Within the thick storm clouds, the Skyspawn flailed wildly as they flew.
Some had two pairs of wings. Others bore three heads. Their forms varied—wildly. Each was around twenty meters long, thrashing in every direction.
Their flight consumed magic power. And since magic power is the force that manifests one’s will, the air itself buckled harder the more they pushed.
That was why the airship was shaking so uncontrollably.
“Professor! You got any kind of fix for this!?”
“Why the hell are we relying on some outsider now!?”
The navigator shouted toward me, while the chief engineer snapped in irritation.
“Then what do you propose we do!?”
“We turn back! That guy’s from the Department of Assassination, right? What the hell does an assassin know!?”
“He might be a Tamer-class assassin professor, though!”
All eyes turned toward me. Maybe...?
“Not a Tamer.”
Well, fuck.
That meant—on top of already having too many people shouting commands, they now had one more useless mouth onboard.
“Just stand aside, will you? We’ll handle it from here!”
Then—thunk—a hand reached out.
It was the Fleetmaster.
“Do you have a plan, Professor?”
As a [Challenger]. As a veteran warrior. As a figure so revered that professors across the Empire bowed their heads to him—Fleetmaster Falcon spoke with natural condescension.
Once again, every gaze landed on the professor.
He answered in a low voice.
“First off, the Skyspawn aren’t intending to attack.”
“What? Well—yeah, I guess. If they wanted to, they would've done it already... But then why the hell did the consultant get eaten?”
“A frightened dog bites. It’s the same principle.”
“Frightened? ...You’re saying those Skyspawn are scared?”
The professor nodded and explained. It’s common sense that large creatures have strong bodies. But that doesn’t mean their hearts are just as sturdy.
Because of their overwhelming size, Skyspawn rarely confront anything equal to them in scale. Most things in the world are smaller than them.
“But when something truly larger than themselves appears—something greater than anything they’ve faced—they feel a fear they’ve never experienced before.”
Hearing that, the officers of the airship nodded faintly. They understood the psychology of Skyspawn now.
But if that was true, then...?
“I’ll drive them away, for now.”
The professor with the pink eyes stepped out onto the deck. Among the dozen or so smuggler ships, the Fleetmaster’s vessel was the largest. Its deck alone was wide enough to pass for a schoolyard.
What the hell could that professor even do out there? The officers tensed, watching.
“What’s he doing? Is he going to fall off at this rate...”
The ships were still shaking. Even Professor Dante staggered with the motion.
‘That guy... that aura...’
A smile crept over the Fleetmaster’s face.
‘That’s a ridiculous level of magic power. And yet... there’s not even a ripple of it.’
As a [Challenger], he could see it.
The dense, overwhelming magic power radiating from every part of the pink-eyed professor’s body.
And then—
From the dark sky, the clouds split apart. The atmosphere itself bent violently. And a massive form surged forth.
“Wha-whoa!?”
“T-that can’t be!”
A jet-black skull.
The crew immediately recognized what it was.
The enormous creature that had ravaged Horanche not long ago—the one that sent shockwaves across the world again and again—the catastrophic monster known as Bomiteka.
The Skyspawn, which had at most twenty-meter-long bodies, completely panicked at the sight of a head more than thirty-five meters wide.
Of course they did. That was like a 3.5-meter-tall man suddenly appearing before a regular human.
“They’re scattering! The bastards are fleeing the area!”
“Air pressure’s stabilizing!”
As the Skyspawn fled, Bomiteka vanished as well.
When the professor returned inside from the deck, the officers’ eyes had changed. There was no one among them who didn’t realize what that was—Illusion.
But they had never seen a [Illusion] this majestic before.
And the professor—hadn’t even broken a sweat.
‘Incredible... That guy’s a goddamn monster.’
‘Who is he? How have I never seen a face that strong before...?’
At minimum, he was at the level of a [Challenger]. And yet he was a stranger. Still, better to treat a big-shot well. If they played this right, giving a big reward now could pay off later.
The officers approached with smiling faces, ready to praise him.
That’s when the professor cut them off with a serious tone.
“Fleetmaster. Can you alter the flight trajectory?”
