Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate.

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

*** CANTO PRIMO ***

In the grim grayness of the cursed timeline, there is only war.

There is no peace amongst the multiverses, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting Eldritch Gods.

In space, there is no sound.

But observing the rays that streak like comets from one side to the other in opposing directions, and sensing the shockwaves of energy that spread upon impact with the shields, one can clearly imagine it as if it were real.

A deafening cacophony of destruction.
And death.

The starry sea serves as the backdrop to the unleashed hell.

From lunar orbit, a fleet of starships moves in tight formation, their shimmering hulls reflecting sunlight like a myriad of mirrors.

Motionless banners with the image of a cat are placed on the bulkheads to indicate the owner.

Green, purple, and red laser beams intertwine in the void, tracing deadly lines between the fighters. Explosions bloom like fiery flowers, sending fragments of metal wandering into the darkness.

The Soviet ships, bearing the Family's flag from the opposing side, slowly advance from Earth. At the helm is the self-proclaimed space pirate Ssemouy Onan on the flagship battleship Ленин.

Facing the Eldritch fleet are all the starships of those who oppose the Eldritch Family, most belonging to Shizuki and the rest created by Alf.
A coalition of rebels, misfits, the Drug Cartel, and members of the Blood Farm, assembled by the mysterious W before he lost his life against the Family.

Laser cannons repeatedly spit incandescent shots through the void.
The roar of ion cannon fire reverberates through the hulls, while energy shields crackle and sparkle under the impact.

The crews maneuver their ships through debris and asteroid remnants as if navigating deadly cliffs. Sweat on their foreheads, adrenaline in their trembling hands, terror in their eyes.

In the distance, heavy battleships stand out like majestic and impenetrable ships of the line, launching coordinated salvos that light up the darkness with dazzling explosions.

Each successful hit can mean the destruction not only of a ship but of entire crews, doomed to wander eternally in the cold abyss of space.

NPCs, clones, drones. Lives perhaps less important?

The question finds no answer in the cold of that space graveyard.

They were created for this precise moment.
They have a mission, they have a purpose.

Yet the emotions they feel are real.

Fighters streak between the war colossi, leaving trails of plasma and fire in their wake.

Every pilot knows that each maneuver could be their last, fear the only luxury afforded.
But only for a few moments.

“I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die!” a clone of Theirl keeps repeating as he pilots a fighter. But just when he wants to turn his craft around and flee the battlefield, the nanomachines controlled by Shizuki’s SNVW take control of his will, forcing him to fight.

His expression loses vitality, becoming a machine devoid of emotion, and he immediately plunges into the fray.

*BOOM*

The pilots have just enough time to realize their end as their crafts fall like flies, struck by the crossfire through which they were flying.

A heavy Soviet cruiser advances, firing salvos of ion cannons against the coalition’s barricade.

The energy shields of a battleship light up, absorbing the impacts before disintegrating under a concentrated barrage.

Communications are a chaos of overlapping voices, urgent orders, and battle cries.

Suddenly, a gigantic Shizuki ship, the Starkville, takes a direct hit, a terrifying boom tearing through the metal and releasing a wave of debris that disperses into the void.

The reactor explosion rips through the space sky, overwhelming the smaller ships nearby.

The colossus, split in two, begins its rapid descent toward the moon, drawn by the satellite's gravity.

The devastating impact against the lunar surface creates a new crater.

Purple laser beams continue to tear through the darkness, igniting the less protected starships which explode into silent balls of fire.

The fragments of the incandescent wrecks disperse into space like tears of molten metal, drifting aimlessly for eternity. The metal shards perforate other passing ships, creating new deadly holes through which the vacuum of space claims the lives of the occupants in a slow, asphyxiating agony.

Shizuki's cat-shaped drone fighters dart through the battlefield, zigzagging among the blazing wreckage as their pilots desperately try to find an opening.

But the Eldritch bombardment is inexhaustible.
Hundreds fall, pierced by Soviet barrage fire, an unstoppable fleet advancing like a combine harvester through a field of grain.

Now space is not only a field of debris and metal, but the numerous deaths have generated a red tide of blood in which lifeless bodies float, moving like an ethereal bubble driven by shock waves. The ships passing through it are painted with the crimson of death, and the smell permeates even the cockpits.

On the alliance's largest ship, the imposing Mississippi, the tense and nervous cat woman watches intently at the multitude of screens that keep her updated on the battle.
With clenched teeth, the admiral of the allied fleet slams her fist against the command console.
{ SNVW, activate planetary anti-aircraft! } orders Shizuki from her flagship.

Gigantic rail cannons emerge from hatches that open with a metallic clank, camouflaged by the lunar terrain.

The cannons begin to hum, a rising sound that preludes devastation.
The rails of the cannons spin at high speed, launching photonic projectiles at a frenzied pace. They are designed to take down naval assaults from space.

ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!

With a programmed maneuver, the coalition fleet opens a gap, allowing the fire battery from the Moon to pass through towards the enemy barrage.

The cannons spin incessantly, taking down Soviet ships and tearing them apart with holes.
It is mainly the lighter frigates, equipped with weaker shields, that are pierced like butter by the anti-aircraft projectiles.

