"Warning. Starboard engine overheat. Coolant circulation pump reaching critical limits."
The red flashing warning light dizzily illuminated Vent's helmet visor.
But instead of checking the dashboard, he yanked the control stick with instinctive sense.
Kaboom!
A Chrome Hound harpoon the size of a house tore through the space where the Nightwolf had been. A delay of 0.1 seconds would have meant being skewered.
"Persistent bastards."
Vent clicked his tongue and pushed the throttle to the max.
The sky above the ruin entrance was literally a pandemonium.
Right after the Lumina Lip disappeared inside, Imperial interceptors and Chrome Hound assault boats, having lost their target, were rushing toward the entrance like mad.
Blocking that massive wave was a single black fighter.
"Move! You little fly!"
A Chrome Hound pirate ship rushed in spewing black exhaust. Vent didn't panic and pulled the machine into a steep climb.
The moment the pirate ship cut through the empty air, Vent twisted his machine a half-turn and caught the enemy's tail.
"Commencing fire."
Rat-a-tat-tat!
A burst shot aiming precisely only at the engine section.
The pirate ship screamed and crashed in a spiral, colliding with the Imperial squadron following behind, causing a massive explosion.
"Is that the twelfth one?"
Vent's breathing became rough. Even for a former Imperial Special Forces ace, dealing with dozens of enemies alone was tantamount to suicide.
But he couldn't back down. If he moved now, the Captain and crew, defenseless inside the ruin, would be hunted down.
"Not a single one passes. Until the Captain returns, this door is closed."
Just as he was about to assume interception stance again.
Beeeeep—!
A chilling high-frequency sound, different from ordinary alarms, struck the cockpit.
"What is this? Battleship-class energy reaction? No, the size is small. But this output is..."
Vent's gaze turned beyond the battlefield, to the center of the Imperial fleet.
The lower hangar of the massive flagship Fenrir was slowly opening.
The cool blue light spewing from within wavered as if to swallow even the flames of the battlefield.
"Don't tell me..."
Thud—!
With a tearing sound of the atmosphere, something was ejected from the hangar.
It was not a standard Imperial mass-production machine.
Matte black armor that absorbed light, sharp forward-swept wings reminiscent of a wolf's fangs, and a high-density Aether shield wrapping the entire fuselage.
It was the personal machine of the Empire's youngest Colonel, Adrian Valentine: 'Sköll'.
[All fleet, stand by for ruin entry.]
Adrian's cold voice rang out across the battlefield through the communicator.
[That annoying fly blocking the entrance... I'll deal with it myself.]
"The noble lord has come out in person."
Vent swallowed dryly. Adrian's machine was breaking the sound barrier and closing the distance in an instant.
It wasn't just speed. That was the killing intent of a beast pouncing aiming for the prey's nape.
"Good. Shall I have a dance with the hero of the Empire?"
Vent gripped the control stick tightly with hands sweating cold sweat. The real hell was starting now.
Sizzle—!
The tip of Nightwolf's left wing melted as it grazed a blue laser.
Before the warning sound could even ring, Vent instinctively turned the stick to the left and rotated the machine.
A black shadow tearing through and piercing the afterimage of where he had been just a moment ago.
It was Adrian's personal machine, Sköll.
"Fast."
Vent clicked his tongue. The output of the Empire's latest engine was beyond imagination.
If you react after seeing it with your eyes, it's too late. He had to move the moment the killing intent touched his skin.
[Not bad for a rat. But you can't survive in this sky just by running away.]
Adrian's chilly voice came through the communicator.
Emotionless, dry tone as if cleaning up filth.
Vent stared at the red-blinking dashboard without moving a muscle and replied calmly.
"Quite a passionate welcome. Why not give me some room to breathe?"
[The only thing I have for you is merciless disposal.]
Vroom—!
The Sköll made a sharp turn at an angle close to impossible in mid-air.
A maneuver that seemed to ignore inertia.
