Cocolia's Power Boost

"Nothing to worry about," Jing Yan said.

He was not particularly surprised by this form of Cocolia.

Stelle, however, was shocked.

She had already reached Cocolia's side, but the biting, frigid winds made it impossible for her to keep her eyes open.

The baseball bat in her hand was already emitting a white glow.

The power of Destruction was coalescing upon her bat.

Yet, it was a great pity that in Cocolia's eyes, she was not worth mentioning at all.

She was an opponent as weak as they come.

With a casual wave of her hand, an icicle flew out.

It struck Stelle, sending her spinning through the air and causing her to plummet from the sky.

"Watch out!"

Seeing Stelle's precarious situation, Seele instantly flashed to her side to help stabilize her.

Stelle's feet touched the steel surface of the Engine of Creation once more, and she immediately sprinted upward along the nearly vertical steel wall, channeling her power as she ran.

"Overconfident fool, let me grant you some despair."

Cocolia said coldly from high above.

Immediately, a targeting reticle resembling a magic circle appeared before her.

At the same time, the magical energy on the floating ice shards around her surged, and they were suddenly launched outward.

The strike pierced straight through Stelle's chest, driving directly into the position of her heart.

Stelle looked down at her chest in disbelief as it was impaled by the enemy, and then she fell from the sky once again.

"Damn it!"

Those below were shocked.

This included Bronya, who had already regained consciousness.

Stelle's consciousness was drifting, her body still in a falling posture, but her mind had already entered another mysterious space.

It appeared to be a celestial body surrounded by a belt of asteroids.

In the infinite distance ahead, a golden pillar of light reached toward the heavens, connecting the universe.

Blue, ribbon-like objects swirled around it.

Everything in this starry expanse revolved around that center.

"This place..."

Stelle was bewildered.

I remember when I fought the Doomsday Beast on the Herta Space Station, the Aeon of Destruction, Nanook, glanced at me. And now, this again...

Outside her consciousness, in reality.

Everyone was stunned, believing Stelle had been gravely wounded.

Jing Yan, however, did not show the slightest hint of worry, though he did take a step forward.

He could have intervened to stop Cocolia from attacking Stelle, but he chose not to, knowing that the Stellaron within Stelle was in a relatively perfect state of fusion with her. Being attacked would only allow her to comprehend the power of Destruction more quickly, so there was no need for him to interfere.

Intervening would only deprive her of an opportunity to grow.

However...

Now was exactly the right time for him to strike at Cocolia.

"Cocolia!"

Jing Yan suddenly spoke up.

In the air, Cocolia paused at the sound of his voice.

She had felt that this man below was strange before.

That remained true now.

But she was different from before.

In this form granted by the power of the Stellaron, she felt better than ever, and her strength was unprecedentedly powerful, so she no longer felt any unknown fear toward this man.

Instead, she believed in one thing.

That was...

As long as she dealt with this man, there would be no more problems.

She would use her own power to prove that the man before her was not to be feared in the slightest.

At least, not in the eyes of her current form.

"Stop!"

Jing Yan spoke with simple words.

At this moment, Cocolia had no intention of acknowledging his statement. She busied herself recongealing the ice shards in her hands, aiming them at Jing Yan's position below, intending to lock onto him and pierce him through.

Suddenly, Cocolia sensed something was wrong.

Her raised hand seemed to have stiffened, as if it had become submerged in a vast ocean.

What is happening?!

Cocolia instinctively felt that something was amiss.

"What did you do?"

Cocolia asked, her voice carrying an echo.

Immediately after, her hand, suspended in mid-air, trembled, though it continued to move.

"This!"

The people below watched with a sense of surprise.

Especially March 7th.

However, she quickly felt that there was no reason to be so surprised.

The reason was that the person they were currently facing was none other than Cocolia, who had merged with the Stellaron!

Even if she might not be able to unleash the full power of the Stellaron, having been modified by the Fragmentum, she was far more powerful and terrifying than any other Fragmentum Creature March 7th and the others had encountered in Belobog.

But since Jing Yan could not control Cocolia, it meant that the situation remained grim.

March 7th watched from afar as Seele caught Stelle, breathing a slight sigh of relief, yet she remained puzzled and hesitant as she looked at Jing Yan.

Furthermore, she was confused as to why he seemed to be "holding his ground."

Was it because he was confident and still believed victory was within his grasp, or was it simply...

That his legs had fallen asleep?!

March 7th could not help but want to ask Jing Yan.

However, Jing Yan had already begun his next move.

"Not bad."

Jing Yan looked at Cocolia in the air and spoke.

"The fact that you were able to break free from my [Verbal Domination] makes me very happy. It fully proves one thing: the power of the Stellaron is not just for show; it is actually somewhat useful. Of course, the fact that my Path power can interfere with you also proves one thing, which is..."

"Even with the power of the Stellaron, you are still you. As a Supreme Guardian, your experiment of turning people into Fragmentum Creatures while attempting to preserve their memories and original consciousness was a clever move—or rather, it was a relatively correct decision to make, given your choice to defect to the side of the Stellaron."

"After all, if you had become a complete slave to that power, or a ticking time bomb, that would have been quite troublesome..."

Jing Yan's words left Cocolia feeling not only puzzled but also somewhat uneasy.

An unprecedented fear suddenly sprouted from the depths of her heart.

Its breeding ground was hidden in the shadows, invisible to the eye.

However, Cocolia struggled to deny such feelings, continuing, "What a joke! Die!"

She immediately sent even more terrifying ice spears hurtling toward Jing Yan.

At this moment, Stelle had already witnessed the wills of the past Guardians within her consciousness, and from them, she obtained a Flaming Lance Tip condensed from the will of "Preservation."

Seeing this, Cocolia became even more vigilant.

The aura surrounding her body surged once more.

The ice spears circling her were suddenly enveloped in the golden hue of the Stellaron, appearing far more dangerous than before.

"Stellaron, rewrite everything!"

Cocolia shouted aloud.

She sent the black-based, gold-edged ice shards toward Jing Yan, intending to blast him into a sieve.

At this moment, a brilliant light began to shine around Jing Yan.