The Foreigner on the Periphery

Just as Asiph-1 had seen, the tentacles' dwelling took the form of interconnected spheres hanging from the sky in clusters.

The Endelions called the entire grape-like cluster a "colony." Complexes segmented by purpose served as their cities.

The inside of each sphere was tailored to the lifestyle of its levitating residents. Unbound by vertical or horizontal orientation, the Endelions utilized every degree of space.

This laboratory was no different.

"Let's take a quick break. Phew, my tentacles are numb."

With the war looming, the researchers were up to their necks in work.

They had always been the ones to create the Committee's new weapons. Their development method differed slightly from that of other races. In truth, their role was closer to deciphering encrypted answers than proposing innovative ideas.

In the past, the lines of text the primordial race had jotted down for the Kavites, or the samples provided for them to imitate, reached a realm those worms could not possibly touch on their own. Therefore, the Kavites, who had tried to monopolize "it" among themselves, eventually had to bring in the Endelions.

From that point on, the Endelions had advanced their civilization by interpreting his legacy, a practice they continued to this day.

No matter how tight the schedule, short breaks were necessary.

They tacitly agreed. They would kill time with idle chatter until the impending shift change.

"About what?"

The researchers were completely unaware of the incident caused by the space slimes. Even though their planet had suddenly begun moving, they brushed it off, assuming it was part of a plan. The royal family had concealed the truth from the vast majority of the public, fearing the race's characteristic sensitivity and fussiness regarding safety would lead to a planet-wide paralysis of work.

Thus, the researchers could peacefully exchange gossip.

"You haven't heard? The story about the princess."

Someone chimed in.

"Is that real? I found it hard to believe."

The open secret was being discussed even here.

The royal family's control of information had its limits.

"Actually, I heard something from the financial sector recently."

One tentacle lowered his voice.

"Members of the royal family are inherently the wealthiest on this planet, aren't they? Their wealth grows even if they do absolutely nothing."

"Why state the obvious?"

In response to the scolding, he immediately offered a story that was not obvious at all.

"What would be the reason if such an heir to the royal family was actually broke?"

"...What?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. If you look at the account history of that captured princess, there's practically nothing left. It's been that way since long before she was dispatched to Earth. Basically no different from a commoner, they say."

"Where did she spend all that money?"

"That's the interesting part. It seems the royal family looked into it..."

The listening coworker twitched his tentacles in a bizarre manner.

Unimaginable materials were being listed off.

Orichalcum, adamantium, palladilium, mithril, sirmit, bloodstone, and even cellatenium.

"Wait, why would the princess buy up those materials?"

A few minor organic materials were mentioned as well, but her primary purchases were types of Magic Metal.

Her bizarre behavior supposedly started right after her release. She had emptied her private fortune to buy up expensive raw materials that would only be needed in national defense research facilities like this one.

"They said she didn't even hesitate to smuggle them in to avoid drawing attention."

The transaction records and scale were highly unusual. The amounts were far too excessive for a single person to collect for a hobby or entertainment.

Just adding up the things mentioned in the rumors...

"What, was the princess secretly trying to build her own Space Mothership or something?"

"It's hard to grasp. What could she have been trying to do with all that secretly acquired material? The rumor going around after all the speculation is..."

The coworker was startled.

"You mean all those materials became military supplies for Asif-666? And she prepared them for that very purpose from the start?"

It was a conspiracy theory that the princess hadn't actually been kidnapped, but had voluntarily defected to the enemy early on, bearing strategic supplies.

"But why would the princess help a prisoner? He was captured long before she was even born... Ah!"

The speaking tentacle stiffened as an entire story pieced itself together in his head.

What was their only point of contact?

What did the convict and the princess have in common?

"Did you realize it? The princess also served a penal labor sentence once. She lived as a prisoner for nearly a hundred years, right?"

Information regarding a prisoner's time in captivity was the highest of top secrets.

