Raising the gleaming golden holy sword in his hand, endless Imaginary energy converged from all directions. "Divine Era Aether", "Mana", "Spiritual Power", "Honkai Energy"—despite bearing various names, in the vast universe and amidst the endless cosmos, these "natural energies" could without exception be encompassed by "Imaginary energy", their differences merely coming down to mixed impurities and varying compositional ratios.
"Thirteen Restraints, release----!"
The Star Sword projected by Shirou ultimately belonged to Artoria, naturally bearing the restraints placed upon it by those dozen or so Knights of the Round Table.
Yet, possessing the capability of Aether Editing, Shirou was naturally able to re-"modify" the already projected product, fully unleashing the true and complete power of the Star Sword.
"This sword is actually capable of bearing Imaginary energy surpassing the Doomsday Beast Core. If it could be mass-produced, it might make for a fine weapon."
Looking down from within the body of the Doomsday Beast at the man gathering boundless Imaginary energy, Iron Tomb, one of the Lords of Annihilation, could not help but chuckle.
"Although I missed the chance to destroy some of Herta's puppets,... running into a Nameless like you can still be considered a harvest of sorts."
"Initiate self-destruct mode, output limit break."
Issuing the command to the Doomsday Beast's core, although elite forces like the Doomsday Beast were not as easily produced as ordinary Void Trotters, as one of the Lords of Annihilation, wasting a mere one or two Doomsday Beasts as consumable materials wouldn't draw any objections from the Antimatter Legion.
"No, bro... you rate me this highly?"
Shirou's heart tightened silently. The situation that a Lord of Annihilation stood behind this Doomsday Beast was practically a certainty. Although he hadn't boarded the space station in person, the manually micro-managed Doomsday Beast clearly had its strength notched up a tier. If his response strategy went slightly wrong, he might genuinely capsize in the gutter.
This is what you call a concept god, March 7th, my friend, I truly hope you can bless the good brother on the opposite side next time.
With such a general, how could one worry that their own side wouldn't achieve a great victory?
"It's time to apply a debuff to the opponent."
Watching the Imaginary energy gathered by the opponent grow increasingly massive, Mr. Emiya could no longer hold back. While beam cannon bombardment was undeniably romantic, if the enemy wanted to play a self-detonation attack, he had no choice but to show them a traditional Type-Moon performing art.
"Beast, Destroyer, Evil attribute..."
The "Aether Editing" copied and pasted from Silver Wolf could naturally achieve the function of adding "Debuffs" to enemies. Much like adding Ice Weakness, Fire Weakness, and similar weaknesses in games, Type-Moon naturally had its own traditional debuffs, namely "Special Weakness". As long as one possessed targeted anti-trait capabilities, the opponent's positive buffs would also become grounds for getting their gold coins blown out.
Activating parts of the "past records" present on the Doomsday Beast, all it took was to tune them into genuinely existing "attribute" entries. Creating them directly out of thin air might be difficult, but editing out latent "attributes" proved hardly difficult at all.
"Combat modes like beam cannon bombardments are extremely cruel; it's enough if only one side gets to have fun. Remember in your next life, don't wave swords on the left—unless your right side is Dyna."
"Excalibur----!"
Chapter 12: What's the point of talking tough after getting humbled? (4/4)
Beam cannons right to the face,
This was the romance of Type-Moon's Saber Class.
Could a Saber who couldn't fire beams still be called a Saber?
The interview questionnaire for Saber-class Heroic Spirits always asked about beam color first.
How could anyone casually debut and sortie in Saber class without even knowing how to fire a beam?
Am I right, Miss Okita?
Watching the Doomsday Beast completely swallowed up by the golden torrent, a refreshing smile appeared on Mr. Emiya's face. Previous routine battles had been just like Golden Gilgamesh tossing out projected Noble Phantasms, or else wielding twin black and white blades to hack away at the opponent's elbow joints as much as possible; skills like beam cannons were something he never dared to use recklessly in environments starved of mana.
However,
Right here in this cosmic starry sky, Imaginary energy was abundant to a level bordering on the infinite and inexhaustible. It only took a tiny amount of Lesser Source Mana to easily leverage this massive reservoir of Imaginary energy. If Artoria herself had run over to this world, she probably would have been able to dual-wield two Curry Sticks for mindless, continuous beam cannons.
