Far away, high in the sky, the Anti-Entropy Fleet was plunged into a rare state of chaos. A Meteor Dragon Girl Doll had just slammed into Ship One, the leftmost of the four aerial battleships. A massive plasma sphere instantly vaporized the ship's main turret, leaving behind a gaping crater of molten metal—a stark reminder of where the colossal weapon once stood.
The only small relief was that the doll-sized humanoid creature didn't seem intent on storming the ship's interior to slaughter everyone, sparing the Radical Faction members from reliving the terror of being rushed by Schicksal Valkyries years ago.
Bella zipped through the anti-aircraft fire net formed by the four battleships. Thanks to her small frame, extreme agility, and superhuman reaction speed, she even had the leisure to play "bullet grazing" amidst the Anti-Entropy Fleet's barrage.
The playful Dragon Girl weaved between the four battleships, relentlessly toying with their fire control officers and AIs. She tore main gun turrets from the ships and smashed them onto the decks, creating more work for the future repair and polishing crews.
"By the Leader, what the fuck is this thing?! It just keeps taking potshots at us, and we can't hit it back! Are you a goddamn mosquito?!"
After Bella's repeated taunts, a fire control officer on one of the battleships finally snapped, staring at the continuous "MISS" notifications on his screen and cursing aloud. The weapons team members beside him nodded in grim agreement.
"That thing has already dismantled half the main turrets in the entire Aerial Fleet... And after ripping them off, it deliberately smashes them onto the flight decks. Our armed drones can't even take off now... Don't even mention the Titans. Compared to her, a Titan moves like a turtle crawling on the ground... No, a snail..."
On the bridge, the Anti-Entropy Captain shook his head helplessly, staring at the wrecked deck and the stripped-bare main turret mounts. He could almost hear the sound of their already meager repair budget burning away. He then opened a communication channel to the flagship.
"Lady Cocolia, what do we do now? This little doll of unknown origin has already destroyed half of our fleet's armaments... If she were just trying to neutralize our combat effectiveness, that would be one thing... but if she's just dismantling things for fun..."
"We'll soon have nothing left for her to tear apart but the hulls themselves..."
On the communication screen, the blonde woman frowned, her face grim as she watched Bella wreak havoc among the fleet. Her fists clenched so tightly they creaked. Cocolia took a deep breath to calm herself.
"Captain Grace, hold the line. We must recover the Gem of Desire or capture a Herrscher. Otherwise, this entire operation will be a total loss... And we're so close to succeeding..."
"Very well, Executor Cocolia. I hope you've made the right choice." The aging Anti-Entropy Captain shook his head helplessly as he looked at his battered ship.
"You're going to suffer, old friend... Ah, I'll just retire after this battle."
-
Not long after Cocolia ended the communication, a black raven landed on the fleet's flagship—Cocolia's personal vessel, the Eunomia. The battle-hardened warship was about to receive yet another unwelcome guest.
-
"I observe, and I see through the fear hidden behind calm composure. I listen, and I perceive the darkness concealed within meticulously crafted lies."
The black raven shed its avian form, transforming into a humanoid figure. She had long, silver-white hair and the same crimson eyes as the other intruder. Her white and gold dress was accented with clusters of black feathers. Like her Venerable God, the inhuman girl now strode across the Eunomia's deck.
"I await you at the edge of sanity. I taste the despair in your heart—the longing to end this false pretense."
Unlike before, the warship's communication channels remained unbreached. Instead, the eerie, melodic humming echoed directly within the minds of everyone aboard the Eunomia, doubling the terror it induced.
"Quick! Deploy the Titan Troops! Intercept that silver-haired, unidentified humanoid!"
"It's no use! The Titan Troops aren't responding!"
Panicked shouts erupted from the bridge as technicians discovered with horror that all the Titan Mecha on the ship had gone offline.
"What's happening?! Why are the Titan Mecha uncontrollable?!"
"I don't know! The Titan Mechas' core logic programming was instantly rewritten! And it's still constantly shifting... Oh my god—they're attacking the maintenance crews inside the battleship! Where are the armed forces?! Get down there and stop those Titans! They've gone rogue!"
The technician screamed in panic, staring at the incoming video feed.
"What about the battleship's internal defense turrets?! Activate them and destroy those mechas!" another staff officer shouted at the technician on the console, as if suddenly remembering something.
"Right! The auto-turrets...! The auto-turrets..." The technician frantically typed on the console...
Then, his voice, initially sparked with hope from the reminder, crumbled back into despair...
"What's wrong with the auto-turrets...?!"
"We've lost control of the auto-turrets—no... I think we've lost control of the entire Eunomia..."
"If I had to describe the battleship's current state..."
—"She's come alive. Literally. She has her own mind... and now, she's alive. All the consoles on this bridge... they're just decorations now. We can't even open the bridge's blast doors..."
The technician in the white uniform slumped down beside his console, staring blankly at the floor. The other bridge crew members, refusing to believe it, frantically tapped at their own control terminals, praying for a response. But just as the first technician had said, all their commands vanished without a trace, met with absolute silence...
Click—
The sound of a gun being cocked echoed with chilling clarity through the silent bridge, drawing everyone's attention to its source—
The technician who had first collapsed was now trembling as he pulled out a pistol, flicked off the safety, and pressed the barrel under his chin. He choked out his final words—
"We can't win... We don't stand a chance... The enemy attacking the fleet is a Herrscher... and the owner of that voice... is also a Herrscher—!"
"Capture a Herrscher... Hahaha, what a pipe dream! We're doomed, we're all doomed—!"
Bang—!
The wail ended with a desperate gunshot and the heavy thud of a body hitting the floor.
...Fragile and utterly pathetic.
Huginn leaned languidly against the deck, having deliberately amplified the despair and fear in their minds. Through her perception, she watched everything unfold on the bridge with detached amusement.