The Supreme Guardian's Delusion, the Stellaron Trembles Before Esdeath
The laughter still hung in the air.
Gojo Loli raised her small, fair hand and casually pointed upward.
A pale blue sphere of light burst from her fingertip.
It swelled as it flew, hurtling straight toward the thick steel barrier overhead.
Boom!
The deafening blast shattered the silence of the Underworld.
The rusted steel plate, more than ten meters thick, was punched through in an instant by the sheer destructive force of "Blue," as if it were a brittle cracker.
A hole three meters wide gaped overhead.
Its twisted metal edges glowed a searing orange-red.
Molten iron dripped from the opening and struck the floor with a hiss.
The hot stench of rust spread through the air.
Xingbao was still sprawled on the floor, gasping for breath.
A small hand suddenly seized the back of her collar.
It cinched tight around her neck.
Before she could even cry for help, her feet left the ground.
Gojo Loli carried Xingbao like a battered gray sack.
She vanished in a blur.
Then she shot through the hole, still dripping molten iron, and raced toward the upper district.
Wind rushed into Xingbao's mouth, making her cheeks flap wildly.
Esdeath did not teleport.
Her white military boots stepped onto the air.
Layers of crystal-clear ice stairs formed beneath her feet.
She climbed them at an unhurried pace.
Her white military coat billowed in the cold wind.
Within seconds, all three figures had vanished from the Underworld.
Belobog, the top floor of Fort Qlipoth.
It was even colder here than in the Underworld.
Cold wind poured through the shattered dome, whipping the red tapestries on the walls.
At the center of the hall,
Cocolia stood with both hands raised and her eyes closed.
Her face bore a feverish devotion.
At her chest, a mass of dark yellow Imaginary Energy swirled wildly.
It was the Stellaron.
Whispers echoed through the hall, charged with a power that lured the mind.
Bronya stood a dozen paces away.
She held her rifle, her finger pressed tight against the edge of the trigger.
The barrel trembled faintly.
She watched her mother sink deeper into fanaticism, her nails scraping white marks into the metal stock.
Just then,
The marble ceiling overhead exploded.
Stone fragments and dust rained down on them.
Thud.
Gojo Loli tossed Xingbao onto the floor.
Her tailbone slammed against the hard stone.
She sucked in a breath of pain and rolled across the floor, clutching her backside.
White military boots crushed several fallen chunks of marble.
Esdeath stood at the center of the hall.
Her ice-blue eyes swept over the so-called guardian fortress.
Gojo Loli sat cross-legged in midair and popped a freshly unwrapped candy into her mouth.
The prayer had been interrupted.
Cocolia's eyes flew open.
Their whites were streaked with blood.
She glared at the three uninvited guests, the muscles in her face twitching with fury.
Her fingers gripped her ice spear so tightly that her knuckles turned a bloodless white.
Bronya froze.
She immediately swung her rifle toward the woman in the white military uniform.
Cold sweat slicked her palms.
Instinct told her this woman was a hundred times more dangerous than the worst monster in the Fragmentum.
Cocolia wasted no words.
She had no intention of hearing an explanation.
The Stellaron at her chest erupted with blinding yellow light.
"Tear them apart!" she roared hoarsely.
Violent Imaginary Energy surged up from the floor.
A dark yellow storm swept outward from Cocolia.
Wind blades shredded the wall tapestries, and marble floor tiles tore free one after another.
Heavy stones were ground to powder in the storm.
Xingbao forgot the pain.
She scrambled toward a thick stone pillar.
She wrapped both arms and legs around it and held on for dear life.
The wind yanked at her coat as though it meant to rip her in two.
Bronya staggered back under the force of the gale.
"Mother! Stop!"
She shouted, but the storm swallowed her voice.
Esdeath stood directly in its path.
Her white-gloved hand settled on the sword at her waist.
Her thumb gave the guard a gentle push.
Shing!
The slender saber slid free.
The clear ring of metal cut straight through the storm's roar.
Cold burst along the blade.
Esdeath took one step forward, her swordpoint aimed at the Stellaron in the heart of the storm.
This was no ordinary cold.
It was an absolute law that could freeze even Imaginary Energy to death.
The dark yellow wind blades sliced through the air.
Then a layer of white frost seized them.
The violently spinning currents lost their momentum and became murky yellow pillars of ice in midair.
The ice spread like mold.
Inch by inch, it followed the storm's path forward.
The roar of the wind vanished.
Only the fine crackle of forming ice remained.
The once-invisible storm had been frozen into a towering, clawing sculpture.
The ice advanced with terrifying speed.
In the blink of an eye, it reached Cocolia's chest.
The Stellaron's light was trapped deep within the thick ice.
It looked like a faulty bulb about to go out.
Its halo contracted violently.
The Cancer of All Worlds, a calamity from a higher dimension, now emitted a high-pitched electrical tremor.
It sounded like the piercing shriek of glass scraping a blackboard.
It was afraid.
Before the absolute zero of Demon's Extract, it felt the terror of being erased.
Cocolia stared at the encroaching ice.
She watched the Stellaron's power, the source of all her pride, freeze completely.
Her mouth fell open. She stopped breathing.
The faith she had clung to for decades shattered in an instant.
Her hair hung loose, and her face twisted beyond recognition.
The last thread of her reason snapped.
She bit hard into her lip.
Blood ran down her chin and dripped onto the frozen pillar.
"Then we'll all be destroyed together!"
Cocolia let out a desperate, bestial roar.
She gave up all control and forced the Stellaron's power toward self-destruction.
Blinding light swelled beneath the ice, ready to take all of Belobog with it.
Esdeath lowered her eyelids halfway.
Her face showed only disgust at a weakling's helpless rage.
She slowly raised her saber.
Her lips parted.
"Mahapadma."