Chapter 116
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Earlier, Hart heard a parable from Yuna’s advanced spirit, Sharon. According to her, the difference in power between the Spirit King and the Advanced Spirit is like the Sun and Jupiter.
The two celestial bodies differ by a factor of 10 times in size and 1000 times in mass.
As for the difference in power that Sharon spoke of, Hart does not think it is an exaggeration.
The Spirit King connects the star system to the higher dimensional plane, absorbs the energy of this side, and even creates spirit crystals that allow higher spirits to act. Compared to the higher-ranking spirits, they clearly have powers that isolate them from the rest.
Then, how great is the difference between a Spirit King and a Spirit Emperor?
It seems that the birth of the Spirit Emperor requires the energy of three Spirit Kings.
Ten percent of the Spirit God’s Crystal is the amount of energy that gave birth to Maya, whose power is equal to that of a Spirit King.
Using 20% of the energy from the Spirit God Crystal and half of Mars, Lulu and Maya were promoted to Spirit Emperors.
Therefore, according to Hart’s calculations, it takes the energy of three Spirit Kings to reach the status of Spirit Emperor.
However, the power of the Spirit Emperor is not necessarily the sum of the three Spirit Kings. There are also multiplication and chemical reactions in the world.
(Is the difference in power between the Spirit King and the Spirit Emperor the same as the difference between the Sun and Jupiter?)
How much energy does a Spirit Emperor need to reach the next rank?
If the energy of three Spirit Kings can lead to the Spirit Emperor, can the energy of three Spirit Emperors lead to the next stage?
If power is a chemical reaction, it is possible that the energy required for the promotion itself is small. Hart doesn’t even know if the Spirit Emperor can become the Spirit God or if there will be other ranks in between.
In front of Hart’s eyes, the Black Spirit Emperor Maya absorbed the energy of the slain Daemon Emperor.
『Sorry to keep you waiting. Then let’s run away.』
Hart understood that they needed escape.
While Maya absorbed the Daemon Emperor, Hart calculated the remaining strength of the enemy and allied forces around the fortress and sent the fortress’ reconnaissance ships to the Transition Gate, which the White Spirit Emperor Lulu had reconnected to the Apollo System.
The allied fighter crafts deployed in the Hercules Star System have been annihilated by the Daemon Emperor’s self-destruction, and there are 200 million enemy crafts left. There are 60 million Israfel crafts left in the home country, but the enemy side should have left troops in the Ten-to Star System, so it is uncertain whether they can win.
And as a problem other than the war potential, the starlight in the surrounding space area visible from Hercules is quite completely from that of the Milky Way Galaxy recorded in the fortress.
As Hart considered whether it would be better to territorialize the Hercules Star System or withdraw, a report came in that a Daemon Transition Gate had appeared in the Hercules Star System.
“Reinforcements from Ten-to?”
Did the Daemon King who had expanded a realm in place of the defeated Daemon Emperor connect the transition gate to Ten-to?
Maya ruthlessly denied Hart’s common sense thinking.
『That Transition Gate is connected to a realm in this galaxy.』
『It’s a group of civilizations that exist in the Andromeda Galaxy that have different origins than humans.』
Immediately after Lulu’s shocking addition after Maya, a large number of objects came flying out of the Transition Gate.
They consisted of hundreds of objects about 800 meters long and eight objects about 5,000 meters long, and as soon as they flew out into the Hercules Star System, their shields disappeared and they began to sail through the star system without showing any magic conversion reactions, except for one ship that showed a Daemon reaction.
『The Daemon King that has newly established a realm in the Hercules Star System is unique, and moreover, he has been promoted to Daemon Emperor, so it is impossible to interfere with the Transition Gate. The new Daemon warships are more advanced than ours, so even if we call for reinforcements from the Royal Army, they will be defeated.』
“Fortress, turn around immediately. All friendly forces have been wiped out. Leave the system at maximum speed.”
Immediately after yelling at the command staff, Hart sent magic power into the magic element engine of Fortress Kerviel to instantly increase the fortress’s output.
“Lulu, connect the Transition Gate one last time and send a reconnaissance ship to the Apollo System. Claudia, contact the home country to cancel the attack operation. Tell them we have encountered an advanced alien civilization that has joined forces with Daemons and the situation has changed.”
『That’s about right.』
“Yes, I understand.”
The Spirit Emperor Lulu opened the Transition Gate while preventing the interference of the new Daemon Emperor who had taken control of the star system, and sent a reconnaissance ship that Claudia had launched from the Fortress to the Apollo Star System. Meanwhile, the Spirit Emperor Maya began to accelerate rapidly, boosting the output of the propulsion engines and shields.
Hart, who was really glad that the two Spirit Emperors had come together, asked the sisters to step up their efforts.
“If we can’t escape, warp within the Daemon Emperor’s realm. You can use the Spirit God’s energy crystal.”
『Okay. According to my perception when we were pulled in, the Daemons seemed to be spread over an area of 10 to 20% of this galaxy, so I’ll escape to the other side. But the fact that a fleet was flying in right away is proof that we need them, so there must be an opposing force. Papa, do you agree with this?』
“Do it.”
Hart hesitated for a moment, but immediately accepted Lulu’s proposal wholeheartedly.
The deciding factor was the special circumstance that Lulu, who wished to spiritualize Hart and have a long relationship with him, would not have done anything to make him resent her.
As the Chief of Staff and others rushed to issue instructions, Hart again pondered Lulu’s remarks.
