"L… Let us back in!"

  "Open a path! P… please! Open a p——"

  "You attacked first."

  "Eek!"

  Although Van had been trying to get the Systellion's sun-sized ships to open and do something, he had still been very careful not to go overboard. One of Athena's lessons when faced with an enemy that you know is overwhelmingly stronger than you… is to find a way to negotiate.

  To talk.

  To talk until they let their guard down… or until they no longer consider you as an enemy.

  But as soon as he realized that the Systellions treated other races like one would treat a lowly animal, any thoughts of negotiating completely disappeared in his mind. He had felt this way before back when he was still living in the Relic Graveyard—— people looking at you like you're nothing but a piece of trash.

  And for these kinds of people, talking was useless as they think of themselves as higher beings.

  Of course, there might be Systellions that think differently—— but judging by the faces of the Systellions that surrounded him, they were young. And if their young had already been bred to think like this… then he had to assume that most of them were too far gone.

  And so, with those thoughts running in his mind—— he tested how strong the jellyfish-like spaceships were, instantly killing one of the Systellions surrounding him in the process as he was able to easily penetrate the bubble shielding them. It would seem that unlike the sun-sized ship, these small ones were not as durable.

  Of course, the others wanted revenge for their dead friend, but as soon as Van started killing them one by one, they all panicked.

  They all rushed to get back to the ship, but alas—— before they could even approach its surface, only one of them remained.

  "N… no," the young woman then shook her head a couple of times as Van slowly hovered towards her. Her eyes, looking at the dismembered head of her dead friend that Van was holding, "You… you're a monster!"

  "It's all about perspective, isn't it?" Van then said as he let go of the head he was holding, allowing it to freely float in the darkness of space,

  "Why isn't anyone helping you?" Van then breathed out. Did they also not care about their own? Or maybe… because the ship was too big, they actually can't monitor every single thing that was happening outside?

  They made a lot of chaos, sure… but compared to the size of the ship? They might as well not exist. If Van was right… then this was a flaw that he and the others could truly take advantage of.

  And seeing as how these people were able to seemingly get out of their own… could it be they were not as systematic as he previously thought? It was possible they even had their own sectors inside with people living in it—— and these brats just happened to be near where he was making chaos.

  "S… stay away from me!"

  Van's thoughts were then disrupted as the young woman's voice reached his ears; unlike Van's voice, which was just monotonous due to only using his mask, one could still hear the young woman's actual voice, complete with the fear she was feeling. Truly, a difference in technology.

  "I won't kill you," Van then shook his head as he flew behind the transparent jellyfish-like ship, "Well, at least if this thing survives."

  "What do you——"

  And before the young woman could even finish her words, she felt her vision shift—— with the stars that surrounded them now looking like streaks. She then adjusted herself inside the bubble, only to see Van… seemingly carrying the ship, his body almost disappearing as it blurred uncontrollably.

  "……" Van could only furrow his eyebrows as he watched as the young woman moved around inside the jellyfish completely unaffected. It was almost as if the interior of the ship was completely separate to whatever was happening outside. The young woman seemed to be saying something, but Van could only hear fading hums.

  Along the way, the young woman tried to steer off the ship, but as soon as Van's fist started to light up, she quickly behaved.

  And finally, after a few more minutes, Van returned to the galaxy's world, landing several meters away from the dome he created with the jellyfish-like ship in hand.

  Of course, they were met with almost a hundred guns as soon as his feet touched the ground.

  "Get out of the ship or I will kill you," Van then quickly said as he knocked on the ship to get the attention of the obviously confused Systellion, "Don't even try anything funny—— just a single movement from you that I deem suspicious, I am going to kill you… you saw how fast I am."

  "……" The young woman was still obviously distraught as her eyes wandered everywhere. But after a few seconds, she looked Van straight in the eyes as her ship… slowly melted, gently shrinking until it wrapped around her body like some sort of invisible armor.

  "Take that thing off."

  "I'll die!" The young woman quickly said, "I… I don't even know what you creatures breathe in."

  "King Evans!"

