"Was that guy just now… Potimas?"
Staring at the wilderness that had been turned into an empty plain by Mirei Shinohara's last breath, both Ariel and Dustin were left in a daze.
Although neither of them could use Space Magic, their eyesight was sharp enough. Naturally, they saw the two golden-haired men appear in an instant, only to vanish again just as quickly.
Shiraori and Mirei didn't recognize those two golden-haired men, but Ariel and Dustin were extremely familiar with one of them.
It was the leader of the Elves, the culprit who had turned the world into its current state—Potimas Harrifenas.
Immediately, a wave of intense satisfaction surged through both Ariel and Dustin's hearts. Even though they knew the one who had just died under Mirei's breath was nothing more than one of Potimas' mechanical clones.
For both of them, Potimas was the most hated person in this world. They desperately wanted to kill the culprit who had ruined the world, but unfortunately, for now, they still lacked the means to truly destroy him completely.
Still, just seeing him suffer such humiliation was enough to keep them delighted for a long while.
Meanwhile, inside a hidden base of the Elf village, Potimas had just awakened in a new mechanical clone. His face was dark as he glared in the direction of the UFO.
Earlier, while casually monitoring Ariel's movements, he had discovered the UFO above the wilderness.
As for that UFO—namely the G-Fleet—he was well aware of its existence. After all, the design schematics for that thing had come from his very own hands.
He also knew that the G-Fleet was certainly equipped with a GMA Bomb. The GMA Bomb was a powerful aggregation of MA energy. If he could obtain it, the benefits to him would be enormous.
That was why he had gone to the G-Fleet's location, planning to use the excuse of "saving the world" as cover to seize the GMA Bomb for himself.
But the outcome had strayed far from his expectations.
He had originally intended to transfer near Ariel and Dustin's location, but the final transfer coordinates deviated heavily, placing him directly within the attack range of that unknown monster he dreaded.
He absolutely refused to believe that Space Magic itself had malfunctioned. His subordinate who specialized in Space Magic had always handled the transfers for his mechanical clones, and never once had there been a mistake.
Therefore, it must have been some unknown power interfering with the transfer.
Even so, there was no way he would give up on the GMA Bomb.
No matter what kind of unknown danger lurked there, it could not shake his determination to go again. At worst, he would just lose another mechanical clone. For him, such a thing was utterly inconsequential.
It was only a pity about that subordinate who could use Space Magic.
Moreover, since the robots and war chariots there had already been destroyed, his next transfer couldn't possibly land him again within that unknown monster's attack range.
Thus, he summoned another subordinate skilled in Space Magic, gave the coordinates, and initiated the transfer once again.
...
While Potimas was transferring again, Mirei Shinohara and Shiraori had already returned to Ariel's side.
After briefly introducing themselves to Dustin nearby, they began discussing methods of entering the UFO.
By now, since Gülied still hadn't returned from space, Ariel had completely abandoned that hope.
Therefore, the only option left was for them to resolve this final threat by themselves.
Just then, another spatial fluctuation appeared, immediately silencing their conversation as everyone turned toward it.
Before their eyes, a spatial rift opened at the disturbance, and out stepped Potimas and another golden-haired elf.
"Hmph, Potimas, you actually have the face to come here? That last attack felt pretty good, didn't it?"
Seeing him appear before her, Ariel's expression twisted with disgust as she hurled her taunt.
Even Dustin, who always wore a kindly smile, now turned expressionless.
"You don't have to say it like that, Ariel. I only came here to help you save the world, you know? Without me, you can't deal with this thing~"
Potimas didn't show the slightest displeasure at Ariel's mockery. Instead, he smiled as he pointed toward the UFO high above.
However, to both Ariel and Dustin, that smile of his only made them want to punch him even more.
"Speaking of which, that attack earlier caused me quite a heavy loss. That monster over there… shouldn't you compensate me a little for my trouble, since I came here with the intent of saving the world?"
Potimas flicked his hair with a deliberately melancholy look, casting his eyes toward Mirei Shinohara.
At his words, Mirei didn't bother with courtesy—she fired back immediately.
"Ha? What do your losses have to do with me? If you got caught up in my attack, that's your own fault. Serves you right for wandering into my range."
Neither Mirei nor Shiraori held the slightest goodwill toward Potimas at first sight. In fact, their hostility was blatant.
Through Appraisal, they already knew what kind of deranged existence this seemingly harmless man actually was.
And because of that appraisal, they had learned the truth of the world—why this world was on the verge of destruction.
The fate of the world itself might not matter much to them, but because of Potimas' destruction, Eriri had indirectly been placed in constant danger of perishing along with it. That was something they could never accept.
If not for the fact that they needed a method to enter the UFO, they would have already destroyed this mechanical body of his again without hesitation.
"Since you know how to deal with that thing, hurry up and tell us everything you know."
Mirei had no intention of playing word games with him. She pressed him bluntly.
Hearing her words, Shiraori, Ariel, and the others all stared straight at Potimas. Under their gazes, he raised both hands in a mock gesture of surrender.
"Alright, alright, I'll talk. Honestly, you're all such impatient types."
