[(Will we meet again? …What kind of question is that? Doesn't she already know the answer?)]
[(If you ask me, of course…)]
["I want to see Kafka again." After a moment of hesitation, Stelle finally gave her answer.]
[But perhaps it was her imagination—Stelle felt that the moment she spoke, the tips of Kafka's ears turned faintly red, and at the same time, her long lashes trembled slightly.]
["Hmm…" She was still smiling, but the shimmering light in her eyes was almost too radiant, as if it might betray her feelings. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath—when she opened them again, her gaze was like mist over a clouded mountain, and she was once again the enigmatic Kafka.]
["Alright, I'm done asking," Kafka shook her head. "I'm surprised, Stelle. I can't quite read you. Well, it's your turn to ask."]
[Stelle planned to continue asking about herself. No matter what Kafka answered this time, at least one of her responses would be true.]
["What was I like before?" Stelle repeated her previous question.]
[But this time, Kafka's answer was noticeably different: "You were an artificial being created to house a Stellaron. From the moment you were born, your destiny was to receive the Stellaron at Herta's Space Station. My role was to protect you before that and teach you basic combat skills and knowledge."]
["The reason you don't remember is because I made you forget before the Herta plan was executed," Kafka said without hesitation.]
Chainsaw Man——
At a street corner café during twilight, Makima elegantly stirred her black coffee. Sitting across from her, Aki Hayakawa propped his chin with one hand, gazing slightly upward at the Celestial Screen.
"An artificial being created to house a Stellaron…" Kafka's answer made Aki's brows relax unconsciously. Compared to the second answer, he was more inclined to believe that Stelle was a lifeform accidentally created by an Aeon.
"If Kafka's first answer is true, then the Aeon who created her didn't use divine power to control her…" Aki mused thoughtfully. "The thoughts of Aeons are truly strange."
Makima suddenly chuckled softly. "Aki-kun, how do you know the Aeon's will isn't controlling Stelle?"
"'Control' doesn't always require brute force, you know. Look—the followers of the Abundance's Yaoshi have chased their path for millennia, and Belobog's Great Guardian steadfastly upholds the will of Preservation… True 'control' is often hidden within 'choice.'"
Makima's smile deepened as she slowly shook her head. "Stelle thinks she's walking a path of her own choosing, but who's to say the Aeon's power hasn't subtly influenced her mind… Perhaps."
"…Control." Aki mulled over this unfamiliar term. Prompted by Makima's words, a strange thought suddenly surfaced in his mind… Were Denji and Power also willingly accepting Makima's "control"?
And the entire Tokyo Public Safety Division—was it also willingly submitting to this kind of "control"?
A bead of cold sweat slid down Aki's forehead.
Makima merely smiled, the rim of her ceramic cup reflecting the seemingly bottomless vortex in her eyes. "Aki-kun, that expression on your face… Did you think of something interesting?"
["While the two were chatting, Yanqing suddenly walked in."]
[Upon seeing Kafka, a flicker of hostility flashed in Yanqing's eyes. But when his gaze shifted to the side and he spotted Stelle, his brows furrowed instantly. "Huh? What are you doing here?"]
[Before Stelle could explain, Kafka slowly stepped out from behind her, smiling meaningfully. "Of course, it's because she fell under my Spirit Whisper."]
["My suggestions can make people willingly follow orders without even realizing anything's off," Kafka said, arms crossed, slightly tilting her chin toward Stelle. "Stelle, defeat this little boy, and your task is complete."]
["—You, you vile fiend!"]
[Seeing Stelle approach with her bat raised, Yanqing gritted his teeth in anger but found himself helpless.]
[Stelle was an honored guest of the Xianzhou and had just fought alongside the General to defeat Phantylia, saving the Xianzhou. In this fight, he absolutely couldn't let her get hurt. But Stelle's strength was formidable, and with his old injuries unhealed, just keeping up was already exhausting. Worse, he had to split his attention to keep an eye on Kafka nearby.]
[That woman who wielded Spirit Whisper was far more dangerous than Stelle…]
["—Not good!"]
[Realizing his mistake, in the split second he was distracted, Stelle had already charged forward with her bat. Yanqing prepared to raise his sword in defense, but suddenly, Stelle's figure blurred before his eyes, like an oil painting dissolving in water.]
[It was as if his hands were sinking into viscous amber. Kafka's voice surged from all directions, each syllable reverberating in his mind with a faint purple echo.]
["Go back, Yanqing~"]
[One moment, Yanqing was full of righteous fury; the next, he quietly turned and left.]
[With the crisis resolved, Stelle finally breathed a sigh of relief. After successfully suppressing Blade's Mara affliction, Kafka thanked Stelle again. However, since Blade still had someone to meet, the two parted ways here.]
[Blade stepped out of the room and saw Stelle, who hadn't left yet. He spoke slowly: "I remember you. You used to follow Kafka, didn't you? For a while, when she was on missions, you were by her side. I remember."]
["You're the first one to follow her for so long and still be alive," Blade said with a cold smile. "Every Stellaron Hunter has made a deal with Elio. Since Kafka, like me, agreed to be driven by Elio, what she wants must be extraordinary. Everything she does comes at a great cost."]
[Blade slowly turned away. "She must have done a lot to keep you alive this long, little girl."]
Attack on Titan——
Outside the camp at night, the campfire crackled. Armin gazed at the distant horizon, where a meteor streaked by like a phantom of the Astral Express.
"Blade knows so much insider information—why doesn't he say more?"
Eren pouted, still unsatisfied as he watched Blade's retreating figure on the screen. "Since Stelle used to follow Kafka, doesn't that confirm her identity? She was definitely a Stellaron Hunter."
"…No wonder her attitude toward Stelle is so unusual."
Mikasa glanced at Eren's profile and said softly, "But Blade also said that every Stellaron Hunter made a deal with Elio. Does that mean Stelle did something similar?"
"Yeah, so I'm guessing Stelle's deal with Elio probably has something to do with her later memory loss and dormancy… I even think it's possible that Stelle herself chose to fall into dormancy and lose her memories, all to perfectly reach the future Elio envisioned," Armin said thoughtfully.
"But why would she do that?" Mikasa didn't understand.
"Who knows? Maybe to deceive and hide from an Aeon who governs all memories in the universe? Or something else?"
Armin's mind wandered. "We don't have enough information yet, but my guess is… Stelle, bearing the Stellaron, is likely the core of Elio's script. She has to hide some crucial memory that even an Aeon can't know. To deceive an Aeon, she first had to deceive herself, so she used Kafka's Spirit Whisper to forget."