"Ugh, how can that old witch say one thing to our faces and another behind our backs!"
"Besides, we're not the evil spawn of [Eternity] Yite! You've really got that wrong!"
March 7th tried to explain, but insulting her mother to her face had already enraged Bronya. "Publicly insulting the Supreme Guardian will only add to your crimes. Lay down your weapons and surrender!"
"At least let us explain that last part..."
Once that accusation stuck, there would be no shaking it off. March 7th wasn't worried about Ye Yan hearing it. After all, he was already a veteran Emanator. Some people praised him, others slandered him. That was perfectly normal.
But the Church was different. If they heard someone insulting their master, they would cross the vast sea of stars to find you, no matter how many light-years away you were.
Not to mention the Emanators who could teleport. Just imagine what would happen if this news reached the presiding hierarch's ears.
"There's no point talking anymore, March. At least one thing is clear: we absolutely cannot let ourselves be arrested now."
Dan Heng thought that, given Jarilo-VI's backward technology, the Church probably wouldn't even bother looking and wouldn't discover it.
"Sometimes, a little force is the best solution!" Stelle summoned her baseball bat. These people dared to slander the supreme Aeon of [Eternity]. As a faithful believer, how could she tolerate that?
Stelle didn't say the latter part aloud. If she did, they would never be able to explain things.
After a fierce battle, Bronya had dodged every single ice arrow March 7th fired. In the other Silvermane Guards' eyes, she was practically superhuman!
When immortals fought, mortals suffered.
The ordinary Silvermane Guard soldiers trained hard every day, but they were nowhere near a match for the Astral Express Crew.
That damned gap in strength. Unfortunately, these Silvermane Guards hadn't received Ye Yan's weapon upgrades. Only the first batch of Silvermane Guards stationed on the front lines of the Restricted Zone had been strengthened. It wasn't their turn yet.
Most of the Silvermane Guards had been knocked unconscious by the trio. Only Bronya and the soldier who had rushed over to report the situation remained.
"Seriously? Isn't this girl a little too strong? Teacher Dan Heng, hurry up and unleash your hidden power!"
Dan Heng took a deep breath, preparing to try the new mode Ye Yan had mentioned. "I had not wished to use this power..."
"Huh? You actually have one?" March 7th had only been joking. When would Teacher Ye Yan give her an upgrade too?
"Surrender, intruders! I will ensure you receive a fair trial."
Plop!
Another plush doll was tossed over. The guard following Bronya removed his faceplate, revealing an all-too-familiar face.
"Ah, looks like old Sampo's acting skills haven't slipped. If I had a [Mask], I could make it even better."
Bang!
The Sampo doll exploded, releasing a thick cloud of mist. This was his latest invention. One breath was guaranteed to give you a good night's sleep.
"Cough... cough..."
Bronya was still holding on. The gas was terribly choking, and its effects were even stronger than a tranquilizer round.
"I just wanted to say... Sampo never lets friends who've helped him lose out." Sampo lightly swept back his hair and rolled up his sleeves, preparing to carry away the four unconscious people.
When the mist cleared, Bronya lay unconscious on the ground, while Dan Heng and the other two were still standing there, staring at Sampo as he stared back.
Sampo couldn't believe his eyes... Was this a joke? That dose was enough to knock out a wild beast. How were all three of them completely fine?
Hiss...
Sampo carefully sensed the familiar power surrounding the three of them, and his tightly furrowed brows immediately relaxed.
"You're really close to that person, huh? You even get the same treatment as Emanators!" Sampo couldn't help complaining, but when he saw their stern faces, he swallowed.
"Uh, hahaha... friends, let's talk this out... No need to get physical, right?"
In Kliperburg, Cocolia was speaking to the voice in her mind.
"I've already done as you said. Are you sure repeatedly slandering that Aeon won't bring an undeserved calamity down on us?"
Cocolia looked troubled. Everything was a mess now!
[Trust us... a brief misunderstanding... in exchange for eternal prosperity.]
The beguiling voice kept echoing in her ears. Cocolia bit her lip, unsure how to argue.
Through constant slander, they would draw THEIR gaze... and have THEM issue an oracle, thereby saving Belobog. This was what the voice in her mind had proposed yesterday.
An absurd plan. Cocolia didn't believe an existence as magnificent as an Aeon would cast THEIR gaze here.
Had Qlipoth, the Aeon of [Preservation] they had always believed in, ever truly looked upon humanity? It was nothing more than the Architects' self-important delusion.
