If the name Granholm came up, most people probably wouldn't find it unfamiliar.
Before the Astral Express set off again, after all, he had been the most renowned Nameless in the universe.
He was known as the Light-Chasing Guileless.
In that era, when Stellarons ran rampant, disasters swept the cosmos, and worlds were cut off from one another, he had personally reached out to unfamiliar worlds of his own accord.
It could be said that Granholm was the one who made the Nameless synonymous with heroes from beyond the sky.
Among the planets he saved, many people were inspired by him and became new Nameless.
Many old friends stayed behind as well, all to bring those worlds a better tomorrow.
Mikhail was one of those who remained.
He stayed on Penacony because he wanted to give that place a better tomorrow.
And now, with Penacony facing a threat, he had once again sought out that old friend from the past.
Granholm was known across the galaxy as the Light-Chasing Guileless, but among the Nameless, he had another title.
That was: [Youngster].
It was also how he described himself.
"I will always be like a young man, passionate about everything."
This was a famous saying he often shared with his companions on the train.
And he had proven it through his actions.
Now Mikhail had come looking for him, and right after they had just said goodbye to Mikhail, another Mikhail had appeared before them.
Anyone who saw that would sense the many problems hidden beneath it.
Not to mention, the other party had opened by asking to borrow the Nameless's most precious treasure.
The Astral Express was the faith of the Nameless, the train Granholm had fought for half his life.
And when asked, the other party refused to say a word about what trouble he had encountered.
Under such circumstances, most people would probably refuse the request.
But Granholm was different.
He had only asked Mikhail, "Have you run into trouble?" And after receiving an affirmative answer, he had chosen to trust him.
Just like the title that had spread far and wide.
What pumped inside that childlike heart of his was an eternally youthful, hot-blooded passion.
Even after decades, it had not cooled by a single degree.
As long as you said you needed help, he would reach out to you.
Even if you had not told him what trouble you were in.
After seeing Granholm like this, Sunday could not help feeling admiration for him.
Before, he had only seen the other man's deeds. Now that he had truly met him, he realized the descriptions on paper had been far too limited.
Granholm was worthy of the name "Youth."
However, although he had agreed as the Navigator, borrowing the Astral Express still involved one more difficult hurdle.
"No, no, absolutely not! How can there be anything that ridiculous?"
Pom-Pom shook their ears, their tone extremely stern.
As the one who truly managed the Astral Express, they naturally could not accept something so absurd so easily.
"The Astral Express isn't something you can just lend out casually. And Mikhail, you still won't say what exactly happened? How am I supposed to be at ease?"
As the conductor, Pom-Pom had to be responsible not only for the train, but also for the other Nameless aboard it.
The train did not belong to Granholm alone. It belonged to all the Nameless.
If something happened to the Astral Express, then they could only run aground in this remote corner.
Most importantly, even though Granholm had brought Mikhail here, he still had not explained what trouble he had encountered.
How could Pom-Pom trust Mikhail like that?
Seeing this, Granholm could not help feeling troubled as well.
"But…"
The words reached Mikhail's lips, but in the end, he still did not say them.
The power of time travel was simply too rare. If word carelessly spread, it could cause chaos throughout the entire universe.
Besides, Penacony was the stop where he had chosen to remain. Strictly speaking, this matter had nothing to do with anyone else.
Whether emotionally or logically, he should not shift this disaster onto the Astral Express.
Seeing Mikhail sink into dejection, Granholm patted his shoulder, wanting to comfort him.
"Is this really important?"
"Very important…"
He did not know exactly how many people lived in that future Penacony, but judging by that flourishing scene, there were absolutely far more than now.
That was also why Mikhail wanted to help that future.
To say nothing of the fact that Sora was currently observing that future all alone.
No matter what, he could not betray the expectations others had placed in him.
After hearing this, Pom-Pom's furious expression paused slightly.
"Is that so?"
Granholm considered it for a moment, then looked toward Pom-Pom with some difficulty.
But to his surprise, Pom-Pom turned the conversation directly toward him.
