New Moon

Ignoring the screams that erupted from his surroundings, Yuuto and Stelle managed to reach the center point where the people of the Astral Express were waiting.

Himeko, Dan Heng and March all surrounded a young woman who had light pink hair and calm blue eyes.

However her blue eyes showed a ripple of seriousness when she saw the large dragon-like monster ripping through their barrier like it was a piece of paper.

"Take the express and leave before you get caught by the Doomsday Beast."

"But…"

"Don't worry, the station's defenses are not.that weak so unless an Emanator arrives, we will be fine."

Asta showed March a faint smile as she saw the gloom lingering on her face when she looked at the large monster on the screen.

Asta's eyes caught onto Yuuto who had reached their group and gestured for him to join after giving him a small nod. This had caught the attention of the people around her which caused them to look at who arrived.

"You guys are finally here."

"Sorry we're a bit late."

"Don't mind but… we need to start moving now."

Himeko briefly looked at Asta who nodded her head with a serious expression before she led the group out in a hurry.

"Take care of yourself."

"Oh? How kind of you to say that." 

"I just had to say it since a person such as you is just as important as the people you are here to protect."

"I will be sure to keep that in mind." Asta giggled as she heard Yuuto's encouraging words and felt her body slightly relax.

Yuuto saw this and smiled internally before turning around and catching up with the group.

Asta looked at the departing backs of the Express crew one last time before pressing a few buttons on her screen which activated a few of the station's active defense systems in an attempt to reduce the damage the Doomsday Beast was making.

"What a flirt."

"What do you mean? I was just expressing my thoughts."

"Flirty thoughts."

"You know, you've been very vocal ever since we first met."

"Thaw waz becasue you are twe swame to me."

Stelle jumbled her words as Yuuto began pulling on her cheek in retaliation to her accusations.

The group went out of the Master Control Room and entered the Supply Zone where they stopped to talk about their future plans.

"A-Are we going to really run away like this.."

"There is not much we can do when it comes to the Doomsday Beast."

"But.. leaving like this puts a bad taste in my mouth.."

Dan Heng calmly said his thoughts but March was still hesitant nonetheless knowing that they were leaving the Station in this type of situation.

March wanted to know Yuuto and Himeko's thoughts when she suddenly saw that the two, including Stelle were talking about something close together.

"So the orbital cannon is surely out of the question?"

"Yes, the damage it will create to its surroundings will be immense so we can't risk it."

"Was worth a shot.. " Yuuto rubbed his chin as he mumbled.

"Well, I have some sort of idea but I'll explain it later. First we need to get to the Express's platform."

Himeko subtly glanced at Stelle which Yuuto caught.

"Wait, I want to show something while we go towards the platform."

As they began walking towards the nearest railway platform, Yuuto pulled out a small holographic device and displayed an image of the Doomsday Beast.

"This.."

"I actually spoke with Mr. Yang a few days ago talked about certain creatures that are pretty destructive and the topic of the Doomsday Beast also came up at one point."

Yuuto spoke without any ripple in his voice as if that small conversation was very 'coincidental'.

Himeko, March and Dan Heng looked deeply at the image and saw a few notes stating the various mechanisms and detailed anatomical portions of how the Doomsday Beast functions.

"Hmm, very detailed I must say."

"I wanted to learn more about potential opponents so I could be safer." Yuuto said as he skimmed through the notes and sent them to the group with him.

"I see some information that's similar to the ones I've seen in the Archive. Did you get some from there?"

"I used the majority of the references I could find but some things are still missing."

Dan Heng agreed as the Archives were still in a slight mess with the amount of information contained within it so he was still sorting its contents.

"What is this?"

"I think it's some sort of power thing? It says [Antimatter Engine] so it has to resemble a type of engine.".

"This looks complicated…"

"I understand how you feel."

March and Stelle wrinkled their faces as they read a few lines on the document and felt their mind throb with the mass of text it had.

Luckily there were some pictures so they found that part to be the most helpful compared to the words.

'We should handle the Doomsday Beast much better with this information but that's only if an Emanator doesn't…'

Himeko felt a bit more confident with the sudden situation but only with practical practice will this information be of use.

***

The group continued to run towards their destination with a few minions from the Antimatter Legion obstructing their path but with the large group of people, it was fairly easy.

As they continued to fight, Yuuto also discovered something surprising with his control over his mist. 

'It has gotten way smoother.'

Piercing through the armor of a few Voidrangers, Yuuto felt like the flow of which his mist came out was more smoother as if his connection with this power was strengthened.

'It must be from looking into that mirror right?'

The only evidence he thought of was that memory that was found inside that bubble and the urge to go on a hunt for every one of these bubbles grew inside him as there was a chance of gaining something that may benefit him.

"Hurry! There's the platform!"

March began to run ahead as she saw the railway platform just a few meters ahead of them.

"Is Mr. Yang not here yet?"

"Welt is quickly approaching us but it looks like it will take a while before he arrives."

