[Clear the way.]

At Kalstein's command, a sense of urgency spread through the ship as countless crew members scrambled into action.

“Move quickly!”
“No mistakes allowed!”
“Stay sharp! This is the Emperor’s command!”
“How’s the backup engine?”
“No issues.”
“Report on the ships that are ready!”

The crew moved frantically. Who dares defy the Emperor’s command?

They had essentially joined the fight for this one moment.

The 186th regiment of the Imperial Guard.
A unit formed solely to clear the Emperor’s path.
A fleet specialized in pouring everything into a single strike.

The ether began charging in the numerous silos of the 88 ships.

Whoooom—

[“All silos at 100% charge.”]
[“Power units functioning normally.”]
[“Backup engines in standby.”]
[“Shield damage at 7.8%, all clear.”]
[“Main cannon output at 120%.”]
[“Missiles are ready for launch.”]
[“Raise the bow to an angle!”]

The fleet prepared to clear everything in the Emperor’s path with an output near overdrive.

[“Ether wave generator at 42.5% power.”]
[“U-77 gravity field activated.”]
[“Astral wave beacon deployed.”]
[“Silver Road activated.”]
[“Ether frictionless coolant applied.”]

Everything was ready to clear his path.

Boom—Flash—

The fleet opened fire in unison.

Crackle—Pop—

Every monster in the main cannon's path was burned away, driven back, and a path was cleared. An invisible barrier pushed back everything, regardless of their size or rank.

Grin—

“Good.”

As Kalstein stepped into the shimmering, invisible pathway, a spear shot forward in an instant, heading straight for Prohydan.

Forum Comments:

• “The Emperor’s using teleportation!”
• “Woooah!”
• “I’m dizzy!!”
• “He’s wasting such expensive stuff like it's nothing?”
• “Ah, of course, the Galactic Emperor wouldn’t be short on money!”
• “I’m coming to meet him now.”

Community users watched, some of them forced to watch at 1/10th speed instead of live footage.
Still, they could clearly feel it—the insane speed of Kalstein, nearly as fast as the speed of light.

Swoosh—

Even in the middle of space, they could feel the immense resistance.

• “If he was in his human form, his skin would’ve been torn off by now, right?”
• “Skin? Nah, it would’ve just burned away, haha!”
• “If he did a body slam like that, it’d be like a meteor crashing!”

Kalstein, taking the lead in the monstrous battle, demonstrated one of the core traits of a tank:
An incredibly sturdy body that could withstand explosive speed.

Soon, Kalstein had caught up to Prohydan’s rear.
His spear gleamed, targeting Prohydan like a ray of light.

Hiss—

A red crescent of light shot toward Prohydan.

Boom—

Kalstein’s spear was deflected by Prohydan’s starry aura.
But Kalstein wasn’t distracted.
With another powerful strike, he pressed the attack, and now Prohydan was forced to respond.

The battle continued, a clash of purple and golden auras.

Boom—Crash—

Ether waves exploded, causing a deafening roar.

Boom—

Prohydan, towering at 15 meters, charged toward Kalstein.
But Kalstein wasn’t about to be pushed back.

They both began to unleash powerful strikes at each other.

Bang—Boom—

Forum Comments:

• “This... this is slowed down?”
• “Yeah…”
• “I still can’t comprehend it.”
• “Hmm! I need to enhance my perception with internal energy.”
• “Even when I see it, my brain can’t keep up.”

The massive monsters fought furiously in a brutal melee.
Was this really a human?

Forum Comments:

• “I’m sure even the monster doesn’t think Kalstein is human.”
• “This is a huge monster battle.”
• “Just a regular monster fight.”
• “I’m on the winning side!”
• “A truly efficient and direct strategy, combining power and speed... the perfect technique.”
• “Whoa! It’s not some random, reckless attack! He’s flawlessly dodging every blow...”
• “Stop explaining, please!”
• “Look at the shrimp caught between the whales fighting.”

They battled across the cosmos, ether waves flashing in all directions.

The shockwaves from their fight tore apart anything in their path.
Even nearby asteroids were destroyed in their wake.

The monsters didn’t escape unscathed either. The ones nearby were caught in the ferocity of their battle, turned to ash before they even had a chance to react.

Boom—Boom—

Prohydan attempted to widen the distance, but Kalstein was right behind, closing in with an immense spear.

The two continued their relentless chase, fighting tooth and nail.

Forum Comments:

• “Ah...”
• “How strong is this guy? This feels unreal.”

The fleet, including the monsters, kept their distance, knowing the aftermath of this battle might catch them in the crossfire. The human fleet had switched to defensive mode, focusing on recharging their main cannons and protecting themselves.

They couldn’t do anything against a named monster like Prohydan.
They could only pray for Kalstein’s victory.

