From the seamless bottom of the UFO, countless identical hatches suddenly opened, and soon a massive swarm of fighter jets poured out.
Because the UFO was so far above the ground, to Shiraori and the others, the jets looked like a swarm of insects spilling forth.
But they were no ordinary people. Even from several kilometers away, they could clearly make out the true forms of those jets.
"What are those things now?"
Ariel stared up at the densely packed fighter jets, her eyes filled with fear. For a moment, she wanted nothing more than to flee from this place.
If not for knowing that Gülied was acting as backup, she wouldn't have been able to suppress her terror and remain in place.
When Mirei Shinohara had explained the ancient ruins to Ariel earlier, she only mentioned the robots, war chariots, the UFO, and the G-Meteor.
She hadn't shared any other details. After all, she and Shiraori still had their eyes on the GMA Bomb, so she didn't want anyone else focusing too much attention on it.
As for why Ariel didn't question her explanation, it was simply because the urgency of the situation left her no time to think about inconsistencies. Otherwise, it would've been difficult for Mirei and Shiraori to explain how they knew so much.
Ariel had already judged the UFO to be highly dangerous, but after seeing these fighter jets, that danger level rose exponentially.
Once they emerged from the UFO, the fighter jets immediately descended toward Shiraori and the others on the ground.
At their speed, it wouldn't take long before the two sides clashed.
"These are fighter jets, a type of extremely powerful aerial combat weapon. Be careful of the energy projectiles they fire."
Having some knowledge of fighter jets, Mirei quickly warned Ariel. As for the Wind Dragon nearby, she didn't bother to explain anything to him.
Compared to the utterly terrified Ariel and Wind Dragon, Mirei and Shiraori appeared relatively calm.
Although Appraisal had already revealed that the UFO contained tens of thousands of robots and war chariots—and even more fighter jets—actually seeing them made their scalps tingle despite their composure.
And this was only the first wave. The main forces of robots and chariots hadn't even appeared yet.
Even so, Mirei wasn't overly concerned. To her, only the G-Meteor, the GMA Bomb, and the UFO itself were things she couldn't handle. As for these fighter jets and other small fry, no matter how many there were, she was confident she could deal with them.
For others, sheer numbers backed by solid quality might be overwhelming for any single individual to face.
But not for Mirei.
After all, her greatest specialty was wide-area and group attacks.
And with her bug-like innate skill, "Solar Sovereignty," her attack energy would never run dry. The power of the sun was infinite, and borrowing it cost her nothing. Even spamming large-scale area attacks endlessly wouldn't be a problem.
Hearing Mirei's words, and seeing the jets drawing ever closer, Ariel didn't say anything further and instead launched her own attack.
At first, Shiraori and Mirei worried the fighter jets might possess a mysterious barrier like the war chariots that nullified energy-based attacks. But after testing them with magic, they finally relaxed.
The following moments were filled with deafening crashes as fighter jets were blasted from the sky one after another.
But there were simply too many. No matter how many they shot down, in the face of such an endless swarm, their efforts seemed insignificant.
"Damn it, there are too many! Why hasn't Gülied come back yet? It shouldn't take this long to deal with just one weapon!"
After taking down several more jets with her cloth-like appendages, Ariel finally snapped, voicing her frustration at Gülied's delayed return.
In her mind, eliminating the G-Meteor shouldn't have taken him more than a minute.
But now, nearly ten minutes had passed, and there was still no sign of his return.
"The great one must have been held up by something. I've already called for other clansmen to come help. We just need to hold out—Lord Gülied will surely return!"
Even as he bled under the assault of the fighter jets, the Wind Dragon still held absolute faith in Gülied, convinced he would come back.
Unfortunately, before the fighter jets had even appeared, Gülied had already been trapped in space by one of D's calls.
...
"Not good!"
Mirei Shinohara suddenly cried out, her previously calm expression shifting in alarm. Hearing her, Shiraori's face also tightened, instantly realizing what had happened.
As for Ariel and the Wind Dragon, they instinctively looked toward the UFO high above—and soon saw a sight that made their hearts sink.
A large number of fighter jets had split off and were heading toward the human nations around the wilderness. At the same time, more robots and war chariots continued to pour out of the UFO.
These weren't just ground units, but flying robots as well. Their numbers could only be described as blotting out the sky.
Once they landed, most of the robots and war chariots scattered in all directions alongside the fighter jets.
For Mirei and Shiraori, this was unacceptable. Since Eriri had reincarnated into this world, if these machines invaded human nations, her safety would no longer be guaranteed.
That was the last thing they wanted to see happen.
So their first priority was clear: prevent the fighter jets, robots, and war chariots from leaving this wilderness.
Without hesitation, Mirei and Shiraori broke off from their current battle and sped toward the largest concentrations of robots.
Though urgent, this was still within their expectations. There was no panic, no despair.
"Mirei, it's up to you now."
As they closed in on a vanguard unit of robots, Shiraori spoke solemnly to her.
Hearing her, Mirei raised her dragon head proudly. Her cute dragon face carried a very humanlike confidence.
