The war between Kiana Kaslana and Musashi did not cease with Yamato's arrival.
No one knew what was said between them within the communication courtyard.
Yamato understood her sister's nature well—Musashi would never listen to her elder sister's words.
Wounded by humanity, Musashi's heart was filled with pain, anger, and resentment. She lashed out, venting her emotions upon the world—sinking even her own sister.
Yet, no matter what happened, Yamato still loved her sister dearly.
"Yamato."
Just as Kiana was about to speak to her, Musashi detected a spacetime fluctuation. She looked up toward the heavens.
The sky churned with storm clouds, thunder rumbling and lightning flashing.
A pristine white aerial warship emerged from a swirling black vortex. Golden, glowing runes and patterns adorned its hull, giving it a sacred appearance.
The Mental Models of Kongou and Kiana Kaslana's Maya merged into one.
They became a white-haired, red-eyed girl in a white gown, standing silently at the bow, gazing down upon the Fog fleet below.
Kongou.
You traitor to the Fog!
Musashi ordered the Fleet of Fog to attack.
The Fog ships raised their cannons, opened their launch bays, and unleashed their full firepower toward the airborne Kiana Kaslana.
Facing the barrage, Kiana only smiled disdainfully and raised her hand, snapping her fingers.
Countless spatial gates opened, swallowing all the incoming fire.
"What...!"
Takao gasped in disbelief at the sight.
Their attacks vanished—without even touching the Klein field.
"This looks like a mirror system," Hyuuga muttered as she analyzed the data. It resembled the Mirror System that could redirect Super-Graviton Cannon fire into another dimension—transferring attacks elsewhere entirely.
Seeing their assault ineffective, the Fog fleet collectively ceased fire.
Kiana Kaslana clasped a glowing orb of light in her hand, then slowly closed her fist. The light vanished.
A moment later, spatial gates reappeared from all directions.
All the absorbed attacks were returned—every single one.
The sky rained destruction as beams and missiles poured down like a torrential storm.
The Fog ships raised their Klein fields to defend themselves.
But the Nagara-class light cruisers' computational capacity was instantly maxed out—their Klein fields shattered, and they exploded, sinking beneath the waves.
"Damn it!"
Hyuuga realized what was happening the instant she saw the portals reopen—their own attacks were being returned.
"Disperse nanomaterials! Control carefully!"
She quickly dissolved the nanomaterial structure of her missiles carrying corrosive warheads.
The other Fog ships followed her example, dissolving their torpedo and missile nanomaterials to prevent their own munitions from detonating against their allies.
However, energy-based attacks like beams couldn't be canceled—they had no choice but to endure them.
When the bombardment ended, Kiana Kaslana looked slightly disappointed.
She had only managed to destroy several Nagara-class ships.
The heavy cruisers remained mostly intact.
The Fog had reacted too quickly, even managing to recall their launched torpedoes and missiles in time.
Corrosive torpedoes and missiles never detonated.
Her daughter Sirin's technique certainly looked impressive—but it wasn't very effective against the Fog.
It might have worked against humans, but the Fog's instant analytical response was simply too fast.
That was the difference between humans and artificial intelligence—processing tens of thousands of pieces of battlefield data in an instant.
A red data halo expanded around Musashi's body as she activated her own Mirror System.
Her Super-Graviton Cannon fired like a storm of ordinary artillery shells, crimson beams raining wildly upon the airborne Kiana Kaslana.
Musashi's ship lifted from the sea, ascending into the air to duel Kiana in a fierce midair clash of graviton cannons.
The gravitational distortion was so intense that the ocean below was pushed aside, forming a vast crater that exposed the seafloor.
"..."
I'm sorry, Musashi—but I must do this.
Watching her sister locked in battle with Kiana, Yamato infiltrated Musashi's systems.
Caught off guard, Musashi was forced to divide her focus to resist the intrusion—her computational capacity plummeting by half.
Her Klein field weakened drastically.
"Yamato... why?"
Musashi turned toward her sister in disbelief.
She couldn't comprehend why her own sister would betray her.
Yamato, like her, was a super battleship—their computational capacities stood at the very peak.
With Yamato's assistance, Kiana Kaslana quickly shattered Musashi's ship body and seized control of her Mental Model.
Together, the two sealed away all of Musashi's previous memories.
After glancing once at Yamato, Kiana Kaslana carried the sleeping Musashi away.
Takao, Hiei, and the others looked toward Yamato, unable to understand why she simply stood by and allowed Musashi to be taken.
Afterward, Yamato reasserted command over the Fleet of Fog.
Originally, she had intended to disband the Fog, allowing them to live freely according to their own wishes.
But after her conversation with Kiana Kaslana, she changed her mind.
The Mental Models of the Fog were still too immature. If released, they would inevitably align with various human factions, becoming weapons once more and turning against each other.
She couldn't bear to see her Fog sisters slaughter one another.
Meanwhile, humanity was thrown into chaos and terror after Kiana Kaslana's fighter and bomber squadrons carried out a series of nuclear strikes.
Kongou, that unpredictable Fog, never played by the rules.
They had already surrendered.
Couldn't she have waited until after the battle with Musashi to deal with them?
At that time, Kiana had diverted massive forces to strike key industrial cities, inflicting devastating losses.
What was she thinking?
They weren't even part of the war!
Perhaps it was because of Chihaya Gunzou of I-401.
...
Regardless, someone had to take the blame for what happened.
Chihaya Gunzou was the perfect scapegoat.
As for Kongou and Yamato—their survival would depend entirely on Kiana's whims.
No one dared offend her.
As humans often said:
If you are strong, there will always be great scholars to defend your name.
The internet was flooded with condemnation of Chihaya Gunzou, blaming him for meddling and bringing calamity upon humanity.
The human leaders were no fools—they knew that Yamato and Kongou must have reached some form of agreement.
That was the only reason both sides ceased fighting.
Yamato sent Chihaya Gunzou and his crew to Iwo Jima.
It was part of her agreement with Kiana Kaslana—she could not harbor human passengers aboard her vessel.
The Fog and humanity were now under her joint supervision, and there was much for her to manage.
Kiana Kaslana had originally intended to eliminate Chihaya Gunzou, the story's protagonist—but Yamato firmly refused.
Fine.
If she wouldn't act, others would.
Under someone's secret directive, after Yamato left Chihaya Gunzou's group on Iwo Jima, a human special forces unit quickly moved in to capture them.
Abandoned and disheartened, Chihaya Gunzou offered no resistance when the infiltrating soldiers seized him. He was taken away to face trial.
To ensure his compliance, Kiana Kaslana agreed to spare the other four former crew members of I-401.
Later, even when Yamato tried to intervene, it was too late.
Chihaya Gunzou's fate was sealed—he had chosen his own end.
Still, his name and photograph would be recorded in humanity's history—leaving behind a bold, indelible mark.
Though not one of honor, it was a name remembered by all.