She patted her stomach. Though she wasn't really hungry yet, Yoshino quietly slipped out of bed. "I should… wash up first…"
It wasn't strictly necessary, but since Big Sister Mobius insisted on it, Yoshino had always followed the routine.
"Alright, I'll wait for you a little while."
Ignoring the fact that the other girl seemed somewhat afraid of her, Kurumi readily gave her time to freshen up, though her mind was already occupied with another matter.
After reaching an agreement with Mobius yesterday, she had expected to be given some incredible mission.
Instead, she'd just been helping out with her experiments as an assistant before being shooed out of the lab.
She was told that from now on, she would be operating alongside these three Spirits and to contact Gray Serpent if anything came up.
As for Gray Serpent, Kurumi figured its true form was likely a highly human-like AI.
Paired with the body Mobius crafted for it, it could move around as freely as any human and handle numerous tasks—a truly convenient and useful tool.
Through her persistent questioning, she had finally learned why Mobius remained so confident about facing the Spirit of Origin.
It was an Anti-Spirit weapon that surpassed Kurumi's wildest imagination.
"Do you know how the Spirit of Origin came into being?"
Faced with Mobius's question, Kurumi could only remain silent, for she truly didn't know.
Fortunately, Mobius didn't play the enigmatic riddler like Phantom did, instead answering her directly:
"It was formed by the convergence of the entire planet's leylines. However, the magnitude of its energy was leveraged to an utterly absurd degree through the magical formulae that connected it to the principles governing all things."
"In terms of energy volume, she possesses power on the scale of a solar system."
Though Kurumi had only attended high school during her time as a human, that knowledge was enough for her to grasp just how insane that was.
The scale of a solar system? Do you have any idea how insignificant a single planet is compared to a solar system?
She was starting to feel despair. If those words had come from the Spirit of Origin herself, she could have comforted herself by thinking it was just empty boasting. But it was Mobius who had said it.
She even began to wonder, was her wish truly achievable? To go back in time and kill the Spirit of Origin? Her?
"No need to make such a face. While she theoretically possesses the power to reshape the heavens and earth, easily destroying planets, it's a pity that in her hands, such power is wielded like a child's plaything."
She vaguely remembered how, just as she was on the verge of breaking down inside, that Mobius's voice remained light and mocking, without a trace of fear.
Dark Amber genuinely thought it was a waste for such power to be held by Takamiya Mio.
With the power to protect everything and remake the world, she still couldn't protect the one she loved, ultimately descending into madness.
Takamiya Mio and Kurumi actually shared the same flaw: when things went wrong, they tended toward self-destruction.
If Kurumi's case could be judged as having no other choice, then Takamiya Mio's was simply like eating too many red beans—consumed by longing.
But perhaps it was also because she knew deep down that no matter what she did, no matter how similar her reborn lover might be, the person she truly loved was never coming back.
It wasn't just about the red beans.
She had tried everything—bloodletting, drowning herself, drugs, suicide—but her resilient body wouldn't allow it.
Only spiritual power sharing the same origin as hers could harm her. Although she had weakened herself by continually dividing her power to create other Spirits, her actual abilities still far surpassed any other Spirit.
[A/N: The combined spiritual power of 11 perfect Spirits equals only a portion of Takamiya Mio's power.]
In the end, her defeat was entirely her own doing.
Even after being defeated, she could have resurrected herself, but she chose instead to bring the deceased Tohka back to life.
Honestly, watching this love-struck fool who had been breaking down and spiraling into madness since shortly after her birth, Dark Amber was truly left scratching her head in disbelief.
"My plan is simple: directly vaporize her spiritual power and have Durandal absorb it."
"Hmm… huh?"
Kurumi nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly realized something was off.
"Forget how you plan to vaporize her spiritual power for a moment… You said have Durandal absorb it? Absorb power equivalent to a solar system? Are you sure Durandal won't explode after absorbing it? And if she does, how can you assume Earth would remain unscathed after an explosion of that magnitude?"
"You can rest assured. While there is an element of gambling involved, according to my estimates, Durandal can fully absorb that energy."
Dark Amber would never risk Amber's life.
In fact, if this world hadn't coincidentally aligned with Durandal's "gacha pool," Dark Amber wouldn't even have conceived this plan.
With anyone else—even if Amber were using Fu Hua's character card—Dark Amber wouldn't dare attempt this. But with Durandal, coupled with the [Black Abyss White Flower], it was well worth trying.
Even if she couldn't take it all in one go, it was fine. Both Amber and herself were severely lacking in scale.
They didn't lack methods or abilities, especially with the [Taixu Sword Intent]—a martial art that allowed for extremely precise control over energy.
They never had to worry about having enough energy but insufficient output; whatever energy they had, they could fully utilize. What they truly lacked was scale.
And when it came to means of increasing scale, neither Seele nor Fu Hua had such a method.
Only Durandal, with her monstrous, bug-like energy absorption capacity, could achieve it.
Because Durandal didn't just absorb energy and call it a day—all the energy she absorbed would be converted into nourishment, deepening her reserves of strength.
"…Is Durandal even human?"
"Of course. Though she's somewhat special, she can indeed be called human."
"…Fine."
Forcing herself to move past the shock that a human could absorb the energy of a solar system and remain intact, Kurumi posed her next question: "Then, how do you plan to vaporize the Spirit of Origin's spiritual power?"
"That leads to what I've truly been dedicating my research to these past thirty years."
Mentioning this, even Dark Amber felt a hint of pride. She pressed a button at her side, and a massive holographic projection appeared before them, displaying blueprints of a gigantic cannon barrel.
"A satellite? Cannon?"
Kurumi was puzzled. "Is this an orbital weapon? Can it affect the Spirit of Origin?"
Orbital weapons were indeed advanced for this world—precise strikes from beyond the planet onto the surface would be considered top-tier deterrents by current standards. But… such things were, at best, a threat to humans.
They could strike cities or smaller countries, but against a solar system-scale Spirit of Origin? Even against Earth itself, an orbital cannon would need to 'scratch' for a long time to cause significant damage.
And the Spirit of Origin wasn't just going to stand there and let you chip away at her.
Dark Amber knew Kurumi wouldn't understand just by looking, but that didn't stop her from showcasing her achievement.
"Don't think of it as just an ordinary orbital weapon. While it can indeed do everything an orbital weapon can, its true function goes far beyond that."
Thinking of the painstaking effort she had poured into completing it, and the returns that effort would bring, even Dark Amber's smile widened considerably.
"You may call it—Selene."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! 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!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.