There was no time to ask questions, no time to communicate.
Percher, struck by a sudden flash of inspiration, immediately transformed into the Golden-Winged Roc and vanished from the conference room.
"What method did Percher think of? What is she going to do?" Saigō Homura asked, utterly astonished. "Given the scale of this Starburst, even the Golden-Winged Roc wouldn't have time to escape!" That would be completely futile.
"No!" Izayoi shook his head, having keenly noticed one detail... "The direction she went isn't outside—it's the underground passage! That's not an escape route!"
Rather than saying it wasn't an escape route, it was more like a route of attack. Everyone knew the Starburst originated from the Earth's core. For Percher to rush toward the deep layers now was tantamount to running straight toward the Starburst—it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it suicide.
"The underground? What exactly does Percher intend to do?" Saigō Homura immediately recalled the underground palace he had visited once.
He had seen it when he was granted an audience with the Earth Star Spirit, Athena—a cavern extending at least a thousand meters deep, incredibly vast, making it seem as if the Star Spirit had hollowed out all of Japan's subsoil except for the load-bearing foundations.
It was conceivable that the birth of the Starburst would inevitably destroy this underground palace. Yet, Percher was actively heading there. Why?
"Yō went too!" Kudō Asuka warned. The instant Percher left, Kasukabe Yō followed in her footsteps.
"What are they trying to do? Is there really a solution?" Saigō Homura's eyes widened. They were all familiar with Kasukabe Yō's personality; they could guess that she chose to trust Percher and wanted to go help.
However, no one knew if Percher had truly found a way. And even if she had, was there enough time to execute it in just a few seconds?
Just as Saigō Homura considered this question, only three seconds remained. Then, just as their excited hearts quieted down, an unexpected jolt made them lose their footing, nearly sending them tumbling to the ground.
"What?! What happened?!" Saigō Homura, steadying himself in Izayoi's embrace, looked at the screen, which hadn't lost power. It looked like a shrimp vein. What was this? Why did the perfectly normal island nation suddenly have a line running down the middle?
Before he could figure out the confusion in his heart, there was a sudden sensation of rising, and the land itself began lifting off the sea level. Two seconds, one second, zero seconds.
At this moment, the timer hit zero.
"BOOM!"
An unimaginably terrifying torrent of Starburst energy shot out from the massive canyon that now bisected Japan. In an instant, the world turned white, and all things fell silent.
The Starburst, which eclipsed all creation, erupted along the fractured canyon due to the shifting crustal structure. It shot out in a straight line, utterly destroying everything in its path—the sky above, outer space, and every satellite and meteor in orbit.
The destructive energy radiated out for more than four light-years before finally attenuating to an unrecognizable level.
From the perspective of the solar system, the laser—powerful enough to shatter a star—had destroyed everything in the material world.
Even after the Starburst energy dissipated, the trajectory the light pillar had taken remained etched into space, a truly shocking sight.
"We... we survived?" Staring at the Starburst torrent dissipating right before their eyes, Saigō Homura felt as if he were dreaming. Had this crisis truly been resolved just like that?
"It seems Percher succeeded!" Izayoi's eyes shone brightly. Looking at the gradually vanishing pillar of light from the Starburst torrent, he clenched his right fist, his expression slightly dazed. "So, this is the truth behind my Aurora Pillar..."
At this moment, the entire world was stunned by the sudden Starburst. Although Saigō Homura had warned about the disaster, this destructive catastrophe arrived so early that no one had time to prepare.
After confirming the location of the Starburst, every global power frantically began calling the Holy Cross Group and Saigō Homura.
No one understood Homura's importance better than these powers; without him, the future of human civilization would be directly severed.
In the aftermath of the Starburst, even satellite communications were severely disrupted and unreachable. However, the leaders of the Five Permanent Members still possessed equipment capable of establishing quantum communication links with Saigō Homura. Soon, the call connected.
Under the extremely worried and concerned questioning of the leaders of the five major nations, Saigō Homura spoke. "Everyone, don't worry, we are fine."
Hearing this, the heads of state cheered; for them, there was no better news to celebrate. Listening to the concerned and inquiring voices of these powers, Homura spoke in an unusually calm tone.
"Speaking of which, even if something had happened to me, you wouldn't need to worry anymore."
At this statement, they immediately began apologizing and explaining themselves. Saigō Homura shook his head and clarified.
"What I mean is, I have good news for everyone."
Standing on the ground, looking up through the high clouds, Saigō Homura announced to the entire world with absolute certainty:
"We have successfully found the method to cross the Finality!"