"Communicating with people is very difficult; actions speak louder than words. I long for you to understand my Beauty!"
Faced with Argenti's sudden attack, Xing calmly took out his Flame Spear and easily blocked it.
"Wait a minute... give me some time to prepare, I'm changing my equipment."
Argenti was, after all, a [ Beauty ] knight, and she must have had the spirit of chivalry. She just watched as Star changed his equipment.
Um...
The Architects's starstone, the mask of the Masked Fools, and a... unseen baseball bat?
What's causing this sudden feeling of oppression?
"Such a familiar power... [ Eternity ]?" In the instant of the battle, Argenti was at a disadvantage, only able to defend against Star's continuous attacks.
"You have good taste!"
Xing transformed the baseball bat into a staff, but unfortunately, it couldn't be used for ranged attacks like Church priest; it could only be used as a melee weapon.
"Please forgive my disappointment. You two, I just discussed with Himeko that the current situation may be more urgent than we thought."
Welt arrived just in time to stop Star and Argenti from engaging in battle.
"I apologize, Mr. Welt, I was too focused on my communication with the stars. Now, it's time to formally explain the reason for my visit: to resolve the [crisis] we are facing together."
"I was originally piloting the [ Rarely Seen in a Millennium ] through the galaxy—but during my journey I stumbled upon the stranded Botenis and pulled him out of the enormous cave he had accidentally fallen into."
"After rescuing Botenis, I planned to get him safely to his original destination, which led me to change course. Unexpectedly, this resulted in a coincidence that brought us closer to the train's route."
"Excuse me... who did you say?" Xing asked again.
According to Botenis's own account, he was a knight of the Church of Eternity. While traveling to the Church on a starship, he consumed too much alcohol and accidentally stumbled, falling from the starship.
"Unfortunately... because our beliefs differ, I had a debate with him earlier about [faith]."
Xing suddenly became interested; it was actually her favorite part of the debate!
"Draw."
"Thank you for coming. This is the first time the train has partnered with [ Knight of Beauty ]."
"So what should we do now?"
"Enjoy the present moment."
star:?
"Then what?"
"Keep going, enjoy the present moment."
"It seems you really are here to make friends..."
Regardless of which side the knights were on, their faith in their own Aeon was unwavering. In comparison, Xing felt somewhat inferior, as she had experienced a bit of every kind of Path.
"You don't understand. I need to focus on enjoying the crimson night of the universe to discover discordant tones. They share a common thread, and once I find it, I will surely eliminate it."
"... It's best not to delay too long, the situation could worsen at any time."
Meanwhile, March 7th was muttering to himself:
"How did they end up fighting?! But after the fight... they actually seemed to get along quite well."
Himeko calmly sipped her coffee; it was truly a wonderful encounter.
Indeed, the unpredictable future is the most fascinating thing under the starry sky. As the navigator of the Astral Express, she was slightly looking forward to what would happen next.
"But... who is this red-haired guy in armor?"
March 7th turned his head away in dissatisfaction, looking at Botenis, who was rummaging around in the carriage, with a look of disgust.
"Ah~ so thick, such a thick aura of [ Eternity ]! Screwllum right! This [ Trailblaze ] is really something."
Botenis wore a perverted expression, and eventually his gaze locked onto Pom-Pom.
Startled, Pom-Pom quickly hid behind Dan Heng and grabbed his trouser leg.
" Screwllum... no way, this guy is actually from the Church of Eternity?"
Seeing this, Dan Heng silently took out his Cloud-Piercer. No matter how he looked at it, he felt that this red-haired youth was not a good person.
However, considering that everyone in the Church of Eternity is Ye Yan... It's understandable that he's acting so fanatically because of Yite strong advocacy.
"I just heard from Himeko that you guys were originally planning to go to Car Wash Planet to give the Astral Express a thorough cleaning, right?"
Botenis looked down at Pom-Pom.
"Yes... that's right, Pa!"
"That makes things simple! As you all know, the Church's base was also converted from Car Wash Planet. If you don't mind..."
Botenis listed out a range of cleaning tools, including the one most familiar to the Astral Express Crew: soap.
"Wait! This can't be a bomb, can it?!"
"Generally speaking, soaps with widespread destructive power only appear on Chair Blake. Those of us in lower ranks use bath soaps, so don't worry~"
Botenis carefully selected the cleaning tools, finally taking out a bar of soap that was almost as tall as him.
"Ten thousand years ago, the Church was responsible for cleaning all the starships in the universe... I really miss those carefree days."
"I remember back then I was just a lowly floor cleaner. I've risen to my current position thanks to the support of Lord Yite and Chair Blake."
Botenis felt grateful, but upon reflection, he realized his current position wasn't very high... even the priest could command him.
"Oh? So you have such a story!" Seeing that Botenis suddenly recalled the past, March 7th's opinion of him changed slightly. They were both just poor working-class people in the galaxy.
Church of Eternity, inside the sanctuary
Seeing the righteous Cleric Hughes thrust his sword towards the scarlet mask, Screwllum's lips twitched wildly, and he immediately stopped acting and teleported Hughes away.
Ah... let Cleric Hughes go to the hot springs to calm down.
If I had known it wouldn't come back, I should have followed my heart and gone to that planet to investigate. However, there's something that really bothers Screwllum.
After thinking for a long time, Mr. Luo chose the simplest way: he called Blake.
"Hmm~ You said you detected a faint but strong aura of [ Destruction ] on a certain planet?"
"That's right, it's like... a [ Lord Ravager ] about to be born, but unfortunately, my stay was too short, and I haven't yet been able to ascertain his true form."
There was silence on the other end of the communication line. Screwllum vaguely heard the sounds of a snatching, and then Fulisina's silvery voice reached its ears.
"Ha! It's nothing more than a [ Destruction ] Insect yet to be born. Screwllum, report your location."
"Um... Lady Fulisina, if I may be so bold, where exactly are you two?"
"Would you like to come along on the way to the [ Planet of Festivities ]?"
--
The scene shifts to a private hot spring room, where Ye Yan, wrapped in a bath towel, is comfortably enjoying the hot spring.
In just a thousand years, the Church's hot springs are still just as comfortable, only this time there's an extra, incessantly chattering mask.
"They are blessed by Nanook, born as [antimatter bombs] to incinerate their Path. If life feeds on negative entropy, all actions are destined to lead to [ Destruction ]. Don't you find that terrifying?"
"Especially that great lord named [ Irontomb ], I've heard he's considered the Destruction of [ Elation ], he's even more terrifying!"