Date Acceleration II

Accelerator rested in his room aboard the Crowley Airship, which had landed at a refueling base in Great Britain. He was still exhausted from the swimming lessons Lilith had forced on him earlier, his body aching from the unusual exertion.

Suddenly, an enormous explosion reverberated through the ground, shaking the airship violently. The shockwave shattered the glass windows of the airship. Fortunately for Accelerator, his reflection field was active, blocking out all external sounds—including the explosions, alarms, and panicked screams outside.

"London has fallen!" "Aliens are attacking!" "Spacequake!"

The chaos continued for several minutes, but Accelerator, unfazed, ignored the noise, his mind elsewhere. Eventually, the severity of the damage caught his attention, and he decided to leave the airship to investigate.

Stepping outside, he surveyed the landscape. The ground was utterly annihilated, as if the entire area had been hit by a devastating spacequake. Roads and nearby expanses were decimated, with debris scattered everywhere. Despite the destruction, there had been no warning siren, which made the situation even more perplexing.

At the center of the devastation, Accelerator spotted something. From a distance, it looked like a large, blackened lump. He couldn't make out the details clearly, but it seemed to be some kind of colossal object, either an ultimate weapon or a massive rock. Judging by the size of the crater and the sheer force of the shockwave, whatever it was had fallen from a great height. He initially considered it might be a meteorite or even a spacecraft, though in this place, it could be anything.

A few hours later, Accelerator found himself in an office with Artemisia. She held a tablet, displaying a world map projected onto the screen. Red dots marked locations scattered across every continent, island, and ocean.

"Artillery strikes hit 42 locations worldwide," Artemisia explained calmly, her face close to his as they studied the screen together. 

"These include multiple Anti-Spirit Team bases and several DEM Industries branches across different countries. Given the precision of the attacks, it's possible they were coordinated in response to faint Spirit energy readings or magical signatures. But one thing's certain—the Spirit responsible is acting alone."

She paused, tapping the screen. "And to be clear, those projectiles weren't meteors."

Accelerator leaned in closer, his face now so close to Artemisia's that their cheeks were almost touching. His sharp eyes scanned the tablet, focusing on the map littered with red dots marking the devastation.

"DEM is already preparing its offensive," Artemisia continued, her voice low and steady. "They're mobilizing their spaceships. The counterattack will be swift." 

With a swift motion, she switched the display to a classified feed showing various DEM hubs. Images of spaceships being armed to the teeth, loaded with weapons and wizards, filled the screen—each one prepared to hunt down and terminate the Spirit responsible for the attacks.

Suddenly, both of their phones buzzed. In perfect sync, they grabbed them and read the incoming message. A direct order.

They were being called into action.

◈

"—Total annihilation?!"

In DEM Industries' Japan branch communications room, Ellen's voice trembled as she stared in disbelief at the status report coming from the satellite tracking the airships. The dark, dimly lit space flickered with a few light-emitting diodes from the display screens, casting eerie shadows across the room. Ellen, moving to a pitch-black corner, fixed her gaze on the faintly glowing monitor.