Adrian used the ruin's sharp spires not as obstacles, but as stepping stones to aid his acceleration, catching Vent's tail.
Beep beep beep beep!
[Lock-on Warning! Multiple missiles approaching!]
"Damn it, persistent rich boy."
Vent lowered the throttle and deployed the air brake.
The Nightwolf decelerated rapidly and hid behind a black pillar of the ruin.
Kaboom! Boom!
The guided missiles Adrian fired hit the pillar and exploded.
Through the gap where black obsidian fragments poured like rain, Vent reignited the engine and soared vertically.
The two men's flying styles were starkly different.
Adrian's flight was 'Perfect Math'.
The optimal answer derived by substituting all variables—wind strength, machine weight, opponent's projected path—into a formula.
There was not a single millimeter of error or unnecessary movement in his control.
It was as if a textbook had taken human form and sat in the cockpit.
On the other hand, Vent's flight was 'Desperate Survival'.
The beast's senses carved into his body while rolling through countless battlefields.
He flew squeezing the machine's performance beyond its limits, feeling the changes in airflow and the scream of the machine with his whole body.
Irregularity and improvisation that could not come from calculation.
[Incomprehensible.]
Biting Vent's tail once again, Adrian spoke.
[I heard you were a former Imperial Special Forces ace. Why does one who could have been a Guardian of Order hang out with such criminals and invite chaos?]
"Order? Guardian?"
Vent scoffed.
He popped flares to obscure Adrian's vision and pushed his machine into the narrow corridor of the ruin.
"The order you talk about is, in the end, a leash. A pretty leash tightened so hard you can't breathe."
[Uncontrolled freedom is merely indulgence. Look at what you have done. The Archives burned, and the sky has become a mess.]
Adrian's Sköll burst out through the flare smoke.
He accurately predicted the exit of the corridor Vent hid in and was already aiming his beam cannon.
[Viruses like you infect this world. That is why I must excise you.]
"The one sick is that high-and-mighty Empire!"
Vent pretended to go out the exit, then reverse-thrusted the ventral thrusters.
Screech—!
The frame of Nightwolf screamed.
The machine almost stopped in mid-air and dropped straight down to the floor.
Adrian's beam grazed dangerously over Vent's head.
"We just want to breathe. Without being controlled by anyone, just wanting to fly by my own will!"
[That arrogance will be your undoing.]
Adrian didn't panic.
Instead of turning unreasonably to chase the missed prey, he ascended vertically to secure altitude.
Overwhelming superiority in potential energy.
Like a hawk targeting a rabbit, he dove toward Vent below and poured crossfire.
Rat-a-tat! Woosh! Shooom!
"Ugh!"
Sparks flew from various parts of Vent's machine.
Holes were punched in the armor plates where the shield was stripped, and half the dashboard went dead.
The difference in specs, and Adrian's cool-headed judgment, were slowly but surely tightening around Vent's experience.
"Haa, haa... He's a monster alright."
Vent steadied his blurring vision and re-gripped the control stick.
He couldn't win with standard tactics.
A move that escaped the guy's calculation, something the guy would 'never do'.
His gaze turned to the largest spire in the center of the ruin.
"There's one thing the calculator-tapping rich boy doesn't know."
Vent's eyes shone fiercely.
"Real fighting isn't done with the head, but with guts."
*
While Vent and Adrian were performing a sophisticated dance of death fighting over 0.1 seconds in the sky, the center of the battlefield had turned into a literal bloody slaughterhouse.
"Frustrating! It's frustrating! How long are those flies going to buzz around?!"
Caligo yelled, clacking his red mechanical jaw.
On the hologram screen unfolded before his eyes, fighter planes flying noisily and Imperial ships hesitating while checking each other were full.
He detested delicate tactics or maneuvers.
What he wanted was a symphony of destruction where bones broke and steel crumpled.
"Hey! Helmsman! What are you doing? Step on it until the engine bursts!"
