"Family, go check out the third beta's Cocolia boss fight on Bilibili. The changes for the official release are massive!"
"Not just the music being more epic, the story presentation's optimization is next-level. My gosh!"
"Someone tell the crowd what 'surprise' means."
"When something you thought you knew takes a turn that completely blows your mind, that's the simplest, most straightforward surprise!"
"It's so well-hidden. This game deserves to blow up!"
"Anyone who can face the Cocolia boss fight without a single expression deserves praise for their rock-solid emotions and incredible composure."
"Me? I can't. I'm basically a mess!"
The live stream audience's attention wasn't on Ah Xian's bold words at all.
Even those who came for her usual chaotic energy were completely drawn in by the stellar plot.
The atmosphere was already ablaze.
The chat scrolled so fast that without pausing, you couldn't even read what was being said.
[All Things Tremble?]
[The BGM is fire!]
[The BGM is insane!]
[Gave me goosebumps all over!]
[This launch quality… you're telling me this is a turn-based gacha game?]
[You can always trust Hoyo's music!]
[Leon's save had me crying. Where's my tissue?]
[So cool and epic. This is the stuff we live for!]
[Bushgomen, whose BGM is this anyway? The Trailblazer's, Leon's, or Cocolia's?]
[Doesn't matter who—call it Cocolia's execution theme!]
This was a battle destined for victory—and destined for defeat.
The difference was—
Only Cocolia was doomed to lose.
She had lost herself, her faith, her humanity, and the entire world.
Without the will and courage to face adversity head-on, to confront fear, how could one overcome obstacles and see the hope of clearing the clouds to reveal the blue sky?
Cocolia's second phase health bar was finally depleted.
Players collectively exhaled, some stretching their fingers, others releasing their keyboards or mice, awaiting what came next.
There had to be a victory CG.
Sure enough.
Cocolia: "I will never fail, and I will never allow you to stop the new world's arrival!"
The Imaginary ripples surged, their oppressive force nearly crushing everyone to their knees.
Cocolia flashed into the sky, raising both arms to gather her attack.
An Imaginary meteor, more than twice the size of the previous one, rapidly took shape.
Stelle didn't flinch, the fire of Preservation blazing in her eyes.
The lance in her hand burned not with flames but with the countless wills it carried.
March 7th: "The power of this move looks way scarier than before…"
Leon was about to act when his face suddenly paled.
A piercing pain within told him that his battle with Erevitos had drained far too much.
While this was the outcome he wanted, it exceeded his expectations.
If he could no longer neutralize it himself, then it was time for the final plan.
Leon's abnormality was immediately noticed by his companions.
"What's wrong, Leon?!" March 7th's face filled with worry, her voice urgent.
Under the firelight, Leon's face somehow looked even paler.
They'd never seen him look so bad—could he be injured?
It made sense. Guarding the Silvermane Guard Restricted Zone, facing an endless army of Rift monsters—how could he be unscathed?
The countless players in parallel universes noticed Leon's condition too.
[Hoyo, you better not!]
[I smell something familiar. Don't do this!]
[Leon definitely took the hit for the Trailblazer earlier. Now he's fighting alongside us despite being injured. I'm sobbing!]
Amid Cocolia's roars, filled with desperate madness, she bellowed,
"You—will become dust beneath the snow!"
The Imaginary meteor tore through space, plummeting downward.
Leon's hand seals shifted, and the dragon and the entire barrier dissolved into specks of light, swiftly merging into Stelle's back.
A pair of sacred wings unfurled automatically, each feather glowing brighter than ever.
"Please… I'm counting on you, Stelle…"
This time, everyone could hear the unmistakable weakness in Leon's voice.
Stelle gripped the flaming lance tightly, her wings beating powerfully, transforming her into a burning meteor.
"Cocolia, not a chance!!"
The meteor streaked toward the falling Imaginary meteor. The two collided, and a dazzling explosion of fire erupted!
The world-destroying Imaginary meteor shattered completely in that instant, dispersing into ripples of energy.
The burning meteor shot through the energy ripples, striking Cocolia and sending her crashing to the ground, where Stelle's form slowly emerged.
Her body, wreathed in flames and framed by the massive flaming wings, looked like a fire god descending to the mortal realm.
[Holy crap! Oh man! Whose protagonist is this cool?!]
[Who says hot-blooded shonen protagonists are outdated? This is peak hot-blooded shonen!]
Amid the chat's fervor, most of Ah Xian's thoughts lingered on Leon.
How was he now?
Was he okay?
His voice sounded weaker than someone exhausted from days of work.
Though it made her want to clench her thighs, the situation was far from the romantic fantasy.
Given the current plot, they wouldn't… kill off Leon, right?
The CG wasn't over yet.
Stelle dove to the ground.
Her speed was so great, and she was so unused to buffering her descent, that she could only mitigate the force by plunging the flaming lance into the ground.
She knelt on one knee, her lowered gaze lifting to meet Cocolia's not far away, slowly rising.
"It's over."
The wills within the flaming lance began to resonate with Stelle.
In that moment, they formed a blazing torrent, converging at the lance's tip, igniting a scorching flame.
Stelle crouched, her gaze shifting to Bronya.
Bronya's lashes fluttered shut mechanically, a trace of sorrow crossing her resolute face.
"Flaming Lance—"
The pressure of the old civilization's echoes swept across the icy plain, making even the Stellaron's chaotic consciousness tremble.
In Cocolia's shattered pupils, the silhouette of the gray-haired girl overlapped with a figure from seven hundred years ago.
The judgment awaiting at the end of the blizzard was never what she had imagined.
"Charge!!"
A streak of fire shot forward, vaporizing ice crystals along its path into a vacuum.
In that instant, a relieved smile appeared on Leon's face. His eyelids grew heavy, and he collapsed to one side.
Dan Heng and Seele, noticing something was wrong, flashed to his side to catch him.
The moment the streak of fire pierced Cocolia's body, the world seemed to freeze—
A brief silence fell, and the entire sky was painted amber by the flames.
The Stellaron's lies and obsessions, sustained for seven hundred years, melted rapidly in the absolute heat.
The ice armor shattered.
Cocolia staggered to her knees, familiar Imaginary energy seeping from her body.
"Mother! No!"
Bronya, losing all composure, rushed toward Cocolia in panic.