorically.
It was literally blasted the entire length of the corridor.
It smashed through reinforced safety railings.
Then through one of the ship's side windows.
Glass exploded outward.
The creature vanished screaming into the raging ocean below.
Silence followed.
JD stared.
"..."
"...Damn girl. What the hell are those jellybeans made of?"
Gertrude shrugged.
"Sugar...and gelatin?"
Flick adjusted his glasses.
"...I'm ninety-nine percent certain that's not how candies works."
The group resumed running.
None of them slowed.
One of the ship's surviving security personnel had managed to access an internal security terminal minutes earlier.
They had seen the footage.
Niero Ripley.
Agent Takeshi Armitage.
Both dragged onto the front deck.
Fighting side-by-side for a moment.
Then—
a black dome had swallowed them whole.
No signal.
No visuals.
Nothing.
JD clenched his glowing fists tighter.
"...Rip better still be alive."
Meilin nodded quietly.
"...He has to be."
Yumiko weakly raised a trembling hand.
"...C-can we even... rescue everyone...without getting murdered?"
JD grinned.
"...That's the plan."
Another explosion echoed somewhere ahead.
The deck couldn't be much farther now.
===
The five teenagers finally burst through the last emergency bulkhead.
Cold sea wind slammed into their faces.
The front deck—
was complete chaos.
Their footsteps slowed.
Then stopped entirely.
"...Holy..."
JD muttered.
The battle stretched far beyond BDV Iron Convoy #015.
The entire convoy had become a floating warzone on the violently waving ocean and heavy storm.
The three Bloom Dominion convoy ships fought desperately against waves of Black Tide horrors pouring from the ocean.
Explosions bloomed across the sea.
Elemental spells lit up the storm-dark sky.
A lone Sororitae flew between vessels like living comets while naval cannons hammered biomechanical leviathans rising from the depths.
The ocean itself seemed alive.
"...This..."
Gertrude whispered.
"...This is an actual war..."
Even Flick, who normally had something sarcastic to say, found himself speechless.
Then—
Meilin pointed.
"...There."
Everyone turned.
Standing near the very front of the ship—
was an enormous black sphere.
Perfectly smooth.
Perfectly silent.
Its surface seemed to absorb every trace of surrounding light.
JD frowned.
"...What the heck is that?"
Meilin swallowed.
Despite the fear in her voice, she answered almost automatically.
"I... I read about this once..."
"...On a Sororitae discussion forum..."
Everyone looked at her.
"It's called..."
"...a Black Room."
Her ears flattened against her head.
"It's a Witch's pocket dimension."
"A closed world."
"They drag their prey inside. then hunt them."
"No escape. No outside interference."
"They can play with their victims...or kill them."
"Like... shooting fish in a barrel."
Silence.
The words settled heavily over the group.
Yumiko's face turned pale.
"...N-Niero...and that agent...They're...inside..."
Flick slowly looked toward the silent sphere.
"...Against...a Witch?"
Nobody answered.
Because nobody needed to.
The conclusion was obvious.
Gertrude quietly spoke what none of them wanted to admit.
"...Can...can we even help them?"
Meilin slowly shook her head.
"I... don't know..."
Yumiko's voice trembled.
"...T-Then...how..."
"...how do we rescue them...?"
JD clenched both glowing psionic gauntlets until they crackled violently.
"...Dammit..."
He stared at the Black Room.
"...Come on, Rip..."
"...Ya can't die in there...Not like this, man..."
For the first time since boarding the convoy—
he felt completely powerless.
Unable to punch.
Unable to help.
Unable to do anything.
Then—
Crack.
Everyone flinched.
"...Did..."
Flick blinked.
"...Did that thing just..."
Another crack spread across the surface, which causes the 5 teen to back off with heighten dread.
Then another.
Thin golden lines crawled across the black sphere like fractures spreading through glass.
Meilin's pupils shrank.
"...Holy...what's happen-"
CRAAACK!!
The fractures multiplied.
The entire Black Room began shaking violently.
Black fragments peeled away into nothingness.
Yumiko instinctively grabbed Gertrude's sleeve.
"...I-I-I don't like this...Should we run?"
Flick had already taken several nervous steps backward.
"...for once I agree with with scaredy cat here."
JD raised both glowing gauntlet.
His boxing stance returned instantly.
"...I don't know what's coming out..."
"...but whatever it is..."
"...be prepare, guys."
Gertrude's jellybean armor hardened again.
