Pause System: Harem In The Apocalypse

After the black hole's sudden disappearance, confusion filled the air as both fighting sides temporarily stopped.

Four out of the five Kessho airships were on the verge of crumbling from having lost many of their parts to the Black hole's strong gravitational pull.

Ruby who had been staring in the black hole's direction the whole time was just as confused as them all.

"Is it over...?" She asked.

"I'd like to hope so... I don't think we can handle any more casualties..." Muttered Charlotte as she looked around.

The entire naval fleets formation was disrupted. Some of the ships were launched so far forward that they were out in the open in the vicinity of the airships, unable to defend themselves.

The rest which were caught by the gravity's gravitational pull had either collapsed down onto the top of a few buildings or were down on the floor getting swarmed by the countless zombies which roamed the streets.

"I didn't expect us to take such a big hit... The enemy seems to have stopped sending anymore of their kind to attack us." Said Charlotte.

"Yeah... Fortunately, are Gray's friends... Lara and her children alive? Did anything happen to their fleet?"

Charlotte her hand beside her ears and shut her eyes to focus.

[Wind Manipulation: Faint Whisper.]

One of Ruby's red blood butterflies returned shortly after, she could see it flying towards her from the distance. the black hole's disappearance as it could now properly fly, it landed on her shoulder beside her ear and seemed to tell her something.

"Turns out many of the butterflies spotted Gray dealing with the black hole. This one was the only one able to get away, how are things on your end?" Ruby asked

"Based on what I can hear and feel, their ship had somehow managed to hang on alongside the others in it's harbour. Fortunately, one of the horned ones there was a noble and..."

"And...?"

"Based on how well prepared they were, it almost looks as if they knew the enemy would launch such a large-scale attack."

Ruby was surprised at first, but then she remembered.

"Ah, right... Kylo wasn't the only one who had a strong ability."

"Lara's daughter, Lita. She's a prophet."

Charlotte's eyes widened in surprise. She suddenly turned to Ruby with a sharp stare.

"A prophet ability? Why didn't you tell me that earlier? You of all people should know just how rare one is!"

"They're considered national treasures in our world."

Ruby who heard this, let out a slight chuckle. It had completely slipped past her mind.

"Rubyy!! Ah- I mean your majesty, my humblest apologies but you should be taking this more seriously!"

"Prophets can completely change the flow of battle just by existing, they can predict the enemy's entire attack pattern thus giving the side with the prophet the advantage."

Ruby lowered her head slightly, she seemed ashamed but she knew there was nothing she could do.

"Yeah, we could have avoided some deaths."

"But I already tried... The problem is Lita's not aware of how to properly use her abilities. Her ability itself takes over her body and does whatever she wants.".

Charlotte was shocked to hear that. Not because of what Ruby had said but rather what Lita's ability taking control meant.

"But doesn't that mean..?"

"Yeah... There's a chance she'll be consumed-"

*BOOOOM!*

Ruby was interrupted by a large explosion which was set off in the distance.

It came from one of the airships as it suddenly blew up. A large strong shockwave was sent across the air at the Horned ones fleets, slightly pushing them back.

The horned ones all held on, before looking in the airships direction.

One by one the others followed after, each having their own set of explosions breaking everything down from within.

The Kessho's which had been fighting the horned ones on their ship, turned to watch theirs explode.

*BOOOM!* *BOOOM!*

After just a few stressful seconds which felt like ages, the explosions stopped.

And only two air ships remained.

One which was in pieces and the other which was the only one out of them all that had been unharmed and had yet to make it's move.

"..."

Silence from both sides permeated throughout the air.

The Kessho's on the fleets had a look of despair on their face as they dropped their weapons.

The loss of morales for the Kessho's was an opportuntiy for the horned ones, and they didn't hesitate to take it.

*Slash!*

One by one, heads and limbs belonging to the Kessho's began to drop to the floor as the horned ones attacked them while they were defenceless.

