Meanwhile, deep within Penacony's dreamscape—
Beneath a gray sky, Kiana and Acheron had only just escaped the dream and returned to reality.
Perhaps because Oakheart's infested domain was a special place, they ended up being among the very last to emerge.
And just as Kiana and Acheron stepped back into the Reverie Hotel, they happened to run into Dan Heng, who was handling the aftermath there.
"…Mr. Dan Heng? What a surprise. I didn't expect you to be awake already too. Looks like you found your companions?" Kiana asked with a smile.
Dan Heng gave a slight nod. His gaze lingered briefly on Kiana and then on Acheron before he spoke.
"They only just woke up from Ena's Dream. None of them are in especially good condition yet, so everyone has already returned to the Express to rest."
"For the time being, anything concerning Penacony will likely fall to me to decide."
Kiana did not comment on that. "I see. Then I really ought to drop by later."
After all, given everything that had happened in Penacony, the Family would certainly have to give the galaxy an explanation.
And in that case, as one of the parties involved in the incident, the Astral Express—representing the Path of Trailblaze—naturally had every right to participate in the disputes that would follow.
Kiana herself was not especially interested in any of that.
Penacony's future, its ownership, whatever punishment might follow—none of it meant much to her.
That said, she still remembered what Robin had asked of Kallen earlier.
Robin had wanted Kallen to provide Penacony with protection, to help preserve it under the pressure of the many surrounding powers.
But Kallen, with her own grand plans looming, had been unable to make any promises. So the responsibility had been kicked down the road—to Kiana.
Fine.
Of course, even after deciding she would help Penacony, Kiana had no intention of volunteering her services unprompted. She only needed to wait here for the Family to come to her on their own.
And yet, just as Kiana was thinking that and preparing to leave with Acheron, Dan Heng spoke again.
Perhaps because he had heard about the two Emanators' performance in the dreamscape, the usually reserved young man found himself indulging in a rare moment of curiosity.
He cleared his throat. "Miss Kiana, Miss Acheron… forgive the intrusion, but there is one thing I am truly very curious about."
At once, Kiana felt a bad premonition rise in her chest.
Still, her expression remained unchanged. "Ahem. Go ahead, Mr. Dan Heng. If I know the answer, I'll tell you."
Dan Heng fell silent for a moment, then spoke.
"After Miss Kallen defeated Sunday, I had the chance to speak with Black Swan."
"According to her, the two of you had intended to go deal with Sunday as well?"
Kiana already knew where this was going.
As expected, Dan Heng continued, "But as far as I know, during Sunday's ascension, the only one actually fighting against Order was Miss Kallen."
He paused, then added, "I'm just a little curious. At that time… were the two of you handling something even more important elsewhere?"
Silence fell.
The smile on Kiana's face froze completely.
Ahhh, so she really was going to get asked this.
And honestly, the result was embarrassing.
Two Emanators had stormed off like they were about to settle everything by force, only to vanish halfway through.
Anyone would be baffled.
But that really wasn't her fault! She still needed to let Kallen use the boss fight to grind, so naturally she couldn't let Acheron interfere.
Kiana coughed lightly. "Actually, we ran into… a bit of a special situation."
"A special situation?" Dan Heng's brows knit slightly. The vague answer clearly left him even more puzzled.
He pressed on. "May I ask what kind of special situation? Did that Dreammaster leave some sort of backup plan behind?"
"As far as I know, while Sunday's three-layer dream was indeed sturdy, with the two of you being Emanators, even if you couldn't break through it, it shouldn't have ended with no disturbance at all."
"Well…" Kiana turned to look at Acheron, her eyes filled with an unmistakable plea for help.
She was out of ideas. She genuinely had no clue how to smooth this over. It wasn't as though she could simply admit that the two Emanators had wandered around the dream for ages and accomplished absolutely nothing.
Seeing that, Acheron's fingers at her side curled slightly.
Ever since that brief journey together within the dream—ever since that hurried clasp of hands—Kiana had reverted to calling her "Miss Acheron" in that polite, distant way, with not the slightest trace of intimacy.
