Watching Phainon walk away, March 7th called out to him.
“You’re going the wrong way. It’s over here!”
…
If one did not look closely at Phainon’s composed face, they would never notice the flush creeping across it.
Seeing this, Stelle leaned in close, almost pressing her face against his.
Feeling unnerved by her stare, Phainon pushed her away.
“What are you doing, Stelle?”
“Something’s off. You can actually get embarrassed?” Stelle rubbed her chin.
“The truth is always one! You’re not my brother! Tell me where you’ve hidden him!”
Phainon flicked her forehead again and clicked his tongue.
“Where did you even learn these lines?”
“You flicked me again!” Stelle clutched her forehead.
“Do you know that makes people dumber?”
“Don’t worry. There’s not much room left to drop.” March 7th chimed in with a follow-up strike.
“March, even you!” Stelle moved her hand from her forehead to her chest.
“My heart aches!”
Snowflakes drift~ The north wind howls~
“Where’s that BGM coming from?” March 7th looked around warily.
“Sigh… I shall bear all consequences alone!” Stelle suddenly became serious, her young face filled with an air of profound experience.
“Alright, enough with the dramatics! Let’s go!” With that, March 7th took Stelle’s hand, and the three set off toward their destination.
They arrived at the center of the space station, before a large elevator with a vast vertical drop.
“We’ll take this elevator back to the Master Control Zone,” March said, though an inexplicable sense of foreboding rose in her heart.
She pressed several buttons but found the elevator unresponsive.
“Just as I expected. This elevator’s broken.” She shrugged helplessly.
“Sigh… if only our all-powerful Dan Heng were here. He’d definitely know how to tinker with these strange contraptions.”
“I don’t know how to do that either.” Before she could finish, a familiar cool male voice came from behind the three.
March was so startled she stumbled backward, about to fall, when Phainon reached out and caught her slender waist, steadying her.
Blushing slightly, March 7th looked at Dan Heng in confusion.
“How did you get here faster than us?”
“I know this one!” Stelle raised her hand.
“Dan Heng must have used his hidden power, a secret technique to dash forward quickly. That’s definitely how he got here so fast!”
“What are you talking about?” Dan Heng gave Stelle a blank look before turning to March 7th.
“I took another route, looping around from the upper level, and happened to see you on the monitor.”
“By the way, Arlan’s there too. He only sustained minor injuries, nothing serious. He’s resting now.”
“Arlan’s the head of the Security Department. He should know what’s wrong with this elevator, right?” March rubbed her chin.
“In that case, let’s go meet up with him.”
The four hurried to the monitor room, where a boy with dark brown skin, white hair, and a cross-shaped scar on his nose sat in a chair.
“Are you all together?” Arlan looked at the three aside from Dan Heng, noting that their attire differed from the space station staff.
“That’s right. We’re all members of the Astral Express. These two are reserve members.” March 7th answered.
“Oh… did Lady Herta send you here to assist?”
“Just a coincidence. We happened to encounter the attack while delivering the relics Lady Herta had commissioned us to find.” Dan Heng explained.
“By the way, Arlan, do you have any idea why the Antimatter Legion is targeting your station? It seems their only focus is the space station, with no interest in the surface of Blue.”
“I don’t have much of a clue either. The Legion’s attack came very suddenly. The station’s defense systems were hacked and shut down, and soon after, those things appeared.” Arlan lowered his head in thought, but he too had no idea what triggered the assault.
“A defense system failure?” Dan Heng rubbed his chin.
“Sounds like a hacker’s work. Could it be the Stellaron Hunters?”
“I’m not sure.” Arlan’s mood was low.
“Miss… Station Master Asta evacuated the staff immediately. I was supposed to cover everyone’s retreat, but in the end, I let my guard down.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” Dan Heng offered reassuringly.
“In your fight against the Legion, you injured your leg and dominant hand. Hiding here to avoid direct confrontation with the Legion was a calm and correct judgment.”
“Yeah!” March 7th nodded in agreement.
“Most of the staff have already taken shelter under the Security Department’s cover. Our top priority now is to return to the Master Control Zone and organize a counterattack!”
“Exactly. But the elevator to the Master Control Zone won’t start. Do you know what’s wrong?” Phainon added from the side.
“After the evacuation was complete, the elevator’s access was temporarily locked to prevent the Antimatter Legion from breaching the Master Control Zone,” Arlan explained slowly.
“But when Station Master Asta commissioned you to find me, she should have given you the unlock key, right?”
“I think… she gave me a card…” March 7th rubbed her chin, answering sheepishly.
“March…” The other three all stared at her.
“I don’t remember where I put it.” March rummaged through her pockets, her voice growing quieter.
“You…” Arlan was at a loss for words.
“Found it!” She pulled out a gleaming metal card from her pocket, her face lighting up with joy.
“I really…” Dan Heng held his forehead in exasperation.
“I really…” Stelle mimicked Dan Heng’s tone.
After unlocking the elevator’s access, the five took a detour to the uppermost level.
Passing by a room, they spotted a sparkling card floating in a display case.
“Is that a Light Cone?” March 7th looked at Dan Heng in confusion.
“That’s right. Light Cones are a technology from the Garden of Recollection. They can be carried around and serve as powerful enhancement curios. I didn’t expect to find one here.”
“You should take it with you. We’re bound to encounter more enemies ahead,” Arlan said to the four.
“It’ll be a great help in combat.”
The four equipped the Light Cone, and the system stirred in Phainon’s mind once more.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, on achieving the achievement ‘Is Borrowed Power Still Power?’ Reward: Light Cone – Dawn Thus Burns.]
Through his journey so far, Phainon had learned that Light Cones were the Garden of Recollection’s means of storing memories.
Looking at the Light Cone, he saw a figure bearing his own face, its body covered in cracks, with golden blood—the blood unique to the Chrysos Heirs—flowing from them.
“Is this… me?” Phainon curiously examined the memory within the Light Cone.
In an instant, he saw a chaotic battlefield.
The bodies of Teacher Tribbie, Aglaea, Castorice, Mydeimos, and Hyacine lay strewn across the ground.
An endless despair flooded his mind.
Tears streamed from his eyes, but they evaporated into mist in the very next moment.
In the distance stood a black-robed swordsman wielding a pitch-black greatsword, flames emanating from his body.
A power born of despair surged through Phainon’s chest.
Golden bone spurs grew from his body as he charged at the murderer of his companions, carrying an endless blaze of fury.
Just as the two swords clashed, Phainon was pulled from the Light Cone’s memory.
He clutched his throbbing head and leaned against the wall.