The decisive battle against the Doomsday Beast ended far too easily.
Even at full strength, the Doomsday Beast stood no chance against [Super Saiyan] Bronie.
That just went to show the gulf between [Super Saiyan] Bronie and the Doomsday Beast.
After all, becoming a [Super Saiyan] requires transcending the Saiyan to an extraordinary degree.
A single Saiyan on its own could destroy a planet, yet one must surpass that level to transform.
According to her father, the only genius on Earth ever to reach [Super Saiyan], Bronie was an unprecedented prodigy who even eclipsed him, making her potential beyond measure.
To put it in perspective, when she grew unbearably enraged, only her parents and her twin sister could even hope to restrain her.
With Bronie unleashing her [Super Saiyan] transformation—transcending even the Saiyan—the Doomsday Beast simply couldn't withstand her assault.
Just a single swing of her fist cracked the Beast's armor, and any attempt to strike back only earned it a counterblow.
She embodied offense and defense with each strike.
"Hahaha~ What is this? Is that all you've got?"
Following the principle that the best defense is a good offense, Bronie toyed with the Doomsday Beast, and the Astral Express crew could only stare dumbfounded.
After all, what they were witnessing bordered on the unreal.
Even Himeko, Dan Heng, and March 7th, who were aware of her power to some extent, had to revise their perceptions entirely.
It wasn't just a matter of degree.
Hidden deep within her was strength incarnate, pure and simple.
Himeko, in particular, was curious.
Bronie herself was already formidable, but now Himeko wondered about the parents who were supposedly even stronger than her.
Just as she resolved to ask Welt later, the battle was already drawing to a close.
A thunderous roar echoed as the Doomsday Beast flared its wings and ascended, trying to create space.
Unable to handle her in close quarters, the Doomsday Beast spread its wings and soared, putting distance between itself and Bronie.
"Hmm?"
From its airborne position, the Beast spread its wings wider, and Bronie observed with interest as powerful energies converged around them.
In an instant, countless laser orbs materialized and shot straight at Bronie.
"Bronie!"
One by one, the crew watched in dismay as each laser, with the punch of Himeko's railgun, streaked toward Bronie hovering in midair.
"Hmph~"
Bronie scoffed and extended her palm.
At her gesture, a massive [Crusher Rabbit 19C] appeared before her, absorbing the incoming attack.
Caught off guard—the Beast hadn't expected her to absorb the attack—Bronie grinned and snapped her thumb and middle finger, flicking the stored energy.
Snap!
The stored energy shot straight back at the Doomsday Beast.
Startled, it tried to block with both arms, but their already cracked limbs stood no chance against the combined onslaught of its own energy shot and Bronie's redirected laser.
Its arms split apart, shattering into pieces, and the laser pierced the Dimensional Engine, obliterating the newly formed barrier and hurtling into the far reaches of space.
With that, the Doomsday Beast's massive body crashed onto the space station. Bronie then deactivated her transformation and descended.
"Wow... It's over...?!"
In that moment, Bronie belatedly noticed energy erupting and gathering at the Beast's skull.
Startled, she hurriedly assumed her [Super Saiyan] form again and braced for the attack, only for the Beast to fire a laser from its skull.
"What?!"
But the beam wasn't aimed at her.
"Ugh!!"
It was aimed straight at the Astral Express crew—specifically at Stelle—and Bronie rocketed toward her.
Every second felt like an hour, yet still she couldn't close the distance to Stelle.
Or rather, it felt as though the gap was widening—when suddenly someone materialized before Stelle.
It was a woman with silver hair in a ponytail, clad in a dress woven from flowers, a violet aura glowing at her side.
Startled at the woman's sudden appearance without warning, Stelle stared in confusion. The woman then turned her head and smiled at her.
As that incongruous smile washed over her, calming her unexpectedly, Stelle finally sensed something was off.
'My body… won't move.'
And it wasn't just her body that had frozen.
Everyone around her, the Doomsday Beast, even the space station, and above all the incoming laser—all had come to a standstill.
As if time itself had stopped.
Stelle wasn't the only one who sensed this.
'…Huh?'
Bronie, though conscious, could only observe the scene.
However, what Bronie felt differed from Stelle's experience.
No, it was bound to be different.
"Really, didn't I always tell you to finish things properly during training?"
She drew her twin pistols, [Unnamed Realm: Genesis of All Things], and at that instant, with reality fracturing like cracks in glass, time flowed again.
The moment her barrels leveled at the incoming beam, the Doomsday Beast's head simply vanished.
She had thought she was just aiming, but in truth the bullets had already been fired.
And nobody—neither the onlookers nor the Beast, felled by its own shot—noticed a thing.
The Astral Express crew approached the woman who had suddenly appeared and dispatched the Doomsday Beast with a single bullet. Himeko led the advance.
"Who are you?" Himeko asked.
The woman's gaze flicked to Himeko; her eyes widened in surprise for an instant before settling back.
Himeko sensed the strangeness, but it was so fleeting—and then someone quickly embraced the woman—so she lost the moment to ask.
Though the abrupt hug could have startled anyone, the woman accepted it as if it were routine, and spoke softly.
"Oh? I thought you'd grown... but you're still a child, aren't you?"
"This sensation, this warmth... and this energy. It's real."
"So you thought it was fake?"
"Well, I couldn't help it."
Bronie murmured in a small voice and hugged her tighter, and the woman returned the embrace.
The Astral Express crew stood bewildered, witnessing how the two had become wrapped in their own world, when a man appeared beside them, eyes wide as he looked at the pair.
"I never expected to meet you here."
"Welt, do you know her?"
"We go way back."
As Himeko questioned, and the two exchanged warm reunions, Welt stepped closer.
Noticing Welt's approach, the woman smiled and called out to him.
"It's been a while, Mr. Welt."
"Yes, it's been a year."
- Kiana.