The spaceship traveled in fits and starts, making the longest possible jump whenever its warp engine was ready. After repeating this process for more than ten days, it finally entered Borisin territory. The remote Claretwheel Temple was now only three or four days away.
The ship sailed through an empty, unfamiliar stretch of space. Sylvia wasn't sure whether the Borisin had set up defenses and surveillance systems across entire star systems or only around the systems they occupied.
After all, the Borisin were nomads who roamed among the stars, always seeking new territory. Whether they even bothered to defend the lands they'd already claimed was anyone's guess.
So, even though this part of their territory looked barren and empty, Sylvia summoned her Fyrefly Type-V armor as soon as they crossed the border. She wore it at all times, ready for a fight. Ordinary cannons weren't much of a concern, since the ship's defensive field could handle those. What worried her was running straight into a beast ship.
The first few days passed without trouble. But as they approached the star system where Claretwheel Temple was located, the ship's radar picked up five large biological signatures. They were most likely Borisin beast ships.
The radar warning made Samatha tense. They were so close to home, yet they'd run into the Borisin at the last moment. It was enough to make her heart race.
Mei, on the other hand, was more concerned about Sylvia's mood. If that suit of armor got damaged, Sylvia would probably sulk all over again.
"Five large contacts in total. You're going alone?"
"I'm more than enough. They're just a few beast ships."
With Sylvia wearing the Fyrefly Type-V, even her voice had become a processed, synthetic sound. After turning down Mei's offer to help, she used spatial movement to teleport straight outside the ship.
Scarlet flames burst from the armor's thrusters, giving her a surge of speed. Like a shooting star, Sylvia streaked toward the approaching fleet.
She'd never given much thought to what a Borisin beast ship might look like. In fact, she didn't know much about the Borisin race at all. But when she passed a planet and finally caught sight of the ships with her own eyes, she was stunned.
She'd expected some strange blend of biology and machinery, a bizarre branch of technology that fused living tissue with metal. Instead, what appeared before her were actual living monsters. They were enormous beasts capable of swimming through space at incredible speeds.
Calling them ships almost felt wrong. Sylvia thought it'd make more sense to call them creatures.
One of them was huge, with a body that seemed to stretch for at least ten kilometers. It had oddly shaped tentacles and a vast number of limbs, giving it a grotesque appearance.
Sylvia studied the beast ships as she floated through space. She couldn't help wondering whether they were capable of interstellar jumps or if they relied on sheer speed to travel between the stars.
Of course, just as she'd spotted them, they'd spotted her.
They showed no interest in communication. White light flared across the beasts' bodies, and in the next instant, countless beams of light came hurtling toward Sylvia from every direction!
They had no intention of showing mercy.
Sylvia chuckled. She took a single step, carrying her armor through the dense barrage as if she were taking a stroll. With another step, she appeared right in front of one of the beast ships.
Scarlet flames erupted from her raised palm like a bomb!
BOOM!!!
A silent explosion unleashed overwhelming force in an instant. Flames swallowed the giant beast, and the heat charred its body black. It thrashed in agony, letting out screams that couldn't be heard in the vacuum of space.
As the flames died down, a massive, charred corpse floated among the stars.
"Hmm... That level of output was easy enough to handle. Well, I guess that makes sense."
After destroying a beast ship in a single attack, Sylvia carefully assessed how much power the Fyrefly Type-V could withstand. Clearly, that attack hadn't come close to its limits.
The remaining beast ships were stunned by what they'd witnessed. Their next saturation bombardment was delayed by a full second.
And that single second was all Sylvia needed.
She teleported again, appearing before the second beast. The remaining ships seemed to have learned from the first one's fate. The moment she appeared, they accelerated backward at speeds no ordinary warship could match.
Compared to ships of the same class, their acceleration was impressive. Compared to Sylvia, though, they were painfully slow.
Flames roared from her back, driving her forward with a burst of thrust that let her catch up in an instant. Dazzling golden flames gathered around her tiny fist as she drew back her arm and slammed it into the beast's head!
BOOM!!!
The blow shattered its thick, sturdy skull almost at once. The force continued through its body, punching a tunnel more than three meters wide straight through the giant creature.
