"Then without further delay, let's head to Everwinter Peak. I hope Lingbao hasn't run into anything bad."
She couldn't hear anything.
She couldn't feel her hands or feet.
It was as if her senses had been sealed away.
Though her consciousness remained intact and she could still think without much restriction.
"A vegetative state."
That was probably what this was.
Lynx began recalling everything that had happened to her. First, several Silvermane Guards had abruptly come to inspect her campsite. Soon after, some of them claimed they had received her brother's orders to come find her.
At the time, she had not been overly suspicious. After packing a few personal belongings, she left the campsite with them.
But after that...
She seemed to have seen a masked girl appear before the Silvermane Guards and herself, then she lost consciousness.
After that, while she was half-conscious, she seemed to have heard her sister's voice.
She did not know whether it had been an illusion.
She seemed to remember her sister shouting loudly, her voice close by, even mixed with the sound of crying.
It had to have been an illusion, right?
How could her sister possibly cry?
At least, Lynx had never seen her do so...
Lynx's thoughts were in a mess. She kept feeling that images were continuously flooding into her mind.
She... seemed to have aimed the climbing pick her sister had given her at her sister's forehead?
Cold. Trembling...
It was as if feeling had begun returning to her body. She hurriedly poured her consciousness into controlling it.
Something cracking began to sound in her ears.
The icy touch started to mingle with a trace of warmth.
Though she still could not open her eyes to see, a vast white light had already broken through her eyelids.
Then, at some point, her body suddenly felt weightless, and her sister's scream reached her ears. Before she could think, she hurriedly opened her eyes. The very next second, someone gathered her into his arms. Even through their clothes, she could feel the warmth so close at hand. The instant she opened her eyes, a handsome young man with short orange-red hair was watching her with a gentle smile.
"Good morning, miss."
"Mm, good morning."
Perhaps because she had just emerged from frozen ice and her mind was still muddled, or perhaps because she had been drawn in by this stranger's friendliness and the warmth constantly radiating from him, the girl unconsciously wrapped her arms around the stranger's neck in order to absorb that warmth, like a kitten instinctively seeking the comfortable warmth of a cat bed.
"...Lingbao!"
All of a sudden, a disbelieving cry from a girl came from a little farther away. Lynx sleepily raised her eyes and caught sight of the person calling her. The instant that person's face entered her vision, a tired smile appeared on her face, and her clear voice, as adorably dazed as ever, reached the girl's ears.
"Pela..."
"Why are you... you... why are you in his..."
Holy shit!!!
Miss Intelligence Officer struggled incoherently to form a sentence. With his back turned to her, Mr. Emiya's lips had already curled upward beyond his control.
Emotional value from Pela +45 Emotional value from Pela +35 Emotional value from Serval +11 Emotional value from Cocolia +25 Emotional value from Stelle +21 Emotional value from March 7th +35
Belobog's local customs were simply incredible!
Even without turning around, Mr. Emiya could practically see the "pleasantly surprised" expressions on the faces of the people behind him.
Subarashiyo!
Was this Belobog's distinctive culture?!
Did your Xianzhou have this many good women who could provide emotional value?!
Well done! You people were doing great!
Saying he would skip Belobog's map earlier really had been too hasty of him.
Mr. Emiya was even greedily hoping that Gepard, one of the "family members," was here too. He would probably weep with joy.
But wait, why was March 7th's reaction so intense... Forget it, that was not important. In any case, Belobog really was a land rich in talent!
They reacted this strongly from just a hug. If this bro had a little more ability and directly put them on maternity leave...
Hehehehe—!
"Could you put me down?"
The moment Serval opened her eyes, she discovered that she and her younger sister were both being held in a man's arms. Even a mature woman as open and carefree as her could not help but feel something strange welling up inside her. Her gaze even caught the faint smile that had inadvertently appeared on the lips of a certain blond spectator.
Fuck!
Her anger immediately flared up!
Serval viciously shot the blond bastard a glare, then broke free from the orange-haired young man's embrace.
"Can you explain the situation to me?"
Earlier, she had been lured to Everwinter Peak by a secret letter, then attacked by Lynx, who seemed to have been under some kind of control. After that, she appeared to have been frozen inside something.
Now that she had been unfrozen, Bronya and Cocolia were both present. Clearly, the kidnapping of Lynx and herself was far more than a plot aimed solely at the Landau family.
"It's a long story."
"Then make it short."
"Some bratty little bitch probably teamed up with someone in Belobog to steal Cocolia's position. You were part of the plan to lure her out of Belobog."
Emotional value from Serval +32
Mr. Emiya's eyes lit up slightly, then he added another sentence.
"When Cocolia first arrived here, she nearly came to blows with Bronya over your condition."
"Has she lost her mind?!"
Emotional value from Serval +35
Wonderful.
This Is Very Joyful, Isn't It?
"Many canine creatures are like that. When they see a piece of meat, the scent of blood draws them in uncontrollably."
"If the prey is powerful, they become too fearful to show themselves. But when defending their territory, they are often as ferocious as true wolves."
"A wolf driven to the brink is a very frightening animal."
"Landau! Landau! Landau!"
"How many times! How many times! How many times!"
"How many more times must you stand in our way before you stop appearing before us?!"
"You treacherous dogs, blindly loyal to your masters! If I could eat your flesh raw, I would gnaw your bones and drink your blood dry as well!"
Within the Silvermane Guards' encirclement, Cleo's tawny eyes seemed to have shed all human traits, becoming as savage and cruel as those of a beast.