"And you too, Granholm!"
Pom-Pom looked rather angry as they said, "You've been the Navigator for so long. Don't you know the Astral Express's stops can only be decided by the Navigator?"
They stamped their feet as they spoke, looking rather adorable.
Granholm laughed awkwardly twice, but just then, Pom-Pom jumped up fiercely and jabbed him in the side.
"If you do this, you'll be breaking the rules!"
Their movements grew heavier little by little, and the look in their eyes seemed somewhat different too.
"If you do this, what are we supposed to do if later Nameless imitate you?!"
Such an unusual action naturally caught Granholm's attention.
Connecting it to what Pom-Pom had said, he suddenly thought of something.
That was right. The train's stops could only be decided by the Navigator. In that case…
"Ahem!"
Granholm suddenly coughed twice, then spoke in a grief-stricken tone.
"At the Asdana stop, due to the natives' War of Independence, the Astral Express was inevitably drawn into the war…"
"In this war, the Astral Express suffered extremely severe damage and cannot be repaired on-site!"
After Granholm finished speaking, it was Mikhail's turn to freeze.
Before getting off the train, he had been the train's mechanic. On the day they parted, he had checked the entire train inside and out.
One could say that right now, the Astral Express absolutely had no issues whatsoever, inside or out.
Not to mention that the Astral Express had just been about to perform a warp.
So why, in Granholm's mouth, had it suddenly suffered extremely severe damage?
"To deal with this situation, and to ensure the journey of Trailblaze is not delayed, we need a temporary Navigator to lead the Astral Express to a repair planet!"
At this point, Granholm suddenly looked toward the dazed Mikhail.
"Mikhail, as the train's mechanic, are you willing to serve as temporary Navigator and repair the train?"
Seeing that Granholm had understood what they meant, Pom-Pom could not help planting their hands on their hips, looking extremely proud.
Rules were rules. Once broken, later matters could very well fall into disorder.
But rules could also be worked around from the side.
As the conductor, how could they possibly be such an unreasonable creature?
Unfortunately, when Pom-Pom saw that Mikhail was still frozen where he stood, they suddenly became angry.
"Passenger Legwork, are you willing to watch the Astral Express remain stranded here forever because of severe damage?"
"I… I…"
Mikhail choked up.
He did not know what words he should use to describe the emotions in his heart at this moment.
The joy spreading through him could not be described in words.
At this moment, the only response Mikhail could give was just a few words.
"I am willing to serve as temporary Navigator!"
"Good! Because the situation is urgent, we will now conduct the simplest Navigator transfer ceremony!"
As Pom-Pom spoke, they reached a hand toward Mikhail.
Granholm quietly reminded him, "Where is the hat Falcon Amundsen left you?"
As if waking from a dream, Mikhail placed that treasured hat in Pom-Pom's hands.
After seeing this familiar hat, Pom-Pom's expression became somewhat complicated.
But their expression soon turned solemn.
They stepped onto the stairs and reached a position slightly higher than Mikhail, then gently placed the hat on his head.
"Then from now on, Mikhail Char Legwork, you are the temporary Navigator of the Astral Express!"
Looking at Pom-Pom's upright, solemn expression, Granholm smiled.
"Then I'll wait for you to bring this train back after you fix it…"
He patted Mikhail's shoulder and said softly beside his ear, "Remember to bring back good news."
After saying that, he left only his back behind as he slowly stepped down from the train.
Only after the Astral Express and the DenLiner connected, and the two trains rushed into the universe one after another, did he withdraw his gaze.
And now, there was something even more important before him.
He gathered all the Nameless. "Their journey of Trailblaze is still continuing. We can't stop either!"
After saying that, he raised his fist and shouted, "Now we must continue Trailblazing for our stomachs!"
Eating their fill, keeping themselves warm, and waiting for Mikhail to bring back news of victory was what he had to do now.
And now, the only thing they could do was fill this journey of his with blessings.
...
"You have very good friends."