That left a strange, unnameable heaviness in Acheron's chest.
But seeing the girl beside her, embarrassed to the point that even her ears were turning red, Acheron did not hesitate in the slightest. She stepped half a pace forward, shielding Kiana behind her.
Dan Heng's eyes lingered on the subtle atmosphere between them. His frown deepened, and he seemed about to ask another question when Acheron's cool, even voice cut in.
"We got lost."
The brief sentence left Dan Heng stunned.
What did she mean, got lost?
Dan Heng had imagined many possible answers. This, however, had never crossed his mind.
Two Emanators—one of Nihility, one an Emanator of Destruction—had gotten lost in a dream and failed to take part in the final battle.
For a moment, Dan Heng honestly wondered whether he had ever truly woken up from Ena's Dream at all.
"…Lost?"
"Yes." Acheron nodded.
"The coordinates of the three-layer dream kept shifting. That Stellaron Hunter could only send us in. She couldn't guide us once we were inside."
"So you…"
"So I got lost," Acheron repeated, her tone utterly flat.
Dan Heng opened his mouth, then closed it again.
He looked at the two of them—one an Emanator of Nihility, the other an Emanator of Destruction. They should have been the main force in the battle, the ones everyone had pinned their hopes on.
And yet… they had gotten lost.
Dan Heng took a slow breath and let it out. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.
Were these two Emanators even less reliable than March?
Finally, he said as calmly as he could, "Miss Acheron… with your abilities, even if you got lost, surely it wouldn't have been impossible to find your way entirely?"
Acheron fell silent for a moment.
"The structure of the dream was very complicated. And…" she paused, "at the time, I was thinking about something else."
Dan Heng waited, but she made no move to elaborate.
"…Something else?" he prompted.
Acheron did not answer.
At that point, Kiana stepped in. "Miss Acheron was thinking about something… and I was thinking about something too. Ahem. And then, well, neither of us was really watching where we were going. So we got lost."
Dan Heng's brow twitched. It was clear the answer had shocked him. "You were both thinking about something?"
"Right."
"While on your way to stop Sunday's ascension?"
"…Right."
Dan Heng went quiet for a very long time.
He looked at Kiana, then at Acheron. His lips parted, then closed. In the end, he said nothing at all.
Then he left.
Very quickly, too—as though he feared that if he stayed any longer, he might say something impolite.
Kiana watched him go for a few seconds, then let out a long breath.
Thankfully, the little Azure Dragon had enough tact not to keep prying. Otherwise she really had no idea how she was going to keep this lie going.
After that, Kiana turned to Acheron again.
Back in the dream, Kiana had made her position absolutely clear: there was no way she would let Acheron go and interfere with the birth of "God Sunday."
Originally, Kiana had thought Acheron would insist on fighting her over it.
But the outcome had been completely unexpected. Acheron had immediately lowered her blade and chosen to comply.
It seemed that one little "Mei" had been more devastating than Kiana had expected.
She had reeled in this cool, aloof Emanator of Nihility with a single hook.
As expected of her.
Soon, the corridor quieted again, leaving only the distant sounds of footsteps and soft voices.
Penacony was awakening from its long dream. Hotel staff bustled everywhere—members of the Family, people from the IPC, tourists who had only just woken from Ena's Dream, still dazed and unsteady.
No one paid any attention to the two Emanators standing off to one side.
"Come on," Kiana said first, stepping forward. "There are too many eyes and ears here. Let's find somewhere quiet to talk."
Acheron followed.
The two of them passed through the corridor, avoiding the hurried staff, and eventually found an empty lounge on the top floor of the hotel.
The door was unlocked. Kiana pushed it open and went in. Acheron entered after her and shut the door behind them.
The room was not large. Near the window sat a pair of sofas.
Kiana sat down on one and patted the space beside her, inviting Acheron to do the same.
Acheron hesitated for one second, then sat. There was a fist's worth of distance between them—not far, not close.
