Clack—
As the Angeloids stuffed the last Elf into a life-support pod, the reactor hummed to life.
"Reporting. At standard efficiency, ordinary Elves can burn for approximately two to three hundred years, while Potimas can continuously supply this reactor with energy for eight hundred years."
"With further technological upgrades to improve the conversion of their magic power into energy, their burn time should increase even further."
"This reactor's energy output can support approximately fifty-five percent of the consumption of a standard pre-space-age civilization. Increasing output efficiency will shorten their service life."
After setting the parameters, the Angeloid provided Jibril with precise data.
The bioelectric grid was less efficient than advanced technologies such as dark matter reactors and zero-point vacuum energy reactors, but its cost was effectively zero.
It was extremely convenient to use. It could also "dispose of" captured enemies while preventing waste.
"Mm. We should be able to use it once this world's technology advances in the future."
Jibril nodded.
The entire process left Shiro and Ariel utterly dumbfounded.
Silver Wolf, Bronya, and several other recently arrived members of the Trailblaze team had never seen such a device either.
Spider crept over to the hibernation pods and examined Potimas and the other Elves.
They had already entered a semi-dormant state, submerged in pale green liquid and unable to move.
Bang, bang, bang—
She tapped the glass cover with her forelimb, but the people inside did not react at all.
"Won't they resist?"
Ariel asked.
"Inside the life-support pods, they are kept in a state of deep paralysis. Their self-awareness is strictly suppressed, so they cannot even regain consciousness."
"Oh..."
"Then... what did you mean by their service life? What will happen to them in the end?"
"Once all the energy in their bodies has been extracted, they'll probably turn into a pile of inorganic matter."
Jibril considered it for a moment.
"Once the cost of keeping them alive exceeds the energy they produce, we can dispose of them."
Hiss—
Ariel listened with her mouth hanging open.
She was a Demon Lord, after all. In this world, she was a terrifying existence who killed without blinking, struck fear into all who heard her name, and could silence crying children at night.
However, compared to the Starsea Empire's methods, she felt she still lacked imagination.
Uh, soaking people in hibernation pods and using them to generate electricity for centuries... I think you're more suited to being the Demon Lord.
Spider silently complained about Jibril in her mind.
"I'm still far behind Senior Ritsuka Fujimaru and Senior Grey."
Jibril replied modestly.
"I've only learned the barest surface of their advanced ideas. Had those two seniors been here, they certainly would have devised an even better method of disposal."
"..."
Ariel and Spider did not dare speak.
Ariel had originally been determined to exterminate Potimas and the Elves. After seeing this method of squeezing every last bit of value from them and condemning them to a fate worse than death, she was completely convinced.
The Starsea Empire was still a cut above.
Aboard the Astral Express, Wakaba Hiiro watched the spectacle with an expression of utter disbelief and poked Setsuna.
"...Where did you people even get such a bizarre thing?"
"It's basic technology. Stop making such a fuss."
...
Two hours later, at the border of the Daztrudia Continent where it connected to the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
The spacecraft carried everyone through the sky in cruise mode.
"Now then, all the reincarnators have been captured, and both Potimas and the Elf Village have been conquered. We have only one final mission left."
Jibril checked the Sophons' coordinates on the holographic interface.
"Pull Sariel out."
"You... know about Sariel?"
After finally avenging herself, Ariel's attitude toward everyone had become considerably friendlier.
The reason she had become the Demon Lord was also to save Sariel.
"Mm-hmm. This world's System was built around her as its core. Say what you will, but she is one of the few true saints I know of."
Jibril replied.
After the dragons drained the planet's MA energy, the world stood on the verge of destruction. In their despair, humanity begged the angel for help, pleading with her to sacrifice herself.
Sariel agreed to their request. To protect the living creatures on the planet, she willingly offered herself to sustain the System's operation.
She was also the God of the Divine Word worshiped by the Word of God Religion, as well as the goddess revered by the Holy Kingdom of Alleius.
A "saint" who sacrificed herself to save all living beings was obviously different from certain strange creatures that appeared in later generations.
