Longinus

“Several unknown objects detected, currently descending toward Grid 25,” the system warned.

I scanned the sky but saw nothing.

“They’re using a camouflage, Rin. They’ve got us.

No wonder the Dolls are still appearing, even after we destroyed most of Andromeda’s factory,” Akasha stated.

“They’re going to enter through the hole in the Grid’s outer barrier,” she added.

“Akasha, evacuate everyone,” I requested.

“Too late, they’re already here,” Akasha replied as four transparent pods landed just a few meters away from us.

“To everyone on Grid 25, head to Grids 23 and 24,” Akasha announced.

She quickly enclosed the pods in thick steel barriers before they could even open.

Liz gave me a worried glance as I materialized both of my Photon Edges.

“Liz, go with Akasha to the Magnetic Shuttle,” I said.

“What about you?” she asked.

“I’ll buy time for everyone to evacuate,” I replied.

“But… I can’t leave you here,” she said, her voice trembling.

“Go… I’ll follow you in a bit,” I said, kissing her forehead.

Liz grabbed Akasha’s hand and headed toward the magnetic shuttle with the other neomans.

Leo and Ed approached me as the steel barriers began to be torn apart by whatever was inside the unknown pods.

“To all protectors, cover the evacuating neomans and head toward the magnetic shuttle,” I commanded.

“Don’t die, Rin,” Ed said as he and Leo headed toward the shuttle to assist with the evacuation.

“See you later,” I replied.

“At this rate, you’ll die, Rin,” Akasha whispered into my ear.

“I’m a protector, not a hero. Dying on the battlefield was never part of my plan,” I replied.

“How long until everyone is evacuated?” I asked.

“Five more minutes until everyone is out of Grid 25,” Akasha replied.

I quickly activated my Self Acceleration, draining the rest of my compressed black cubes.

“Removing half of the perception and logical support to all neomans, adjusting... focusing support on Seventh,” Akasha stated.

“Augmenting Future Perception and Ultraspeed Calculation,” she continued.

“This will allow you to precisely predict the Dolls' movements two seconds into the future, and you’ll be able to control your body more accurately with the help of Ultraspeed Calculation,” she added.

“Sounds like you just activated a cheat code,” I said.

“Focus, Rin. Remember, dying is never an option for you,” Akasha urged.

“Right!” I replied, quickly heading to one of the steel barriers that had been torn open.

With swift movements, I maneuvered behind the first Death Doll that emerged and prepared to strike.

I activated my Photon Edge, aiming for the neck of the Doll.

But to my surprise, my blade was deflected with a sharp, shattering sound.

A double-layer Conceptual Barrier.

A red flash struck toward me.

Reacting on instinct, I leapt back just as a Death Doll’s claws slashed at my previous position.

My heart raced as more Death Dolls emerged from the pods.

Without hesitation, I attacked, this time using both Photon Edges.

The bluish blade of the second Photon Edge cut through the neck of one of the Dolls, decapitating it.

I followed up with a quick slash to destroy its head, deactivating the Doll.

Looking around, I counted eleven Death Dolls, twelve, including the one I had already defeated.

“Four minutes until everyone is evacuated,” Akasha reminded me.

Four minutes felt like a long time.

Two more Death Dolls lunged at me.

Thanks to Future Perception, I dodged just in time.

I still had two compressed black cubes left.

I threw both Photon Edges into the air, briefly drawing the attention of the Death Dolls.

In that instant, I materialized ten warding knives, using Future Perception and Ultraspeed Calculation to land them on the limbs of the ten Death Dolls, targeting their arms and legs.

Akasha quickly activated the warding knives, shooting the anchors to the other Dolls, entangling them.

As my Photon Edges returned to my hands, I noticed the eleventh Death Doll sneaking up behind me, launching a surprise attack.

Without my Photon Edges, I had no way to block its claws.

They were even using my own tactics against me.

I saw the red flash as it passed by my neck.

“Leave it to me,” Akasha said.

A dense, small conceptual barrier formed, blocking the Death Doll’s attack.

With both Photon Edges in hand, I blocked the Death Doll’s other claw and swiftly delivered a kick, sending it sprawling.

“I owe you one, Akasha,” I said.

“Focus, Rin. Two minutes until everyone is out,” Akasha responded.

To my surprise, the Death Dolls managed to cut through the black wires in just twenty seconds, but at least it bought me some time.

“Rin, the last resident of Grid 25 is now onboard the Magnetic Shuttle,” Akasha reported.

“Akasha, send me the Cosmic Blade,” I instructed.

“Already on its way,” Akasha replied.

Within moments, a black cylindrical case embedded itself into the ground.

It ejected the Cosmic Blade, which I caught by the hilt with my right hand.

I let out a sigh of relief as my fingers wrapped around the blade’s hilt.

“Wake up, Tartarus,” I commanded, using the activation code Akasha had provided.

The blade emitted a black glow.

One of the approaching Death Dolls was instantly split in half by a horizontal slash, its body dissolving into elementary particles.

“Monster,” a crackling voice hissed.

“Should I take that as a compliment?” I taunted, deliberately angering the Death Dolls to ensure they wouldn’t retreat.

Falling for the bait, the remaining ten Death Dolls charged at me from all directions.

“May you all be at peace,” I said as the ten Dolls were vaporized into elementary particles before they even reached me.

Thanks to my Self Accel, I was able to preserve my own concept.

“Warning: Detecting collection of high-density particles at the exosphere,” the system warned.

“Looks like Andromeda is aiming at the other nearby Grids,” Akasha noted.

“How long before they can charge and fire again?” I asked.

