Pursuit into Saiba

(Babaluno)

Viktorika summoned three rows of Playing-Card Soldiers to block Miluno's path. Behind her...

Dad, fused with Fomalhaut, turned and stepped into the Wormhole Device.

"Huh? Over there is..."

Aldebaran, hiding inside the Great Hand, answered:

"That's the Breeding Facility. It's an absolute forbidden zone. Even those old fossils on the Supreme Council aren't allowed in. It's..."

Sirius cut in:

"The Black-Lamp Factory that produces Base Bodies. SpiCa already knows about that place."

"Oh? That saves me some explaining. But now that it's been breached, the Supreme Council won't stand by once they hear. Even your City School could be in danger."

Sirius asked, "If nobody's allowed in, how would anyone know A-Ji went inside?"

"They're not allowed in, but nobody said they can't come out... What if someone has been inside all along?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

Aldebaran crawled back out of the Great Hand.

"There's something in there even more terrifying than the Great Hand."

"An Ancient Monster?"

"No. Far more troublesome than any Monster."

Aldebaran patted the Great Hand beside her, which bore some resemblance to Miluno.

"This Guardian of a civilization in transition has little intelligence. It only follows preset instructions. Its duty at the Breeding Facility is to preserve the seed. As long as the Breeding Facility and the Black Pool remain, today's Monsters can be wiped out and still rise again someday..."

She shrugged.

"Of course, this world doesn't have much time left anyway."

A copy of the Great Will?

Sirius frowned too.

"A Guardian? A security guard? SpiCa never told me about anything like that..."

"That's why I'm telling you out of the goodness of my heart, dear Sirius. SpiCa got her information from Betelgeuse, right? That shut-in knows far less than I do."

"Then how do you know?" I asked.

"Hmph!