Chapter 47 - The Battle Against Reigou and Hatsugou, and a New Phase
~Off the coast of the Gialpha Star System Fourth Planet (Gialpha Galaxy Empire, Capital Planet)~
Sangou, still remaining off the coast of the capital planet as usual, had finished preparations for departure to the Umyu Galaxy.
In this state, it was waiting for the captain's return.
In short, the biological spaceship's preparations were already in perfect order.
Just then, Captain Shin returned from the Marquis Asada's residence.
"Captain. Welcome back."
"I'm back. Somehow, it took more time than I expected. Sorry."
"No. That time was necessary."
The excellent Sangou showed understanding for the time the captain spent to avoid worsening relationships with family and associates.
Upon hearing that, Shin, while feeling grateful for his partner's intelligence and tolerance, began discussing the next action.
"Now, about heading to the Umyu Galaxy. You don't need any special new preparations, right?"
"Yes. As always, preparations are complete. So we can depart immediately."
"Understood. And for the place I'll teleport with magic, would the spot I was just before returning be fine?"
The location Shin confirmed for teleportation.
That space zone was the one where Sangou had gotten closest to the nebula's center since entering the Umyu Galaxy.
Of course, it didn't actually go right near the center, but needless to say, it was relatively speaking.
"No. Captain, I think a spot considerably before that position would be better. Specifically, I think 'a position in outer space that takes about an hour to reach the outer edge' would be good."
"Hmm? That's fine, but why?"
"From the enemy's perspective, it's natural to be wary of the place where Sangou disappeared. Therefore, there's a possibility traps have been set there."
"I see. Then let's do that."
Once that exchange was finished, Sangou quietly departed from the capital planet.
On the Gialpha Galaxy side, after Sangou arrived at a space zone where using ultra-long-distance teleportation magic would pose no problem, Shin put Sangou into his shadow and magically moved to a position slightly away from the outer edge of the Umyu Galaxy.
Next, after waiting to recover from the customary pain of mana depletion at the destination, he confirmed the safety of the surroundings.
Then, finally letting Sangou out of the shadow, Shin himself returned to the ship interior via short-distance teleportation.
In this way, preparations for the forceful voyage into the Umyu Galaxy were complete.
Sangou began its navigation toward the Umyu Galaxy.
However, at that time, based on its own judgment, Sangou did not set course for a certain space zone in the Umyu Galaxy it had visited last time, even without specific orders from Captain Shin.
First, it started sailing as if tracing the outer edge of the Umyu Galaxy from afar.
Sangou consciously aimed for a different position than the space zone it had visited before, approaching the outer edge of the Umyu Galaxy.
Of course, this was an action taken to avoid falling into ambush-like traps by avoiding the zone where enemy vigilance was most likely.
That aside, just as it was about to reach the outer edge, an incident occurred.
Well, to call it an incident, the first step was just a situation where Kichou, who had been sleeping on the bridge, suddenly rose and announced an emergency, but including the subsequent events, it was by no means something trivial.
"Master. Extremely great danger is approaching, as much as possible."
"Kichou? This! There's a reaction from Reigou and Hatsugou, one each? That shouldn't be possible."
The moment Kichou warned of danger, immediately after, within Sangou's detection range, the presence of the biological spaceships Reigou and Hatsugou, which were lost during testing in the Deltania Star System and should have been strictly prohibited from development as dangerous failures, was confirmed.
"If Kichou senses danger, it's seriously bad. Then, as a precaution, I'll deploy shield magic in three layers. If you want, Kichou, want to put up one layer too?"
"Yes, Master."
"Here, mana. Also, Sangou. I'm going to equip the Sub-unit Armor, so deploy it for me."
Kichou, who had received mana for using magic, promptly deployed its own shield magic further outside the shield magic Shin had spread.
Incidentally, the reason it deployed it on the outermost was the simple reason that 'Kichou's is inferior in strength to Shin's.'
"Yes. I'll prepare immediately. Captain. By the way, there is no reaction like the fourth unit we assumed would be here in this space zone. Also, Reigou and Hatsugou don't seem to have noticed us yet."
In terms of inherent detection capability, Reigou and Hatsugou were superior to Sangou during the trial stage.
Nevertheless, the fact that Sangou could detect them first was proof that its basic performance had improved.
Having been under the influence of the massive mana of Hero Shin for many years, Sangou had been strengthened.
Sangou, not being a hero or monster from a fantasy world, did not grow through leveling up via combat experience.
Still, from the characteristics of a biological spaceship, Sangou had certainly evolved in terms of performance.
