Are you people perhaps a little too efficient?
Within the borders of the Sariella Kingdom, after they once again conquered the entire nation without the slightest difficulty...
An Angeloid carried over a little girl with silver hair and red eyes.
She was still swaddled in infancy, with fair skin and a trace of baby fat. Her eyes were open as she surveyed her surroundings with a gaze that held both fear and curiosity.
"Oh? Is she the person the Commander specifically named?"
Spider, Silver Wolf, and the others crowded around her.
[Name: Sophia Keren, formerly Shouko Negishi (LV1)]
[Race: Human]
[HP: 11/11 MP: 35/35 SP: 12/12]
[Average Offensive Ability: 9]
[Average Defensive Ability: 8]
[Average Magical Ability: 32]
[Titles: Progenitor, Vampire]
[Skills: Vampire LV1, Undying Body LV1, HP Auto-Recovery LV1, Magic Perception LV3, Magic Manipulation LV3...]
[Skill Points: 75,000]
As another reincarnator, she was far stronger than those Heroes, princes, and natural-born adventurers.
Despite being the child of two humans, Sophia had been born a vampire. She also possessed the Progenitor skill, making her the ancestor of all vampires in this world.
She had been born with various resistances and immortality-related skills. Even after suffering a fatal attack, she could survive with 1 HP remaining.
"Aaaaaah—"
Spider suffered yet another critical hit.
She's only a tiny baby, yet she's so cute and so strong?! She was born with seventy-five thousand skill points?!
She's the true chosen child of this world, isn't she?!
"Mm-hmm."
Jibril gently pinched the little vampire's cheek.
"Can you talk?"
"Mm..."
Because the little vampire was still so young, even though she was a reincarnator, her body's ability to speak had not yet fully developed.
She could only babble a few times while watching Jibril and the others around her warily.
"Don't be afraid. We mean you no harm, and we'll raise you properly."
"Master specifically ordered us to take special care of you."
Jibril stroked the little vampire's head.
Then she summoned two housekeeping Angeloids.
"The Commander has ordered that she be looked after with the utmost care."
"Understood."
The Angeloids carried the little vampire across the skybridge and into the spacecraft's residential area.
She looked around and saw many other little girls around her age.
The slightly older ones had only just learned to walk and were toddling unsteadily through the spacecraft. Others were about the same age as her and were being carried in the Angeloids' arms.
It resembled a massive childcare center, fully staffed with Angeloids specializing in cooking, laundry, medical care, and every other necessity.
"Mm!"
After a quick glance, she recognized most of them.
Asaka, formerly Asaka Kushitani, Yuri Ullen, formerly Hasebe Yuika, Anna...
Those calmly observing their surroundings without crying or making a fuss were her classmates and fellow reincarnators from their previous lives. The few who cried like ordinary children were natives of this world.
None of them could live independently yet, so they required the Angeloids' care.
"Phew—"
Life in an interstellar civilization was ultimately far superior to that of a feudal native society.
The comfortable clothing, delicious nutritious meals, and climate-controlled cabins alone were incomparably better than anything available on the surface below.
Although the little vampire and the others were somewhat confused, they could not deny that the treatment here was rather good.
...
Several days later.
"Hmm..."
"We've found the vast majority of the reincarnators."
Jibril crossed one name after another off the list.
"There are only a few remaining in the Elf Village."
"Oh, and there's also your teacher, Okazaki Kanami Ancient Divine Beast. She's now called Filimøs Harrifenas, and is nominally the daughter of the Elf chief, Potimas."
Filimøs was the only adult among the reincarnators. Due to Wakaba Hiiro's twisted sense of humor, she had obtained a rather peculiar skill called Student Roster.
It allowed her to see the past, present condition, and future of the students who had reincarnated into this world.
In the original story, Potimas exploited her and used various methods to place the students under house arrest in the Elf Village under the pretext of "protecting" them.
The Starsea Empire had moved with extraordinary speed, finding every reincarnator before Filimøs could do anything foolish and before Potimas could begin his plans.
"Ms. Oka doesn't seem particularly clever, but that doesn't matter. She's only a child now, so we'll educate her properly."
Jibril thought for a moment.
The advantage of arriving early in the timeline was that they could retrieve people ahead of schedule. With the Starsea Empire's advanced education, they could all be shaped into outstanding citizens.
"Set out for the Elf Village."
"We might as well kill Potimas while we're there."
"Oooh—"
Spider rubbed her hands together eagerly, itching for action.