With a helpless shake of his head, Potimas pulled a spherical object from his robes and displayed it on his palm for all to see.
"Take a look at this."
The sphere's center suddenly opened into a small circular aperture, and a beam of light shot outward, projecting a three-dimensional hologram into the air.
Even for Mirei and Shiraori, who had come from a modern world, the futuristic augmented-reality technology was refreshing. This was the first time they had ever seen such a thing in real life.
But soon their attention was drawn away by the image itself—for it was unmistakably the UFO floating in the sky.
"Why are you showing us a projection of that thing? We just want to know how to destroy it." Ariel's face twisted with irritation.
At her impatient tone, even Potimas' composed mask nearly cracked.
"Cough, cough. Ariel, don't be so hasty. If you want to deal with something, shouldn't you start by understanding it first?"
Dustin couldn't resist sneering. "You mean like how you shamelessly plunder the world's MA energy?"
Potimas suddenly felt like he didn't want to continue this conversation. These people absolutely refused to follow his pace, and it annoyed him immensely.
But for the sake of his plan to seize the GMA Bomb, he forced himself to endure and continued speaking.
"This floating weapon is codenamed 'G-Fleet.' These are its design schematics." His expression was flat as he spoke.
At those words, Dustin's face instantly tensed. He quickly questioned:
"Wait—why do you have something like that?"
"Do I really need to spell out everything for you?"
Potimas' tone was dripping with disdain, as though Dustin wasn't even worth answering. The contempt in his eyes was obvious.
Dustin's fury boiled over. The kindly grandfather-like demeanor he normally carried was nowhere to be seen. Ever since Potimas appeared, the Pope of the Word of God Religion had been unable to maintain his composure.
Even though Potimas hadn't answered directly, his words left no room for doubt—these G-Fleet schematics had originated from his own hand.
"So in the end, all this chaos is your fault, isn't it?!"
Ariel glared fiercely at Potimas, energy surging uncontrollably through her body, bringing her to the brink of lashing out.
Seeing that Ariel was about to explode, Potimas' face shifted into an expression of feigned helplessness.
"You're really wronging me. While it's true that I was the one who designed that thing, I wasn't the one who built it. Until today, I didn't even know it had actually been manufactured. If that weren't the case, would I have bothered to come here at all?"
Though his words were framed as self-defense, the undertone was mocking Ariel's lack of intelligence.
Naturally, Ariel caught the mockery, and her face grew even darker.
"This is your last chance. Tell us honestly how to deal with that thing, or I won't hesitate to make sure this body of yours stays here forever!" Ariel spat through clenched teeth.
At her words, Mirei Shinohara quickly added her voice. "That's right. Stop wasting our time. When it comes to the G-Fleet, we know just as much as you do. All we want now is the method to get inside."
Potimas sneered. "If you know as much as I do, then why can't you get into the G-Fleet yourselves?"
He clearly didn't believe Mirei's claim in the slightest.
Mirei faltered for a moment at his words. Although Appraisal had provided a method of entering the UFO, that method was essentially useless.
Because what Appraisal described was brute-forcing the UFO's underside open with overwhelming violence, then charging directly inside.
But both she and Shiraori feared that such an attack might detonate the bomb immediately, so they hadn't dared to attempt it.
Since Mirei and Shiraori had interrupted, Potimas no longer bothered discussing his connection to the G-Fleet schematics. Instead, he moved straight to what he considered the most crucial point.
"The G-Fleet itself has no destructive power. It's just a carrier. But what it carries is a certain bomb."
He gently caressed the sphere that projected the holograms, and the display began cycling through different images until it settled on a spherical object.
"This is the GMA Bomb. It has the ability to—"
Before he could continue, Mirei cut him off sharply.
"Enough. We already know all that. Whether it's the continent-destroying GMA Bomb or the G-Meteor, Gülied has already gone into space to deal with the G-Meteor. What matters now is entering the G-Fleet to deal with the GMA Bomb. So quit stalling and just tell us how to get inside."
To someone like Potimas, Mirei felt no guilt whatsoever about cutting him off.
Still, his words hadn't been completely useless. At the very least, now she and Shiraori knew what the GMA Bomb looked like. When they entered the UFO, they could search for it directly without wasting time using Appraisal on everything inside.
At Mirei's blunt words, Potimas' face finally shifted drastically.
"So you really do know…"
He cast Mirei a long look, curiosity in his eyes, but he didn't press the matter.
"Of course we know. We've been saying that all along—it's just you who wouldn't believe us. Now, can you tell us the way into the G-Fleet?"
Instead of answering, Potimas ordered his subordinate to use Space Magic to return to the Elf village and bring back a massive cylindrical object. Then he pointed at it and addressed the group:
"Use this to blast open a hole in the G-Fleet's outer wall, and you'll be able to enter."
The moment they saw the cylinder, both Mirei and Shiraori recognized it instantly—it was basically a giant rocket launcher.
Potimas' voice rang out again.
"Although this is only a one-time cannon, its power is absolutely guaranteed."
"Wait. If we blast the G-Fleet with this, won't it destabilize the GMA Bomb and cause it to explode?"
"Relax. The GMA Bomb isn't that easy to detonate."
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