"Which one?"
Kudou Asuka looked at Saigou Homura, completely baffled.
"The one from just now!" Saigou Homura said, his voice filled with excitement.
"If I'm not mistaken, these Minotaurs are avatars of the Bull of Heaven, sharing the same composition. That means they also possess a weaker version of its water-based immortality, with the caveat that they can only be resurrected from the main body."
This was evident from the way the Minotaurs vanished after being defeated.
They were born from the misty tendrils released by the Bull of Heaven, and upon death, they returned to the water vapor of its cumulonimbus form.
"I see, but what does that have to do with anything?"
Kudou Asuka nodded, but she still didn't understand what method Saigou Homura was referring to.
"Their creation, absorption, and attacks all require an expenditure of energy!" Saigou Homura said, his words coming out in a rush.
"When their energy expenditure exceeds its limit, they return to the main body to draw more energy… This pattern can effectively lower the main body's energy level!"
If the Bull of Heaven was a massive solar panel, then the Minotaurs were individual little power banks.
The Bull of Heaven could not only draw energy from its environment but also release it through lightning, explosions, and other means.
The Minotaurs, however, could only obtain energy from their main body, the Bull of Heaven, to function. Once their physical structure was destroyed or their energy depleted, they would return to the main body to "recharge."
"In other words, these Minotaurs are the Bull of Heaven's weakness!"
Seeing that Asuka still didn't get it, Saigou Homura explained in the simplest terms he could.
"If the enemy really does get desperate and tries to trigger a nuclear explosion by maxing out the energy release, we can use these Minotaurs as energy absorption boxes to lower the core temperature, thereby balancing the pressure differential and preventing the explosion from happening!"
When the "solar panel" tries to overload its discharge to create an explosion, you plug in the "power banks" to act as a buffer. This absorbs the excess energy and prevents an extreme event from occurring.
"Genius! As expected of my little brother!"
Izayoi's eyes lit up as he understood Saigou Homura's meaning, and he applauded in admiration.
"A heating device in one hand, a cooling and energy-absorbing device in the other. This gives us complete control over the Bull of Heaven's state, allowing us to guide this big guy into a high-temperature meltdown in a safe manner!"
"Using the Bull of Heaven's own weakness to defeat it—what a beautiful counterattack!"
Being sharp, he understood that by controlling both opposing forces, the systemic risk of this plan had been reduced to its absolute minimum.
"You're exaggerating, Big Bro Izayoi!"
Saigou Homura scratched his head, embarrassed, then cautiously added, "Besides, even though the plan is sound, whether or not it can actually be done depends on the results of your actions. I can't help in that department."
As a researcher, he was keenly aware of the vast chasm between theory and practice.
"Don't worry, leave that part to us!"
Izayoi patted his younger brother's head, grinning as he playfully messed up his hair.
"You, the strategist, have already pointed the way. It would be my own incompetence if we couldn't pull it off!"
His declaration was arrogant and self-assured, but considering his power, such an attitude was beyond reproach.
However…
"Don't speak too soon, Big Bro Izayoi. You're not the star of the show this time!"
Saigou Homura escaped from Izayoi's demonic clutches and, while fixing his hair, looked over at Kudou Asuka.
"To trigger the high-temperature meltdown and prevent the enemy from making a desperate move, we not only have to raise the collective temperature of the Bull of Heaven to over ten thousand degrees Celsius as quickly as possible, but we also have to be ready to interrupt the enemy's detonation sequence at any moment."
"Therefore, the Young Lady's output is the most crucial part of this operation. You will need to perform both heating and cooling operations simultaneously, unleashing the full potential of both devices at once."
"The Young Lady's overall heating efficiency will determine how long it takes for the Bull of Heaven to reach a full high-temperature meltdown."
"The Young Lady's localized cooling efficiency will determine whether we can interrupt a potential detonation, preventing a nuclear crisis."
"If either of these two aspects goes wrong, our mission will be a complete and utter failure!"
Saigou Homura stated the crux of their strategy with grave seriousness.