That patch of earth known as Type-Moon might not have slipped out of the surface and entered the outer stellar cosmos, and the fights between people there were sometimes limited to hand-to-hand combat and weapon skirmishes, yet in reality, many monsters were simply constrained by their "low-magic" environment. Let alone monsters like Aoko who had mastered the Fifth Magic, even prodigy mages like Wodime and Kaineth would be able to radiate boundless potential upon coming to this kind of environment.
"Targeting special attributes for specialized attacks... I'm growing increasingly curious about the manufacturing craftsmanship of that sword."
The golden torrent receded. The Doomsday Beast, which had originally stood erect on the ground, now possessed only the lower half of its shattered limbs. The surface of that core which had previously emitted ultra-strong energy magnitude levels was likewise currently expanding with fine, creeping cracks. Although on the verge of destruction, that core still seemed not to have severed its connection with the mastermind behind the scenes.
"The final ability used against the Doomsday Beast should be "Aether Editing"."
"That strange Imaginary energy also bears traces of the "mystic"."
"Coupled with this energy weapon of unknown craftsmanship..."
"That Navigator lady seems quite adept at picking up extraordinary "materials" like you guys in the sea of stars."
Such was the sigh uttered by the entity presumed to be one of the Lords of Annihilation. After a slight pause, this Lord of Annihilation spoke once more.
"I hope to see you on my "experimental table" in the near future; I shall look forward to our nex—"
Before his words could finish fading away, abruptly, the remainder was superseded by a series of harsh, grating static noises. Mr. Emiya slightly raised an eyebrow, and then a teasing smile slowly bloomed on his face.
"Just a piece of scrap metal, what's the point of stubbornly learning human nonsense and yapping?"
"Still, thanks to you, I did manage to acquire quite a few interesting things."
Aside from "Aether Editing", the items replicated from Silver Wolf naturally also included the technology of the "Stellar Hacker". While utilizing Aether Editing to activate various attributes for the Doomsday Beast, Shirou had concurrently slipped certain things directly into the opponent's core. Yet the Lord of Annihilation on the other end seemed so accustomed to looking down from a high position that he hadn't severed his connection with the Doomsday Beast at the first instant; instead, he had kept rambling away there, spouting tough talk.
Thinking of Phantom, who on the Xianzhou later on had likewise stubbornly spouted tough talk after getting humbled, the smile on Mr. Emiya's face grew increasingly pleasant.
"Lord of Annihilation Iron Tomb... As far as I know, you seem to bear the titles of the Silence of Technology and the Decay of Wisdom. How come you've fallen silent yourself now?"
"Part of the design blueprints for the 175th version of the "Forge of War", and the 65th version for the "Antimatter Engine"? Interesting. Should I wonder whether to sell them to the IPC for an auction? Or perhaps lend them to the Genius Society for research?"
"Alternatively, publishing this footage of you and me crossing hands to the Masked Tavern wouldn't be bad either. It might just cause "Joy" to let out a hearty laugh."
"Won't the Destruction Gang feel that you've insulted "Destruction" upon seeing this video? Grand Duke of Flame, who has always been straightforward, might even issue some rather intense commentary."
Listening to these few remarks spoken by Shirou, the Iron Tomb side offered no further response. Stelle and March 7th didn't understand the factions in the universe very well, but the expressions of the Space Station Defense Department's personnel, who had pulled back a slight distance, turned exceptionally colorful.
The fact that a Doomsday Beast was hidden inside the space station was already thrilling enough, but unexpected was the realization that a Lord of Annihilation was manipulating it from behind the scenes. The reinforcements Asta had invited not only failed to fall into a disadvantageous position when facing a Lord of Annihilation, but even managed in turn to deal a fairly substantial blow to that Lord of Annihilation—especially since they added insult to injury with provocations right after the opponent was clearly humbled and silenced...
That over there was a Lord of Annihilation, an Emanator of Destruction, guaranteed to have millions of planet-destruction experiences under their belt, with the lives they had slaughtered numbering more than just hundreds of millions?