The stench of blood roamed through the air, in just a few minutes it had become much stronger than before.

With all this happening, Ruby stayed quiet and simply stared at one of the two remaining air ships.

She couldn't take her eyes off the one which had yet to make it's move.

"Hey... Charlotte..." Ruby called out to her.

"Yes, your majesty?" Charlotte responded, with a concerned gaze.

"Am I just seeing this or... Is there something standing at the top of that Airship?" Ruby asked as she pointed towards it.

Charlotte stared in the direction which Ruby pointed in search of what she was looking at.

"I must say, I can't see anything, your vision has always been the best out of all of the horned ones, your majesty."

"Why? Do you see something?"

Ruby nodded slightly.

"There's a humanoid figure standing on top of it. It's clouded in shadows so I can't see their face... But the shadow itself... It has countless eyeballs moving around it."

"And it's looking right at us."

If it were anyone else, Charlotte would have assumed they were seeing things. But this was Ruby.

"Is it making any moves?" Charlotte asked.

Ruby narrowed her eyes in it's direction. She nodded after.

The figure crouched down and placed it's hand on the airship.

At that instant, something which neither of them had expected, something all of them could see clearly occurred right before their eyes.

From the top, shadows rushed down the ship, instantly covering all the walls and glass windows.

It covered all the gaps on it, giving it an even more ominous appearance than before.

Charlotte made a disgusted look as she witnessed this.

"The enemy's making another move...?"

While Charlotte was distracted, Ruby grabbed her battle-axe, and approached the edge of her fleet.

"Probably... And now so will I."

"Your majesty...!"

Before she could stop her, Ruby leapt off.

"TAKE CARE OF THINGS FOR ME!" Ruby yelled out as she landed on top of one of the Mini airships one of the Kessho's had used to try and invade their ships.

The airship was fortunately still functioning and active.

To Charlotte's surprise, Ruby quickly figured out how to operate and soared off on top of it, escaping from her grasp.

"Wha- Did she just!?"

The mini airship was so fast that she was struggling to hold on. With her hair swaying back and her eyes narrowed whilst they remained locked onto the figure on top of the Airship, she continued the journey rushing ahead.

"That thing... I don't know what it is, but I'm getting a really bad vibe from it."

"And I can't just sit back and do nothing..."

The closer she got to the giant airship, the faster her heart began to beat.

Whatever that thing was, it scared her. But the others were all fighting for their lives, staying back and not doing anything to safe wasn't like her.

'The empress is supposed to avoid fighting?'

"Sorry Charlotte... If that's how empress's operate, then I won't operate like one."

"I'll just do things my way."

Ruby was the type to fight for beliefs, and right now her blood was boiling for some action.

"Brother, you defeated their king so it's over, right?"

"We're going to do need to head back to the base..."

"There are some things you need to check out."

Gray's eyes were locked onto the last two remaining air ships. Specifically the one coated in shadows.

"I won't be leaving the battlefield now."

"It's not over."

"Head back to the base, and keep the people safe for a while longer. There's something even scarier than the king roaming around."

After saying such, he vanished not leaving behind even the faintest trace of himself.

"Wai... And he's gone."

"Damn it! Can't you just sit back for you seconds!?"

"Onii-chan you baka!" She shouted out, in a sulk."

From the top of the same building as before, a few miles away down the city.

With his presence still masked, the long dark haired young man with purple haired eyes could be seen gazing at Gray whilst seated with his legs crossed on the roof.

"Hm... He suddenly got a power up. I didn't expect him to pull that trick off."

"His younger sister too, although it's not as great as his, she has potential."

Gray was leaping up towards the sky by creating platforms of paused air, something he still didn't understand how Gray could manage.

After the fifth leap, Gray glanced in his direction.

The dark-haired young man vanished from the spot, in that very same instant before appearing in a completely different location.

"Did he... Just see me?" He asked with a surprised smile.