Only a tiny fraction within the royal family knew what dimension the princess had been assigned to or what mission she had carried out after being sentenced to penal labor.

"Don't tell me, the two of them back then...?"

Because there was absolutely no known information, they could let their imaginations run wild even more freely.

"No, could that really be it? How? Why?"

"How could a normal person ever imagine what goes on in the head of a lunatic?"

Ever since the attack on the body renewal factory, rumors that the princess had gone mad had circulated openly.

An Endelion who lacked the will to value herself.

"How was such a seed born into the royal family? All the inferior genes were weeded out ages ago."

"Who knows. Anyway, if the rumor that she died is true, it might actually be for the best."

"True. Caring for someone who isn't right in the head as a member of the royal family—how much of a social cost would that be? A pointless waste of money. It would've been better if she had died earlier, before squandering her fortune."

The Endelions considered themselves the most precious beings in the universe.

Paradoxically, for that very reason, they maintained extremely strict standards.

Standards for accepting someone as a member of society.

"So, is this the conclusion? That crazy princess and a human-looking prisoner..."

"Bleegh! Disgusting."

Just as a provocative piece of fiction was about to be completed in the minds of the tentacled researchers...

Zap!

Sparks flared in a corner of the laboratory, and a few new researchers teleported in.

"Ah, great work. Let's swap shifts now."

The researchers ended their gossip and prepared to hand over the baton.

However, something bizarre caught the eye of the tentacle who had first brought up the rumor.

Something strange was attached to the body of one of the newly arrived shift workers. It was in a blind spot out of the worker's own line of sight. Right on the mucous membrane in that area...

"What is that?"

It was so small that he had barely spotted it. Proportionally speaking, it was smaller than a speck of dust stuck to a human body. At his words, the gazes of the other researchers also converged on the spot.

They could only get a good look at it after someone pulled out a microscope. Its appearance was more intricate than expected. It had a round, red body with eight thin legs attached around it.

"What is it, a bug? No way."

Insect species on this planet had gone extinct a long time ago. Though they had looked adorable, they were far too small to have any value as pets.

"It looks a bit like an arthropod, like a spider."

But as they observed it further...

"Ah, it's not a living thing."

It was a machine that resembled a spider.

The thin legs were closer to metal levers. What looked like hairs on the legs turned out, upon closer inspection, to resemble the jagged cut of a Key. It seemed intended to lock onto and connect with similar machines.

"Looks like someone made it as a prank."

"It is cute, though. The kids would love it if we gave it to them. Though we'd have to hand over a microscope with it."

"A master craftsman? If it was tentacle-made, it's impressive. How could anyone make something this small with bare tentacles?"

Right when everyone was marveling at it.

"Uh, huh?!"

One of them noticed something strange. The spider-like shape wasn't the issue.

It was that red crystal attached to its body.

Realizing what it was, the Endelion felt her bodily fluids run cold. Her intrigued expression washed over with terror.

"Th-th-that!"

Just as she desperately tried to finish her sentence...

The bug-body-like crystal flashed with light.

Click!

A tiny sound. The man who had brought the mechanical spider in on his body looked puzzled. As the others also stared at her in confusion, the researcher screamed. She urgently tried to say something.

"...Dra—!"

But the rest of them would never learn what it was.

KABOOM!

The laboratory exploded with a tremendous roar.

Mountainous flames surged, swallowing everything. The researchers were blasted into the air, their entire bodies engulfed in fire. Torn fragments of tentacles rained down everywhere like volcanic bombs.

The space, which had been economically warped and compressed, rapidly expanded once more, blowing everything inside the laboratory to pieces. A cascade of dust, sparks, smoke, and scorching wind swept through in its wake.

The shockwave carried a truly staggering amount of noise. The people in adjacent buildings felt as if the outer layers of their auditory organs had been ripped off.

"Urgh!"

"Wh-what?!"

"What just happened?!"

Their pain did not last long.

