"What's wrong with her? Is she sick?"
March 7th was indeed worried. She looked at the still-sleeping Yae Sakura and asked with concern.
This scene reminded her of when she had awakened the Stellaron Spirit at Herta Space Station.
"Should we give her mouth-to-mouth?"
March 7th had specifically learned how to do it afterward.
"I wanted to, but Rin wouldn't let me. Besides, theoretically, Yae Sakura is just asleep." Fang Jie found that deeply regrettable.
"She sure can sleep." The Stellaron Spirit joined in the teasing, hands on her hips. "Do you really know Uncle Yang? You said they came from Uncle Yang's homeland, but what about you?"
Who said the Stellaron Spirit was dumb? She was plenty smart.
Fang Jie answered sincerely. "Me? I'm not from there, but I don't know where I'm from either... Yeah, that's right. But it's not important."
"How is that not important?!" March 7th could not accept that. She put her hands on her hips too. "You don't even know where home is. Did you lose your memory?"
"Probably. You could say that."
"Wow, how can you be so carefree? Let me tell you, this is really important..."
As the lively scene of a husky, a Samoyed, and an Alaskan malamute chatting and bonding unfolded, Dan Heng remained silent. He continued staring at the "Suiyang" and the "Foxian" before finally lowering Cloud-Piercer after a long while.
Just as Rin was not a Suiyang, Yae Sakura was not a Foxian.
He could not make sense of it.
"My name is Dan Heng. I'm... a friend from Mr. Welt's homeland," he greeted them.
"I don't know any Welt." Rin did not care how Fang Jie had so enthusiastically struck up a conversation with them. She was only wary of Dan Heng, the Stellaron Spirit, and March 7th, all of whom hid immense power within them.
Wary of Path-striding lunatics!
Of the lunatics she currently knew, the Nameless counted among the worst. Especially that company's Market Development Department—even she, a Herrscher who had once destroyed civilizations, felt ashamed by comparison.
"?"
Dan Heng could not help looking toward Fang Jie, who was still chatting with March 7th and the Stellaron Spirit.
To be honest, the name Fang Jie... had the same sort of flair as those company types who went around swindling people under all kinds of banners.
"She really doesn't know him yet. Mr. Welt is from the current civilization, while they're from the previous civilization. There's fifty thousand years between them." Fang Jie noticed and added an explanation, telling the truth.
"Why are you making those faces? Yes, Rin may be tiny, but she's already over fifty thousand years old. I'm not lying. 'Treat people with sincerity' is a phrase I like."
"One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand..."
March 7th could not help counting on her fingers, while the Stellaron Spirit calculated with her.
It was not that she could not do mental arithmetic. It was just that the number fifty thousand, paired with the word lifespan... was utterly shocking.
Uncle Yang had not explained in detail that his homeland was like this... He had merely said that there was a disaster called "Honkai" in his homeland, and that everyone had united to overcome it.
Oh my god—!
Dan Heng fell even more silent.
Someone broke the silence. A blond young man arrived from Belobog, looked at his subordinates sprawled across the ground, and sternly rebuked them.
"I, Gepard Landau, Garrison Officer of the Silvermane Guards, order you to abandon this futile resistance."
Fang Jie's heart skipped a beat as he turned around—
Rin, who had already been unhappy, immediately darkened.
.
.
P.S. Good morning. Thank you for your support, everyone. I've parked a train here, so feel free to board.
Aponia's Gentle Gaze Upon You
Why had things turned out like this? They had finally reached Belobog and met the Nameless from the Astral Express. Those should have been the two things he had always anticipated and longed for...
Fang Jie kicked Gepard hard while thinking hard.
Was something wrong here?
What was wrong? Everything was perfectly right.
The Stellaron Spirit said nothing. She enthusiastically kept swinging her bat, smashing the barricade "Guitar Case" Gepard used as a shield until it cracked without cease. One fragment even flew toward Fang Jie, who caught it in his mouth like Boothill catching a bullet, chewed it, and swallowed it.
Too brutal.
March 7th watched intently and froze Gepard's feet. Ice shaped like a Pom-Pom doll clung tightly around his legs, restraining him.
Dan Heng, who had already taken Cloud-Piercer in hand and defeated the Silvermane Guards who had followed Gepard here, was speechless. Watching the helpless blond guy finally fall... he was strong. Not just anyone could withstand three people attacking him together. At least he had held out for a while.
Then Dan Heng stepped forward as well, joining the four-person brawl.
To fit in.
Gepard fell.
"Captain Gepard!"
The Silvermane Guards struggling to rise from the ground called out his name, encouraging his fighting spirit and hoping he could stand back up, lead everyone in another charge, fight evil, and fight monsters.
Get up, Captain Gepard!
No, I already...
Gepard swiftly assessed the situation. He had already been surrounded. The enemies had not gone for the kill, but escaping would be difficult. The most urgent matter was—
"I, Gepard Landau, Garrison Officer of the Silvermane Guards, order you to retreat!"
The Stellaron Spirit had held back. She had not repeatedly smashed that face of his, so he could still command his subordinates.
"Go report to the Great Guardian!"
"Captain!!"
"Go! I'll hold them off!"
Gepard held the damaged barricade in one hand to block the bat and staff, while clenching his other hand into a fist and striking at Fang Jie, who had been kicking at his lower body and ruining his balance. This was a fist capable of twisting off the Blazing Reaver's head, then using it to smash the Frigid Reaver to death.
Resolve, sacrifice, fearlessness...
And falling down.
Fang Jie swung a trash can from who knew where and smacked him with it. Fragments flew everywhere, carrying lightning that electrocuted a wide area of Guards trying to approach.