“...What do you mean by that?”
“I believe we are currently in an emergency situation.”
An emergency?
“Sir! We can’t change course right now,” the first mate interjected.
“I understand it’s difficult. But is it entirely impossible?”
“Absolutely. We’re already navigating through a corridor of floating islands—and it’s nighttime. Plus, because of the Skyspawn’s wingbeats, the islands’ trajectories are unstable... If we change course now, we’ll almost certainly crash.”
The most we could do was maintain our current route and dodge incoming debris as best we could. The first mate added that.
The professor’s expression hardened.
“Wait... Professor, are you referring to the ‘larger entity’ you mentioned earlier?”
“Yes.”
That exchange between the professor and the Fleetmaster left the officers visibly pale.
It was like how birds, sensing an oncoming earthquake, collectively crash themselves into glass windows out of primal panic.
“Something’s coming, isn’t it...? Something massive. Something... calamitous.”
If even those powerful Skyspawn perceived it as a disaster—then it could only be something on par with dragons, Constellations, or Bomiteka.
“It should be alright. We’ve got insurance.”
The Fleetmaster replied.
Insurance.
In this world, capitalists buy insurance not for goods—but for lives. They apply for coverage from Constellations.
Because Constellations do not attack other Constellations.
By paying them, you effectively place yourself under their protection.
And Constellations, burdened by the cost of divine elixirs, are happy to accept.
“What’s the rank of your insurance Constellation?”
“Rank 18—Blazing Constellation of Flame.”
“...Rank 18...”
If the ship were to be attacked... that would mean the Blazing Constellation of Flame would personally descend to protect them.
But the professor shook his head—firmly.
“...No. You must not place your faith in such a safety net.”
“‘Such a safety net’?”
“Professor, that’s—!”
Even if he was a big shot, saying something like that to the owner of the fleet was out of line. The officers all frowned.
Dante ignored them and activated a <Transmission>.
< Dante: Gray. >
< Gray: Professor, are you okay? The wind’s died down. >
< Dante: It’s not over yet. Come to these coordinates. >
Soon, the professor and the gray-haired assassin unfurled the technique—『Glass Butterfly』—scattering it across the wide expanse of the sky.
For just a moment, Dante was impressed.
Gray’s rank had clearly risen.
When she first learned Glass Butterfly, she had been around Rank 5,000. Now, her magic power had climbed up to about Rank 1,800. The quality of her energy, the efficiency of her illusions—it was all much improved.
Dante, having occasionally monitored her progress, knew she had been training every day—sobbing through it. The results spoke for themselves.
Looking up into the sky, about 20% of the illusionary butterflies glimmering there were Gray’s. Thousands of them.
From a macro perspective, still not enough... but not bad either.
Then—information gathered by the 『Glass Butterflies』 began flooding into Dante’s mind as pure thought.
A massive beam of light was streaking through the sky like a missile.
......That bastard...
Just as Dante opened his mouth, Gray sensed the killing intent and muttered instinctively.
“Radiant Constellation...?”
Her voice pierced everyone’s ears.
“Th-the Radiant Constellation⁺₊⋆? He’s the one that made the Skyspawn go berserk—??”
The officers all went pale as death.
At the same time, denial set in.
If this were true, then that meant the Spear of the Empire—the one who hadn’t attacked a civilian in over a decade—was now coming to destroy them.
“...No way. Why would the Radiant Constellation come here?”
It was then that someone spoke.
“Because of me.”
Dante admitted it calmly.
Several eyes widened.
“Professor... you?”
“He’s after something I possess. Prepare one of the auxiliary airships. I’ll withdraw peacefully.”
“A-alright.”
Fleetmaster Falcon narrowed his eyes.
He thought for a moment, then raised his voice.
“Quartermaster! Relay this to all ships in the fleet! We’re dumping all smuggled goods. Every last one!!”
It was a shocking order.
The cargo?
“W-we’re discarding it all?!”
Falcon trusted his instincts.
There are few people more sensitive to information and news than smugglers. When word spread that the Black Star Constellation and the Radiant Constellation⁺₊⋆ had clashed, he knew a massive wave of change was sweeping across the era.
