"What the hell? A widower? And Patchi… what kind of face is that?"
Zeroy instinctively stepped back, startled by Patchouli's expression. Patchouli continued to stare at her.
Here's the problem: Zeroy was very pleased with the new armor and thought the look was extremely cool. She couldn't help admiring herself in the mirror and even wanted to go out and show off for a bit. How would someone react to such an attractive appearance, especially when the two of them were in a romantic relationship?
Patchouli reluctantly withdrew her gaze, cleared her throat, and tried to suppress the restlessness in her chest. She had just finished—her whole body was sore and weak, hardly in the mood for bold ideas.
Moreover, the top priority right now was to handle serious matters, not indulge in frivolity. If Zeroy messed around once, it could be forgiven; if she did it again, it would be wasting time.
"It's nothing. What's going on with you right now?" Patchouli asked, glancing at the library, which had been ruffled into a mess by the gusts of wind.
"Skill upgraded, so I got stronger, and when I tested it the commotion was a bit big…" Zeroy said awkwardly.
"Is that so…" Patchouli shook her head, not angry that Zeroy had caused the disturbance. "I'm going to keep allocating points, so don't cause trouble."
"No problem!" Zeroy snapped to attention. Patchouli began allocating her points, and Zeroy continued with hers.
After checking out the Type-Zero armor, Zeroy started drawing cards. Three draw chances—
The first draw was gold.
[Surgical Striker - S.P.E.C.T.R.A (Spectra)]
A wheel-shaped mecha even larger than H.A.M.P. In the background story this mech required two Sky Striker Aces to operate simultaneously and placed a huge burden on them. In Zeroy's hands those problems vanished; if she wanted to use it, she could do so freely.
The second draw was also gold.
[Surgical Striker - Zeke]
Zeke was another Sky Striker Ace card—a gigantic humanoid mecha. Only two large Sky Striker family armors seemed to remain: Spectra and Zeke.
To be honest, Zeroy didn't much want the former—genuinely ugly, with combat power that felt rather average.
The latter, a Gundam that could transform into a forty-meter greatsword, seemed unlikely to appear; Zeke supposedly only existed in the manga storyline and only as card art in the game. Still, there was always the chance it would be like Type-Zero.
Zeroy thought she probably had a backdoor to the Main God Space—the drop rates seemed far too generous. She drew again—another gold. No—this time it was a rainbow!
The silver-white armor looked like star-forged iron quenched in cold. Its majestic head bore crown-like horns that cut cold white lines across the dark cosmos.
A deep-blue core beneath the breastplate pulsed slowly, like a star chained and imprisoned; golden ornaments decorated its body, every groove sleeping with the killing intent to shred starships.
When its massive arms cleaved the air they raised an ionizing roar; its enormous wings expelled purple lightning that annihilated everything. Its metal hand grasped not fingers but weapons capable of crushing planetary shells.
Just as it stood in the universe, the entire star sea seemed to dim while the blue energy on its body shone ever brighter.
That was the ultimate weapon to slay gods—the final strike humanity created to extinguish calamity. Its thunder could incinerate the sky, shatter stars, and kill gods.
Humanity, which had been on the brink of extinction several times, finally obtained the twelfth Spear of Godslaying that resisted fate and destroyed everything.
The Terminus of Xyz! God-Slaying Weapon—Heavenly Thundership: Archaus!
"—!" Zeroy nearly shouted. She had drawn a true Gundam.
Patchouli glanced at Zeroy, who had almost jumped for joy, then forced her focus back to allocating points. As she did, someone suddenly tackled her and hugged her tightly.
"Wah! Take off! Patchi! Take off!"
"Ow!"
After being punched, Zeroy obediently sat back in her chair and continued allocating points.
…
"God has already expounded the future for us; she has cast her gaze upon us; she has indicated the direction—why do you still persist in your ignorance?!"
"..."
"Velvy! Give me the mind-control device! You are leading the world to destruction!"
"No, Alicia, it is you who will not walk with me into the future!"
"..."
"Hafk has never been the initiator of war; we long for peace. In the face of collapse, only a united front against the enemy gives us hope."
"But you refused peace and rejected hope; you want to decide a victor."
"I understand; people always habitually shoot at what they do not understand. You simply have not yet seen the future we describe."
"..."
"Dr. MEI, have you ever seen a surgical knife that is not bloody?"
"You know very well; experiments require the cost of trial and error. Human progress comes at the price of lives. Time is short against the collapse, yet the world advances so slowly. Three years ago we failed because we were too slow and hesitant. Now the collapse advances ever more fiercely. Only by using the sharpest blade to cut away the tumors impeding machine operation can we quickly improve the situation. If the old is not broken, the new cannot be established!"
"..."
"Most of you, like a pack of wolves, are often panic-stricken and easily deceived by the United Nations and the Moth of Fire. What you need is not endless resistance, not ethereal slogans."
"But us! We will construct a resource-equal society with Sky Net and mind-control devices. We will use technology to rebuild lives ruined by disease and accident. We will use severe punishment to remold fallen souls. You may freely insult us as tyrants. But years later, the symbol of Hafk will become the holiest totem of human civilization! You will eventually understand—Humanity is the disease, and Hafk is the cure!"
"..."
"This beautiful world does not need pests! You pests do not deserve forgiveness; you should die slowly, tortured in pain!"
...
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