The moment the invaders from beyond the heavens descended on Jarilo-VI, this world had already been sentenced to death. But the Stellaron... had preserved a sliver of hope for the Supreme Guardian.
Rebirth required a price. What Cocolia had to do was erase every decaying trace of the old world and abandon its meaningless struggle to cling to life.
[Destroy the rotten old world... welcome the Eternity of the new world! You have seen... what we promised...]
In a single day, the Stellaron had changed, even taking on something of the air of an obsessive stalker fan.
[Beware those outsiders... they will destroy our new world...]
[At the end of all things... there is only Eternity!]
Ignoring the Stellaron's voice, Cocolia began worrying about Bronya's safety again.
Aeon of Permanence above, I beseech you to keep my daughter Bronya safe.
Cocolia prayed silently, then realized something.
Hmm? Why am I praying to the Aeon of [Eternity]? That bears thinking about...
Inside a clinic in Boulder Town.
"Owww... it hurts like hell."
The mature woman with gray-blue hair put on a fresh pair of medical gloves and pulled a long strip of bandage from the roll beside her.
She deftly wound the bandage around Sampo's waist and abdomen, pulling it tight.
"This is the first time I've seen you in such a sorry state."
"Miss Natasha, Miss Seele only just mocked me last night. Please don't tease me too."
"Hehe." Natasha said no more about it and changed the subject. "What do you plan to do with that little girl from the Upper District? Along with those four guests from beyond the heavens?"
"Haha, who could've imagined I'd run into them while prospecting for gold in the snowfields... That guard lady was lying in an eroded neighborhood. I couldn't just leave her to die, could I?"
"Do you think you can fool me, Sampo Koski?" Natasha folded her arms beneath her chest, listening to Sampo's excuses.
"I really don't know what you're up to, Sampo. What do the Upper District's affairs have to do with you? Why insist on wading into this mess? Aren't you conspicuous enough already? Will you only be satisfied once you're battered all over and [Wildfire] has its eyes on you?"
"I really do have to explain this to you, Miss Natasha. I, Sampo, have always looked out for my friends, including former big clients. You know I don't like owing anyone favors."
Sampo recalled the figure of that blond presiding hierarch again... In a haze, that deep, resonant voice rang out once more:
[Fool, you have committed all manner of sins... blasphemed our god. You should have been cut into a thousand pieces.]
[Considering that you are a retainer of the lord of [Elation], these acts are understandable... in your pursuit of the aesthetics of [Elation].]
[Our god Yite embraces all, and so... I will not hold you responsible for anything. You may leave. Just consider it a favor owed to the Church.]
[...]
[Hmm? You're actually leaving?]
[Hahahahahahaha... Very well, then please accept this final parting gift!]
[Fool, come experience the grace of Eternity!]
A chill ran through him. Sampo came back to his senses and continued:
"Maybe... these people I've brought can give [Wildfire] a hand."
Natasha continued bandaging Sampo, without asking too much about his injuries, and thought over what he had just said.
Just that morning, the young man whose clothing was utterly out of place in the Underworld, the big client Sampo had mentioned... Ye Yan, had come to see her.
Hook had followed behind Ye Yan. More precisely, Hook had brought him here.
After escorting her charge safely to his destination, Hook had run off with a large bag of candy and sweet drinks.
And he had made no attempt to conceal his identity: a visitor from beyond the heavens who was about to be wanted by the Supreme Guardian.
Ye Yan knew Natasha would find unsupported claims hard to believe... so he had dragged over Sampo, who was in the Upper District planning a jailbreak.
With a witness secured, as for physical evidence... he had brought out a few things Natasha had never seen in her life.
A locust figurine encased in amber crystal, a miniature black hole sealed inside a protective casing, a hammer assembled from several pieces of amber, and a wrinkled sheet of parchment... covered in the word [Eternity].
It seemed this outsider was on fairly good terms with Sampo.
After that, he had left without saying much more. Before long, Sampo had arrived at the clinic, his face bruised and swollen from a beating, with four new faces in tow.
The pink-haired girl had first carefully laid the unconscious guard on a bed. Only then had the black-haired man at the head of the group begun introducing himself.
When it was the gray-haired girl's turn, she had said something Natasha found difficult to understand.
"I am the Galactic Baseballer. May you believe in [Eternity] Yite."
"What kind of weird introduction is that!"