itself.
It was before Lily returned to Chrono and embarked on a journey towards Karamala.
“—So, what do you think? Can Shangri-La fly?”
“Yep, it won’t be flying here even after a hundred years.”
Looking up at the ancient massive weapon, the Sky Battleship Shangri-La, which had crashed in Destiny Land, Lily was consulting Simon.
The content of their conversation was grand: whether they could make this flying battleship soar again.
“I see, so it’s really impossible here.”
“From what I can see, there aren’t any fatal damages, and there’s no degradation from the passage of over a thousand years. Maybe there’s not only a suitable preservation magic at work, but it might also have an automatic repair function for the damaged parts.”
Simon said, his eyes sparkling with romantic notions about the unimaginable techniques of ancient magic.
“Even if the hull is safe, the essential power source is empty.”
“I think at least 10% is necessary to make Shangri-La fly.”
The Sky Battleship Shangri-La operates on ether. It cannot be just any raw magical power; it requires either the black magic power that Chrono handles or the white magic power emitted by the apostles.
Lily quickly realized the need for ether once she acquired Shangri-La, but she had no means to supply it satisfactorily.
Although Destiny Land is part of a living ancient ruin, it is certainly not a military facility. There probably aren’t any supply facilities for a massive battleship.
Even so, they gathered and restored whatever ether supply systems were possible and connected them to Shangri-La for resupply. The result was a slight restoration of the internal functions and the revival of a secondary cannon that was magnificently fired at Fiona and others.
At that time, the operating rate of the engine department due to the ether supply was 0.2%.
They continued resupplying since then, but the operating rate barely exceeded 0.3%. Recently, the rate of increase in the numbers had started to slow down. It was agreed between Lily and Simon that a larger and quicker ether supply was essential to raise the operational rate.
“Is there any good method out there?”
“The most realistic possibility is… completely conquering the God-Destruction Domain Avalon.”
“Conquering an actual Demon King’s Castle, huh. Even I find that quite a task.”
“But the Demon King’s Castle, built directly above the Giant Dragon’s Hole, should have enough resources to ensure a significant ether supply for Shangri-La.”
The Rank 5 Dungeon, known as the most challenging Pandora, the God-Destruction Domain Avalon, had not only yet to have a single conqueror but had seen no one even step into the towering black imperial castle at its center.
However, this is where the legendary Demon King Mia once ruled in the imperial city of Avalon. Its location is undoubtedly the convergence point of the earth veins, directly above the Giant Dragon’s Hole. The massive flow of magical power coursing through the ground can still be observed in modern times.
And during the age when a tremendous magical civilization was established, they used the magical power of this earth vein to gain abundant energy sources. All ancient ruins utilized even today, such as Spada’s Battle Tower Pharos, are built atop the dragon holes, allowing them to function.
“Yeah, if it’s a Demon King’s Castle, it will certainly have the corresponding facilities, and the functions will definitely be operational. It might be possible to draw ether well from this location that is slightly distant.”
However, for that to happen, conquering the never-before-traveled God-Destruction Domain is a necessity.
It’s something she would rather avoid immediately.
“Nonetheless, we can still make homunculi, and it seems we may be able to use our weapon production facilities, so there’s plenty we can do.”
“Yes, for now, it’s fine just to do what we can. Regarding the ether supply, we may have to put it on hold until we find a good lead somewhere.”
Thus, Lily postponed the complete restoration of the Sky Battleship Shangri-La.
However, she would soon face a situation that would not allow such delays, at the end of her long journey.
“The aerial fortress ‘Peaceful Heart.’ More precisely, it is a large flying weapon in the form of a ‘Sky Mother Ship.'”
Indeed, Sariel pointed to the flying castle ridden by the Eleventh Apostle Misa and said that.
At that time, they were overwhelmed managing the suddenly arrived apostles, and to make matters worse, Chrono had gone missing… After calming down a bit, Lily contemplated.