The outcome of this battle rested entirely on their shoulders.

Forum Comments:

• “Is this a live-action Dragon Ball?”
• “How is this SF?”
• “This feels like mythology.”
• “Did you see the massive monster explode earlier?”
• “Mystery death!”
• “It just gets crushed like a cake...”

A massive fist from Prohydan collided with Kalstein’s head.

Boom—

Kalstein whipped his head back and immediately thrust his spear into Prohydan’s abdomen.

Boom—

Prohydan tried to break away, but Kalstein wasn’t letting him go.

“Trying to run? Not so fast!”

Kalstein blocked Prohydan’s escape with a spear, charging at him like a mad dog on a mission.

“And you keep worrying about those monsters...”

As Kalstein spoke, another spear shot out toward Prohydan.

Boom—Bang—

[!!]

With a single throw, both of Prohydan’s M-sites were destroyed.

“I guess it’s not necessary anymore.”

Kalstein grinned as he watched Prohydan.

Forum Comments:

• “That’s a devil’s smile!”
• “Satan: Kill what your enemy values most first. Note that.”
• “Who’s the villain here?”
• “Poor monster.”
• “Run!”
• “Good luck, monster!”

Losing the M-sites clearly hit Prohydan hard, and his anger was palpable.

“Are you ready to get serious now?”

Kalstein, however, remained calm as always.

Suddenly, Prohydan’s form shifted.

Click—Flash—

A massive purple aura began to cascade from Prohydan, forming a wave of ether that resembled butterfly wings.

“Hoo...”

In response, Kalstein released a red ether wave.

And as the two clashed...

Forum Comments:

• “What...? Am I seeing this?”
• “I... I still can’t see it clearly at this slow speed?”
• “This is crazy.”
• “The connection’s breaking up.”
• “How much intensity does a fight need to cut the community feed?”
• “Whoa...”

Boom—

The air around them warped as they were both sent flying.

“Wow, you’re not messing around.”

Forum Comments:

• “Messing around? Is that even something you can say?”
• “‘You’ as in me, huh?”
• “He seems more relaxed than Prohydan.”
• “Ah, humans are always at a disadvantage in a fight.”
• “I think Kalstein might just be giving him a bit of leeway.”

Kalstein, observing Prohydan, clicked his tongue internally.

“Should’ve come more prepared...”

Fighting barehanded in space wasn’t easy, even with the aid of weapons.

“It would have helped if I had some allies.”

Kalstein’s brow furrowed.
This fight couldn’t go on like this.
He had to end it quickly to minimize his side's losses.
Prohydan, too, knew delaying the fight was pointless.

Both began gathering ether in unison, amplifying their attacks.

Kalstein grabbed a crude, metallic rod that had been fired from the fleet.

His Zero Weapon, "Mistiltein," began to glow with golden ether.

Prohydan, meanwhile, summoned a massive silver sword from the void.

“...”
[“...”]

Kalstein squinted at the sword, feeling a strange familiarity.

But there was no time to ponder.

Both warriors rushed toward each other.

And—

A massive explosion of light engulfed the battlefield.

[Ugh!]
[Activate shields!]
[Group up!!]
[120% power!]
[This is the limit!!]
[Hold on!!]

The fleet's communication system blared urgently.

The ships, with their shields fully activated, surged forward as if caught in a storm, and the nearby monsters were annihilated without leaving a trace.

The result:

Kalstein scowled deeply.
The silver sword disintegrated into ash, and Prohydan vanished into the cracks.

“Is he really running away?”

A sigh escaped his lips.

The past flashed before his eyes. A monster he had pierced with his spear through the heart but ultimately failed to catch.
Well... there was something different this time.

A platinum-colored egg slowly descended, failing to cross the crack in the space.

“Hmph.”

It seemed to hold something precious, judging by the way it had been carefully stored within the starlight mane.

When the monster fled, their eyes met.
It was clear that the monster’s gaze wavered when it saw the platinum-colored egg. From the way it hesitated, Kalstein thought it might give up on fleeing, but in the end, it chose to escape with the remaining half of its kind.

The monster, too, was not in a normal state. The 'power' it wielded couldn’t simply be avoided.

The creature briefly stared at him with a strange look, before turning its head and disappearing into the cracks.

“Ah...”

How regrettable.

Kalstein looked around.

The monster legion that Prohydan had abandoned, unable to take them along.

“Well... this should be enough to get Camilla's revenge, right? Aria, can you track the coordinates?”

“Are you letting him go so easily? Where is he headed? If it’s somewhere good, take me with you!”

Kalstein picked up a 1-meter-long oval-shaped egg.

“Hmm?”

The platinum-colored egg greedily absorbed his ether.