A river of explosions, like a wall of fire, extends in all directions from the formation coming from Earth.

A wave of joy pervades the nekomimi on her command bridge.
An euphoria in stark contrast to her usual cold demeanor, but the tangible possibility of winning floods her system with endorphins, making her uncontrollably elated.
{ We're pulverizing them! Keep it up! }

The joy is short-lived.

From the flames, massive protrusions emerge, extending from the earth into the cosmic void.

“N-no, it can't be!” Shizuki exclaims in disbelief at the sight of what is happening on the screen from which she follows the battle.

Despite the impossibility of sound in space, battle cries are clearly audible in the theater of war.

Ура! Ура! Ура! Ура! Ура! Ура! Ура! Ура! Ура! Ура! Ура! Ура! Ура! Ура! Ура! Ура! Ура!

Space turns red as the stars seem to resonate together in a single melody, a red orchestra singing the glorious Soviet March in unison.

The protrusions are arms and hands extending like nebulas, intercepting the enemy coalition's attacks.

The beams, missiles, and projectiles do not even scratch the gigantic limbs protecting the Soviet fleet.

*WOOSH*

They shatter against them, dissolving into nothing.

*CLAP*

Two of the gigantic hands clap together, crushing one of Shizuki's battleships.
The clap generates a shockwave that shakes both sides, breaking their formations.

“T-that ship cost a fortune!”
The nekomimi's despair grows as her bank account drains in real-time.
She had bled herself dry to assemble this fleet. But the despair lasts only a moment.
She has no time to think about the cost.
There is no price too high to win this war.
That's what she thinks at this moment.

{ Fire the KIS-d Mark 05 torpedoes! Activate the anti-Eldritch fields! }
KIS-d, the special munitions designed specifically to neutralize threats like Slavic Mama.

{ Concentrate fire on the Eldritch! } Shizuki yells into the intercom.

All allied ships begin targeting the gigantic limbs of Simple Russian Boi.
An intensive and massive bombardment.

Even an unfathomable entity like Sophisticated Soviet Man is forced to retreat under such a concentration of KIS-d munitions fire.

The gigantic stellar limbs are pulverized one by one, but just as quickly, the Russian, in his complete form, regenerates them.

Shizuki knows they won’t be enough to stop Sophisticated Soviet Man.

{ Botty, initiate arming ZIOS 1, ZIOS 2, ZIOS 3, and ZIOS 4! }
{ All four simultaneously? I’m not sure I can synchronize them! } the AI protest.
{ That’s why I need your help! Otherwise, I wouldn’t have asked! }
{ Got it! Got it! Give me some time! }

{ We don’t have any! }

The ship cannons continue to thunder, while the fighters fly over the battleships, firing repeated lasers.

PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW!

Explosions and breaches tear through both sides.
An inferno of fire, metal, and blood.

The crews, clad in spacesuits and immersed in the death surrounding them, move desperately, trying to repair the damage or bring aid to the depressurized compartments, where their comrades float lifeless, eyes wide open in a final mute astonishment.

 

**************************************************************************************************
O voi che avete li ’ntelletti sani,    || O you possessed of sturdy intellects,

mirate la dottrina che s’asconde   || observe the teaching that is hidden here

sotto ’l velame de li versi strani.    || beneath the veil of verses so obscure.

*** CANTO SECONDO ***

 

On the command bridge of the flagship Ленин, the air is tense and charged with conflicting emotions.

Present on the dreadnought are the council members who did not betray to join the anti-Family coalition.

Essentially, few have remained loyal to the council: President Corty and Secretary Reina, not to mention the many members of the Eldritch Family who are part of it.

Little Corty plays with some socks, unaware of what is happening outside.

Next to her, Reina sighs heavily, her gaze lost beyond the glass, a silent witness to the cruelty of the battle outside.

 

The Soviet spaceship also offers refuge to students not officially affiliated with any faction, taken under the protective wing of the student council.

In a corner of the bridge, Nahrenne cries desperately. Her pure soul is overwhelmed by the devastating spectacle of war, and tears flow uncontrollably as she watches the ongoing atrocities.

 

The Eldritch Family has yet to come to terms with the recent events.

BOI’s eldest daughter, Danny the Daikon, nicknamed Green Rizz by her enemies, tries to calm her devoted rootling, who frantically moves from one console to another.

"Ssemouy, it’s not your fault that Matcha died. He betrayed us," says the beautiful woman with green hair.

"I'm fine, Goddess," Ssemouy replies, but her tone is far from convincing.

"It doesn’t seem like it; you look more frantic than usual," insists the daikon goddess.

"I'm fine, Goddess," she repeats mechanically.

"Your face and your actions say otherwise."

"I don’t have a face, and I’m fine, and then... and then... and then I prefer pizza over chocolate."

"Are you crying?" Danny asks, noticing the tears streaming down Ssemouy's dark face.

She does not answer.
Ssemouy wears her tricorn hat adorned with the Jolly Roger emblem, two crossed spiked clubs instead of bones.

She then grabs a bottle containing a dark liquid.

She guzzles it down in one gulp, under Danny's astonished eyes.

 

Then she throws it to the ground with a loud crash, the shards scattering like fragments of a broken promise.