Before they even had time to grasp the situation...

KABOOM!

...their adjacent laboratories exploded too.

Like a cluster of grapes bursting one by one, the spheres were swept up in flashes of light and flames, one after another.

Asiph-1 stood at the very top of the colony, observing the beautiful sight. He watched the surreal, gigantic crimson flower buds burst one by one in the distance.

"Aaaargh!"

Faced with an event they had never experienced in their lives, the Endelions' reason was paralyzed. Screaming, they fled using Teleport. Even though it was Magic they usually cast as naturally as breathing, their shaken minds caused errors in the spell. People sequentially materialized stuck inside the walls of the spheres, their tentacles severed in half. The terror, which felt like it was hammering their very souls, made them forget even the pain. Unaware of their bodily fluids pouring out, they desperately scrambled to run as far away as possible.

Ear-piercing screams rang out.

"Run! Aaaargh!"

"Save me! Save me! What is this?! Noooo!"

"M-my tentacles! Mine! Somebody reattach this for me!"

After simultaneously detonating the bombs he had attached to the tentacles' outer layers, Asiph-1 repeatedly carried out his next task with sprightly movements.

First, he touched a bomb stuck to his body like a piece of armor. The connection point interlocking with another bomb—the spider-leg-like metal—moved and detached from his body. Breaking the link and separating it, Asiph-1 hurled it with all his might.

After the initial explosion, the barrier and outer walls had collapsed, leaving holes all over the colony. His targets were those exact areas.

The moment the bomb entered the interior of the colony, Asiph-1 snapped his fingers.

BOOM!

KABOOM!

A continuous chain of explosions followed. The wind rose, carrying blistering heat. Asiph-1's face was bathed in reddish-orange light, and his long hair whipped and fluttered in the air. His two eyes shone with vitality.

BOOM!

RUMBLE! BOOM! BANG!

Following his hand gestures, the spheres shattered one by one.

Vwoom!

A counterattack in accordance with their protocols ensued. The space around Asiph-1 warped. Tearing through the cracks, mechanical dolls mimicking the physical forms of Endelions swarmed in.

'Golems!'

The tentacled golems scattered detection Magic in all directions. Ultimately, the bomber's figure was revealed, and the feed was transmitted to the royal family in real-time.

*

"No way?!"

The moment they zoomed in on that tiny, speck-like smudge atop the colony in the footage...

The Endelions could only stare in utter horror.

"That man!"

In the battle where 168 warships were seized, the AI had reported the status of the war right until its power cut out.

Thanks to that, the Ancient Race had captured and recorded the face of the man standing on top of the building called the Cathedral of Resurrection. It had clearly caught the scene of the body renewal materials being controlled like puppets at the wave of the man's hand.

The king could never forget that face.

She shouted in a seething voice.

"Asiph-1!"

How did he get here?!

The shock that struck them was indescribable. Throughout the tentacles' long history, their homeland had never once been attacked.

'Our' home was always supposed to be safe. It was meant to be a place of unconditional security, where, as long as one didn't leave it, they could at least avoid threats to their lives.

Into that very sanctuary, the worst terrorist of all had trespassed!

"Your Majesty! The things strapped to that man's body are...!"

The AI brought up another screen.

"Ah!"

The king stiffened her tentacles.

"Dragon Hearts?!"

And they weren't even the ordinary kind.

"Observation results show they've been modified to maximize heat and shock reactions. They are literal bombs."

Even during the report, the terrorism did not cease. It was followed by a scene of Asiph-1 effortlessly dismantling the swarming golems. He moved as if he perfectly understood their performance and weaknesses.

In the end, after completely annihilating one colony, he activated Teleport and moved on to the next. There was no hesitation in his long-distance jumps. It was impossible unless he had the exact coordinates locked in his mind.

Rather than resent her dead daughter, the king pondered how to resolve the crisis.

"The golems are completely helpless. The moment they get close, they're blown to pieces."

