The Trailblazer realized she couldn't let Orchis keep using the pocket watch!
If she let the girl continue to ravage her own body to summon more puppets for battle, she might just die!
At the same time, to not waste the opportunity Orchis had created for her, Stelle had to end this fight with the Swarm King quickly!
Whether for her own safety or for Orchis who was siding with her, the Trailblazer had to go all in!
Orchis would handle the endlessly self-replicating True Stings. That meant Stelle's task was to create a huge commotion, pin down the Emanator of Propagation, and stall for Herta's backup to arrive.
(I have to use that... It's a risky move, and I haven't fully mastered it, but if I can't overcome this, there's no future for me and Orchis.)
The Trailblazer's gaze on the Star-Crushing Swarm King turned cold as she went all out! It would be until one of them—her or the enemy—fell!
Stelle, who had been gripping the Lance of Flame with both hands, switched to a one-handed grip, using her free hand to summon her very first weapon.
The baseball bat.
Due to the vast difference in the aesthetic styles of the two weapons, the sight of her dual-wielding the Lance of Flame and the baseball bat introduced a sense of absurdity to the otherwise solemn scene.
But the Trailblazer didn't care about her weapons' appearances. What mattered was the power contained within them! The Paths they each represented!
The Lance of Flame of Preservation! The bat of Destruction!
The powers of two different Paths—a crackling gale and a blazing fire—began to roar through the space!
A powerful energy surged from Stelle's body. A dual-colored aura rose and swirled around the young woman, and the resulting shockwave, forged from a world-shaking might, instantly froze the surrounding Swarm, which let out sharp, threatening screeches.
"——?!"
While feigning weakness, Orchis snuck a peek in the little gray-haired girl's direction.
She hadn't noticed before, but one look was all it took for her to be stunned by the scene.
Resonance Interplay.
In the cosmos, there are Aeons. Those who walk alongside the Aeons on their Paths, resonating with and gaining their power, are known as Pathstriders.
The vast majority of Pathstriders do not tread a single Path, but could only truly connect with one. Unlike the Aeons, who need only to embody their own ideals, humans, due to their complexity... their goals, methods, and origins all influence their Path inclinations. Intersecting Paths will produce an echo.
The Trailblazer was a special case. As the story progressed, she would master the use of numerous Paths and become a prodigy among them.
Logically speaking, Stelle had the potential to use multiple Paths simultaneously; she undoubtedly possessed such talent! The Simulated Universe also featured stories of various factions, but in the original story, the Trailblazer had never shown such a tendency. In the game's main storyline, the little gray-haired girl had always just switched back and forth between her bat, lance, hat, and quill, only ever using a single Path's weapon in combat.
Dual-wielding weapons! The protagonist using the powers of two Paths at once! In Orchis's memory, this was a sight that had never occurred!
The little gray-haired girl had learned to control the Stellaron, not only saving Cocolia but also mastering and elevating her own multiple Path powers!
The butterfly effect Orchis brought about was not just limited to the Trailblazer's mentality; her combat power was also skyrocketing!
Is this what a game protagonist who takes initiative and stops slacking off looks like?!
Thinking carefully about the Stellaron-wielder's setup—the Galactic Baseball Bat was one of Herta's Curios! The Lance of Flame was an artifact that had received a glance from the Amber Lord!
The Stellaron hidden in her body was a source of calamity that Xipe of the Harmony used to corrode the universe!
She was a special agent of the Ten-Lords Commission! The future teacher of Yanqing! Deemed by Nous to be the amnesiac Akivili! The fifth Stellaron Hunter under Elio's command! The inheritor of the Watchmaker's will! The newborn Deliverer and the Throne of Worlds of Amphoreus!
Even though the Trailblazer had always drifted along in the main story with the carefree attitude of someone on a spring outing, her achievements were already breathtaking!
-----------------
The fully unleashed Stelle! The way she now stood, facing the Starcrushing Swarm King head-on, gave Orchis the momentary, reliable feeling that she would win!
A steadfast back, an unmoving hero!
The girl herself was a little dazed. It wasn't hard to imagine how amazed the players would be to see the protagonist "dual-wielding"!
My god, this is basically fan service!
But it was just a fleeting illusion at best...
The battle was about to erupt!
The Trailblazer stomped her foot, shattering the ground beneath. Her expression was stern and cold as she blinked to the side of the giant blue insect. Her weapons clashed against the Swarm King, which had reacted with incredible speed, letting out a violent response... Boom! Boom! The deafening shockwaves blasted everything in the lab to pieces! The sonic booms and the continuous, fierce battle even caused the space station's walls to crack and crumble, blasting out all sorts of debris-filled holes.
Streaks of crimson and blue light carved distinct trajectories across the sky and ground, growing ever more intense!