Meilin lowered into her Wing Chun stance.
Even Yumiko nervously prepared to open the entrance to her pocket-dimension refuge.
The cracks widened.
Blinding light poured through every fracture.
The deck trembled.
The sea itself seemed to recoil.
Then—
A colossal blade of golden-red energy erupted from inside the Black Room.
SHHHHRRAAAAAAAKKKK!!
The energy slash cleaved the black sphere cleanly in half.
For one impossible instant—
the entire pocket dimension split open.
Then—
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The Black Room exploded.
A tidal wave of purple and golden light engulfed the bow of the ship.
Everyone instinctively shielded their eyes.
Wind howled across the deck.
Fragments of black space dissolved into glowing particles before vanishing into the air.
When the light finally faded—
two figures fell from the collapsing dimension.
One landed hard upon the steel deck before rolling several meters.
The other crashed beside him moments later.
"...!!"
JD's eyes widened.
"Niero!"
The teenage Stargod lay sprawled across the deck, breathing heavily.
His Astra Kavacha had vanished, long dissolved into motes of light.
His clothes were torn nearly beyond recognition.
Fresh blood stained his body from countless wounds and nasty blue-purple bruises.
His hair had returned to black, save for the familiar white forelock hanging over his exhausted eyes.
Beside him—
Agent Takeshi Armitage hit the deck with an exhausted groan.
His mechanized M.A.R.S. suit was shredded across multiple sections.
His right arm was gone.
His left leg had been severed below the knee.
Synthetic hydraulic fluid leaked from damaged artificial muscles beneath the torn armor.
Yet somehow—
against every expectation—
both of them were alive.
Barely.
JD didn't hesitate.
He sprinted toward them.
"Rip!"
The others followed immediately.
Meilin's eyes glistened with relief.
"...They actually...made it out..."
Flick stared at the place where the Black Room had once existed.
"...I...don't think people normally supposed to survive those."
Even Gertrude quietly muttered to herself.
"...What exactly happened in there...?"
===
At that moment, the world returned.
Not gently.
Violently.
Steel.
Rain.
Salt.
The roar of artillery.
The screams of monsters.
The crashing waves.
Reality slammed back into existence.
Niero and Agent Takeshi Armitage crashed onto the front deck of BDV Iron Convoy #015, skidding across the rain-slick steel before finally coming to a stop.
For several long seconds—
neither of them moved.
Then—
Niero inhaled.
"...Hhhk..."
The breath burned.
No—
everything burned.
It felt as though molten metal had replaced his blood.
His bones trembled uncontrollably beneath his skin.
Every muscle spasmed.
Every nerve screamed.
The backlash hit all at once.
Using Spirit Manifestation Constructs.
Maintaining Supernova State.
Triggering Ragna-Kha.
Stacking three overwhelming powers beyond what his newly ascended body could safely withstand.
The cost had arrived.
"...Ghh..."
His vision blurred.
His heartbeat thundered painfully inside his ears.
Even breathing felt wrong.
Each inhale felt like drawing acid into his lungs.
Each exhale felt like coughing broken glass.
-
[WARNING]
[SEVERE ENERGY DEPLETION]
[EXTREME PHYSICAL BACKLASH DETECTED]
[MULTIPLE INTERNAL MICROFRACTURES]
[BODY REQUIRES IMMEDIATE REST]
-
He weakly tried pushing himself upright.
His right arm buckled instantly.
"...No..."
His left arm fared no better.
His body simply refused.
The teenager collapsed back onto the steel with a pained grunt.
"...Seriously..."
"...Not now..."
Nearby—
Agent Takeshi Armitage let out a strained laugh.
"...Kid..."
"...I think...we actually made it."
His voice haggard yet sounded remarkably calm for someone missing an entire arm and leg.
His damaged M.A.R.S. suit hissed as emergency systems struggled to compensate.
He slowly raised his remaining left arm.
A rugged military wristwatch remained attached.
He stared at it.
"...Huh?"
His brows furrowed.
Then he glanced at another timer projected from his suit's internal HUD.
"That's...odd."
The watch showed barely over a minute had passed.
Yet the internal chronometer that had continued running inside the Black Room recorded nearly two hours of elapsed time.
"Pocket dimensions, man..."
"..fucking weird..."
He muttered before letting his head fall backward against the steel.
"...Definitely charging overtime for this mission..."
Niero would've laughed.
