"There's nothing to worry about," Jing Yan said.
Cocolia's transformation hadn't surprised him much.
But Stelle was still stunned.
She had reached Cocolia, but the biting wind kept her from opening her eyes.
The baseball bat in her hand was already glowing white.
The power of "Destruction" gathered around it.
Unfortunately, in Cocolia's eyes, Stelle was hardly worth mentioning.
She was about as weak an opponent as they came.
Cocolia casually waved her hand, sending an ice spike flying.
It struck Stelle and sent her spinning in midair, about to fall.
"Watch out!"
Seeing that Stelle was in danger, Seele instantly appeared beside her and helped steady her.
Stelle's feet landed on the steel body of the Engine of Creation again. She planted them against the nearly vertical steel wall, gathered her strength, and sprinted upward.|
"You fool. Let me show you despair."
Cocolia spoke coldly from high above.
A targeting mark, like a magic circle, appeared in front of her.
At the same time, the magic power in the ice shards floating around her rose. Then they shot out with sudden force.
One pierced straight through Stelle's chest, driving into her heart.
Stelle stared in disbelief as the enemy's attack pierced her chest, then fell from the air once more.
"Damn it!"
The people below were shocked.
Bronya had already woken up, and she was among them.
Stelle's consciousness was hazy. Her body continued to fall, but her mind had entered another mysterious space.
It seemed to be a celestial body surrounded by a meteor belt.
Far ahead, a golden pillar of light stretched through the heavens.
Blue, ribbon-like objects encircled it.
Everything in this starry expanse revolved around it.
"This place..."
Stelle was bewildered.
"I remember when we fought the Doomsday Beast at the Herta Space Station. Nanook, Aeon of Destruction, looked at me. Is this happening again...?"
Outside her consciousness, in the real world, everyone was shocked and believed Stelle to be gravely injured.
But Jing Yan showed no sign of worry. He stepped forward.
He could have intervened just now to stop Cocolia from attacking Stelle, but he hadn't. He knew that the Stellaron inside Stelle had fused with her relatively perfectly. Being attacked could actually help her grasp the power of "Destruction" more quickly, so there was no need for him to interfere.
If he had, he would have deprived her of a chance to grow.
But...
Now it was his turn to attack Cocolia.
"Cocolia!"
Jing Yan suddenly called out.
In the air, Cocolia paused at the sound of his voice.
She had sensed something strange about the man below from the start.
And she still did.
But she was no longer the same as before.
In her Fragmentum Creature form, granted by the Stellaron's power, she felt better than ever, and her strength was greater than ever. She no longer feared the unknown lurking in this man.
Instead, she believed one thing:
If she got rid of him, there would be no more problems.
She would prove with her own strength that the man before her was nothing to fear.
At least, that was what she believed in this form.
"Stop!"
Jing Yan's command was brief.
Cocolia paid no attention to him. She began forming ice shards again, aiming them at Jing Yan below and preparing to fire once she had locked onto him.
Suddenly, Cocolia sensed something was wrong.
Her raised hand seemed frozen in place, as if submerged in an ocean.
What was happening?!
Cocolia instinctively felt that something was amiss.
"What did you do?"
Her voice rang with an echo.
Her suspended hand trembled, then began to move again.
"What?!"
The people below were surprised.
Especially March 7th.
But then they realized it might not be so surprising after all.
Their opponent was none other than Cocolia, who had fused with the Stellaron!
Even if she couldn't wield the Stellaron's full power, her body had been transformed by the Fragmentum. She was far stronger and more terrifying than any other Fragmentum creatures March 7th and the others had seen in Belobog.
Still, if Jing Yan couldn't control Cocolia, that meant the situation remained dire.
March 7th saw Seele catch Stelle in the distance and breathed a little easier. But when she looked at Jing Yan, she still felt confused and uncertain.
She also couldn't understand why he seemed to be holding back.
Was he confident he had everything under control, or was he simply...
Numb in the legs?!
March 7th was about to ask Jing Yan.
But he had already begun his next move.
"Not bad."
Jing Yan looked up at Cocolia and spoke.
"I'm very glad you managed to break free of my Verbal Domination. It proves one thing: the Stellaron's power isn't useless. It does have its uses. And the fact that my Path's power can affect you proves something else..."
"Even with the Stellaron's power, you're still yourself. As Supreme Guardian, you once sought to turn people into Fragmentum Creatures while preserving their memories and consciousness. That was a smart move. Or rather, given that you chose to side with the Stellaron, it was still the relatively right thing to do."
"After all, if you'd completely become a slave to its power, or turned into a ticking time bomb, that would be a real problem..."
Jing Yan's words left Cocolia confused and uneasy.
An unprecedented fear suddenly welled up from deep within her heart.
Its shadowy source was hidden from view.
But Cocolia still tried to suppress that feeling and snapped, "What nonsense. Die!"
Even more terrifying ice spears shot toward Jing Yan.
By then, Stelle had seen the will of the Guardians of the past within her consciousness. From them, she had received the Flaming Lance Tip, formed from the will of the "Preservation."
Seeing this, Cocolia grew even more wary.
The aura around her surged further.
The ice spears circling her were suddenly enveloped in the Stellaron's golden light, making them look far more dangerous.
"Stellaron, rewrite everything!"
Cocolia shouted.
The black ice shards edged in gold flew toward Jing Yan, ready to blast him full of holes.
A brilliant light began to shine beside Jing Yan as well.
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