"Ah..."
At the entrance to Amphoreus.
Lygus, pinned to the ground in a sorry state by the Phantylia Kitten, let out a slightly melancholic sigh as Lumina suddenly appeared before him.
It seemed this Intellitron recognized Lumina.
"So, what do you think now?" Herta asked, crossing her arms as she took in Lygus's reaction to Lumina's arrival. Her tone dripped with sarcasm. "Still believe that imprisoned Lord Ravager could truly devour the Galaxy after breaking free?"
"Hmm..."
Lygus remained silent, pinned beneath the Phantylia Kitten's paw, offering no response to Herta's question.
He knew Lumina's name.
In fact, anyone who paid even the slightest attention to cosmic trends would know her name. The Interstellar Peace Broadcast praised Lumina's actions every evening without fail. For any person, creature, or Intellitron who followed cosmic affairs, it was virtually impossible not to know her name.
Lygus had no confidence whatsoever in his ability to challenge Lumina's power.
She was, for all intents and purposes, the strongest known Abundance Emanator...
Of course, Lygus's fear of Lumina wasn't just due to her strength. It was her healing abilities, derived from Abundance, that truly terrified him.
Absolute power combined with absolute endurance. Unless someone could utterly overwhelm her with sheer force, no one in the entire Cosmos could stop her...
Lygus's description of Lumina was essentially that of a wizard with infinite mana, instant casting, and devastating power...
Against such a wizard, both one-on-one duels and overwhelming numbers were useless.
With infinite mana and instant casting, who could possibly stand in her way?
Thus, the moment Lygus saw Lumina appear, he abandoned all struggle.
If she wanted to enter Amphoreus, he couldn't stop her.
So, Lygus chose to take a step back.
He said, "Esteemed Miss Lumina, I was unaware of your arrival and failed to extend the proper hospitality. I beg your forgiveness."
"Spit it out. Stop beating around the bush." Herta was thoroughly annoyed by how Lygus treated her versus Lumina.
To me, it was: "Our destruction is mutually assured" and "If you insist on this course of action, you will break the shackles of a Lord Ravager..."
But to Lumina, it's: "Esteemed Miss Lumina..."
Heh.
Even Madam Herta could only manage a dry chuckle at this.
"Esteemed Miss Lumina, esteemed Madam Herta, and this... esteemed Lord Ravager, I know why you have come."
"Please grant me some time. I will bring the four individuals who 'strayed' into Amphoreus before you, unharmed."
When you're under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head. Even an Intellitron like Lygus understood this principle.
An Intellitron under someone else's roof must bow its head...
Therefore, Lygus decided to release everyone who had "strayed" into Amphoreus...
"Four people?" Lumina murmured softly upon hearing this, then nodded slightly at Herta. "It seems my judgment was correct. March's soul, her memories, are currently within Amphoreus."
"Heh. That little girl... March 7th. Did you capture her and bring her into Amphoreus?" Herta nodded, then turned to Lygus and asked.
"March 7th?" Lygus paused to think for a moment. "You mean the little girl with pink hair?"
"Her entry into Amphoreus had little to do with me. Someone else was responsible."
Understanding that the top priority was to placate Lumina and Herta and persuade them to leave Amphoreus, Lygus answered with utmost seriousness and honesty.
"Is that so?" Herta scoffed, raising an eyebrow.
She hadn't expected that, besides this Intellitron, there was someone else in Amphoreus audacious enough to target a member of the Astral Express.
Didn't they know that the beautiful girls of the Astral Express are Lumina's untouchable weak spot?
Well, now they've summoned a true titan upon themselves.
Herta highly doubted that Lumina would simply leave after Lygus handed over the four people currently inside Amphoreus.
Of course, she wouldn't either.
Herta was brimming with curiosity about this so-called Amphoreus.
The more this Intellitron tried to stop her, the more she wanted to get inside.
If only Lygus had let me into Amphoreus to retrieve those four people when he first stopped me, Herta mused, none of this would have happened.
If you want to blame someone, blame yourself, Intellitron, for not having any friends.
Or better yet, blame the wise and beautiful Madam Herta for knowing this Lumina fellow.
"Madam Herta, I speak the truth." Perhaps sensing something, Lygus processed the situation with its Intellitron brain for a moment before focusing its gaze entirely on Herta.
"Madam Herta, I apologize for my previous actions. I hope you can forgive my earlier impertinence."
Through its observations, Lygus seemed to have deciphered the relationship between Miss Lumina, Madam Herta, and the Lord Ravager currently stomping on its chest.
Lord Ravager << Miss Lumina < or = Madam Herta.
Although Lygus didn't understand how it had arrived at this conclusion, it decided to test the theory.
Perhaps if it could deal with Madam Herta—if it could persuade her to back down—Miss Lumina would also stand down.
"Hmm... Did it misunderstand something?" Lumina whispered, leaning close to Herta's ear as she noticed Lygus shift its attention.
"Hmm..." Herta's ear tingled from the warm breath of Lumina's words as she leaned in.
Suppressing her inner feelings, Herta said, "It underestimated you, and it doesn't understand you at all."
As a genius, Herta could easily guess Lygus's reasoning from this single change in behavior.
It seemed to think that if it could persuade her, Lumina would naturally abandon her plan to enter Amphoreus.
Lygus is overthinking this, Herta thought.
If there are beautiful girls inside Amphoreus, a Lumina will inevitably spawn there. Persuading anyone else is useless...
Unless it sends out every single beautiful girl from Amphoreus, it can forget about stopping Lumina from going in.
"Hmph!"
At this thought, Herta shot Lumina a sideways glance.
She crossed her arms and snorted coldly, clearly annoyed.
Lumina: ?
Feeling this sudden wave of hostility from Madam Herta, Lumina scratched her head in confusion.
Did I somehow manage to piss Herta off again? she wondered silently.