If laughing didn't feel like someone repeatedly stabbing his ribs.
The sounds around him became strangely distant.
Muted.
As though he were sinking underwater.
The battle still raged.
Cannons fired.
Sororitae clashed against Black Tide monstrosities overhead.
Yet every sound reached him muffled.
Far away.
Even Vuldyr's telepathic voice seemed distorted.
> ["Kiddo!"]
"..."
> ["Niero! Stay conscious!"]
"..."
> ["Your vitals are unstable!"]
"..."
> ["Can you hear me?!"]
Her usually composed voice carried unmistakable panic.
But even that seemed to drift farther away.
Like hearing someone shout from beneath deep water.
His eyelids grew heavy.
"...Just..."
"...five minutes..."
"...please..."
Darkness crept around the edges of his vision.
His breathing slowed.
Everything felt...
hot.
Then—
Movement.
Two figures.
Running toward him.
At first—
they were only blurry silhouettes.
The world seemed to move in slow motion.
One figure charged ahead with reckless speed.
Broad shoulders.
Glowing blue psionic gauntlets.
A familiar swagger despite the obvious panic.
JD.
"...Rip!"
Even his shouting sounded distant.
Like an echo carried across a canyon.
Beside him—
another figure.
Smaller.
Faster.
Orange-and-black striped tail streaming behind her.
Round glasses nearly slipping off her face as she sprinted.
Meilin.
Her calm martial artist composure had vanished entirely.
"Niero!"
There was genuine fear in her voice.
Her eyes were already watering.
The two teenagers closed the distance as quickly as they could, weaving around debris and fallen Black Tide corpses.
To Niero—
it all felt impossibly slow.
He tried lifting one hand.
Just enough to tell them—
I'm okay.
His fingers twitched.
Barely.
"...Heh..."
A weak smile crossed his bloodstained face.
"...Guess..."
"...I didn't..."
"...die..."
His arm dropped limply back onto the steel.
The darkness pressing against his consciousness grew heavier.
Yet one thought lingered stubbornly in his exhausted mind.
Good.
They made it.
Everyone...
is still alive...
For now.
The world swayed.
Niero's vision flickered between clarity and darkness.
Every instinct screamed at him to stay down.
To breathe.
To recover.
To just... rest.
Then—
His Golden Eye flashed.
Three crimson warning markers erupted across his vision.
-
[HOSTILES DETECTED]
Threat Level: Rank D
Super Scuba-Scum ×3
-
His pupils contracted.
"...No..."
His sluggish gaze shifted past JD and Meilin.
They were looking at him.
They hadn't seen it.
Behind them—
Three hulking figures hauled themselves over the shattered railing of the front deck.
The black mutagen had grotesquely swollen their bodies.
Bulging muscles stretched split flesh.
Veins pulsed beneath their gray-blue skin.
Each emitted a low, distorted gurgling growl that vibrated through the deck.
Super Scuba-Scums.
One cracked its oversized fists.
Another lowered its massive shoulders like a charging bull.
The third threw back its fused scuba mask and unleashed a sonar-like howl.
SKREEEEEEEEEEEEE—!!
The sound echoed across the ship.
Calling more.
Niero's heart nearly stopped.
"...JD..."
"...Mei..."
His voice barely escaped his lips.
Too weak.
Too quiet.
They couldn't hear him.
Both teenagers were still running toward him.
Toward certain death.
No.
His exhausted mind screamed.
Not because of me.
Don't...
Don't let them die...
Not after everything.
Not after surviving the Witch.
Not after clawing his way back from death itself.
Not because they had run over to help him.
His body moved before his mind could think.
===
One Super Scuba-Scum raised its enormous fist.
Meilin finally sensed something.
She turned—
Too late for conterattack.
Too late to dodge away.
Too late her to react.
The mutated fist descended.
Then—
BOOOOOOOM!!
A blur erupted between them.
Something hit the Super Scuba-Scum with enough force to bend its body sideways.
For a split second—
everything froze.
Then the creature...
came apart.
Its torso separated cleanly at the waist.
The upper half continued moving another meter before exploding into black blood and steaming organs.
The lower half collapsed with a wet thud.
Chunks of flesh rained across the steel deck.
Silence.
Meilin stared.
"..."
JD blinked.
"...What..."
Standing where the monster had been—
was Niero.
His chest rose and fell violently.
"Haa..."
"Haa..."
"Haa..."
His breathing sounded more like growling than breathing.
