RaidenInfinity

Sorry for the wait! This chapter is not edited and is a little shorter than usual.

- Chapter 12 - Inspection -

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"Syntia, won't there be any problems if I am not physically here to 'hold the wheel?'"

Ares queried while assembling an assault rifle that was stored as parts. The cat-eared operator brought him to the warehouse located in the pantry area to sort out his equipment.

"Rest assured, Captain. I, as the avatar of <Synthesis>, is able to directly interact with the steerings through <Mental Link>."

"But what if…"

"Although advanced maneuvers aren't really possible without the sticks and throttles, you can control the ship remotely or just give verbal commands. If I, for any reason, failed to establish control, the 'core system' will act as a fallback."

"I see. That seems fine to me."

Following the instructions that Syntia has given, Ares equipped the necessary gadgets to venture out of the battleship's bridge area.

Ares was given a wristband and a pair of peculiar-looking headphones. The wristband was said to provide a personal energy barrier while the headphones worked as earmuffs. He felt that the design of the accessories was familiar, but couldn't tell why.

For self-defense, he picked a conventional assault rifle and a few extra magazines. In <EPO>, players could participate in melee battles and gunfights in certain scenarios, such as infiltrating a capital ship or a military base.

Although not very skilled in close combat, the ex-player could at least aim a firearm and handle its recoil. He felt that the weapons' designs were familiar. The size and weight were the same as in the game.

"I'm done with the preparations. Are these really sufficient to make contact with that unknown entity?"

"It's overkill, Captain. You didn't need weapons, but if being armed makes you confident, then go for it."

"Alright, guess I'm all set."

Holding the firearm tight, Ares followed his partner's steps towards the hatch door located at the end of the dormitory area. After passing through the airlock, they navigated through stairways and narrow corridors a few hundred meters in length.

Weird noises and vibrations came from behind the walls. Sounds of fluids gushing through pipes reverberated around the dimly lit path, which made the pilot anxious. He couldn't differentiate if the loud pounding heartbeats he heard were his, Syntia's, or someone else's.

Finally, they reached the entrance of the hangar bay. Ares breathed a sigh of relief then entered the door labeled with the number 1 that Syntia had pushed open.

Ares looked downwards from a tall platform the entrance lead onto. The hangar was a lot larger than what he imagined from inspecting the video feed of the surveillance cameras.

The two boarded an elevator to reach ground level. Upon touchdown, Ares loaded his firearm and prepared himself for the inevitable skirmish. Syntia, on the other hand, behaved leisurely as if she'd got some tricks up her sleeves.

They've already discussed the strategy to approach the lifeform earlier in the bridge. Instead of entering <Atlas> through the broken canopy, they'll force their way into the cabin through the entrance located near the ship's rear.

"Captain, I'll proceed to disarm the lock. Please hold your position to keep out of the blast radius."

"Roger that— Wait, you're blasting it open? With what?"

"An elementary spell."

Syntia stepped forward and placed herself a few meters in front of the broken down starship's entrance. Then, she extended her right hand and pointed it at the lock.

Ares heard a buzzing crackle as the cat-eared girl's palm was enveloped by dancing electric sparks.

"<Thunder Blast>."

In an instant, an arc of lightning formed between Syntia's hand and her target. The mechanism that secured the entrance was reduced into fine particles as a result of the explosion. Shortly after that, the hatch door dropped on the floor with a clunk and revealed a fleet of stairs.

"Holy sh—"

Ares was dumbfounded at what he saw. Syntia did not only had her "parent"'s healing abilities. The destructive spell the catgirl had displayed was one of Remi's signature spells that were often used to blow up criminal heads in public execution sessions.

It wasn't clear what other spells do Syntia had in her repertoire. Ares did not have the guts to probe into the matter. However, he kept in mind that he should not upset the cat-eared girl to avoid any bad endings that could befall him. After all, he was just a mortal while his partner was the descendant of not just one but three goddesses of his homeworld.

"S-Syntia... Are we clear for embarkment?"

"Captain, I apologize for not mentioning earlier that I've got hold of the target's coordinates the moment we stepped into this room with my mana detection ability."

"And that means—"

"To minimize collateral damage, I'll try to force the target out of the ship. This way, the situation will be easier to handle."