She never expected that there would be someone capable of flying an ancient flying weapon before her. Moreover, she was one of the apostles.
To counter it, they also needed the same.
Lily panicked—however, everything was resolved when she obtained the original monolith of Karamala.
“—So, how is Shangri-La doing?”
“The engine department is stable at an operating rate of 12%.”
“We are currently maintaining an altitude of 9000 meters and a speed of 500.”
“All departments are functioning normally.”
“Yeah, it’s a comfortable sky journey.”
With a blossom-like delicate smile, Lily was now soaring 9,000 meters up in the sky.
Who knows how much time passed? The Sky Battleship Shangri-La flew through the sky once again.
Lily, in the form of a young girl, sat in the captain’s seat, calmly carrying out her duties without fear in the distant high sky as she watched the artificial crew.
“Um, Lily-san… is it really okay? We won’t fall or anything?”
“How many times have I answered that question? It’s fine; we’re flying steadily.”
“But… flying such a big ship through the sky is just not something you can consider normal, right… Hah, could it be that I am already under Lily-san’s illusion…”
“Even a huge dragon can fly through the sky. So can a ship.”
Still trembling with tears in his eyes, Joseph peeked at the scenery outside reflecting the clear blue sky over the white clouds.
Joseph didn’t know. Not that flying ships existed. But that he was being taken on such a flying ship.
With the neighboring countries around the Atlas Desert forming alliances to attack, he would respond accordingly.
Before Queen Lily, who declared this, he now had to fulfill his duty as Duke of Karamala to protect his territory, and thus he arrived completely armed.
Then, he thought he was teleported with Lily to the Fifth Layer, only to be placed on an ancient battleship far larger than a large cargo ship… and thus his forced journey into the skies began.
He hadn’t been informed. Joseph hadn’t heard a thing.
“Wh-why did it come to this…”
“Ah, have you finally calmed down enough to ask for an explanation?”
He had offered prayers to the Demon God for forgiveness for the wrongs to his grandmother every time the ship slightly rocked, thinking it was the beginning of a crash, but after some time, he seemed to settle down. Not that he got used to it. He was just tired from being frightened.
“…Is it okay if I ask?”
“Of course, I’ll tell you. It’s something crucial related to the defense of Pandemonium.”
Even after hearing that they were facing the largest fleet in history, Lily’s confidence remained completely unshaken. In the context of this vast desert, regardless of how large the army came, there was an absolute defense force in Pandemonium that wouldn’t be a problem.
“This Sky Battleship Shangri-La, by chance, is something I found when I ran away from home long ago.”
“Running away from home and discovering an ancient weapon…?”
The first words made little sense, but it wasn’t surprising for Lily to stumble across an ancient weapon while running away. Joseph decided to accept that for now.
“As you can see, the ship has been well-preserved, but the critical element for making it fly is missing. So, until now, it only served the role of creating these children—”
This was the first time he had heard about the homunculi being produced on this ship. However, that was not the main point, so he refrained from digging deeper.
“There was a very large hangar in the Fifth Layer. Without a doubt, it was spacious enough to operate the Sky Battleship. The facilities necessary for moving the ancient weapon were also present there.”
Not one large ancient weapon, such as a Sky Battleship or a War Robot, remained in the expansive hangar found in the Fifth Layer. However, there was no doubt that they had those weapons back then.
Even if it was empty, the mere presence of a hangar here was enough for Lily.
“And most importantly, there’s a huge amount of ether that can be obtained from the Giant Dragon’s Hole.”
The locations of the original monoliths lie directly above the Giant Dragon’s Holes, and specifically, Karamala is on a larger scale.
In other words, the ether supply that could not be obtained in Destiny Land finally became possible in this location.
“Until now, the majority of ether had been used to open a dimension for the Karamala god’s manifestation… but that evil god is no longer here.”