His torn clothes were soaked crimson.
No—
not crimson.
Black.
The Scuba-Scum's blood drenched him from head to toe.
His hair clung messily across his face.
His fists trembled uncontrollably.
Yet somehow—
he was standing.
JD slowly turned toward where Niero had been lying seconds earlier.
Agent Takeshi Armitage was still there.
Leaning against a steel support.
Missing an arm.
Missing a leg.
Calmly trying—with limited success—to unscrew the cap of his battered metal flask one-handed.
"...Little help..."
He muttered to nobody in particular.
"...My remaining arm's getting lazy..."
JD looked back.
Then at Armitage.
Then back again.
"...How the hell..."
"...did Rip get over there..."
No one answered.
Because nobody had seen him move.
The remaining Super Scuba-Scums roared.
One charged directly at Niero.
The other continued its sonar howl.
SKREEEEEEEEEEEEE!!
Calling reinforcements.
Niero slowly lifted his head.
His eyes no longer focused properly.
His pupils shook.
His breathing became harsher.
"..."
"...Stay..."
"...away..."
The brute swung.
Niero answered with a punch.
BOOOOOOM!!
The impact detonated.
The Scuba-Scum's entire right arm vanished.
Not broken.
Not severed cleanly.
Simply...
gone.
The limb exploded into chunks of meat and shattered bone.
Before the creature could even scream—
Niero stepped forward.
His fist drove straight through its abdomen.
Black blood erupted from its back.
The Super Scuba-Scum convulsed violently.
Then—
Niero grabbed something inside.
His fingers closed.
He pulled.
The wet tearing sound echoed disturbingly across the deck.
RRRRRIIIIIPPPP!!
An entire spinal column came free.
Vertebrae.
Nerves.
Rib fragments.
Still attached to the creature's skull.
Like ripping the starter cord from a chainsaw.
The corpse split apart from the inside.
Both halves collapsed onto the deck with sickening finality.
Niero remained standing.
Still gripping the dripping spine.
Its head dangled from the end.
Jaw twitching.
Black blood streamed down his arm.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
JD's confident grin disappeared completely.
"..."
"...Rip...?"
Meilin's ears flattened.
Her hands trembled.
"...That's...not..."
Flick slowly lowered the twisted scrap metal he'd been levitating.
"...Dear...Empress..."
Yumiko covered her mouth with both hands.
Her face turned ghostly white.
"..."
Gertrude looked at the shredded remains.
Looked at the spine.
Looked at Niero.
"...I..."
"..."
She immediately bent over.
"BLEEEEGH!!"
The rainbow jellybeans she'd eaten moments earlier splattered onto the deck.
The colorful Mana armor dissolved around her almost instantly.
"...S-sorry..."
"...I..."
"...couldn't..."
Even Agent Armitage stopped drinking.
He slowly lowered the flask.
"...Right."
"Mental note. Never make this kid mad."
Niero didn't hear any of them.
His chest continued rising and falling with ragged, animalistic breaths.
His bloodshot eyes remained fixed on that Super Scuba-Scum.
The remaining Super Scuba-Scum had barely finished its sonar howl—
before dozens more shapes began climbing over the shattered railing.
Hands.
Harpoons.
Coral claws.
Black, dripping helmets.
Like corpses clawing their way out of an endless sea.
One after another.
Then another.
Then another.
The Black Tide answered its call.
The surviving Super Scuba-Scum roared.
Its swollen muscles bulged grotesquely as it lowered its shoulder and charged straight toward the barely standing teenager.
"Niero!"
Meilin instinctively shouted.
He didn't respond.
Or perhaps—
he simply couldn't hear her anymore.
His vision had narrowed into a tunnel.
The burning pain.
The screaming nerves.
The exhaustion.
The fear.
Everything blended together until only one instinct remained.
Fight.
The Super Scuba-Scum's fist came crashing down.
Niero didn't dodge.
He caught it.
His trembling fingers dug so deeply into the creature's forearm that they disappeared beneath the flesh.
The brute tried to pull away.
It couldn't.
Niero growled.
Not shouted.
Not screamed.
A deep, primal sound escaped his throat.
Then he twisted.
CRAAACK!!
Bone shattered.
The entire arm rotated far beyond what any joint should allow.
The mutated giant let out an inhuman shriek.
Niero answered by lunging forward.
He didn't throw another punch.
He bit.
His teeth buried into the creature's neck with frightening force.
