“Something incredibly huge has appeared…?”
“Kyaa! Amazing, Onee-sama! Let me calculate… weight is roughly proportional to the cube of length, so using a standard tortoise… 477,000 tons!”
“That’s too heavy, I can’t even comprehend what you’re saying.”
“Rest assured, Onee-sama, it’s not that far off from the specific gravity of water!”
Of course, the weight was an estimate, but it shouldn’t be too far off.
＜The Reflector＞ lifted its massive body with its six legs and began to walk slowly.
“Hmm… Species name: ＜Spirit Turtle＞.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Individual name: ＜The Reflector＞. Registering the Threat Creature species as ＜Spirit Turtle＞.”
“Oh, a Spirit Turtle! The one said to carry Mount Penglai on its back!”
As they continued their rather empty conversation, they could see in the video that ＜The Reflector＞ stretched its neck out.
At that moment, the image blurred with a lurch.
“Hyaa! W-what?”
“Abnormality detected in the telemetry of the surveillance drone.”
“Onee-sama, an incredible shockwave has occurred! Probably a Sound Wave!”
A roar, perhaps. The image was flickering. Looking closely, the surrounding trees seemed to be bending significantly.
A deafening volume, to the point where the sound could not be recognized as sound.
“Each sensor on the surveillance drone is detecting abnormal values. Mechanical failure seems to have occurred due to the Sound Wave shock. Flight and photography are still possible, but the aircraft status is now Caution (Yellow).”
“Onee-chan, I’ll launch a replacement drone, okay?”
“I’ll rotate nearby drones too~”
While approving Utsugi and Erika’s requests, Commander (Eve) checked the Wyvern from a different perspective.
“This one… geez, it’s starting to move.”
As Eve said, one of the two Wyverns was heading towards ＜The Reflector＞.
“Onee-sama, electromagnetic wave emission confirmed! The source is ＜The Reflector＞! It seems to have a Bio-Radar too! Wow, we’re getting a lot from the Wyvern as well! The microwave range is super congested!”
＜The Reflector＞ had already been confirmed to have the characteristic of reflecting electromagnetic waves. It was not surprising that it had an electromagnetic wave emitting organ. However, if this was functioning as a Bio-Radar, that was a different story.
“It might even have anti-air attack capabilities! Is it a Threat Creature that’s conscious of the sky!?”
“Ugh, don’t say such unpleasant things. It’s going to be difficult to dispatch the Gigantia Squad…”
Eve frowned at Asahi’s gleeful prediction.
If there was a Threat Creature with anti-air attack capabilities, it would be difficult to deploy the paper-thin Gigantia and Titan. Because of their massive size, they were not very maneuverable, and would be constantly under attack.
“Wyvern, confirming preliminary attack movements. Presumed Dragon Breath.”
One of the Wyverns heading towards ＜The Reflector＞ opened its mouth wide.
A flash of light erupted.
“Electromagnetic radiation confirmed. Attack by Charged Particles. Direct hit on ＜The Reflector＞.”
“Magic Barrier! The Wyvern’s breath is being scattered by ＜The Reflector＞’s barrier!”
The emitted sub-light-speed Charged Particles struck ＜The Reflector＞’s shell directly. However, they seemed to be completely blocked by the geometric patterns of light covering its surface. The breath was deflected and diffused like fireworks. Some of it landed on the trees in the forest, causing fires.
“It’s a kaiju showdown…”
“This is bad, isn’t it! Can our current weapons even compete!?”
Eve was trembling with fear at the spectacular footage, while Asahi was gleefully cheering.
“The Magic Barrier is a problem, but even if we break through that, most attacks will be nullified by the difference in mass, I think.”
Akane began to explain, reacting to Asahi’s words, as if she had been considering countermeasures.
“It depends on the hardness of the shell, but based on past experience, it should have tremendous strength. Even if we remove the barrier and hit it directly with a Bunker Buster, it’s unclear whether we can penetrate the shell.”
