The mothership trembled violently.
A gigantic breach had been torn open through its core structure, and in an instant, the entire interior began to collapse into chaos.
Air was no longer stable.
Gravity itself felt broken.
Everything—metal debris, shattered ice fragments, burning embers, even chunks of terrain material—was being violently sucked toward the void beyond.
A battlefield inside a dying starship.
The Axians reacted without hesitation.
One of them stepped forward, raising a strange weapon integrated with their arm.
Energy pulsed through it.
Charging.
Preparing.
Levi's eyes sharpened as he observed it.
A gun…? So they do have ranged weapons… Why don't I have something like that?
But there was no time to think further.
Somewhere in the chaos, Vinh struggled to focus.
His vision flickered as debris stormed across his field of view.
He was searching.
Searching for one person.
Levi… is that really you?
But every attempt to confirm it was swallowed by destruction.
Rocks clashed against metal.
Fire spiraled through frozen fragments.
Unknown beings were thrown into the air like ragdolls, colliding mid-flight.
The battlefield was collapsing into pure disorder.
Then—
The Axians began recharging their weapons.
Not with external fuel.
But with their own internal energy cores.
A faint glow built up in their hands.
Danger intensified.
"GET THEM!"
The order echoed across the ruined corridor.
Levi moved.
Instant decision.
No hesitation.
I have to reach Vinh.
That thought alone drove him forward.
If there was even a fraction of a chance for reunion, he would take it.
Several Axian units rushed to intercept him.
But they were too slow.
Levi lifted his hand.
A single motion.
Not flashy.
Not loud.
Just absolute force.
BOOM—!!!
Vinh, Hongco, Apoloziro, and HE78 were instantly smashed into the wall behind them.
The impact cracked the structure.
The sound reverberated like a thunderclap inside steel.
Silence followed for a split second.
The Axians paused.
They approached cautiously, scanning the wreckage.
"…Completely flattened."
"No detectable survival signature."
A brief judgment was made.
No further attention was given.
They turned away.
The breach repair was now higher priority.
Levi exhaled slowly.
Only then did he release the suppression around a central pillar he had formed earlier.
The structure stabilized slightly.
Then—
A voice broke the tension.
"VINH? Is that you?"
Vinh froze.
Everything in his mind stopped for a moment.
But his teammates reacted instantly, weapons snapping upward toward Levi.
Tension surged again.
A single wrong move would ignite everything.
Levi did not move.
His expression remained calm.
Unshaken.
Controlled.
"If you want to survive… follow me."
Vinh stepped forward quickly, cutting between them.
"He's my friend. It's fine."
A pause.
A long, uncertain silence.
Then—
Reluctantly, the weapons lowered.
The group moved.
Away from the Axian forces.
Deeper into the ship.
Toward a quieter, more isolated zone where the chaos could no longer reach them.
For the first time since the breach—
There was space to breathe.
But behind them, in the distance…
The mothership continued to collapse.
And something far worse was beginning to awaken in the shadows.