The Super Scuba-Scum convulsed violently.
Then—
RIIIIP!
Niero tore sideways.
A huge section of flesh, muscle, and artery came away in his jaws.
Black blood exploded outward.
It sprayed across the deck like a burst fire hose.
The creature collapsed gurgling.
Still twitching.
Still trying to stand.
Niero didn't allow it.
He drove it into the steel deck and kept tearing until it finally stopped moving.
Silence.
Only the waves could be heard for a heartbeat.
JD stood frozen.
"...god...damn"
His voice barely existed.
Meilin couldn't answer.
Her glasses trembled on her face.
She had seen Sororitae fight monsters.
She had watched countless combat recordings online.
She had studied martial arts her entire life.
Nothing—
nothing—
looked like this.
This wasn't disciplined combat.
This wasn't technique.
It wasn't even just berserker rage.
It looked like a brutally violent predator that had forgotten what mercy was.
Behind them—
Agent Takeshi groaned.
"...Kids...Help me move..."
JD immediately snapped back to reality.
"R-Right!"
Together, he and Meilin carefully supported the one-armed, one-legged agent away from the immediate fighting.
As they retreated—
they couldn't stop looking back.
Neither could.
Every few seconds—
another Scuba-Scum simply...
came apart.
JD swallowed.
"...Should...should we help him?"
Agent Takeshi glanced over one shoulder.
Niero had just picked up a Scuba-Scum and thrown it hard enough to knock three others off the ship.
Another lost its head.
Another disappeared beneath a rain of brutal blows.
Another was simply ripped apart.
The veteran operative let out a tired sigh.
"Kid. He's tearing them apart like they're wet cardboard."
He looked at JD.
"Tell me. What exactly can we even do to contribute?"
JD opened his mouth.
Then closed it again.
"..."
"...Fair point."
As they continued moving—
a shrill tone suddenly echoed from Armitage's tactical SmartCom.
BEEP!
BEEP!
<< PRIORITY TRANSMISSION >>
The screen lit up.
The agent shocked.
"...Now?"
Meanwhile—
the front deck became a nightmare.
More Scuba-Scums poured from the ocean.
They climbed over the hull in swarms.
Harpoons scraped against steel.
Gloved hands clawed across the deck.
One after another.
Like an endless tide of drowned corpses.
Yumiko stared in horror.
"...T-there's..."
"...there's so many..."
Her eyes shifted toward the lone figure standing in their path.
Niero.
"...I-Is..."
"...is he going to..."
"...attack us too?"
Gertrude looked toward the blood-soaked teenager.
He wasn't speaking.
Wasn't looking around.
Wasn't even reacting to the others.
Only moving.
Only fighting.
She quietly whispered—
"...I..."
"...really hope not..."
Another Scuba-Scum lunged.
Niero ducked beneath the strike.
His fist caved in its chest.
A second swung from behind.
Without turning, he elbowed its head sideways hard enough to snap its neck.
A third tried firing its harpoon.
He caught the projectile mid-flight.
Then hurled it straight back through three advancing monsters.
More climbed aboard.
More died.
There was no rhythm anymore.
No recognizable martial art.
No elegant swordsmanship.
No calculated tactics.
Only savage efficiency.
Punch.
Rip.
Throw.
Crush.
Break.
Tear.
The deck became slick with black blood.
Scuba-Scum bodies piled higher with every passing second.
The slaughter continued.
Yet the Black Tide seemed endless.
The front deck had become a butcher's yard.
Black blood streamed across the steel, mixing with seawater and rain.
At its center—
Niero continued fighting.
Barely conscious.
Barely human.
He no longer seemed aware of where he was.
Running by pure animalistic instincts.
Only that enemies still stood.
Only that they had to die.
Then—
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
A thunderous sonic boom split the heavens.
Everyone instinctively looked up.
The storm clouds parted.
A blazing golden streak descended from the sky like a falling star.
It punched through the clouds.
Crossed the battlefield in an instant.
And—
KRAAAAAAAASH!!
It struck the front deck.
The impact detonated into a shockwave of wind and radiant light.
Scuba-Scums were hurled backward.
Some were blasted clear off the ship.
Others smashed into cargo containers and twisted railings.
Even the corpses littering the deck were swept away.
Niero himself staggered several steps backward.
The sudden burst of brilliant light made him instinctively raise an arm across his eyes.
A low growl escaped his throat.
Like a wounded predator startled by headlights.