The Andromeda Galaxy is 260,000 light-years in diameter, including its disk. Even if 10% of that is occupied territory, the civilization with Daemons is 26,000 light-years across.
In contrast, in the Milky Way, humans have advanced to an area that is 2,000 light-years across.
Therefore, the civilization encountered in the Andromeda Galaxy is 13 times larger than that of humans, but this should not be considered 13 times larger by simple calculation.
If the diameter of a sphere is 13 times, the volume is about 2200 times. A disk-shaped galaxy cannot expand spherically, but star systems hundreds of times larger must still be considered a dominant super-civilization.
(How many thousands of years would it take for humans to occupy an area 26,000 light-years in diameter?)
This will depend on the number of human nations, their forms of government, their relations with other nations, and advances in interstellar navigation technology.
Among them, wars between evenly matched interstellar nations will have a serious negative impact on interstellar advancement.
During war, progress is greatly hindered as all resources are converted to energy to destroy the enemy.
Prior to the resumption of war between the Monarchy and the Coalition, humanity had advanced to 21 habitable star systems.
However, in the six years since the war resumed, 4 former Coalition star systems, 4 Tenka star systems, and 3 Republic star systems have been destroyed. Even with the addition of the newly advanced Hermes Star System, the number of habitable star systems for human beings has been reduced to 11.
In addition, more than one-third of the total population, excluding the Herculeans, was lost.
It would take more than a few thousand years for humanity, which has suffered such enormous losses that even natural extinction is doubtful, to fully advance to an area of 26,000 light-years in diameter.
In light of this, it was thought that the other civilization that had expanded to 26,000 light years possessed technology far in the future, far removed from that of humanity.
“Is there no civilization in the Andromeda Galaxy that contracts with spirits?”
『Not at all.』
At Lulu’s affirmation, Hart imagined the worst possible situation.
It is a future in which the forces of the Andromeda Galaxy, in possession of Daemons, will pass through the transition gate of the Hercules Star System and rush into the Milky Way through the transition gate of the Ten-to-Star System.
Between the civilizations of 2,000 light-years and the ones of 26,000 light-years, the technological level is too different to compete.
The only bright spot is that the eight star systems of the Monarchy are divided into realms of the Spirit Emperor and the Spirit King.
Like the Daemon Emperor of the Hercules system, the administrators of the realms may be able to drive out irreverent intruders.
But when the star system is surrounded by an army of a super-civilization, the future of humanity is a bird in a cage.
Hart finally understood that this was why Lulu, a spirit not meant to interfere, had stepped in and recommended that he contact the forces opposing the Daemons.
“We need to contact the forces opposing the Daemons as soon as possible to get technical information. If there is a Daemon threat, will the Spirit Crystals be the price we pay? I’m sorry it took me so long to understand.”
Hart reached out his right hand and gently stroked Lulu’s white head.
Lulu’s eyes narrowed slightly as she stretched out her head like a cat and pressed it against Hart’s right hand.
Is it because an anomalous Spirit Emperor is capable of deviating from collective action? Or is it because Hart met unusual special conditions, such as being the father of a Spirit Emperor or being open to future spiritualization?
Whatever the reason, Hart and his people, inexplicably, avoided the future of being massacred by the preceding civilization.
However, just because the first crisis was averted, it does not mean that the crisis has passed.
The Multidimensional Magic Conversion Observation Wave emitted from Fortress Kerviel detected an abnormal reaction from the enemy.
After the magic reaction observed in one of the objects that flew out of the Transition Gate increased to two near the Hercules star, one of the reactions instantly jumped to one of the 360 vessels that headed towards Fortress Kerviel.
It was a sudden phenomenon, similar to a warp within a star system.
『Ah, the reaction of the Daemon jumped.』
『Did the contractor transfer their quantized body at the speed of light, and the Daemon attached to it followed?』
『No doubt about it. But if they did, they can’t make a contract based on magical power, so they put a life form that emits miasma on a ship, making it a power source. That’s unique to Daemons.』
Lulu and Maya were tracking the enemy, and since they confidently asserted that the Daemon had jumped, they should have assumed that the contractor and the Daemon had transferred to the warship.
There were more and more things to think about.
Hart, however, thought that the priority should be withdrawal, so he began to time the administration of a medication that would make sleep unnecessary, while leaning his body against the back of the commander’s seat.
On the other hand, Bertrand and the rest of the command staff also had a rough guess of the situation from Hart’s words to his Contracted Spirits.
In other words, the current region of space is the Andromeda Galaxy, and there are multiple advanced civilizations that originated from this galaxy.
At least one of these civilizations possess Daemons, which have emerged using the Daemon Transition Gate in the Hercules Star System to pursue Fortress Kerviel.
“The enemy’s pursuit speed has increased to over 1 billion kilometers per hour, exceeding 90% of the speed of light. It is believed to be navigating with a power source completely different from the magical element engine.”
The shock in the command center was tremendous.
Few of them, like Hart, had recovered mentally to the point of being able to conduct combat operations, but the officers and soldiers still began to react to the situation as a conditioned reflex.
In the current Hercules Star System, an estimated 1 billion fighter crafts have been blown to bits and turned into countless pieces of debris.
Since these wreckages do not emit magic reactions, they cannot be examined even by Multidimensional Magic Conversion Observation Waves.
The enemy, which is advancing at more than 90% of the speed of light, without regard to the dangerous minefield-like space where missiles are flying around, must be considered to have far more advanced technology than mankind.
