Chronicles of the Astral Express: First Steps

Non-Administered World #97, Star Rail Universe…

Noah Schweinorg knelt on the ground with one arm shielding Olga Marie while his other hand gripped Argent Caliber, which he had driven deep into the ground to keep both of them from being blown away by the force of his older counterpart's attack. The power behind it was so overwhelming that the Dimensional Gap itself shook, and even Earth trembled under the pressure spilling through Sirin's opening.

Around them, Arisa, Suzuka, Reines, Gray, Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, and Hayate-chan were struggling against the same force. The five magical girls had already set up several barriers around the group, shielding everyone from the heat, light, and pressure coming through the Void Rift.

Noah cautiously raised his head above Olga's and tried to look toward the sky, where Sirin's rift showed the battlefield inside the Dimensional Gap. The only thing he could see was an enormous blue light burning on the other side.

"Kuh…!" He immediately lowered his head again after barely a second, blinking rapidly as the intense brightness and heat stung his eyes. "No wonder this attack is classified at star-system scale! It's way too violent!"

Olga grabbed the front of his coat as another tremor pushed them harder toward the ground. "Then stop trying to look directly at it!"

"I was curious!"

"Curiosity is not worth burning your eyes!"

Reines remained crouched beneath Trimmau's protection, one hand pressed against the ground to steady herself. "If that dimensional god survives an attack like this, then I genuinely have no idea what could kill him!"

Gray pulled Add close against herself and lowered her head as another wave of heat passed over barriers. "It's so hot… It really feels like we're standing directly in front of the sun!"

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha-chan called when one section of their combined shield began to shake.

"I'm here!" Fate-chan immediately poured more mana into it.

"Everyone, stay close!" Nanoha-chan shouted as she reinforced the center of the barrier, while Hayate-chan added another layer over it and Suzuka and Arisa strengthened the sides.

Arisa tried to look up for only a moment before immediately taking cover again. "I officially withdraw every complaint I've ever made about your attacks being excessive!"

"Really?!" Noah shouted over the noise.

"Yes! Because compared to a certain someone, yours are actually tame!"

Noah looked almost offended by that comparison, but before he could answer, the blue light inside the Dimensional Gap began to change.

Everyone noticed it.

The brilliant blue gradually became white, then changed to yellow before slowly turning orange. Small traces of red soon began appearing around the edges as the light continued expanding.

Noah carefully peeked upward again, this time only long enough to see the change before lowering his head. "…That doesn't look good."

Olga glanced up for barely a second herself before quickly looking away. "…No. It really doesn't."

Arisa frowned as she stared at the glow through the barriers. "…This is what they taught in science class, right? About a star's life cycle?"

That made several of them look at one another.

Even Reines, despite being raised in a traditional Magus family, knew enough basic astronomy to understand exactly what Arisa meant.

Before anyone could say another word, Void Archives' voice suddenly blasted across every Alliance communication channel.

[ALL FORCES, BRACE FOR IMPACT!]

Everyone immediately tensed.

[Captain's attack has reached critical stellar expansion! A supernova-level detonation is imminent! Strengthen every available barrier immediately!]

Noah's eyes widened.

"…Yep. That definitely sounds bad."

Chrono made the move first. [All TSAB Barrier Teams, maximum defensive output!]

Across every battle zone, from the five major breaches to the smaller tears scattered around the world, Midchildan and Belkan magic circles appeared almost at once. Every available TSAB barrier team began setting up environmental protections around populated areas and evacuation zones, layering one defense over another before the incoming blast could reach them.

[Chaldea, reinforce the dimensional boundary!] Marisbury ordered.

At Meldiana Sanctuary, Charlus immediately raised his wand.

"Everyone, barriers up! Whatever happens, do not let that shockwave reach the civilians behind us!"

Mages, wizards, and witches across the Sanctuary raised their staves and wands together while the goblins quickly moved behind the strongest defensive positions. Multiple barriers spread across the field and connected with the TSAB protections already forming around the Meldiana Sanctuary .

Inside the Dimensional Gap, Sirin stored Embrace the Void and immediately created a massive spatial shield near the opening of the rift.

"Hachan!"

"Already on it!"

Hayate raised Schwertkreuz as several enormous Belkan circles appeared around the dimensional opening, adding another layer of protection between the blast and the world below. Starblazer immediately moved beside them and deployed its own defenses.

[Defensive systems, maximum output.]

A massive barrier spread outward from the giant machine and connected with Hayate's magic while Sirin reinforced the edges of the Void Rift itself. From Earth, the overlapping defenses looked almost like an enormous dome covering the dimensional opening, formed from TSAB barriers, Chaldea's spatial stabilization, the protections of the mages and wizards below, Hayate's Belkan magic, Sirin's Void Authority, and Starblazer's shield.

Every defense locked together just as the red star reached its largest point.

[IMPACT IN THREE!]

Void Archives' voice rang through every communication channel.

[TWO!]

The red giant pulsed several times before suddenly collapsing inward.

[ONE!]

Then it exploded.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!

The shockwave slammed at Starblazer first and immediately forced the giant machine backward despite its engines firing at maximum output.

"HOLD IT!" Himeko shouted as she tightened her hold on the controls.

"AAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!! WE'RE ACTUALLY BEING PUSHED BACK?!" March screamed while desperately holding onto her station.

Caelus stared at the warning displays flashing across the cockpit before shouting, "NOAH, THIS ATTACK IS INSANE!!!!!!!!!!"

March turned toward him.

Caelus grinned. "I APPROVE!!!!!!"

March's cheeks twitched, then she glared at him. "Despite Noah coming from a different universe, I can clearly see that you truly are his grandfather!"

At the same time, the shockwave slammed into the barriers surrounding the dimensional opening. Every magical defense shook violently under the impact. Cracks spread across several TSAB shields almost immediately, but the barrier teams replaced them before the gaps could widen.

"Keep them up!" Chrono ordered from Arthra. "If one barrier fails, reinforce it with another! Do not let the defensive line collapse!"

At Chaldea, warning alarms filled the Command Room as the dimensional stress continued climbing.

"Director! Dimensional stress is exceeding our predictions!"

"Continue stabilization!" Marisbury shouted, gripping the edge of his station as the entire facility shook with the planet. "Do not allow the boundary around those breaches to collapse!"

Back at Mahora, young Noah pressed himself and Olga Marie closer to the ground to keep both of them from being thrown away by the winds created by the explosion. Above them, Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, Hayate-chan, Arisa, and Suzuka cried out as their combined barriers bent under the pressure.

"Hold it!" Nanoha-chan shouted while pouring more mana into Raising Heart.

"I'm trying!" Arisa yelled back as her own barrier shook violently.

"Just a little longer!" Fate-chan added.

"Everyone, don't let go! If we hold together, the barrier will hold too!" Hayate-chan gritted her teeth and reinforced another weakened section.

The planet continued shaking for several more seconds before the pressure finally began to weaken. Little by little, the violent tremors faded until everything around them became still again. Young Noah and the girls remained where they were, none of them immediately willing to move after everything they had just endured.

"…Are we alive?" Noah Schweinorg muttered between heavy breaths.

"…Apparently," Olga Marie answered from beneath him, equally exhausted.

One after another, everyone cautiously looked upward.

The star was gone.

In its place, enormous clouds of glowing gas filled the Dimensional Gap beyond Sirin's opening. Blue, violet, red, and white light spread across the clouds, with countless smaller lights shining inside them. The explosion had completely changed the area where the battle had been taking place.

"Woaaah…" Suzuka slowly raised both hands to her mouth.

Fate-chan stared upward with wide eyes. "…It's beautiful."

"Yeah…" Nanoha-chan quietly agreed beside her.

Even Reines seemed temporarily lost for words, while Gray continued staring at the enormous clouds above them. "It… looks like those cosmic clouds from the books."

Noah finally pushed himself upright and helped Olga Marie sit up beside him. Both of them remained there for a few moments, simply staring at what Noah's older counterpart's attack had left behind.

"That's… incredible," Noah murmured.

Arisa continued staring upward for another few seconds before crossing her arms. "It's cool, alright… but it would've been much cooler if we weren't standing right next to a star going supernova."

Everyone slowly turned toward her.

"What? Am I wrong?" Arisa crossed her arms.

Suzuka was the first to giggle. Fate-chan quickly followed, then Nanoha-chan started laughing as well. Noah looked toward Olga Marie, only to find her already looking back at him, and neither of them managed to hold it in for long. Soon Reines and Gray joined them too.

After everything they had just survived, nobody even tried to stop the laughter. For the first time since Dormammu's attack began, they could simply sit there together and breathe.

And when they finally looked toward the sky again, there was nothing left attacking their world. There are no Quantum Shadows or dimensional breaches. And definitely no Dormammu trying to devour their home.

—-------

Back at the opening of the Dimensional Gap, the protections created by Sirin, Hayate, and Starblazer finally disappeared. Sirin lowered her arms and immediately slumped forward, breathing heavily, while Hayate released Schwertkreuz and rolled her aching shoulders as her Unison with Reinforce ended. The little Unison Device immediately floated between them and began checking both of their conditions.

"Hayate-chan, Sirin-san, I'm glad both of you are alright desu!"

"That makes three of us…" Hayate muttered tiredly.

A communication window from Starblazer appeared in front of them. Himeko, March, Caelus, and Dan Heng were still inside the cockpit and looked equally worn out after the giant machine had been thrown around by the supernova.

"Everyone alright over there?" Himeko asked.

"We're alive!" Sirin raised a tired thumbs-up.

"Barely!" March immediately leaned toward the screen. "Starblazer got thrown around like a toy! I thought we were going to crash into another planet!"

"We didn't," Dan Heng calmly pointed out.

"We almost did!"

"There wasn't another planet nearby."

"That is not the point!"

Caelus laughed beside them. "Still, who would've thought a star-system-level attack would actually involve a star? Noah really surprised us again!"

March gritted her teeth and glared at him for a moment before releasing a long sigh. "You…! But I do agree! Only Noah would hear 'star-system-level' and somehow decide he needed an actual star!"

"Ahh… technically, Noah-san's final attack exceeded my calculations," Reinforce corrected somewhat nervously. "The amount of energy released was enough to affect multiple star systems within the surrounding region."

"...What?" March's expression immediately went flat.

"…Holy Akivili," Caelus muttered, his eyes widening. "He really didn't hold back at all."

Even Dan Heng looked visibly surprised. "That level of output… I don't think a high-level Pathstrider should normally be capable of producing it."

[That is because Captain used yet another ridiculous application of his Trailblaze Authority,] Void Archives replied.

"Another application?" Himeko raised an eyebrow. "Now you have me curious."

[It was actually quite straightforward. Captain simply used his Signet, Transcend, exactly as its name implies. He used Trailblaze to push his own power beyond its current limit.]

March blinked and tilted her head. "…What?"

Void Archives paused for a moment before simplifying his explanation.

[Think of it this way. The Nameless follow Trailblaze by venturing beyond what is already known and extending the Silver Rails into places they have never reached before. Captain applied that same principle to himself. Instead of Trailblazing toward a new destination, he made his own power the journey.]

The others remained silent as Void Archives continued.

[His limit became the starting point rather than the end. Then he used Transcend to Trailblaze beyond it and temporarily reach a level of power he normally could not access.]

The communication channel went completely silent.

March stared at the screen for several seconds before slowly raising one hand.

"…So Noah looked at his own limit and basically said, 'Nope, there's still a road after this'?"

[That is an unexpectedly accurate explanation.]

Caelus slowly nodded. "Yep. That sounds like Noah."

"...Ehem… well… can someone please tell me Dodo is done?" Sirin asked, very obviously trying to change the subject and escape the awkward silence. "Because I really don't want to experience being toasted by our husband's own attack again."

Hayate slowly turned toward her. "...Dodo?"

Sirin looked back at her.

Hayate stared for another second before simply giving up and letting out an exhausted sigh. "Sirin-chan… you know what? I don't care anymore. Rein, VA, please confirm Noah-kun and Dormammu's status."

Void Archives answered first. [Captain's life signs are stable. He survived the attack, although his Imaginary reserves have fallen to dangerously low levels after using Shuhadaku of Uriel at that output.]

The tension immediately eased from Hayate and Sirin's expressions. Even Himeko, March, Caelus, and Dan Heng visibly relaxed after hearing that Noah was still alive.

"And Dormammu?" Hayate asked.

Reinforce immediately returned her attention to the remaining dimensional readings. Several calculation windows appeared around her as she searched through the area again and again, checking for anything that might indicate Dormammu had survived somewhere beyond the blast.

Everyone waited in silence. Then after several scans, Reinforce finally lowered her hands and turned toward them.

"There's nothing, desu."

Sirin blinked. "Nothing?"

"Nothing!" Reinforce's entire expression brightened. "Dormammu's manifested body is gone! His true-body signature is gone too! I can't detect any remaining dimensional protections, regeneration, or Dark Dimension energy connected to him anywhere!"

Void Archives immediately performed his own scan before giving the final confirmation.

[Confirmed. Dormammu has been destroyed.]

"WE WON!!!!!!!!!!????" Sirin's eyes widened.

"WE WON!!! WE ACTUALLY WON!!!" March screamed from inside Starblazer, throwing both arms into the air.

"DORMAMMU IS DOWN!" Caelus shouted beside her, raising his own arms in celebration.

Hayate finally allowed the tension to leave her body as a relieved smile spread across her face. "It's over…"

"We did it desu!" Reinforce cheered happily, flying several circles around Hayate and Sirin before almost losing her balance from excitement.

Even Dan Heng allowed a small smile to appear.

Himeko closed her eyes and released the breath she had been holding. When she opened them again, her expression was warm and relieved.

"Yes… we did."

Void Archives immediately opened every Alliance communication channel.

[Attention, all Alliance forces. Dormammu's true body has been destroyed. Repeat, Dormammu has been defeated.]

The confirmation reached Arthra and Chaldea almost simultaneously.

Amy stared at the report for several seconds before turning toward Chrono with wide eyes. "Dormammu's signal is really gone!"

Chrono checked the readings himself, unwilling to celebrate until he saw the confirmation with his own eyes. Once he did, the tension that had been sitting in his shoulders for hours finally disappeared.

At Chaldea, the operators were already confirming the same result from their own systems.

"No remaining Quantum Shadow signatures around the dimensional border!"

"The five major breaches have collapsed!"

"Dimensional activity is returning to normal!"

Marisbury looked across the reports arriving from every defensive front before finally allowing himself a relieved smile.

[Chaldea confirms. The planetary dimensional barrier is stabilizing. No additional enemy signatures detected.]

Void Archives continued waiting until the final reports arrived from Mahora, Hogwarts, Egypt, North America, the Mediterranean Crossing, and Gateport. Only after every battlefield had responded did he make the final announcement.

[All fronts have confirmed. Dormammu has been destroyed. The remaining Quantum Shadows were eliminated by Welt's and Captain's attacks, and no additional hostile forces remain. Non-Administered World #97 is secure.]

For several seconds, nobody reacted.

Across every front, exhausted defenders simply looked at one another as if they were still waiting for someone to tell them another wave was coming.

Then someone cheered. That single voice was enough.

The celebration spread almost immediately. TSAB mages threw their hands into the air while wizards and witches embraced one another in relief. Goblins slammed their weapons against their shields and shouted loud enough to be heard across the battlefield. At Chaldea, exhausted operators cheered from their stations, while the defenders of Mahora and Hogwarts finally allowed themselves to believe what they had been too afraid to accept only moments earlier.

The war was truly over.

"VA, where is Noah-kun?" Hayate asked once everyone had finally calmed down.

"Yeah! Where is our idiot husband?" Sirin added with a teasing grin. "Don't tell me he passed out again after his own attack."

Void Archives immediately opened another communication window, showing Noah standing on a Force Platform not far from them. Both of his eyes were closed, and Shuhadaku of Uriel was already gone. Shamash had returned to its base greatsword form, the Cleaver of Shamash, and even the Divine Key itself had fallen completely silent without its usual destructive presence surrounding it.

Sirin cupped both hands around her mouth. "Ooooooiiiii, Noah!!!!!!!! Are you awake?! Did you seriously pass out again?!"

She was still smiling, but Himeko, March, Caelus, and Dan Heng could easily see how forced it had become when Noah gave no response.

"Oiii! What's with the suspense?! We already won!" Sirin called again, her voice noticeably less playful this time.

"Noah-san, are you injured?" Reinforce asked worriedly. "Are you feeling any pain desu?"

Himeko's own smile slowly disappeared as she watched Noah through Starblazer's main screen.

"Noah?" she called gently. "Can you hear us?"

March leaned closer to the display. "Hey, come on. Say something already. You're seriously starting to scare us here."

"Noah?" Caelus lowered his arms, all traces of his earlier celebration disappearing as well.

Dan Heng checked the readings in front of him before narrowing his eyes slightly.

"His life signs are stable. He is conscious."

"Then why isn't he answering?" March immediately asked.

Despite all of them calling him, Noah remained completely still above the Force Platform.

Hayate's worry finally became impossible to hide. This was not like Noah at all, especially after a victory like this.

"...Noah-kun?"

She exchanged a look with Sirin before the two women flew toward him with Reinforce following close behind. The moment they reached Noah, Hayate immediately checked his breathing and felt some of the tension leave her shoulders when she heard the slow, steady sound of air passing through his lungs. His eyes remained closed, but his jaw clenched, followed by the motion of his throat as he swallowed.

"He's definitely awake," Sirin murmured, now completely serious.

Hayate placed one hand on Noah's shoulder and gently shook him. "Noah-kun? I'm sorry, but please say something. You're starting to worry all of us, you know?"

That was when Noah finally opened his eyes.

His hair had already returned to its usual black color with white highlights, and his eyes were once again their normal blue. Whatever power he had been drawing from his Sun inheritance was no longer active.

"…Something isn't right." Noah simply stared ahead. His expression remained tight.

Sirin's teasing expression vanished completely. "What do you mean?"

"Noah-san?" Reinforce floated closer.

Even Himeko immediately became serious inside Starblazer.

Noah finally turned toward Hayate. "I can feel Dormammu is gone from the Force, but…"

Hayate frowned. "But?"

"The Force is screaming at me." Noah looked directly into her eyes. "There's something wrong."

Everyone went silent, but before any of them could ask what he meant, warning alarms suddenly rang across the entire Alliance communication network.

[EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!]

Void Archives' voice immediately followed.

[ALL FORCES, PRIORITY ALERT! MAHORA IS UNDER ATTACK!]

"What?!" Sirin shouted.

"Mahora?!" Hayate's eyes widened.

Back at Mahora, Noah Schweinorg and the others had barely finished celebrating when a massive explosion erupted not far from their position.

BOOOOM!!!

"Everyone!" Nanoha-chan shouted.

The young magical girls reacted immediately, throwing up their barriers just as several black curses tore through the smoke and struck the defenses around them.

"What the hell?!" Noah Schweinorg pulled Olga Marie behind him and raised Argent Caliber as another curse passed only meters away.

Through the smoke, a tall figure slowly walked toward the World Tree. Pale skin. Black robes. A presence everyone there immediately recognized, even though that person should have been under Alliance custody on the other side of the world.

Olga Marie's eyes widened. "How…?"

Reines stared at the approaching figure in disbelief. "Why is he here…?"

Fate-chan visibly trembled as she felt the amount of dark magic surrounding him. "… Voldemort."

The figure raised one hand, then a massive wave of dark magic exploded outward.

BOOOOOOM!!!

The defenders around Mahora were thrown backward as barriers shattered one after another. Nanoha-chan and Fate-chan were blasted through several trees, while Hayate-chan barely managed to regain control of herself in the air.

"Noah!" Arisa screamed.

"Noah-san! Marie-san!" Suzuka shouted from farther away.

"We're fine!" Noah Schweinorg answered as he drove Argent Caliber deep into the ground and held onto Olga with his other arm, stopping both of them from being thrown any farther.

Nearby, Gray and Reines were sent sliding across the grass before Trimmau immediately expanded around them, shielding both girls from the next barrage of black curses already coming their way.

Across the Alliance channel, Chrono stared at the footage in disbelief.

"That's impossible! Voldemort was defeated at Hogwarts!"

"Why is he in Mahora?!" March stood from her seat in Starblazer, eyes wide. "He should still be at Hogwarts! Everyone from the team is guarding him!"

Dan Heng's expression hardened as he watched the figure continue advancing. "Regardless of how he appeared there, what matters now is that this 'Voldemort' is attacking Mahora."

Back at the academy, the figure ignored every warning and continued walking toward the World Tree. Anyone who tried to stop him was immediately attacked. Several Mahora defenders rushed forward together, but with a single sweep of his hand, a violent burst of dark-purple energy exploded outward and sent them crashing across the grounds.

"STOP HIM!"

More spells followed from different directions, only for a dark barrier to form around his body and absorb every attack before it could reach him. He never slowed down. Step by step, he continued toward the World Tree as if nothing around him mattered.

Young Noah suddenly realized where he was heading.

"No…" His eyes widened. "HE'S AFTER THE WORLD TREE!"

The defenders immediately tried to intercept him again, but none of them could stop his advance. By the time Noah and the others managed to recover, the figure had already reached the base of the World Tree.

Then he slowly raised one hand toward his own chest.

Noah Schweinorg forced himself upright with Argent Caliber. "What is he doing…?"

Without warning, 'Voldemort' plunged his hand directly into his chest.

Olga Marie gasped. Suzuka and Arisa recoiled at the sight, while Reines and Gray stiffened beside them. Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, and Hayate-chan could only stare as the figure pulled his hand back out. He was holding a large dark-purple crystal shard that pulsed with dense Dark Dimension energy.

"That thing…" Reines' expression changed immediately.

Gray wrapped both arms around herself as a chill ran through her body. "It feels… so wrong."

Noah's eyes widened. "STOP HIM!"

He launched himself forward at the same moment Nanoha-chan and Fate-chan raised their Devices.

"Divine Buster!"

"Photon Lancer!"

Pink and Yellow attacks flew straight toward 'Voldemort' and hit him directly, but they were already too late.

He thrust his hand holding the crystal and embedded it into the World Tree.

'Voldemort' collapsed almost immediately afterward, his body dropping lifelessly to the ground as the shard disappeared deeper into the trunk.

Almost instantly, the World Tree changed. Dark purple-black lines spread outward from the place where the crystal had entered, crawling across the massive trunk before reaching the branches above and the roots buried beneath Mahora.

"No…" Hayate-chan whispered.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A tremendous burst of power exploded from the World Tree. Everyone nearby was thrown away by the impact. Noah Schweinorg slammed hard into the ground while Olga Marie screamed as she was blasted backward beside Reines and Gray. Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, Hayate-chan, Arisa, and Suzuka were hurled through their own barriers as the entire academy grounds shook beneath them.

Dark Dimension energy continued spreading through the World Tree, corrupting more of it with every passing second.

The war that everyone had believed was finally over had just begun moving again.

====== Chapter 235 END ======