The light slowly faded.
Standing at the center of the impact crater—
was a young woman.
She looked no older than her early twenties.
Long golden-blonde hair flowed behind her in the sea wind.
She wore a radiant golden tiara adorned with a crimson star at its center, elegant wing-like ornaments extending from either side.
Her upper body was protected by ornate golden armor sculpted over a blue bodysuit, polished until it gleamed despite the storm.
Across her chest shone the unmistakable emblem of a shooting star.
A crimson cape billowed dramatically behind her, embroidered with countless tiny golden stars that sparkled even beneath the dark skies.
A matching red pleated skirt swayed above blue-and-gold armored boots.
Golden gauntlets encased her forearms.
She looked less like a soldier—
and more like a storybook heroine stepping straight from legend.
She rested both hands on her hips.
"...Phew."
She looked around the devastated deck.
"...I may have been...fashionably late."
She rubbed the back of her head with an embarrassed laugh.
"Hehehe. Sorry about that."
Then she flashed a brilliant, reassuring smile.
"But never fear!"
She thrust one fist toward the sky.
"Because we are finally here!"
Another wave of Scuba-Scums charged her.
She sighed dramatically.
"Oh. Already?"
One lunged.
She disappeared.
BOOM!
Her fist buried itself into its chest.
The creature flew hundreds of meters across the ocean before disappearing into the distance.
Another swung a coral blade.
She caught the weapon between two fingers.
"...Rude."
A casual kick folded the monster in half.
Three more leaped from different directions.
She inhaled deeply.
Then exhaled.
A freezing white gale erupted from her mouth.
The ocean itself flash-froze.
The charging Scuba-Scums instantly became ice statues.
She snapped her fingers.
The frozen monsters shattered into glittering crystal fragments.
Another group attempted to surround her.
She tilted her head.
"...Really?"
Her eyes suddenly glowed crimson.
Twin beams of blazing energy erupted from them.
SHHHHHRRRRAAAKKK!!
The laser swept across the deck in a controlled arc, vaporizing weapons, slicing through armored Scuba-Scums, and detonating the monsters into clouds of black mist.
Within seconds—
everything around her was still.
She dusted imaginary dirt from one shoulder.
"...Much better."
Silence spread across the front deck.
Every survivor simply stared.
Agent Takeshi blinked once.
Then again.
"...Well. That's certainly one way to make an entrance."
JD's jaw slowly dropped.
"...No way..."
Flick quietly adjusted his crooked glasses.
"...is she who I think she is?"
Yumiko peeked out from behind Gertrude.
"S-she...she's glowing..."
Gertrude nodded blankly.
"...so beautiful."
Meanwhile—
Meilin completely lost control.
Her striped tail puffed up.
Her glasses nearly flew off.
She grabbed JD by both shoulders and shook him violently.
"IT'S HER!!"
"IT'S REALLY HER!!"
"Oh my gosh! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!!"
JD's head bobbed helplessly.
"W-What?!"
Meilin practically squealed.
"SORORITAE HYPERIA!!"
"The S-Rank Sororitae from America!"
"The Hero of Liberty! The Woman of Tomorrow! The Symbol of Love and Justice! The Sororitae of the Shining Star!!!"
"She is the super-famous Sororitae with the power to absorb and manipulate solar energy!!! A sunshine goddess who fight with a warm and kind smile to all those who met her!!!"
"I've watched every interview! I've bought all her merchandise!"
"I even have her limited-edition transformation poster signed—well... printed—but STILL!"
Her eyes practically sparkled.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE'S REALLY HERE!!!"
She looked moments away from fainting.
Agent Takeshi slowly leaned toward JD.
"...Is this normal?"
JD watched Meilin continue vibrating with excitement.
"...Don't ask me. I barely knew her."
Flick nodded.
"...learned something everyday."
JD looked sideways.
"...Never underestimate the enthusiasm of Sororitae fangirl weirdo."
Meilin immediately pointed at him.
"I HEARD THAT!"
"...And I'm proud of it!"
Even amidst the ruined deck, the bloodshed, and the ongoing war across the ocean...
for the first time since the Black Tide invasion began—
the survivors felt something they hadn't experienced in a long while.
Hope.
Scuba-Scums continued pouring over the railing.
Hyperia met them head-on.
Every movement radiated effortless confidence.
A punch launched one monster across the ocean.
A spinning kick shattered another's fused scuba mask.