After returning to the train, Sunday spoke to Mikhail with feeling.
"Yes. They are people I will never forget as long as I live."
Mikhail pulled the hat down to cover his eyes, as if he did not want others to see what he looked like right now.
Sunday did not disturb him. Instead, he stood up and walked toward the front.
Since Mikhail had successfully completed what he had promised back then, it was Sunday's turn to play his part next.
If they wanted to prevent ENA's Dream from forming, what they needed most was to find the most critical point in time.
And that critical point was the moment when he was about to touch ENA's remains, the moment ENA's Dream was about to achieve complete success.
It was the strongest moment, and also the weakest.
Only at that moment could they perfectly frustrate his former dream.
And only Sunday himself could grasp that point in time perfectly.
After all, although ENA's Dream appeared on the surface to have lasted seven days, internally, it actually contained a built-in cycle.
This made the manifestation of that point in SYSTEM time incomparably chaotic.
One could say that in the entire universe, there was no existence capable of accurately grasping that crucial node.
Except him.
At this moment, Sunday could not help remembering what had happened back then.
As past and present intertwined, Sunday could not help understanding something. "Back then, I thought that was something Sora had done."
He turned his head to look at the empty train car, and a bitter smile appeared at the corners of his mouth. "But in the end, I never expected that the one who frustrated my former dream would be…"
Myself.
Who would believe that if he said it out loud?
Before this, Sunday had pondered what happened back then more than once.
More than once, he had sighed that if that train had only arrived a little later, or if it had not been there at all, he would have succeeded.
In the end, the world was unpredictable. No one could have imagined that the one who ultimately frustrated his dream would be his future, failed self.
Crushing my past dream with my own hands… what is that supposed to be? Self-harm?
Thinking of this, Sunday could not help feeling that it was somewhat absurd.
But for some reason, a trace of excitement and pleasure actually appeared in his heart.
It was the death instinct.
Just as had been said before, the destructive tendencies brought by the death instinct could not only be directed outward, but inward as well.
Some people would immerse themselves in the pleasure it brought through self-harm, alcoholism, and other behaviors.
As for Sunday, he felt pleasure because he was about to personally defeat his former ideal and his former self.
However, to Sunday, this was not a big deal.
As long as his sister could be spared the threat, he would do anything.
So, past me…
Drown in your ideal.
Sunday had already made his decision in his heart.
...
On the other side, Pom-Pom seemed somewhat helpless.
Because as the conductor of the Astral Express, they had actually suffered the most vile treatment in history.
"Hey, don't you people touch me however you like!"
Pom-Pom kept struggling.
At this moment, their heart was filled with resentment and humiliation.
As the most majestic, most capable, and strongest conductor of the Astral Express, this was the first time they had ever been toyed with in someone's palm like this.
Most importantly, even if they wanted to kick these bastards off the train, they could not.
Because these colorful fellows were not passengers of the Astral Express.
They had only come over through the connected car, so they did not count as Astral Express passengers.
"So the little bunny is the conductor of this train? Amazing!"
Ryutaros clapped his hands.
"What little bunny? The conductor is not a little bunny, pom!"
Pom-Pom was so angry their ears stood straight up.
"Mm-hmm. Although your body is small and weak, judging from how you support this whole train, you're very strong too!"
Kintaros crossed his arms and praised them.
"Pom-Pom has never been weak!"
Pom-Pom wanted to look Kintaros in the face.
But after they tilted their head up to a certain angle, the hat on their head nearly fell off.
So they hurriedly reached out to catch the falling hat. So what if you're tall? they thought indignantly.
Urataros walked through the train, looking at its decorations and nodding in satisfaction.
"If I could have one beautiful romantic night here, how wonderful that would be…"
"This train forbids unrelated personnel from entering and exiting at will, pom!"
Pom-Pom immediately stopped that dangerous idea.
After learning the Astral Express's rules, Urataros could not help shaking his head regretfully.
What an old-fashioned train.
And among the Imagin, the one who caused the least worry was probably Sieg.