Around the scorched wound, fleshy limbs and fresh tissue sprouts pushed through the charred remains, struggling to repair the damage.
"These beast ships are pretty tough... And they can regenerate, too. That's impressive."
Their technology might've been biological, but the ability to repair themselves was useful.
Sylvia didn't stop moving as she thought about it.
The three remaining beast ships held back their bombardment and began charging their main cannons. Sylvia was more than happy not to bother dodging.
Her figure flickered as she unleashed a storm of punches. Every blow struck flesh, and in the blink of an eye, the beast ship was riddled with holes. Its regeneration couldn't begin to keep up with the damage.
Sylvia was still testing how fast she could punch without overwhelming the Fyrefly Type-V when—
Whoosh!
A scorching beam of light tore through space. The Borisin showed no concern for their own companion's life, aiming to vaporize Sylvia and the beast ship together!
But Sylvia was faster.
The instant the cannon fired, the Borisin aboard the other ships lost track of her. All they could do was watch helplessly as their main cannon tore their companion's beast apart.
While they scrambled to locate Sylvia again, three enormous arcs of blade light suddenly appeared, so vast and terrifying that they seemed to split the starry sky itself. Their brilliance filled every Borisin's vision.
Two of the smaller beast ships were sliced cleanly in half. The overwhelming force ended their lives in an instant, and golden flames consumed their remains.
The massive flagship fared little better. Nearly a third of its body was severed in a single strike.
The attack hadn't been strong enough to burn away its entire enormous body at once, but flames spread across the flagship all the same. Smaller beast ships broke away from it, trying to flee.
None escaped the flames of destruction.
The giant beast thrashed its limbs, and its tentacles writhed as it tried to kill Sylvia. None of its attacks came close.
Sylvia dismissed the enormous blade she'd fashioned from a Subspace Lance.
If she hadn't been worried that using too much power might damage her armor, the giant beast wouldn't have had a chance to struggle in the first place.
Even so, its huge size only allowed it to survive a few seconds longer than the others. In the end, the flagship and all the Borisin aboard it were reduced to cosmic dust.
Sylvia immediately ordered the Fyrefly Type-V's AI to run a full system check.
When the results confirmed that her latest attack still hadn't reached the armor's output limit, she nodded in satisfaction. This was her first time using it in combat, so there was no way she'd risk testing its absolute limits right away.
She'd increased her output three times in a row, raising the strain on the armor step by step. So far, the Fyrefly Type-V seemed to have remarkable durability.
'Next time, maybe I'll try wiping out an entire fleet with one attack.'
With that thought, Sylvia turned and headed back to the spaceship.
She had no idea where that fleet had come from, but at least it'd been too weak to pose a threat. She remained on guard in case the Borisin sent another fleet, yet they made it all the way to Claretwheel Temple without any more trouble.
--+--
Sylvia and Mei stepped off the spaceship and watched as Samatha and Sugata went to speak with the leader of Claretwheel Temple. Neither of them intended to join the discussion.
"This planet's pretty barren. We barely picked up any Borisin settlements."
Mei looked over the desolate landscape, recalling the results of the surface scan they'd conducted before landing. The planet clearly had few resources, which meant most of the Borisin groups living here were likely weak. They probably didn't even have many beast ships.
That was likely one reason Claretwheel Temple had managed to survive here.
"If this planet were rich in resources, do you think Claretwheel Temple would've survived this long?"
Sylvia glanced at Mei. With the Borisin's habit of roaming the stars, they'd simply strip a resource-rich planet of everything valuable and move on. There was no way a planet they'd plundered would be left in good condition.
Mei turned toward Sylvia with a smile.
"I was saying what you were thinking. You've looked eager for a fight this entire trip."
"That's because I still haven't found the limits of this armor."
Sylvia shrugged. Since it looked like they wouldn't run into any more Borisin on this trip, she'd have to save further testing for another time.
As they spoke, Samatha approached with the leader of Claretwheel Temple.
The conversation that followed was rather formal. Most of the leader's questions were about what the temple's people would have to give up or contribute after moving to Separius.
But Sylvia had never expected these Borisin, who followed a strict rule against killing, or the small number of other Denizens of Abundance among them, to fight for her. As long as they helped develop Separius and looked after the dragonkin, she'd be satisfied.
