This place was a void of starry emptiness. After attempting to communicate with the power within her, Stelle ended up here, not on Herta Space Station, but floating in the boundless nothingness of the cosmos.
At the edge of the void stood a magnificent, gigantic figure looking down. Silver hair, dark skin, a humanoid body with golden eyes. The colossal being wore a long robe, its arms broken at the elbows and suspended in midair. A massive, glowing wound marked its chest, golden blood flowing from its divine body.
The Aeon of Destruction, Nanook.
Back on Herta Space Station, Himeko and the others had no idea what was happening. All they could see was golden energy flowing out of Stelle's body as she floated in midair. That energy gathered around Tetsuya.
"Hm? A Stellaron?" His hand was enveloped in golden energy that looked similar to the Doomsday Beast's power growing stronger. From the corner of his eye, he saw the energy flowing from Stelle. "Or… Nanook?"
He wasn't sure which it was, but he could feel how overwhelming this power was, strong enough to shake a galaxy.
At this point, the Doomsday Beast was already severely damaged from the relentless assault by Tetsuya, Erza, and Tsunade. It was on the verge of collapse: only two of its four wings remained, its tail was destroyed, and its black claw shattered into pieces.
The balance of the battle had completely shifted.
Tetsuya curved his lips into a smile.
"With this, the battle ends now."
"Tsunade, Erza! Fall back! Leave it to me!" he shouted to the two women who had been fighting alongside him.
Tsunade had already expended a great deal of chakra and physical strength, smashing the Doomsday Beast repeatedly. Erza had used every bit of magic and swordsmanship she possessed to attack it.
Hearing Tetsuya's voice, Tsunade retreated without hesitation. Erza hesitated for a moment, but ultimately withdrew as well.
"Roar!" The Doomsday Beast grew more ferocious as its two opponents retreated, its last white claw striking forward.
Tetsuya clenched his fist. A gigantic hand formed from lightning, charged with millions of volts and wrapped in golden energy, grabbed the Doomsday Beast's claw. His gaze sharpened as the pressure intensified.
Crack!
The iron-like armored body of the Doomsday Beast began to fracture, yet Tetsuya didn't stop. As the golden energy around him flickered as if it were about to run out, he unleashed a lightning strike with all his might.
A massive bolt of lightning rampaged through the space station. With tremendous force, Tetsuya rushed straight toward the Doomsday Beast's dark-matter engine core.
His fist, wrapped in golden energy, tightened, and swung with everything he had.
Boom!
A deafening impact echoed. Cracks spread across the dark-matter core like a spiderweb before it shattered into countless pieces.
"ROAR!!!" The Doomsday Beast's body dissolved into purple-golden particles of light that slowly faded away. In its final moments, it released a sound like a sorrowful cry.
"Yay! We won!" March 7th cheered, jumping up and down in excitement.
Tetsuya returned to the others, dragging his slightly exhausted body before sitting down heavily. Tsunade and Erza approached, and without saying a word, Tsunade used the remainder of her chakra to perform a healing jutsu on him.
"Thanks," Tetsuya said, his gaze shifting to Stelle. Golden energy was still flowing from her. "What should we do about her?"
"Leave her to me," a calm, mature voice said. The tip of a cane touched Stelle's forehead, emitting a faint purple glow.
The surge of energy stopped, and Stelle nearly collapsed, but Tetsuya quickly caught her.
"Uncle Yang!" March 7th shouted.
Welt Yang adjusted his glasses, his voice filled with curiosity and confusion. "You two are March's friends? Thank you for your help."
Himeko and Dan Heng stepped forward, and Himeko asked, "May I ask your names?"
"Tetsuya." He gently laid Stelle down.
"Tsunade."
"Erza."
"Tetsuya-san, Tsunade-san, Erza-san… where are you from? I don't recall seeing you on this space station before," Dan Heng asked.
Erza and Tsunade exchanged glances, then looked toward Tetsuya. Without answering, Tetsuya smiled and waved at March 7th.
"Let little March 7th explain it. We have to go now."
The mission was over. It was time to leave.
[Detected the Doomsday Beast has been successfully defeated! Group Mission time has ended! Group Mission complete!]
[Congratulations! Tetsuya has obtained 65,000 Group Points! Congratulations! Tsunade has obtained 40,000 Group Points! Congratulations! Erza has obtained 40,000 Group Points! Congratulations! March 7th has obtained 5,000 Group Points!]
[In 5 seconds, mission participants not native to this world will be forcibly returned!]
[5… 4… 3… 2... 1… Returning!]
As the countdown reached zero, the figures of Tetsuya, Tsunade, and Erza vanished.
"Hm?" Dan Heng's gaze sharpened. He hadn't sensed them move at all. Instant teleportation.
"They disappeared?" Himeko frowned.
Light reflected off Welt Yang's glasses. "March, it seems you know where they came from."
Three pairs of eyes turned toward her.
"Eh? Um… well… that is…" March 7th scratched her head awkwardly, not knowing how to answer.
…
"I'm back."
After returning, Tetsuya saw the interior of his car. He leaned back against the seat, exhausted, though most of his fatigue had been healed by Tsunade's medical ninjutsu. He then activated the ability upgrade function.
This mission had earned him 65,000 points. Combined with the remaining points from the previous mission in Saeko's world, he now had a total of 107,453 Group Points.
He decided to set Electrokinesis aside for now. Level 4 was already extremely powerful, even if it hadn't been very obvious due to his opponent being a galaxy-invading destruction machine.
"Let's upgrade my senses first," he said, spending 50,000 points to raise Sixth Sense to Level 4.
[Sixth Sense has reached its maximum level!]
"Maximum level?" Tetsuya was slightly surprised. So, different abilities had different level caps. Electrokinesis could still be upgraded to Level 5, but since he lacked the points, and Sixth Sense was already maxed, with 57,453 points remaining, Tetsuya decided to try the lottery.
He opened the lottery function. On the first pull, it wasn't empty.
[Congratulations! You have obtained Six Powers!]
"Six Powers?" Tetsuya raised an eyebrow and checked the details. It turned out to be a skill from Hancock's world. Somewhat underwhelming, but still usable, particularly Tekkai, which could harden muscles like steel. However, his physique was already incredibly strong, so it wasn't very useful for him.
"But Marin could use this."
Tetsuya continued pulling the lottery, drawing eight more times and obtaining two additional items, from Hancock's world and Tsunade's world: Observation Haki Manual and Taijutsu Training Manual.
The former was useful for enhancing his senses now that Sixth Sense had reached its limit.
Then came the tenth and final pull.
[Congratulations! You have obtained Zanpakutō!]
"Jackpot!" Tetsuya was overjoyed.
This was clearly from Bleach. What surprised him even more was that it wasn't an item, but an ability.
107,453 − 50,000 − 10,000 = 47,453 Group Points remaining.
Tetsuya spent 11,000 points to upgrade Zanpakutō to Level 3.