Huh? The Elf Village? That's where the Elves live, right?!
I heard Potimas has caused this world all kinds of trouble. If we can defeat him, he must be worth a lot of experience, right?
Ah, it would be even better if that let me evolve soon.
She checked her experience bar. Over the past few days, she had followed the Starsea Empire on campaign after campaign, wiping out numerous human armies and gaining several more levels.
She was now only one final step away from evolving into an Arachne.
Hum—
The starship continued forward as she indulged in pleasant dreams about the future.
Suddenly...
Rumble!!!—
The low-flying spacecraft shuddered violently.
"What?!"
[Warning!!]
[Warning!! Attack from an unidentified energy source detected!!]
Alarms echoed throughout the starship.
Bang! Bang! Bang!!
One black-purple sphere of energy after another shot up from the ground.
The attacks were immensely powerful. The spherical energy shield distorted violently under the impacts, causing the entire hull to tremble.
[Klein Field entering overload conditions!]
[Warning! Enemy attack!!!]
[Target locked.]
"What the hell?!"
They looked down.
A stern-faced girl with black hair and red eyes stood in an open field.
She wore a dark bodysuit beneath a high-collared cloak, with mismatched black stockings and ankle boots covering her lower half. Her cute features carried an imposing dignity.
Several puppet spiders stood beside her. They resembled young girls, though their movements were somewhat stiff.
Boom—
Ariel glared fixedly at the spacecraft in the sky. She raised one hand, attempting to use a spatial skill to drag it down...
Creeeak!!!—
A shrill sound of space shattering rang out around them, and the interior of the spacecraft shook once more.
"Aaaaaah—"
Unable to keep her balance, Spider rolled across the floor several times.
Who is she?! Why do I have such a bad feeling about this?!
[Appraisal!]
Hiss—
Ariel sensed someone probing her and cast a razor-sharp gaze in their direction.
At the same time, a status screen opened before Spider.
[Origin Taratect Ariel (LV139)]
[HP: 90,098+99,999 MP: 87,665+99,999 SP: 89,862]
[Average Offensive Ability: 90,021]
[Average Defensive Ability: 89,997]
[Average Speed Ability: 87,504]
[Average Magical Ability: 89,518]
[...]
[Titles: Ancient Divine Beast, Ruler of Gluttony, Demon Lord, Commander, Champion, Calamity of Humanity, Calamity of Demons, Calamity of Elves...]
"Ah!"
After becoming accustomed to seeing weaklings with single-digit or double-digit attributes while collecting the reincarnators, Spider nearly failed to react when a Demon Lord suddenly appeared before her.
Judging solely by her attributes, Ariel was already close to this world's maximum value of 99,999. The sheer number of titles and skills she possessed was enough to make anyone's eyes blur.
At level 139, combined with the titles of Ancient Divine Beast and Demon Lord, she was unquestionably the strongest member of this world's demon race.
Unless someone possessing the title of Hero could exploit its special advantage against the Demon Lord, virtually no conventional living creature could oppose her.
Th-th-th-this... She's the boss of the entire world, isn't she?!
"Mm-hmm. She's here to intercept us."
Jibril, Silver Wolf, and the rest of the Trailblaze team grabbed Spider and leaped down.
"Who are you? Why did you kill and abduct my children?"
Ariel stared at Spider with a gaze that made her skin crawl.
As the Origin Taratect, the Queen Taratects of the Great Elroe Labyrinth were Ariel's children, while Spider could be considered her granddaughter.
A single Heavenly Smite from Jibril had destroyed the Great Labyrinth and killed countless subordinates under Ariel's command, practically reducing her to a commander without an army.
"Uh, you mean that huge one? Herta said she wanted to study some of the local wildlife..."
Silver Wolf scratched her head.
"Besides, your children weren't exactly friendly either. They kept eating each other, and if we left them alone, they'd eventually come after us in swarms."
"We're heading to subjugate Potimas and the Elf Village. Care to come along? Our long-term goals should be aligned, so why don't you come aboard and talk it over?"
"Hmph—"
Ariel snorted without replying.
She assumed a guarded combat stance, her gaze moving between the members of the Trailblaze team.
She could not see through their attributes, and none of them were Heroes. All she could discern was that the little spider seemed to be related to her somehow.
"Eh? So we really do have to fight first? She looks pretty strong."
Silver Wolf poked Spider.
"Why don't you go exchange a few moves with Ariel?"
"Huh? Me?"
—
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