"Commander, look—this is the fluffball we caught for you."
After settling the Astral Express crew and the Stellaron Hunters, Setsuna took a walk around the garrison.
He inspected the various functional modules of the forward base and reviewed their ongoing work.
The Bulins, Angeloids, and little girls from the Xianzhou were all busy to the point of flying off their feet. After arriving in this universe, there were endless research topics and experiments waiting to be done.
And then, naturally, he arrived at the cell where Phantylia was being held.
The room was about a hundred square meters in size, completely isolated by force fields and magical restrictions. Inside, several oddly shaped devices had been installed.
Phantylia drifted leisurely within. The moment she saw Setsuna from afar, she immediately floated over and pressed herself against the barrier.
"There—this is one of the Lord Ravagers—Phantylia."
"She previously attempted to attack a ship from the Whistling Flames Guild. More precisely, her target was Tingyun. But the protective talisman you gave her blocked it."
"After that, she got beaten up by the patrol fleet and Tohru and was brought back. Herta and I ran a few experiments on her while we were at it."
Grey jerked her chin toward Phantylia.
"Hurry up and greet the Commander!"
"..."
Phantylia paused. The flames flickered as she spoke in a muffled voice.
"This humble one, Phantylia, greets the Commander."
"?"
"Who taught you that?!"
Setsuna nearly laughed. No matter how he listened, the tone sounded exactly like Tingyun.
"Mm."
Phantylia carefully observed Setsuna.
Trapped within the force field cage, she could not release her power to probe him. She could only rely on instinct—and her instincts told her he was no ordinary being.
Even Tohru and the little shipgirls who had beaten her senseless were standing obediently behind him.
"She said that you can grant others an undying, indestructible body. Is that true?"
Phantylia asked.
The reason she had endured such humiliation was because the promise Grey had dangled before her was far too tempting.
"The Starsea Empire does not even acknowledge the concept of death. Immortality is simply a matter of course."
Setsuna smiled faintly.
"I know you intended to infiltrate the Xianzhou under Tingyun's identity, to investigate and obtain the power of Abundance. However... the endless lifespan granted to the Xianzhou by Abundance is worthless in our eyes."
"!"
The flames inside the cell flickered sharply.
She could not tell whether Setsuna was bluffing. But judging from his confidence—and her own yearning for an undying body—she chose to believe he was telling the truth.
"I wish—"
"Stop. Don't wish yet."
Grey waved her hand.
"If it's some foolish proposal, don't say it in front of the Commander. Do you think a prisoner locked in a cage can just say, 'I want to join the Starsea Empire,' and receive a pardon—and a brand-new body sculpted for you on top of that?"
"And you're a mentally unstable Lord Ravager with destruction filling your head... Unless you're treating me like an idiot, don't dream like that."
"Mm—"
Phantylia felt somewhat depressed.
Human rights belonged only to citizens of the Starsea Empire. They had nothing to do with a prisoner like her.
She had no way to prove her "loyalty" either—though the very idea of a Lord Ravager pledging allegiance to someone else was absurd in itself.
"Then what do you want?"
Her flames flickered again.
"Or rather, what must I do for you to grant me a bit of freedom?"
"Mm..."
Setsuna looked her over.
"You want freedom of movement?"
"It's too cramped here."
Phantylia let out a snort.
"Let me out. I'll do anything."
"Destroy someone. A nation. A world... I'm far more capable than those little girls on the Astral Express."
"Oh, and other matters are fine too. The incident at the Herta Space Station—I helped you resolve it, didn't I?"
"Mm..."
Setsuna considered it. A Lord Ravager was, in the end, an unstable element.
Aside from experiments, Grey usually kept Phantylia confined in the cage.
After a moment of thought, he came up with another solution.
"Come here."
Click—
The force field cage opened.
Phantylia obediently floated over and settled into Setsuna's palm.
She felt as though she were being held in someone else's hand.
Suddenly—
Bzzz—
A surge of Honkai energy spread from Setsuna's hand.
In an instant, her azure flames were dyed black, transforming into a blaze where cyan and darkness intertwined.
"Ah!"
Phantylia flickered violently. She sensed something invading her very existence.
Though she was a heliobi without a physical body, that power still wrapped tightly around her.
Boom!—
She rammed wildly in all directions, trying to escape, only to be firmly restrained.
"No! Wait—don't!!—"
The flames twisted and distorted, gradually assimilated by the black Honkai energy.
A few minutes later.
