The cylindrical device vibrated. Like a flood collapsing a dam, a crack manifested and shattered, creating a tide of blinding light. It crawled out, peeked at the world, and smiled.
The heat burnt Tardium's eyes, forcing him to close them. The light pierced his eyelids and stabbed his body. It seared every part of his body, filling him with pain.
The sphere of light melted everything it touched. It devoured Tardium, disintegrated Constrien, and crawled to the surrounding. The wave of heat agitated the air and created a strong wind that painted the world read.
Princess grabbed Angelica and retreated into the fog. The spiderlings around them rushed forward and used their bodies to slow the all-devouring light.
"Is this the end?" Cyania said, her eyes burning from the light.
Gone were the fogs, replaced by the infinite whiteness. It crept towards Cyania, but an eclipse consumed her vision. Canaris stood in front of her. His grey fur fluttered, filling her with a sense of grief.
Why did he try to protect her? Get away from it.
Her lips moved, but no words came out. The sphere of annihilation expanded too fast. There was no stopping.
"Danger exceeded the limit. Proceeding to eliminate the threat," a mechanical voice resounded.
The vessel trembled. The thunderous explosion ceased its noise, returning the world to tranquillity.
"Why has everything stopped?" Cyania said as she looked around.
The burning ball of heat halted its expansion. It battled against an invisible force.
Cyania watched the explosion contracting, the surrounding atmosphere turning cold, the damaged structure repairing itself. No, it wasn't shrinking. It was reversing.
She turned to the gaping hole only to find that it was shrinking. The scrapes reconnected with the metallic gate at a visible rate.
"The God of Light, please have mercy," she prayed and knelt against the floor, her expression awestruck.
"Four individuals detected. Checking the permission level," the voice echoed. "Three unauthorized intruders detected. Threat level: insignificant. Entering Self-perseverance state."
The voice faded into silence. The glowing light dispersed as the ball of light shrank into a tiny dot and merged into the cylindrical device. It disintegrated into dust particle after it landed against the floor.
Cyania raised her head. From arranging the words of that voice, she led herself to an absurd conclusion.
That was not a deity, but a protective system of the vessel.
With that speculation in mind, she surveyed the room. Aside from Canaris and her, only the lifeless bodies of the spiderlings and her teammates remained. The destruction of the vessel vanished without any trance.
"Are you all right?" Cyania touched Canaris's back, leaning onto the towering figure who bought her peace.
"I'm fine," Canaris said, his body returning to the original form.
Into her embrace, he laid down. With a smile on his face, he entered the dreamland. A smile lingered on his face.
"Sleep well," Cyania said, her hand moving across his hair. "I'll deal with the rest."
She looked at the corridor before her. Princess and Angelica stood and met her gaze.
"An Elf should stay in the forest, why did you come here?" Princess said.
"Let's not waste our breath with provocation," Cyania said. She laid Canaris on the floor and motioned her hands, channelling a spell.
"Do you wish to die that badly, even if I can spare you?"
"What are you hinting at?"
"Serve me, and I'll let him live."
Princess snapped her fingers. Angelica pointed the pistol at Canaris. Though her aim was shaky, she could kill a defenceless stationary living being.
"Are you threatening me?"
"It's your choice. I have no say over your free will."
Cyania looked at Canaris and sighed. She dispersed her spell and bent to her knee. Akin to worshipping the Gods, her manner was respectful, concealed within it her frustration and resentment.
"I shall follow your command as long as you keep your promise."
Angelica pulled the trigger. Cyania perked up and dodged, but the bullet managed to pierce her right leg. She screamed and gawked at Princess.
"Don't worry. I won't kill him." Princess took the gun from Angelica and aimed at Cyania.
"You dare—" Despite her injured leg, Cyania stood up and roared. Her voice penetrated the wall and diffused out of the vessel. The Fons manifested around her, forming countless petals and ice shards without any prior casting.
Princess pulled the trigger. The bullet flew to Cyania, its trajectory lining up flawlessly.
Cyania controlled the ice shards, her eyes bloodshot. She commanded them to assault Princess.
"If you resist, he will die," Princess said and shifted her aim to Canaris.
Cyania froze. The bullet shredded through the air and approached her brows.
"My dear, your fate doesn't end here." A hand caught the bullet and crushed it into dust.
Like nature itself, she entered the scene and brought with her calmness. Her hands stretched out and received Cyania, holding her like a mother embracing her child.
"Arachna, you did well helping her." Her crystal-like pupils met the azure abysses. "Because of that, I'll grant you a painless death."
