Reid found himself in an extremely bizarre state.
After activating the Star Inheritor skill, he was engulfed by the boundless killing intent on the battlefield. Yet, after enduring excruciating pain, his consciousness seemed to adapt to the murderous aura, becoming clearer instead.
It felt as though the entire battlefield had fallen under his control—every person, every emotion, he could perceive them all vividly.
Of course, it would have been perfect if not for the countless crimson humanoid wisps surrounding him in layers, dyeing his vision red.
In truth, activating the Star Inheritor skill didn't come with the side effect of immobilization. Reid's earlier inability to control the Hermes Zero was purely because he had tried to rely solely on his own consciousness to dominate the spiritual energy of countless souls—both living and dead—on the battlefield.
However, Reid had overestimated himself. The power now converging upon him was something he couldn't possibly control.
In the end, Reid's consciousness was devoured, leaving him only able to instinctively direct the flow of power. He had been completely overtaken by the endless killing intent.
The reality was that Reid, now in Soul Burst Mode, could only barely distinguish friend from foe through the remnants of his consciousness and memories. Every unit on the battlefield was marked in his perception by three colors: green, white, and red.
Genesis, his ultimate target, was so red it verged on purple. The ZAFT fleet, still resisting, was also marked red.
Meanwhile, the Eternal, the Kusanagi, Kira, Athrun, Mu, the East Asian Republic, the Atlantic Federation, the Eurasian Federation, and even those ZAFT ships that had lost the will to fight—all were labeled as neutral white.
Only the fleets of the New Miserly Kingdom, the Archangel, and the Archangel were marked green as allies.
Thus, Reid fired upon Genesis. After obliterating the object of his deepest obsession, he automatically entered a killing mode—every red target had to be destroyed unless they lost their will to fight and turned white.
Without hesitation, Reid maneuvered his Mobile Suit to sweep the Destroyer Beam, amplified by Soul Burst, across the remaining Genesis defenders still resisting, then redirected it toward the Providence, which was closest to him.
Of course, along the path of destruction, there were many white neutral units—the Azure Dragon Gundams of the East Asian Republic, the Freedom, and the Brave Gundam.
But for these white units, Reid simply didn't actively target them. Expecting him, now consumed by killing intent, to deliberately avoid them was wishful thinking.
At least five Azure Dragon Gundams were caught in the golden-red Destroyer Beam and exploded.
When Kira and Mu realized that the Hermes Zero's beam was sweeping toward them without any restraint, they had no choice but to abandon their pincer attack on the Providence. Like Creuset, they quickly maneuvered their Mobile Suits to evade.
With the mobility of the Providence, Freedom, and Brave Gundam, dodging Reid's casually sweeping Destroyer Beam was manageable.
But it wasn't over yet.
As soon as the Destroyer Beam Cannon's barrage ended, Reid retracted the backpack of his Mobile Suit and instantly accelerated to Mach 3, charging straight toward the nearest target—the Providence.
From Creuset's perspective, the Hermes Zero appeared right in front of him in an instant.
With Soul Burst enhancing him, Reid handled the Mach 3 speed effortlessly. Mid-charge, he drew his Beam Saber and slashed at the Providence.
Creuset admitted to himself that it was the first time he had ever felt such terrifying killing intent and mental pressure. All he could think was, "Is Reid Isaac even human anymore?"
But Creuset certainly didn't have the chance to voice that thought. Even if the Providence Mobile Suit didn't understand what mental pressure was, it knew full well that the Beam Saber in the enemy's hand wasn't just for show.
Amidst the frantic warning alarms of his Mobile Suit, Creuset still managed to raise his left arm, intending to block the strike with the Composite Armed Shield before Hermes Zero swung down its Beam Saber.
Unfortunately, Reid's abilities with the Lambda Driver had also skyrocketed in Soul Burst Mode. In an instant, Hermes Zero's Beam Saber turned multicolored, and the anti-beam coating on Providence's Composite Armed Shield failed to provide any resistance whatsoever—it was sliced through, along with the arm, in a single stroke.
Still, Creuset managed to dodge just in time. Losing an arm was a small price to pay to avoid a fatal blow.
Moreover, as Providence's left arm was severed, Creuset launched a counterattack. Four small Dragoons deployed, firing a concentrated volley at Hermes Zero.
But the Beams from the small Dragoons were instantly distorted by the Mirage Colloid manipulated by the Lambda Driver as they reached Hermes Zero's vicinity.
Reid then gathered the Beams into his left hand, compressing them into a sphere of Beam energy before hurling it straight at Providence.
Creuset was already preparing to evade again when, suddenly, he felt Reid Isaac's consciousness pierce directly into his mind.