 

"AHR! A pirate never cries! By a thousand Snickers bars!" she shouts, trying to mask her pain with forced bravado.

"Is that chocolate rum? Are you drunk?"

Danny's questions go unanswered by the rootling.

Staggering, Ssemouy dons her pirate coat, black as death.

"Let's go, Lord Albus!"

The duck flies onto the woman's head, perching on her pirate hat.

"Quack! Let's plunder the bread from these filthy rebels!" the bird squawks.

 

 

Revitalized by the presence of a villain of such high caliber, the pirate prepares to depart for the raid. A commando of heavily armed Soviet soldiers follows her.

"Goddess, keep Pixy at bay with some food. It's not time to unleash her yet! And take care of Corty-chan," she says before taking the elevator to the shuttle hangar.

"I'm more worried about you, wait—"

The elevator closes with a ding.

The pirate reaches the hangar.
She boards a smaller destroyer, the Red October, a more agile vessel specialized in boarding and raids.

As the vessel departs from the flagship, watching it through the porthole, Danny can’t help but think: “Could this pirate persona, this identity, be her way of coping with the pain?”

“Let me in, Danny. We can end this war if you let me take control.”

A voice breaks through the woman’s tumultuous thoughts.
The voice of Mother.

******

The Red October, with reckless maneuvers as if guided by someone who no longer cares about their life, whirls through missiles and bolts, dodging at the last possible moment.

As chaos envelops the space battlefield, Captain Ssemouy performs a daring flanking maneuver. The engines hiss as the destroyer spins on its axis, narrowly avoiding a devastating shot that could have split it in two.

On the command bridge, the officers' eyes are fixed on their displays, calculating trajectories and counterattacks in a frantic ballet of numbers and probabilities.

“Ahr! Prepare to board!” she orders while guzzling more rum.

Dozens of figures encapsulated in spacesuits, Space Spetsnaz armed with laser knives and AK4047s, launch from the belly of the ship through an energy tunnel created for brief but dangerous transfers in the void. Their destination is an enemy cruiser, heavily damaged but still battle-ready, standing as a dying bastion against the allied fleet.

As the futuristic Spetsnaz advance, the crossfire from heavy plasma machine guns lights up the path, creating an almost surreal effect of dancing lights and shadows in the void. The shots collide with the ships' shields, sparking like fireworks before extinguishing.

 

One after another, the Soviet soldiers latch onto the outer shell of the enemy cruiser flying the feline flag, using high-powered drills and explosive charges to break through the armor.

Inside the enemy ship, the battle turns into a brutal guerrilla clash.

Fighters collide in narrow corridors and control rooms, with artificial gravity creating a strange battlefield where "above" and "below" lose all meaning.

The soldiers, trained for combat in zero gravity, utilize every surface, moving with disorienting agility, while the defending clones desperately try to repel the invasion.

Dozens of Theirls erect improvised barricades, attempting to slow the invasion, while Pixy clones advance with rifles at the ready, determined to push back the Soviets.

The Pixy Toky clone of captain rank, in the midst of combat frenzy, continuously shouts orders to her subordinate clones while firing.

“Feuer!” “Sperrfeuer!” “Feuer!” “Los!” “Achtung!” “Deckung!” “Hinlegen!” “Halt!”

Her orders resonate like a deadly battle song.

 

Wielding a laser Gatling gun in one arm and a SPAS-24 shotgun in the other, she advances relentlessly, mowing down the Soviets in her path.

It's not just the nanomachines, but also her warlike genes boiling within her.

 

“Throw away your lives, show me the willpower that lives within you!”

The rotating barrel of the Gatling gun spins incessantly, firing beams until it becomes incandescent and nearly melts. It begins to smoke from overheating.

As scorching as the warrior fury of the Pixy clones at this moment.

Unable to use it, Captain Pixy throws it at a soviet enemy who got too close.
The heat of the weapon burns him, causing him to scream in agony.

With the shotgun, the kitsune finishes him off, not out of mercy but to increase her kill count. Her pride.

"Triple ration of popcorn for the one who kills the most!" she shouts, encouraging her comrades.

The foxes cheer at the promise, advancing with more determination.

"LOS!" orders the captain.

She senses it, she sees it.

They are pushing them back.
She and her clone sisters are an unstoppable military force.

Victory is within reach.

*BOOM*

Captain Pixy's head explodes into thousands of pieces of flesh, blood, and brains that splatter against the metallic walls.
“Hahahahaha! AHR! By a thousand space whales! For being clones, the explosion of your heads is quite accurate! Poetic, I might add!”

Facing the ship's resistance walks Captain Ssemouy Onan, laser pistol still smoking in hand. Her precise and brutal shot had struck the head of the Pixy Toki leader.

“Hand over all the bread, this is a plunder!” squawks Lord Albus, still perched on her hat.

With a clumsy drunken step, Ssemouy carelessly dodges the beams and bullets whizzing past her, swaying as if on the high seas.

Killer Queen's wicked smile lights up as she lights a fuse that begins to sparkle.

“Haha! A gift from the Eldritch Family! Catch it!”
She says, throwing the object to a Theirl clone who instinctively catches it mid-air.

