"In one minute... cleanse the Earth clean?"
Before Westcott could respond, the so-called "researchers" behind him all paled.
Though they weren't actually scientists, what Black Amber had just said wasn't some technical jargon—"one minute" was easy to grasp, "scour the Earth" equally so.
But when you strung "one minute" and "cleanse the Earth" together, it really wasn't something anyone wanted to understand.
Ellen and Westcott's expressions also shifted slightly.
"Use my communicator signal to access the Schicksal satellite! I'll send them the retreat order myself!"
Westcott had realized the opponent's intention was to pin him as the mastermind, and they weren't even bothering to pretend anymore.
He could only furrow his brow tightly, trying to intimidate the other side with a sharp glare.
However, how could Black Amber possibly be frightened by the gaze of a mere human?
Well, the other party probably didn't even consider themselves human—but that hardly mattered.
To the Lahmu, all sentient beings were essentially evils from the old era that had caused their Mother pain and sorrow.
Though Black Amber, born from Amber's consciousness, lacked the same intense instinct as a normal Lahmu, that didn't mean she held any fondness for humans.
No fondness at all, let alone fear.
"Humour him."
So Black Amber just shot him a mocking glance before instructing the Valkyrie beside her.
Westcott's expression turned even grimmer, because he realized that Mana's attack wasn't a result of being tricked, but rather a betrayal prompted by some promise from Mobius.
Yet, at this point, all he could hope for was that Mana would be intimidated by that Spirit across the way—the one capable of easily destroying the world.
However, after taking the communicator and sending the message, there was still only prolonged silence in response.
Only the bursts of light continuously flaring up in the void of space narrated that the current situation hadn't changed in the slightest.
What was going on...? Did the message not go through?
Westcott's face darkened further.
Since they'd agreed to let him send the message, Mobius probably wouldn't resort to such petty tricks. But the message he'd sent wasn't just for Takamiya Mana—it was for all combat squads.
While this suggested Mana might not have colluded with Mobius after all, it didn't make Westcott any happier.
"The strength of the Spirits has been well known for many years now."
At this point, Ellen couldn't hold back from speaking up:
"Bishop Mobius, while we acknowledge Schicksal's understanding and knowledge of Spirits, the description you've given lacks credibility."
"Just watch."
Black Amber showed no intention of arguing, instead turning her gaze back to the Valkyrie nearby: "How much longer for the Immortal Blades?"
"About... ten minutes."
The Valkyrie looked uneasy: "My apologies, Bishop, but space combat is... rather demanding for Valkyries."
A bit too demanding, to be honest.
It was common knowledge that Valkyries were stronger than Wizards under normal conditions.
But it was also common knowledge that this advantage was based on standard circumstances. In aerial combat, naval battles, and various extreme environments, Wizards actually held the upper hand.
Although that advantage diminished over time and plummeted once the Territory was overloaded, the Territory's capabilities were indeed uniquely suited for special situations.
As for Valkyries, just breaking through the atmosphere with their physical bodies was already pushing their limits.
Even within the Immortal Blades, few could retain their combat capabilities after exiting the atmosphere.
"The big one's coming. Have all Valkyries take positions at 9 kilometers altitude and prepare for meteorite impacts. As for the Spirit... leave her to Durandal."
Black Amber spoke without urgency.
"Leave her to Durandal"?
Deal with what? That monster that could scour the Earth clean in one minute?
Westcott, along with everyone else present, shot bewildered glances at the green-haired girl upon hearing this.
"W-wait a second, what's this about meteorites?"
The spies could no longer maintain their "researcher" personas, asking with sweat pouring down their faces.
Meteorites themselves weren't unusual—thousands fell to Earth every year—but meteorites that needed intercepting were a different matter.
"I've already told you, you'll see very soon."
No sooner had she spoken than the golden-haired girl in space, who had been evading attacks all along and rarely took the initiative, seemed to have grown bored.
An expression of clear impatience crossed her face.
Despite the vacuum where sound could hardly travel, her voice came through with uncanny clarity:
"That's... enough."
A violet light spread outward from her body, extending into the distance. Before the Wizards could even process what was happening, they saw several massive meteorites hurtling toward them.
'Meteorites that huge!?'
Even Mana now felt uncertain. Could Mobius—or rather, Durandal—really handle this situation?
Many of these meteorites were over ten meters in diameter, some even several tens of meters.
Just a five-meter meteorite, upon burning and exploding during descent, already packed half the power of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. Though it might not reach the ground, it would still affect residents.
And these tens-of-meters-sized ones? Their explosive force exceeded 3 million tons of TNT equivalent—that was 208 Hiroshima bombs, enough to level Hiroshima entirely.
These things absolutely could not be allowed to fall indiscriminately!
"Intercept the meteorites!"
Leading the charge, she shouted and dashed toward the incoming rocks.
The other Wizards, of course, also knew these couldn't be allowed to hit Earth. Without another word, they each became human-shaped interceptors.
Even so, seeing that this tactic seemed quite effective, Hoshimiya Mukuro once again drew forth over a dozen similarly sized meteorites from space, each around a hundred meters across.
Then she gazed into the distance, contemplating whether to just bring over one that was a kilometer wide.
Witnessing this, Westcott fully grasped Mobius's intention.
This was practically about stepping on his head to forge Schicksal's invincible golden image. But did Durandal truly have that capability?
He was still pondering, as he didn't actually care about human casualties, but the spies were genuinely sweating bullets.
These meteorites hitting the ground was no joke.
No matter where they landed, they would cause immense harm to human society—far greater damage than any Spacequake.
Was Mobius not afraid of becoming humanity's sinner by pulling this stunt? This crime alone would be enough to condemn her thoroughly!
Anyone who still didn't realize Mobius was targeting DEM at this point wasn't fit to be a spy—especially here, where everyone was a double (or triple) agent, with versatility and adaptability being mere basics.
But they didn't dare question Mobius directly, since she still appeared perfectly composed, clearly indicating the situation was still under control...
Please, let it really be under control! It must still be in your hands, right!? Please! Whatever you do, don't panic!
If the green-haired girl showed even a hint of surprise now, the spies felt they might just go into cardiac arrest.
After all, that Spirit clearly wasn't using her full power.
Even without the purported ability to cleanse the Earth clean in one minute that Mobius mentioned, simply hurling meteorites was enough to easily obliterate human civilization.
We were wrong to think Schicksal was too powerful and needed curbing before—now we just beg that you're even stronger than we imagined!
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T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.