Stealing the Remembrance of " Destruction " deserves a reward! Stealing the Remembrance of " Eternity " deserves punishment!
Fulisina was fair in her rewards and punishments; her logic was self-contained and beyond question.
Before the words were even finished, the staff, flowing with starlight, was raised once more, its cold tip precisely locking onto the Dahlia.
Starlight, poised to be unleashed, surged within the staff, emitting a deep hum, as if even time itself was freezing in anticipation of the impending punishment.
"You betrayed the ' Ever-Flame Mansion '..." Fulisina's eyes remained unmoved, only filled with an unfathomable chill. "That's not surprising."
The Dahlia chuckled softly, attempting to defuse the approaching pressure:
"Hehe~ Destruction is a magnificent moment -- as the 'daughter' of the Duke Inferno, of course I must fulfill his last wishes to the fullest extent, even if it's only a temporary status."
"Let me correct you on one more point..." She held up a finger, her smile unchanged, but her eyes became more serious. "Who said I betrayed them back then? I went to the Planet of Festivities to fulfill the last wish of Duke Inferno."
"This was his order to me—to let 'the midnight of Penacony wither and fade, leaving only the grave of Remembrance.'"
"In other words, everything Penacony related to ' Remembrance ' is something I should Destruction."
"But unfortunately..." she shrugged, a hint of genuine regret in her voice, "On her way to the Planet of Festivities, she was turned away by ' Eternity '."
While Fulisina seemed to still be listening, Dahlia deftly poured herself a cup of cocoa milk tea, not forgetting to explain to this " Eternity " Emanator who might act at any moment:
"Surprised? I practiced for a long time," she said, shaking the cup in her hand as if demonstrating a remarkable skill.
However, as soon as the dark brown liquid slid into my mouth, an indescribable bitter taste exploded in my mouth.
Dahlia's face stiffened, and she looked down at the liquid in her cup—it wasn't cocoa milk tea at all, it was clearly a cup of concentrated black coffee!
The bitterness came so suddenly and violently that she almost thought Fulisina had poisoned the cup.
"This... darling," she forced herself to swallow the mouthful of liquid that would have made her taste buds go numb, her face slightly pale, and managed a weak smile:
"Your taste... is quite 'unique' indeed." This teasing remark carried a hint of genuine resentment.
"Who told you that ' Eternity ' can rebel against one's original 'fate'?"
Fulisina ignored her and continued to ask with a cold expression, her staff never lowered.
But... Fulisina thought again, after all, the coffee ingredients were delivered by that navigator from the Astral Express, something even Lord Yite avoided like the plague...
So, you still don't understand me enough.
Dahlia sighed, put down the cup of poisoned coffee, placed her hands on the counter, and for the first time revealed a hint of 'sincerity':
"Me? I just don't want to miss any possibility of living."
Her gaze seemed to pierce through Fulisina, looking towards some distant, Nihility void. "My nature is not betrayal, but 'greed'."
"I don't believe it."
Without any hesitation, without any pause for thought, Fulisina's response was swift and decisive.
The moment the words left his mouth, the staff moved!
There was no need for lengthy charging—the silver starlight condensed at the tip of the staff had already reached its critical point.
With a slight flick of her wrist, Fulisina unleashed a condensed, almost tangible silver beam that tore through the air and exploded without warning towards the spot where the Dahlia had just been.
Dahlia: "..."
She didn't even have time to fully show a look of astonishment before a silent sigh dissipated into the raging torrent of energy.
Just as the starlight beam was about to engulf the Dahlia, her figure flickered eerily a few times, as if erased by an eraser.
In the end, all that remained was a counter surface instantly crystallized by the extreme low temperature, and a few wisps of eerie purple embers that quickly dissipated, carrying the distinctive scent of Cremators.
She disappeared so quickly, as if she had never truly existed in the bubble tea shop.
Or perhaps, Dahlia had already anticipated Fulisina's completely unreasonable sudden attack.
boom
The starlight beam pierced the wall behind the Dahlia, and a rapidly spreading patch of silver ice crystals immediately appeared.
In the area swept by the starlight, time seemed to be permanently frozen at the moment the attack occurred.
Fulisina didn't look at the results of the attack; she didn't even confirm whether the Dahlia had been hit or driven away.
For her, the act of expressing her attitude was already complete; the outcome... was not something to worry about at this moment.
She retracted her staff, the starlight at its tip quickly receding, and the spatial fluctuations around her instantly subsided.
"Boring."
The cold words that came from Fulisina's lips were the only assessment of this brief exchange, and the final verdict on that Cremators.
Dahlia herself thought so too. Rather than wasting her breath on a delusional elf she was destined to never communicate with, she might as well do something more meaningful.
For example... going to the Astral Express to joke around with that friend Memokeeper?
In the " Whispering Woods " of the Grove of Epiphany, Xing and his companions set off again, leaving the Garden of Repose.
"With each step forward, the aura of death grows stronger," Castorice said with a bitter expression.
Xing and Mimi looked at the Black Tide creations scattered all over the ground. "What are these... beasts? Or the minions of the 'Death' Titan?"
"No, none of that... This is a creation of the ' Black Tide,' a twisted and empty shell formed by the erosion of life."
"Everyone, stay alert... Whatever happened in Grove, finding the remains of a Black Tide creation here is definitely not a good sign."
Trianne hid behind Xing, tugging at her clothes. "Should we... should we tell Aya first?"
"These dark creatures... shouldn't be here, right?"
Castorice pondered for a moment, "Although the Grove is located in a relatively remote area, the Black Tide has managed to spread here so quickly..."
"A world where 'Strife ' has been lost is probably more dangerous than we imagined."
"Oh no~ Does that mean Okhema is in danger too?"
"Judging from the mess here... the scholars must have at least held off the first wave of attack."
"But I wonder what the price was..."
At this moment, Xing and Trianne stepped forward, maintaining an optimistic attitude:
" Trianne thinks... everything will be alright! Everyone in Grove is very smart, they'll definitely be able to drive away the Black Tide."
"That's right, but don't be too pessimistic."
Xing clutched the hourglass necklace tightly, her only regret being that she hadn't yet embarked on the " Abundance " Path, otherwise she could have performed a miracle to save all the injured.
She recalled the notification in her mind: the " Strife " Titan was associated with " The Hunt," and the " Romance " Titan was associated with " Beauty "...
So the question arises: which Titan is " Abundance " associated with?