She raised her hand pointed at Princess, but a sudden chill enveloped her.
"Powerful lifeform detected. Scanning: a Spirit," the mechanical voice echoed. "Proceeding to neutralize the anomaly."
"Still have the last bit of energy?" the Spirit said. The hostility in her faded away. "I'll spare you. Don't let me see you again."
In an instant, a powerful pressure descended onto the world, forcing everyone to kneel before it. The Spirit shifted her gaze from Princess to the ceiling.
Princess knelt against the floor, her face contorting in pain. Despite her unwavering effort, she couldn't stand up against the power of the Spirit, a minion of the Gods.
In the end, a royalty was merely mortal—a speck of dust compared to Divinity.
"Please, take him too," Cyania said, her eyelids drooping.
The Spirit shook her head. "I'm afraid I can't do that."
The pressure intensified. Time was running out—it was getting unbearable even for her.
"Let's not meet again, Arachna." The Spirit took a step forward and vanished. Her arrival and her departure were the same, unnoticeable and untraceable.
"Returning to self-perseverance mode." the mechanical voice resounded, but its quality became more distorted.
Time passed in silence. Princess rose from the floor, her legs trembling.
She had no idea how to escape that gaze. This time, she lost, and she lost hard. Her defeat was unavoidable.
Okay, I'm stopping here.
Like everyone else has commented already, the plot armor in this chapter is just way too much for me to ignore.
The entire scene with the elf character was literally all plot armor. Elf and the slave are the only two that survive > MC offers to spare elf's slave for her fealty > elf agrees to serve MC > MC tries to kill elf right after (no point at all) > mysterious god character shows up out of nowhere and protects elf (wtf) > god character announces he's going to kill MC but ship's defense system then announces it's ready to kill the god character despite just previously announcing it didn't have the energy to do so in an earlier scene (omg so much armor) > god character says something like "You got off lucky, I'll get you next time" and scrams with the elf.
There's more too, but that's the scene that really got me. I'm sure there's a way to clean this chapter up so it isn't as bad, but I'm stepping away for now. Let me know if it ever gets fixed and I'll start reading again.
ok wtf, who didn't have plot armor in the end ? She even has to think hard if she wants to kill the beastkin , couse he could possible be the only protection form the elf in the future. Also it would have been way better to just say the elf ran awy it time befor the door repair itself or the slave pushed her througth the opening in the last secound and it would end up beeing way less confusing
Okay that's some bullshit. Does this mean all the Gods of this world are now destined to be horribly mutilated?
But why try to kill the elf at all? It seemed like she was a willing servant as long as doggo stayed alive. Additionally, I'm sure killing her would've created way too much resentment in doggo for him to be an effective servant if she died. Why waste bullets even? She gains nothing from her death. It's just a bad move no matter how it turns out. Defeat was predetermined from the start? Bullshit. She brought that on herself by being stupid.
Also, when engi guy dropped the bomb, it was just sitting there on the ground for like 3 full minutes. She could've _easily_ had her spiderlings grab it and bring it back to her, taking away their only trump card. Negotiations would've been a cinch.
Also also, when elf girl was telling engi guy that she was almost finished and she just needed a little longer. Princess can see through the eyes of all the spiderlings, yes? I don't see how an 'intellectually superior' being could be so inattentive as to miss that. Especially during negotiations, where you have to be extremely aware of your opponents body language and such.
What the f*ck even happened? This chapter felt like a rollercoaster built through four dimensions going at top speed. I have no idea what's going on. I read it, but didn't understand any of what happened.
Plot armour ahoy! Sadly, making this chapter feel kinda weak.
So... Elf+wolf survived, princess wants to kill elf and keep wolf, deus ex machina god pops up and saves elf and leaves wolf? Nani the f*ck?
I honestly can''t remember. Was the existence of "Gods" even mentioned up until now? Or did author pull a rabbit out their butt? Either way a little bullcrap that she runs into someone with such unknown OP connections that will now broadcast her existence so early on. Hoping that there will be a clear path for power growth for the MC soon because until such a time I'll just feel mounting frustration at MC's BS situation.
Also as a side note it felt like to many things happened in this chapter without a lead up or explanation. Made it kind of hard to follow what was happening.
I'm dropping here, why make us read all that f*cking sh*t if at the end of the day a plot armor is gonna save the elf sorry ass? Not even her own effort but a f*cking spirit out of nowhere, really now?
Like most in this comment section I can’t understand what’s going on in this chapter.