"Asiph-1's attack and defense capabilities are incomprehensible. He can't even be compared to when we successfully arrested him in the past!"

If the Endelions had fought back themselves, things might have been different. Most of those working in strategic facilities were prepared against brainwashing.

However, despite possessing power on par with Ancient Dragons, running away was the best they could do instead of fighting back.

Risking their lives to fight was not something they did. To begin with, their panic-induced terror prevented any such attempt.

"If that's the case."

The king sought to authorize the use of a far more effective weapon. Something vastly more powerful than golems.

The Space Mothership they had handed over to the Kavites and Todd had been built on the premise that someone would pilot it. But Endelions couldn't fight like that. Instead, the tentacles had prepared defense measures suited to their own habits.

A Magic Tool suspended outside the atmosphere, requiring no one to board it, capable of recognizing and striking enemies faster than any other weapon system.

Since the entire planet was within its firing range, it could respond instantly whenever they decided to use it.

The king demanded answers.

"What is the evacuation status of that colony?"

The answer returned. As expected, it was excruciatingly slow. Their weak mentality had led to mass panic.

They could not drag this out any longer. If they missed their timing, that terrorist would completely destroy the colony and move on to the next.

'We have to finish this before then!'

The king issued a command, and its contents left the ministers bewildered.

"Y-Your Majesty! But Asiph-1 is currently covered in Dragon Hearts...!"

That man was quite literally a walking powder keg.

They pointed this out amid fear and concern.

Glare!

Receiving that sharp gaze, the minister ultimately drooped his tentacles and accepted the order.

The king gave consecutive orders.

"Have the other nearby colonies scatter far away from that location!"

The AI had already finished its calculations.

Moreover, the king was well aware that their mother planet was far sturdier than some mining asteroid they had blown up a while ago.

*

"Wh-what! Are they crazy?!"

Back at the Outer Space Surveillance Unit.

The gunner couldn't believe the command that had just come down from the royal family. But the military dispatch explicitly stated "Top Priority Emergency."

There could be no delay. He threw his hesitation and doubts to the back of his mind.

However, his assistant seemed to need a bit more time.

"Wait, sir! Are we really doing this?"

"Gods! Why are you asking?! Hurry up and turn it around!"

"Oh... God!"

Feeling a dizzying spell of vertigo, the two tentacles nonetheless reacted exactly as trained. The moment they manipulated the control panels and issued the command to the AI...

Changes occurred outside the atmosphere.

The mother planet had just narrowly escaped the slime swarm's path. At this rate, their paths wouldn't cross. As if completely disinterested in the massive but undeniably unappetizing planet, the swarm of slimes diligently went on its way without looking back.

There wasn't a shred of lingering attachment in their momentum. According to rumors, a grand feast lay just a little further ahead; there was no way a planet that "felt like absolutely nothing" would satisfy them.

Nevertheless, the satellites—a weapon system that boasted superior performance to a Space Mothership for defensive purposes—had remained aimed at the slime swarm.

Until just a moment ago, that is.

—!

One of the satellites made a sudden movement. The muzzle that had been firing Photon Cannons at the slime swarm just a moment earlier whirled around, shifting its aim. Toward a place it had never once targeted before.

This time, the target was their own mother planet.

"Aiming complete!"

Simultaneously, the barrier surrounding the planet weakened. It was a deliberate maneuver. Because the turbulence caused by moving the planet hadn't completely settled yet, the barrier degraded incredibly fast.

The report that preparations were complete reached the royal family.

"Your Majesty!"

The king commanded.

"Fire."

*

Standing atop the colony, Asiph-1 looked up, as if he suddenly had a premonition.

"Of course."

The moment he smiled...

A flash flared high up in the distant sky, as if a new star had just been born.

A heaven-splitting roar and a shockwave slammed into him.

—!

Following that, a heat hot enough to incinerate heat itself tore everything apart.

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