When Lily first arrived in Karamala, she immediately headed to secure the Temen Nigru monolith. There, the original was buried deep, and she sensed that a vast amount of ether was being utilized for something.
That something was the Karamala god, and since it was permanently banished by the Demon King Mia, all the ether drawn from the dragon holes began to circulate towards the Great Maze.
Using the infinite magical power of this star that continues to spring forth without running dry, the original monolith transforms it into ether, which is then supplied to Shangri-La through the facilities in the hangar.
“The first thing I did after obtaining the original monolith was restore the teleportation function. Fortunately, it went surprisingly smoothly, perhaps thanks to the absence of the Karamala god. But my biggest stroke of luck was managing to ‘summon’ Shangri-La here from Destiny Land.”
To transport a giant ship that had lost its navigational capabilities to the far end of the continent, using teleportation was the only way. Lily did not think she could perform such a convenient task as transferring Shangri-La itself to Karamala’s hangar via teleportation.
However, “convenient” also implies “human desires.”
Could the ancient civilization, which had reached the peak of magical technology, not have considered the functions to summon their important giant weapon back to the base in case of emergency? They indeed possessed teleportation magic. Surely they would want to move any colossal object at will.
Thus, the Sky Battleship Shangri-La possessed the function known as ‘Emergency Teleport Return.’
The discovery of this function and the steps to activate it. Emitting a distress beacon from Shangri-La, detecting it in the Great Maze, and setting it as a return point. Linking the ship and the base through the earth veins to activate it—this feat was a miraculous blend of numerous strokes of luck.
Having inherited the legacy of Xanadu, if she had not heard from Chrono about the existence of SOS signals within the week until her return to the surface, Lily would not have come up with such a notion.
Even for a fairy, who possesses extraordinary telepathic communication abilities, understanding what a highly developed information and communication society entails might be beyond comprehension.
I cannot imagine what it would be like to become that. In this Another World, there isn’t even a radio for a ship in distress to send a simple SOS.
“I struggled a lot, but my efforts have been rewarded like this. Shangri-La is flying in the sky once again.”
“The wisdom of Your Majesty the Queen, who has revived such a gigantic Ancient Weapon, is unmatched even by ancient magicians.”
Listening seriously to the explanation, Joseph reverently praises that achievement. In fact, there is no one other than Lily who has so visibly revived and wielded the powers of the ancients.
“Not really. That’s why I’m struggling so much.”
“However, the Jin Atlas Union, which is only a fleet of regular desert ships, may find Shangri-La alone to be excessive defense power.”
“No, the main force to defend Pandemonium is not Shangri-La.”
“There’s more…?”
Joseph couldn’t help but feel scared to hear any more.
“The flowing sands surrounding the Great Desert are thanks to Goddess Atlas, right?”
If we consider the workings of the great nature to be the deeds of a god, then the flowing sands caused by the earth veins flowing through the Great Desert can be said to be exactly that.
“The Blessing of ‘Heavenly Priestess Atlas’ brings rich fruits and the blessing of water even in this dry desert. Although I have not been granted the ability to manipulate the flowing sands, it is still believed that all phenomena occurring in the desert are due to Goddess Atlas.”
“Yes, I think it’s a very wonderful belief. But unfortunately, there’s no dream or romance in it; it is possible for humans to manipulate flowing sands. The ancients made that possible.”
“…Haha, you must be joking.”
The Sky Battleship is fine. Such a huge iron ship can boast any wonderful performance as an Ancient Weapon and be convincing.
However, when it is boasted that one can manipulate natural phenomena like flowing sands, it is hard to accept. If a person living in a port town heard someone claiming they had the ability to part the sea, they would only look at them with disdain.
Joseph was born and raised in Karamala. He naturally believed that the flow of the Great Desert was at the discretion of Goddess Atlas.
“The Union Fleet was planning to split into three, so I gathered them into one because it was a hassle. I can also fly Shangri-La, and since I want to resolve this quickly, I’m increasing the width and speed of the flowing sand to bring it straight this way.”