She caught a harpoon in midair, casually snapped it in half, then exhaled another blast of icy breath that flash-froze an entire cluster of advancing invaders.
Another Scuba-Scum lunged.
Twin crimson beams flashed from her eyes.
The creature vanished into ash.
Then—
Something slammed into her side.
THUD!
Hyperia's eyes widened.
"...Huh?!"
A blood-soaked figure crashed into her with terrifying speed.
Niero.
His eyes are bloodshot and his pupils were focused.
His breathing came in savage, uneven gasps.
Black blood covered nearly every inch of him.
Without a word—
he attacked.
A savage right hook.
Hyperia tilted her head just enough for the fist to whistle past her cheek.
"...Whoa!"
A knee.
A spinning elbow.
A shoulder charge.
There wasn't an ounce of restraint.
No hesitation.
Only instinct.
Only violence.
"...Easy!"
She backstepped repeatedly, avoiding each increasingly feral strike.
"...Easy there, kid!"
Niero answered with another roar.
His fist finally connected.
BOOM!
The impact sent Hyperia skidding several meters across the steel deck.
Her boots carved deep grooves into the metal before she finally dropped to one knee.
"...Oof..."
She rubbed her shoulder.
"...He's stronger than he looks..."
Before she could stand—
Agent Takeshi cupped a hand to his mouth.
"Hyperia! Don't hurt him!"
She looked over.
The battered operative pointed toward Niero.
"He's friendly!"
"...Sort of!"
"He protected everyone! He's just..."
The veteran searched for the right words.
"...Stuck in some kind of berserk trance!"
Hyperia blinked.
Then looked back at the teenager.
"...Oh. That explains a lot."
She smiled warmly.
"Leave it to me."
Before Niero could charge again—
Hyperia vanished.
She reappeared behind him in a crimson blur.
Instead of punching—
Instead of restraining him violently—
She simply wrapped both arms around him.
Holding him tightly from behind.
A firm embrace.
"...Got you."
Niero immediately struggled.
His body thrashed violently.
He screamed.
A raw, animalistic cry echoed across the deck.
He kicked.
Twisted.
Tried to tear free.
The strength behind his movements was frightening.
Yet Hyperia held him without anger.
Without fear.
Without hurting him.
She simply tightened the embrace slightly.
"It's okay."
Her voice remained impossibly gentle.
"There..."
"There..."
"You don't have to fight anymore."
Niero continued screaming.
His breathing came in ragged gasps.
His muscles strained desperately against her arms.
"It's alright."
She softly rested her chin atop his head.
"You're safe now."
"The rescue teams are here. You've done enough. You did your job.
"The cavalry's finally arrived."
"So...you can relax and rest."
His struggling slowly weakened.
His breathing remained uneven.
But...
something changed.
Through his blurred vision—
he saw movement.
Across the ocean—
A Sororitae sprinted across the water itself.
Lightning exploded beneath every step as she crossed the waves faster than any speedboat.
Far above—
space itself twisted.
A gigantic violet singularity bloomed among the storm clouds.
It swallowed dozens of Black Tide horrors whole, dragging shrieking sea monsters into its impossible gravity.
Elsewhere—
Sororitae Sifang remained suspended above the sea.
Water pillars spiraled beneath her feet like floating dragons.
With a graceful sweep of one hand, tidal waves surged outward, washing entire hordes of Scuba-Scums away from the convoy.
More streaks of light descended from the heavens.
Red.
Blue.
Green.
Gold.
One after another.
Sororitae reinforcements.
Dozens of them.
The tide of battle...
was finally turning.
Niero's heartbeat gradually slowed.
The deafening roar inside his head began to fade.
The adrenaline that had forced his broken body to keep moving finally ebbed away.
His shaking lessened.
His clenched fists slowly relaxed.
Hyperia smiled.
"There you go. That's it. Just breathe."
"You don't have to carry this alone anymore."
"You've already protected everyone."
"Now...let us protect you."
For the first time since the nightmare began—
Niero believed her.
His eyelids grew heavy.
The sounds of battle became distant.
The warmth of Hyperia's embrace remained.
Safe.
Steady.
Comforting.
His lips moved weakly.
"...Mom..."
Barely louder than a whisper.
Then—
everything faded.
Darkness gently swallowed his consciousness.
This time—
not the darkness of death.
But the peaceful darkness of finally...
being allowed to rest.
=
=====
=
<<<[ Ch 33, Part 06 - END ]>>>