Accompanied by the conductor's panicked shout, Dan Heng, who was closest, had just taken a single step forward when his footing suddenly slipped.
"Ouch."
"Pom." With a thump, Pom-Pom sat down hard on the floor, eyes unfocused and blank.
"That was terrifying, pom."
March 7th pressed her face against the window with all her strength, straining to glance forward from the corner of her eye, desperately trying to make out the shield zone at the very front of the Express.
"It's fine! There's still ten centimeters before we hit!"
"That just makes it even scarier, Pom!!"
"And you, over there, Stelle, why do you look disappointed and curious at the same time?!"
"What's going on? There shouldn't be any other ships intruding onto the Astral Rail the Express travels on." Himeko frowned slightly, puzzled.
The Astral Express travels the Path of Trailblaze, connecting countless worlds.
Not to mention that the Astral rail itself is one of the symbols of the Express's voyage, infused with the power of Trailblaze, even if someone really did see the Astral rail, they would never think to run onto it just to experience the Astral Express's perspective.
No one could guarantee that the next second the Express wouldn't suddenly warp in and collide with them. And if a collision did happen, it would unquestionably be the other party's fault, along with the responsibility for delaying the Astral Express's journey.
"The ship ahead looks strangely familiar." Welt narrowed his eyes slightly and adjusted his faintly reflective glasses.
"Wah, no matter who it is, daring to block the Express's path, the conductor has to teach them a lesson, Pom!" Pom-Pom sprang to their feet in a huff, ears twisting together as anger visibly bubbled up.
Marching forward on short little legs, Pom-Pom grabbed the megaphone, ready to have a proper shouting match with whoever was on the other side.
At that moment, the lights in the carriage suddenly went out.
"Pom!"
A beam of spotlight shone down, and a knight as red as a rose appeared abruptly beneath its glow.
Pom-Pom, who had just stepped forward, stared blankly at the knight who had suddenly appeared in front of them, their brain freezing for several seconds.
"My sincerest apologies, dear conductor. This stop was not of my own volition. Please accept my most heartfelt apology."
The spotlight widened, and then two beams illuminated both the crimson knight and the furious conductor at the same time, forming a stark contrast with everyone else buried in darkness.
…
"Did the One and Only suddenly malfunction?"
"Yes. I had intended to travel to the nearby Titan Prime system to spread the doctrine of Pure Beauty, but along the way encountered unspeakable circumstances. The One and Only lost control and nearly caused harm to two beautiful new lives." Argenti spoke with genuine remorse.
As the Express once ridden by the Aeon of Trailblaze, Akivili, any damage caused to it because of his own actions would be an irreparable offense against beauty itself.
"There's no need to take it so much to heart, Mr. Argenti. Malfunctions are unavoidable, and after the incident occurred, you worked very hard to keep things from getting worse. You did all you could." Himeko shook her head slightly, offering comfort.
It was just a bit surreal. They had only just said that the Express was protected by the mighty power of Trailblaze, and immediately afterward external forces intervened, though admittedly the problem hadn't originated within the Express itself.
"Another inexplicable malfunction." Beside them, Dan Heng rested his hands on his knees, deep in thought.
"Putting it that way, going out these days is really dangerous. Even the One and Only ran into trouble."
"So does that mean nobody should go out anymore?"
"That's obviously impossible!" The banter between Stelle and March 7th pulled the conversation back to the core of the incident.
Argenti spoke again.
"During my travels across the Cosmos spreading Pure Beauty, I have heard of many similar incidents involving ships losing control. Unfortunately, when they occurred, they were always far from me, leaving me unable to offer even the slightest help to the victims."
Stelle asked in confusion, "Hasn't anyone investigated who's behind all this?"
"To my knowledge, many individuals have been running about in search of the source of these incidents, but regrettably, all efforts have come up empty. I myself experienced the One and Only's loss of control under such circumstances."
"Could it be that Irontomb's doing? They're a Lord Ravager after all, and they mess with machines, definitely full of bad intentions!" March 7th suddenly had a flash of inspiration, stumbling upon a possible cause.