“And what made you decide this?” the professor asked.
“You want to know why?”
Falcon, now 80 years old, knew all too well what the Radiant Constellation⁺₊⋆ was.
He was always flaunting his power in every direction. Even among the Constellations, his narcissism was on par with the Competitiveness Constellation.
But anyone who truly knew him also knew—
That beneath all the posturing, he was a man forever trapped in his master’s shadow. No matter how hard he burned himself away, he could never rise beyond the lower ranks—forever stuck in the twenties.
When he showed up at Goldenfield, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) anyone with a brain realized: Something valuable was up for auction on the Eternal Ship. Falcon was no different.
Moreover, the fact that a Constellation of the Empire had effectively committed an act of terrorism in an Imperial city only confirmed what many feared: Agion had completely snapped.
In other words, he was now a thief.
The twentieth strongest, most dangerous armed thief in the world.
And now that bastard was coming for the most profitable smuggling ship in the Imperial trade fleet. Even if Professor Dante was his target, there was no way the Radiant Constellation would let all that loot go untouched.
“I’ve spent my whole life smelling out money.”
And a man like him?
“Knows full well—when a jewel thief comes, he doesn’t leave behind a wagon full of silver.”
The only way to keep the loot from being stolen... was paradoxically to throw it away. Because a Constellation can’t just stoop down and pocket it himself.
“Dump the cargo!”
“Throw everything overboard, now!!”
Shouts echoed from every airship in the fleet.
Thankfully, the airships were designed with underbellies that opened, making the jettisoning process simple.
Falcon then ordered all ships to prepare for battle. No way would a raging lunatic of a thief just let them go because the loot was gone.
Gunports opened. Smugglers armed themselves.
Professor Dante, too, gathered his people for a fight.
After a tense span of time...
“...He’s coming...”
The [Challenger], warrior Falcon Hagrid, gritted his teeth and raised his massive sword.
.
.
.
It was midnight. On the last day of the lunar cycle, even the sky-ring and stars had vanished.
And then—the sun began to rise.
That’s how it felt to everyone present.
This wasn’t like that brief flash of Bomiteka from earlier.
As the pitch-black clouds were torn apart by overwhelming magical pressure, a radiant god in human form stood at the center—his body ablaze with light, shredding his own lifespan and rank to do so.
White-haired and glowing—the Radiant Constellation⁺₊⋆ Agion opened his mouth.
“Let there be light—”
His voice echoed across the entire sky.
And then—
Vertical glass pillars began erupting behind him, just like the ones he had used in front of the casino.
The 『Spectrometers』.
There was only one now. But this time, there was no need to conceal its shape or power.
This overwhelming light banished all shadow from the night sky.
In the now-blinding heavens, the Constellation saw no reason to speak with insignificant mortals.
He only sought to shatter the perception of everyone in this space.
Just as his master Abraxas had taught him—he invoked a [Taboo].
『World Forgery: Grand-Scale Perception Forgery – [Control of the Flesh]』
The battle had just begun—but it was already over.
From this point on, in every part of this illuminated world, every human sense was his to command.
And when it came to subjugating the weak, there was no Constellation better than the Radiant Constellation⁺₊⋆.
“Kneel before the god of light.”
He forged new sensory signals—replacing every target’s sense of equilibrium and bodily control. They would feel as if their knees were bending—аnd humans, after all, move as they feel.
The sight that followed was familiar.
There was no resisting this [Illusion] unless one was a Constellation.
Or so he thought—
CRACK —————
The light shattered.
The grand illusion he had unleashed disintegrated.
The world drowned in light broke apart like glass, and only the area around him remained illuminated in the dark.
Agion’s eyes narrowed.
Across a dozen decks—everyone had dropped to their knees before him.
Except for one.
A single human still stood—completely unbowed.
That alone was enough to offend a god’s pride.
“......”
But that human—staring directly at the god—showed not a flicker of fear.
Not even a tremor of doubt or delusion.
And as that person countered with a [Illusion] all too familiar to him, Agion’s eyes opened wide in disbelief.
“Rise.”
Everyone began to stand.