Two days later.
The campaign to conquer this world entered its final stage.
Since it had originally been an accidentally discovered Tier-II magic world, its overall scale wasn't large. With the Astral Express crew's strength alone, it could be handled quickly.
The entire world was brought under the control of the Starsea Empire.
Whoosh—
Stelle and Kiana's squad cruised through the air in a small spacecraft, patrolling the skies.
"Mm... things on this side are pretty much wrapped up."
"The Demon King's army has been wiped out, all the nations have been unified, and the mages still active in this era have been recruited..."
Gudako counted things off.
Everything that could be done on this timeline was basically finished. The remaining work would be left to Serie.
"Wait, I just thought of something."
Kiana flipped through the data.
"What about that Hero's Sword?!"
Boom—
The spacecraft abruptly changed direction midair and sped off toward another location.
Half an hour later.
At a corner of the continent, in a small village hidden within the forest.
A young girl with short pink hair and a sweet appearance stared blankly at the spacecraft landing in the clearing.
"Um, greetings."
"This is the Village of the Sword. I am the 47th village chief. May I ask who you all are? ..."
"We're here to take the Hero's Sword."
The gray-haired girl got straight to the point.
The Starsea Empire didn't need it to defeat the Demon King, but taking it back as a collectible wasn't a bad idea.
"Ah?"
The village chief froze for a moment.
"You... are Heroes?"
"That's right. We already took down the Demon King. He's currently locked in a cage being used for experiments. Isn't it only natural to come back and claim the Hero's Sword?"
Gudako puffed out her chest.
Just like Himmel in the original story, they didn't need the Hero's Sword to defeat the Demon King—and they had done it even more thoroughly.
"Uh..."
The village chief felt that something was off.
The Village of the Sword had been passed down for dozens of generations. This was the first time she had ever seen Heroes arrive in a spaceship.
Despite her doubts, she still led them toward the sacred domain at the edge of the village.
"Within the sacred domain of the Village of the Sword, there is a Hero's Sword bestowed by the Goddess."
"Throughout history, no matter which hero tried to pull it out, the sword never budged. Only the Hero who resolves the great calamity that threatens to destroy the world can draw it."
The village chief introduced their treasured relic with reverence.
"Oh? ..."
Stelle, March 7th, and Gudako leaned in to take a look.
A longsword adorned with gems was embedded in a rock. It looked slightly more extravagant than native weapons—just like any weapon from a classic Hero-versus-Demon-King tale.
But in this world, no Hero had ever managed to pull it out.
"Hah!"
"We've already defeated the Demon King—doesn't that make us Heroes?"
The gray-haired girl was unconvinced. She tossed aside her baseball bat, gripped the hilt, and pulled with all her might.
"Ghh... ahhh!!!!"
"AAAAAAAHHHHH—!!"
After a while, she staggered back down, drenched in sweat and panting heavily.
"Why is this damn thing so solid?!"
"You are not the true Hero."
The village chief shook her head.
"?"
"We already turned the Demon King into a plush toy for the Commander, and we're still not Heroes?!"
Gudako rolled her eyes and stacked several strength-enhancing buffs on herself.
[Greater Self Agility Enhancement]
[Self Strength Enhancement]
[Advanced Endurance Enhancement]
"Come on!!!—"
Rumble!!—
The ground trembled for a few moments, but nothing happened.
"M-me! Mei, how about we try together?"
The white-haired girl and Raiden Mei pulled together, even channeling Honkai energy.
The Hero's Sword remained completely unmoved.
"Bronya does not wish to use a sword. Bronya will not try."
"Uh... I use a bow. I'm not really good with swords either."
Seeing that the strongest among them had failed, Bronya and March 7th had no intention of humiliating themselves.
The group gathered around the Hero's Sword, staring at it in silence.
"..."
The village chief wore an awkward expression. This was the first time she had seen Heroes defeat the Demon King and then come back for the sword.
Of course, what was even more awkward was that they couldn't take it. Since there was no problem with the Heroes, the problem had to be with the sword.
"This thing's bugged."
Stelle stroked her chin, smacking her lips, and looked at Gudako.
"What now?"
The two shared similar personalities, and since Gudako had arrived earlier, she naturally became Stelle's senior.
"Forget it. Let's use technology."
Gudako pulled out a scroll and slapped it onto the ground.
Boom!!—
The massive projection of Strelizia appeared.
"Ahhh?!"
The village chief and the villagers were startled.
Zzzzt!!—
High-energy lasers from the mecha sliced around the base of the sword, lifting the Hero's Sword together with the rock pedestal—complete with magical enchantments—straight out of the ground.
A chunk of the sacred domain's floor was ripped out, leaving behind a massive pit.