(The insect has no reason, but it has instinct.)
(I can't follow the enemy's pace and rhythm. I absolutely cannot give up the initiative!)
Stelle's speed and power had increased by several levels, gradually accelerating in stages, making it impossible to discern the upper limit of her strength. And although her true level was far from being a match for the Starcrushing Swarm King, she took the offensive!
Letting the hunter ascertain the prey's strength is not a trivial matter; that is the moment of death!
The flying insect, despite its massive size, danced through the air with unbelievable speed, appearing completely at ease. The Trailblazer's expression, however, gradually showed fatigue after dozens of exchanges, but she didn't let it show, continuing to push her physical stamina to its absolute limit.
(Keep the enemy wary. Create the illusion that it can't attack recklessly.)
Just when the Swarm King thought it could easily crush her, having more or less figured out its prey's limits, the Trailblazer scooped up a small flying insect nearby and flung it with her Lance of Flame! It exploded! A mist of blood instantly spread across the area, catching the Swarm King off guard.
"..."
Orchis observed every movement on the front line, lowered her head to gaze at the pocket watch in her hand, and began to count the seconds.
She calculated in her mind. The protagonist and the heroine complement each other; this had been mentioned many times.
In the current plot, the heroine had already demonstrated her strategy to provide the protagonist with a way to break the deadlock, stayed behind to face the danger and fight alongside the protagonist to show the sincerity of her feelings, and finally used a life-draining item to provide the protagonist with a boost. She had done everything perfectly.
She left no loose ends for nitpicky players to scrutinize her contributions.
She hadn't been a burden. Orchis had already done her best within her capabilities.
But if the heroine performed too well while the protagonist, in contrast, was too robotic and was merely being favored and aided without making any real contribution, that wouldn't work.
The little gray-haired girl's current performance was extremely satisfying to Orchis!
Stelle, out of concern for the safety of the people on the space station, had proactively chosen to fight the Stacrushing Swarm King in an attempt to protect Orchis. This had already proven the Trailblazer's excellent character, allowing the audience to empathize with and like her. And in the battle scene, the little gray-haired girl had even used a new power that fused two Paths, letting the players see the protagonist going all out, even surpassing her past self, to hold her own against a powerful enemy. During the fight, she also displayed excellent combat intelligence, using tactics and environmental objects to maneuver and contend with her opponent. Her performance was flawless, with no foolish mistakes.
The heroine and the game's protagonist had achieved mutual success here! Advancing and retreating together! The script's execution was outstanding!
[Phase Two: Development Event]
[Continuously accumulate mutual affection between the protagonist and the heroine. Discover and resolve each other's shortcomings and problems.]
[For example, creating secrets only the two of them share, completing a difficult task together, and helping each other out.]
[Never abandoning each other in the face of desperation! Doing one's best! Giving one's all! Continuously watering the fruit of love before it blooms.]
The protagonist and heroine were acting in line with their established characters and cooperating at a level consistent with their current strength.
If they still couldn't win under these circumstances, it was truly a case of having done their best, and there was nothing more to be done!
The audience's psychological expectations had been sufficiently prepared... With the groundwork fully laid, the twist and tragedy could also connect naturally!
(It's about time.)
It was time for the heroine to act as a substitute and take the fatal blow for the protagonist.
Orchis stared ahead. The Trailblazer couldn't hold on any longer.
The little gray-haired girl was not yet familiar with the power of Resonance Interplay, and the Swarm King was an Emanator several orders of magnitude stronger than her. The fact that she could last for ten or twenty seconds was already remarkable.
"Damn it—" Stelle's face turned pale.
Her gaze fell upon her right hand, which was now empty! She could no longer hold the Lance of Flame she relied on for survival; it had slipped from her palm!
The Trailblazer barely managed to fend off the Swarm King's oncoming attack with her bat before being thrown into the air by the gust from its flapping wings. She was tossed about in the gale and finally crashed heavily onto the ground. The battered girl gritted her teeth and forced herself up, still resisting stubbornly.
Cough, cough cough—
But her old strength was spent, and new strength had yet to emerge.
Before Stelle could even catch her breath, a massive shadow completely enveloped her.
"——"
She couldn't help but hold her breath. The Trailblazer was very familiar with this feeling. She numbly raised her head; the giant insect was less than a meter away from her.
It was like being glimpsed by Nanook when the Stellaron went rampant, like being pierced by Cocolia's lance and falling from the sky.
The moment her life was about to end.
The sensation of death's presence washed over her clearly.
The Trailblazer had no time to react. Staring at the Swarm King's already opened, bloody maw, her mind went completely blank.
Is this it?
Filled with regret and unwillingness, the girl covered her face with her hands, subconsciously closing her eyes and wanting to make a futile last struggle.
