(Ceruno)
The situation was dire. Miluno had blocked "that Mi Xue's" assault on reality, but that also meant she was pinned down herself.
The Proxy's magic and mine held back the black smoke trying to pour into the third room.
"The child needs feeding."
I was condensing trace amounts of Radiance from the air that Mi Xue could digest, letting her absorb it. But the mutual repulsion between light and darkness meant this little girl instinctively hated having Radiance near her. She would not even come close to me, and was currently hiding behind the Proxy...
"Why doesn't she call you Daddy?"
"Maybe because Miluno spends more time with her."
"If she refuses to eat, we can't make her surpass that Mi Xue, can we?"
At my words, the Proxy scratched her head and asked:
"So the Earth Crystal still doesn't think she's an impostor?"
"No. That one is Mi Xue, and the one behind you is Mi Xue too."
I still stood by that view, though far too many things besides faith had become mixed into it.
"Besides increasing her capacity, we also need to find a way to curb the New World's people's discontent. That will keep fueling their malice. That girl Mi Xue probably never expected things to reach this point, did she?"
"Keep soothing their emotions through the Thought Network? Is there any other solution?"
Aldebaran rubbed her chin and asked:
"Well, what's the situation in the New World now?"
"Terrible. There are many cases of Witchification. Being devoured by a Witch Persona is effectively death. Miss SpiCa is soothing people's emotions to keep more people from undergoing Witchification."
I waved my hand, projecting a view of the New World onto the floor.
"Pitch-black..."
The Proxy frowned and murmured:
"It's just like the Eternal Night Era."