He walked back and forth inside the Astral Express with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Mm! Retainers, from now on, this place belongs to me!"
After making a lap and returning, he spoke with satisfaction.
However, what he said also made Pom-Pom helplessly hold their head. It seemed none of these people were normal.
Fortunately, among the Nameless, there were no fellows with personalities similar to theirs. Otherwise, Pom-Pom did not even know how they would get through it.
As for why Momotaros had not come over here?
That was, of course, because at this very moment, he was tightening the throttle and driving the DenLiner madly toward the future.
"Wobbly-legged chick, you'd better confirm the time point properly. We only have one chance."
Momotaros's impatient nature made him unable to resist giving a reminder.
"That's the third time you've rushed me."
As for the nickname the other party had given him, Sunday's only reaction was to pick at his ear with a finger.
Refute him? Would refuting these guys do anything?
Since it wouldn't, why waste his breath? He might as well think about what he needed to do.
Slap his own face?
Thinking of it that way, it actually seemed a little exciting.
The corners of Sunday's mouth lifted by some inexplicable fraction.
And so, under these circumstances, the train sped forward at breakneck speed.
After entering a certain range, Sunday suddenly seemed to hear something by his ear.
This was…
"Music?"
And that familiar timbre immediately made Sunday think of what had once happened.
[AN UNSHAKABLE, STRONG WILL IS THE KEY TO VICTORY.]
The music was extremely faint, so faint it was almost indistinguishable from the wind.
But in Sunday's ears, it was incomparably clear.
This was the music from when his sister had resisted him in the past. Now, when he heard it again, he had a slightly different feeling.
Most importantly, this thing was also pointing out the direction for them.
"PRAYERS FLY TOWARDS THE DISTANT, STARRY SKY~"
If he remembered correctly, at the climax of this song…
"DONT GIVE UP! LOOK FORWARD! SURPASS YOUR LIMIT!"
"Now!"
After receiving the reminder, Momotaros directly twisted the handlebars he had long prepared with both hands, and the train suddenly charged into that point in time.
CHOOOO, CHOOO, CHOOOO!
The train's whistle rang across this battlefield.
Sitting inside the train, Sunday looked at the familiar scene before him.
ENA's remains stretched a finger out in the sky, and the Embryo of Philosophy was about to make contact with THEM.
Once contact was made, ENA's Dream would engulf all of Penacony, and the AEON of ORDER would reappear in the universe.
Yes. The AEON of ORDER would indeed appear.
"But no one said the one inside that AEON of ORDER would be me, Sunday…"
Nor had anyone said ENA's Dream would be the one he had hoped for.
Sunday looked at the golden body of the Embryo of Philosophy.
This time, however, he saw black aura leaking from within it.
Logically speaking, he should have noticed it long ago.
But because of the powerful light, those wisps of black aura leaking from the body had hidden deep within the cracks.
If the imminent contact with ENA had not made the power of ORDER too intense, causing the black fog to briefly overpower the illumination of that strong light…
They might have been able to hide until the day Sunday was completely devoured.
And the source of that powerful light was…
Sunday's gaze moved downward, and finally, he saw Sora below.
That light made the darkness afraid to show itself, forcing it to hide.
And this light, which had once seemed incomparably dazzling to Sunday, now looked much gentler.
However, this discovery made Sunday himself tilt his head away, unwilling to look at it any longer. "Tch. Who cares about that?"
Sunday turned his gaze aside, but Momo was currently in an extremely excited state.
After he charged into this point in time, the battlefield before him had completely ignited his mood.
"I have arrived!"
"THE WORLD IS WAITING FOR YOU!"
CHOOOOOOOO—!
Along with the impassioned music, Momotaros directly pressed the button on the handlebar.
Immediately after, the entire train shook violently.
The rails beneath the Astral Express following behind actually vanished in an instant.
The rails disappeared. The Astral Express lost control, and the entire train car smashed fiercely toward the Embryo of Philosophy's face with tremendous force.
BANG!