—Although in practical terms, all she could do was prolong this world's dying struggle.
The System could only absorb portions of the souls of the dead to replenish the planet's energy. With each successive cycle of reincarnation, the world would become weaker and weaker.
The System's own operation also consumed energy. Whether it was Potimas using the planet's energy to construct the Elf Village's barrier or the Hero receiving inexplicable enhancements to his abilities, the principle remained the same.
Once the planet's energy was exhausted, the entire world would be destroyed.
Hum...
After the spacecraft arrived at the target location, Jibril estimated the coordinates.
"Hmm... It seems to be protected by a magic formation? No matter."
She raised one hand.
Heavenly Smite.
Energy gathered above her head, forming an enormous vortex.
Boom!!—
A dark beam descended, directly piercing through the underground rock strata and forcibly blasting away several thousand meters of earth.
Rumble!—
The ground trembled, and the grating sound of space shattering echoed through the area.
Once the dust dispersed, a vast, empty, incomprehensible space distorted by magic was revealed deep beneath the earth.
This was the System's central core. An enormous magic formation composed of bizarre geometric shapes covered the ground.
At its center hung a female angel, suspended and restrained by magical formations.
She had short silver-blue hair and wore a tight silver bodysuit. Her eyes were lowered, while the wings at her sides were firmly bound in midair by magic.
Her lower body appeared to have dissolved into space. Everything below her knees had already vanished into the void.
The angel Sariel, the living sacrifice offered to the world.
"Mother!"
The moment Ariel saw Sariel's condition, she lost control of her emotions and flashed downward.
Boom—
The magic formation within the space flared with light, blocking her outside.
"Don't touch her recklessly. Sariel is connected to this entire world's System."
Jibril and the Trailblaze team descended one after another.
So the voice I hear every time I level up comes from her?
Spider raised her head and observed the angel.
After having her power extracted for countless years, Sariel had already grown extremely weak.
Her mind remained in a half-conscious daze, barely responding to any external stimulus.
"I... I'm here to save you!!!"
Ariel pounded several times against the transparent energy field, sending ripples across its surface.
Gritting her teeth, she waved her hand and constructed several magic formations, attempting to forcibly break through the device restraining Sariel.
Boom, boom, boom—
It still had no effect.
"Wait a moment!"
Jibril pressed one hand against her.
"Sariel is the core of this entire world's System. If we recklessly remove her, the planet's energy cycle will collapse in an instant, and the world will be destroyed."
"Ah..."
Ariel froze.
It was only through Sariel that the System, which used souls to replenish the planet's energy, had been created.
It was obvious that the moment Sariel left, the already fragile energy replenishment system would immediately disappear, plunging the planet into a crisis of destruction.
"But, but..."
The benefactor she regarded as her mother was right before her. Ariel could not possibly stand by and do nothing.
She clutched her hair and paced anxiously back and forth several times.
"In that case... we need to replenish the planet with enough energy first? Then reduce its MA consumption?"
"As expected, we should still kill half the people in this world, right? Mm... The souls of half the population should sustain it for quite a long time?..."
Ariel's gaze gradually hardened. To save Sariel, she was willing to pay any price.
"Stop, stop, stop—find another way."
Jibril stopped her from behaving like Thanos.
"Then what are we supposed to do?!"
"Without Sariel, the entire world and its System will collapse, unless we possess power equal to hers..."
Ariel suspiciously examined the people around her.
She did not doubt the combat strength of Jibril, Silver Wolf, and the others, but destroying a nation or a planet was completely different from saving an entire world.
Destruction was far easier than reconstruction.
"Well, we really don't have any way to save this doomed planet. We can't exactly sacrifice another person, can we?"
Jibril spread her hands.
"Then?..."
"But we can call for outside assistance!"
"Mm... Now that we've reached this point, I think Master is probably satisfied? After all, we've gathered everyone and conquered the world."
Jibril connected to Setsuna's communicator.
She waved toward the sky.
"Commander, give us a hand!—"