“Akane Onee-sama is right! A normal Bunker Buster probably won’t have enough Penetration power! We might need a dedicated Hypersonic Missile!”
Considering the characteristics of the Threat Creatures they had fought so far, that was indeed the case. In addition to the troublesome Magic Barrier, the body tissue itself was sturdy.
In fact, they had not been able to inflict any damage on the Mountain Boar they had fought some time ago. There was no reason to expect that this ＜The Reflector＞, which had a much larger body, would be weaker than the Mountain Boar.
“Shoot in a Penetration-specialized Cannon Shell, or a missile, huh. Hmm… we need to seriously consider reproducing magic soon, or we’ll be in trouble someday…”
“That’s right! The Demon Forest feels like it’s stirring overall! This incident will probably make it even more chaotic!”
“I feel like we’re the ones stirring things up…”
The Stampede incident in the Forest Country (Lebresta) was originally caused by ＜The Tree＞ defeating the Wyvern. This had greatly changed the Territory of the Threat Creatures.
However, they had not anticipated that the impact would be so widespread and cascading.
“Onee-sama, ＜The Reflector＞ is…”
“Hmm?”
Called by Ichigo, Eve, who had been talking with Asahi, turned her gaze back to the display.
＜The Reflector＞ was turning its neck towards the Wyvern diagonally behind it. Something rapidly growing was appearing around its head.
“Huh?”
“Eight rocks have appeared around its head, rapidly increasing in volume.”
The rocks, which were rapidly growing in size and were of distorted shapes, accelerated as if they had been launched the moment they reached a diameter of 5 meters.
“Rocks, estimated to be 5m in diameter based on image analysis. Currently 250km/h. Accelerating. Reached 350km/h.”
“Huh!?”
“Oh, could that be a Stone Bullet!!”
Asahi echoed Eve’s involuntary shout with a cry of joy.
The eight rocks flew through the air one after another. They accelerated rapidly, confronting the oncoming Wyvern.
“Trajectory correction confirmed.”
The rocks were not just flying straight. They were continuing to accelerate while taking a direct hit course towards the target Wyvern.
“Wyvern, changing course.”
The Wyvern noticed the rocks and spread its wings to ascend rapidly. However, the rocks chased after it, rising into the sky.
Dashed lines indicating the Wyvern’s predicted future position and the rocks’ predicted future position were added to the video. They overlapped perfectly.
“Rocks, breaking the Sound Wave barrier.”
The Wyvern’s flight speed was about 300km/h. In an instant, the rocks caught up with the Wyvern, and then…
An explosion.
The rocks shattered into pieces, and the Wyvern was blown away in an unnatural posture.
There, the remaining seven rock masses collided one after another.
“The initial explosion was the Sonic Boom generated when the rocks reached the Sound Wave barrier. The Wyvern’s damage… cannot be confirmed. However, there is a possibility that its internal organs have been damaged. It seems to still be conscious.”
The Wyvern, which had been blown away, was flapping its wings and trying to regain its posture.
At that moment, ＜The Reflector＞ raised its foreleg—and brought it down.
At first glance, a meaningless action.
However, at the same time as its leg slammed into the ground, the Wyvern, which had completely lost its posture, plummeted as if it had been struck from above by a giant hammer.
“A… long-range attack!?”
Asahi’s (gleeful) scream.
At that moment, the Dragon Breath released by the other Wyvern struck ＜The Reflector＞’s head directly.
A flash of light erupted.
＜The Reflector＞ deflected the breath, opened its mouth, and roared briefly.
The space around the Wyvern that released the breath seemed to distort, and at that moment, a large explosion occurred. The Wyvern, caught in the blast, fell in a spiral.
“Eh…?”
“Kyaa!”
Commander (Eve)’s bewildered (appalled) voice and Asahi’s joyful scream echoed in the Command Room.