Challenge: The Fool with the Surname Okayamine

Chapter 166 The Final Chapter: Before the Decisive Battle

"Alright, everyone on Fraxinus! We can't know the limit of the Beast's timeline, so for the sake of humanity! And for the sake of the world! We must prepare for the worst! Can we do that!"

"Yes, Commander!"

10:10 PM

Beside the ruins of Tengu City, moonlight shone upon Fraxinus, and in contrast to the eerie tranquility outside, the night sky was filled with twinkling stars, and inside the spaceship...

The crew looked up at the red-haired girl giving a passionate speech on the high platform. She was clearly not even a junior high school graduate, but she was a leader they could trust immensely.

Looking around at the solemn crew members, Kotori's eyes narrowed slightly. She had a feeling that a certain combatant who had hardly ever been inside the ship was not among them.

"Where are Ming's subordinates?"

“He said yesterday that he went to the United States because of a blind date. He should be working at Woodman’s company now.” Lingyin said expressionlessly, but her eyes still flickered for a moment.

"Oh, so he probably won't be back for a while, right? Oh well, it's not important. After all, magicians aren't that strong against elves. Let's handle these things ourselves."

After that, the crew members got to work and began analyzing everything from the data they had just seen. Gradually, they discovered some startling information.

"This...this is impossible, Commander!"

"Kawagoe! You figured it out so quickly!"

“Yes, Commander! But...but this phenomenon of Beast is really strange, no...even..." Kawagoe’s eyes were filled with an indescribable horror as he looked at the screen.

"What? This uncle is actually so reliable today!"

"Impossible! This guy has absolutely no redeeming qualities other than constantly getting dumped by his wife!"

Everyone quickly gathered in front of Kawagoe Kyoji's screen, staring at the stark numbers on it, their expressions gradually becoming blank.

"What's going on? Answer me! Kannazuki, what's wrong with Reine?"

"Let me check."

As Reine adjusted Kawagoe's screen, a data report that even Kotori found unbelievable unfolded before her, and Kannazuki also leaned over to look at it.

"commander..."

"This is... how is this possible? In this world, besides my brother... how could anyone else do this... impossible, absolutely impossible! To possess four different reverse spiritual powers besides my own at the same time!"

Yes, this is impossible. Shido's constitution is special; there could not possibly be anyone like him in this world. But what is this scene that is being shown to us now?

"What's going on! Kawagoe, you haven't got the wrong person, have you?"

"Exactly! How can there be such a strange data table in this world? We're facing a major disaster, don't mess things up just to liven things up!"

"Absolutely not, Commander!"

Faced with suspicion from his superiors and accusations from his companions, Kawagoe Kyoji appeared utterly innocent.

Fortunately, someone stood up for him.

"Kotori, Kawagoe's report is correct, however, Beast's condition is noticeably different from Koshi's."

"Hey! Even if it's Lingyin's analysis, it's correct, so is there anything different about Lingyin's analysis?"

"Yes, Murasame analyst, please tell us quickly!"

Looking at the crowd with their drastically different reactions, Kawagoe Kyoji couldn't help but shed tears of grief. For a moment, he even thought that Beast was right, but he quickly rallied.

Lingyin adjusted the data collected by everyone, turned on the central screen, and pointed out a point that everyone had overlooked, under everyone's observation.

"Please look here."

Everyone followed Lingyin's finger and looked at the screen. They saw that Lingyin's finger did not stay on Beast, but on the black weapons floating next to him.

"Ok?"

“Look closely, everyone. Of these 10-plus black weapons, five have data indicating spiritual energy. We need to exclude the weapon closest to Him, which has an unusually similar wavelength to the Commander’s original spiritual energy. Take a look at the rest.”

As everyone leaned closer to examine the scene, their expressions of shock became increasingly evident.

"The spiritual energy circuits of these other weapons are actually connected to Beast, as if they are providing him with these abilities. And the remaining spiritual energy fluctuations, after removing some impurities, are quite incomprehensible."

"Two spiritual energy waves with no income, a spiritual energy wave hidden in the [Nun] who appeared more than 20 years ago, wait! The last sword is exactly the same as Yoshino's! How is that possible!"

"Impossible... How did they manage to absorb so much reversed spiritual energy, and where did this power come from!"

While everyone was deep in thought, Kotori was lost in memories of what she had seen five years ago in the sea of ​​fire, but because her consciousness was sealed and she was not clear, she did not tell Shido about it.

She had met the so-called extremely evil spirit, the Flame Beast, five years ago. He seemed to wield this power more skillfully than she did.

And what's going on with Yoshino's spiritual power...? Countless questions floated into Kotori's mind.

Meanwhile, outside the operations room, compared to the surprised murmurs of deep thought inside, all the spirits, having visited the still-sleeping Shido, had already fallen asleep to prepare for tomorrow.

But Yoshino was an exception. She stood blankly in the Fraxinus corridor in her pajamas, listening to the test results in the operations room, which were exactly what she expected, her pupils dilated.

"So...that's how it is..."

