Control

Outer Earth orbit, the front lines of the war in space.

Relying on her unparalleled divine power, Miketsu rampaged through the formation of the Purification Fleet. Her causality vision, which allowed her to see into the future, combined with her petite stature and immense mobility, allowed her to weave through a barrage of thousands of cannon beams without being hit once. Because there were so many allies within their own formation, the fleet's full-scale attacks were restricted. Unimpeded, Miketsu swung a colossal seventy-meter blade of light, severing large starships one by one, causing brilliant crimson lotuses of fire to bloom amidst the freezing void of space.

Watching the ship markers vanish one after another from the silver screen, the Sage aboard the flagship could not help but grit his teeth and clench his fists. Humiliation and resentment surged within the chest of this noble Lunarian, eventually erupting into a furious roar that tore from his throat.

"We cannot let her remain so arrogant... Deploy the Chang'e Power Shock Bomb! Suppress her divine power!" the Sage commanded with a sweeping wave of his hand. His order immediately spread throughout the entire fleet via communication channels.

A specialized vessel moved forward from the rear guard formation, quietly sailing toward the direction of Miketsu's rampage. It slowed to a halt at a distance of eight or nine kilometers, its missile launchers aimed at Miketsu in the distance as she continued her ship-slaying. A unique missile was already loaded into its launch tube.

"Fire! Eradicate the divine power of the impure god!" At the Sage's command, the specially crafted metal missile streaked out amidst a flash of light, trailing a tail of flame as it flew toward Miketsu at high speed. However, this missile was not intended to strike Miketsu directly; instead, it detonated at a distance of over fifteen hundred meters from her.

The explosion itself was not particularly powerful, but an invisible force began to spread at high speed from the center of the blast, quickly expanding to affect Miketsu.

Suddenly, the blade of divine light in Miketsu's hands began to warp and deform violently, vibrating with instability. Miketsu felt the divine power within her body suffer a mysterious disturbance, becoming chaotic and turbulent. Even her godhead shook rhythmically. Due to the disruption of her divine power, her flight speed plummeted, and her movements became sluggish.

The Chang'e Power Shock Bomb was another weapon created by the Lunar Capital using the power of Chang'e. It was launched at the cost of consuming a single dose of Chang'e Power Concentrate and could interfere with divine power activities over a vast area for a short period.

Compared to injecting the concentrate directly into a god's body to destroy their godhead, this method of utilizing the concentrate only interfered with the flow of divine power temporarily. However, it possessed a massive area of effect, eliminating concerns about accuracy. For a target with Miketsu's exaggerated mobility, this method was perfect.

For the Lunar Capital, only three doses of Chang'e Power Concentrate remained. They had already lost one during Toyohime's failed mission. They would never easily use the remaining two unless absolutely necessary, but given the current situation, they could no longer afford to hesitate. The loss of ships far exceeded their projections; they had to deal with Miketsu immediately!

The effect of the shock bomb was obvious. Miketsu could not read the power of the ancient goddess Chang'e with her causality vision. Once affected by this power, her movements clearly lagged. The Sage on the flagship had been waiting for this exact moment.

"The impure god has been disrupted! All ships, fire all batteries! Shoot her down!"

Following the Sage's command, all the ships that had previously been restricted in their output prepared to unleash their full firepower. Countless weapons locked onto the sluggish Miketsu, ready to pour out their full strength and blast her from the sky.

At that very moment, the entire Purification Fleet suddenly fell silent. Engines cut out. Cannon muzzles that were mid-aim froze at their current angles. The blue flames spitting from the thrusters vanished instantly. Over half of the fleet's ships completely shut down, floating motionless in space.

"Report! All automated ships in the fleet have disconnected! We have lost control over them!" Inside the flagship, the messenger reported the situation to the Sage in a panic. Upon hearing this, the Sage froze in place.

"What... How can this be? Contact the starport immediately! Ask them what happened! A malfunction?! How can there be a malfunction at a time like this?" Desperately suppressing the unease and panic in his heart, the Sage gave another order. The messenger swallowed hard before stammering his reply.

"W-we already tried to contact them, b-but there is no response at all from the starport..."

"What..." Hearing the messenger's words, the Sage's eyes widened, and his legs gave way as he slumped into his chair. At this moment, he realized that something had gone wrong at the rear—and it was a catastrophic problem.

...

On the other side, within the space station, Eirin watched the connection icon appear on the screen and smiled faintly, speaking in a calm tone.

"Oh my... I've finally managed to hack in. Quite efficient, and not too late."

As she spoke, Eirin's hands moved rapidly across the virtual panels on the screen. A vast array of red ship icons appeared on the monitor before her. These corresponded to all the automated vessels within the Purification Fleet.

"Hmm... four hundred and seven ships in total. That Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto certainly cut down quite a few. What a monster..." Eirin muttered as she continued her operations. Once she finished the final sequence, the red ship icons on the screen all turned green simultaneously. An electronic voice echoed through the space.

"Protocol modification complete. IFF signatures updated. System rebooting, please wait..."

Hearing this voice, the curve of Eirin's lips became even more pronounced.

"It is done."

...

Suddenly, the ships that had been silent began to restart one after another. Control systems rebooted, engines ignited, and weapon systems resumed operation. The fire control systems identified new enemies, guiding the weapons to aim their muzzles at the foe.

In an instant, the automated ships—which made up nearly seventy percent of the Purification Fleet—defected simultaneously. They turned their cannons, beam generators, and missile launchers toward their former allies: the manned ships piloted by the lunarians themselves.

"Fire..."

At the command of the automated fleet's new commander, Yagokoro Eirin, the fires of war were ignited once more. Missiles and beams filled the sky, striking the Lunarian manned ships. Countless red lotuses exploded in the deep void.

Amidst this new asura battlefield, Miketsu floated quietly in space, clutching her chest as she murmured, "That feeling just now... what was it?"