The Nature of the "Desolation"

"You're sleeping on the floor tonight!"

Holding the bedding and pillow Dania had tossed off the bed, Lu Guan sighed helplessly. "What the heck is this..."

He had planned to fall asleep holding his own sweet, soft Dania after their big battle, but she had kicked him right off the bed.

Her reason was... she felt a little uncomfortable around him right now.

Fortunately, his Affection Value hadn't dropped at all. Otherwise, Lu Guan would have had no one to complain to. After all, there was currently only one way to earn Affection Value.

He had to deliver the goods ten times for it to rise by one point. If it dropped, Lu Guan feared he really would become an ox worked to death.

"Since it's come to this... I might as well sleep!"

The first rays of morning sunlight fell across the bed.

Dania quietly opened her eyes. After she and Lu Guan defeated the president together last night, they had returned to the Frontier Court and washed up. By then, it had been nearly one in the morning.

In other words, she had slept for less than four hours.

By her usual standards, sleeping any less than until the midday sun shone on her butt counted as insomnia.

She leaned over the edge of the bed and looked at Lu Guan, who was fast asleep on the floor. Her face was full of resentment. "This dummy really slept down there all night... Doesn't he mind how hard the floor is?"

With that, she sat on the edge of the bed and carefully reached out with her fair, delicate toes to touch Lu Guan's nose.

Lu Guan seemed to be sleeping soundly. Though he could dimly feel something unusual against the tip of his nose, he merely frowned and rolled over.

"Hehe... You're really sleeping that soundly?" Dania recalled her failed night raid and suddenly had the urge to play another prank on Lu Guan.

"Mm... Never mind, never mind."

Looking at Lu Guan sleeping soundly, Dania remembered what had happened last night and ultimately gave up on the idea.

"I'll let this dummy rest a little longer..."

She climbed out of bed and quietly pulled back Lu Guan's blanket, then slipped inside and curled up in his warm embrace, her movements as gentle as if she were picking up a sheet of paper.

"Mmm... It really is more comfortable here..."

What she didn't notice was that, perhaps because they had been too tired when they returned last night, neither of them had realized the door hadn't been completely closed.

A pair of pale gray eyes was quietly watching through the crack in the door. After seeing Dania slip under Lu Guan's blanket, their owner quietly closed the door for them.

"I'm so envious..." Jinhsi smiled faintly. After that wistful remark, she headed toward the magistrate's office.

There was still quite a bit of work left unfinished. For everyone in Jinzhou and for the peaceful, prosperous age her master had spoken of, she couldn't afford to slack off as the magistrate of the region!

By the time Lu Guan woke up, it was already dark.

"Strange... Why did I sleep so long...?" Lu Guan checked how his body felt. "Why do I still feel a little tired?"

He instinctively reached for the terminal he had left beside his pillow before going to sleep, but his hand touched something fluffy instead...

"Hm?" Lu Guan turned to look and found that it was the ring of fur around the edge of the coat Dania had taken off.

At the same time, Dania woke up in his arms.

"Good morning~"

"...It's seven in the evening." Lu Guan felt around for his terminal and checked the time on its screen. "How is this morning?"

"I don't care~ If I say it is, it is!" Freshly awakened, Dania had an endearingly innocent air about her. She rubbed her cheek against Lu Guan's collarbone again and again, acting spoiled.

"Fine, fine... Whatever you say." Lu Guan smiled and pinched her cheek. "Can you get off me now?"

"Let me hold you a little longer..." Dania shook her head. "You know, on days when there are no classes, the best part is lazing in bed after waking up..."

"Let's see... It's seven in the evening, and the Frontier Court cafeteria stops serving dinner at eight... If we laze around any longer..."

Before he could finish, Lu Guan felt a gust of wind rush out of his arms. When he looked at Dania again, she was already putting on her shoes.

"Get up, lazybones! The sun... the moon's already shining on your butt!"

How quickly she changed her tune, how quickly she turned the tables!