"In truth, many have already cast suspicious eyes toward the Balanza Furnace. However, that place is the territory of a Lord Ravager. Approaching it without sufficient strength would be extremely unwise." Argenti shook his head slightly.
Just as March 7th was feeling disappointed, Argenti continued.
"I only observed the Balanza Furnace from afar. At present, it is heavily fortified. With my limited abilities, I could not draw closer. By Idrila above, it must be that I have been lax in honing my skills. Increased training is absolutely necessary."
"Wait, wait! Didn't you just say that without enough strength you can't get close?!" March 7th cried out from the depths of her soul.
"Precisely because of this, my skills are inadequate, and I was unable to uncover the truth. I am deeply ashamed." Argenti placed his left fist against his chest, his expression filled with remorse.
If it were anyone else, March 7th would have assumed they were secretly pleased with themselves. But since it was Argenti, she believed it completely.
When he felt ashamed, he truly felt ashamed. Considering Argenti's utterly unreasonable talent for showing up absolutely everywhere, March 7th had nothing more to say.
"If it's that individual… it's not hard to understand." Dan Heng nodded slightly.
Just how powerful was a Lord Ravager? Any existence that reached the level of an Emanator had already surpassed the very concept of humanity.
Take Miss Acheron, who walks the path of Nihility. Once her blade is drawn, a single strike can obliterate an entire star system.
And that still isn't her limit. How much power a Pathstrider can draw from their Path depends entirely on their own obsession.
Throughout his travels, they had seen countless Pathstriders of all kinds.
Those who could walk far along a Path were without exception individuals unwavering in their convictions.
So what could a Lord Ravager, one who rampaged freely through torrents of data, accomplish?
The answer was, nearly anything. And even that "nearly" was based on the premise that more than one Emanator existed, and that there were still those capable of stopping him.
Welt had another question.
"If it's just Irontomb, it shouldn't be able to affect machines on such a large scale."
Machines and Intellitrons were entirely different concepts.
Intellitrons that had signs of life had, in a sense, already transcended most forms of life.
And that was indeed the case.
Under complete rationality, unless there was something fundamentally wrong with the Intellitron, purely rational decision-making alone could surpass most people.
"This matter is also under my investigation. However, as long as the truth remains undiscovered, both organic and inorganic life across the Cosmos will continue to face threats from the unknown. Bearing the name of Pure Beauty, I will absolutely not allow such things to happen!"
Argenti was, as always, reliable.
"Wait a moment." Suddenly, Stelle, who had been standing with arms crossed and head lowered in thought, spoke up, drawing everyone's attention.
"If, I mean if, the one called Irontomb is imitating some predecessor who's very similar to him…"
Mechanical being, similar, destruction.
Three elements combined.
Emperor Rupert.
…
An existence known as the Emperor, the origin of two wars between inorganic and organic life, a being feared by countless people.
On one sunny afternoon long ago, Intellitrons that had once been gentle and obedient suddenly bared fangs they had never shown before.
Humans and animals alike. All organic life fell within their range of attack. To this day, that catastrophe remains a compulsory subject in the history of the cosmos.
It is mentioned alongside the Swarm Disaster unleashed by the Aeon of Propagation, Tayzzyronth.
The Balanza Furnace, a silent, lifeless world. One by one, crimson glimmers like scattered starlight began to spread. In moments, countless red lights covered the sky, blotting everything out.
"Command received. Executing total annihilation."
The hum of machines pierced the silent night sky, assaulting the eardrums as the entire star system seemed to tremble.
Most people are not particularly sensitive to numbers. The visual impact of hundreds or a thousand people is almost the same.
Seeing a thousand might even prompt a remark.
"So this is what a thousand people looks like."
And when the number continues to rise, surpassing a certain threshold, the sensory difference vanishes again.
But the eyes do not lie. The shock brought by sheer quantity is incomparable. When the brain receives such an overwhelming amount of information, it inevitably crashes.
The stars tore away their past disguises, revealing bodies of endlessly turning gears.
The asteroid belt vibrated on its own, the stardust clinging to its surface shaken loose.
