"The path isn't too narrow, so that's a relief."
"Still, we should be careful. Especially with Multipurpose Unit 1 and 2."
"Don't worry. I've got their leashes tightly held."
As Nadia wagged her tail, she gave the two guys tied up to her support arms a few light taps. Unable to resist even for a moment, the two who'd been about to act out flinched, pretending nothing had happened.
Multipurpose Unit 1 and 2, who had been stubbornly refusing to proceed, let go of their bad mood only after Nadia gave them a crystal with her pincer. Perhaps now they've seen everything they wanted to—they tried to avert their gaze elsewhere.
With the control crystal linked to the bio-circuit now in Nadia's possession, there wasn't likely to be a big issue. Still, caution couldn't hurt, considering we kept encountering crystal caves scattered throughout the rugged terrain.
Caves made of naturally refined crystal formed massive columns that intertwined with each other, creating a coexistence of beautiful complexity and chilling sharpness.
That was the reason red sparks were crackling all over the area. Even a small part of these crystals stored immense energy, but the energy naturally discharged from an entire cave like that was on a totally different scale.
Before the satellite gravity cannon hit the surface, it probably remained deactivated. But now, due to external stimuli, parts of it had become active. That was the sight we'd witnessed when we first arrived.
'Mithrim Montes' was more of a climb than a hike. From the first point after we got off the shuttle, halfway up the slope to the summit, our movement never once stopped.
No matter how rough the terrain, our suits could overcome it. Since no one here was particularly frail, this didn't even count as a forced march.
"Huff... Wheeze... Ugh..."
"......"
Correction. It wasn't a forced march except for one person. With the sound of increasingly labored breathing behind, I halted my previously steady steps.
"Licorice, are you alright?"
"Gasp... Huff..."
As expected, she wasn't okay. Licorice appeared unwilling to show any ugly side, covering her face with one hand and waving the other to ward me off.
She was gesturing not to make things more difficult for her and just keep going. Her motions were fervent, but the lack of strength behind them made them wobbly.
"You're weak because you're always holed up in your room. You should have exercised now and then."
When I clicked my tongue, "Tsk tsk,"
Licorice glared at me fiercely even as she gasped for breath. I wasn't scared at all—she looked like she'd fall over backward if nudged.
Although the suit provided movement support, it didn't do everything for you; basic stamina was still crucial. Without it, one exhausted themselves quickly, as Licorice had.
'No wonder she felt so soft at the time.'
At that moment, I understood why I'd gotten goosebumps when my hand had unintentionally gotten stuck between Licorice's thighs during her sleep-talking. I'd been shocked by the sensation and wondered if she had any muscles at all.
'Just a bit further to go.'
There wasn't much distance left to the summit where the Archive waited. Roughly estimating, maybe 15 kilometers remained.
It wasn't exactly "close," but it was thanks to our brisk pace. Considering how enormous Mithrim Montes was, we had started with dozens of kilometers left.
As I stood there watching Licorice, she gathered her remaining strength and spoke.
"I... I can... keep going... on... my... own..."
She couldn't even catch her breath, her voice ragged and uneven. She didn't even finish her sentence. Normally she would have ridden in a vehicle or on one of the Beta Series' arms, but most of our machinery had unexpectedly become unusable, and Licorice had been bearing the burden.
Shaking my head, I figured I should make her do some survival training when we got back. I bent my knees to lower myself and gestured at Licorice with my chin.
"Get on."
Even as I spoke, I wondered how I could coax her so things would proceed smoothly. Licorice was proud; she certainly wouldn't agree right away.
Yet instead of a stubborn retort, I just felt her weight collapse onto me.
"......?"
"What are you doing... Go. Hurry..."
Apparently startled, I hesitated, but Licorice only reached out a limp hand and pointed forward. That was it. Pride had long since left her.
"If you were struggling this much, you should've said so earlier. If you'd stayed up front all this time, you might have collapsed before we arrived."
"Hmph... You should have noticed... What kind of crew leaves their captain behind..."
What an insolent thing to say. True, I might have overestimated Licorice's stamina, but I had my reasons.
"Want to get off?"
"......"
Licorice just silently tightened her grip on my neck. Already worn out, her warm breath, heated from exertion, tickled one side of my cheek.
I adjusted Licorice on my back and headed toward our group, who had stopped moving because of us. If Carry had been here, I could have handed Licorice over, but he was always precious—and now his absence was felt more intensely than ever.
Nadia, about to coo at Licorice on my back, saw the look on her face and stopped. If it were any other time, she'd have made snarky remarks complaining about it more openly, but even Nadia seemed to realize this wasn't the time.
"Hyun-woo, should I carry her instead? Or have the Multipurpose Units do it?"
Nadia pointed to Multipurpose Units 1 and 2 with her tail. Those guys clicked their pincers, as if hungering for something new to analyze.
Licorice gripped tighter around my neck. Hearing a soft "Ugh..." in my ear, it was obvious how much she hated that idea.
"I'm fine. She's not that heavy."
"Alright. But with the extra weight, the ground could collapse, so I'll mark a safe route. Just follow along."
With that, Nadia turned to rejoin the main party. That was why I couldn't leap forward with all my might—the ground below, though it looked solid, was essentially a layer of ice.
Because a crystal cave lay beneath the surface, the visible thickness was deceptive. We'd only realized the crystal cave's existence when the ground had caved in earlier. Once I explained it wasn't a big deal, everyone nodded and resumed moving.
Licorice muttered softly,
"... Even if I exercise, I just... never gain muscle."
"I've heard some people are like that."
"Maybe... I was made to look that way. I..."
Her words trailed off. But I could guess what she meant.
Cloning technology was banned by the Earth government, but that didn't mean the technology was unsophisticated. The short lifespan problem had been solved, as had other side effects.