"It was Cocolia who betrayed us! She no longer has the right to rule Kliperburg!"
"Landau! You have completely forgotten that the City Builders were not limited to the first generation of the Rand family. The forebears of us nobles... were all heroes who offered their flesh and blood upon that line of defense."
"Belobog was never meant to belong to the Rands alone! It belongs to the descendants of all City Builders!"
Seven hundred years ago, the City Builders led by Alisa Rand had all shed their blood upon that Silvermane restricted zone. This fortress had not been built by Alisa Rand alone. She was revered as Supreme Guardian only because she had been the leader of the City Builders at the time, and because under her leadership, the sudden Great Cold had gradually helped them withstand the Antimatter Legion's assault.
Before people called her the Supreme Guardian, they had actually called her "the one who brought forth miracles." She truly gained the title of Supreme Guardian because, amid the endless Great Cold that followed, she had allowed Belobog to stand tall in the wind and snow without fearing the bitter cold.
That was the Power of Preservation. The City Builders noticed this quality and thus took the lead in supporting this leader, who had advanced farther along the Path of Preservation.
In the final defensive battle that followed, Alisa Rand had led from the front, wielding the Power of Preservation across the battlefield as though no one could stop her. By that account, Alisa Rand possessed not only the prestige of building Belobog and the miraculous achievement of bringing forth the Great Cold, but also martial might unmatched among armies. On any planet, if such a peerless figure were not made leader, the people would simply have to be blind.
The first generation of Rand, the second generation of Rand, the third generation of Rand—all were great figures engraved upon history's monuments. Though the heroes of their eras were somewhat dimmed in comparison, they too were martyrs recorded in history books. Most of Belobog's nobles were descendants of those martyrs, and had been among the City Builders of that era.
"Gepard Landau! How long will you persist in your blind loyalty? Since Cocolia took power, the remaining Power of Preservation within the fortress of Belobog has become negligible. Without it, how are we supposed to resist the Great Cold and the ever-encroaching Fragmentum?!"
Gepard was slightly stunned by those words. After a moment of silence, he gave a faint laugh.
"Simple. We just abandon Preservation, don't we?!"
With that, he stopped concealing his aura and let it show!
A bewitching crimson glow flooded the entire corridor in an instant. The moment Cleo saw that alluring radiance, her expression twisted at once, and her voice suddenly became shrill.
"You again! Follower of Joy! Was it you again? Damn it, damn it... Gepard wasn't here from the start... Wait, what is happening outside right now?!"
From within the bewitching glow came a crisp, bell-like laugh.
"Want to know, little wolf cub? Then Lady Sparkle shall mercifully tell you. When Lady Sparkle came over just now, she happened to see the Minister of the Interior being arrested by a Silvermane Guard Garrison Officer."
...Her brother had been arrested?!
"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. It seemed the Minister of the Interior had been secretly meeting another noble's wife, and that noble happened to discover them. Then the Silvermane Guards happened to appear nearby, and a Garrison Officer happened to be on the Minister of the Interior's escape route... How could there be so many coincidences? Even Lady Sparkle finds it rather strange."
"Impossible. My brother would never... It was you! You impersonated my brother!"
"Take a guess, little wolf cub."
At some point, a petite figure landed beside Cleo. She gently blew a breath at Lord Hyena's neck. Almost instantly, a vicious whip kick came howling toward her.
But amid a burst of girlish laughter, the whip kick struck empty air. Like a lone wolf at the end of her rope, Cleo's tawny eyes gleamed with a color of extreme danger and madness.
"Come out!"
"Don't be so impatient, little wolf cub. Captain of the Guard and their beloved Supreme Guardian Cocolia will soon arrive at her loyal Kliperburg. What do you think will happen to the arrested Minister of the Interior then?"
"You monster! A monster who tramples on people's hearts!"
"Hehehe... Saying that will make Lady Sparkle very sad. Besides, Lady Sparkle left you a nice little item that can turn the tables in your desperate situation. Ta-da... As long as you press this button, you'll receive a mysterious grand prize."
As the laughter faded, the countless phantoms vanished without a trace at the same time. Cleo lowered her head. At some point, a strange button switch gift box had appeared in her hand. Her body trembled uncontrollably, and her eyes were bloodshot...
"You've been toying with me all along! Toying with my heart! My soul... You monsters! I curse you... I curse you monsters to never truly obtain the joy that fulfills your hearts! By the soul of Cleo Jackal, I swear that I will fight Joy to the death!!"
That venomous and twisted desire for revenge surged wildly. At the distant edge of the universe, a great existence that had vaguely sensed this intense, targeted desire for vengeance was about to lower its gaze and grant that person a simple look.
But before that could happen, a hollow mask stepped in first and blocked Its sight.
Amid strange, vibrant laughter, the great existence that had intended to answer that desire for revenge withdrew Its gaze.
And at this very moment on Jarilo-VI,
Cleo, hearing that laughter in her ears, instantly sensed a towering existence cast its gaze upon her as well.
Ecstatic, she embraced the possibility granted by that gaze and gently pushed open the Imaginary Gate she had awaited for so long.
Then,
In the very next moment, she learned the source of that gaze.
At once, an even more shrill roar echoed through the entire corridor...
"Joy! Why Joy?! I curse you! I will never accept this humiliating power! Joy, detestable Joy! I will never submit to you!"
Amid her furious roar, her hand unconsciously crushed the gift box in her grasp. At that very instant, fragmented yet irresistibly seductive whispers began to echo in her mind.
Before you continue