However, this is just Sangou's subjective view; in reality, Reigou and Hatsugou, in areas other than their abilities as biological spaceships, had already sensed that Sangou or something equivalent to Sangou was approaching.
In the present situation, it might be more accurate to say that the other side 'was just good at pretending not to notice.'
"Then, stop advancing. Before we're noticed, stream their information to me and Kichou. That aside, it was the right decision to come to a position away from the previous space zone. As expected of Sangou."
Thus, Shin and Kichou came to learn about the performance of Reigou and Hatsugou as prototype units and the reason why Sangou had said 'they shouldn't be here.'
"What is this dangerous performance. But since they came out specially, could it be that they've 'overcame the defects and are being deployed in perfect condition'?"
"I can't tell because we lack judgment material. Only that 'it is a possibility.'"
"I've never experienced a black hole, but is it really dangerous?"
The word 'black hole' suddenly came from Shin's mouth because it was related to 'the enemy biological spaceships' abilities' or rather 'the defect part.'
Shin had traveled through space with Sangou extensively, but he had never actually seen a black hole up close.
Nor had Sangou had any reason to approach dangerous space zones with black holes.
Therefore, it had never taken the captain to such a zone.
"Yes. At least, Sangou thinks that if it penetrates the gravitational sphere of a black hole and exceeds the point of no return, self-powered escape is impossible. From there, can it withstand the ultra-high gravity inside? Can it even survive that state? Those are unclear, but it would probably follow a fate of being crushed by gravity."
"I see. Well, anyway, Reigou and Hatsugou are enemies, right?"
"Yes. From the history so far, I can't think otherwise."
"Then I just need to crush them. The problem is that 'the usual methods won't work.' I have concerns about going out alone, leaving defense to Kichou."
"Master. I feel that rushing out alone would skyrocket the danger level."
Shin could not ignore Kichou's intuition.
Therefore, he had no choice but to act carefully.
For the first time in a while, Shin felt his tension for battle rising.
Next, having prepared both mind and body, Shin gave the order to Sangou to advance.
"They haven't shot. They should have already detected us."
Reigou and Hatsugou had hulls far larger than Sangou.
And they also had correspondingly long effective ranges.
Given that, Sangou reported to the captain the anomaly of no attack even at this stage.
"Hmm. Something must be up. We have no means to sink them from long range, do we?"
"If only about power, perhaps with the captain's magical attacks. But is it okay in terms of range?"
"No, I don't think I can hit at this distance, even for me."
Unusually, Shin, who also had the Holy Sword in hand, answered Sangou thus.
Well, while staying inside the ship, the sword was basically useless, but for the two reasons of preparing for a possible exit and mental readiness, Shin was just doing that at this time.
"Numerous reactions from mineral space beasts. They're charging straight in. When they get close to firing range, I'll shoot. Reigou and Hatsugou are just deploying defense fields. No sign of attacking for now."
"Let's reduce the space beasts first. Sangou. After I activate the light sphere magic, retreat. I'll trigger it for ten seconds of light emission. Adjust our course so that the charging ones pass through this area. Scatter the magic traps we used before. Kichou, help too. Set the trap duration to fifteen minutes."
The battle with the space beasts began, and Sangou maintained maximum vigilance against Reigou and Hatsugou, which showed no real movement.
While maintaining that state, Sangou flew around the space zone that had become a battlefield freely.
The direct magical attacks by Shin and Kichou, and the annihilation power of the placed magic traps, could only be described as 'tremendous.'
The mineral space beasts that had gathered like clouds and mist had their total number reduced by about seventy percent two hours after the battle started.
Under these circumstances, Reigou and Hatsugou slowly approached the space zone where Sangou was.
From Sangou's perspective, the situation was entering a state where it thought, (Probably, but surely they should attack soon...)
"What could be the purpose of those two ships? Are they waiting for our energy to run out? Even though the distance is closing. As long as the captain is onboard, Sangou will never run out of energy. Hehehe."
"I don't know what they intend to do. But I've stacked three more shields than usual. I think I can withstand one or two surprise attacks easily."
"Confirm energy amplification from Reigou and Hatsugou. But at this rate... Are they planning to fire, even catching their own space beasts in the attack range?"
The 'amount of energy thought to be used for attack' observed by Sangou from the enemy reached over three times the standard based on the attack received from forty-five biological spaceships before.
But still, Sangou could not think that 'a beam attack capable of penetrating the shield magic deployed by the captain could be fired.'
