"Phew... It's done."
"From now on, no matter what happens, don't wake me up unless your safety is at risk. Got it?"
Inside the office, Herta took a deep breath after spending some time calibrating the mirror. She turned to Lumina, who was lounging on the sofa scrolling through short videos, and gave her the instruction.
"At risk? My safety?" Hearing this, Lumina immediately stopped scrolling and turned to face Herta.
"Madam Herta, are you underestimating the survival skills of an Abundance Emanator?"
"Or are you underestimating my strength?"
Lumina's jade-green eyes filled with displeasure. She then paraphrased Herta's earlier words and threw them back at her.
Herta: "..."
"Hmph. Fine, do as you please." Herta snorted coldly at Little Lumina's vengeful display. She shook her head, saying nothing more and offering no further comment.
When someone's already this worked up, what's the point in provoking them further?
Still, Little Lumina has a point. With her strength, how could she possibly fail to withstand the energy released when Nous casts its gaze?
Herta's warning was merely a precaution against an almost nonexistent probability.
She was... simply worried about Lumina.
"I'm about to have an audience with an Aeon. Nous's gaze will generate some energy fluctuations."
"You..." Herta paused, seemingly hesitating.
After a moment, she finally finished her sentence: "Be careful."
"If anything unexpected happens, you must stop me."
Although Herta trusted Lumina's strength, she felt compelled to say it.
Otherwise, if an accident occurred and Lumina couldn't handle it but hesitated to interrupt her, forcing Lumina to face the disaster alone...
If she ended up injured, or worse... Herta couldn't bear to imagine it.
Every time they were together, inexplicable flames of irritation would rise within her.
Yet, whenever they parted, she felt a sense of reluctance and sadness.
And when they met, she felt joy...
Herta couldn't understand it. She simply couldn't figure it out.
For the first time in her life, Herta, a genius since birth, was stumped by a problem...
"Relax, Madam Herta. You can rest easy."
"It's just a big Droid Head. If you like, I'll twist its head off and let you kick it around like a soccer ball."
Lumina turned to Herta, flashing a reassuring smile.
Herta: "..."
The words snapped Herta out of her reverie. Her stunningly beautiful face—a face that could make flowers bloom at a glance and tires explode on sight—twisted with exasperation.
"Hmph, I thought I saw pigs flying. Turns out it was just you, Lumina, talking big again."
After that retort, Herta stopped overthinking and finally relaxed.
She's still as carefree and reckless as ever.
"Hmph?" Lumina hummed softly but didn't reply.
"I'm going," Herta said, nodding to Lumina before reaching her hand into the mirror.
"Oh, right."
Just as Herta's consciousness fully entered the mirror, her voice echoed one last time.
"My consciousness is connecting to the Path's Fissure, so I'm leaving my body in your care."
"Mmm... Don't you dare take this opportunity to do anything to me. It'll affect me when I meet the Droid Head."
"If anything happens then, it will directly impact my spirit, you know."
Thud...
As Herta's words faded, her body collapsed to the ground.
"Mmm..." Lumina hummed, glancing at Herta's prone form before looking away.
Although Herta was completely defenseless, she had thankfully left Lumina with a warning.
Otherwise, Lumina would have already put down her phone and moved closer...
It didn't matter whether Herta's words were true or false.
As long as Herta had said it—whether it was a bluff or the truth—Lumina wouldn't act rebelliously as long as she couldn't be sure.
After all... there was only one Herta. If something happened to her because of a momentary prank...
Lumina might just...
Mmm,
...she'd feel guilty for the rest of her life...
-
Jingle~ Jingle~ Jingle~
Just as Lumina was sprawled on the sofa, scrolling through short videos while waiting for Herta to finish her audience with the Aeon, the special ringtone for her "Special Group" suddenly went off.
Without hesitation, Lumina swiped to answer.
"March?"
"Hmm... wait, this doesn't sound like March..."
Seeing the sender's name, Lumina confirmed it was March 7th.
But after reading the message, she dismissed the thought.
Because...
[March 7th]: Miss Lumina, greetings.
March 7th saying something like that...
Staring at the message, Lumina glanced uncertainly at the nickname at the top of the screen. It was definitely March 7th.
She looked back at the message, then tapped on March's profile picture and studied it for a moment. Nothing seemed out of place.
"Strange... What's gotten into March?"
"Did some overly polite ghost possess her?"
Lumina slowly sat up on the sofa, scratching her head, her eyes filled with confusion.
She found it more believable that Dan Heng or Welt was on the other end of the screen. Who else would speak so formally?
How could Lumina not know March 7th's personality?
Jingle~ Jingle~ Jingle~
Just as this thought crossed Lumina's mind, the "Special Group" ringtone on her phone chimed again, confirming her suspicion.
[March 7th]: Miss Lumina, this is Welt.
[March 7th]: We need your help.
[March 7th]: Following Black Swan's advice, we came to Amphoreus.
[March 7th]: Out of caution in an unknown area, we detached a carriage and had Stelle, Dan Heng, and Little Swarm enter Amphoreus first... But the moment they entered, we completely lost contact...
"Oh? Amphoreus..." Lumina's expression hardened as she read the message.
Whether or not to enter Amphoreus was a minor detail for her. Her immediate concern was what had happened to Stelle, Dan Heng, and Little Swarm.
Their entering Amphoreus was a small, normal part of their Trailblaze journey—something Lumina wouldn't usually worry about.
But losing contact the moment they entered? That was a major problem.