“Nooo!” screams one of the Pixy clones.

The Theirl barely has time to realize he's caught a bundle of ten dynamite sticks. The fuse is about to reach them.

Ssemouy, laughing, crouches down and covers her ears.

*KATABOOOOOOMMMMMM*

The explosion devastates the interior of the ship, tearing open gashes in the hull.

The clones and Soviets near the explosion, if not killed by it, are sucked out into the cosmic void, facing a far worse fate.

Captain Ssemouy and her team wait for the air to be completely sucked out, continuing to smirk.

"Magnetic shoes, you should have activated them," she says, pointing to her equipment.

Lord Albus, however, has to use all the strength in his beak to stay attached to the woman's hat.

Without encountering much resistance, the assault team proceeds and reaches the control room, where a violent exchange of fire ends with them taking command of the cruiser.

The soldiers aim their AKs at the ship's captain, one of the Shizuki.

The cat girl, surrounded by the corpses of her crew, is forced to raise her hands in surrender.

With an unsteady step but a devilish smile, Killer Queen enters the room, approaching the defeated enemy. She plays with her pistol, twirling it in the air before catching it mid-spin.

"Your foolish rebellion will be drowned in blood, hahaha!" she says, smirking.

Shizuki spits at her feet.

“We will never surrender!” the nekomimi declares, her fists clenched.

“There must be a misunderstanding. I don’t want your surrender. Please continue your foolish rebellion so we can kill you all.”

“What? You’re insane!”

“Do you only realize this now?”

Ssemouy takes a piece of paper from the pocket of her pirate coat.

“Order 69,” she says, smiling diabolically.

“According to this resolution of the student council signed by President Corty, I am authorized to use any means necessary to suppress the rebellion.”

The pirate points to President Corty’s signature on the paper, which looks more like a child’s scribble. Next to it is a pastel stick figure drawing with a huge smile that’s supposed to depict Ssemouy.

“Do you know what this means, Shizuki? It means not only will the full force of the student council be unleashed upon you, but also the entire offensive potential of the Eldritch Family! Isn’t it spectacular?” the pirate exclaims in ecstasy.

“Bah, the council and the family are practically the same thing now.” Shizuki is unimpressed.

“I won’t deny it, hehe. By the authority of the council, I plunder this ship!” Ssemouy exclaims, firing a shot into the air with her laser pistol.

"Now, head down!" orders the pirate captain.

One of the Spetsnaz hits the cat woman in the back with the butt of his rifle.
The violent blow forces her to her knees.

Another Spetsnaz hands Killer Queen a laser axe.

“I want you much shorter, Shizuki.”

“This is just a clone.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll kill them all.”

*SLASH*

With a swift stroke, the nekomimi's head is decapitated by the laser axe.

The head rolls to the ground, the incredulous expression still etched on her face.

“AHR, by a thousand rolling heads, I never get tired of this sight.”

“Where is the bread, Ssemouy?”

************************************************************************************************

Di qua, di là, di giù, di su li mena;     II  Back and forth, and down and up, it drives them;
nulla speranza li conforta mai,          II  no hope ever comforts them—not hope
non che di posa, ma di minor pena.  II for rest, but, at best, for a lessened pain.

*** CANTO TERZO ***

{ All ZIOS are ready! } exclaims Botty, the robotic voice tense through the crackling communications.

{ Fire on Slavic Mama! } Without wasting time, Shizuki gives the awaited order.

 

The core of the ZIOS orbiting Mercury opens. At the same time, the one around Venus is also ready to fire. The artificial satellite around Mars responds to the call, and finally, so does the original Z.I.O.S. orbiting the moon.

The ZIOS satellite cannons erupt simultaneously, emitting a deep and terrible zhooom.
Their annihilation beams converge on Slavic Mama’s gigantic limbs.

 

The eldritch form emits a scream, a harrowing echo that, despite the absence of sound in space, seems to vibrate through reality itself, causing space-time implosions with each hit received.

A dark figure moves nimbly through space, running along an arm of the agonizing Russian Eldritch as if it were a bridge to the apocalypse.

Reaching the edge of the last phalange, the mysterious entity leaps in a majestic jump, like the flight of an angel.

 

But it is not an angel.

It is as far from an angel as one can be.

 

[ALARM!] [ALARM!] [ALARM!] [ALARM!] [ALARM!] [ALARM!] [ALARM!] [ALARM!]

 

All the instruments of the allied fleet's vessels flash a sinister red, indicating the terror they have revealed.

“Alpha Phi is here!” exclaims one of the Theirls, hands in his hair, in the command station.

The announcement freezes the blood in the crew’s veins.

 

Azure Fog, the eldritch vampire, exterminator of realities and multiverses.

The nightmare of existence incarnate in an unfathomable being of pure evil.

 

The vampire, with her Scarlet Apple, the dagger capable of stabbing reality and erasing it, leaps from one spaceship to another, slicing through them like butter.

 

The feline fleet is being annihilated by the endless fury of Azure Fog, leaving explosions wherever her blade penetrates. Trails of destruction mark Azure Fog's path.

She could summon a dozillion Scarlet Apples and erase the entire enemy fleet from existence, but where would the fun be in that? She prefers the spaceships she stabs to explode, as it creates a spectacular visual effect.