With the development of this battle situation, in the end, Sangou ended up in a position to wait for the attack from Reigou and Hatsugou.
(Ignoring the space beasts that should be allies and taking an attack stance, what the hell are they thinking?)
Shin's internal exasperation at that time was a trivial matter.
Well, that aside.
Why did Reigou and Hatsugou suddenly appear from the Umyu Galaxy side?
From here, let's go back a bit in time and describe the circumstances.
After losing the battle force of forty-five biological spaceships for decisive battles, after a while, the mineral lifeforms that had merged with the Unit Four Mock-up sensed the presence of Sangou approaching the Umyu Galaxy for some reason.
And when Sangou easily intruded into the outer edge of the Umyu Galaxy, and it was thought 'Will it go deeper into the nebula?' a situation occurred that the mineral lifeforms could not understand.
Suddenly, Sangou's advance stopped.
(Why did it stop in that space zone?)
While suspicious of that, then, equally abruptly, Sangou's reaction itself disappeared.
This was abnormal because there was no evidence of it performing hyperspace navigation there.
(Does Sangou have a stealth function?)
While thinking such things from knowledge originating from the Deltania Star System, the mineral lifeforms entered a strict alert posture.
However, half a day passed without anything happening to their camp.
(Considering the passage of time, there is also a possibility it withdrew using some unknown means. Actually, I want that to be the case, and I can't think of anything else.)
Based on that thinking, the mineral lifeforms relaxed their alert posture.
Next, they finally began to consider countermeasures.
From the perspective of lifeforms in the Gialpha Galaxy, they themselves were treated as space beasts, and there was no possibility of coexistence and co-prosperity being considered.
First of all, there was no method of communication, so that was not an option.
And since they were 'recognized as space beasts, they were seen as extermination targets for complete annihilation.'
Well, the mineral lifeforms also intended to eradicate all life in the Gialpha Galaxy, so it was mutual.
In short, they literally had only two choices: fight until their own side's survival count reached zero, or flee.
(There is no possibility of defeating Sangou. That being the case, it is impossible to annihilate the opponent.)
That recognition was already shared.
Therefore, the only options were a last stand or escape.
Nevertheless, something like a countermeasure conference continued.
Countless ideas clashed, and recognition of them was shared.
Among them, a compromise was finally proposed.
That was to prioritize preventing the species from being annihilated.
In short, it was an escape and withdrawal plan, treating one Unit Four Mock-up like Noah's Ark from Earth's lore.
Of course, having no knowledge of Earth's lore, it was just a coincidence.
And the remaining four ships decided to take a means that could be called 'suicidal behavior' — betting on the possibility of taking Sangou with them.
In fact, they had development records that the biological spaceship development team from the Deltania Star System wanted to bury in darkness.
Using that, they would remake the Unit Four Mock-up into dangerous failed prototypes that had been lost after trial — the Zero Unit and the First Unit.
So, what were these Zero Unit and First Unit?
Let me describe them below.
First, about the Zero Unit.
It refers to the biological spaceship prototype Zero Unit, code name Reigou.
Its installed artificial intelligence was the same normal mechanical computer type as Futagou.
Actually, this was the original, and the same type was installed in Futagou.
As a universal ship packed with all the dreams of the development team, this experimental vessel was a never-before-seen 'variable self-adjusting type' that fully utilized the characteristics of a biological spaceship.
Capable of freely transforming from a maximum size of 1500 meters to a minimum of 300 meters, including appearance, and also capable of 'on-the-spot self-adjustment' of armaments and output to match the intended use — an outrageous ship.
In the end, it self-destructed due to a runaway of the gravity wave adjustment function for attack, but it had managed to reach the point of completion and testing.
Was that the fruit of the development team's obsession?
Incidentally, it caused a major accident where a black hole almost came into being during self-destruction, making it a ship with a history that had been strictly prohibited from development at the government level.
Next, what about the First Unit?
It refers to the biological spaceship prototype First Unit, code name Hatsugou.
Its installed artificial intelligence was also the same normal mechanical computer type as Futagou.
This experimental vessel, built with the aim of being the first in history to possess high firepower, was given the code name Hatsugou from the 'first' part of 'first in history.'
It was the second outrageous ship, with its main weapon being a gravity wave attack that might make it possible to annihilate a black hole — something that had never been achieved before.
From the failure of the Zero Unit, it was a specialized type focusing functions solely on firepower.
In doing so, it aimed to make the control of ultra-high gravity waves — at a level unprecedented — somewhat easier, and to prevent runaway, achieving completion.