Lu Guan shook his head helplessly. "You go on ahead. I'm a little tired, so I want to lie here a little longer..."

"Okay, then..."

Dania suspected nothing. She quickly washed up and headed out.

Once Dania had gone far enough away, Lu Guan closed his eyes, sank his consciousness into the system, and selected the function button he had never used since unlocking it.

When Lu Guan opened his eyes again, he had returned to the white space where he had met "Sora" before.

This time, however, "Sola" seemed to be in rather poor shape. She was leaning against a white stone pillar, her staff casually discarded beside her, seemingly resting with her eyes closed.

Only when she saw Lu Guan approaching did she open her eyes. Lingering fatigue showed in them. "You're here? What did you need your mother for?"

"...You sound exhausted." Lu Guan wasn't in the mood to worry about what she called herself just then. "Did something happen?"

"Sigh... I can't hide it from you." "Sora" sighed softly. "That's only natural. You're my Resonator, after all, so you can sense my current condition too."

"Is it the 'Desolation'?"

Only then did Lu Guan notice that "Sora's" body had shrunk considerably since their last meeting, as though she had regressed from a mature woman in her thirties to a young woman of about twenty-five.

"That's right." "Sora" nodded. "When the effects of the 'Desolation' spread and come into contact with Lament energy on Solaris, there's a high probability that they'll form special Sonoros."

"If they come into contact with an existing Sonoro, they'll also slowly consume the echo energy inside it, transforming it over time into a breeding ground for the 'Desolation.'"

"If it were only the 'Desolation' on Solaris, I could suppress it through special means. But if it's inside a Sonoro..."

"Sora" let out a wistful sigh.

"Although the 'Desolation' in a Sonoro doesn't affect the outside world as easily, as long as a passage exists, quite a few fully developed 'Desolations' will emerge through it..."

"So what exactly is the 'Desolation'?" Lu Guan asked. "If it's merely the influence of people from other worlds, that explanation is a little too broad, isn't it?"

"How should I put it... It could be a special Tacet Discord, an object, or even a particular person," "Sora" explained. "But as soon as you see a 'Desolation,' you'll be able to recognize it at a glance."

"I see... Is there anything I can do to help you now?"

"No need... my child." "Sora" smiled faintly. "You still need to grow. When you're truly able to help me, I won't hesitate to ask."

"Am I the only one who can dispel the 'Desolation'?"

"...No." "Sora" was momentarily taken aback before answering, "The core of the 'Desolation' comes from the influence of people from other worlds. You only need to render that part of the influence harmless to eliminate it."

"But the vast majority of 'Desolations' have fused with things on Solaris, so the hardest part is destroying whatever the 'Desolation' controls and exposing its source."

"That part doesn't actually have to be done by you..."

"Then... I believe I'm already capable of shouldering the responsibility." Lu Guan stepped forward. "I'm not alone. I have companions of my own, and I believe they'd also be willing to contribute some of their strength to Solaris."

"Just as she said, what she wanted to take part in was a civilization's process of saving itself, not to be that civilization's savior."

"And I would say the same. I think that, if the need arose, everyone on Solaris would never let one person bear the burden of the whole world's calamities alone..."

"Unite every force that can be united. That was what a great leader taught us in my previous life... It's not that I'm afraid of failure or death. If possible, I hope I can draw on everyone's strength in the fight against the 'Desolation.'"

Looking into Lu Guan's resolute eyes, "Sora" fell silent for a long time, but ultimately shook her head slowly.

"I love the people who live here very much, and I know they have infinite potential. But I won't gamble the only hope we currently have..."

"Let's talk about it again once you've grown strong enough."

Lu Guan stepped forward again and took "Sora's" hand. "But what about you?" he demanded. "How much longer can you hold on?"

"You once said this body was a projection of your power."

"As your Resonator, I can also sense that your power has been inexplicably declining since yesterday. What will you look like the next time I come back?"