With the Calamity Swarm King's death, the previously orderly bugs descended into chaos.
Bereft of leadership, all semblance of organization swiftly collapsed.
Even the impenetrable barriers forming Tartaro began to writhe with restless insects trying desperately to break free.
The entire core region erupted into disorder in an instant.
Amidst this upheaval, Sora and Titania stood, locked in each other's gaze.
The flames around his body gradually receded, revealing his red-and-silver armor beneath.
"Looks like this time, I win."
Sora announced his victory clearly.
Having swiftly located and slain the Calamity Swarm King, he'd decisively secured victory in this contest.
"Tsk, fine—you won!"
Titania's voice carried obvious frustration, yet with the outcome already decided, she refrained from further argument.
She settled instead for voicing her displeasure openly through her expression and tone.
It was precisely then that Sora leaned closer with a teasing grin. "Ahahaha, back when you launched that sneak attack, did you ever imagine you'd end up in this moment?"
"What exactly went through your mind the instant you realized you'd lost to me? I'm honestly sooo curious…"
His taunting words prompted vein-like marks to pop across Titania's forehead, and his deliberately stretched-out tone caused her fists to involuntarily tighten.
This bastard... Sora... you!
Right when Titania was about to snap, their exchange was abruptly interrupted by a transmission.
"Uh... though I'd hate to disturb your reunion, could you two please stabilize this channel first?"
Fenille stared helplessly at the rapidly closing passageway, forced to interrupt Sora and Titania's spat.
"We still have around twenty percent of our people inside."
Due to the sudden chaos outside, Titania had previously ordered the remaining survivors to remain within.
Now, having witnessed their banter in open space, Fenille understood the immediate threat was momentarily over. Hence, their priority shifted to evacuating those left behind.
Hearing Fenille's words, Titania quickly reined in her temper, choosing to direct one last defiant glance at Sora before turning away with an exaggerated huff.
I'll settle this score with you later. For now, let's handle this.
Titania reached out, stabilizing the passage once more. With the Calamity Swarm King's death, this passage held firmer than before.
At least the once-active walls no longer posed an immediate threat to its integrity.
With the passage secured again, Sora and Titania stepped back inside, leaving Dragreder outside to clear a path for the ships.
Of course, Dragreder had no complaints—after all, clearing a path simply meant devouring his way through everything ahead.
Stepping onto Tartaro again, Sora felt a complicated rush of emotions.
After all, this was where Titania had previously double-crossed him.
Once everything settled, he would definitely have a proper talk with Titania about that little incident.
But first things first: evacuating everyone safely was paramount.
"Even though it's been merely a handful of days, somehow it feels like ages since we've seen each other, Mr. Sora."
Upon seeing Sora again, Fenille greeted him with a gentle, sincere smile.
"I must apologize for what happened last time."
Her reference was, naturally, to the incident where they had injected him with anesthetics.
"After thorough discussions last time, we all agreed that it wasn't fair to involve you all in our troubles."
They'd been trapped on Tartaro, but Sora's group still had options. Thus, when Titania gathered all the Memoria entities, they'd unanimously decided the "normal" humans should evacuate.
That was the genesis of their last-ditch plan. Who could've expected they'd reunite with Sora again just a few short days later?
"Regarding that matter, I'll definitely settle the account once all this ends. Right now, our priority is evacuating all the survivors."
Sora watched the scarred and battered ships moving away from Tartaro, though a curious thought suddenly crossed his mind.
"By the way, who led your operation this time?"
The refugees had broken through the barrier successfully, and their impressive discipline had piqued his curiosity.
When Fenille heard Sora's question, her gaze shifted quietly to someone behind her.
"Commander Titania is so cool! Absolutely amazing!"
"She's like a goddess!"
Listening to Titania proudly emphasizing her own role, a subtle smile curved at the edges of Sora's lips.
Hmm?!
Titania seemed suddenly aware of something amiss, sharply turning to glare in Sora's direction.
But at that moment, he had already begun another discussion with Fenille.
She could only watch their backs, unable to overhear their conversation clearly.
Was it just my imagination? Titania shook her head slightly.
...
When the last survivor left Tartaro, the planet was plunged into complete emptiness.
The Memoria entities bound to Titania's power might not have been able to permanently leave this star region, but at least they could wander a bit.
Eventually, only a single empty planet remained behind, with everyone else safely aboard ships heading out into the stars.
The Swarm disaster spanning hundreds of light-years had finally paused for a moment.
Yet both Sora and Titania knew this peace was only temporary.
After all, the two most formidable Swarm Kings remained missing, their whereabouts still unknown.
When Starcrusher saw the swarm suddenly fall into chaos, it immediately understood the worst-case scenario had come to pass.
Although Calamity had concealed itself superbly, its individual strength was lacking—it wasn't capable of directly confronting and swiftly resolving such a threat.
It could control every insect within hundreds of light-years, yet its personal combat prowess paled compared to the other Swarm Kings.
[What a pity...]
Had it managed to hold on a little longer, Starcrusher itself would have reached the battlefield.
With its fully restored power, their current enemy would have easily been torn apart.
Yet Calamity hadn't managed to endure until then.
Starcrusher swiftly exerted its authority, pacifying the nearby insects that buzzed chaotically around it.
As an Emanator, it too possessed the capability to command the swarm, albeit within a much smaller range.
And now, being so close to the battlefield's core, it needed only to assert its dominance over the nearby insects.
Once Starcrusher had stabilized every seed nearby, its thoughts turned elsewhere.