Are they constantly bombarding the direction of travel, eliminating obstacles as they go?
Or is it the ability to detect obstacles at the speed of light and then avoid them with a 10% differential?
Or is the density and mass of human-made fighter crafts not damaging to the vessel’s hull?
Hart’s countermeasure was to increase his speed as well.
“Increase the speed of the fortress to 1 billion kilometers per second. Also, continuously fire fusion rounds at the pursuing force and enemy fighter crafts, and scatter mines. Send unmanned crafts up, down, left, and right to see if we can’t disperse the enemy a little.”
Hart gave the order to increase the speed of Fortress Kerviel.
Nearly 200 million ships fired fusion rounds at the defenseless Tenka fighter crafts in an attempt to change the enemy’s priorities.
Fusion projectiles and mines fired at the enemy act as a deterrent. In order to increase the number of pursuit targets and disrupt the situation, unmanned crafts were also launched.
Bertrand complied with all of the orders, but warned of the danger of increasing speed.
“Your Excellency Fleet Admiral, if there is any huge obstacle in the path of our escape, this fortress will be damaged.”
Since space debris has no magic reactions, if they go too fast, they won’t be able to avoid obstacles even if they discover them.
Although there was no wreckage of fighter crafts in the direction of Fortress Kerviel’s escape, in the unlikely event of a stray hit, Fortress Kerviel could easily be damaged. Nevertheless, Hart ordered a speed increase.
“Right now, we are mice fleeing from birds of prey swooping down from the sky. What will happen if we are caught? Run as fast as you can.”
Fortress Kerviel, powerful and unmatched against humanity, was nothing more than a mouse against advanced civilization.
Mice run slowly and cannot fly. Their field of vision is narrow and their range of motion is limited. If there is a pebble in front of them, they will stumble, but if they do not run away as fast as they can, they will face certain death.
However, Fortress Kerviel is not a mouse, but a giant hedgehog with spikes all over its body to protect itself.
The giant hedgehog continuously fired tens of millions of fusion rounds at its pursuers. Then, as a souvenir, a swarm of mines was deployed.
Eventually, a series of gigantic spots of light appeared behind Fortress Kerviel as it left the Hercules star system.
“The fusion rounds seem to have made contact with the enemy pursuit force. However, the reaction of the magic engine confirmed in the pursuit force is not disappearing. The speed of the pursuit force seems to have been slightly slowed down by the shock wave generated. There is no response to fusion projectiles fired at enemy fighter crafts or to detached unmanned crafts.”
“If that is the case, the enemy is going straight ahead. You know their course, so keep firing there.”
From the reaction of the pursuers, Hart understood that the enemy’s priority was the magic reaction of Fortress Kerviel.
Just as the enemy was unknown to Hart, Fortress Kerviel should be unknown to the enemy.
Since they were being pursued appropriately, it was clear that either they were equipped with adequate situational judgment, or that information was shared between the Daemon of the Tenka Hercules Alliance and the pursuers, or in any case, they were an opponent that could not be fooled.
Still, they could barely close the distance, and Hart and the others were able to break away from the realm of the Daemon Emperor deployed in the Hercules Star System.
『Papa, we have reached warpable space. We will no longer be disrupted.』
『They were so persistent, I had to slap away their outstretched hand.』
Maya’s report, which followed Lulu’s, stunned Hart, whose nerves had been frayed by the chicken race.
While Fortress Kerviel and the Pursuit Force were fighting, the Spirit Emperor and the Daemon Emperor seemed to be in some sort of conflict as well.
“What happened to the one you hit?”
『It hurt them, so they pulled away their hand.』
Maya replied with a serious look, and Hart couldn’t help but gush out.
“Great job Maya, well done. Now then, withdraw.”
As the Commander laughed and patted the contracted Spirit’s head, Fortress Kerviel was enveloped in a white glow as it plunged into a higher dimensional space.
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Earlier, Hart heard a parable from Yuna’s advanced spirit, Sharon. According to her, the difference in power between the Spirit King and the Advanced Spirit is like the Sun and Jupiter.
The two celestial bodies differ by a factor of 10 times in size and 1000 times in mass.
As for the difference in power that Sharon spoke of, Hart does not think it is an exaggeration.
The Spirit King connects the star system to the higher dimensional plane, absorbs the energy of this side, and even creates spirit crystals that allow higher spirits to act. Compared to the higher-ranking spirits, they clearly have powers that isolate them from the rest.
Then, how great is the difference between a Spirit King and a Spirit Emperor?
It seems that the birth of the Spirit Emperor requires the energy of three Spirit Kings.
Ten percent of the Spirit God’s Crystal is the amount of energy that gave birth to Maya, whose power is equal to that of a Spirit King.
Using 20% of the energy from the Spirit God Crystal and half of Mars, Lulu and Maya were promoted to Spirit Emperors.
Therefore, according to Hart’s calculations, it takes the energy of three Spirit Kings to reach the status of Spirit Emperor.
However, the power of the Spirit Emperor is not necessarily the sum of the three Spirit Kings. There are also multiplication and chemical reactions in the world.
(Is the difference in power between the Spirit King and the Spirit Emperor the same as the difference between the Sun and Jupiter?)
How much energy does a Spirit Emperor need to reach the next rank?
If the energy of three Spirit Kings can lead to the Spirit Emperor, can the energy of three Spirit Emperors lead to the next stage?
If power is a chemical reaction, it is possible that the energy required for the promotion itself is small. Hart doesn’t even know if the Spirit Emperor can become the Spirit God or if there will be other ranks in between.
