Beside her, Asta was completely stunned upon hearing Herta's words.
"You mean Sylvia is fighting... fighting an experimental subject down in the Seclusion Zone?!"
An image of Sylvia clad in her Valkyrie armor flashed through Asta's mind. She knew Sylvia could hold her own in a fight, but this was the first time she realized just how incredibly powerful she actually was.
When the Antimatter Legion invaded, the damage had been mostly limited to equipment and personnel casualties. The main structure of the space station itself had remained virtually unscathed.
That was exactly why so many researchers had never even considered the possibility of the station being vulnerable before then.
In their eyes, the Herta Space Station wouldn't even flinch if it took a few direct hits from a Planet Destroyer. After all, who could have anticipated that enemies would infiltrate the interior directly to cause havoc?
"Tsk, what a pain. If the space station breaks, send the damage bill straight to Ruan Mei!"
Herta rested her hands on her hips in irritation, looking up to give Asta a stern warning.
"Ah, right... got it."
Asta gave a slightly awkward smile, silently praying that they wouldn't end up tearing the place apart. To be honest, her mind still couldn't quite bridge the gap between Sylvia's face and the concept of total structural demolition.
Just then, March 7th and Stelle materialized in the Master Control Zone. They quickly found Asta, who was just getting ready to broadcast a reassuring announcement to the staff.
"Asta! What's going on?! We aren't being attacked again, are we?"
March 7th looked rather anxious. They had only tagged along with the Astral Express this time to get the train repaired; it would be just their luck to run into trouble again.
"Uh... no, no, the station isn't under attack." Asta shook her head, just about to explain.
Suddenly, another violent tremor rippled through the space station. Quite a few people outright lost their footing.
Since there were no handrails on the platform, Asta herself tripped and hit the floor, landing right on her backside. March 7th and Stelle fared a bit better, managing to stay on their feet with an awkward wobble.
"Station Master Asta, are you okay?"
"Ouch... ow, ow. I'm fine, totally fine, ahaha..." Asta leaned on March 7th and Stelle's hands to pull herself up, her face flushing slightly as she laughed it off.
"I didn't know space stations could have earthquakes," Stelle remarked, looking thoroughly bewildered.
"What do you mean earthquake... It's Sylvia and Ruan Mei's experiment." Herta shot Stelle an annoyed look before turning on her heel to leave. She needed to keep an eye on the Simulated Universe.
She didn't doubt Ruan Mei's calculations; the experimental subject downstairs definitely wouldn't last more than a minute. But if anything went sideways with the Simulated Universe during that time, Herta was absolutely going to drag Ruan Mei back here and force her to work for free!
March 7th and Stelle exchanged glances, utterly baffled. Sylvia was the one causing this massive uproar?!
"Could it be... down in the Seclusion Zone?"
Having recently returned from the Seclusion Zone, March 7th and Stelle had naturally filled Asta and Herta in on what they saw down there.
Although they didn't know the exact details, they were aware that the Genius Society member, Ruan Mei, was running an experiment in the depths. It seemed Sylvia was acting as her research assistant.
Unlike the two from the Express, Asta actually knew exactly what kind of monstrosity Sylvia was currently trading blows with, courtesy of Herta.
To be perfectly honest, when she first heard about it, Asta had broken into a cold sweat on the spot. Why couldn't they conduct such a dangerous experiment on some deserted planet instead of doing it right inside the space station?
But since Herta—the actual owner of the station—hadn't objected, it wasn't Asta's place to say anything.
"Yes, exactly there. It should be the final stage of the experiment... You two, as the Station Master, I'd like to commission you to head down to the Seclusion Zone and check on the damage. Would that be alright?"
"..."
March 7th and Stelle looked at each other, clearly not expecting Asta to send them down before they could even offer.
"Don't worry, leave it to us!"
--+--
Meanwhile, Sylvia was already locked in a brutal, close-quarters melee with the Swarm King: Skaracabaz.
A dense web of threads continuously tugged at the King's massive limbs, severely hindering its movements.
Swirling flames clung to its carapace, inflicting status ailments that steadily withered its strength.
Yet, the giant insect thrashed with absolute fury.
A chitinous shield materialized over its form, absorbing Sylvia's strikes, while a relentless barrage of Pyrolysis Death Beams and radiating venom rained down on her as if the beast had energy to burn.
A broadsword that would seem massive to a human looked microscopic against the towering Swarm King. To compensate, Sylvia condensed her flames into a colossal blade of pure fire.
Using the threads suspended in mid-air as footholds, she darted around the monster, constantly shifting her positioning.
The flames manifested into a colossal dragon—like a mythical beast born of the fire itself—unleashing a blinding, dazzling radiance as it slammed repeatedly into the Swarm King's armor.
The specially reinforced research bay, designed to withstand extreme forces, was already breaking apart under the sheer intensity of their clash.
Even the metal structural elements that hadn't collapsed yet were glowing cherry-red from the scorching heat waves and energy beams, showing signs of imminent melting. The floor had long since shattered into pieces, exposing the tangled, messy web of the metal framework underneath.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Every time the massive greatsword of flame descended, it struck like a sledgehammer, detonating against the insect's armor with a deafening, ear-piercing roar.
The tempest whipped up by the creature's immense body carried the raging fire with it, threatening to turn the entire zone into a literal inferno.
And amidst that sea of fire, the diminutive Sylvia stood like a golden deity, meeting the titanic Swarm King head-on in a display of raw power.
"Twenty seconds left!"
Boom!
Another heavy strike crashed down. This time, accompanied by a faint, sharp cracking sound, fractures finally splintered across the King's carapace, rapidly spreading over its entire body.
"ROAR!!!"
The Swarm King instantly forced its wings open, the massive appendages unfurling violently as a terrifying surge of energy welled up within it.
It conjured a massive Ovum of Collapsed Star directly overhead.
The frightening, translucent sphere—resembling a localized black hole—came plummeting down from the ceiling straight toward Sylvia's head, desperate to halt her onslaught.
"Tsk, just how much did Ruan Mei buff this thing?!" Sylvia couldn't help but curse inwardly as she stared up at the falling calamity.
She immediately commanded the fire dragon to soar upward, intercepting the attack. If that thing managed to hit the walls, it would likely blast a gaping hole right through the hull of the space station.
In the original timeline, the Swarm King hadn't possessed such ridiculous strength; the laboratory itself hadn't even been destroyed.
Yet the one she was fighting now had traded dozens of blows with her in less than half a minute and was still frustratingly full of energy.
Sylvia couldn't find a single opening to suppress the beast and attempt to take control of it.
It wasn't that she lacked the power, but rather that if she dialed up her output any further, she risked injuring herself from overload, and the space station's defensive shielding might fail to withstand the collateral damage of her own attacks.
Furthermore, the strength of her threads alone wasn't enough to pin this monster down; they could only serve as a minor distraction.
When she realized that this terrifying upgrade was a direct consequence of her own actions inside the Simulated Universe, Sylvia felt a wave of sheer helplessness. Talk about digging your own grave.
Unless...
If only Acheron could come down here and give this bug a taste of her blade. Severing its senses with the corrosion of Nihility might just give her the opening she needed.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL