Chapter 124: Tricking the Duck, Advent of the Forest
Everwinter Hill, the final land that holds all of Belobog's secrets.
The howling cold wind was mixed with an enduring cry, a remnant of those who had passed.
At the end of the platform stood a high-tech device that surpassed the technological level of Belobog's civilization. It was the Stellaron suppression device left behind by the Interastral Peace Corporation seven hundred years ago. However, a true genius like Herta had to build an entire space station just to contain a Stellaron. The branch of the IPC that had opened a market on Jarilo-VI centuries ago was, at best, just a single department. To think that such a device could stably contain a Stellaron for the long term was, of course, impossible.
The giant suppression device was long since damaged. Illusory, dream-like lights intertwined with dark shadows as waves of energy pulsed out from within.
At the same time, strange voices flooded the minds of the group. It was like a whisper, yet also like an enticement. At times it was a hoarse, stern lecture; at others, a maddeningly shrill shriek. It was like an invisible hand reaching into their bodies, slowly turning the gears of their thoughts.
"Ugh...!"
Dan Heng couldn't withstand the bizarre whispers in his ears. He dry-heaved a few times, biting the tip of his tongue to wake himself from the bewitching state. "To have this level of consciousness... The Stellaron is preventing us from getting close to it!"
He stabbed his Cloud-Piercer spear into the snowy ground, gripping the shaft with one hand while pressing the other to his forehead. The Express crew had encountered their fair share of Stellarons on their past journeys, but in Dan Heng's memory, a Stellaron with a consciousness so clear that it could launch targeted attacks was extremely rare. Perhaps it had something to do with the Stellaron corroding the consciousness of generations of Supreme Guardians? Did it learn some form of human thought during the process of assimilation?
"White Flower, bloom."
Using her persona mask to resist the Stellaron's whispers, Seele feigned being affected while simultaneously raising her white knightly lance. The weapon, shaped like closed petals, emitted a milky-white light that pulsed with the breath of life.
Beneath her feet, roots and branches seemed to tear through the frozen ground. Under the force of creation, they grew wildly, in an instant weaving together into a shield of flowers, trees, and vines in front of the others.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa~!"
March 7th, who was stumbling backward while clutching her head, nearly sent flying by the energy tide, felt the pressure lessen. She immediately reacted, raising her hand to add a layer of shimmering Six-Phased Ice in front of the floral shield, increasing its durability. The influence of the Stellaron's consciousness on March 7th was much lighter than on Dan Heng. The depths of her own consciousness held an extraordinary secret, which provided some resistance to the whispers. "How are we supposed to get close... to seal it?"
"The suppression device is damaged, but it can still serve some purpose. By actively releasing energy like this, the Stellaron shouldn't be able to sustain it for too long..." Dan Heng said, retreating behind the cover of the ice-flower shield.
"We don't have that much time."
Using his own persona mask to resist the Stellaron's mental corrosion, Caelus took Stelle's hand and placed his other hand on the back of her neck. Cocolia was rushing over at full speed through the shadow world. He didn't know how fast travel through the shadow world was, but he imagined it wouldn't be slow.
"Caelus, you're not planning to... again, are you?" Stelle could hear the Stellaron's voice most clearly, yet she was the least affected by it.
"What's with that dissatisfied tone? We're protecting Belobog here!" Caelus pushed on the back of Stelle's neck, speaking with the righteous gravity of Dan Moroboshi giving special training to a rookie hero. The two of them left the protection of the ice-flower shield.
"Stelle, block it!"
Using Stelle as a human shield, Caelus issued the divine command of a Pokémon trainer and advanced against the tide of golden-black energy.
"Why aren't you the one in front?"
"Then you can pull the Stellaron out and give it to me."
As the embodiments of the Stellaron's essence and its split essence, Stelle and Caelus had extremely high adaptability and resistance to its energy.
Stelle touched her chest. She wanted to take it out, but she had no way of controlling it! However, she did feel a strange connection to the presence within the massive, broken suppression device. Through the empathy of their skin-to-skin contact, Caelus could also clearly feel the link between the Stellarons.
"Found it."
Having pinpointed the Stellaron's location, Caelus took out his yo-yo. He threw it down, then brought it back up. With each throw, the yo-yo's rotation and descent speed increased, as if it were accumulating energy. The Stellaron energy within his body was injected into the sphere, causing a brilliant golden light to bloom and swirl around it.
"Shoot it down, Divine Sphere!"
Caelus aimed at the Stellaron's general location, stomped his left foot, and with a powerful motion of his right hand, suddenly hurled the yo-yo forward. The super-high-speed rotating sphere was like a dazzling meteor streaking through the night. With a sound that tore through the atmosphere, it broke through the energy tide and shot straight towards the inside of the suppression device at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.
BOOM!
A burst of fire erupted, followed by a plume of light smoke.
"It stopped!" Seeing the churning energy tide cease and the whispers in her ears disappear, March 7th's face lit up.
"Caelus, here's the suppressor." Dan Heng breathed a sigh of relief and was about to hand Caelus the temporary suppressor Himeko had given them. As a team specializing in dealing with Stellarons, the Express crew possessed devices for temporary suppression, but these portable units had prerequisites to be effective: they required direct contact with the Stellaron, and the Stellaron's energy needed to be in a dormant, peaceful state.
"...Damn it."
Staring at the dissipating smoke, Caelus showed no signs of happiness, instead letting out a curse. This made Seele and Bronya, who had just recovered from the whispers, realize that things weren't going as smoothly as they seemed.
"Tch, what kind of villain script did I get?" Bronya thought. The Silverwing's use of Cocolia's fractured mother-daughter feelings had a certain villainous flair, but this kind of perfectly-timed, last-minute appearance was usually reserved for the protagonist!
Stelle held her baseball bat, which was glowing with a golden-blue light, and stared at the smoke-filled suppression device. Caelus remembered the no-damage-in-a-smokescreen rule.
"You sinners who resist the new world!"
A golden-haired figure, covered in ice crystals and surrounded by shadow ninjas, emerged from the shadows within the suppression device. Holding an ice lance, her body covered in wounds, clutching the gash on her chest left by the scythe, Cocolia's eyes were now filled with a chilling, bone-deep fury.
"Cocolia!"
"How is she here!?"
March 7th and Dan Heng were stunned. Wasn't Cocolia supposed to be in Qlipoth Fort? Even if she had rushed over the moment they triggered the Stellaron, it should have taken some time. Besides, Everwinter Hill was the only path to the ancient battlefield. Even if she flew, she should have come from behind them, unless...
"Spatial transportation," Dan Heng muttered, furrowing his brow.
"Mother!" Bronya cried out in shock. Looking at the familiar figure, she stared with wide, unbelieving eyes. "You... how did you become like this?"
Her body was warped by the ice, a red, demonic mask flickered over her face, and empowered by the dark forces, Cocolia looked like a demon straight out of hell.
This cry of shock, which shouldn't have been uttered here, made Cocolia pause. "Bro...nya?"
Considering the strange power "Bronya" had displayed earlier, it was possible she had rushed here through some unknown means. What surprised Cocolia was Bronya's attitude towards her. It was as if she had reverted to being her "obedient daughter"... wait a minute!
Cocolia became vigilant, the image of being attacked by the Silverwing who had used their mother-daughter bond to create an opening flashing in her mind.
"Foolish!" Cocolia sneered, holding her ice lance, her eyes filled with disdain and coldness. "Bronya, do you think I would be swayed by the same trick a second time?"
"..."
Bronya's eyes widened, and she looked at the disdainful Cocolia, completely bewildered. "Mother, what are you talking about?"
Caelus fell silent for a moment. It seemed he had accidentally set Bronya up.
This time, Cocolia didn't even pay attention to Bronya's words. Whether it was a scheme or genuine emotion, it no longer mattered.
The true Tarakudo mask, drawn by the Stellaron's energy, floated up and covered Cocolia's face, merging with the phantom image and causing the darkness in her heart to swell.
[Cocolia, the time for the new world to descend has come!]
The Stellaron broke through the suppression device and slammed directly into Cocolia's body.
"Hahaha~ That's right! I am the mother of the new world! I am the god of the new world! The entire new world is mine!"
Immense power surged from within her. Cocolia let out a crazed laugh as a terrifying, ice-blue blizzard erupted around her.
When the blizzard subsided, Cocolia's appearance had completely changed. Her flesh had been entirely replaced by a deep, dense energy. Ice, like a physical structure, covered her limbs. Four spear-like protrusions of ice floated behind her back, like natural battle armor. Even though Bronya was mentally prepared, she never thought that the mother who once doted on her would actually become like this. Aside from still maintaining a humanoid silhouette, she no longer had anything in common with a human.
"Behold! This is my power!" Cocolia spread her arms. She had no face, but the blood-red mask, stained with white frost, moved like a real face, showing a fanatical expression. "I will use the blood of you rebels to paint the dawn of the new world!"
Along with a unique pulsation from the Stellaron, a terrifying expanse of deep blackness tore open the space on the mountaintop platform. Under the dim light, countless Fragmentum monsters appeared, their forms bizarre and grotesque, like creatures from a nightmare. Shadow soldiers also poured out from within like a spring.
"Go!"
An amber cavalry lance of ice materialized in Cocolia's hand. As she pointed the lance forward, the dark mass of monsters charged like fearless beasts, and the shadow soldiers like emotionless killing machines, rushing towards the group one after another.
In this tide of monsters, the small group looked as precarious as a withered autumn leaf facing a tidal wave.
"You've got to be kidding me? There are so many?" March 7th's face paled slightly as her head swiveled left and right.
Suddenly, she saw the short, blue-haired girl take a step forward.
"Seele?"
Not just March 7th, but the other Seele and Bronya, who were holding their weapons and ready for battle, also looked at the girl in surprise.
At this moment, the girl's expression was no longer its usual softness. In her eyes, which held the deep blue sea, two intertwined white tigers seemed to flicker in and out of existence.
The Tiger Talisman!
Within Seele's body, the power of Quantum and the Imaginary Honkai energy, two diametrically opposed forces, converged at this moment. Under normal circumstances, these two forces were like fire and water, contradictory, mutually exclusive, and unable to merge. But under the power of Yin-Yang balance, the two were woven together almost perfectly, and the scales of contradiction gradually returned to their starting point.
Seele infused this parallel power into the Divine Key that commanded the authority of creation and withering. Holding the Abyss Flower, she lightly tapped the ground. The dead land of the icy plains filled with a strange, vibrant life.
"The cycle of life and death intertwines here, blooming into a new bud of creation and destruction—Annihilation: Deep Forest Emergence!"
CRACK!
From the point where the Abyss Flower touched, countless branches and new shoots, defying the laws of nature, burst madly from the snowy ground. They grew wildly, and in less than a second, became massive, thick, ancient trees that surged towards the horde of Fragmentum monsters. Their speed was even faster than a tsunami!
The hard tree trunks smashed forward like the front of a steamroller, crushing the Fragmentum monsters between their intertwining forms and piercing their bodies with their leaves. The roots and main trunks seemed to possess boundless life force, but the leaves and branches were black and decayed. The branches, symbolizing the absolute power of death, corroded and withered all the Fragmentum monsters they touched!
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