In front of Hart’s eyes, the Black Spirit Emperor Maya absorbed the energy of the slain Daemon Emperor.
『Sorry to keep you waiting. Then let’s run away.』
Hart understood that they needed escape.
While Maya absorbed the Daemon Emperor, Hart calculated the remaining strength of the enemy and allied forces around the fortress and sent the fortress’ reconnaissance ships to the Transition Gate, which the White Spirit Emperor Lulu had reconnected to the Apollo System.
The allied fighter crafts deployed in the Hercules Star System have been annihilated by the Daemon Emperor’s self-destruction, and there are 200 million enemy crafts left. There are 60 million Israfel crafts left in the home country, but the enemy side should have left troops in the Ten-to Star System, so it is uncertain whether they can win.
And as a problem other than the war potential, the starlight in the surrounding space area visible from Hercules is quite completely from that of the Milky Way Galaxy recorded in the fortress.
As Hart considered whether it would be better to territorialize the Hercules Star System or withdraw, a report came in that a Daemon Transition Gate had appeared in the Hercules Star System.
“Reinforcements from Ten-to?”
Did the Daemon King who had expanded a realm in place of the defeated Daemon Emperor connect the transition gate to Ten-to?
Maya ruthlessly denied Hart’s common sense thinking.
『That Transition Gate is connected to a realm in this galaxy.』
『It’s a group of civilizations that exist in the Andromeda Galaxy that have different origins than humans.』
Immediately after Lulu’s shocking addition after Maya, a large number of objects came flying out of the Transition Gate.
They consisted of hundreds of objects about 800 meters long and eight objects about 5,000 meters long, and as soon as they flew out into the Hercules Star System, their shields disappeared and they began to sail through the star system without showing any magic conversion reactions, except for one ship that showed a Daemon reaction.
『The Daemon King that has newly established a realm in the Hercules Star System is unique, and moreover, he has been promoted to Daemon Emperor, so it is impossible to interfere with the Transition Gate. The new Daemon warships are more advanced than ours, so even if we call for reinforcements from the Royal Army, they will be defeated.』
“Fortress, turn around immediately. All friendly forces have been wiped out. Leave the system at maximum speed.”
Immediately after yelling at the command staff, Hart sent magic power into the magic element engine of Fortress Kerviel to instantly increase the fortress’s output.
“Lulu, connect the Transition Gate one last time and send a reconnaissance ship to the Apollo System. Claudia, contact the home country to cancel the attack operation. Tell them we have encountered an advanced alien civilization that has joined forces with Daemons and the situation has changed.”
『That’s about right.』
“Yes, I understand.”
The Spirit Emperor Lulu opened the Transition Gate while preventing the interference of the new Daemon Emperor who had taken control of the star system, and sent a reconnaissance ship that Claudia had launched from the Fortress to the Apollo Star System. Meanwhile, the Spirit Emperor Maya began to accelerate rapidly, boosting the output of the propulsion engines and shields.
Hart, who was really glad that the two Spirit Emperors had come together, asked the sisters to step up their efforts.
“If we can’t escape, warp within the Daemon Emperor’s realm. You can use the Spirit God’s energy crystal.”
『Okay. According to my perception when we were pulled in, the Daemons seemed to be spread over an area of 10 to 20% of this galaxy, so I’ll escape to the other side. But the fact that a fleet was flying in right away is proof that we need them, so there must be an opposing force. Papa, do you agree with this?』
“Do it.”
Hart hesitated for a moment, but immediately accepted Lulu’s proposal wholeheartedly.
The deciding factor was the special circumstance that Lulu, who wished to spiritualize Hart and have a long relationship with him, would not have done anything to make him resent her.
As the Chief of Staff and others rushed to issue instructions, Hart again pondered Lulu’s remarks.
The Andromeda Galaxy is 260,000 light-years in diameter, including its disk. Even if 10% of that is occupied territory, the civilization with Daemons is 26,000 light-years across.
In contrast, in the Milky Way, humans have advanced to an area that is 2,000 light-years across.
Therefore, the civilization encountered in the Andromeda Galaxy is 13 times larger than that of humans, but this should not be considered 13 times larger by simple calculation.
If the diameter of a sphere is 13 times, the volume is about 2200 times. A disk-shaped galaxy cannot expand spherically, but star systems hundreds of times larger must still be considered a dominant super-civilization.
(How many thousands of years would it take for humans to occupy an area 26,000 light-years in diameter?)
This will depend on the number of human nations, their forms of government, their relations with other nations, and advances in interstellar navigation technology.
Among them, wars between evenly matched interstellar nations will have a serious negative impact on interstellar advancement.
During war, progress is greatly hindered as all resources are converted to energy to destroy the enemy.
Prior to the resumption of war between the Monarchy and the Coalition, humanity had advanced to 21 habitable star systems.
However, in the six years since the war resumed, 4 former Coalition star systems, 4 Tenka star systems, and 3 Republic star systems have been destroyed. Even with the addition of the newly advanced Hermes Star System, the number of habitable star systems for human beings has been reduced to 11.
In addition, more than one-third of the total population, excluding the Herculeans, was lost.
It would take more than a few thousand years for humanity, which has suffered such enormous losses that even natural extinction is doubtful, to fully advance to an area of 26,000 light-years in diameter.
In light of this, it was thought that the other civilization that had expanded to 26,000 light years possessed technology far in the future, far removed from that of humanity.