At the moment the Embryo of Philosophy was about to ascend to godhood, it suffered the most severe blow in history.
Looking out, one could see the deformation that occurred after the train car made contact with the puppet's face.
Of course, it was not the train that had deformed, but the puppet's face.
The puppet's face twisted continuously until it reached its limit, and countless cracks spread out from that point.
And the divine body in the sky also began falling in one direction because of the interruption.
Sunday stabilized himself and, through the cracks spreading across that face, saw the disbelief on those familiar features.
Without realizing it, he actually felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.
Although this was frustrating his former wish, that inexplicable pleasure was truly a little addictive.
And the train once again broke into the Desert of Time, racing all the way toward the future.
After fully steadying himself, Mikhail charged straight into the driver's cabin.
He was going to demand an explanation for what had just happened. "Hey, you never said we were going to use the Astral Express as a battering ram—"
As a mechanic, the thing he could least stand seeing on ordinary days was something like this.
Only, when he rushed into the driver's cabin, he discovered that only Sunday was left before him.
"Where is he?"
He had been inside the DenLiner the whole time just now, and he had not seen Momotaros leave.
"Did he leave?"
Leave? Leave for where?
Sunday did not answer.
Because just now, he had seen Momotaros be summoned away.
And there was one person, and only one person, who could summon him…
...
Countless missiles and rays fell from the sky as if they cost nothing.
Robot armies from all directions kept the figure holding a massive sword suppressed within a fixed range.
Under this kind of firepower coverage, no one could resist.
Even the IPC's strongest protective measures would be like paper beneath such continuous bombardment.
But the figure being bombarded had already withstood who knew how many rounds of this mad barrage.
One could tell from the buildings around him.
In every direction, one could almost no longer find a single intact building.
More or less, they all bore traces of explosions or remnants of rays.
Those traces even continued all the way to the horizon.
From this, one could tell that even under this firepower suppression, Sora had launched attacks at DESTRUDOS in the sky more than once.
Unfortunately, because of DESTRUDOS's own nature, THEY remained completely unharmed.
THEIR body of black fog was almost impossible to touch, yet it could also spread to every corner of the dreamscape.
Sora had no time to rest at all and had to guard against THEIR sneak attacks.
[DOES IT FEEL HOPELESS?]
DESTRUDOS looked at Sora below, who had once again forced his way through an explosion, and spoke.
[WHY NOT LET ME OFFER YOU A SOLUTION?]
Sora frowned. Was this DESTRUDOS fellow trying to mock him?
[YOU NEED ONLY LET US CHILDREN OF THE SAME ROOT MEET, AND WE SHALL BE ABLE TO TURN FROM ILLUSION INTO REALITY.]
However, DESTRUDOS was not mocking him. Or rather, as one who governed stillness, THEY could not mock him.
THEY were truly proposing a solution.
As long as the two DESTRUDOS who governed [Flesh] and [Machine] on their respective timelines met, THEY would be able to take physical form.
By then, Sora's attacks would be able to hit THEM.
However, although THEY could be hit at that point, it was also unknown to what level THEIR power would rise.
In terms of the result alone, THEY had indeed proposed a solution.
"Sorry. I don't like the feeling of being given charity."
Sora stood up once more. "Whatever I want, I'll fight for with my own hands!"
With that, he gripped his sword in both hands and raised his momentum.
Seeing this move, DESTRUDOS calmly spoke.
[ARE YOU GOING TO USE THAT MOVE AGAIN?]
During the struggle between the two sides, Sora had run out of stamina more than once.
After all, the continuous firepower bombardment gave him no chance to stop. He could only dodge madly.
Every time DESTRUDOS felt that THEY had nearly drained the opponent's stamina and could completely defeat him…
He would shout, "[SAIKOU HAKKOU]!" and emit a burst of powerful light, then his stamina would recover completely, allowing him to keep clashing with THEM.
The two sides had dragged things out like this for so long. Now that Sora had once again assumed this familiar stance, DESTRUDOS had long since gotten used to it.
[HOW MANY MORE TIMES CAN YOU USE IT?]