"???"
The village chief was stunned. It was the first time she had seen Heroes fail to draw the sword and then resort to brute force to solve it.
What was this? Couldn't open the door, so they tore the whole thing down?!
Bang bang bang—
Gudako knocked the Hero's Sword against a mountain, smashing off the stone base.
Some remaining runic enchantments still clung to the sword. Since she couldn't deal with them alone, she simply tossed it into storage.
"Done. Let's take it back and have Herta and the others take a look."
"Aba... aba..."
The village chief looked completely dazed.
The mission passed down through over forty generations of the Village of the Sword had been completed in her hands—congratulations.
Although the process was completely different from what she had imagined. There was no well-trained Hero party—only a world-shaking giant mecha.
"Get on board."
Gudako summoned the shuttle and glanced at the village chief.
She suspected the village's legacy might have some deeper meaning. After all, this world still nominally had a Goddess of Creation, even if she had long since disappeared.
"You're coming too. Get on and meet the Commander."
"Eh—eh—eh—eh—eh??!!—"
...
"Ahem, then I'll leave the follow-up work here to you."
"Once you've gathered the remaining mages, bring them directly to the Starsea Empire."
Some time later.
Setsuna arranged the final tasks in Frieren's world.
He had brought in some assistants from the Research Department to cooperate with Serie in recruiting the mages who would originally appear decades later in the Continental Magic Association.
They could be directly incorporated into the Imperial Magic Academy for study, and it would also help diversify the academy's disciplines.
Since there were many of them and they were scattered across the world, there was no need to recruit them one by one. It would be enough to gather them all and bring them back together...
"Alright—"
Serie dragged out the word as she looked over the list Setsuna had given her.
"Fern, Übel, Denken... who are all these people?!"
She hadn't even met most of them. They didn't belong to this era at all. Yet the Starsea Empire was somehow able to provide precise identity information on each of them—something Serie found astonishing.
Boom—
After settling the follow-up matters of this world, the Astral Express set off once more.
"Mm... we still have a few things left unfinished in the Star Rail world. Let's head back first and take a break."
Setsuna marked a location on the star map.
This expedition had essentially been an experiment for the Astral Express, confirming that under his control, the Path of Trailblaze had extended both in power and concept.
From exploring a single star system to exploring countless worlds.
Whoosh—
After passing through a dazzling space-time tunnel, the train returned to the Star Rail world.
It slowly docked near the Starskiff harbor.
"Whoa!"
Frieren, Flamme, and the other natives stared in a daze at the bustling scenery of the Xianzhou.
Even the Astral Express crew felt as if they had returned from another lifetime.
Even though it was just a low-tier alternate world, they had truly taken a long journey.
"Interesting. In the future, we can go even farther... though it'd be best to depart from the Starsea Empire's territory to avoid crashing into Qlipoth's wall again."
Himeko felt a surge of excitement.
"My husband!"
The moment they disembarked, Tingyun arrived with a group of Xianzhou officials to greet them.
"My lord, where have you been? This humble one thought you had gone off to explore another star system. Who would've thought you'd vanish in the blink of an eye?"
"I just took a trip to another world."
Setsuna rubbed Tingyun's ears.
He motioned for Flamme, Frieren, and the others to come down.
"You'll stay on the Xianzhou for a few days. Follow Tingyun's arrangements. When a fleet returns to the Starsea Empire, you'll be sent back together."
"Mm."
The natives, dazzled by everything they saw, nodded in agreement.
"Phantylia."
Setsuna cleared his throat. Phantylia immediately manifested before him and bowed.
"Sacrosanct."
"Leave these demons to you. Make sure they behave and stay obedient."
Setsuna gestured toward Aura, Solitär, and the other captured demons.
He only cared about results. If Phantylia messed it up, he would deal with her personally.
"Eek!"
Aura instinctively took two steps back upon sensing an extremely dangerous aura from Phantylia.
"No problem! You can rest assured, Sacrosanct!"
Phantylia agreed without hesitation.
Working under Setsuna, she was constantly on edge, afraid that this terrifying superior might come after her if he was ever in a bad mood.
Now that she finally had a chance to show her capabilities, how could she not perform well?
"Come here. I'll explain the rules here to you in a moment."
"Hiss—"
With just a glance, Aura and Linie shuddered. Demons were naturally indifferent to emotions, but what they felt now was the overwhelming pressure of a higher and stronger being.
They immediately realized what kind of terrifying existence stood before them.
"Hmph."
Phantylia snorted and puffed out her chest.
In front of the Sacrosanct, I admit I'm nothing more than a plush toy.
But since the Sacrosanct has handed you over to me—what should you be calling me now?!