"Hmph, just watch me!"
She soared ahead of the robotic forces and began drawing on the maximum amount of solar power she could muster.
Then, from her mouth erupted a massive breath attack carrying unbearable heat, engulfing an enormous swath of land.
This was Mirei's strongest attack, her full power unleashed—and it instantly erased everything within tens of thousands of meters ahead. Robots, fighter jets, and even the war chariots that once ignored energy attacks all turned to ash under the sun's wrath. The so-called immunity rule was completely broken.
With just one strike, thousands of machines were obliterated. Ariel and the Wind Dragon, struggling to fend off fighter jets nearby, froze in shock at the sight.
Only after taking another barrage of energy projectiles did they snap back, with the Wind Dragon paying the price of a deep, penetrating wound.
But this was the terrifying part—Mirei's strongest strike wasn't a one-time move. It was repeatable. And this was exactly why Shiraori believed that once Gülied dealt with the G-Meteor, he wouldn't need to interfere with the rest.
Next, Ariel and the Wind Dragon watched in disbelief as Mirei finished off one vanguard force, then immediately flew to another group without lingering.
To delay the robot armies' advance, she summoned massive earthen giants using her Five Elements Manipulation, directing them to smash into enemies from all sides.
Though her own energy limited how many giants she could summon, it was still enough to buy time.
Meanwhile, Mirei herself reached another robot formation and unleashed her Solar Breath again—another massive swath of machines was wiped out.
While Mirei was devastating the battlefield with her wide-range attacks, Shiraori also unleashed her Evil Eyes and magic, tearing through the robotic armies without restraint.
But Shiraori's stamina was nowhere near Mirei's. Before long, she could no longer maintain her Evil Eyes.
So, she finally acted on the idea she'd had back in the ruins—she snapped off one of her forelegs, bound it with her threads, and forged it into a massive reaper's scythe.
Without even pausing to appraise its stats, she grabbed the weapon and launched into physical attacks against the remaining war chariots.
Meanwhile, after dozens of round trips and unleashing Solar Breath at full power dozens of times, Mirei had reduced an army of over a hundred thousand robots to fewer than ten thousand, clustered beneath the UFO.
And now, it wasn't just Ariel and the Wind Dragon staring in shock—many more Wind Dragons had arrived, called in by their leader. Though they had cleared the skies of fighter jets and destroyed many robots, they had taken heavy losses.
Still, with Mirei's strength, the remaining machines could be finished off with just a few more breaths.
It was then that a spatial ripple appeared not far from Ariel. Two human figures emerged from the warp.
Though her attention was still fixed on Mirei, Ariel immediately sensed their arrival. When she saw one of their faces, her brows furrowed.
"Dustin… What is the Pope of the Word of God Church doing here?"
"My apologies. For suddenly appearing before you without warning, I beg your forgiveness."
The elderly man in ornate ceremonial robes showed no displeasure at her sharp words, his face carrying a kindly smile.
Unaware of the current battlefield situation—his back to the robot remnants—he nevertheless noticed the wreckage of countless fighter jets and machines around Ariel. Clearly, things were dire.
"Perhaps there have been grudges between us, but for the sake of dealing with this crisis, might we call a temporary truce?"
Glancing at the remains of the robots, then at the UFO looming above, Dustin made his proposal with a smile.
"There's no need. We don't need you here. Best you go back where you came from."
Ariel's tone was blunt, offering not a shred of courtesy. Having said her piece, she turned away, focusing again on Mirei.
At that moment, Mirei was beginning another Solar Breath.
Curious at Ariel's gaze, Dustin turned to look as well—and his eyes widened. In the distance, he saw Mirei spew forth a blazing torrent of solar fire, reducing thousands of robots and war chariots to ash.
The Pope's ever-gentle smile faltered.
"What kind of monster is that?"
"I don't know—how should I?" Ariel shot back, giving him no explanation.
She had overheard Mirei call herself a pure-blood dragon earlier when intimidating the Wind Dragon, but she had no intention of sharing that with Dustin.
Rebuffed, Dustin could only fall silent, watching Mirei's overwhelming display.
...
After wiping out yet another robot battalion, Mirei finally sighed in relief at the sight of only a few thousand enemies remaining.
To stop the machines from leaving the wilderness, she had been rushing about endlessly, dousing fires on every front. It had exhausted her.
But the results were good.
She handled wide-scale annihilation while Shiraori mopped up what slipped through. Between them, not a single fighter jet or robot had escaped. Eriri's safety was secure.
Now, only one last Solar Breath was needed. Once these final robots were gone, the only task remaining would be to deal with the UFO itself.
Without delay, Mirei soared toward the last gathering of machines and began concentrating solar power.
Bit by bit, terrifying energy pooled within her, flowing into her mouth until it condensed into one final breath.
But just as she was about to unleash it upon the robots, spatial ripples burst open in their midst. Two golden-haired, sharp-eared elf men appeared.
They didn't even have time to take in their surroundings before the searing Solar Breath engulfed them—instantly vaporizing them where they stood.
—
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