This enormous furnace had long since been transformed into a colossal machinery. Every corner, every flicker of light, was an extension of a giant beast's claws and fangs.
Under the control of the mastermind known as Irontomb, they could crouch obediently in place, perfectly still, without revealing a single flaw.
…
But once the Lord Ravager chose to reveal his intent, the might unleashed by these meticulously prepared In-organic beings was beyond calculation.
A huge maw slowly aligned with an utterly defenseless world.
Brilliant, dazzling light gathered, not to illuminate the world or bring hope to living beings.
"Boom!" Effortlessly, simply, like a kindergarten child aiming a water gun at a paper target taped to a door, a vibrant, living planet vanished abruptly from the Cosmos.
Even though it was a world forcibly cut off from interstellar space after Irontomb seized the Balanza Furnace.
Even though its people were still desperately holding on, praying for a miracle.
Reality was still reality. In the interstellar age, destroying a planet with long-range artillery was commonplace, so simple it bordered on trivial.
Compared to the Lord Ravagers wiping out star system after star system, how could a single planet with an ordinary level of civilization ever attract the attention of the powerful?
And this was only the beginning.
That beam of light was like a signal. Immediately after, countless light arrows tore through space, carrying the stench of death as they descended upon world after world that had no idea the god of death had already fixed its gaze upon them.
These worlds vanished before they could even leave a trace in the Cosmos, not even scattering stardust from their disintegration.
Such behavior has a name.
Efficiency.
...
At the boundary between the Sea of Quanta and the Imaginary Tree.
This was where the extremities of the Imaginary reached into the Sea of Quanta.
At this moment, a massive, obscure shadow lingered here, immersed in its own thoughts.
"So this is what it feels like, viewing the world from another angle…" No amount of words could express Irontomb's emotions at this moment.
As a being born from a world nurtured by the Tree, absorbing the power of the Sea of Quanta should not have affected him.
Existences standing at this vantage point had neither the need nor the interest to form connections with such insignificant life.
But Irontomb was a Lord Ravager, a being capable of directly drawing Imaginary energy.
The Sea of Quanta had no interest in him, but power imbued with the Sea's attributes thought otherwise. Faced with Imaginary energy of equal standing, quantum energy would never remain passive.
The consequences of such reckless absorption were impossible to predict. But Irontomb did not forget where he was, at the extremities of the Imaginary Tree.
With the Tree at his back, his supply of Imaginary energy was inexhaustible. The only thing limiting him was the nature of his life.
That was fine. He only needed to apply the rational principles of a machine to accomplish his grand design.
He felt himself reach the absolute limit his body could withstand.
This was the proper state for a lifeform of his current form.
So, ascend. More precisely, he was about to change his form of life.
A being not acknowledged by the Sea of Quanta would, upon entering it, be transformed without resistance into a quantum lifeform.
Irontomb was no exception. But he was also different. Another part of him was connected to the Imaginary Tree.
That connection allowed him to preserve the integrity of that portion.
Before finding a way to return to the Cosmos in a quantum state, the half of his body that had already been transformed could not re-enter the Cosmos.
The other half, however, remained unaffected.
Under these circumstances, he successfully linked himself to the contingencies he had prepared outside.
His consciousness descended. Though it could not fully descend due to quantum interference, this opportunity alone was enough for him to influence the Cosmos.
That was sufficient.
For a Lord Ravager, especially one who had comprehended the path of a predecessor, his radiance would shine through the ages.
And so…
"Execute total annihilation!" Each Lord Ravager is chosen because of a unique philosophy of destruction.
Irontomb studied human emotions, the thoughts of organic life.
Now, after entering the Imaginary vortex and having half his body quantumized, he gradually received the thoughts of the data he had recorded.
Combining his own philosophy with the rationality of inorganic life, he arrived at the optimal method of execution.
Annihilate all life, and guide inorganic beings to become lifeforms similar to himself.
This was destruction. A destruction that unified organic and inorganic life.
Inorganic life, born upon the Path?
So frail. So weak. Only this perfect body of his was true existence.
This was the great extinction of organic life.
Destruction.
Only destruction could bring this to fruition.
Only destruction.