"Hah… hah… hah…"
Not much time had passed before Welt found himself kneeling on one knee, battered and bruised, his left hand gripping a cane propped against the ground.
His body swayed unsteadily, looking as if he might topple over at any moment.
Meanwhile, Clara didn't have a single scratch on her. She wasn't even breathing heavily.
To Clara, this fight probably felt no different from a giant swatting a baby…
"Is this the so-called 'Preservation' power you hold in your heart?" Clara looked at Welt's state and put on a thoroughly disdainful expression.
"You… call yourself 'in the name of the world'?"
Hearing Clara's taunts, Welt's face remained impassive. Internally, though, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.
'I didn't buy much time, but it should be enough for them to get away…'
Having witnessed Clara's strength earlier, Welt knew that even going all out, he stood no chance against her.
He might not even last a few moves…
He didn't know why Clara had humored him for this long, but it didn't matter anymore.
As long as Dan Heng and the others could escape…
Noticing Welt's expression, Clara let out a soft chuckle. The power of Destruction began to gather slowly in her hand.
"It seems you're ready to welcome Destruction."
"Then, goodbye."
Clara raised a finger, pointing directly at Welt.
In the next instant, a golden light erupted from her hand, and a beam of destructive force shot toward Welt.
"…"
Perhaps because Welt was already so weakened, Clara hadn't put much strength into this strike. The Welt at his peak could have withstood it.
But now… all he could do was wait for death.
Seeing the attack coming, Welt closed his eyes and gave up struggling.
'Sigh… is this where my journey ends?'
He waited quietly for death to take him.
"…"
But after a moment, the shadow of death didn't descend upon his heart.
Puzzled, Welt opened his eyes again. What he saw left him frozen in place.
There, standing before him, were Stelle, March 7th, Bronya, Seele, and a man with horns on his head—all straining with every ounce of their strength to block the attack.
"Everyone…"
Welt didn't know what to feel seeing this.
"One: Trailblazers shall decide their own path."
"Two: The crew moves as one."
"Three: Even in adversity, stand against injustice."
Seeing Welt so battered and wounded, even the usually bubbly, somewhat airheaded March 7th turned completely serious.
"These are the rules of the Astral Express."
"So, Mr. Yang, even if we face an enemy we can't hope to defeat, we would never abandon you!"
March helped Welt to his feet, her expression solemn.
"March…"
Looking at March now, Welt felt both warmth and bitterness in his heart.
Warmth, because March had finally grown up, capable of saying such words.
Bitterness, because instead of running, March and the others had come back to face Clara—an opponent with the combat prowess of an Emanator—alongside him.
In Welt's eyes, this wasn't a rational decision.
"March, if you leave now, there might still be time." Welt slipped back into his reliable senior persona, adjusting his glasses as he spoke to March and the others.
"I can hold her off a little longer. By then, you all—"
"We are absolutely not running away and leaving you behind, Mr. Yang!"
Before Welt could finish, March cut him off, lecturing him in a tone that sounded strangely mature.
"But—"
"Welt, March is right. The Astral Express has no rule about abandoning companions or fleeing from battle!"
Just as Welt tried to argue, a woman's voice interrupted him.
Everyone turned to look. A woman with fiery red hair was walking toward them, her expression grave as she stared up at Clara, who watched from above with an amused look.
It was Himeko, who had just descended from the Astral Express.
"Himeko… you too…?" Seeing Himeko arrive, a wave of bitterness washed over Welt.
Clara's strength was on a level the current Astral Express crew simply couldn't match head-on…
Even if the entire crew fought together, it would probably make no difference to Clara…
"Watching my comrades fight a powerful enemy on the battlefield while I sit on the Express, flicking my fingers to control a railgun that would be utterly useless against her…"
"As the navigator of the Astral Express, I would never allow that." Himeko placed a hand over her chest, her expression deadly serious.
Welt: …
He said nothing. He knew now that no matter what he said, he wouldn't be able to change Himeko's mind…
"So, let's fight side by side! Even if the end result is being buried in endless ice and snow." Himeko gave Welt a faint smile, then drew her weapon, her gaze fixed intently on Clara.
Seeing Himeko's move, the others also raised their weapons, aiming at Clara.
"Ah~ Finally done chatting, are we?" Seeing everyone's stance, Clara flashed a delighted smile.
Listening to the conversation among the Express crew, Clara had come to understand a great truth.
No wonder villains in games and novels loved to let the hero team ramble on and pile up buffs.
This feeling… it was like watching a troupe of high-class clowns perform. It filled one's heart with delight.
"Hmm… If I were a typical villain, I'd probably get defeated next by the so-called 'conviction' in the heroes' hearts, right?" Clara muttered to herself.
But was she a typical villain? Obviously not. Could the hero team defeat her? Obviously not a chance.
So, Clara didn't mind the crew frantically stacking their buffs.
Stack 'em up, stack 'em high—do you think you can pile yourselves up into an Aeon?
"Mhm~ Enough playing. Goodbye now, travelers among the stars~" Clara looked at the full assembly of the Astral Express and offered a meaningful smile.
"!" Hearing those words, every member of the Astral Express crew felt a jolt in their hearts.
As a resident of Jarilo-VI, Clara shouldn't have known that… So how did she…?
Confusion swirled in all their minds, but Clara wasn't about to give them time to think.
She raised her palm gently. In the next instant, a meteorite as vast as a world began to coalesce, eventually blotting out the entirety of Jarilo-VI.
At that moment, every living being on Jarilo-VI—whether the citizens of Belobog or the creatures within the Fragmentum—stopped in their tracks, staring dumbfounded at the colossal "meteorite" above.
"Hey, hey, hey… Aren't we the main characters here?" March 7th gulped, looking at the world-obliterating meteorite before them.
"We… should be… maybe… I think…?" Stelle stammered in response to March's question.
Stelle remembered what Kafka had said to her when she first woke up.
"From here on, you will encounter many dangers, find yourself in terrifying predicaments…"
"And at the end of your journey, all the questions that plague you will be answered."
That's what Kafka had said. But why, now that the journey seemed about to end, were none of the questions in her heart any closer to being answered?!
Wait a minute!!!
Thinking of Kafka brought back the memory of her first awakening.
Then, the person before her now…
Stelle felt a flicker of uncertainty. She looked at Clara, double-checking.
Finally, she was sure.
Wasn't this the person who had been standing beside Kafka back then?!
Sensing Stelle's gaze, Clara flashed a breathtakingly beautiful smile.
But the next moment, that smile vanished from Clara's face, replaced—as if by a Sichuan opera mask change—with an expression of icy detachment.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Clara lowered her hand slightly. In that same instant, the meteorite began its slow, inexorable descent toward Jarilo-VI.
"Heaven's Strike"
…
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