Behind Hermes Zero, a colossal humanoid shadow seemed to emerge—its features indistinct, but the bloody glow surrounding it and its crimson eyes were unnervingly clear.
Instantly, Creuset found his limbs unresponsive. Though his mind could still issue commands to the Mobile Suit, his body felt paralyzed, refusing to move.
The next moment, the Beam energy sphere thrown by Hermes Zero obliterated Providence's lower half.
Then, Hermes Zero's Beam Saber extended to forty meters in an instant, sweeping horizontally toward Providence's cockpit.
By this point, Providence's cockpit had already suffered a minor explosion, leaving Creuset's body riddled with metal shrapnel.
Watching the massive Beam slash toward him on the split screen, Creuset felt no fear of death. Instead, he muttered to himself,
"What kind of monster has humanity birthed...? A god? Or a demon? Hahaha....."
As the self-destruct countdown for the nearby Yakin Due Fortress reached zero, Providence—with the fortress's explosion as its backdrop—was cleaved in two by Hermes Zero's Beam. The Mobile Suit detonated, marking the final exit of Rau Le Creuset from the Cosmic Era universe.
Yet, even after destroying Providence, Reid did not stop.
There were still ZAFT soldiers on the battlefield who sought to resist.
So, after locking onto all remaining targets, Reid pushed Hermes Zero to its maximum speed and began his slaughter.
The process was simple: mentally locate the nearest hostile target, charge toward it, and kill it in one strike—whether with a slash or a shot.
If any neutral white units stood in his way, Reid shoved or kicked them aside. If a white unit stubbornly shielded a red one, he would impale both Mobile Suits without hesitation.
Some white neutral units, driven to hostility after witnessing Hermes Zero kill their comrades, even switched back to red—only to be swiftly eliminated by Reid as well.
Among them were many whose Mobile Suits had sustained severe damage, yet they were killed simply because their will to fight remained unbroken or because they had shown hostility toward Reid.
To Kira, Reid's actions were nothing short of slaughter. Piloting the Freedom Gundam, he rushed forward to intervene, shouting,
"Mr. Reid! That's enough! The war is over! The remaining ZAFT forces no longer have the ability to resist!"
Fortunately, Kira was merely acting out of compassion and did not truly regard Reid as an enemy. He didn't open fire to stop him, instead maneuvering his Mobile Suit to physically block the path.
As a result, the Freedom—still marked as a neutral target—was merely kicked aside by the Hermes Zero. The impact rattled Kira inside the cockpit, leaving him disoriented, but at least he wasn't finished off with a follow-up strike.
Still, Kira had managed to halt the Hermes Zero for a brief moment. Just then, a full-channel announcement echoed across the battlefield:
"To all ZAFT forces, New Miserly Kingdom forces, and Earth Alliance Forces within this Space Zone: PLANT has begun preparations for peace negotiations between the New Miserly Kingdom, the Earth Alliance, and PLANT.
In light of this, the PLANT Provisional Supreme Council proposes to the New Miserly Kingdom and Earth Alliance Forces: Cease all combat operations within the current Space Zone.
Repeat, the PLANT Provisional Supreme Council proposes to the New Miserly Kingdom and Earth Alliance Forces: Cease all combat operations within the current Space Zone."
This broadcast reached every corner of the Space Zone. To demonstrate sincerity—and to ensure no units or Mobile Suits missed the message—PLANT even deactivated all Neutron Jammers deployed near its territory.
With the interference from the Neutron Jammers gone and no deliberate dispersal of Minovsky Particles by the New Miserly Kingdom, the previously chaotic communications environment improved dramatically.
Upon hearing the announcement, ZAFT forces realized the war was lost for PLANT—the Supreme Council had simply avoided explicitly stating surrender.
Thus, many ZAFT soldiers who had still been determined to fight now abandoned their resistance. With their homeland openly declaring an end to hostilities, persisting further would only give the enemy reason to continue the assault—potentially leading to PLANT's complete annihilation.
This turn of events was entirely unexpected. The remaining ZAFT soldiers, who had been resolved to fight, all lost their will to battle. In Reid's perception, hostile units vanished in an instant.
Moreover, Ange and Noin arrived at the Hermes Zero's side in the Immortal Sanda and Delta Gundam Kai.
Noin, through her empathic resonance as a Newtype, confronted the demonic presence of Reid's psyche, while Ange opened a direct comm-link to the Hermes Zero. From two different dimensions, they spoke in unison, their voices gentle:
"Reid, the battle is over. Come back to us."
With no more enemies to target and Ange and Noin's voices reawakening the last shred of his lucidity, Reid successfully deactivated the Star Inheritor system.