Now, only it and Afterglow remained among the Swarm Kings.
All five had revived together, but two perished early due to severely underestimating their enemy.
Calamity was taken down after its weakness had been exploited.
Thus, in the end, only it and the elusive Afterglow Swarm King were left.
An inexplicable melancholy surfaced within it; those former companions had vanished before they'd even properly reunited. Now, only a single peer remained.
Afterglow previously said it would wait for an opportunity to strike.
[Hopefully, you're safe this time.]
Starcrusher broadcast this message throughout the space enveloped by the swarm's channels.
A swift response soon arrived from afar.
[I'm fine. I've located the ants' nest. Once I've destroyed it, I'll join you.]
Afterglow's reply arrived right on schedule.
It had been quietly carrying out its own plans, unnoticed by anyone else.
Starcrusher immediately responded after hearing this message: [Wait, let's move together this time.]
Three Swarm Kings had already fallen. Only the two of them remained. Starcrusher intended to gather their remaining strength together.
[…But I've already prepared everything. Fine, then hurry over here.]
Afterglow transmitted a set of coordinates.
Upon seeing them, Starcrusher surged forward instantly toward that location.
Countless insects accompanied it, creating an enormous swarm that spread out alongside its massive form.
...
Moving outward from the core region, everyone clearly sensed the insects becoming increasingly sparse.
From a dense, vision-blocking swarm, their view gradually cleared to reveal scattered insects floating among the endless stars.
Such a stark contrast would be obvious to anyone—unless they were blind.
"Has the swarm already been culled to this extent outside?"
How long had their ships even been at full power?
Their total traveled distance surely hadn't exceeded two hundred light-years.
Yet the scene before them was worlds apart from their starting point.
It felt as if they'd escaped straight from hell into the human realm, leaving them utterly astonished by everything around them.
Sora, however, felt nothing special about it.
He had spent a long time within the Swarm Disaster Zone already. After rescuing most of the wanderers, he planned to finally take a brief break.
This seemed to be his first choice to return.
The moment Robin heard Sora planned on returning to rest, she eagerly prepared an entire set of arrangements.
Guaranteed: once he arrived, he could collapse straight onto a bed.
Just hearing that made Sora's exhaustion feel more pronounced. Collapsing into bed truly was his greatest desire right now.
After a long, arduous journey, everyone aboard was stunned when the gathering point of the wanderers appeared before their eyes.
A huge, high-tech area sprawled before them, rough components hinting at a hastily assembled structure.
Countless ships, armed and loaded, landed and took off from this space, heading towards the boundless galaxy beyond.
"Is this really a refugee gathering point?"
Even Sora found it difficult to believe when he saw the massive space station before him.
He clearly remembered this place wasn't very big before, yet the area now rivaled that of a small planet.
Just what the heck had happened here in such a short span of time?
At that moment, an incoming communication came from ahead.
After their identity and purpose were quickly verified, the massive station directed them to land at a designated spot.
Following instructions, they descended, and stepping out from their ships, the wanderers felt as though they'd crossed lifetimes.
Just moments ago, they'd been desperate, agonizing over escape plans.
Yet now, they'd suddenly arrived at an incredibly peaceful haven.
Such a drastic shift left them momentarily disoriented.
As soon as they emerged from their ships, people quickly stepped forward to warmly welcome these survivors.
"This place is absolutely safe. You'll no longer need to worry about insects. After some simple registration, please get some proper rest."
It was a simple, heartfelt reassurance. Yet tears immediately welled in the eyes of those who'd just disembarked.
Thank goodness. They'd finally, finally reached a place of peace.
"It's all thanks to Commander Titania."
"Yeah, without the Commander, we'd have been eaten by the True Stings long ago."
"We should also thank this kind benefactor for his help."
Hearing how these people referred to her, Titania immediately moved to step forward and correct them.
But right at that moment, Sora quickly covered her mouth from behind.
"Just don't spoil the mood right now."
Along the way, he'd grown thoroughly tired of hearing Titania emphasize her exalted status.
The less she spoke right now, the quieter his ears would be.
"Mmmph!!"
With her mouth covered by Sora's hand, Titania began struggling furiously.
She simply wanted to emphasize her true greatness; a mere title of "Commander" couldn't possibly reflect her greatness!
Unfortunately for her, all Sora wanted right now was peace and quiet. He had no intention of listening to her endless babbling.
Just then, a hurried set of footsteps approached.
"Dad?" Fenille saw a familiar figure.
Sora turned his head to look as well.
In the distance, a small group of people stood together.
Among them was a woman who appeared somewhat haggard from prolonged sleeplessness, looking straight at him.
Upon seeing him safe and unharmed, she couldn't help but softly smile.
"Looks like you've returned safely."
The atmosphere shifted subtly in that moment, only to be abruptly shattered by Sora's blunt remark.
"When was the last time you had a proper rest?"
Looking at her messy hair and dark circles, he couldn't help but feel curious.
"Look who's talking—aren't you the same?"
Sora wasn't much better, with greasy, short hair and eyes shot through with red veins.
Robin couldn't help but sigh inwardly. What was going on in this guy's head?
At this moment, wasn't he supposed to respond gently with something like "I'm home"?
"Sigh~~"
The two soon shared a mutual smile, but then Sora's face flushed with pain as he grasped his foot, hopping around.
"You! You're fighting dirty! You actually stepped on my toes!"
Titania simply snorted triumphantly.
Finally! I got you!