“Could it be… that this oddly unnatural flowing sand is being manipulated by Lily?”
“The Original Monolith is a control device to interfere with the dragon veins. Teleportation is activated by interfering with the earth veins, and a little manipulation is easy.”
In the first place, someone should have questioned this. The conveniently formed trade routes through flowing sand that connect the middle of the desert to various locations.
Centuries ago, believing in legends, they crossed the Great Desert and discovered the Great Maze. It was a historically significant adventurous achievement.
However, was their arrival at the Great Maze merely a coincidence? Had the Blessing of Goddess Atlas been present?
Lily, or rather, Xanadu must have noticed as well.
The golden demon god Karamala, who craves human desire, utilized the functions of the Original Monolith to draw people from a new era who had forgotten the ancients to their own domain.
The immense wealth produced from the Great Maze and the vast trading routes selling it outside. It was all merely a stage set by the god Karamala to accelerate desire.
However, Joseph, a pure Karamalan who believes it to be a Blessing from Atlas, had not been taught otherwise.
“If you can manipulate flowing sands, then no fleet matters. Because if we stop right in the middle of the Great Desert, they will naturally dry up, right?”
“So this war… does it not even qualify as a war?”
“Yes, that’s correct. This is no longer a war — just a drill.”
Only Lily had no intention of fighting from the start.
Flying Shangri-La. Manipulating the flowing sands.
It was merely a practice to confirm that.
“Lower altitude. I want this Shangri-La to be well visible to the union fleet crawling on the ground.”
“Yes, my princess.”
It seemed they had already arrived at the location of the union fleet.
Shangri-La slowly lowered its altitude, passed through white clouds, and again looked upon the sand-colored land.
In that desolate land, it began to look like poor ships simply carried away, like a swarm of insects crawling over the ground.
And so, Lily smiled brightly as she gave orders to her loyal subordinate.
“Main cannon, prepare to fire—”
A flash of light and a roaring sound.
It was an explosion of such massive proportions that no one had ever seen or heard before.
A blinding brightness and a shockwave that even shook the sturdy ship piercing through the desert. Unable to endure the large tremor, Grand Admiral Shargile also knelt at that spot.
After a few seconds passed, when the effects of the explosion finally subsided, he stood up.
“…What happened…?”
He asked no one in particular; it was merely a self-question.
However, the answer automatically entered his field of vision.
In the back of the ship, a few kilometers away, a huge plume of smoke was rising. Undoubtedly, it was the epicenter of the previous massive explosion — the result of the attack launched from that flying battleship.
“Good day to you, members of the union fleet. I am Lily, the queen of Pandemonium.”
The voice of the girl echoed as if descending from the heavens.
Shargile knew the name Lily and the new country name Pandemonium. However, he never believed she had truly ascended as the queen ruling over Karamala.
An adventurer inheriting the legacy of Xanadu. Merely someone who had ingratiated herself with the Xanadu conglomerate and various politicians by suggesting the distribution of that legacy… Such was the recognition, and all the nations that heard about it analyzed in the same way.
However, Shargile had no choice but to understand. The beautiful fairy girl who called herself Lily truly rules the farthest city of desire.
The new queen was thus demonstrating overwhelming martial power to the invaders.
“I’m sorry for surprising you. This is an Ancient Weapon, a Sky Battleship. As you can see, it can fly and is equipped with very powerful cannons. That was a warning. Next, I can shoot right into the middle of your fleet.”
“Impossible… impossible! If there was a flying battleship, there wouldn’t even be a fight…”
Realizing that what he had believed to be overwhelming superiority was actually a desperate disparity in power.
That was neither an illusion nor a façade. The unknown ancient super weapon was truly revived.
They couldn’t win. They couldn’t possibly win. His fleet was equipped only to face other desert ships and had no preparation or readiness to fight against a flying giant ship.