In other words, she was bringing them over to help her farm.
As for whether Claretwheel Temple would return here from time to time to take in more Borisin who shared their beliefs, Sylvia didn't mind.
After all, she planned to leave behind a rather aggressive Wonder right here.
She wasn't planning to announce her identity outright, but she had to leave something behind. Otherwise, how would the Borisin know that an Emanator was protecting Claretwheel Temple?
"All right, start packing and get everyone aboard."
"Understood. I'll inform everyone at the temple at once and have them pack their belongings and board the ship within half a day."
"There's no need to rush. The ship can stay here for a few days without any trouble."
Sylvia waved a hand, telling the temple leader not to get so worked up. There were more than ten thousand children, after all. Expecting everyone to pack and leave within half a day was a bit much.
"By the way, do you have any requests concerning the old temple grounds?"
Sylvia tilted her head toward the temple nestled among the mountains. Its architecture was rough and unmistakably Borisin in style, yet it somehow carried the feel of a Buddhist monastery.
"What do you mean, my lady?"
The leader showed no pride or arrogance, keeping her manner humble.
"Since you still want to take in Borisin who don't fit in with the rest of their kind, it'd be a shame to let this place fall into ruin."
The leader of Claretwheel Temple looked like a woman in her twenties or thirties, but she was actually more than eight hundred years old. The temple housed more children than monks, which said plenty about the kind of person she was.
This elderly leader truly had a compassionate heart. She'd kept Claretwheel Temple standing all these years while raising so many children.
Sylvia admired her ability. She was a talented woman, no doubt about it.
And now that Claretwheel Temple had joined Sylvia's forces, the temple grounds were part of her territory, too.
She didn't want to come back someday and find nothing but ruins.
"I'm going to transform these mountains and the entire temple into a living being. I'll give it the power to protect itself."
"...Huh?"
Even with all her years of experience, the temple leader was left speechless by that declaration.
If Samatha had told her the truth, this kindhearted Emanator was an Emanator of Elation. She also possessed some power of Permanence, which let her transform into a dragon.
But what she'd just described... wasn't that something from the Abundance?
It sounded like the methods used to create Borisin beast ships or turn entire planets into living organisms.
"So, do you mind?"
Sylvia ignored the temple leader's bewildered expression and waited for her decision. This was where the woman had spent her entire life, after all. If she didn't want it changed, Sylvia could simply build her Wonder somewhere else.
It wasn't a big deal.
"I'll leave everything in your hands, my lady."
"Good. Go ahead and organize everyone, then. Come find me once they're all packed."
Sylvia sent the temple leader off to handle the preparations.
As for Sylvia herself, she stood at the foot of the mountains and lowered her gaze to the ground beneath her feet.
The power of Permanence could change the physical properties of the earth, making ordinary stone, trees, and grass far tougher than they'd normally be. By combining it with a portion of the power of Propagation, she could grant the land life.
She could then draw on the power of Elation to introduce some power of Abundance, increasing its vitality. Next came the power of Remembrance, which would engrave the memories of Claretwheel Temple into the mind of this newborn being.
Finally, she'd use her [Riding] skill to ensure that her new creation would remain loyal to her forever, while boosting its strength even further.
Sylvia stood where she was and began pouring the power of Permanence into the ground. At the same time, she gave Mei a brief explanation of what she intended to do.
Mei didn't doubt that Sylvia could pull it off. She was simply curious about one thing.
"Why don't you just turn the entire planet into one of your followers?"
"...I'm only trying to protect Claretwheel Temple. Besides, if I turned an entire planet into a living being, just keeping it alive would take a ridiculous amount of energy. I can't exactly let it go around eating everything, can I?"
Sylvia gave Mei a speechless look.
If she limited the transformation to a mountain range roughly ten thousand kilometers long, it'd be manageable. Solar radiation or the energy drawn directly from the planet's interior would be enough to sustain it.
But an entire planet was another matter.
She'd either end up creating something that spent every day asleep, barely surviving by soaking up sunlight, or it'd have to devour things wherever it went to fuel itself.
Sylvia wasn't here to launch an invasion of the Borisin.
Why would she go to all that trouble?
--+--