“Is there no civilization in the Andromeda Galaxy that contracts with spirits?”
『Not at all.』
At Lulu’s affirmation, Hart imagined the worst possible situation.
It is a future in which the forces of the Andromeda Galaxy, in possession of Daemons, will pass through the transition gate of the Hercules Star System and rush into the Milky Way through the transition gate of the Ten-to-Star System.
Between the civilizations of 2,000 light-years and the ones of 26,000 light-years, the technological level is too different to compete.
The only bright spot is that the eight star systems of the Monarchy are divided into realms of the Spirit Emperor and the Spirit King.
Like the Daemon Emperor of the Hercules system, the administrators of the realms may be able to drive out irreverent intruders.
But when the star system is surrounded by an army of a super-civilization, the future of humanity is a bird in a cage.
Hart finally understood that this was why Lulu, a spirit not meant to interfere, had stepped in and recommended that he contact the forces opposing the Daemons.
“We need to contact the forces opposing the Daemons as soon as possible to get technical information. If there is a Daemon threat, will the Spirit Crystals be the price we pay? I’m sorry it took me so long to understand.”
Hart reached out his right hand and gently stroked Lulu’s white head.
Lulu’s eyes narrowed slightly as she stretched out her head like a cat and pressed it against Hart’s right hand.
Is it because an anomalous Spirit Emperor is capable of deviating from collective action? Or is it because Hart met unusual special conditions, such as being the father of a Spirit Emperor or being open to future spiritualization?
Whatever the reason, Hart and his people, inexplicably, avoided the future of being massacred by the preceding civilization.
However, just because the first crisis was averted, it does not mean that the crisis has passed.
The Multidimensional Magic Conversion Observation Wave emitted from Fortress Kerviel detected an abnormal reaction from the enemy.
After the magic reaction observed in one of the objects that flew out of the Transition Gate increased to two near the Hercules star, one of the reactions instantly jumped to one of the 360 vessels that headed towards Fortress Kerviel.
It was a sudden phenomenon, similar to a warp within a star system.
『Ah, the reaction of the Daemon jumped.』
『Did the contractor transfer their quantized body at the speed of light, and the Daemon attached to it followed?』
『No doubt about it. But if they did, they can’t make a contract based on magical power, so they put a life form that emits miasma on a ship, making it a power source. That’s unique to Daemons.』
Lulu and Maya were tracking the enemy, and since they confidently asserted that the Daemon had jumped, they should have assumed that the contractor and the Daemon had transferred to the warship.
There were more and more things to think about.
Hart, however, thought that the priority should be withdrawal, so he began to time the administration of a medication that would make sleep unnecessary, while leaning his body against the back of the commander’s seat.
On the other hand, Bertrand and the rest of the command staff also had a rough guess of the situation from Hart’s words to his Contracted Spirits.
In other words, the current region of space is the Andromeda Galaxy, and there are multiple advanced civilizations that originated from this galaxy.
At least one of these civilizations possess Daemons, which have emerged using the Daemon Transition Gate in the Hercules Star System to pursue Fortress Kerviel.
“The enemy’s pursuit speed has increased to over 1 billion kilometers per hour, exceeding 90% of the speed of light. It is believed to be navigating with a power source completely different from the magical element engine.”
The shock in the command center was tremendous.
Few of them, like Hart, had recovered mentally to the point of being able to conduct combat operations, but the officers and soldiers still began to react to the situation as a conditioned reflex.
In the current Hercules Star System, an estimated 1 billion fighter crafts have been blown to bits and turned into countless pieces of debris.
Since these wreckages do not emit magic reactions, they cannot be examined even by Multidimensional Magic Conversion Observation Waves.
The enemy, which is advancing at more than 90% of the speed of light, without regard to the dangerous minefield-like space where missiles are flying around, must be considered to have far more advanced technology than mankind.
Are they constantly bombarding the direction of travel, eliminating obstacles as they go?
Or is it the ability to detect obstacles at the speed of light and then avoid them with a 10% differential?
Or is the density and mass of human-made fighter crafts not damaging to the vessel’s hull?
Hart’s countermeasure was to increase his speed as well.
“Increase the speed of the fortress to 1 billion kilometers per second. Also, continuously fire fusion rounds at the pursuing force and enemy fighter crafts, and scatter mines. Send unmanned crafts up, down, left, and right to see if we can’t disperse the enemy a little.”
Hart gave the order to increase the speed of Fortress Kerviel.
Nearly 200 million ships fired fusion rounds at the defenseless Tenka fighter crafts in an attempt to change the enemy’s priorities.
Fusion projectiles and mines fired at the enemy act as a deterrent. In order to increase the number of pursuit targets and disrupt the situation, unmanned crafts were also launched.
Bertrand complied with all of the orders, but warned of the danger of increasing speed.
“Your Excellency Fleet Admiral, if there is any huge obstacle in the path of our escape, this fortress will be damaged.”
Since space debris has no magic reactions, if they go too fast, they won’t be able to avoid obstacles even if they discover them.
Although there was no wreckage of fighter crafts in the direction of Fortress Kerviel’s escape, in the unlikely event of a stray hit, Fortress Kerviel could easily be damaged. Nevertheless, Hart ordered a speed increase.
“Right now, we are mice fleeing from birds of prey swooping down from the sky. What will happen if we are caught? Run as fast as you can.”
Fortress Kerviel, powerful and unmatched against humanity, was nothing more than a mouse against advanced civilization.