Romantic.

A touch of cruel theatrics amidst the massacre.

And she’s doing it for her beloved Symbiont, Danny, who watches in admiration from the command bridge of the Soviet flagship Lenin.

 

“It’s beautiful! Your Stabbiness, all this for this undeserving Daikon…” Her emerald eyes shine with the glow of the explosions, like the most splendid fireworks.

 

{ Concentrate fire on Alpha Phi, or we’re all dead! Maximum power with the Anti-Eldritch fields! } Shizuki commands with a strained voice.

{ They’re already at the sustainable limit! Increasing the intensity of the A.E.F. means we won’t have enough energy to move the ships! } Botty protests.

Shizuki's long silence is effectively a response.

The order stands.

There is no turning back anyway if they don’t stop the vampire.

The entire fleet launches a desperate salvo of KIS-d missiles.
The battleships' firepower spits thousands in the direction of the nightmare.

 

*WOOSH* *WOOSH* *WOOSH* *WOOSH* *WOOSH* *WOOSH* *WOOSH* *WOOSH*

 

But the KIS-d missiles are all intercepted by the blade of Scarlet Apple, exploding in clouds of strange gas. The monster pays little attention and continues slicing through vessels and missiles as if they were paper origami.

 

Engulfed by the flames of the missiles exploding around her, the Eldritch laughs unscathed.

 

Azure Fog continues her crimson trail of destruction.

A cat-headed fighter is in her path.

Scarlet Apple precisely splits the aircraft in half, even slicing its pilot, a Theirl clone, who remains alive for a horrifying moment despite his body being in two before exploding.

Not even the nanomachines could erase the pure terror he felt.

“It’s so fun!”

Azure Fog laughs maniacally, her voice a screech that pierces through the chaos as she continues to destroy the fleet, a macabre choreography of death and devastation under the admiring gaze of her Danny.

 

Shizuki bites her nails in a fit of stress, trying to stave off panic.

Her eyes wide, veins visible.

She knows she doesn’t have many cards left to play.

The Z.I.O.S. requires long recharging times, and time is something they don’t have. Additionally, she isn’t even sure they would be effective. She has only two options left, but one hasn’t been tested yet, while the other was supposed to be the surprise to turn the tide of the battle at the most opportune moment.

“I guess I can’t wait any longer…” she sighs in frustration.

 

{ It’s time to play our trump card. Prepare to deploy the Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon! } she orders to the lunar base.

Along the desolate lunar landscape, the NAC-JAC stands tall like a steel monolith.

A cylindrical cannon of phallic shape, a sentient weapon of mass destruction.

An hedonist who revels in causing the most spectacular destructions, but above all, loves the legends that speak of itself.

The team of Theirls, dressed in spacesuits, bustle around the cylindrical base of the cannon.

 

It is well known that the legendary NAC-JAC has two activation modes.

The first, the simplest, involves pressing the red button at its base.

The beam will be moderate, capable of perhaps taking down an already damaged battleship.

 

The second method involves charging it by rubbing its metallic surface.

Rubbing it charges it, allowing it to release an extremely powerful beam, capable of tearing through entire fleets.

 

However, there is a secret method. A forbidden one.
The third method discovered by W.

The overdrive.

This involves continuously rubbing it but preventing it from releasing, forcing the cannon to hold the accumulated energy.

The cannon changes color, turning dark purple, almost black, and its robotic eyes reddened and wide open, take on a disturbing expression of extreme effort.

This is a diabolical practice that disregards the feelings of the sentient weapon.

A team of Theirls has been rubbing the cannon for days.

NAC-JAC is on the verge of exploding.

Tears stream from its robotic eyes.

 

The gloved hands of the clones produce a screeching sound—screeech, screeech—that echoes through the cannon’s charging chamber.

The intensity rises to its peak, the cannon vibrating under the pressure, emitting an electric hiss—zzzzmmmm—signaling its growing potential.

 

After days of this uninterrupted mechanical torture, [1000% CHARGE!] appears on the display.

The red arrow has broken past the limit of the indicator, while steam menacingly escapes from the cannon’s vents, which tremble with shockwaves.

 

< FIRE!!! > The final, unappealable order comes.

With one last decisive rub, the Theirls allow the cannon to reach its APEX.

 

Its eyes widen.

“REALEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

NAC-JAC screams in desperation, finally freed from the suffering it was subjected to.

An extremely massive beam, of a magnitude eclipsing the four ZIOS combined, as thick as a planetary ring, white as erasure, shoots out from the cannon.

PURE HAVOC.

 

The release shakes the entire Moon.

 

*PYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSHHH*

 

The blinding light marks its path through space, vaporizing half of the Eldritch fleet in an inferno of light and heat.

Nothing remains of it but a scattering of atoms.

 

The screams of the Soviet soldiers echo in BOI’s mind, awakening the nightmares of the past. Helpless, the Russian Eldritch watches in torment the deaths he could neither prevent then nor now.

The beam continues its path of erasure, and the next obstacle in its way is the Soviet flagship.

“NYET!” A shouted denial echoes through the solar system.

Like a red solar storm, his will materializes.