'If something's been solved, it can always be made a problem again.'
Lobelia's technology would doubtless surpass anything the Reformists had. With technology like hers, she could freely set any parameters she wanted in a clone.
"... Just in case—never mind. Forget I mentioned it."
"Don't start and then stop talking. You're good at annoying people."
"I'm just being careful with my words."
"The fact that you're showing it means you failed already."
Licorice snorted, then relaxed completely, letting me carry her, her voice a little drained:
"No terminal illness, no issues affecting my lifespan. If there were, I'd have noticed ages ago. I may look this way, but I've always taken good care of my body."
"With stamina like that?"
"That... I have no excuse for. Fine, I admit it. I was lazy and used my constitution as an excuse."
"I'm glad to see you reflect on it."
"... You really are insufferable."
Licorice grumbled and hugged my neck tightly, as though vowing to take revenge for being teased. Naturally, I was unfazed.
No further conversation followed. Making her talk would only slow her recovery.
We climbed a precarious side path up a sheer cliff.
We crossed a single-file ice bridge, fixed ourselves in place telekinetically to avoid being knocked over by sudden gusts of wind, and climbed over cliffs by grabbing protruding rocks.
Just because it was a cliff didn't mean there weren't red sparks. There were a few dangerous moments, but thankfully Licorice wasn't especially afraid of heights, so we got through without issue.
As we proceeded, the Archive finally came into close view. Even from afar it had seemed huge, but up close its size was—no, it was several times larger.
My impression didn't change. The structure was so unfamiliar, I'd never seen anything like it. I couldn't tell if the whole vast exterior was a storage device, or just a protective shell housing data storage inside.
'All Archives were modeled after Earth's.'
That phrase struck me. It was a rather famous saying. The general existence of Archives was public knowledge, but where, how, and what scale they would be built—all of that was classified.
No one knew what the ones on Earth or the other satellites looked like, yet that one saying had perpetuated everywhere. It should have been distorted after so much repetition, but the phrase stuck in everyone's minds at the mention of the Archive.
Conspiracy theorists and attention-seekers had tried to dig for more, but unsurprisingly, they never found anything concrete. Dig as they might, the trail only led to nonsense, and eventually people got tired of searching.
'Well, such people still exist, apparently.'
Since it wasn't relevant to me, I hadn't paid much attention. As I watched the group set up a temporary base, I asked,
"We're almost there. You said you've found the entrance, right?"
"Yeah, now put me down."
As soon as Licorice stepped down from my back, she nearly staggered. Grabbing me to steady herself, she quickly pretended it was nothing and walked on. Her ears were as red as her hair.
She headed straight for Celestia, who had been dazedly staring up at the Archive. At her approach, Celestia snapped to attention.
"As we discussed before, we'll send a message to orbit before entering the Archive."
"Yes. I think this is the right time. Setting up is going to take a bit anyway. We'll only get real support after we find the code to release the satellite lockdown, right?"
"Exactly. Ideally, we'd send the message after getting the code, but there are too many variables and not enough leeway to wait for the perfect moment."
Celestia seemed about to say more, but held back. She glanced up at the Archive, then even higher at the sky.
"You said the data bandwidth for this message is limited. How limited?"
"It fluctuates in real-time, but basically, we can only send a few keywords at most."
Licorice explained that though the communication blockade had loosened enough that our equipment could get through, real-time communication still wasn't possible.
"At minimum, we'll send this Archive's coordinates, authentication of your survival, and a request for extraction support. The rest can wait—they're lower priority."
"Right. Once the satellite lockdown breaks, the communication barrier will go too, and then we'll be able to talk in real time. Alright, let's start."
The thing worrying all of us, especially Celestia, was when the satellite gravity cannon would be fired next. The first shot had been incomplete, likely impacting the weapon itself, but there was no way to tell how bad the damage was or how long it would take to recover.
We couldn't analyze anything without input, so all we could do was speculate and hope for the best.
On Licorice's signal, the soldiers activated the transmitter they'd brought. It was connected to a relay installed at the summit of the real Mithrim Montes, not the decoy range we'd been hiding on.
Canna checked the data on the device and spoke.
"Attaching Myosotis clearance, setting transmission power to maximum, relay is active. All readings normal. Ready whenever you are."
"We're boosting the signal as much as we can, but it's still barely enough. But it's fine—this will do."
Licorice took over the device's controls. Touching the holographic screen floating before her, she sped up the preparation process.
Invisible lines of signal scattered chaotically, then braided together at a gesture from her hand. She'd already completed most steps in advance, so it didn't take long.
Licorice glanced around at the others. Everyone was tense—it was the first time we could potentially send a message beyond orbit since communication was cut off by the pureblood supremacists.
Whether to drive the pureblood supremacists out, eradicate them all, bring in reinforcements, escape from the ice moon Titan, or for other hopes, each person had their reasons. But they all converged on one thing:
Returning home to Earth.
Celestia stepped forward. Everyone's eyes fixed on her.
"We've been through so much to get here. We lost many along the way, and faced countless life-or-death crises.
The pureblood supremacists committed atrocities beyond words, but their evil will never reach us—not with Myosotis on our side. In the end, we'll be the ones to win.
Now, we're at the grand finale. Here at the Archive, we'll acquire the code to release the satellite lockdown and escape from Titan. Let's keep going to the very end, so we can all return to Earth together."
"Yes!"
Eric shouted energetically. Everyone agreed and steeled their resolve.
What do we live for, what do we seek, what do we desire, what do we fight for—those shouts echoing through Mithrim Montes were anything but trivial.
Then, Licorice spoke again, as if declaring,
"This message we're sending now—it's going to be our turning point."
Archive infiltration operation, commence.