"C-Captain? An Imperial cruiser is holding out in front! Their armor thickness is different from destroyer class! If we collide, our bow will also..."
"Who said to stop? I said pierce through!"
Caligo jumped directly into the helm and pushed the lever all the way.
Rumble—!
The massive steam boiler in the heart of the flagship Iron Jaw screamed.
Black exhaust spewed from the smokestack like volcanic ash, and the entire hull shook as if an earthquake had hit.
The bridge of the Imperial Cruiser 'Valkyrie VII' located in front fell into panic.
"T-That crazy ship! It's accelerating without stopping!"
"Evasive maneuvers! No, too late! Deploy shields! Brace for impact!"
The Imperial captain screamed, but it was insufficient to stop the steel monster rushing in like a wild boar.
Craaaash—!
With a roar tearing the sky, the massive 'Hydraulic Ram' attached to Iron Jaw's bow struck the cruiser's flank.
The high-density Aether shield the Imperial Army boasted of shattered in an instant, and the sleek silver-white armor plates crumpled hideously.
Crunch! Clang!
The terrible noise of steel chewing steel.
The massive rotating sawblades attached to Iron Jaw's prow began to grind up the cruiser's internal bulkheads.
"Aaaagh! The hull is splitting in two!"
amidst the pandemonium where Imperial crew members were flung into the distant void, Caligo grabbed the loudspeaker and laughed like a madman.
[Kuhahaha! Is this the pride of the Empire? Paper sheets would be sturdier than this!]
He shuddered with thrill.
His crude and rusted lump of scrap metal was overwhelming the Empire's cutting-edge technology.
In this moment, neither Adrian nor the Emperor was fearful.
He was the king of this sector.
"More! Push more! Grind them into powder!"
Having completely turned one cruiser into a rag and sunk it, Caligo caught his breath in satisfaction and looked around the battlefield.
But an annoying sight that calmed his excitement caught his eye. The ruin entrance. It was still inaccessible due to Vent and Adrian's dogfight.
Because of the storm of pouring lasers and missiles, Chrome Hound assault boats dared not enter and were circling around.
"Argh, those flies really... I have to go get my treasure, what are they doing in front of the door?"
Caligo's patience ran out.
The rat had already gone inside, but he had to suck his thumb outside.
It was unacceptable.
His gaze turned to the massive entrance of the ruin.
And he reached a conclusion that was simple and ignorant, but most certain.
"Hey. What do you have to do if the door won't open?"
"Huh? W-Well... Find the key or..."
"Wrong, idiot."
Caligo grinned, baring his teeth.
"If you break the wall, you don't need a door."
"B-But Captain! We can't pierce that hard ancient ruin outer wall with our main weapons like harpoons or shells!"
"Who said we're piercing with those toothpicks? You know, that thing."
Caligo pointed to the depths of the ship with his chin.
"Bring out the 'Grand Crusher'."
The subordinates' faces turned pale white.
"Y-You're using that here?! That projectile speed is too slow, it can never hit a moving ship! Besides, the recoil could break our ship..."
"Does that ruin door fly around? It's standing still!"
Caligo smacked the back of the subordinate's head.
"Don't worry about missing and just load it! So the rats can't come out, and so we can go in... we will turn the entrance itself into powder!"
The subordinates were horrified, but they could not disobey the mad dog captain's order.
"Power diversion! Boilers 1 through 5, focus all pressure to 'Grand Crusher'!"
Whirrr— Boom! Boom!
The deck of Iron Jaw opened to the left and right, and a hideous gun barrel, looking like it was made by tearing off a massive chimney or factory pipe rather than a weapon of war, rose up.
It was an item made by forcibly detaching and modifying super-large excavation equipment used to bore through bedrock in mines originally.
"Loading complete! Warhead is... Compressed Scrap Bomb!"
"This is the Chrome Hound style knock."
Wiing— Creek.
The massive barrel was aimed precisely at the ruin entrance where Vent and Adrian were fighting, and deep inside it.