Setsuna released his hand. Phantylia drifted away, still shaken.
"You... you... what did you do?!"
She discovered that the unfamiliar power had already become part of her.
No matter how she altered her form, she could not rid herself of it. Even every strand of Destruction and imaginary power she wielded was now mixed with something else.
"This is the authority of the Herrscher of Corruption."
Setsuna answered calmly.
"I have corrupted a portion of your existence—including yourself, your power, and the Destruction you command. But I have not erased your personal consciousness."
"Most of the time, you won't be affected. However, if you attempt anything else... then I can only regretfully erase your will and turn you completely into a puppet."
"!!!"
Phantylia flickered violently.
She had never expected such a method.
The power of a Herrscher was utterly foreign to her, and even the Destruction she wielded had been corrupted—unimaginable.
She realized that her life and death were now entirely in this man's hands.
On the bright side, at least she would no longer be locked in a cage.
"Then if the Aeon of Destruction commands me to carry out Their will? I cannot defy Their intent either."
Phantylia thought that if Nanook were ever to witness her disgraceful state, the outcome would likely not be pleasant.
"That won't concern you. I'll spar with Them myself. You just mind your own conduct."
Setsuna smiled.
"Your future performance will determine whether you are granted a physical body."
Whoosh—
Phantylia shifted forms once more.
She transformed into a black-haired, golden-eyed woman dressed in dark cyan Xianzhou attire.
With a mixture of awe and fear, she bowed toward Setsuna.
"Understood."
"Mm..."
Setsuna gave Phantylia another once-over. Her shapeshifting truly was effortless—her figure deliberately eye-catching.
"You learn quickly."
...
On the other side.
As Setsuna's traveling companion, Gudako achieved a historic meeting with the Stellaron spirit.
"Mm, hello. My name is Ritsuka Fujimaru, a Master from Chaldea."
"Hi, I'm the Galactic Baseballer."
The little gray-haired girl rested a baseball bat on her shoulder and warmly shook hands with Gudako.
Both of them felt that the other carried a strangely familiar aura.
Perhaps it was because they were each the "protagonist" of their respective worlds. Or perhaps it was simply their personalities.
"Oh...?"
Gudako sized Stelle up from head to toe.
"So you've joined the Starsea Empire too? I have a feeling we'll make great partners in the future."
"How does it feel over here?"
"The salary is high. Very motivating."
Stelle answered honestly.
It was her first time seeing someone top up an account until the bank card was completely filled.
"...Tsk. Money is something you can have as much as you want in the Starsea Empire."
Gudako sighed. As expected of a newly born local—her horizons were still limited.
"Do you have any plans for the future?"
"Uh..."
Stelle scratched her head.
"I've already earned enough credits. It seems I don't need to be an experimental subject anymore, and I don't have to work at the Herta Space Station either."
"Maybe pick a random planet, buy a house, live off the bank interest, achieve financial freedom, and spend my days drowning in luxury and eating my way to death?"
"Oh, and I also want to buy a spaceship. One like the Commander's."
"???"
Gudako felt that Stelle truly possessed a few percent of her own prowess.
"The Eternal Snowfall is not for sale, thank you very much. Can't you have a little ambition? Without dreams, what's the difference between a person and salted—"
"...I think you mean a salted fish?"
"Same thing. They're both salty anyway."
"..."
Stelle opened her mouth as if to argue, then gave up.
"By the way, if you don't have anything to do, how about signing up with the train crew and coming along with me?"
Gudako extended a direct invitation.
"The Commander is probably going to focus on the Aeons next. We can't exactly interfere with that. Why not follow the Astral Express and travel to other worlds instead?"
"Uh... I'm not very familiar with the situation here yet. Would that really be okay?"
A question mark seemed to pop up above Stelle's head.
Over the past few days, she had been busy doing experiments with Herta. She barely had time to read up on background information and had hardly explored the Xianzhou at all.
"Of course. I've got you covered."
Gudako thumped her chest confidently.
"Below the Aeons, I'm invincible. At the Aeons, I call backup."
"Blades, spears, staffs, swords, halberds and axes—whether it's magecraft, spiritual power, Taixuan Eminence, or even piloting a Gundam, I'm proficient in all of it."
"With the two of us working together, we'll make the Astral Express' name resound across the cosmos."
"..."
Stelle felt her blood stir.
"You make a good point."
"Hey, Himeko! Mind adding two more passengers? Guaranteed victory!"
—
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