An ability that could completely restore one's entire condition was not something even an AEON would dare claim could be used casually.
If every AEON could do something like this on a whim, THEY would have erased the scars above THEIR heads long ago.
If even AEONS could not use it as THEY pleased, how many times could Sora, a mortal with somewhat strange powers, use it?
DESTRUDOS's words truly struck Sora where it hurt.
Because the several versions of himself from different points in time he had found were already nearly exhausted.
In that stopped train car, almost all of them had collapsed. Only the last one remained.
If the situation over there was not resolved soon, he probably would not be able to hold on here much longer either.
But even so, he had to keep holding on!
Accompanied by a burst of powerful light, DESTRUDOS once again lost THEIR perception of Sora.
After the light faded and Sora reappeared, THEY planned to complete another round of firepower coverage.
It had already happened too many times. THEY were already incomparably familiar with it.
Unfortunately, at this moment, a sudden change occurred.
CRACK, CRACK, CRACK, CRACK!
An inexplicable sound echoed through Penacony.
And that sound seemed to be accompanied by a kind of singing.
"THE WARRIOR OF LIGHT WHO WILL LIGHT UP THE DARK NIGHT~!"
That voice was faint and distant, as if it had crossed thousands of years, yet also seemed to have sounded only yesterday.
At the same time, because this sound did not belong to stillness, DESTRUDOS discovered where the source came from.
[INSIDE US?!]
THEIR black-fog body seemed to be affected by some power, continuously condensing until it finally transformed into a puppet-like body.
And on that face, countless cracks were spreading uncontrollably at high speed.
The influence of the Junction Point had successfully acted upon [Steel DESTRUDOS]!
[HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? HOW COULD SUCH A THING HAPPEN?]
DESTRUDOS could not believe it. THEY had imagined many possibilities for THEIR defeat, but no matter what, THEY had never imagined THEY would lose because of the past.
Normally speaking, after Sunday's defeat at that point in time, THEY should not have existed in the present.
Thinking of this, DESTRUDOS suddenly understood something.
[IT WAS YOU!]
Because THEY had been observed all along, THEY had not collapsed into an unpredictable future.
And precisely because of that, the situation that occurred in the past would be reflected one-to-one upon THEM.
[HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? WHY ARE YOU UNAFFECTED? WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU?]
The influence of time should have been comprehensive. Why could this fellow still stand here?
Faced with the other party's question, Sora, wearing casual clothes, grinned.
"I'm just one unlucky bastard who got screwed over by himself. Remember that!"
Since their business over there was finished, it was time to offer this DESTRUDOS on this side the finale.
In Sora's hands were the same two familiar items.
Only this time, he did not use the same motion as before.
He fastened the Den-O Belt, while his other hand pressed the buttons at the bottom of the K-Taros one by one.
"[HENSHIN!]"
'[MOMO-URA-KIN-RYU]!'
'[CLIMAX FORM]!'
SUPER CLIMAX FORM
Five points of light flew in from the void as if summoned.
The radiance they carried drove away the darkness shrouding this place under DESTRUDOS.
After all of them merged into Sora's body, one face after another appeared on him like decorations.
His right shoulder moved. "Would a god like you care to be reeled in by me?"
His left shoulder moved. "My strength will make you cry!"
As he spoke, Sora suddenly turned around and clasped both hands behind his back. "Retainers, feel honored that you may fight alongside me!"
Then Sora turned back around and began hopping up and down. "Yay! Mr. Birdie's with us too!"
"Hey! Now's not the time to play around!"
Momotaros spoke up to stop the farce.
And his words made all the Imagin acknowledge it.
Now really was not the time to mess around, because there was still a guy overhead who had not been dealt with.
"Let me say this first…"
After calming down, he assembled the red DenGasher in Sword Mode.
His palm swept across the blade, and he pointed toward DESTRUDOS above as THEY continued collapsing.
"I'M AT A CLIMAX FROM THE START!"
---
T/N: KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM CLIMAXING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!