Dan Heng looked around after hearing Himeko's response and ran after March who ran ahead.

"Get ready."

Yuuto said to Stelle beside him and without saying anything she pulled out her large bat and went on guard after hearing his tone.

–WOOOOOM

The sounds of wings flapping echoed through the ears of the group and they saw how a large dragon-like creature floated in the air. 

Its large body flew around before it converged itself towards the center of the platform where they stood with their weapon already out.

–KROOOOM

The Doomsday Beast let out a roar that generated fierce winds that brushed past the hair of every single member.

"Damn, it really is large when I'm up this close."

Yuuto raised his eyes when he saw the large monster and quickly released his mist that began to spread throughout his surroundings.

Seeing the beast up close, Yuuto thought he would feel a bit more panic but his mind was oddly calm as he felt like this was not enough to cause a ripple. 

"I will aim at the weak points and try to do what I talked about before."

Yuuto wasted no time as he immediately created his white sword that he hadn't used this whole time and quickly rushed towards the beast's arms to begin his attack.

Stelle was also quick to react as she was aggressive with her attack from the start and began to display large movements within her attacks.

"I'll also go ahead."

"Wait for me!"

"Careful everyone."

A black wind that closely resembled ink quickly enveloped Dan Heng as his body blurred and reached a certain area where he executed a series of quick jabs before finishing with a powerful sweep from his spear.

March and Himeko followed along as a rain of crystal like arrows rained down on certain parts of the beast. While Himeko opened her suitcase and threw out a drone carrying a large saw within itself.

A flurry of attacks began to reach the beast which stood still when Yuuto quickly jumped backwards and called out to the others.

"It's about to attack! Move back!"

The people who were close up evaded after hearing his call and moved out of the vicinity where a large claw began to sweep at the ground they were just at.

A large gash in the ground showcased its large power despite only moving its arm in a single direction.

Seeing the attack fade away, the three close ranged fighters rushed back to continue their assault on the beast.

"I guess the plus side is that my movement is not limited to only fighting in front of the Doomsday Beast."

Yuuto spoke to himself as he waved his left arm and the increasing density of mist gathering around him converged and formed into three large spikes.

He moved to the side where the spikes formed from the ground and raised upwards where it punctured the side of the beast.

—KOUUGHHH

The Doomsday Beast gave out a large cry to express the damage it had received and swung its arm in retaliation to where Yuuto was.

He saw the large black like claw object enter his view and Yuuto used his mist to create a construct where he used to jump upwards and dodge the attack.

In the air he watched as the block he just stood on shattered and disintegrated back into his mist.

"The orb on its head should be a major weak point."

Yuuto twisted his body in the air and perfectly landed onto the arm of the beast where his balance allowed him to run up the beast's arm.

–SWISH SWISH

As he ran, slivers of superficial cuts began to increase in number as Yuuto swung his sword with each step he took.

"How did he even get up there?"

"I'm not sure but the sight of a person running up the arm of a Doomsday Beast sure is something."

March stood with her mouth agape and Himeko let out a small laugh seeing this sight.

Yuuto jumped from the arm and used his sword to stab the beast's shoulder and used that as a foothold to jump even further where he held onto the large horn like protrusions it had on its head.

–KOOOOHH

"You damn thing! Stop shaking your large head and let me stab you."

Yuuto raised his right hand and another white sword formed. He grasped onto the sword and swung downwards with all his might and attacked the large orb that was attached to its head.

–CLING

"Damn, it looks like glass but it's entirely different from that fragile thing."

Yuuto felt his hand shake as the vibrations from when he struck the orb was strong but he continued to attack the orb with a flurry of strikes that all merged into a single point.

However, seeing how his progress was way too slow to his liking, he realized that it was time for him to pull out one of the cards he had prepared for the fight.

"I'm lacking strong power but this should help me do more damage my own way…"

Yuuto took a deep breath and focused on a certain memory he worked all his time on for the past few days in preparation for this encounter.

His breathing turned silent and a small hue of silver flickered around his body, reminiscent of the moonlit glow that captured his eyes at that one moment.

The sword in his hand glowed with a deep pale silver and the strength in Yuuto's body felt stronger as he felt connected to the memory he was thinking of.

[Jingliu's Swordsmanship] 

This memory was one of his most potent ones that he was unable to even fully use due to its nature of needing a body fitted for this art.

A flexible yet strong body and the way she used her energy was something he lacked but after countless times of looking into the memory and fitting it to his liking, he was able to figure something out.

"[Load]"

[New Moon Phase]

The pale silver hue spread throughout Yuuto's sword and he swung his arm and an even faster speed was displayed that was far beyond he had ever used.

His arm blurred and the whistles of air being cut was the only thing audible to him and what came next was the subtle sound of an item getting chipped.

"Perfect."

Yuuto's mouth curled into a large smile as he saw the slight chip in the orb's structure and his eyes glowed with a white hue, ready to continue with his attack.