Stellarium quickly transformed into a paradise for monsters.

"Kyaaak!"

"Save me!"

"Is anyone there? Please help!"

The problem wasn't confined to the academy. Monster spores had fallen across the entire planet and germinated.

It was the Queen's doing.

"Rustila, Zernya!"

[— 'Great Triangle' effect is currently active.]

That was fortunate amid the misfortune. It meant my two wives were nearby.

Neither Rustila nor Zernya answered their phones. They seemed overwhelmed just maintaining their positions.

Scanning my screen, I found messages from elsewhere.

[Brother]

[Save me]

It was Seti.

[A monster got into the house]

[What should I do?]

There was no trace of the abbreviated text she usually preferred. Seti tended to write more calmly when emotionally cornered.

In other words.

This was an emergency.

If I rescued Seti, the professors would be in danger. If I saved the professors, Seti would be in danger.

I needed to split the team.

"Cartesia, and Sister. Please rescue the professors together."

Cartesia turned her gaze toward the Natural Sciences building.

"Tch, woman. This is a special alliance, just this once."

Click.

Ireh pulled out her holy spirit gun and responded cynically.

"Director Nam."

Tap!

The two charged forward quickly. With Cartesia and Ireh going, the professors wouldn't be in danger.

I hurriedly turned my head.

"Sonia, follow me!"

"Are you heading to the main ship, sir?"

"If we're even slightly late, it'll be dangerous!"

I ran with Sonia in tow. Right now, Seti was in more danger than anyone else.

I understood Shterm's objective. He was trying to kill Seti to cut off my funding. I could always gather capital again, but losing my sister would traumatize me for life.

Pitter-patter.

Seeds scattered across the floor we were about to cross.

Crack!

The seeds germinated at a terrifying speed. Their forms were gradually changing into humanoid shapes. But they weren't human.

Gurgle, gurgle.

Monsters with mushroom cap-like heads blocked our path.

[— B-rank Monster: Garlic Fungus]

Just tough small fry. The problem is how quickly their numbers grow.

Shing.

Sonia and I simultaneously drew our calipers.

Whack!

I swung at the fungus horde. The monsters in front staggered and fell. The fungus group behind them collapsed like dominoes.

"Professor Rheinland!"

Soldiers caught up with us.

"We're breaking through!"

With the army's help, we reached the orbital ascender. I planned to take it to the Rheinland main ship.

But the situation wasn't favorable.

"Young master! Look up!"

Mold completely blocked the ascender platform. We'd be too late if we tried to clear it all.

"Let's go to Exit 3! We'll escape in a personal spacecraft!"

Exit 3 was a large dome-shaped structure. It had a separate military dock, so we could leave the planet after dealing with just a few monsters.

Ultimately, this too was a race against time.

As I charged toward the approaching monsters, I steeled myself for death.

***

Rheinland main ship.

Seti, locked in her room, kept sending messages to Eidel.

[I'll be there soon]

[Just hide for now]

'Brother is coming.'

That was somewhat reassuring.

Thump, thump.

The sounds of monsters rummaging through the house continued.

The Rheinland mansion was too vast to be called a house. This meant plenty of hiding places, but conversely, it also meant room for many monsters to enter.

At least a dozen or so.

Seti bit her fingertips and held her breath.

Ten minutes. Twenty minutes.

How much time had passed?

When she judged that it had been quite a while since she'd heard the last monster's footsteps, Seti carefully emerged from under the desk. She sat in front of the monitor, intending only to check the CCTV.

That's when it happened.

Knock, knock, knock.

She heard knocking from beyond her room.

"Seti, it's your brother. Open the door."

'Brother...?'

Seti rose from her seat. She slowly approached the locked door.

"Is it really you, brother?"

"Of course. Open the door."

Seti reflexively reached to press the door unlock button. But then her thoughts froze.

Seti dealt with large sums of money. She knew well that a moment's mistake could lead to catastrophic ruin. She was cautious enough to test even the safest-looking stepping stones multiple times before crossing.

"There should be a call button there, right? Press that first so I can see your face."

"Seti, this is an urgent situation. I need to save you and then help others. No time for games. Hurry."

Seti frowned.

"What about Sonia? Is Sonia there too?"

"Yes, young mistress. I'm here as well. Please don't worry and open the door."

Strange. No matter how she thought about it, something felt off. Couldn't they just press the call button once instead of this back-and-forth?

"..."

Seti made her decision.

She needed to escape.

She remembered something Rustila had told her before. Some monsters or incarnate bodies could mimic acquaintances. This was likely that type.

"Ah, you figured it out?"

Crunch!

The steel door crumpled. Seti startled and stepped backward. She covered her mouth with her palm to suppress a scream.

'Stay calm.'

Seti grabbed the plasma sword she kept for self-defense.

'I know how to use this.'

Keeeeng.

Aether escaped from Seti's body and charged the sword. Objectively, it wasn't a satisfactory amount. Her patron constellation Letty specialized only in wealth and business.

'Still.'

It would be enough to hold out until her brother arrived. Seti quickly checked the opposite door. There wasn't just one entrance to the room.

Click, clack.

Seti flung the door open. A monster with a flower-like head greeted her.

Slash!

Seti clumsily cut down the monster. It must have been a weak B-rank or so, as it perished after a few sword strikes.

Boom!

The opposite door burst open. Seti turned around. She was so shocked that she hiccupped instead of screaming.

"Wh-where are you."

"Going?"

It was a humanoid monster with two heads. Its neck stretched like a snake, and one head had unusually long hair, appearing female.

The male head mimicked Eidel's voice, while the long-haired female head imitated Sonia's.

"Seti, your brother is right here. Where are you going?"

"Young mistress, please come this way. That direction is dangerous."

Monster? Incarnate body?

She didn't know. This was her first encounter with such a creature.

["R-run...!"]

Her patron constellation Letty screamed in her mind. Seti sprinted at full speed, avoiding the two-headed snake ghost.

Bang! Bang! Boom, bang!

The snake monster followed at high speed. Seti ran, forgetting even to breathe.

'I can't win.'

They were in different weight classes. She instinctively knew this wasn't an opponent she could handle easily like the monster she'd just slain.

"Come heeere."

"Let's play togetherrr."

The voices of the two snake heads changed, becoming slurred.

Then the two heads touched each other and strangely adhered together. The merged head transformed into something thin and pointed like a knife. It looked like a blade attached to flesh.

Swoosh!

The blade flew toward her. Seti quickly turned a corner.

Crash!

The blade embedded in the wall. The spacecraft wall, made of material that wouldn't budge under ordinary impacts, was savagely torn apart.

"Hah, hah, haak!"

Seti ran. She ran and ran. Whenever monsters appeared before her, she had to expend significant stamina.

It was a pursuit with no end in sight.

She needed to either defeat them or escape. One or the other.

'The dock.'

There were multiple routes to the dock. And Seti knew the internal structure of the Rheinland main ship even better than her brother.

She mapped it in her head and plotted the optimal route. Having found hope, Seti put strength into her lungs without checking her surroundings.

That's why she didn't see what was at her feet.

Slash!

"Kyaak!"

Seti fell helplessly.

Spin.

The momentum of her fall sent her sword sliding far away.

Now she could see the thin, barely visible, sharp threads set up like traps.

"Ugh, it, it hurts."

She felt heat around her ankle.

A red line had formed where the thread had cut through. Blood began to seep from the straight wound.

A chill ran down her spine. Judging by the thread's strength, if she hadn't fallen, her leg would have been severed.

"Kukukuk."

"Ahahaha."

The two-headed snake monster approached, slowing its pace.

The monster opened its mouth wide. The upper and lower jaws formed an obtuse angle. It resembled a real snake about to swallow its prey.

'I'm going to be eaten.'

But that wasn't the only problem.

Creak, creak.

From the opposite direction appeared a spider-like monster with centipede-like legs. Despite being an arthropod, it was human-sized. The earlier threads were its doing.

The spider-like monster approached, clicking its teeth.

"Kikikik."

"Grrrk."

It was over. She was surrounded. Seti sensed death. She clutched her bleeding leg and cried pitifully.

"S-someone help me! Dad, Mom, Brother...!"

At that moment.

Tap-tap-tap!

Quick footsteps approached from behind the snake monster. The monster, about to devour Seti, turned around for a split second.

That was its fatal mistake.

Bang!

A sound like a gunshot erupted. A silver caliper drew a dark arc as it struck the monster's head.

The monster fell sideways, its eyes rolling back. Both heads foamed at the mouth as if hit by a proton bomb.

Tap.

A white coat fluttered like a veil. Then, black hair, yellow eyes.

"B-brother?"

"I told you to call me Professor when I'm working."

Hearing the response, Seti was dumbfounded.

The way he spoke, the skill with which he bashed the monster.

Undoubtedly her flesh and blood.

"What bastard made my little sister cry?"

The rogue Eidel had arrived.