"No abnormalities in power supply."
"No abnormalities in the liquid helium dewars."
"Linear electromagnetic launch module ready."
A series of mechanical status reports echoed through the facility. But at this moment, they sounded… unexpectedly pleasant.
Rentaro Satomi collapsed into the control seat.
The Ladder of Heaven was operational. He had successfully completed the startup sequence. The actual launch would now be handled by the command center.
In the command room—
Everyone was focused on the Ladder of Heaven's control screen. But the highest authority, Seitenshi, was staring intently at Haruto.
She wanted to see some kind of reaction from him.
Any reaction at all—maybe it would reveal something.
But there was none.
Haruto simply watched everything unfold with calm eyes. As if he were merely an indifferent spectator.
Which, in truth, he was.
No matter how this game ended, Haruto would not intervene. He would allow this trial of civilization to proceed fairly, all the way to the end.
"Saintess-sama! The Ladder of Heaven's barrel alignment is off!"
Suddenly, someone cried out in alarm.
Seitenshi turned her gaze back to the screen.
A desperate situation had emerged.
The Ladder of Heaven had no ammunition.
It could only fire one type of projectile:
Super Varanium.
Only super Varanium could withstand the acceleration from the Ladder's electromagnetic forces. Any other material would either disintegrate or be too weak to be accelerated.
And super Varanium—
Was expensive.
Extremely expensive.
It was worth at least ten thousand times more than gold by weight. And even then, it was practically unobtainable.
The manufacturing process was so strict that it was treated as a strategic-level resource across the various districts.
The Ladder of Heaven had been abandoned for so long...
Its stored projectiles had, for some reason, vanished.
Maybe they were reallocated.
Maybe someone had stolen them.
But none of that mattered now.
What mattered was:
Even if they started gathering super Varanium from within the Tokyo Area—It would take over two hours to deliver it to the Ladder of Heaven.
Two hours was more than enough time for Scorpio to take a nap atop the ruins of Tokyo.
On the other end of the comms, Rentaro had heard the bad news too.
He had just begun to relax, but now he immediately sprang to his feet and rushed to the Ladder of Heaven's loading chamber.
And sure enough—
The super Varanium storage compartments were completely empty. The screen displayed something like a revolver's cylinder—six chambers, all flashing red.
Rentaro silently stared at the glowing red display.
Then, gritting his teeth, he clenched his mechanical right arm with his left. With the sound of gears turning—He forcibly tore off his own right arm.
As part of the New Human Creation Project, his prosthetic limb was made of super Varanium.
In theory, it could be used as a projectile.
The Ladder of Heaven only recognized material composition. Shape didn't matter—at over 3% the speed of light, everything became a deadly bullet.
Rentaro tossed his severed arm into one of the loading chambers.
On the screen, one of the red indicators turned green.
Loaded.
Missing an arm, his balance was thrown off, and he staggered back to the control room.
"Use my arm. It's made of super Varanium. It's loaded now. Fire it!"
Rentaro said in a hoarse voice.
In truth, his arm was far more valuable than standard super Varanium—more like the difference between a lump of iron and a high-performance car.
The technology embedded in it was immeasurable.
But his plea received no confirmation.
"Rentaro... you need to... fire it manually…"
The comms crackled and broke up.
The Ladder of Heaven's prolonged activation was interfering with the surrounding signals. Shutting it down and reinitializing was not an option.
Rentaro's eyes widened.
He had to fire it himself?
"No! Saintess-sama, you've got the wrong person—I can't do it!"
He shouted into his headset.
But all he got in response was static.
Communication had all but failed.
At that moment, the Ladder of Heaven switched to manual targeting mode. A targeting module with a port for his remaining arm rose into place.
Clearly, there was no other way.
Rentaro slammed his remaining hand against the metal wall.
"Fifty kilometers or more, manual targeting—how am I supposed to do that!?"
In the command room—
The screen was now filled with static.
What little footage they had resembled a glitching slideshow.
Everyone held their breath.
They had placed all their hope on Rentaro Satomi.
Just like before.
Haruto stared at the snowy screen.
And suddenly—he lost interest in watching.
Rentaro, as one of the last remaining humans of this civilization, was ironically repulsive in his hesitation.
If he wanted to be a hero, then he should have the resolve to bear everything.
Just like a king.
"The king permits. The king acknowledges. The king bears the weight of the world."
That's the kind of resolve a true king should have. Otherwise, you're nothing but a half-formed mess.
Just like Rentaro now.
It was as if someone had pushed him onto the stage, forcing him to perform unwillingly. He was supposed to be one of the few left who could resist cognitive pollution…
But perhaps this dark world didn't deserve a true hero.
Inside the Ladder of Heaven's control room—
After a stretch of despair and self-doubt…
Rentaro finally reached for the manual trigger.
Maybe it was because he saw Scorpio approaching Tokyo.
If he didn't act now—everything would be lost.
Even if he failed—
It wouldn't be his fault, right?
Maybe even Rentaro himself didn't realize…
That deep down, he was avoiding taking responsibility for his actions.
If Haruto had been the one sitting there—For the sake of what he treasured, he would have grabbed the trigger without hesitation.
If he succeeded, he'd smile.
And if he failed—he'd return to those he loved and say, "I gave it everything."
Then spend his last moments with them.
That was the difference.
Above the Ladder of Heaven, a series of ethereal blue lights lit up.
And then—
A brilliant streak shot out at a speed no human eye could follow. A glowing trail, like a laser beam, remained suspended in the air behind it.
Far across the water, Scorpio's upper body exploded.
Even a tiny pebble, if accelerated to 5% the speed of light, would possess destructive power far beyond any modern weapon.
The sonic boom from the impact came only after the destruction.
The colossal Scorpio, its tentacles flailing, collapsed with a thunderous crash.
It sank into the sea.
The super Varanium had nullified its regeneration. Even Stage Five couldn't recover from this kind of damage.
Even a monster like that—
Could die.
Seeing the shot hit—
Rentaro practically collapsed into the control seat, joy flooding his face.
It was over!
Humanity had won!
Stage Five Scorpio had been slain!
The hero had saved the world!
That's how it should have ended.
But—just like the relic retrieval battle—
Because of Rentaro's hesitation…
Scorpio was slain too close to Tokyo.
As its body fell and sank into the ocean, one of its flailing tentacles struck the nearest Stone Monolith.
And so—
Under that impact, the Monolith's upper half collapsed, severed almost in two, crashing to the ground.
Scorpio was dead.
But it was far from over.
The collapse of the Monolith meant a breach had opened in the barrier protecting Tokyo's people.
If that gap wasn't filled…
Gastrea would flood in.
And the Gastrea virus would spread exponentially.
It might not look as dramatic as Scorpio's arrival, but the consequences were the same. Humanity couldn't directly fight Gastrea.
Tokyo would still fall.
In the command room, everyone's faces turned all shades of panic.
"Mobilize the Self-Defense Forces and all Civil Officers. Guard the collapsed Monolith zone! Contact every Varanium manufacturing company in Tokyo—start emergency repairs immediately!"
Seitenshi issued orders.
Out of sight, her hand was clenched so tightly that her knuckles had gone pale.
She knew—
With just Tokyo's remaining manpower, they couldn't stop the Gastrea invasion.
Which meant there was only one last chance for victory…