Could it be... that this is the end of my journey?
I'm... going to end here...?
-----------------
In the end, the anticipated pain never came.
Stelle came to her senses, confused, and snapped her eyes open.
The monster's aggro had been diverted. It was a common dramatic device in scripts for someone to always show up at the critical moment to save the protagonist.
The Trailblazer looked up at the Starcrushing Swarm King before her. It had stopped, despite being just a short distance away from killing her.
The Emanator of Propagation let out a roar, a hysterical shriek of madness that came from being injured!
At that moment, the scene that entered Stelle's eyes was of space being torn open—a phenomenon identical to when Orchis had used the pocket watch earlier. The Trailblazer didn't even have to think to know that the puppet girl must have done something again.
From within the rift, a giant arm clawed its way out.
On the arm, one could see a white glove used by humans and the long sleeve of a coat that humans would wear, yet they were magnified to several times their normal size.
The white glove tore open, and ferocious claws howled forth, directly piercing the Starcrushing Swarm King.
The Emanator of Propagation was actually injured?!
"——?!"
Seeing this incredible scene, Stelle subconsciously looked into the rift.
On the other side of the space, a tall, humanoid puppet was faintly visible. Its long, silver hair flowed, but it could hardly be called beautiful. It was impossible to tell if it was based on a male or female form. It was not a work of art imitating a human, but a form sculpted purely for intimidation. It possessed a chilling, murderous aura that materialized into a tangible blade, a dangerous presence that even its mask couldn't conceal. The puppet's eyes flickered with a cold red light, its icy aura spreading everywhere. Its burly figure stood several meters tall. Even though it was held by chains, it felt as if it could break free and go on a rampage at any second!
(What is that... Did Orchis make that too? She can summon a puppet like that?)
Stelle could viscerally feel the massive puppet's sharp edge; the sense of oppression it gave off seemed to be no less than that of the Emanator of Propagation!
This was a teaser Orchis had appropriately thrown out. Whether this teaser would ever be fully revealed was another matter. The first priority was to let the players know she had a seemingly powerful trump card hidden up her sleeve. This would make it easier for the player base to speculate about new plotlines in the future, and while preparing for power creep, they could also speculate about a new SP version of her.
However, the important point right now was not this puppet.
The spatial rift quickly closed, and the claw, which had appeared for only an instant, vanished without a trace. What remained was Orchis, her face pale, her body trembling. She clutched her chest, gasping for breath, and finally collapsed to the ground, unable to bear the pressure any longer! Her body curled and twisted in pain!
She couldn't even hold the pocket watch steady anymore! It slipped from her hand, and this small sound instantly drew the full attention of the Starcrushing Swarm King!
Although the Emanator of Propagation couldn't perceive the memetic existence that was Orchis, the sound from the watch face was enough for it to pinpoint the direction! To identify where the enemy who had attacked it was!
And so, under the little gray-haired girl's horrified expression, the Star-Crushing Swarm King's enormous body began to spread its wings. The Trailblazer reacted immediately, just about to get up and run to Orchis's aid, but she wasn't fast enough! In that moment, the giant flying insect and Orchis on the ground, slowly raising her head... her eyes dim, her expression utterly haggard, formed a stark contrast.
The puppet girl's slender, frail body seemed so fragile and vulnerable under the immense, oppressive might of the Starcrushing Swarm King.
A single clash, and she would be utterly destroyed.
"Orchis, run—!!!!!!!!!!"
Stelle only had time to let out a final, mournful cry, reaching out her hand in vain!
It was all too late. The Emanator of Propagation shot forward, tearing up everything in its path, including the room's walls and corridors!
A deafening noise! The world seemed to be collapsing!
The silver-haired figure was torn apart.
The petite body vanished in an instant, slashed by the Swarm King's jaws, and was dragged along into the air.
The puppet was broken, its outer shell shattered, its central components sliced in two at the waist, with only the edges clinging to the insect's giant pincer, maintaining a humanoid shape.
Impaled, dangling, displayed pitifully on the monster's body. Orchis's last words to the Trailblazer were not a cry for help.
"I'm... sorry..."
But an apology.
Until the very end, she was thinking of Stelle.
She was worried, but she was also apologizing for being unable to help, for being unable to save the one she held dear.
The shattered girl lost all her strength in the sky.
Her messy hair and lifeless eyes no longer held their usual delicate and lovely beauty.
The puppet slowly reached a hand toward the beloved she could not save, but her strength failed her, and tears fell from her clouded eyes.
Perhaps she was thinking that if she met her end here, the Trailblazer would also face her final curtain. Thus, she couldn't bear it, and so she apologized and repented.
"...I couldn't... do anything."
(Chapter 21 is already translated and up in P@treon :D)