(1P)
After saying goodbye to Locust, I returned to the Second Research Institute and watched Proxy play video games with Xiao Qilan.
We had barely sat down when Aldebaran called us all over.
"What is it?"
"Come watch the livestream. The Zodiacal is putting on quite a show~"
In the private laboratory on the institute's fifth floor, the large screen showed the Zodiacal, filmed from below by a ground-based drone.
Even at an altitude of five thousand meters, it still looked enormous on-screen, casting a vast shadow over the ground. Almost all the lights aboard the Zodiacal were out, leaving a dark mass overhead. It certainly felt oppressive.
"Has it stopped?" Xiao Qilan asked.
"It probably detected a domain underneath it."
At my words, Mono asked in alarm:
"Huh? Is it right above us?"
"No, that location..."
Proxy shook her head, then paused briefly before continuing:
"I analyzed their flight path, so I left a 'Pseudo-Ear' there in advance. It's just an empty shell of a domain. There's nothing inside."
Entrapment, huh?
But a large domain still uses up power, doesn't it?
Overall, it was still a win. All she had to do was create an empty bubble, and the magical girls aboard the Zodiacal would have to spend ages dealing with it. Tactically, Enheria held an overwhelming advantage: tying them down, wearing them out, and keeping the initiative...
Just then, A-Yao tugged at my sleeve.
"What is it?"
She stood on tiptoe, trying to reach my ear.
I bent down and heard her whisper:
"When are you going to merge with the you aboard the Zodiacal?"
"Huh?"
Why bring that up now?
"If this keeps up, won't you two end up fighting?"
That was certainly possible.
If I handled the infiltration and destroyed the imitation crystal the Zodiacal used