 

On the Lenin are Danny, Pixy Toky, his family, and his Great Friend Nahrenne, along with little President Corty.

Everything that is most important to him.

He has fought for this.

He would give his life for this.

 

He will not allow it.

Во благо семьи, for the sake of the family.

“NYET!”

 

Slavic Mama desperately interposes herself, extending his enormous limbs in an attempt to block the beam.

His cosmic arms are stretched to the limit with the intent to shield.

“IT SHALL NOT PASS!” the universe resonates with him.

A desperate call.

 

The effects of the battle against W, Matcha's betrayal, and having endured five hits from the ZIOS are beginning to take their toll.

Pain in every fiber of his being.
What keeps him conscious is his unyielding Soviet will, a curtain of steel to protect his family.

 

The impact is violent, like trying to stop a supernova explosion with bare hands.

A temperature of billions of degrees Kelvin.

Not even his frozen heart, the absolute zero of his suffering, can withstand such power.

 

“NYET!”

SRB feels his essence crumble into molecules and separate into atoms.
His cosmic limbs begin to disintegrate from the heat and violence of the NAC-JAC beam.

 

Using all his strength, he manages to slightly deflect its trajectory.

The Lenin and his family are saved.

 

In his heart, he smiles.

 

WHITE.

 

The beam is relentless, pulverizing every defense with a thunderous noise, the sound of a star exploding that echoes in the void.

The devastating blow disintegrates BOI’s form, and, deprived of his eldritch abilities, he is thrown backward by the force of the impact, beginning to drift in space.

“MAMAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Danny’s scream.

“BOI!” Nahrenne’s endless tears.

"BABUSHKA!" original Pixy Toki’s despair.

 

Their cries can no longer reach him.

But the beam is not yet satisfied.

Its path is far from finished, and although slightly deflected, its true target remains unchanged.

Azure Fog waits for it amused, ready to erase it.

 

The unstoppable beam then meets the obstacle: Scarlet Apple, Azure’s blade, which interposes with a fountain of sparks, falling stars plummeting in every direction.

 

The grin on the Vampire’s face fades.

Her expression darkens. Something is wrong.

The beam’s violence forces her to retreat, and this was certainly not anticipated.

 

Scarlet Apple, the Reality Rending, the scarlet blade that erases everything it stabs from every timeline, blocks the beam but… can’t erase it?!

“Why can’t I erase it?!” exclaims Azure, her face contorting in a grimace of frustration.

 

Is the beam too powerful, or is she weaker?

“Impossible!” she screams furiously.

 

She summons into reality an incalculable number of Scarlet Apples, equal to the number of solar systems in the universe.

But no blade responds to the invocation.

 

“IMPOSSIBLE!”

Azure’s expression now is that of fury incarnate.

 

“I will not be defeated! I am not weak!”

With a gesture of pure violence, calling upon all the Eldritch strength she still has, she splits the beam with her scarlet blade.

*SSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHK!*

The terrifying scream of the vampire’s rage and pain resonates across all multiverses and timelines.

 

The impossible division generates two devastating halves: one grazes the vampire, annihilating her left arm in an explosion of energy that leaves behind a hissing red vapor, then continues its path beyond the solar system.
An eternal journey that will only end when it encounters an obstacle.

 

The other half of the beam continues unimpeded, an arrow of pure destruction that pierces the Earth's atmosphere and strikes directly at Scribble Hub High School.

 

The day of judgment for planet Earth.

 

A thermonuclear roar shakes the Earth, an explosion echoing with the force of two thousand Hiroshimas, a mushroom cloud rising menacingly and apocalyptically beyond the stratosphere.

The clouds and dust raised by the explosion darken the blue planet, preventing sunlight from filtering through and condemning it to nuclear winter.

An unsettling awareness remains among the survivors who observe the apocalyptic scene from space: the impact would have been much more devastating if the energy had not first been dampened by BOI and then by Azure.

The cylindrical cannon watches, crying over the destruction it has created.

There is no joy in this majestic work because it contains all of its life.

It is overloaded and completely consumed in its essence.

The side effect of NAC-JAC's overdrive marks its end: the cannon, exhausted and beyond its limits, shatters into thousands of pieces under the incredulous and dismayed eyes of the Theirl clones, which can only watch as the legendary cyclone dissolves into debris of inert metal.

Another life claimed by this war.

Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon, legends will recall.

 

Azure Fog writhes from the impact, fury and pain mixing within her eldritch essence.

Her long silver hair whips violently around her as she steadies herself against the cosmic backdrop, her eyes narrowing to slits.

She has been hurt, she has lost an arm, but she hasn’t been hurt enough.

What really wounds her is her pride.

Her immortal body trembles.

{ The target is still alive! }

Shizuki's voice bursts into the communication channel, laden with despair.
Their ultimate weapon failed to deliver the final blow.

 

A deathly silence envelops the command bridge.

 

Shizuki clenches her fists, despair in her eyes.

In her previous conquest of nine universes, she has never encountered adversaries like this. All her knowledge, all her technology, all her armaments, all her experience from a thousand space battles have shattered against the insurmountable wall of Eldritch absurdity.

 

A mechanical voice breaks the silence, but not to deliver good news.

