Crack—!
A faint sound of shattering echoed from the void. At this moment, though the sound did not truly exist, it rang clearly and distinctly in everyone's ears.
Himeko looked toward Stelle with some reluctance. Right now, the girl resembled a broken statue—frozen stiff in place, as if a single gust of wind could scatter her away.
"Stelle, are you okay...?"
March 7th cautiously poked Stelle's shoulder, but all that greeted her was a long silence. Our Stelle seemed to have completely cut off any exchange with the outside world, showing no reaction at all to Little March's action.
Clearly, the fact that the 'true destined woman' in her heart already belonged to someone else had dealt the girl no small blow.
"Uh, is the reaction really that big?" Taking in Stelle's response, our Mr. Yun Fan scratched his head somewhat awkwardly. Stelle's reaction right now had indeed exceeded his expectations.
"Stelle, Stelle..."
The boy also began trying to call out to the ashen-gray Stelle, but in the end, he achieved the same result as Himeko and Little March—Stelle still showed no reaction, like a shattered statue.
"This is tricky... Hm?"
Just as they were somewhat at a loss for how to wake Stelle up, a surge of Path energy suddenly rose from the girl's body.
Compared to the steadfastness of [Preservation] or the domineering force of [Destruction], what emanated from Stelle at this moment was a decayed, obscure aura—as if once tainted by it, one would be plagued by it like maggots on bone, impossible to shake off.
"[Nihility]... the Path of [Nihility]. This can't be real?!"
Even our Yun Fan—who always considered himself well-informed and in control—couldn't help but freeze at the change in Stelle. What the hell was this situation?!
He had merely intercepted Firefly, and in her grief and indignation, Stelle had actually stepped onto the Path of [Nihility]! Was this really worthy of being called the protagonist of the world?
"Is this... me gaining a brand-new power?"
Feeling the surging power welling up inside her body, Stelle's eyes lit up slightly. The force now surging within her was extremely familiar to her.
After all, her own "Mom" Kafka and "Aunt" Silver Wolf were both Pathstriders on the [Nihility] Path.
Moreover, beyond that, Stelle could clearly sense that the power of [Nihility] within her body right now was far stronger than the combined force of [Destruction] and [Preservation].
Thinking to this point, the girl turned her gaze toward Firefly, whose face currently carried a trace of worry. An idea suddenly sprouted in her heart—could this be the legendary 'losing one's love, the world crumbling in despair'?
"Yun Fan, I challenge you to a duel!"
Yun Fan: '...'
Firefly: '∑(O_O;)'
March 7th, Himeko: '???!!'
Everyone first froze for a moment, then immediately reacted. Leading the charge was Little March, who rushed over in two quick steps and grabbed Stelle's arm.
"Stelle, calm down! Yun Fan, he's an Eman...!"
March 7th held Stelle's arm, wanting to remind her that although this guy usually seemed quite amiable, don't forget—he was an Emanator of [Causality]!
Even if Stelle had a Stellaron within her and walked three major Paths—[Preservation], [Destruction], and [Nihility]—the chasm between an Aeon's Emanator and mere Pathstriders could not be bridged by sheer numbers of Paths!
"No need to say more, March!"
Stelle gently pushed March 7th's hand away and spoke with firm determination: "I've made up my mind. March, you don't need to persuade me anymore!"
"Stelle..."
March 7th opened her mouth, but seeing Stelle's expression right now, she ultimately couldn't say anything more.
'Whatever. Good advice can't persuade a ghost hell-bent on dying. Anyway, we're all companions—I'm sure Yun Fan won't go too hard on her.'
March 7th pouted and muttered inwardly.
As for this, our Miss Himeko also shook her head. Whatever. Whether in Belobog or on the Xianzhou Luofu, Stelle had sailed too smoothly all this way. Letting Yun Fan suppress her a little now would be good for her future development.
"Oh? You're sure?"
Hearing Stelle's declaration, our Mr. Yun Fan's face showed a strange expression. This little girl in front of him... had she gotten too full of herself?
Had she forgotten who he was? Even though he hadn't revealed his identity as the Aeon of [Causality] 'Samsara Sovereign' to the Express crew yet, on the surface, he was still an Emanator.
"Mm, very sure and absolutely certain! Draw your sword, Yun Fan. Only the victor is worthy of Princess Firefly!"
Yun Fan: "...Fine, I accept."
Yun Fan had no intention of continuing to argue with Stelle. The girl was already worked up right now—even if he said more, it probably wouldn't help. Better to just let actions speak and beat some sense into her directly.
A few minutes later...
"Um... um, is it still possible for me to take that back now?"
Looking around at this alternate space that Yun Fan had casually created, cold sweat couldn't help but drip from Stelle's forehead. She had sobered up now—the hot-blooded impulse that had rushed straight to her head earlier had cooled down.
Only now did she truly remember that Yun Fan was the number-one Emanator under an Aeon...
"Take it back? Do you think that's possible? But don't worry—this alternate space is manifested by my power. It's a world completely opposite to the real one."
"No matter how severe the injuries you suffer, the moment you leave this space, you'll be restored to perfect condition. So go ahead, my dear Stelle... unleash your full power without holding back!"
Yun Fan looked at the girl with a half-smile. With a light wave of his hand, the blazing sun within the alternate space suddenly erupted with scorching light. The bone-piercing heat made Stelle struggle to keep her eyes open.
Snap—!
A finger snap rang out. In an instant, hundreds upon thousands of blazing flame arrows tore through the sky, all shooting straight toward Stelle in unison.
"[Preservation] is with me!"
Facing this overwhelming attack, Stelle's face nearly turned green. Hey hey! This was way too unfair! He came in swinging his ultimate right from the start! Old man, you're not playing by martial virtue!
Stelle channeled the power of [Preservation], raising a roughly person-high barrier in front of herself. The milky-white [Preservation] barrier was incredibly solid, fully dozens of centimeters thick. It was clear that, to withstand Yun Fan's attack, Stelle had already poured everything she had into it.
This barrier before her was the result of the girl compressing and compressing again the power of [Preservation] with all her might.
Swish swish swish...!
The flame arrows ripped through the void, falling from the sky where the blazing sun hung high. They struck the barrier in front of Stelle at speeds nearly impossible to follow with the naked eye.
Boom rumble—!