MTLNOVEL Chapter 245: Cooperation.
The moment Nyra and Lyra opened their eyes and took in the sight before them, their exhaustion momentarily faded, replaced by stunned disbelief.
The ruined trading station, which they had assumed was completely abandoned and doomed, was now swarming with massive, monstrous creatures.
These towering beasts, easily the size of the Kaelzar Mauler Juggernauts, were ripping apart what was left of the station's hull, but not in the way the twins had expected.
Instead of destroying for the sake of mindless carnage, the creatures were entering the collapsing station, forcing their way through debris with sheer brute strength.
And as they emerged again… they were carrying survivors.
The grotesque, biomechanical monsters, creatures unlike anything the twins had seen before, were delicately cradling the civilians, guards, and even Aegis units in their massive clawed hands.
One by one, they ferried the survivors toward the Kaelzar frigates, passing them off to waiting medical teams before returning to retrieve more.
Lyra blinked in utter confusion. "Are… are those things actually helping? What the hell am I looking at right now?"
Nyra's jaw tightened, her instincts still screaming that something wasn't right. "I don't trust this… Those things don't look like rescuers. They look like nightmares."
Rex exhaled through his nose, his grip on them steady. "Yeah, well…" He looked away, almost sheepishly. "Let's just say Xytrallia has a very different way of doing things."
The twins both turned their heads toward him at the same time.
"Wait… WAIT." Nyra's eyes widened. "Are you telling me—"
"These monsters are khryssari?!" Lyra shouted, her voice rising.
Rex scratched the back of his helmet with one hand while still holding onto them with the other. "Ehh… yeah. She calls them 'Void Crawlers.' Apparently, they're some kind of elite bio-warriors bred specifically for 'high-risk rescue operations.'"
"HIGH-RISK RESCUE?!" Nyra shouted while gesturing wildly toward the abominations crawling through the wreckage. "THEY LOOK LIKE THEY EAT BABIES FOR BREAKFAST, REX!"
Lyra, still pressed against his chest, just sighed. "You know what? I'm too tired to process this. I'm just gonna assume they're the good guys and hope I don't get eaten."
Nyra grumbled but didn't argue. "Fine. But if one of those things even looks at me funny, I'm gutting it."
Rex chuckled, adjusting his hold on them as he prepared to move again. "Yeah, yeah. Just hold tight. We're not done yet."
As they soared through the debris-filled void, Lyra, still nestled in Rex's grasp, tilted her head up with a curious expression.
"By the way, Rex..." she asked, her tired but inquisitive crimson eyes blinking up at him. "How the hell did you guys even get here this fast? I was sure it took days to travel this distance. Even if we were fighting for three days straight, you should've still taken longer to arrive."
Nyra, who had finally calmed down from her near-death adrenaline rush, frowned slightly. "Yeah, that's actually a good question. You better not tell me you just 'flew really fast.'"
Rex chuckled, the glow of his golden aura illuminating the edges of his armored frame. "Well, you see... that's a long story."
A Few Minutes Before the Collapse of the Trading Station...
Cleo stood at the heart of the Cleopatra's command center, her golden eyes fixed on the massive meteorite still hurtling toward the doomed station.
Despite the combined efforts of her fleet and the obelisks, they were losing.
The obelisks, her most advanced creation, had successfully slowed the meteorite's descent... but only just. The monstrous rock was already halfway to impact, and the energy reserves of the allied human ships were draining fast.
From atop the main obelisk, Mini Cleo's holographic form flickered violently, the electromagnetic storm disrupting her projection. "Original body! We can't hold this much longer!"
Cleo remained silent, her fingers clenched around the controls.
"Even with the additional power from the allied human fleet, it's not enough!" Mini Cleo continued, her usually cheerful tone now laced with static. "I highly recommend diverting the remaining energy into an escape maneuver before it's too late!"
Cleo's lips pressed into a thin line. "Recommendation rejected."
Mini Cleo's flickering hologram blinked in confusion. "But—"
"While it would be the logical solution," Cleo cut in, her voice unwavering, "the people inside that station are also my people. As their ruler, I will use every resource at my disposal to ensure that as many of them as possible escape."
Her HUD flashed warning after warning as her Core Energy Nucleus fluctuated dangerously, dropping to 5% before surging back to 100% in the span of a second, only to deplete again almost instantly.
Cleo was the primary energy conduit for the obelisks. Every bit of power needed to sustain the energy field was first routed through her.
She was running out of time.
"Main body!" Mini Cleo suddenly shrieked, her voice spiking with urgency. "Detecting another space-time crack! This one is... it's even BIGGER! I've never seen this energy signature before!"
Cleo's breath stilled for a moment. "Another one?"
Suddenly, a series of massive space cracks ripped open behind the meteorite, six in total, each one large enough to dwarf even the Cleopatra herself.