{ The survival rate has dropped below 20%. } Botty warns, calculating the probabilities, though it seems rather pointless at this stage.

The commander huffs in annoyance and prepares to give the humiliating order to the entire fleet.

{ Retreat! We’ve done all we can here, we have to rely on the TSUKI plan. Prepare for lunar descent. }

 

{ I don’t know if we’ll make it, Alpha Phi is coming here, } the AI continues to relay pessimistic information.

 

“I wish W were here right now…” the original Theirl sighs.

Nostalgia and loss in his words.

 

A long silence returns, periodically broken by screams and confusion over the communication lines.

“So this is what W was alluding to.”

The realization comes like a revelation to the brown-haired boy with glasses, who watches the battle from the porthole of his craft.

In a desperate war like this, the only hope lies in irrationality.

{ I guess it’s my turn now, } declares ALF, commander of the V-shaped bomber ship ‘Provvidenza.’

His face is set in a mask of resolve.

 

{ What do you intend to do, Alf? } asks the admiral.

 

Alf smiles.

{ I’ll bomb Alpha Phi with the Anti-Eldritch Warhead we developed, the result of Anon’s technology and the S.A.M. Use this opportunity to retreat to the Moon. } The gamer explains his simple plan, relying on the last available resource for the coalition in this space battle.

 

{ MINOS has not been tested yet! } Shizuki objects.

{ It’s a suicide mission! } Theirl’s quick disagreement arrives, laden with tension.

 

{ W bought us time with his sacrifice. Now it’s my turn to do the same. }

In his mind, the words of the man in white with the fedora still resonate.

 

There comes a time when, for the good of a mission, one must sacrifice oneself.

{ We can make the attempt, but you don’t need to go! } Theirl shouts over the radio.

{ We can send a clone, } Shizuki agrees.

"No, it has to be me! It’s too important. And don’t worry, I play to win. I’ll be back," Alf asserts confidently.

He has already made his decision.

Then he pushes the antimatter propulsion lever forward.

The bomber’s speed increases to the maximum, hurtling toward the enemy.

The Eldritch horror is directly in front of him, just a few million kilometers away.

The targeting systems have locked onto the target.

The screens flash. The acoustic indicators scream.

He just needs to press the release button.

Alf presses it.

 

*CLICK*

 

Nothing happens.

He presses it again.

Again.

Again.

 

Nothing.

 

His faith prevents him from swearing, but he really wants to.

{ No… The release system isn’t working! It’s jammed! }

 

{ Come back, Alf! } Theirl orders him.

The journalist has seen too much death. He doesn’t want to lose another comrade.

Alf knows there won’t be another opportunity like this.

Azure is still shaken by the NAC-JAC attack and weakened by the effects of the KIS-d.

There won’t be another moment of vulnerability like this.

 

{ Negative, I can detonate it by crashing into Alpha Phi. }

 

{ You’ll die, Alf! } Theirl protests.

Shizuki remains silent. She won’t oppose it if this is his decision.

Coldly, she knows she must seize every opportunity available.

 

{ Don’t worry, guys, there’s respawn. It’s the only chance we have. } The boy is confident.

It might take some time before he comes back to life, considering the school was obliterated, but he has faith.

 

W never told them. Deliberately.

What ALF and the others don’t know is that the respawn has been disabled, a dark side effect of the Death’s Games timeline influence.

Death is permanent.

‘Provvidenza’ meets the fury of Azure, who stands motionless, awaiting what appears to her as a mosquito.

With a furious and violent movement, the Vampire stabs the bomber with her Scarlet Apple.

 

*STAB*

A moment as long as an eternity of nothingness and absolute silence.

 

At that very moment, ALF ceases to exist, and the warhead explodes.

 

*MEGAKATABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM*

 

Theirl’s desperate scream is drowned out by the sound of the explosion, while the nekomimi admiral tensely watches the scene on the screen.

 

The Anti-Eldritch explosive detonates on impact, hitting the vampire squarely.

The detonation of the MINOS warhead is a lightning bolt of destruction.

The entire battlefield is shaken by an explosion that sends the onboard instruments into a sharp zzzzzt.

 

Neutron lightning bolts burst into the cosmic void, a visual assault of pure energy that tears through the quiet of space.

 

A gigantic Tesla coil spreads through the solar system, filaments of electric discharges like plasma flashes, a web that envelops everything.

When the explosion subsides, Azure Fog emerges at the center of the apocalypse, incredulous and visibly weakened.

"Why? Why do I feel so weak? Why can't I erase the concept of this weakness?"

Her words are a whisper filled with confusion and anger.

Her once vibrant silver hair loses its color, fading into a delicate blue.
The crimson of her eyes dulls, darkening as if the fire that once animated them is slowly extinguishing.

"I’m not weak!" she exclaims into the void, her voice defiant, as she confronts her new, unexpected fragility.

 

The Soviet fleet roars, firing a salvo of Kremlin-class torpedoes.

Danny's anger commands the fire.

***************************************************************************************************
Grandine grossa, acqua tinta e neve  II  Large hail, and turbid water mixed with snow,

per l'aere tenebroso si riversa;            II  Upon the tenebrous air pour down amain;

pute la terra che questo riceve.           II  Noisome the earth is, that receiveth this.