"Miss Acheron, do you have any plans from here on?" Kiana asked first.
Acheron's fingers moved slightly. "…I don't know."
"You don't know?" Kiana blinked.
"Yes." Acheron raised her eyes.
"My memory is bad. You know that. Most of the time, I don't even remember why I'm going somewhere. I'm just… walking."
Kiana didn't interrupt. She simply listened.
"I came to Penacony this time to help return a relic. But…" Acheron's voice softened, "the person I was supposed to meet never came."
I see, Kiana thought.
Because so much of Penacony's plot had already been altered by her meddling, she had nearly forgotten that Acheron was still carrying that bullet from the Galaxy Ranger.
That was true—Sunday had already been knocked flat, and yet Boothill still hadn't appeared. It seemed the world had shifted in some other strange way yet again.
Acheron continued, "As for where I go next… I don't really have a destination anymore. So…"
She lifted her gaze to Kiana.
"I want to follow you."
"Would that be alright?"
Kiana was shaken.
To be fair, she wasn't especially surprised that Acheron wanted to stay with her.
But… Acheron had lied.
That was the real shock.
Because in Kiana's impression, Acheron absolutely did still have a destination ahead of her. She had been searching for a place called the Tenth Office all this time.
And that, in turn, was part of her pursuit of an end to Nihility.
Yet now she was claiming she no longer had a goal. So this was the kind of person Acheron was.
With that in mind, Kiana decided she might as well tease her a bit more.
She lowered her head slightly, her gaze drifting over Acheron's face before she asked knowingly, "Follow me? Miss Acheron, why would you want to follow me?"
Kiana sounded genuinely curious, but the smile hidden in her eyes gave her away.
Acheron was quiet for a moment.
She did not answer right away. She only lowered her gaze to the hands resting in her lap.
"Because I want to stay by your side."
Kiana: !!!
A direct attack?!
As expected of Acheron—when she struck, she struck hard.
But who was Kiana? There was no way she'd be frightened off by something like that.
So she leaned in a little closer and asked, "Miss Acheron, do you know that saying things like that can be very easy to misunderstand?"
Acheron apologized instantly. "…I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."
That response completely wrong-footed Kiana.
Seriously? You're apologizing for real?
Kiana let out a sigh in her heart.
Fine. This Acheron really was a bit too naturally earnest. There wasn't much fun in teasing her too hard.
As for Acheron's request to stay, Kiana had no intention of refusing anyway.
A free Emanator-tier fighter delivering herself to her doorstep? Why would she turn that down?
It just surprised Kiana a little that her starter account had such absurdly good social luck.
Even excluding Cecilia—another one of her own faces—she already had three Emanators in her circle.
Herta of Erudition. Phantylia? No—now it was Starchaser of Destruction. And now, add Acheron of Nihility to the list…
"…That makes three," Kiana murmured, counting on her fingers.
With a lineup like that, she could bulldoze through a good chunk of the galaxy.
Acheron blinked. "…Three?"
Kiana looked up at her and sighed with emotion. "My circle of close allies. If I count you, then I've got four Emanators now."
This time, she counted Cecilia too.
Acheron's lashes trembled lightly. "Four?"
Clearly, even she thought that number sounded absurd.
And just as Kiana was wondering how she could best start gently brainwashing Acheron into joining properly—
A terrifying pressure suddenly descended over Penacony.
Kiana, however, had already expected it.
Tch. So Herta and Starchaser had arrived.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 155)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter200)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter110)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter230)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 200
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 180
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/5
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 230
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 220
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/30
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 120
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 135
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 110
I Can Copy Unique Skills 100
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 100
My Harem Is Indescribable 90
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 95
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
Still playing traditional Honk 69
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 80
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 70
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 75
Checking In in Demon Slayer 80
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 85
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 70
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 65
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 70
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 70
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 65
Why did they assign me to Uma 65
MYGO Beauties 65
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 55
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 65
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 45
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 45
The Uma Musume Who Became 40
I'm Definitely Not the King of 45
After Maxing Out Every Class 45
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