"Ding ding ding ding!!!"
Just when Kotori wanted to say something to Katsu, a shrill alarm sounded from inside Fraxinus, causing Kotori to tilt her head and ask, "What's going on?"
"This... this is... the satellite's falling speed is accelerating rapidly!" said a crew member in panic.
"What did you say...!" As Kotori frowned, the screen showed the image of the satellite. The quadrilateral body had solar panels on both sides, and an ugly round object was installed on the top, with the lower half hidden inside the body. It seemed that part was acting as a propeller. Obviously, it was most likely a modified satellite---
"…Damn it!" Kotori's eyes widened, sweat pouring down her cheeks. Was he willing to go to such lengths to increase the damage when it fell? Or - did he see through the existence of Fraxinus in the sky above the Tengu City and was on guard against our counterattack?
"Quickly correct the predicted time!" Kotori slammed her fist on the table in front of her and gave a loud order.
"...The prediction result is out! According to...according to this value, we must immediately go into attack mode, otherwise it will be too late!" A crew member answered while wiping the sweat from his forehead.
She made a decision in an instant, and then pulled the microphone over:
"...Katsu brother, I'm sorry, the schedule has been disrupted, and I don't have time to pick you up now. But as long as you succeed in smashing the big guy in the sky, if it's just fragmented, you should be able to handle it, right?"
Katsu, who was flying at full speed, paused when he heard Kotori's words in his earphones. He subconsciously looked up at the meteor-like object falling in the sky. Then, Katsu exhaled: "... ...As for the fragments, it's not a big problem."
"...Hmm...Hmm!" Kotori's voice was trembling. If she was determined to "smash that satellite..." originally, then what she was thinking now was "I must smash that satellite, no matter what the cost, I must smash it!" Because --- her beloved brother Katsu was down there...
Looking at the trembling Kotori, Shidou couldn't help but clench his fists. He also learned about the current situation. If the satellite was not destroyed, the people in the shelter would die.
"Commander, are you okay?" Kyouhei Kannazuki, who also noticed Kotori's condition, couldn't help but ask with concern.
"It's okay... It's okay... Get ready to attack - we must smash it!"
"Understood!" The crew shouted loudly and operated the control table. Flaxinus changed course and headed towards the attack site.
Looking at the screen showing the distance between her and Katsu getting farther and farther - Kotori clenched her fists, she was more nervous than anyone else now - when she thought of Katsu still down there, she couldn't help but recall what happened in the DEM first office building last month.
Although it would be fine as long as we destroyed it, but what if we failed? The risk is huge...
She took a deep breath and suppressed the urge to order someone to go back and pick up Katsu. Katsu stood up with his fists clenched: "We must smash it! I'm counting on you all!"
"…yes!"
… …
Below, Katsu landed on a building again, looked up at the night sky, and watched the satellite descending overhead. He places all of the cards he still has on him.
"Is it equivalent to the power of a nuclear explosion? Even if I had a fusion, I would still die without a burial place. Haha, I have been in this world for less than a year, and how many life-and-death crises have I encountered?"
… …
The atmosphere in the Fraxinus control room was almost oppressive and sticky---
"Arrived at the interception point." A female crew member said in a deep voice.
"The target will pass the designated location in thirty seconds!" another crew member reported immediately.
"AR-008 has been fully charged with magic power! It can be fired at any time!"
The voices of the crew echoed on the bridge. Kotori shook her head as if to clear away unnecessary thoughts, staring at the screen intently, her knuckles clenched until they turned white.
"Please, everyone!" Shidou prayed desperately in his heart---
Kotori counted down in her mind along with the countdown timer displayed in the corner of the screen, and when the target happened to enter the screen, she suddenly shouted: "[Mystletainn]! Fire!"
At the moment Kotori shouted, a shocking torrent of magic power poured out from the gun ports of the Fraxinus. The huge block of magic power output from the large display device mounted on the airship attacked the target displayed in the center of the screen.
The timing was perfect. Some of the crew members even made a victory gesture before they even confirmed the destruction.
However--
"What?!"
The next moment, Kotori showed an expression of disbelief and made a panicked sound.
However, that was understandable. The convergent magic cannon that was originally heading straight for the satellite tilted at the moment it was about to hit the target, only penetrating one side of the solar panel and part of the thruster, and then disappeared into the air. The satellite lost its balance as if it was bounced off by the magic cannon - but it was still attracted by gravity and continued to fall.
"Just now… that… what happened…!?" Kotori's eyes almost turned red…
"I'm afraid it's the Realizer..."
The person who responded to Kotori's shout was Kyouhei Kannazuki who was standing next to the captain's seat. He frowned and spoke in a deep voice.
Hearing this, Kotori gritted her teeth and said angrily: "I know that the mythical beast Bondski can deploy a random domain, but how can that medium-level random domain bounce off the [Mystletainn]?"
"… …This, I'm afraid only DEM knows."Kyouhei Kannazuki sighed.
At this moment, Fraxinus suddenly shook violently, causing Shidou, who was standing next to the commander's chair, to fall to the ground. "What's going on?!"
"It's... it's shelling!"
"You mean artillery fire...?" Kotori's brows were almost twisted into a ball.
"Play the video!" a crew member shouted, and then transferred the image she captured to the main screen. The screen immediately showed an aerial vessel that appeared at some point in time and was even larger than the Fraxinus.
Although the ship's hull is composed of straight lines, its shape is as complex as an organism, giving off the same eerie feeling as the DEM weapon.
"That's—DEM's?"
"Hmm...it seems like it caused our artillery fire to deflect."
… …
At this moment, Kotori took a deep breath, and the anxiety on her face disappeared - before, it was because she was too concerned about Katsu's safety that Kotori was worried and confused. As a result, now that the DEM ship appeared, she couldn't help but think about how to deal with the attack of the DEM airship while countering those satellites that would threaten the lives of the people in the entire city below.
Then, she naturally thought of Fraxinus's secret weapon...
"Kannazuki, I leave this to you. I'm going to use the [Gungnir]---"