Yoshino accidentally dropped the Yoshino in her hand to the ground, but she forgot to pick it up and stood blankly in front of the war room door in the corridor.

Inside the operations room, just as Kotori and the others were somewhat at a loss and their thoughts were in disarray, Reine suddenly spoke up:

"Commander, everyone... I suddenly have an idea. If we're not mistaken, we can use this as a breakthrough to weaken the beast's combat capabilities as much as possible."

"Oh? What's your idea? Tell me quickly!" Kotori asked eagerly.

Lingyin took a sip of the coffee on the table and calmly said:

"Although I don't know enough about Beast yet, if it's connected to the weapons floating beside it by spiritual energy channels, then like Shido, all I have to do is find a way to sever those channels, right?"

“Severing the spiritual energy channel? That’s definitely an idea that could greatly weaken Beast’s combat capabilities. It’s so good to have Reine here.”

Kotori's furrowed brows gradually relaxed. As expected, Reine was still as reliable as ever.

"Analyst Murasame, how should we sever these spiritual energy channels?"

Nakatsugawa raised her hand, looking somewhat puzzled. Reine hesitated for a moment, but Shiizaki Hinako quickly came to her rescue.

“This is not difficult. It might be a bit difficult to sever the connection between spiritual energy and a person, but if this spiritual energy may have originally had an owner, then we can try to use abnormal wavelengths to control this spiritual energy back to its original owner.”

"But what about the technical issues? I feel like it might not be finished overnight, what if the Beast reappears tomorrow..."

"this……

The combat-like environment fell silent again, and the flames of hope that had been ignited in everyone were extinguished by this bucket of cold water.

'Ding-dong~'

An email was sent to Ratatos and slowly unfolded, after which a kind, blond man in a wheelchair appeared on the warship's screen.

"Woodman, the Round Table Leader!"

"It's been a long time, Kotori, and everyone else."

Woodman smiled and said:

"I know you may be facing technical difficulties, and I also think that although the elves are very reliable, they still need some help."

As the words fell, a large amount of data about Beast was displayed below the email, including some research data on the return of the spiritual energy device.

Qinli's eyes lit up, and Woodman nodded as well.

"That's right, we've been researching spiritual energy regulation technology, and we hope that everyone will be able to use it."

"Thank you so much.

"And when the Beast reappears, we will also provide you with strategic assistance, so don't worry."

"Thank you so much, Woodman Roundtable Leader. With this data, our chances of success are much greater."

Woodman responded with a smile:

"You're welcome. This is also for the sake of world peace. I hope you can resolve this crisis smoothly."

After he finished speaking, Woodman's image gradually disappeared.

Everyone immediately threw themselves into the intense research, using the data provided by Woodman to accelerate the development of the device for returning spiritual energy.

Meanwhile, in the solitary confinement cell where the unconscious Shido was being held down...

Although this is a solitary confinement room, its interior decoration is quite surprising.

The first thing that came into view was a luxurious and warm bed, and Shido was sleeping soundly on it, but for some reason his brows were tightly furrowed.

'Thump~ thump~ thump!!'

Suddenly, the boy's heart began to beat unusually fast, and Shido's breathing became increasingly rapid, he was panting heavily.

On Shido's abdomen, the eerie red light flickered even more intensely, as if a powerful force was breaking free from its restraints.

Inside Shido's body, a piece of flesh the size of a finger was heating up and changing at an astonishing speed. In a short while, it was the same size as a finger, and then it crystallized and began to beat rhythmically like a heart.

Shido's mind was sinking in a daze, like a drowning person falling into the water, with images of all the spirits dying in battle constantly replaying in his mind's eye.

"No...no...everyone! Don't die! Please, everyone..."

Shido kept shouting in his dream, but the sound did not reach the ears of the sleeping spirits next door.

Gradually, the boy's consciousness sank, and many memories that did not belong to him were poured into his mind.

It was a heartbreaking scene: a dark-skinned, thin boy stood alone in the middle of a group of people, his body trembling slightly, as if shrouded in fear.

The bullies around him had ferocious expressions on their faces. Their laughter and taunts mingled together like sharp blades, mercilessly piercing the boy's heart.

Shido's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and his painful wails grew louder and louder, until at the lowest point of his consciousness, a bright light flashed.

When he slowly opened his eyes again, his vision gradually cleared, and the first thing he saw was a long train.

The train's body has an old and mysterious color, as if it has been weathered by countless years.

His gaze slowly moved along the train carriages, finally settling on the seat directly opposite him.

There sat a ram-headed monster with an extremely bizarre appearance.

This ram-headed monster's body resembled a human's, but its body was covered in charred marks, and its ram's head was even more grotesque than the ram bones carried by the Flame Beast.

"You...who are you? How could I..."

Shido came to his senses, his consciousness still hazy from the pain. Looking at the monster in front of him, he could only slowly squeeze out a few spit-out ...

The monster merely waved its hand, attempting to indicate that it meant no harm, and smiled as it said to itself:

"Nice to meet you, [Divine Child]."

"A monster!"

Shido met the burning eyes of the monster before him; that was the only adjective that came to his mind instinctively.