Mice run slowly and cannot fly. Their field of vision is narrow and their range of motion is limited. If there is a pebble in front of them, they will stumble, but if they do not run away as fast as they can, they will face certain death.
However, Fortress Kerviel is not a mouse, but a giant hedgehog with spikes all over its body to protect itself.
The giant hedgehog continuously fired tens of millions of fusion rounds at its pursuers. Then, as a souvenir, a swarm of mines was deployed.
Eventually, a series of gigantic spots of light appeared behind Fortress Kerviel as it left the Hercules star system.
“The fusion rounds seem to have made contact with the enemy pursuit force. However, the reaction of the magic engine confirmed in the pursuit force is not disappearing. The speed of the pursuit force seems to have been slightly slowed down by the shock wave generated. There is no response to fusion projectiles fired at enemy fighter crafts or to detached unmanned crafts.”
“If that is the case, the enemy is going straight ahead. You know their course, so keep firing there.”
From the reaction of the pursuers, Hart understood that the enemy’s priority was the magic reaction of Fortress Kerviel.
Just as the enemy was unknown to Hart, Fortress Kerviel should be unknown to the enemy.
Since they were being pursued appropriately, it was clear that either they were equipped with adequate situational judgment, or that information was shared between the Daemon of the Tenka Hercules Alliance and the pursuers, or in any case, they were an opponent that could not be fooled.
Still, they could barely close the distance, and Hart and the others were able to break away from the realm of the Daemon Emperor deployed in the Hercules Star System.
『Papa, we have reached warpable space. We will no longer be disrupted.』
『They were so persistent, I had to slap away their outstretched hand.』
Maya’s report, which followed Lulu’s, stunned Hart, whose nerves had been frayed by the chicken race.
While Fortress Kerviel and the Pursuit Force were fighting, the Spirit Emperor and the Daemon Emperor seemed to be in some sort of conflict as well.
“What happened to the one you hit?”
『It hurt them, so they pulled away their hand.』
Maya replied with a serious look, and Hart couldn’t help but gush out.
“Great job Maya, well done. Now then, withdraw.”
As the Commander laughed and patted the contracted Spirit’s head, Fortress Kerviel was enveloped in a white glow as it plunged into a higher dimensional space.
Earlier, Hart heard a parable from Yuna's advanced spirit, Sharon. According to her, the difference in power between the Spirit King and the Advanced Spirit is like the Sun and Jupiter.The two celestial bodies differ by a factor of 10 times in size and 1000 times in mass.As for the difference in power that Sharon spoke of, Hart does not think it is an exaggeration.The Spirit King connects the star system to the higher dimensional plane, absorbs the energy of this side, and even creates spirit crystals that allow higher spirits to act. Compared to the higher-ranking spirits, they clearly have powers that isolate them from the rest.Then, how great is the difference between a Spirit King and a Spirit Emperor?It seems that the birth of the Spirit Emperor requires the energy of three Spirit Kings.Ten percent of the Spirit God's Crystal is the amount of energy that gave birth to Maya, whose power is equal to that of a Spirit King.Using 20% of the energy from the Spirit God Crystal and half of Mars, Lulu and Maya were promoted to Spirit Emperors.Therefore, according to Hart's calculations, it takes the energy of three Spirit Kings to reach the status of Spirit Emperor.However, the power of the Spirit Emperor is not necessarily the sum of the three Spirit Kings. There are also multiplication and chemical reactions in the world.Is the difference in power between the Spirit King and the Spirit Emperor the same as the difference between the Sun and Jupiter?How much energy does a Spirit Emperor need to reach the next rank?If the energy of three Spirit Kings can lead to the Spirit Emperor, can the energy of three Spirit Emperors lead to the next stage?If power is a chemical reaction, it is possible that the energy required for the promotion itself is small. Hart doesn't even know if the Spirit Emperor can become the Spirit God or if there will be other ranks in between.In front of Hart's eyes, the Black Spirit Emperor Maya absorbed the energy of the slain Daemon Emperor.Sorry to keep you waiting. Then let's run away.Hart understood that they needed escape.While Maya absorbed the Daemon Emperor, Hart calculated the remaining strength of the enemy and allied forces around the fortress and sent the fortress' reconnaissance ships to the Transition Gate, which the White Spirit Emperor Lulu had reconnected to the Apollo System.The allied fighter crafts deployed in the Hercules Star System have been annihilated by the Daemon Emperor's self-destruction, and there are 200 million enemy crafts left. There are 60 million Israfel crafts left in the home country, but the enemy side should have left troops in the Ten-to Star System, so it is uncertain whether they can win.And as a problem other than the war potential, the starlight in the surrounding space area visible from Hercules is quite completely from that of the Milky Way Galaxy recorded in the fortress.As Hart considered whether it would be better to territorialize the Hercules Star System or withdraw, a report came in that a Daemon Transition Gate had appeared in the Hercules Star System.Reinforcements from Ten-to?Did the Daemon King who had expanded a realm in place of the defeated Daemon Emperor connect the transition gate to Ten-to?Maya ruthlessly denied Hart's common sense thinking.That Transition Gate is connected to a realm in this galaxy.It's a group of civilizations that exist in the Andromeda Galaxy that have different origins than humans.Immediately after Lulu's shocking addition after Maya, a large number of objects came flying out of the Transition Gate.They consisted of hundreds of objects about 800 meters long and eight objects about 5,000 meters long, and as soon as they flew out into the Hercules Star System, their shields disappeared and they began to sail through the star system without showing any magic conversion reactions, except for one ship that showed a Daemon reaction.The Daemon King that has newly established a realm in the Hercules Star System is unique, and