In the vastness of space, the slaughter between iron behemoths continued. They spat brilliant, incandescent beams of light and fire at one another, carving massive scars into their hulls before transforming into red lotuses blooming in the pitch-black void upon their destruction.
The Purification Fleet of the Lunar Capital was now split into two factions: unmanned warships and manned warships. The exchange of fire between them spread the flames of war across a massive swathe of the dark universe.
While the unmanned vessels in the Purification Fleet were mostly small-class ships, they accounted for seventy percent of the fleet's total numbers, and their primary roles were escorting and close-range fire support. The moment they defected, they surrounded the medium and large-scale ships controlled by the lunarians at extremely close range. This rendered the heavy weaponry on the Lunarian ships completely useless, leaving them at an absolute disadvantage in this civil war.
It was as if an artillery unit, protected by an infantry unit, had suddenly been betrayed by those very soldiers. The backstabbing at such close proximity left the Lunarian warships with no possibility of resistance. They could only watch helplessly as the signals of their allies vanished one by one from their screens, their own vessels bursting apart amidst violent tremors and roars before they were swallowed by high-temperature flames.
Panic and terror permeated every ship. However, no matter how they struggled, it was in vain. Even the few who were lucky enough to escape in the limited number of lifeboats were quickly gunned down by the fire of the unmanned fleet. These warships, once the pride of the lunarians, had now become cold iron coffins. The lunarians could only lie silently within them, awaiting their demise.
Around the flagship of the Purification Fleet, over fifty unmanned vessels were cruising slowly in a circular formation. Their weapons were all turned inward, pouring concentrated fire upon the flagship. Under the relentless assault of endless explosions and tearing beams, the flagship's shields were ruthlessly stripped away, and its massive hull bore the brunt of the unending bombardment.
Armor was torn asunder, engines failed, energy leaked, and air pressure destabilized... a series of instrument failures and malfunctions heralded the imminent destruction of the largest vessel in the Purification Fleet. The lunar sage sat slumped in his seat, staring blankly amidst the vibrations and alarms, speechless. The crew members around him had already fallen into a state of extreme panic.
"My Lord! We must leave now! To the lifeboats! There's still time!" a Lunarian crewman shouted, shaking the Sage's body to wake him. However, the Sage offered no reaction, sitting motionless in his chair, staring vacantly ahead.
Seeing that his pleas were useless, the crewman gritted his teeth and gave up. He sprinted out of the control room, heading for the lifeboats.
Amidst the shaking space, under the constant flashing of warning lights, and within the piercing alarms and roars, the Sage continued to stand dazed. The massive flagship finally reached its limit. Violent, consecutive explosions rippled through the vessel, and every compartment was swallowed by surging flames. At the moment the fire consumed him, the Sage finally spoke with a trembling voice.
"Lord Omoikane... is this... your divine punishment?"
A surge of immense energy erupted from within the iron behemoth. A red lotus of fire bloomed in the pitch-black universe. With the destruction of the flagship and its commander, the Purification Fleet of the Lunar Capital was declared completely annihilated.
"Namu..." Witnessing the tragic scene in the distance, Myoren and Bishamonten both pressed their hands together in prayer. Kanako, on the other hand, let out a sigh of relief and sat down directly on the space station.
"It's finally over. That was quite a spectacular sight."
Tamamo-no-Mae stood in place, watching the ending battlefield in silence. In this war, he had truly realized that there were many powers in this world that far exceeded his imagination. While he could be considered the most powerful Yokai in Japan, he was still far from enough to face the entire Purification Fleet—yet such a powerful fleet had been completely wiped out in the blink of an eye.
From beginning to end, the only one capable of facing this power that transcended the gods head-on was that Inari Okami. Without her, he and the other deities would likely have perished under that terrifying firepower long ago.
Kou withdrew the starlight that filled the sky. Watching the large-scale death of his former people, he had no intention of helping. With a heart devoid of emotion, he thought that perhaps the true Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto had died the moment he was exiled. Now, he was merely Kou.
"Phew..."
Watching the last enemy identification signal vanish from the screen, Eirin let out a heavy sigh of relief. After a long silence, she quietly issued a stop command to the entire unmanned fleet, sparing the few remaining lifeboats. Afterward, she opened a communication channel and spoke to Miketsu.
"The last of the fleet's resistance has been cleared. This battle is our victory."
"Yes... I see it..." Miketsu's indifferent voice came through. Hearing her tone, Eirin couldn't help but frown slightly.
"Are you alright?" Eirin asked directly. She instinctively felt that Miketsu's state was somewhat strange.
"I'm fine... it's just that those guys seemed to use weapons made from Chang'e Power earlier. I was affected," Miketsu replied quietly while floating in space, looking at the countless burning wrecks of warships before her. Eirin's voice soon came through with a hint of concern.
"Weapons made from Chang'e Power? What is your condition now? Specifically, are there any signs of discomfort in your godhead?" Eirin asked urgently. As a victim who had been stripped of her divine power by Chang'e Power, she naturally knew what such a thing meant to an orthodox god. It was the most terrifying poison.
"Don't worry, I wasn't directly injected with Chang'e Power. I was only affected by its fluctuations. Although my divine power was temporarily disrupted for a while, it recovered quickly... Though in that instant, my godhead felt strange, but it vanished soon after," Miketsu said slowly. Hearing this, Eirin breathed a sigh of relief, then continued in the tone of a doctor speaking to a patient.
"If you were only affected by the fluctuations, that's better. It shouldn't cause damage to your godhead. However, since we don't know how strong the fluctuations were, we can't be careless. That strange feeling you mentioned also concerns me. How about this: return to the Monitoring Pavilion first, and I'll give you a check-up."
Eirin spoke seriously, but Miketsu's reply was somewhat nonchalant.
"Ha... a check-up? Let's talk about that later. We still have things to do, don't we? This war isn't over yet."
"No! You must be checked just in case! This is a doctor's advice! Listen to me!" Eirin spoke with quite a stern tone. Miketsu was momentarily stunned, suddenly feeling as if Eirin had become a teacher or a parent.
Later, unable to win against Eirin, Miketsu flew to the space station. There, Eirin performed an examination of Miketsu's body, specifically her godhead, but in the end, she found nothing unusual.
"Hmm... the godhead's condition is perfect. It seems the influence of the fluctuations wasn't that deep... Perhaps I was overthinking it?" Eirin mused as she watched Miketsu get dressed, then continued to ask, "By the way, what exactly was that strange feeling you mentioned? Can you describe it?"
"Well... if I had to say... it was like a sense of disconnect. In the moment I was affected by the Chang'e Power, my godhead felt like it didn't belong to me... I felt as if my godhead was suppressing me..." Miketsu said slowly, recalling the sensation from earlier.
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