"You mean, someone has to go in from the other end— the cockpit?"

"No. I have another spell for this. It's one of Lord Remi's inventions, incorporating traits from both domains of <Life> and <Thunder>."

Syntia raised a finger and conjured a golden ball of lightning with tints of purple sparks. With a flick of the wrist, the ball lightning, or rather, a wisp, drifted towards the broken canopy to enter the cockpit.

"Beautiful..."

"That's <Thunder Light>. It summons a lightning wisp that provides ample light to the surroundings. But in this case, we'll use it to instill fear in the opponent."

"So, it's a torch drone. That's a rather creative way to utilize this thing."

"Now, we just need to wait. The speed isn't high; it'll take a while to reach its destination."

After a few minutes, a panicked shriek followed by several gunshots came from inside the damaged starship. It was then followed by scurrying footsteps that grew louder as the lifeform approaches the exit.

Just like what Ares had anticipated, a young girl clad in white robe dashed out of the ship's cabin and tumbled down the stairs. The lightning wisp was nowhere to be seen, possibly recalled by Syntia when she snapped her finger the moment the target came into sight.

The girl was gripping tight on a handgun, confirmed as the same design that Syntia had identified with the second <Evil Eye> drone. The figure matched the previous observation as well; the girl's physique was akin to a human female child aged eleven or twelve.

There was no visual difference between the girl and a human being. She had bluish silver hair and a pair of crimson red eyes full of fear and hatred. There were scars all over her body made prominent by the complexion that was even paler than Syntia's. Dark red blood seeped out from the fresh wounds on her limbs.

"Uh...Hello? Are you okay?"

Ares attempted to establish contact, but his words were completely ignored. The pale young girl screeched while lunging towards Syntia and fired several shots.

Before Ares could react to the situation, the bullets stopped mid-air when they collided with an invisible force field in front of the catgirl. Then, the projectiles that had their momentum drained away dropped and scattered on the ground below.

Syntia retaliated by sending out an arc of electricity by just snapping her finger. The spell sent its victim flying several meters away. After hitting the ground, the girl's body convulsed for a short while before coming to a full stop. Smoke emerged from the severely burned and even charred body parts.

"D-dear Syntia, did... did you kill her?"

"Negative, Captain. My scanners have confirmed signs of life. Rather, I am surprised that <Thunder Shock> wasn't enough for a fatality. This confirms that the subject is indeed, mana-capable."

"She didn't warrant such a brutal response, did she? We could communicate and negotiate..."

"Negative. I've detected surges of mana signatures from the subject and have taken immediate measures. The last thing we want is offensive spells being cast against us."

"That... Alright, I understand. But what do we do with that... subject?"

Ares pointed at the unconscious body on the floor while staring at Syntia's pouting face. He tried to avoid looking straight at the unsightly scene as the girl's robe was torn into shreds.

"Urgh, she wet herself. What a bother."

Syntia frowned and showed disgust even though she was the culprit that paralyzed the girl with her near-lethal spell. She sighed and accepted the responsibility to deal with the aftermath.

"Captain, I'll order drones to move the subject to the medical bay. If you're not comfortable with staying here, please head back to the bridge. I will handle the rest, including the inspection of <Atlas>."

"Thanks, Syntia. I'll go with the suggestion."

Guided by his memories, Ares managed to return to the bridge by himself. He lied on his reclined seat and tried to forget the gruesome imagery he had witnessed by generating random thoughts.

Syntia's spells were no joke. Those who offended her would suffer through a myriad of ways. That gave rise to one question: Why isn't <Synthesis> armed with such weaponry? They could dominate the universe by electrocuting ships to damage their avionics.

It was possible that just like how <Synthesis> lacked point defense turrets, such an auxiliary weapon did not make it to the implementation phase due to the need to gun down colossal alien vessels. Ares thought that if he could further remodel <Synthesis> in the future, he would surely design and implement a "shutdown field generator" against hostile human ships.

However, there could be limitations, such as power usage. Ultimately, it boiled down to the availability of the mysterious mineral resource known as manarium, which Ares had to procure to sustain his starship.

Ares decided to take a nap while waiting for Syntia to complete the settlement of the "guest," as well as present the investigation results.

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