moreover, he has been promoted to Daemon Emperor, so it is impossible to interfere with the Transition Gate. The new Daemon warships are more advanced than ours, so even if we call for reinforcements from the Royal Army, they will be defeated.Fortress, turn around immediately. All friendly forces have been wiped out. Leave the system at maximum speed.Immediately after yelling at the command staff, Hart sent magic power into the magic element engine of Fortress Kerviel to instantly increase the fortress's output.Lulu, connect the Transition Gate one last time and send a reconnaissance ship to the Apollo System. Claudia, contact the home country to cancel the attack operation. Tell them we have encountered an advanced alien civilization that has joined forces with Daemons and the situation has changed.That's about right.Yes, I understand.The Spirit Emperor Lulu opened the Transition Gate while preventing the interference of the new Daemon Emperor who had taken control of the star system, and sent a reconnaissance ship that Claudia had launched from the Fortress to the Apollo Star System. Meanwhile, the Spirit Emperor Maya began to accelerate rapidly, boosting the output of the propulsion engines and shields.Hart, who was really glad that the two Spirit Emperors had come together, asked the sisters to step up their efforts.If we can't escape, warp within the Daemon Emperor's realm. You can use the Spirit God's energy crystal.Okay. According to my perception when we were pulled in, the Daemons seemed to be spread over an area of 10 to 20% of this galaxy, so I'll escape to the other side. But the fact that a fleet was flying in right away is proof that we need them, so there must be an opposing force. Papa, do you agree with this?Do it.Hart hesitated for a moment, but immediately accepted Lulu's proposal wholeheartedly.The deciding factor was the special circumstance that Lulu, who wished to spiritualize Hart and have a long relationship with him, would not have done anything to make him resent her.As the Chief of Staff and others rushed to issue instructions, Hart again pondered Lulu's remarks.The Andromeda Galaxy is 260,000 light-years in diameter, including its disk. Even if 10% of that is occupied territory, the civilization with Daemons is 26,000 light-years across.In contrast, in the Milky Way, humans have advanced to an area that is 2,000 light-years across.Therefore, the civilization encountered in the Andromeda Galaxy is 13 times larger than that of humans, but this should not be considered 13 times larger by simple calculation.If the diameter of a sphere is 13 times, the volume is about 2200 times. A disk-shaped galaxy cannot expand spherically, but star systems hundreds of times larger must still be considered a dominant super-civilization.How many thousands of years would it take for humans to occupy an area 26,000 light-years in diameter?This will depend on the number of human nations, their forms of government, their relations with other nations, and advances in interstellar navigation technology.Among them, wars between evenly matched interstellar nations will have a serious negative impact on interstellar advancement.During war, progress is greatly hindered as all resources are converted to energy to destroy the enemy.Prior to the resumption of war between the Monarchy and the Coalition, humanity had advanced to 21 habitable star systems.However, in the six years since the war resumed, 4 former Coalition star systems, 4 Tenka star systems, and 3 Republic star systems have been destroyed. Even with the addition of the newly advanced Hermes Star System, the number of habitable star systems for human beings has been reduced to 11.In addition, more than one-third of the total population, excluding the Herculeans, was lost.It would take more than a few thousand years for humanity, which has suffered such enormous losses that even natural extinction is doubtful, to fully advance to an area of 26,000 light-years in diameter.In light of this, it was thought that the other civilization that had expanded to 26,000 light years possessed technology far in the future, far removed from that of humanity.Is there no civilization in the Andromeda Galaxy that contracts with spirits?Not at all.At Lulu's affirmation, Hart imagined the worst possible situation.It is a future in which the forces of the Andromeda Galaxy, in possession of Daemons, will pass through the transition gate of the Hercules Star System and rush into the Milky Way through the transition gate of the Ten-to-Star System.Between the civilizations of 2,000 light-years and the ones of 26,000 light-years, the technological level is too different to compete.The only bright spot is that the eight star systems of the Monarchy are divided into realms of the Spirit Emperor and the Spirit King.Like the Daemon Emperor of the Hercules system, the administrators of the realms may be able to drive out irreverent intruders.But when the star system is surrounded by an army of a super-civilization, the future of humanity is a bird in a cage.Hart finally understood that this was why Lulu, a spirit not meant to interfere, had stepped in and recommended that he contact the forces opposing the Daemons.We need to contact the forces opposing the Daemons as soon as possible to get technical information. If there is a Daemon threat, will the Spirit Crystals be the price we pay? I'm sorry it took me so long to understand.Hart reached out his right hand and gently stroked Lulu's white head.Lulu's eyes narrowed slightly as she stretched out her head like a cat and pressed it against Hart's right hand.Is it because an anomalous Spirit Emperor is capable of deviating from collective action? Or is it because Hart met unusual special conditions, such as being the father of a Spirit Emperor or being open to future spiritualization?Whatever the reason, Hart and his people, inexplicably, avoided the future of being massacred by the preceding civilization.However, just because the first crisis was averted, it does not mean that the crisis has passed.The Multidimensional Magic Conversion Observation Wave emitted from Fortress Kerviel detected an abnormal reaction from the enemy.After the magic reaction observed in one of the objects that flew out of the Transition Gate increased to two near the Hercules star, one of the reactions instantly jumped to one of the 360 vessels that headed towards Fortress Kerviel.It was a sudden phenomenon, similar to a warp within a