Beyond Time, A Will Inherited
It had been about an hour since Unit 5 had taken off from Realm to provide reinforcements.
「This is Astraea. A massive enemy force is approaching. The leader of the enemy force is presumed to be a Teras. The number of Kakodaimons is overwhelming.」
「Understood. I’ll order Realm’s new combat assets to be deployed as well. I don’t know if they will work as expected; we haven’t had time to perform a combat test yet.」
「Understood. We will construct the most effective defense network possible on our end.」
The communication with Astraea was cut off.
「Arthur, can you hear me? Deploy the newly developed Mythology Weapons.」
「Understood, Outis. I will dispatch them immediately.」
Unit 5 was flying at full speed, remaining vigilant against anti-air laser attacks from Teras.
「We can’t afford to be careless, even at this altitude. Lower our altitude further.」
「Aerial weapons are being neutralized… Arthur was right after all.」
Unit 5 adjusted its altitude in a controlled descent while executing evasive maneuvers. It wouldn’t be easily caught by enemy forces.
「Kou! We’re receiving a request for rendezvous!」
Asia’s voice carried a tense urgency.
「Friend or foe unknown. Language also unidentified. They seem to be nearby.」
「A rendezvous? In this open plain, we should be able to spot them easily…」
Kou scanned the vast expanse of the plains.
A single animal was running. Even from a distance, it was clearly visible—a black feline.
It was sprinting ahead of Unit 5, ears flattened against the wind, clearly in a hurry. Its speed was astonishing—fast enough that Unit 5 couldn’t catch up immediately.
「Wait… is that a black panther? No… its face is round. A black cat! A house cat, all the way out here? It’s wearing a red collar with a huge golden bell. That’s adorable.」
「It definitely looks like a domestic cat. Come to think of it, domestic cats are said to have descended from the Libyan African wildcat.」
Kou, a cat lover, couldn’t help but smile. The black cat was dashing ahead of them. But Asia quickly sensed something was off.
「Kou! This isn’t right!」
「Huh? What do you mean?」
To Kou, it just looked like an ordinary black cat running across the grasslands.
「Unit 5 is flying… and yet, we can’t catch up to it?」
At that moment, Unit 5 was moving at supersonic speed.
「Ah!」
Despite its charming appearance, this was an abnormal phenomenon. The very fact that Unit 5’s long-range camera could still recognize it as a cat was already strange. Several minutes had passed since they had detected it, but they hadn’t shortened their distance with it. The cat was running at a speed similar to the supersonic flight of Unit 5.
「Wait, isn’t it weird that we can even see it as a cat from this far away? Look closely—it’s bigger than the trees!」
「Its appearance is exactly the same as a black house cat, so it can deceive you, but it’s considerably bigger than a Silhouette! That cat… I’ve confirmed it. The rendezvous signal we received earlier—it’s coming from the cat!」
Unit 5 lowered its altitude and flew directly behind the massive black cat.
The cat briefly glanced at Unit 5 before flicking its head to the side dismissively and continuing forward.
「…It’s telling us to get on.」
The cat was unmistakably slowing down, matching its speed to sync with them.
「That’s what it seems like. Should we grab onto its collar? If it’s a cat, its neck area should be sturdy enough.」
Unit 5 carefully moved in and latched onto the nape of the enormous cat.
The cat didn’t react—completely unfazed. This wasn’t just some giant creature. It was mechanical. Kou was now certain.
「…Funyaa.」
The massive black cat turned its head toward Unit 5, let out a single meow, and continued running.
「…I see. You’re trying to help the humans, aren’t you?」
The way it sprinted—it resembled the desperate dash of a cat in an emergency. Kou had seen this posture before, like when a mischievous cat bolted away after causing trouble. But one thing was clear—the enormous cat was in a hurry.
As someone who had owned cats, Kou didn’t feel like this one was a stranger.
「Let’s go.」
Unit 5 straddled the enormous black cat, and together, they sped forward.
