At the Goethe Hotel, in the still of the night, March 7th had enjoyed a thoroughly satisfying pillow fight with Stelle before bed and was now fast asleep. Stelle had a very strange dream.
[Cocolia... Cocolia...]
After she had taken the Doomsday Beast's ultimate attack to the face at the space station, this voice had appeared in Stelle's mind.
"Cocolia? Isn't that the Supreme Guardian's name?"
Looking around, Stelle discovered that she had actually become Cocolia in her dream!
"I never knew pillow fights had this perk. You get to play someone else in your dreams. I'll have to fight March a few more times."
She marveled at this. It might also have been a reward for driving away the hotel demon.
But... isn't this dream a little too real? I'm still freezing in clothes this thick!
At that moment, Stelle, playing Cocolia, stood amid the Eternal Freeze. She had no idea where she was and could only see a shining object not far away, seemingly calling to her.
Mystery solved. Teacher Dan Heng's guess was right... the Supreme Guardian really has been hiding things from us.
We haven't built enough trust between us. Understandable.
[We are allies of [Eternity]... allies who have accompanied the Guardians for generations...]
She walked up to the Stellaron, and the mechanical voice, blurring male and female, rang out again.
"What?" Stelle wondered whether she had misheard. How had [Eternity] gotten dragged into this? Shouldn't it have been [Destruction]?
Just as Ye Yan and Herta had said, Destruction and Eternity had a terrible relationship, to the point that even the Stellaron would smear the opposing side.
Wherever there was a Stellaron, there was the Antimatter Legion. She had already subconsciously linked Stellarons to Nanook.
[Having received the blessing of [Destruction]... you should be able to withstand... the gift of the Lord of [Eternity], shouldn't you?]
A female voice struck straight at her soul. Stelle clutched her forehead in pain. Those words did not seem to be directed at Cocolia... but at Stelle herself.
"It hurts... how did a good dream turn into a nightmare?!"
Stelle quickly realized something was wrong. This voice had not come from the Stellaron!
She immediately grew alert to her surroundings, guarding against an enemy ambush.
The vast universe held every kind of wonder. There might well be monsters that could invade other people's dreams.
[The spiral at the bottom of the abyss, the musings of gods, the prayers of Finality, the swan song of Eternity... all answers shall be found within this holy scripture. Experience it to your heart's content!]
[Comprehend! Leap! Join me in chanting the "Book of Eternal Virtues"!]
Stelle: ?
Nothing but incomprehensible talk. What Book of Eternity? I've never even seen it.
Why does it feel like the plot is taking a strange turn? Where did the Stellaron's voice go? In its place came a mixture of voices, male and female, old and young. Just as Stelle was about to seek their source...
Suddenly, Stelle's eyes flew open, and she jolted awake.
She sat up and looked out the window. The bright moonlight spilled across her face, casting a cool, clear glow.
"What a strange dream..."
Stelle pinched her cheek. Once she felt pain, she confirmed that she was not in a dream within a dream.
I'm not getting any sleep tonight. How about a stroll outside?
As Stelle thought, she reached for the baseball bat beside her bed. She had a strong sense of danger, too; she could not sleep without a weapon nearby to defend herself.
Hmm...
Where's my baseball bat?!
Stelle threw back the covers. She distinctly remembered that her weapon had been right beside her, within reach if she rolled over.
It was not even under the bed. Despair filled Stelle's heart.
It's over. The Galactic Baseballer's signature weapon is gone.
In the Silvermane Guard Restricted Zone, the grim state of the battle had been overturned by someone's arrival.
Silver Wolf took the amber hammer Ye Yan handed her and attacked the nearby Fragmentum Monsters, taking one down with each swing.
Though the Silvermane Guards watching nearby wore face coverings, it was not hard to tell that their jaws had dropped beneath them at the sudden arrival of such powerful reinforcements.
After a delightful round of mowing down mobs, not even scraps of the Fragmentum Monsters remained.
As Gepard, who led them, wondered what was happening, he spotted Ye Yan behind Silver Wolf. Only then did his tightly furrowed brow relax.
Though he still had questions, with Ye Yan's strength... and the legendary Aeon of [Eternity]'s blessing, slipping past the guards and into the restricted zone's front line would hardly have been difficult.
But the girl beside him... who bore such a striking resemblance to Commander Bronya, was an unfamiliar face.
If Gepard's guess was correct... this silver-gray-haired girl holding a wooden hammer was probably another visitor from another world, part of Ye Yan's group.
Looking at her face, Gepard could hardly help seeing Commander Bronya.
Hiss... could she really be related to Commander Bronya by blood? That doesn't make sense...
Gepard could not quite wrap his head around it. Seeing their most respected superior like this, the guards were also at a loss, unsure what to say.
Their attention was not on Ye Yan, but on that miniature Commander Bronya.
Not only did she look like Commander Bronya, she even had the same spiral curls.
However, Commander Bronya had three spirals, while this girl had one, and she was considerably shorter, too.
"Why have they gone quiet? Is something on their minds?" Silver Wolf turned on team voice chat and turned to ask Ye Yan.
Ye Yan briefly explained his reason for coming to Gepard:
"We've just arrived in Belobog, and after spending the day touring the Administrative District's famous sights with my companions, I really couldn't sleep... then I remembered my agreement with you, Captain Gepard."
Ye Yan took out the mimetic weapon. After their pillow fight, Stelle and March 7th were surely asleep by now, so borrowing her weapon should go unnoticed.
Surely she doesn't sleep hugging her baseball bat...
"You told us that the Silvermane Guards fight Fragmentum Monsters day and night, and the situation isn't looking good. As I said this morning, if you don't mind, I can help modify the weapons for you and our brothers in the Guards... that's one reason."
"The other is that, as visitors from another world who arrived so suddenly... we hope we haven't caused offense to you or Belobog."
After hearing Ye Yan out, Gepard composed himself:
"You misunderstand, Mr. Ye Yan. Your arrival... isn't a bad thing for Belobog. I believe it's a turning point."
"Just as you and this silver-haired young lady helped us fight the Fragmentum Monsters earlier, we ought to thank you both. Without your help, the battle would have gone on for much longer."
Watching the two exchange pleasantries, Silver Wolf found the scene strange. When had Ye Yan become so serious?
"Ah, I haven't yet asked who the young lady beside you is..."
"Silver Wolf."
After the brief introduction, Gepard still held back the question he and the guards most wanted to ask. It would have been rather rude.
In the vast universe, there were bound to be people who looked alike. There was no need to overthink it.
"The Fragmentum Monsters have been wiped out, giving the front line a brief respite. Enough small talk. Let's get straight to the point!"
"Master Ye's weapon modification, part two-officially underway!"