Hearing their heartbreaking, shuddering cries, March 7th suddenly felt that something was off.
Why am I standing on the opposite side of such a tragic scene?
"Um, well... Hey, stop hitting him already, Stelle!"
The pretty girl stopped, dragged the enraged husky back to the side of the quiet floating object, and softly called to Dan Heng and Fang Jie, "Um... could you two stop too?"
Dan Heng paused, then silently stepped back.
To explain, that had not been him earlier. He had merely been positioning himself, standing between Stelle, the husky who had attacked first, March 7th, the Samoyed who had followed up, and the cold Rin.
She was too dangerous!
Rin: Just as I thought, Path-striding lunatics.
Even I can tell right from wrong. He was faithfully carrying out his duty, arresting criminals... Hmph! A soldier like this—if Fang Jie had not acted so quickly, I would have stepped in myself.
That was why Fang Jie had acted so quickly, triggering the Stellaron Spirit's follow-up attack, with March 7th moving in to provide cover.
Fang Jie was taking another of Gepard's punches head-on. Frost spread across his body as he grinned wildly. "Trying to run? I advise you to surrender. Everyone here is astonishingly skilled. You can provoke dragons and tigers, but you should never provoke us."
March 7th, who had absolutely no idea how dangerous Belobog had been before, frantically complained, "Hey, hey, tone it down! We're the criminals—no, we were mistaken for criminals! It's all that inexplicable Sampo's fault. He set us up! I'm so mad, so mad!"
"Should we catch them all and bring them back?" Unlike March 7th, the Stellaron Spirit had already spotted the Silvermane Guards turning to seek reinforcements. She looked eager to go, full of energy.
March 7th firmly refused. "You still want to fight? No, stop it! This isn't Trailblazing anymore. We're going to become wanted criminals again!"
Even Dan Heng sighed.
March, was that not because you were all too impulsive?
Of course, this time there was someone even more impulsive.
First, rule out the Stellaron Spirit.
The first one to act had been... seemingly Fang Jie, but actually... Dan Heng silently glanced at Rin, whom March 7th had proactively approached. That was far too impulsive. Just because she had pink hair did not mean March should get close!
Fang Jie had acted decisively earlier, and after thinking it over, Dan Heng had decided to join the fight too. Compared to the blond Gepard, this "Rin" was clearly the one who needed more attention.
Still, on this Trailblazing Journey... he could not help glancing at the Stellaron Spirit.
He had wanted to properly teach her how to Trailblaze—to approach others with kindness and necessary caution, observe more, think more... Combat was often the last choice.
Stelle thought this was great. She was having a lot of fun.
At last, Fang Jie subdued Gepard. Using the Guards' miserable state, he placated Rin and prevented Belobog's destruction.
He had a bit of a headache, a bit of pride, and a bit of happiness.
Compared to wronging himself, it was indeed more enjoyable when he could wrong others.
As for Gepard...
Sorry, just be Yanqing for once.
I'm checking in!!
"Behave."
He restrained Gepard with one hand, while using the other to shatter the ice coating his body and restore the stance Gepard had neutralized. Just as he had expected, elemental counters existed, but they were not absolute. There were differences even among fodder enemies.
But what now? Could Gepard, who was supposed to bring the Nameless into Belobog, still do so in this state?
How about you get up, and we start over?
"You stop too. Don't keep ruining the Nameless's image."
March 7th truly could not stand watching anymore. Damn it, this beautiful girl was not a villain.
She pulled Fang Jie aside and flashed Gepard, who was lying on the ground, a radiant smile. "You're here to arrest a blue-haired guy, right? We're not with him. This isn't an excuse—we really aren't with that bad guy. He abandoned us without even hesitating."
Look into my sincere big eyes. Believe me.
"I believe you." Of course Gepard believed her. His tone was self-mocking. "If that criminal had companions like you, then I should not have been the one assigned to arrest him."
Gepard felt guilty over his own weakness and failure of duty.
"But that is no longer important. It is a fact that you attacked the Silvermane Guards. I am a Garrison Officer, not an arbitration council. Even if Belobog citizens have the right to defend themselves, it should be done under the City Builder's watch—not now."
"Ah, that makes it sound like you're going to deploy some ultimate weapon to subdue us. No, wait a second! None of us are Belobog residents. Isn't that obvious? Our clothes are all different!" March 7th sensed that things were going badly and tried to salvage the situation.
"I have photos too. Look, photos of your planet. You haven't seen them before, right?"
Look, taken from space—
Gepard: "..."
We have merely regressed. It is not as though we have never left our planet. As a Landau, I have heard the history and legends.
Still, Gepard silently looked at the photograph March 7th handed him, and his expression briefly went blank.
It showed a planet already frozen over. Even Belobog lay buried beneath endless curtains of snow, difficult to distinguish.
It was as though time had washed over him, bringing him to the distant past, to the stories gradually lost within Belobog...
To the spring when visitors from beyond the sky often came.
"Your clothing truly is not Belobog style. After 'The Eternal Freeze' began, no one has ever crossed the snow curtain and come to Belobog again..."
Even Gepard's unwavering resolve wavered. Regret, sorrow, and bitterness welled up within him.
He looked deeply at them. "This is no longer something I can judge. It ceased being so long ago. Whether what you say is true or not, my defeat has already made one thing certain—that only the Great Guardian can decide what happens next."
Without exaggeration, there were not many people in all of Belobog whose status surpassed Gepard's. And as its main fighting force and commander of the Silvermane Guards, he had been defeated and captured...
This was no longer a crime against Belobog. This was rebellion!
The ice and snow grew sharper.
Before you continue