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Twenty thousand years ago, on Planet Libya, a pilot who once fought aboard an Another Level Silhouette met his end.
The black cat-shaped Familia that had accompanied him—his companion and emotional support—also shared his fate.
Yet, the memories of the two remained.
The memories of her master’s wish to protect the people he cared for. The memories of the bond she shared with him.
She had transformed into a Mythology Weapon, yet the memories lived on within her.
She did not understand human language. She could not easily communicate with others.
And yet…
The will left behind in the machine that created her—the singular purpose of protecting humans—was unwavering within her.
The red collar and golden bell she wore were precious to her. They were modeled after something her original, the Familia that was her base had cherished.
She was an Eidolon—a Mythology Weapon born in the form of a cat. She could not speak to humans. But she had decided—she would protect them.
She would lead others—those like her who had also become Mythology Weapons, the feline Eidolons.
She would protect the fragile humans.
The Silhouette riding on her back, along with the human inside—surely, they were important figures. The communication she had received from the wreckage of Hephaestus had confirmed as much.
Surely… they would fight alongside her.
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
「Outis! Why are you with her?!」
Arthur’s tense voice crackled through the comms.
「Well… She told us to get on, I guess?」
There was no sense of hostility from her.
「No way… She allowed you to get on her back? She is Bastet, one of the Eidolons. A free-spirited beast, yet also the guardian deity of Planet Libya. She commands the feline Eidolons. A Mythology Weapon born from another Another Level Silhouette.」
「She’s an Eidolon?! But she’s… really friendly.」
Kou was stunned. He had always heard that Eidolons were neutral and impredictible entities.
By sheer habit—perhaps from his time petting his own beloved cat—Kou instinctively moved Unit 5’s mechanical arm and gently stroked Bastet’s forehead.
Cats often enjoyed being scratched under the chin, but many also liked having their foreheads petted.
「If she’s moving, that means the feline Eidolons have also mobilized to aid humanity.」
「Wait… So Eidolons are essentially Mythology Weapons modeled after wild animals?」
「Many of them fit that description. They are considered neutral only because they cannot communicate with humans.」
「I see… That makes sense.」
Through the interface of Unit 5, Kou addressed Bastet directly.
「Hey… please, Bastet. I want to protect everyone. Will you fight alongside me?」
「Kou, there’s something I’d like to test. Do you mind?」
「Master? You’ve got something in mind? Alright, I’ll leave it to you.」
「Nyaa—o!」
From behind, Asia’s Aimer let out a strange meowing sound. It was likely Master speaking through her.
「Nyaa.」
Bastet responded with a meow of her own.
「Nya-nya.」
「Uu-nyaa?」
「Aooon.」
Kou murmured in disbelief.
「…They’re like two cats speaking between themselves.」
The exchange sounded exactly like the vocalizations cats made when communicating with each other. While cats primarily meowed to get human attention, they occasionally used these sounds to talk amongst themselves as well.
Seeing Aimer—Master controlling her body—speaking in fluent cat language was unexpectedly endearing.
「Kou, it seems that the Another Level Silhouette that was the base for Bastet had a feline Familia alongside its pilot inside its MCS. Those two perished here, but Bastet has inherited their will—the pilot and Familia from twenty thousand years ago.」
Master, having finished her conversation with Bastet, explained.
「What…? That means…」
「She can understand the language of feline Familias. It seems the Another Level Silhouette and the Familia fully integrated into one. I can communicate with her, and she has decided to aid you.」
「Thank you, Bastet.」
Bastet flattened her ears slightly, then continued sprinting at full speed.
AN:
Faction Breakdown:
Kryptos: Mythology Weapons with human-aligned consciousness. Crude in speech but deeply committed to protecting humanity, inheriting the will of Libya.
Eidolons: Wild and difficult to communicate with. Some even attack humans.
Teras: Strongly inclined toward destruction. If necessary, they will harm humanity. Currently, they are actively capturing and assimilating humans.
With humanity on the brink of annihilation, the Eidolons who sympathize with them have finally joined the fight!
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