The crimson light enveloping the Hermes Zero dissipated rapidly, along with the boundless bloodlust.
The Soul Burst ended, and Reid's consciousness reclaimed dominance over his mind. However, the mental exhaustion following the Soul Burst was inevitable—he didn't last even a second before collapsing into unconsciousness.
Ange and Noin both sensed Reid's frenzied spirit rapidly fading. The two immediately pulled the Hermes Zero back to the Granshaow.
After securing Reid, Ange promptly issued the prearranged response to PLANT in her capacity as Queen of the New Miserly Kingdom:
"To PLANT: Our nation agrees to hold separate peace negotiations with PLANT and will temporarily withdraw our forces from the vicinity of PLANT territory. We request that your side restrain your soldiers. If we encounter attacks during our withdrawal, we will consider PLANT as having no peaceful intentions and will resume our offensive."
Upon hearing Ange's announcement, both Eileen Canaver—who had just seized leadership of PLANT through the coup—and Lacus aboard the Eternal breathed sighs of relief.
The current situation was clear: among all warring parties, only the New Miserly Kingdom retained sufficient combat strength. If they wished, the New Miserly Kingdom could single-handedly take on all other forces in this Space Zone.
After all, if the New Miserly Kingdom truly wanted to continue fighting, the Three Ships Alliance would collapse immediately. The Archangel and Kusanagi would be doing Lacus a favor just by not turning against their own side.
Even if Freedom and Justice were reassigned to the Eternal, their combined strength would still pale in comparison to the New Miserly Kingdom's fleet.
Thus, the New Miserly Kingdom's adherence to their promise brought genuine smiles to both Eileen Canaver and Lacus.
However, the Earth Alliance found no reason to celebrate. The Earth Alliance Forces realized they currently lacked anyone capable of making decisions.
Representatives from the Atlantic Federation and Eurasian Federation watched in stunned silence as the Archangel flew into the New Miserly Kingdom's forces.
When questioned, the New Miserly Kingdom openly declared that the Archangel had been captured and seized by their forces, instructing the Atlantic Federation government to negotiate for its return.
This development left both the Atlantic Federation and Eurasian Federation without any decision-makers, forcing them to await the East Asian Republic's stance.
However, the East Asian Republic's fleet admitted they too lacked anyone authorized to make such decisions.
From a strategic perspective, once the New Miserly Kingdom withdrew, their remaining battered forces stood no chance against PLANT's defensive troops. Continuing the fight would likely result in total annihilation.
All three parties understood this expedition had drained their last reserves. Though Genesis had only fired once and Ptolemaeus Base on the moon remained intact, the combined forces deployed for this operation—including reinforcements after the Boaz Fortress battle—had completely exhausted their resources.
Simply put, their current losses exceeded half of what occurred in the original timeline.
Personnel losses proved especially severe, with nearly all veteran Mobile Suit pilots wiped out. Unless the Earth Alliance was willing to mobilize their homeland defense forces, they wouldn't be capable of large-scale military operations for at least one to two years—new recruits required training, and sending greenhorns into battle would only feed kills to the enemy.
Of course, the three Earth Alliance nations would never touch their final defensive troops—these represented their last line of national defense. Deploying them would leave their homelands vulnerable to invasion.
It was worth remembering that Earth no longer operated under the old three-power balance. With the New Miserly Kingdom entrenched in Australia, every nation had to maintain constant vigilance.
After some discussion among the three parties, they decided to withdraw from the battlefield first and relay the information back to their respective nations, letting the higher-ups decide whether to continue the fight.
Thus, the three-nation fleet of the Earth Alliance withdrew from the battlefield as a unified force without even responding to PLANT.
Seeing this, the Eternal and the Kusanagi naturally followed the Archangel and retreated with the forces of the New Miserly Kingdom. Lacus was eager to meet with Reid—what exactly was that strange phenomenon on the battlefield just now? She was burning with curiosity.
With both the New Miserly Kingdom and the Earth Alliance pulling out, PLANT was left with a mess to clean up.
PLANT's situation was even worse than that of the Earth Alliance's three nations—they now had almost no regular military forces left. They would have to recruit and hastily train a new batch of soldiers just to maintain appearances.
PLANT knew the Earth Alliance's nature all too well—without military backing, they would never negotiate in good faith.
This war had no victors after the New Miserly Kingdom voluntarily abandoned its assault on PLANT's homeland. Both the Earth Alliance and PLANT were far more weakened than they had been at this point in the original timeline.
PLANT took the initiative to become scavengers, salvaging wrecked ships and Mobile Suits from the battlefield to cobble together spare parts for repairs. Otherwise, PLANT wouldn't be able to assemble a fleet anytime soon.
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