"Even Little Swarm lost contact?" Lumina rested her chin on her hand, sinking into deep thought.
With Little Swarm's Pseudo-Emanator strength, she should be able to dominate almost anywhere as long as she doesn't provoke an actual Emanator. How could she possibly lose contact?
And with the ring I gave her, she could probably level Amphoreus itself. How could she go missing?
"Hmm..."
Lumina quickly formulated a theory and typed a message on her screen.
[Lumina]: Could there be interference inside Amphoreus preventing them from sending messages out and you from sending messages in?
Jingle~ Jingle~ Jingle~
[March 7th]: That's what we thought too. We're worried, but we'll wait for a while. If they still haven't emerged by then, we'll seek help and have someone enter Amphoreus to investigate...
[Lumina]: How long have they been out of contact? If it's been a while, you can probably relax. They might just be unable to get out, with their signals blocked by something inside Amphoreus.
[Lumina]: With their abilities, they should be able to handle this trouble. Just wait a bit, and they'll likely complete their Trailblaze and come out.
Reading Welt's reply, Lumina finally felt relieved.
Are you kidding me? Do you really think the ring I gave her is just for show?
If something truly went wrong, Amphoreus would be lucky not to be reduced from ∞ to 1.
Besides, no matter how powerful Amphoreus's signal-blocking capabilities were, Lumina would definitely feel it the moment the ring was activated.
Since Lumina hadn't sensed any trace of the ring being used, Stelle and the others must still be fine.
But since they hadn't sent any messages, it could only mean they were trapped inside and temporarily unable to get out.
That's a minor problem. When the time comes, Lumina can just go over and punch Amphoreus open.
Jingle~ Jingle~ Jingle~
Just as Lumina was thinking this, not dwelling too much on the matter, another message from Welt arrived.
[March 7th]: Miss Lumina, we were planning to observe for a while, but... March...
[March 7th]: She's come down with a strange illness. Her entire body is now encased in Six-Phase Ice, reverting her to the state she was in when we first found her in the Sea of Stars...
"March is sick?!"
Seeing this, Lumina shot up from the sofa, her expression turning grave as she stared at her phone screen.
Her fingers flew across the screen as she typed a rapid inquiry.
[Lumina]: What's her condition now? Is it the same as when you first found her?
[Lumina]: When you first found her, how did she return to her normal state?
[Welt]: [Image.jpg]
Welt directly sent an image.
Lumina tapped to open it. She saw March 7th lying on a large, soft pink bed, her body completely encased in Six-Phase Ice.
"Hmm..."
"This is..."
"Soul? Memory? Missing?"
Lumina frowned as she carefully studied March 7th's face in the picture, quickly arriving at a possible answer.
However, since it was just a single image, Lumina couldn't be entirely certain.
I need to go there and see for myself.
With this thought, Lumina's fingers tapped on the screen, about to ask Welt for their coordinates.
Jingle~ Jingle~ Jingle~
But before she could send her message, another one from Welt arrived.
[March 7th]: Back then, March 7th thawed out on her own, so we're not entirely sure how it happened.
[March 7th]: Miss Lumina, we don't know your current location. As a precaution, we're already on our way to Herta Space Station to seek Madam Herta's help with this problem.
"Oh? What a coincidence." Lumina's eyebrow twitched as she read the message.
She deleted the text she had already typed in the chat box and composed a new reply.
[Lumina]: I'm at the Space Station right now. When will you arrive?
[Lumina]: Let me know when you get here. Herta and I are in her office.
[Lumina]: But Herta is currently conducting an experiment. When you arrive, don't rush in. I'll come meet you at the platform.
[March 7th]: Understood. Thank you, Miss Lumina.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the screen, Welt let out a sigh of relief upon reading Lumina's message.
"Mr. Yang, is there good news?" Sunday, who had accompanied Welt to seek reinforcements, asked after noticing Welt's visibly relieved expression.
"I just contacted Miss Lumina. She's also at the Space Station."
"We'll go meet her there. March's problem should be solvable then."
If even an Abundance Emanator is helpless against a certain symptom, it can only mean she isn't sick... but rather trapped in some other crisis, like soul fragmentation...
Welt didn't want to consider the latter possibility. With Miss Lumina present, if March 7th was merely ill, she could surely be cured.
But if it was soul fragmentation... that would be disastrous.
No one knew where March 7th's soul had gone. If it couldn't be found within Amphoreus, the search area would expand to the entire star system, then the entire cosmos...
"Miss Lumina? I see. With her medical skills, if Miss March 7th's symptoms are indeed an illness, there should be no problem." Sunday nodded, voicing the very thoughts that had been weighing on Welt's mind.
"Indeed..." Welt sighed, his already weary face growing even more so. "For now, we can only hope that March is simply sick."
"Mr. Yang, don't worry. Miss Lumina, she... Hmm."
"I believe Miss Lumina is not as simple as she appears."
Sunday had clashed directly with Lumina and had a profound understanding of her strength.
Although at that time, due to the actions of the Galaxy Ranger and the Nihility Emanator, Ena's Dream could no longer be sustained, and he himself had suffered some injuries...
...he was still operating within the realm of an Emanator.
Even while stealing the power of the Harmonious Choir to create the Embryo of Order, his full-power strike had been effortlessly neutralized by Lumina...
Sunday couldn't fathom what level of power Miss Lumina truly possessed...
"I see..." Hearing this, Welt understood what Sunday was trying to convey.
After all, Welt himself had personally witnessed that battle...