"I'm not saying this to pressure you, Young Lady. In fact, I don't really know the limits of your ability. I just want to say that this is our only chance to resolve this disaster with zero deaths!"
If this operation failed, they themselves wouldn't die, but the number of sacrifices would be immeasurable.
"…I understand!"
Swallowing hard, Kudou Asuka nodded, her expression filled with resolve.
"Excellent!"
Saigou Homura nodded and immediately began assigning tasks.
Half a minute later, Kudou Asuka stood in an open field and activated her Majesty on the Simulated Sun A(cccf) device that Saigou Homura had previously developed for illumination.
High-energy ultraviolet and even gamma rays shot towards the Bull of Heaven, invisible to the naked eye.
Saigou Homura continuously adjusted the device's emission frequency to ensure maximum absorption by the Bull of Heaven.
As he watched the overall temperature of the Bull of Heaven—a beast tens of millions of cubic meters in size—climb at a visible rate, Saigou Homura couldn't help but stare wide-eyed, even though he was already familiar with Kudou Asuka's ability.
"What in the world is the Young Lady's ability… Is she even human? She's making this device perform at a thousand times its upper limit! Not even a sun god from mythology could do something like this!"
A layman might not see anything out of the ordinary, but in his eyes, watching Kudou Asuka's performance was no different from when he was a child and saw Shiroyasha casually toss out a sun.
Is this really something a human can do?
Not even Izayoi is this monstrous!
"Excellent! At this rate, the time needed to reach high-temperature meltdown has been cut to a tenth of the original estimate! We can achieve our goal in less than five minutes!"
Looking at the temperature distribution in the area around the Bull of Heaven, Saigou Homura pumped his fist in excitement.
He had chosen ultraviolet rays not only for their high energy frequency but also for their stealthy, invisible nature.
If the enemy forces were relying solely on visual observation, they wouldn't notice a problem for at least the first minute. This would drastically reduce the likelihood of danger and delay the enemy's decision-making process.
No matter the faction, the risk of triggering a nuclear explosion was not a decision that could be made without hesitation.
As it turned out, his decision was indeed correct.
For the first minute, the enemy did not react.
However, this clearly wasn't due to the enemy's lack of advanced observation methods.
Although they had been deceived initially, any force capable of remotely controlling the Bull of Heaven could certainly check its status.
But Saigou Homura's overall assessment had one slight error.
He had misjudged the enemy's moral bottom line.
The opposing force did not hesitate as he had expected, nor did they conduct the ethical review he thought would be necessary.
In fact, the moment they detected the abnormal internal temperature of the Bull of Heaven and deduced that their goal was to force it into a high-temperature meltdown, the enemy made an instant decision.
Detonate. Detonate immediately!
"Damn it! A rapid localized temperature spike! These bastards have gone too far, Big Bro Izayoi!"
Staring at the anomalous red data on his computer screen, Saigou Homura immediately looked to Izayoi.
The emergency protocol had been triggered. They had to eliminate the risk of a nuclear explosion immediately.
"Got it!"
Izayoi nodded and looked at Kudou Asuka.
At that moment, Kudou Asuka was still maintaining the output of the heating device, but her gaze had already shifted to the Minotaur tied up before her by Kudou Ayatori.
"Release all your energy into the sky!" Kudou Asuka commanded instantly.
A furious bolt of lightning shot out in an instant, piercing straight through the atmosphere.
With its entire energy reserve depleted, the Minotaur's form became incredibly faint, on the verge of dissipating into mist at any moment.
"Kasukabe!"
Izayoi grabbed the Minotaur by its horn and hurled it toward the sky at the third cosmic velocity.
"Roger!"
Kasukabe You, hovering in mid-air like a bird, caught the Minotaur with one hand. Then, with a flash of golden light, she used the divine speed unique to the Garuda clan to dive toward the Bull of Heaven like a fighter jet, throwing the dissipating body of the Minotaur at the designated location.
"Nice shot!"
Amidst Kasukabe You's deadpan cheer, the Minotaur's body disintegrated into a cloud of mist at the target point, completely diluting the searing electrical energy.