Beneath the starry sky, ranked in the first tier below the various Aeons, such a fierce personage—whose very name would turn ordinary people pale with fright—had not only slapped this fierce entity across the face, but intended to continue tap-dancing on their face?
"Shirou, that's a Lord of Annihilation over there, you know. Shouldn't you rein it in a bit?"
March poked Shirou in the waist, muttering in a low voice,
"What if it charges right over here this instant? Wouldn't we be doomed?"
"It has already severed the connection here. Besides, even if it does charge over, it won't amount to doom."
Shirou touched his chin, smiling as he spoke. "Although Lords of Annihilation are strong, it depends on the individual. If it were that Great Lord of Scorching Wind, we would indeed need to be a bit careful, but this Lord Iron Tomb counts as an expert specializing in the field of technology. Even if he truly charged over, Old Welt and I joining forces means this fellow couldn't do a thing to us."
"The foes of "Destruction" are scattered across the universe. If the other party dispatches multiple Lords to assault this Herta Space Station, the Emanators of the Genius Society won't sit idly by either."
"On the contrary, they're the ones who need to be careful. If one or two of them carelessly perish like Zhuluo did back in the day, they'll become the laughingstock of the entire universe."
"By that time..."
"By that time we'll be safe?"
March's eyes lit up, and Mr. Emiya patted her head, saying softly,
"I mean, by that time we won't need to struggle anymore. The moment the Destruction Aeon drops a single glance, we can all start over together."
"Then you absolutely must not let that bad guy come over! This lady still has tons of things she hasn't experienced yet, and I don't want to kick the bucket in such an inexplicable way!"
"Is there any possibility, little March, that if you keep making assumptions like this, the enemy might actually charge over?"
"I already said, this lady isn't Jinx!"
"I don't believe it, unless you say this right now: Shirou Emiya's gacha pulls will definitely never yield any rare drops, gold drops, or hidden grand prizes."
Chapter 13: We need a noun far more advanced than money printing to describe it.
The Doomsday Beast subjugation was complete.
Along with it came the repulsion of the Lord of Annihilation.
When this matter was reported back to Asta, the young lady broke out in a cold sweat as well. Although she possessed emergency protocols to notify Herta's side, had the Lord of Annihilation launched a sudden surprise attack, she might not even have had time to utilize those emergency protocols.
In particular, the entity who appeared within the space station happened to be an expert on "technology"—Lord Iron Tomb, referred to by the survivors of countless annihilated planets beneath the boundless sea of stars as the "Silencer".
The destruction of numerous planets stemmed from their overconfidence in their own planetary technological defense forces, yet this Lord Iron Tomb possessed the ability to easily paralyze or even betray AI technology, causing mechanical creations to completely lose their operational logic.
"To think there would be a hidden Lord of Annihilation."
Hearing this news, Himeko felt somewhat surprised as well. "Though he only lurked behind the scenes, Shirou, the fact that you could repel that Lord proves your strength is truly extraordinary. It looks like our Express has gained yet another capable general."
"Is there any possibility that our Express actually has no shortage of capable generals?"
A former Herrscher of Reason, a former Named Dragon Lord, a little March of unknown identity whose score the Rating Gun couldn't measure, plus Trailblazer Ah Xing who could easily change classes simply by holding key items.
Although they couldn't be counted at the Emanator level, once Ah Xing grew for a period of time, those Emanators truly wouldn't be able to easily take down anyone on the Express.
Should this group treat March like a soft persimmon even once, heaven forbid she gets pierced straight through and directly awakens. There were quite a few similar speculations—such as her being a "Memory" Emanator or a "Beauty" Aeon—floating around when he played the game.
"Asta sent word that she will report the matter concerning the Lord of Annihilation to Herta. Aside from the one billion Credits originally entrusted as your commission reward, she will strive to secure some non-Credit compensation for you from Herta's side."
"A rich girl is indeed magnanimous."
Shirou nodded with satisfaction. Although Asta wasn't very old, being able to stand in a high position meant she certainly wasn't lacking in the smoothness of worldly affairs.
Even if her values were slightly absurd, that was merely the result of her starting point in her family of origin being far too high.