“Will you surrender?”
It was pressure that allowed for no rebuttal.
However, Shargile hesitated, holding a pride in the responsibility of overseeing the great fleet, wondering if it was right to surrender without doing anything.
Certainly, they would likely not win against the Ancient Weapon known as the Sky Battleship. However, he felt he could not leave without at least challenging them to battle once.
At the very least, if they could strike the regular fleet led by Zenongart, even if they lost, there would be room for later concessions.
“Shargile, you can’t be thinking of challenging that, can you?”
Belany, appearing in the communication crystal, seemed to sense Shargile’s determined expression.
Even the heroic woman turned pale in front of the majesty of the Sky Battleship. She did not seem to have the spirit to challenge it.
“Belany, from what I can see, the power of that Sky Battleship’s cannon is astounding, but it cannot fire repeatedly. More than anything, because the power is so great, if it turns into a melee, they might not be able to shoot it.”
“To analyze it like that after seeing such a massive shot is impressive. However, even if we charge in with all our might, if we take even one hit from that, half the fleet will be blown away.”
“I don’t care. Even if we lose half, we will be on equal footing with their fleet. Once we get close, we have a chance to win.”
They could not bring down Lily’s Sky Battleship. However, they would show they could annihilate at least the ground fleet. Even if his life scatter on the sand, if they could achieve that level of military merit, the bravery of the Jin Atlas Kingdom would be preserved. What would happen after that could simply be left to the King’s judgment.
“—Oh, have you perhaps forgotten that your own feet are now stopped?”
Just then, one of the communication crystals distorted with noise, and right after that, the figure of a fairy girl with two pairs of wings appeared.
“Y-Yo, you’re Lily… I see, you’ve interrupted our ship’s communication with your fairy telepathy!”
“Quite a good telepathic communication facility you have. But when it comes to fairies, your secrets are wide open. Be sure to take proper precautions.”
As Lily giggled cutely, Shargile, who was almost resolved, felt a chill run down his spine.
This girl was smiling lightly, fully anticipating even their desperate charge.
“I was the one who led you here, and I was the one who stopped you. Although I haven’t received the Blessing of Goddess Atlas, I can also manipulate the flowing sands — like this.”
With a rumbling thunderous sound, the ship shook violently again.
Unable to help it, Shargile fell to his knees, no, he collapsed as if crawling on the floor. They were all humbled before Your Majesty the Queen.
“Ughhhhh! Wh-what is happening!?”
“I’m spinning you around.”
The inside of the ship, shaking violently as if they had crashed into a gigantic sandstorm, took on the appearance of chaos and despair. Amidst that, Lily’s cool voice spoke to them.
Right now, the union fleet was being swallowed by a massive whirlpool of flowing sand.
“Depending on my mood, I could sink you directly into this whirlpool of sand or keep you spinning there forever. As long as you’re on the ship, you won’t be able to fight against me, who controls this Great Desert — do you understand? If so, will you quickly surrender?”
“Y-You… Something like this can’t be happening… Manipulating flowing sands is only permitted to Goddess Atlas—”
“Shargile! Get a grip! This fleet is effectively a mud ship! This isn’t even a question of winning; if you go against that fairy girl now, everything is over!!”
“Belany, you…”
“We’ve already lost from the start! Accept it, and decide, that’s the Grand Admiral’s job!”
The scolding voice was close to a shout. However, because of that, Shargile regained his composure and mood.
Yes, I am the Grand Admiral leading the most powerful Jin Atlas Union fleet. The fate of this fleet would be determined by my judgment.
Therefore, the Grand Admiral made a decision.
“I address Her Majesty Queen Lily of Pandemonium. We surrender. Please spare the lives of my men—”
“What a wise decision, Grand Admiral Shargile. Rest assured, I swear I will not treat you poorly. Hehe, I welcome you, welcome to Pandemonium.”