And then... the seventh crack appeared.
This one was different.
It started as a small tear in space, but it kept expanding.
From the first six cracks, massive, jagged tentacles emerged, their dark green, glossy surface reflecting the faint glow of distant stars. They writhed and coiled, stretching outward toward the meteorite like the grasping fingers of an ancient god.
And then... the seventh crack split open.
What came through was—
A PLANET.
No... not a planet.
A monstrous, eldritch, living world with a cracked, chasm-like maw lined with jagged, gnashing teeth.
Cleo's golden eyes widened in sheer disbelief.
The planet was alive.
The colossal, world-sized entity opened its maw and let out a deep, guttural hum that reverberated through the very fabric of space.
Then, using its writhing tentacles, it pulled the meteorite closer.....
And began to eat it.
The massive meteorite, which had been large enough to wipe out an entire sector, was now nothing more than a snack.
It cracked apart inside the creature's maw, breaking into glowing fragments as it was devoured whole.
For the first time in years, Cleo felt genuine uncertainty.
She had fought countless battles. She had calculated impossible odds. She had outmaneuvered some of the greatest tacticians the galaxy had ever seen.
But this?
"...What am I looking at right now?" Cleo whispered under her breath, her scanners going haywire as they failed to quantify what she was witnessing.
Then, amidst the chaos, her comms flared to life.
And in that moment, she felt a connection snap back into place, one that had been missing for far too long.
A voice, familiar and maddeningly casual, came through the static.
"Hey, Cleo!"
Her HUD instantly tagged the incoming signal Source: Khryssari Supercapital Ship.
"I'm back! And I brought reinforcements! I expect a good reward for this, by the way."
Cleo blinked.
She exhaled sharply.
And then, for the first time in hours... possibly even days, she let out a small, relieved smirk.
"Took you long enough, Rex."
Back in the Present...
Nyra and Lyra stared at Rex.
Then they stared at each other.
Then they stared at Rex again.
Finally, Nyra pointed a shaking finger at his face. "Are you telling me... some kind of space god-planet monster ATE the meteorite?!"
"Yeah, pretty much," Rex replied nonchalantly. "Cool, right?"
"NO, THAT'S NOT COOL! THAT'S TERRIFYING!" Nyra snapped, her voice rising. "Where the hell did that thing even COME from?!"
Lyra, still dazed, just let out a weak chuckle. "Rex… You absolute menace…"
Rex just grinned behind his visor. "What can I say? I make friends in strange places."
"Rex." Nyra's voice was deadly serious now. "Did you just bring ANOTHER problem into our already chaotic lives?"
Rex pretended to think about it. "Mmm… Maybe?"
Lyra groaned and buried her face against his armor. "I don't even care anymore... just get us home before my brain melts…"
Rex chuckled as he tightened his hold on them. "Yeah, yeah. Hold on tight."
Meanwhile, Cleo barely had time to process what was happening before a voice that was smooth and teasing, filled the dimly lit command room of the Cleopatra.
"Well, hello there～"
In an instant, a figure materialized before her, it was not a hologram, not a projection, but the real, physical form of Xytrallia.
Cleo's golden eyes flickered with weary irritation. She was exhausted, her core was nearly depleted, her systems were still rerouting power, and now this.
She stared at the intruder from her throne, her body heavy with fatigue. "Who are you?" she asked, her voice steady but lacking its usual commanding edge.
Xytrallia tilted her head, a mischievous smirk playing on her lips. "Ah～, is this how you treat your savior? After all the wonderful things Rex said about you? Did he lie to me?"
She placed a delicate, clawed finger against her lips, feigning deep thought, though the amusement in her glowing green eyes made it clear she was enjoying this far more than she should.
Cleo exhaled sharply, placing both hands on the armrests of her throne as she slowly pushed herself to stand, her movements deliberate, defiant.
"I don't know what Rex told you about me," she said, her tone edged with quiet authority, "but I don't recall inviting you onto my ship. So don't expect any courtesy from me."
Xytrallia chuckled, the sound a mix of delight and intrigue. "Oh dear～, I remember your kind being so dreadfully dull. Always obsessing over protocol, rules, and hierarchy… But somehow, you don't act like one of them～."
Before Cleo could react, Xytrallia vanished from where she stood, reappearing directly in front of her in an instant.
Cleo didn't flinch.
But she did stiffen when Xytrallia's cool fingers gently tilted her chin up.
The queen's smirk widened, her eyes gleaming with something unreadable. "Uhum～, fascinating… If it weren't for the composition of your energy, I wouldn't have even realized you were Kaelzar."
Her voice dipped into something more curious, almost hungry. "I've never seen one of your kind try so hard to look human… when your entire race has always believed organics to be beneath them～."