"One billion?!"
March had originally been sitting to the side eating melons, but upon hearing the figure spoken by Himeko, her eyes instantly widened.
"Sister Himeko, did you just say the commission Shirou took has a reward of one billion Credits?"
"This figure is indeed not small, but to Asta, it counts for very little."
As the Navigator, Himeko had naturally seen the world. A mere billion Credits couldn't cause her any shock; if she wanted Credits, the mere engineering project of repairing the star rail tracks was enough to make her pockets overflow with wealth, to the point where even the IPC had to humor her.
"Asta's parents are both high-ranking executives in the IPC. For the high-ranking members of the corporation, Credits are merely ordinary numbers."
After all, those folks over there genuinely printed money.
With the existence of the cosmic curiosity known as the Gold-Splitting Coin, precious metals could divide infinitely just like cultivable mycelium on their end. Completely destroying a planet whose currency equivalent was precious metals was an utterly effortless feat.
For the IPC, making money truly wasn't the primary goal; they could issue as many Credits as they pleased. Traveling across the universe to do business was merely to better serve Klippers the Amber King.
"One billion, how wonderful. If this lady had one billion, I'd..."
Miss March fell into a fantasy, but having lived continuously on the Express ever since her unfreezing and being influenced by those around her, the girl possessed no imagination for luxury goods or extravagant living. In the end, she merely drifted to the thought of being able to eat countless delicious foods.
"Ah Xing, once I get money, I'll definitely take you to eat your way across the entire universe!"
The little pink hair issued a grand declaration, proclaiming it to the little grey hair beside her. Yet the little grey hair blinked, and after falling silent for a moment, suddenly pointed at Shirou and spoke:
* * *
"He... is very good at cooking."
"Huh?"
"The moment I laid eyes on Shirou, various delicacies instantly surfaced in my mind. Although my memories are gone, I can confirm that Shirou is very good at cooking."
"Really?!"
March's eyes lit up. The meals on the Express were mostly managed by the Conductor, but the Conductor's cooking was actually produced via machinery a great deal of the time, and there were even quite a few pre-made meals and simple lunches purchased from other planets. The taste could only be described as passable; eating them at first was fine, but repeating the exact same flavor a few times made it feel thoroughly cloying.
Although Welt and Himeko would occasionally cook meals themselves, these two reliable adults didn't seem particularly attached to culinary desires either, so their culinary skills could only be called mediocre.
"Mr. Emiya, please let me witness your peerless culinary arts!"
"March, as for Mr. Emiya here, he's actually extremely tolerant toward friends. As long as that friend can say "Shirou Emiya's gacha pulls will absolutely not yield grand prizes" just once, he can enter the kitchen with complete contentment."
"...You are negating my personality, Shirou."
Facing Shirou's expectant gaze, March wore an expression as resolute as an ideological inductee. Her vocal cords were steady, her gaze solid, and she spoke earnestly:
"I will never pander to you for the mere sake of culinary desires!"
Hearing this, Ah Xing looked March up and down with astonishment, as if meeting her little companion anew. Yet the very next second, the girl—who a moment before possessed the resolute expression of a veteran charging onto the battlefield—abruptly shifted her tone:
"However, standing from the standpoint of a friend, I simply cannot reject your request."
"Shirou Emiya's gacha pulls will definitely never yield grand prizes."
Possessing an incantation velocity rivaling High-Speed Divine Incantation, March rapidly rattled off the words Shirou wanted to hear.
"Good."
Mr. Emiya revealed a satisfied smile, and Ah Xing likewise displayed an expression of relief. Dan Heng had observed this farce from the side for quite a while, and upon finally hearing March's declaration, he revealed a bitter-yet-amused expression.
"With the jinx debuff bonus, let's head straight to the spot and test the waters."
He rubbed his hands together, swiftly pulling open the gacha interface, and brought up the random card pool page earned from the space station's cleanup commission. Without hesitation, he clicked the single-pull option. A few seconds later, when a deep crimson color—even more dazzling than rainbow light—covered his field of vision, Mr. Emiya couldn't help but drop his jaw.
"March 7th! You are my god!"
Before you continue