star system.Ah, the reaction of the Daemon jumped.Did the contractor transfer their quantized body at the speed of light, and the Daemon attached to it followed?No doubt about it. But if they did, they can't make a contract based on magical power, so they put a life form that emits miasma on a ship, making it a power source. That's unique to Daemons.Lulu and Maya were tracking the enemy, and since they confidently asserted that the Daemon had jumped, they should have assumed that the contractor and the Daemon had transferred to the warship.There were more and more things to think about.Hart, however, thought that the priority should be withdrawal, so he began to time the administration of a medication that would make sleep unnecessary, while leaning his body against the back of the commander's seat.On the other hand, Bertrand and the rest of the command staff also had a rough guess of the situation from Hart's words to his Contracted Spirits.In other words, the current region of space is the Andromeda Galaxy, and there are multiple advanced civilizations that originated from this galaxy.At least one of these civilizations possess Daemons, which have emerged using the Daemon Transition Gate in the Hercules Star System to pursue Fortress Kerviel.The enemy's pursuit speed has increased to over 1 billion kilometers per hour, exceeding 90% of the speed of light. It is believed to be navigating with a power source completely different from the magical element engine.The shock in the command center was tremendous.Few of them, like Hart, had recovered mentally to the point of being able to conduct combat operations, but the officers and soldiers still began to react to the situation as a conditioned reflex.In the current Hercules Star System, an estimated 1 billion fighter crafts have been blown to bits and turned into countless pieces of debris.Since these wreckages do not emit magic reactions, they cannot be examined even by Multidimensional Magic Conversion Observation Waves.The enemy, which is advancing at more than 90% of the speed of light, without regard to the dangerous minefield-like space where missiles are flying around, must be considered to have far more advanced technology than mankind.Are they constantly bombarding the direction of travel, eliminating obstacles as they go?Or is it the ability to detect obstacles at the speed of light and then avoid them with a 10% differential?Or is the density and mass of human-made fighter crafts not damaging to the vessel's hull?Hart's countermeasure was to increase his speed as well.Increase the speed of the fortress to 1 billion kilometers per second. Also, continuously fire fusion rounds at the pursuing force and enemy fighter crafts, and scatter mines. Send unmanned crafts up, down, left, and right to see if we can't disperse the enemy a little.Hart gave the order to increase the speed of Fortress Kerviel.Nearly 200 million ships fired fusion rounds at the defenseless Tenka fighter crafts in an attempt to change the enemy's priorities.Fusion projectiles and mines fired at the enemy act as a deterrent. In order to increase the number of pursuit targets and disrupt the situation, unmanned crafts were also launched.Bertrand complied with all of the orders, but warned of the danger of increasing speed.Your Excellency Fleet Admiral, if there is any huge obstacle in the path of our escape, this fortress will be damaged.Since space debris has no magic reactions, if they go too fast, they won't be able to avoid obstacles even if they discover them.Although there was no wreckage of fighter crafts in the direction of Fortress Kerviel's escape, in the unlikely event of a stray hit, Fortress Kerviel could easily be damaged. Nevertheless, Hart ordered a speed increase.Right now, we are mice fleeing from birds of prey swooping down from the sky. What will happen if we are caught? Run as fast as you can.Fortress Kerviel, powerful and unmatched against humanity, was nothing more than a mouse against advanced civilization.Mice run slowly and cannot fly. Their field of vision is narrow and their range of motion is limited. If there is a pebble in front of them, they will stumble, but if they do not run away as fast as they can, they will face certain death.However, Fortress Kerviel is not a mouse, but a giant hedgehog with spikes all over its body to protect itself.The giant hedgehog continuously fired tens of millions of fusion rounds at its pursuers. Then, as a souvenir, a swarm of mines was deployed.Eventually, a series of gigantic spots of light appeared behind Fortress Kerviel as it left the Hercules star system.The fusion rounds seem to have made contact with the enemy pursuit force. However, the reaction of the magic engine confirmed in the pursuit force is not disappearing. The speed of the pursuit force seems to have been slightly slowed down by the shock wave generated. There is no response to fusion projectiles fired at enemy fighter crafts or to detached unmanned crafts.If that is the case, the enemy is going straight ahead. You know their course, so keep firing there.From the reaction of the pursuers, Hart understood that the enemy's priority was the magic reaction of Fortress Kerviel.Just as the enemy was unknown to Hart, Fortress Kerviel should be unknown to the enemy.Since they were being pursued appropriately, it was clear that either they were equipped with adequate situational judgment, or that information was shared between the Daemon of the Tenka Hercules Alliance and the pursuers, or in any case, they were an opponent that could not be fooled.Still, they could barely close the distance, and Hart and the others were able to break away from the realm of the Daemon Emperor deployed in the Hercules Star System.Papa, we have reached warpable space. We will no longer be disrupted.They were so persistent, I had to slap away their outstretched hand.Maya's report, which followed Lulu's, stunned Hart, whose nerves had been frayed by the chicken race.While Fortress Kerviel and the Pursuit Force were fighting, the Spirit Emperor and the Daemon Emperor seemed to be in some sort of conflict as well.What happened to the one you hit?It hurt them, so they pulled away their hand.Maya replied with a serious look, and Hart couldn't help but gush out.Great job Maya, well done. Now then, withdraw.As the Commander laughed and patted the contracted Spirit's head, Fortress Kerviel was enveloped in a white glow as it plunged into a higher dimensional space.