“Estimated time: T minus five minutes,” Akasha replied.

“We’ll shoot it down before it fires again,” I declared.

“You mean… using Longinus?” Akasha asked.

“Yeah,” I answered.

“Just so you know, I can’t materialize any Conceptual Armament because I can’t access the Imaginary blueprint of any of them,” Akasha explained.

“I know. After all you’re the Seventh Conceptual Armament,” I replied.

“I see you’ve figured out what I am,” Akasha said.

“I’ll provide the Imaginary blueprint,” I said.

“But we don’t have enough elementary particles to materialize Longinus and fire a shot,” Akasha warned.

“You know that’s not true. I’m standing right here, at the very source to materialize Longinus,” I countered.

“But Grid 25 is home,” Akasha said.

“We don’t have time.

We can rebuild Grid 25, but we can’t resurrect the dead,” I replied.

“You’re right,” Akasha agreed.

“Permission to convert Grid 25 to materialize Longinus and destroy Andromeda?” Akasha asked.

“Permission granted,” every resident of Grid 25 responded.

“100 percent total received permission,” Akasha confirmed.

“Scanning Grid 25. Imaginary Blueprint acquired,” Akasha continued.

“Rin, you can now use the Cosmic Blade,” Akasha’s voice echoed, but this time, I saw her standing behind me.

“How’d you get here?” I asked, surprised.

Akasha glanced at her legs, then back at me.

“I walked, Rin,” she replied nonchalantly.

“Aren’t you affected by the Cosmic Blade?” I asked.

“Of course not. Who do you think retrieved it in the first place?” Akasha answered with a grin.

“Makes sense,” I said, nodding.

“Rin, use your Maximum Self Acceleration before you unleash Tartarus,” Akasha reminded me.

I activated Maximum Self Acceleration, absorbing the elementary particles from the surrounding eroded area.

“Open the Gate, Tartarus,” I commanded.

The Cosmic Blade burst with black flames, eroding the entire Grid and turning it into an immeasurable amount of elementary particles.

“First Phase, Conversion completed,” Akasha stated.

“Rin, you can now turn off Tartarus,” Akasha instructed.

“Tartarus, return to the Abyss,” I ordered.

The black glow slowly faded.

“Gather,” Akasha commanded.

The floating elementary particles gathered above her.

“Second Phase, Integration completed,” Akasha noted.

“Rin, use the elementary particles you absorbed to materialize the imaginary blueprint from your memory,” Akasha said.

Just like when I materialized my Conceptual Weapon, I formed the colossal imaginary blueprint in front of me.

Conceptual Armament number 4: Longinus-type Anti-Satellite Particle Cannon.

The very weapon that destroyed Andromeda’s factory on the Moon.

“Third Phase, Abstraction completed,” Akasha declared.

“Materialize Longinus,” Akasha ordered.

Half of the floating elementary particles above Akasha filled the Imaginary Blueprint, transforming into materials that rapidly constructed the Particle Cannon.

“Fourth Phase, Realization completed,” Akasha stated.

Akasha placed her hand on the machine.

“Loading necessary software, calibrating to current world principles,” she continued.

“Fifth Phase, Augmentation completed,” Akasha concluded.

“Charging using the remaining elementary particles,” she said as the remaining particles fed into the Particle Cannon.

“Warning: Estimated time until Andromeda finishes charging: T-minus 1 minute,” the system warned.

“Charging completed. Accelerating elementary particles… Acceleration completed.

Acquiring target… Target locked.

Adjusting Longinus firing position… Adjustment completed.

Waiting for activation sequence,” the Longinus system announced.

“Rin, here is the activation sequence,” Akasha said.

“Got it,” I replied, inputting the activation sequence into the Longinus terminal.

An Imaginary Armament can’t use another Imaginary Armament, at first I thought it was a mistake but now I realize it’s referring to Akasha.

“Calculating Earth-moon position, position not in line of fire,” Akasha stated.

“Sixth Phase, Activation completed,” she continued.

“Firing Conceptual Armament number 4, Longinus,” Akasha announced.

A colossal burst of high-density accelerated particles shot toward Andromeda.

In a final attempt to retaliate, Andromeda fired back, but Longinus' particle blast was so immense that Andromeda's attack was barely a drop in the ocean by comparison.

There was no defense against that level of power.

“Andromeda’s destruction confirmed,” the system reported after a few seconds.

I wanted to celebrate, but one question lingered in my mind after reading many books from the past.

Why were humans spared? Andromeda could have wiped out the last 10,000 humans with a particle beam from space.

It made sense once I dug deeper into history.

Cosmos had predicted, the very year Andromeda was created, that the next world war would bring humanity to the brink of extinction.

Whether Andromeda destroyed mankind to save it or simply to erase it,

I still felt a bit of sadness, especially knowing that Akasha was based on both Cosmos and Andromeda's programming.

“Let’s go, Rin. Liz is waiting for us,” Akasha said.

“Let’s not keep Liz waiting, or she’ll be upset,” I said, holding Akasha’s hand.

“Akasha, how long will it take to rebuild Grid 25?” I asked.

“By converting Longinus, we can rebuild half of it in a month.

After we sent the other half to space, if my calculations are right... about six months,” Akasha replied.

“Don’t worry about it, Rin. If nothing else, you did the right thing,” Akasha said with a reassuring smile.

“Riiiiin!!!”I heard a familiar voice above.

It’s Liz falling from the sky, to be exact Liz falling after jumping hoverbike.

“I told you Rin watch out for cars," Dad shouted from the hoverbike.

“More like a falling goddess”, I shouted as I caught Liz.