*** CANTO QUARTO ***

*KABOOM*

 

The explosion of a thermiquantum protofusion torpedo has struck Shizuki's largest ship.
The Mississippi. Her greatest pride.

The hit was unavoidable, and with a great sacrifice of energy, the shield held.

But the ship is now seriously damaged. It wouldn't survive another hit like that.

 

{ Shields below 24%! } Botty warns via radio communication.

The cat girl's face is marked by tension, and her uniform is torn by the explosion's shrapnel.

All the sensors scream alarms. The battle rages fiercely outside, but the outcome is already decided.

 

Now only chaos reigns supreme in the theater of conflict.

The front is broken, communications are incoherent, and there is no longer any possibility of commanding coordinated maneuvers.

On the command bridge of the coalition's flagship, now severely damaged, the nekomimi is left with only one option as she looks at the array of alarmed screens.

Shizuki shouts desperately, "RETREAT! NOW!"

 

“Let’s take this opportunity to withdraw!” agrees the real Theirl.

 

“HEY-O~”

 

But Shizuki is petrified by an unexpected encounter.

“N-no..”

Nine tails swing wide.
Amidst the clamor of alarms, a ninja appears out of nowhere behind her, embracing Shizuki from behind with a mischievous smile.

“Don't ask how this ninja bypassed all your security systems, I do have my ways after all~”

˝/\⁠⁠__/\˝

(⁠⁠⁠✿≖‿⁠<)✨️

The fox girl winks, flashing a dazzling smile.

She is Stealthy Enigma, one of Slavic Mama’s three Kitsune granddaughters, the matriarch of the Eldritch family.

 

“The enemy is on board!” one of Theirl’s clones shouts.

“The enemy is among us!” the shouts echo through the ship’s corridors.

 

The ninja releases her embrace.

 

“Heads or tails?” the kitsune ninja challenges with a grin.

 

“T-tails?” Shizuki stammers.

 

“Good choice. Let’s see~”

 

Stealthy Enigma takes her lucky coin.

The coin flies into the air, caught on the fly.

 

The ninja’s smile fades.

 

“Too bad, it’s heads. Now I have to take yours.”

The ninja unsheathes her katana. It slides out of the scabbard with a fluid motion.

The blade gleams, thirsty for blood. It reflects the glow of the explosions from the dying colossi outside the portholes.

 

Shizuki takes a step back, her eyes wide with fear.

“N-no… please… this is my last clone in orbit…” the cat woman pleads, using her remaining mental strength to call for reinforcements.

 

Dozens of cat-head-shaped drones controlled by SNVW arrive to assist, beginning to fire at Stealthy.

They shoot bright beams, exhausting all their available energy reserves.

The barrage is massive; anyone would be riddled by such concentrated fire.

 

But with supernatural agility, she deflects the shots with rapid movements of her katana, then slices the drones in half with surgical precision.

One by one.

The robotic cats explode in sparks and smoke.

 

Despite her sweet appearance, the kitsune is a demon in battle.

Aware of her doomed fate, the nekomimi turns to the journalist: “Theirl! I entrust command to you… Order the retrea—”

Shizuki’s final order is barely uttered before her head is cleanly severed by Enigma’s blade. The body falls forward, lifeless.

The head rolls to Theirl’s feet, who screams in trauma.

“AHAHAHHH!”

 

“Sorry~ Today the wicked side won~” says the ninja innocently, with a playful smile that contrasts with the cruelty of her action.

 

Paralyzed with fear, Theirl shakily points his AK4047 rifle at the fox.

 

The kitsune is undecided and brings her hand to her chin.

She ponders aloud.

“Hmm… What should I do now? Coin, you decide. Heads, continue the massacre, and tails, go have a snack.”

“TAILS! TAILS! TAILS!” Theirl screams desperately, pleading with fate.

 

“Yes, it’s much floofier!~”

The ninja flips the coin again, which spins wildly in the air.

 

She catches it.

Opens her hand. Her violet eyes gleam.

“YAY! Tails! Snack time! Bye, bye~” she announces with a triumphant smile.

She waves with her little hand, giggling.

 

Then, Stealthy Enigma throws a smoke grenade at her feet.

She vanishes into thin air in a cloud of smoke.

 

The journalist, tears in his eyes, coughs.

But he doesn’t have time to thank whatever deity granted him this luck.

Theirl knows this is his only chance.

Left alone in command, Theirl grabs the helm of the flagship, beginning a rapid descent toward the Moon.

 

The spaceship is a smoking wreck, with damaged systems flashing warning signs.

 

“I know! Damn it! I know!” he curses at the SNVW systems alerting him to the imminent crash and the engines' lack of power.

 

“Brace for impact!” he shouts, as the flagship dangerously approaches the lunar surface.

 

The impact is violent, the spaceship crashes desperately, metal screeching against the lunar ground. The deafening sound splits the survivors' eardrums.

Above the surface of the Moon, stained with the astral blood of the fallen, the battle continues, indifferent to the cost in lives, a macabre dance of iron and fire.

 

After all, the nefarious battle has just begun.

 

In the grim grayness of the cursed timeline, there is only war.