Chapter 1033: Activate again, Astrea ver II
Honestly, Astrea doesn't like fighting.
She's a simple girl with a penchant for simple things like eating her fill, playing around, and hanging out with her friends. As long as she's not lonely she's content...
Like right now.
She can eat till she drops, she has a ton of friends, Wu Yan's also pampering her and showering her with his love. For Astrea, it felt like she was in heaven.
Before getting summoned, her life in Synapse was far from ideal.
Astrea's very happy she is in Wu Yan's company.
She doesn't like fighting, she doesn't like inflicting harm on others, she just generally disliked hurting each other.
With her happy life, Astrea got used to not fighting and hating conflicts.
Of course, there are times when she will fight with all her essence on the line.
For example, when Wu Yan is in danger...
Or, when her comrades desperately need her...
Astrea will fight when such situations arrive.
She can fight, the will to fight, however, is a different story altogether.
Astrea genuinely wishes for the happy time to keep going and the fights to stop coming.
In this manner, she can enjoy good food, play around with Wu Yan & co, running around with Flan & Yoshino, just having a good time...
Alas, her thoughts are too naïve.
Astrea is an Angeloid designed for close-quarters combat. She was made for combat.
Straying away from the battlefield is nigh impossible for Astrea...
Astrea had a dream, a dream that one day the fighting will stop. That hope lit up once more when Wu Yan entered her picture.
Astrea knows her master dislike conflicts and battles too.
He pursued more power for the sake of protecting those close to himself, power is only a mean to an end for Wu Yan. He wants to create a safe place for himself and the girls around him.
She remembers what her master once said to her:
"When I stand at the pinnacle of power, when I obtain absolute power that can keep everyone safe, I want to find a quiet, beautiful, and serene place and retire there with everybody. I look forward to living a happy, blissful, and peaceful life with everyone there..."
Astrea also resolved herself to one goal.
Before her master can climb on top of that mountain of power, she will eliminate all the obstacles standing in her master's way with her sword.
Thus, she will have to put down her hope for now.
Until the promised day of peace and happiness...
"I am not going to run anymore!"
Her fighting spirit burned brightly as her eyes flashed brightly. The sky heard the steely voice of a girl who made up her mind.
"For the peaceful, blissful, and happy life!"
Heaven and earth stood still.
Hum
A pillar of light shot up from Astrea and went into the sky above. A strong shockwave was generated from this burst of light. The shockwave spread outwards in the sky, the earth, and it went for the dark mist shrouding Ikaros.
Boom
The two distinct clouds met in a stormy collision.
The dark mist shook along with the surrounding space.
Then, Astrea turned into a blur of light.
Ikaros felt joy and satisfaction after identifying the figure clad in light.
It's not because she's happy she's going to be rescued.
It's the wholesome feeling of watching a loved one conquering her own demons.
The radiant light churned the air around the light pillar. It turned into a whirlwind that steadily grew in force.
Soon, the whirlwind of power around the light pillar got sucked back into the light pillar, rather, it went into the core of the light pillar. The power suffused the angelic figure within.
The light's gone...
The wind stopped...
Only a lone figure hovered in midair...
Orbs of golden light danced around her like the powdery dust a butterfly's wing generated. Astrea's eyes were closed. She lost her revealing light armor. She donned a battle outfit that emphasized mobility and agility.
Her knockers were covered but her tummy was exposed. She had long pants that looked more like a dress merged with socks. She also had a divine tasset covering her waist with four pieces of metal. She also had detached wings-esque pauldrons. The wing accessories that resembled her angelic wings clipped her hair up neatly on both sides.
Her wings grew bigger and she had three pairs of shining wings that looked sharp like newly-forged blades of feather. Her wings slowly flapped behind her blonde hair tied with white hairbands.
She looked like a goddess of war.
"Finally..."
Ikaros stopped focusing on the black lights around her as she gazed upon Astrea who was reincarnated as a martial goddess.
"Astrea Pandora mode..."
Ikaros' voice woke Astrea up. She slowly opened her eyes and she saw Ikaros who is still bitterly resisting the black lights and dark mist around her.
She raised her arms.
Her sword and shield manifested in her hands.
However, her equipment changed too!
Her sword looked like a giant weaponized feather made of light particles. Her shield also became large enough that the kite shield could easily cover half of her height.
Chrysaor II and Aegis L II!
Astrea's equipment also got an upgrade when she entered Pandora mode.
With a stern look unusual of the ditzy girl, Astrea brandished her Chrysaor and large Chrysaor constructs appeared around her.
"Chrysaor, fire!"
When she swung her photon blade, multiple large Chrysaor mimics flew outwards. The oversized light swords started raining down on the dark mist around Ikaros.
Bam bam bam bam
It's like she fired a salvo of missiles in the form of photon blades. The energy swords split apart the dark mist, she easily blew holes in the dark mist around Ikaros.
"Now!"
Light suffused her wings as her seraphic wings elongated several dozen meters.
"Removed restrictions on photon wings!"
Her wings lit up brightly while Astrea turned into a ray of light.
Swoom
Before the sound of sonic boom reached the dark mist, a ray of light like that of a divine meteor burned everything in its path, lighting a trail of red hot light across the sky and into the dark mist.
When the light faded, Astrea appeared Ikaros in her arms.