However, the crucial high-firepower experiment failed in the final stage.
In the end, it caused an accident similar to the Zero Unit, and development was also prohibited.
The aforementioned were the outlines of the two ships that appeared before Sangou.
Both ships were extremely dangerous, but through self-destruction via runaway, they could create a black hole.
Therefore, if they could intentionally trigger that and drag Sangou into it, there existed a possibility that even Sangou might not be able to escape.
Thus, the camp of the cornered mineral lifeforms first merged four fourth units.
From there, they began work to remake them into two new ships, and separately started selecting members for escape.
These were the main events that occurred until Sangou came to the Umyu Galaxy again.
They were the reason Sangou encountered the two ships, Reigou and Hatsugou.
Now, let's return the narrative to the battlefield in the Umyu Galaxy where Sangou was.
Sangou continued combat maneuvers against the mineral lifeforms, paying attention for the attack from Reigou and Hatsugou at any moment.
However, those crucial two ships, despite amplifying energy, did not start shelling at all.
And when suspicion was about to peak, it happened.
Reigou's self-destruction.
Then Hatsugou also moved to dive into Reigou while self-destructing.
At that moment, Sangou was placed under the influence of ultra-high gravity and could no longer navigate freely.
A moving black hole.
The moment an extremely dangerous entity appeared.
All the mineral lifeforms around Sangou were caught by the black hole's gravity and sucked inward.
Meanwhile, Sangou, already pulled inside, accelerated in the opposite direction from the center up to its limit speed, and using gravity control as well, tried to delay its fall by holding out.
But it could not escape from the influence of the black hole's ultra-high gravity.
Sangou had already been drawn inside the point of no return.
"I see. So this was your aim. My apologies. Captain, I fell into the trap."
"So this is the ultra-high gravity of a black hole. No comparison to a star. Slowly falling toward the center... Hey, Kichou's deployed shield is about to break."
"Sorry, Master. I tried my best but it's no good."
Such pressure from outside that Kichou's deployed shield magic was about to break soon.
That meant that 'even Shin's stronger shield magic might eventually reach its limit.'
Of course, that was 'if Shin kept supplying additional mana to the shield and just left it deployed without trying to maintain it against the pressure.'
"Sangou has no method of escape from here. And it seems that only with the captain's shield magic is survival inside the black hole possible. Unfortunately, it has become clear that the defense field Sangou can deploy cannot withstand it."
"Is that so..."
"Also, the further we fall toward the center, the more the pressure from outside will increase. Moreover, we cannot stop the falling itself."
"So this is what Kichou felt as the 'major crisis.'"
While saying that, Shin rechecked his current position with Map Magic.
That aside.
In fact, this situation Shin and the others had fallen into was not the crisis Kichou had announced, but that would become clear a little later in the future.
"My Map Magic coordinates are working effectively. That means we aren't 'in a different space.' And even Sangou can't escape from inside a black hole. Then, I have no choice but to do my best."
"That seems to be the case. Captain, do you have any means?"
"If it's just 'survive by escaping from here,' I can manage somehow."
At this time, Shin unconsciously spoke to Sangou limited to only what was possible.
A hero's intuition.
Perhaps through that, he felt that this incident wouldn't be resolved just by escaping.
"Then, please handle that for now."
First, without escaping, nothing would start.
Sangou straightforwardly relied on the captain's special abilities as a hero.
(At this rate, even if we eventually reach the center where the greatest pressure will be applied, there's a high possibility we can continue to survive with the captain's shield magic.)
From Sangou's perspective, understanding that the captain had inexhaustible mana, such a thought came out.
But even if Sangou survived there, it couldn't go anywhere else.
Also, since the captain was human, there was the issue of lifespan.
In short, from Sangou's perspective, if escape from the black hole was not achieved, there was no bright future.
Therefore, that took top priority, and other minor matters could be put off.
To add, wasting time by continuing to consider and examine countermeasures would directly lead to worsening the situation.
Because even now, Sangou was continuing to fall toward what seemed to be the center of the black hole at a considerable speed.
Sangou had no other choice but to bet on the captain's absurdity.
Hence the simple request as above.
An ultra-high gravity prison from which even the biological spaceship Sangou, capable of faster-than-light speed, absolutely could not escape.
That was something, once actually entering and experiencing it, that made not only self-powered escape but even survival impossible.
Sangou also had gravity control capability.
However, facing ultra-high gravity of a level it could not control even using that fully, the reality was that it had no meaning beyond 'being able to slow the falling speed.'