  It didn't take a while until Pauline and the others rushed to their location. And as soon as they saw Van with another individual, they knew he managed to get one of them again.

  "This…"

  "One of the Systellions," Van said, "Kill her if she does anything funny."

  "I think bringing her here isn't wise."

  "Y——" Van was about to say something, but seeing Diana's face still completely distracted him.

  "She might be contacting her kind and revealing our location to them as we speak," Diana then continued as pentagrams started to light up in front of her eyes, "I can't even get a reading on her because of that thing covering her entire body."

  "They already probably know our location without her," Van shook his head, "Their technology is… way beyond even that of the Common Circle."

  "Of course, we are above you."

  "……"

  "What is she saying?"

  Everyone's eyes then all turned towards the female Systellion as she suddenly joined in on their conversation.

  "It… will take a while before we can analyze her language," the representative from the Common Circle started scanning the Systellion with his tools.

  "She's already analyzed yours," Van let out a small sigh, "Just start interrogating her—— torture her if you need to."

  "T… torture!? You dare!?" The Systellion started to move, and as soon as she did so, Van suddenly appeared behind her and grabbed her neck.

  "It would seem you still don't understand your situation," Van whispered, "These people will die once the Ark arrives—— do you really think they wouldn't do anything and everything to you if it means getting even just a drop of information?"

  "W… wait!" The woman could only stutter as she felt Van's hand starting to vibrate around her neck, "I'm… I'm someone very important! If… you keep me safe then I can talk to someone!"

  "……" Van looked the Systellion in the eyes, before letting out a small sigh and retracting his hand.

  The young woman quickly gathered her breaths as she dropped to the ground.

  "Y——"

  "I don't believe you."

  And right when she thought she was safe, Van suddenly grabbed her left ankle, and before she could even wonder what was happening, she felt her entire vision once again shift.

  If it wasn't for the portable space craft protecting her entire body, then her entire back would have probably already been grated off as she was dragged through the ground… no. Her head would have definitely been the first to go as soon as Van pulled her away.

  "Do you know this woman?"

  And as the scenery in front of her finally stabilized, Van's words whispered into her ears. She then quickly got up to assess her situation, her eyes ceaselessly wandering throughout the wooden dome she now finds herself in.

  "So this is what the primates used to live in," she then whispered; the arrogant tone on her voice once again resurfacing, "I—— Apollo!?"

  The woman then almost jumped where she stood as her eyes finally landed towards Van and the caged individual he was talking to.

  "You said you didn't know her," Van stared Apollo straight in the eyes.

  "I don't!"

  "She just called you by name."

  "Of course, we Olympians are famous in the Ark!" Apollo slightly bellowed, "I——"

  "So if we torture her, you wouldn't do anything?" Van then said, and as if in cue with his words, several pentagrams surrounded the systellion's body.

  "W… what's happening!?"

  And similar to Apollo's confinement, the systellion was also confined in her spot as Pauline, Diana, and the others finally got back to the Dome.

  "Try getting out as much information you can from her," Van then said as the Ancient-class magicians approached.

  "She… just looks like a normal girl," Diana furrowed her eyebrows, "Are they really that bad of a race?"

  "……They wanted to capture me as a pet," Van muttered.

  "……Oh," Diana could only shake her head, "A lost cause, then. If she's not going to tell us anything, maybe we could reverse-engineer her… portable ship, it might allow us to learn a whole lot of things about their technology."

  "I might die if you——"

  "So she knows our language now?" Diana furrowed her eyebrows, "I wonder just what kind of——"

  "She's what we call a System Holder in my world," Van explained, "They have certain abilities unique to each of them."

  When Van killed the rest of the young woman's friends, Van was able to collect their—— !!!

  "……King Evans?"

  The others could not help but widen their eyes as Van suddenly stopped his words all of a sudden, his expression almost as if he has seen a ghost.

  And perhaps they were sort of right, as Van remembered that he had an ability that would somewhat allow him to penetrate someone's memories.

  [The Penalty of Hades]

  "……" But now that he no longer had the convenience of the System…
……How would he even activate that?