There were Jane and her companions.
"Bury them all! Fire!"
*
Taking advantage of the gap Vent bought risking his life, the Lumina Lip slid into the deep intestines of the ruin.
Outside was a hell filled with gunfire and screams, but the inside of the ruin was strangely silent.
The air that had been asleep for hundreds of years groaned low as it was pushed by the engine's heat.
"Defense system activated! Multiple automated turrets detected!"
Along with Lilia's shout, blue laser grids rose from the corridor walls.
"I'll handle it! Lilia, don't slow down!"
Leon moved his fingers on the console as if dancing.
His eyes moved rapidly chasing the flow of hologram code.
"Bypassing security protocols... Firewall deactivated. Pierced it!"
Sizzle—
The lasers blocking the way disappeared like a lie, and the heavy steel bulkheads split to the left and right.
Beyond that, finally, the 'Sanctuary' they were looking for revealed itself.
"This is... the legacy of the ancients..."
Jayn let out a gasp unknowingly.
It was a space in the form of a massive dome.
On the ceiling, luminous stones embroidered like constellations were shining softly, and in the empty air, undecipherable ancient characters were floating like gold dust and rotating slowly.
Before that overwhelming mystery, the Jane Crew briefly forgot the war outside.
"Found it! Over there, the center of the dome!"
The place Lilia pointed to.
On a structure rising like an altar, a single object emitting a brilliant light was floating in the air.
A bronze ring elaborately crafted and a crystal sphere rotating inside it.
It was the 'Star Compass'.
Jayn carefully brought the ship close to the altar.
The airlock opened, and she and Leon stepped down to the floor.
Footsteps breaking the silence of hundreds of years rang inside the dome.
Leon approached the compass as if possessed. His hands were trembling.
"No mistake... It's the navigation tool that recorded the coordinates of the Abyss before the Cataclysm."
He shouted with an excited voice while reading the compass's data with a portable scanner.
"With this data, we can backtrack the 'Ghost Signal'! We can know where the debris of Arkelos crashed, the exact location of that grave! Finally... we can find the lost truth!"
Jayn's chest also swelled. It wasn't simply finding treasure.
This was history the Empire tried to hide, and the key to change her destiny.
"Hurry, Leon. Vent can't hold out long outside."
Jayn reached out her hand toward the compass.
It was the moment her fingertips were about to touch the cool and mysterious chill.
Rumble—! Kaboom!
The entire ruin screamed.
The ground beneath their feet shook crazily, and massive rocks poured down from the ceiling along with dust.
"Kyaaak! Jayn!"
Lilia's scream from the bridge tore through the communicator.
"What's happening?!"
"O-Outside, a massive impact... the entrance side is collapsing! The Caligo bastards are trying to break the ruin itself!"
The shock of the 'Grand Crusher' Caligo fired had eventually reached this heart.
"The mad dogs decided to dig a grave for real!"
Jayn tried to grab the compass while struggling to keep her balance.
But due to the impact, the altar cracked and the compass bounced up into the empty air.
"No!"
Leon threw his body, but the compass was pushed away to a distance his hand couldn't reach.
And a more terrible thing happened.
Crackle—
From the cracks of the split altar, and the fissures in the floor, something pitch-black began to rise creepily.
It was not dust. It was sticky, dark red mist wriggling as if alive.
"What... is this?"
Jayn stepped back in instinctive fear.
Wherever the mist touched, the ancient characters twisted and lost their light.
It wasn't a simple physical shock. This was malice crawled out from a much deeper and darker place, not of this world.
Leon's face turned pale white.
"Jayn... stand back. That is not Aether."
From the fissures in the floor, a bizarre wind sound like a metallic rasp was heard. As if the lid of hell had opened.
[...Fo...und... you...]
Along with an auditory hallucination that froze the spine, the dark red mist spread as if to swallow Jayn, Leon, and the Star Compass simultaneously.
The moment they thought they found hope, true despair opened its eyes.