Sylvia clutched the storage card as she walked toward the Stellaron, while Acheron naturally took on the task of clearing out the remaining monsters.
Though, after Sylvia's earlier rampage, there wasn't much left to handle anyway.
She advanced deeper into the launch silo, where the Stellaron's radiance shimmered brilliantly.
It was housed inside a massive, damaged apparatus—a setup that clearly stood out from the style of the starport surrounding it.
Perhaps it had been built to suppress and contain the Stellaron, only to end up broken later.
And there, nestled within the shattered machinery, rested the Stellaron—dazzling, adorned with flowing golden bands of light, like some kind of precious jewel.
Its brilliant glow made it look less like a cancer that brings ruin to worlds, and more like a star fallen straight from the heavens.
'So beautiful.'
Sylvia ignored the seductive whispers echoing in her mind.
She raised the storage card and brought it close to the Stellaron. Without her even activating it, the card seemed to sense her intent.
In a flash of white light, the golden Stellaron was swallowed up—without the slightest delay.
The golden radiance faded quietly, and the white glow soon followed.
Where the card had been blank before, an image of a slowly rotating Stellaron now appeared.
Whether it was expected or not, the moment the Stellaron was sealed away, that irritating noise cut off abruptly, and the sense of discomfort vanished instantly.
Acheron could already feel, from within the planet's atmosphere, that interstellar routes were reopening, travel becoming possible again.
But even with the Stellaron gone, neither the Fragmentum, nor the corrupted monsters left behind on the planet, nor its thoroughly ruined ecosystem—none of it could be restored anytime soon.
Unless the Interastral Peace Corporation was willing to invest a fortune into rebuilding the planet…
But with its civilization already extinct, and unless it held some special value, it was unlikely they'd pour resources into its restoration.
"Did it work? I can feel the Stellaron's energy is gone. The routes to other worlds are clearing."
Acheron approached from behind, also spotting the slowly revolving Stellaron emblem on the card.
It was clear Sylvia's card was something truly marvelous.
It accomplished something even Madam Herta couldn't—after all, she needed an entire space station to suppress a Stellaron, while Sylvia's card was far more portable and effective than the Herta Space Station.
But unfortunately, now wasn't the time for Acheron to relax.
Because Sylvia didn't just want to seal the Stellaron—she had the audacity to try and harness its power as a weapon.
While someone of Acheron's caliber might not think much of a Stellaron's power, that didn't mean she could calmly accept someone attempting to wield that power on an individual level.
Especially when that someone was a person Acheron cared about.
"Mhm, now for the most important part."
As she spoke, Sylvia flipped her hand over and tilted the greatsword, planting it firmly in front of her.
Her fingers, still holding the card, fumbled slightly before pressing a button on the broad hilt—click.
A slot appeared before her.
An energy slot, initially shaped like one meant for batteries.
Although this core was mounted on the greatsword, the sword itself was a manifestation of power from the Herrscher core—so in practice, it wasn't much different from inserting the Herrscher core directly.
Sylvia always felt this setup was just another one of its mischievous quirks.
But as she raised the card and brought it close, the slot quickly morphed, transforming into a card-shaped insert.
Clearly, the sword had a highly intelligent adaptive capability.
This time, however, Sylvia didn't insert it directly. Instead, with a wave of her hand, she released the recently contained Stellaron.
That familiar, cloying sensation returned. Sylvia grabbed the Stellaron and shoved it straight into the sword's slot, snapping the cover shut with a clack.
Then—WHOOSH—
Flames roared upward. The massive blade began to vibrate intensely, emitting a sharp, piercing hum.
BZZZZ—!
Sylvia felt an incredibly violent, nearly uncontrollable force erupting from the Herrscher core.
A golden brilliance began to radiate from her body.
This time, the Stellaron's violent reaction was happening directly through Sylvia!
"Agh—!"
The uncontrollable power surged wildly inside her. If not for the Herrscher core automatically limiting its output to a manageable level, Sylvia's body would have been torn apart on the spot!
The moment she heard Sylvia's cry of pain, Acheron knew something had gone terribly wrong.
"Sylvia!"
She shouted her name, ignoring the raging flames, and rushed forward into the fire. In one swift motion, she grabbed the greatsword from Sylvia's hands, pulled Sylvia tightly into her embrace, and rather forcefully seized both the sword and the storage card.
CRACK—
Acheron pried open the energy panel on the greatsword. Without her even operating it, the sword spat the Stellaron back out.
The ejected Stellaron flew straight into the storage card and was contained once again.
Only then, freed from the energy source, did Sylvia begin to recover from her loss of control.
The rampaging energy dissipated rapidly into the air. Once it faded to a certain level, Sylvia regained command of herself.
"That was too dangerous."
One hand gripping Sylvia's greatsword, the other pressed firmly on Sylvia's shoulder, Acheron looked down at the girl in her arms, brow furrowed.
Sylvia's face was pale—clearly, the experience had been far from pleasant.
Even with her usually calm temper, Acheron couldn't help but feel anger now.
Why did this girl always have to be so reckless?
But Sylvia just nuzzled deeper into Acheron's embrace and let out a soft laugh.
"Sorry, sorry… I just wanted to test it out—Aow↑ Aow↑ Aow↑ Aow—!Oww oww oww! I'm sorry, I was wrong!!"
Unfortunately, before she could finish, Acheron gave her shoulder a slight squeeze, and Sylvia let out a series of very deserved yelps.
Acheron loosened her grip slightly. Sylvia raised a hand to rub her shoulder, grimacing playfully at Acheron.
"Did you really have to squeeze that hard…?"
Seeing that expression, Acheron felt a little guilty.
But before she could apologize, she saw Sylvia reach out and take hold of the Stellaron storage card again.
"Hey, I thought if I loaded the Stellaron directly into the sword, I might free up the storage card. But I guess it still doesn't work."
Hearing Sylvia's explanation, Acheron's guilt instantly evaporated.
"You should've at least discussed it with me first."
"Alright, alright—next time, I promise."
Sylvia blinked at Acheron, then steadied herself on Acheron's arm as she pulled free from her embrace.
She picked up her greatsword once more.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.