Well, there were no precedents of surviving being swallowed by a black hole in any of Sangou's records from the Deltania Star System's past.
Given that, it might be natural.
That aside, the captain, Sangou's last hope, kept an insolent smile and casually made a reassuring statement.
"Oh, leave it to me! So first, I'll expand the shield magic."
Shin expanded the range of the shield magic deployed to protect Sangou.
In doing so, he first created a vast surplus space within the deployed shield.
Next, after casting a separate shield magic on himself, he activated short-distance teleportation magic and went outside the ship.
Shin caught sight of Sangou within the surplus space he had created inside his shield.
Furthermore, with magic, he created a huge light sphere behind himself, casting a large shadow.
Then, Shin tossed Sangou, with Kichou still aboard, into the shadow.
From there, Shin activated long-distance teleportation magic.
At that time, he chose the destination arbitrarily based on a groundless feeling, from the space zone on the way to the Umyu Galaxy.
(For now, is this far enough away as a teleportation destination?)
The reason Shin did so was that he couldn't return to the Gialpha Galaxy without confirming the situation in the Umyu Galaxy.
Thus, after confirming the safety of the surroundings at the teleportation destination space zone, Shin let Sangou out of the shadow and boarded.
In doing so, he successfully completed escape from the black hole.
From a safe distance, Shin and the others checked the state of the Umyu Galaxy.
Of course, the observational part relied on Sangou.
Shin and Sangou.
The pair of a hero from a fantasy world and a biological spaceship born from super-science might truly be a relationship where they complement each other's shortcomings.
At any rate, Sangou strove to grasp the situation.
What it learned as a result.
It was that the attack means against Sangou chosen by the mineral lifeform camp, though coincidental, was about to create the worst possible situation for the Umyu Galaxy.
And the impact of that was not limited to just the Umyu Galaxy.
After completing some confirmation of the situation and future predictions regarding that, Shin and the others decided once more to return to the capital planet of the Gialpha Galaxy Empire.
The mineral space beasts that should have been exterminated, and the biological spaceships that should have been defeated for abetting them.
It seemed certain that they would all be swallowed by the black hole created by the self-destruction of Reigou and Hatsugou and annihilated.
That too was one factor in Shin's decision to return.
Also, the crisis Kichou had announced was, incidentally, just starting from here.
Seeking a solution to that serious crisis, one of the people consulted — originating from a whim of Nobunaga — was the goddess Mechamiyu, with her non-human abilities and knowledge.
From the useless goddess, the following statement came out, but that is a story a little in the future.
"Huh? Movin' black hole? That's the bad kind, ain't it."
After Mechamiyu, having heard the explanation, switched to a stunned expression and made such a statement, the useless goddess was half-forcefully put into a situation of providing her own knowledge.
With that provision, those who had listened with interest to Mechamiyu's words learned that the Gialpha Galaxy Empire was in a hopeless situation.
Thus, Hero Shin, accompanied by Sangou and Kichou, made a forceful entry into the Umyu Galaxy, was temporarily sucked into the interior of a black hole due to the enemy's self-destruct attack, but succeeded in escaping without difficulty.
Whether the mineral lifeforms anticipated that the self-destruct attack by Reigou and Hatsugou against Sangou would bring crisis to the Umyu Galaxy itself is unclear, but as a result, Reigou and Hatsugou were lost, and all mineral lifeforms participating in the attack on Sangou were swallowed by the black hole.
That the continued existence of the Umyu Galaxy itself became endangered due to that black hole is the result of actions and judgments as those who held hegemony over the galaxy, perhaps it should be calmly accepted.
And that is not a story that can attribute responsibility to Shin or Sangou.
Of course, the mineral lifeforms that had escaped earlier on the Unit Four may still think, 'If only Sangou wasn't there,' as they shared the death throes of their comrades swallowed by the black hole through their species' characteristics.
What exactly was the essence of the crisis Kichou sensed?
What kind of entity is the 'moving black hole' that Mechamiyu in a near future will speak of?
No one knows the future.
The hero, fully prepared to seriously clash with the remaining biological spaceships and having come to the Umyu Galaxy, was greatly surprised that the actual opponents he fought were almost entirely just groups of mineral space beasts, and the crucial biological spaceships only served as trap devices to create a black hole near Sangou through self-destruction.
Although he did cooperate with Kichou in scattering magic traps and magical attacks, he remained inside Sangou's bridge the whole time, so when returning the Holy Sword, which had no chance to be used until the end, to the Storage Space, Shin muttered involuntarily, "Somehow, it was an unsatisfying battle."