Hotaru was not unconscious for very long.
Still, that brief span of time was enough for someone to move her somewhere safe.
When she woke, she was already in a room at The Reverie.
"That hand!"
Hotaru's memories were still stuck in that realm of NIHILITY.
The enormous hand that had reached into NIHILITY had left an incredibly deep impression on her.
Although the endpoint of that realm of NIHILITY was not the AEON of NIHILITY, its essence was, to some degree, very similar.
For that hand to have actually done something like that, naturally, Hotaru could not forget it so easily.
But after taking in the scene around her, she remembered the familiar voice that had sounded beside her ear earlier.
"Did he arrive?"
Then nothing too serious should happen now.
After all, the person that voice belonged to was the only existence who could put her at ease.
The moment she thought of that person, even her heartbeat sped up by a few beats. This really was...
Wait!
"What just sped up?!"
Hotaru sensed that something was wrong.
Her... heartbeat had sped up? Was that real?
Hotaru placed a hand on her chest. As she felt the heart there beating steadily, her eyes gradually widened.
The reason she had survived since the first Swarm Disaster unleashed by TAZZYRONTH was actually very simple.
It was because she had also suffered severe injuries during the Swarm Disaster. Those injuries had been enough to completely stop her physiological functions.
From a biological perspective, it could be said that the existence known as Hotaru had already been declared dead at the time.
Only, just as her consciousness was about to dissipate, the aura of NIHILITY released by the base's detonation seeped into her.
The aura of NIHILITY, together with the Path of REMEMBRANCE she had somehow stepped onto at some unknown point, was what stabilized her condition in an incredibly special state.
It was a state that resembled a Sin Thirster, yet was not a Sin Thirster; a superposition of life and death, where she could be called alive, yet had already died.
Although she could move normally, her physiological functions had not recovered in the slightest.
In other words, the final moment of Hotaru's life had been eternally fixed at the instant she was tainted by NIHILITY.
Her heart did not beat, her lungs did not breathe, and her blood did not flow.
What supported her movements was the Path power within her body.
Hotaru had long since grown used to this state, so she had not cared too much about it before.
Because she understood that no matter what condition her body was in, the people around her would never look at her with disgust or rejection.
Only, deep in her heart, she had still wanted to recover normal physiological functions.
For one thing, NIHILITY's influence alone had already severely dulled Hotaru's sense of taste.
Only food ordinary people would find unbearably salty allowed her to taste even the faintest flavor.
And she also suspected that the reason she sang off-key was because of NIHILITY.
It had to be NIHILITY weakening her sense of pitch, which was why she so often sang off-key!
So Hotaru had actually been looking forward to recovering her physiological functions.
However, the limitations of technology had stopped that wish in its tracks.
Although there were Doctors of Chaos who could treat NIHILITY's corrosion, after Sora brought them over, even they said they had never heard of a condition as special as Hotaru's.
Whether it was a superposition of life and death, or NIHILITY and another Path acting together to keep a living being alive, such things had almost never happened before.
So even the Doctors of Chaos had no solution.
At the time, Hotaru had been deeply disappointed.
But being able to continue living in this world was already enough to set her mind at ease.
Why should she ask for so much more?
Only, Hotaru had never expected this wish to actually come true today.
Her heart had started beating again. Her lungs were once more breathing the air of this world.
Even her body's sense of touch had changed!
"Wait. If that's the case!"
Realizing something, Hotaru suddenly began searching through the cabinet beside the bed.
After rummaging through it, she took out a piece of candy.
It was a piece of candy that others would find cloyingly sweet, while she could only taste a faint trace of sweetness from it.
And now, she put that candy into her mouth again...
The instant the candy touched her tongue, Hotaru suddenly covered her mouth with her hand.
"It's... it's so sweet!"
This candy was far too sweet. The sugar in it had definitely gone far beyond what a normal person could handle!
If an ordinary person ate something like this, they would surely spit it out immediately.
But Hotaru covered her mouth with both hands, letting the candy slowly melt on her tongue.
Forcing herself to eat something too sweet made saliva flood her mouth.
These normal physiological responses were also what Hotaru had wanted most before.
Now she had finally gotten her wish.
And the person who had done all this...
Could only be that guy.
Feeling her heart start to speed up again, Hotaru did not panic.
She placed a hand on her chest and showed a faint smile.
From the time they met until now, the help he had given her had long since surpassed the grace of giving her a new life.
"And for a debt like this, I can only spend the rest of my life repaying him however I can."
At that thought, Hotaru immediately filled with motivation.
Right now, she wanted to go to his side and tell him what was in her heart.
Only, after she came out and prepared to ask the others about Sora's whereabouts, she found that the atmosphere seemed a little strange...
"Back then, we were all too busy being shocked and forgot the most important thing."
"Yeah, we were too busy enjoying the gossip."
"What do you mean, enjoying gossip? That was using the scene itself to uncover the truth!"
A group of people had gathered together, each chiming in one after another, and the whole atmosphere had turned strangely tense.
"So, what did you investigate?"
"Isn't that simple? Wasn't the relationship between that little girl named Kohane and Sora what we investigated?"
"Since you put it that way, let me ask you this!"
Unkyō usually got shut down whenever Sora was around, but inside the Iron Cavalry, she still had plenty of standing.
And at this moment, she was going over what had just happened.
Because she had discovered that this group had all been focused on gossip just now and had forgotten one crucial matter.
"We can confirm the relationship between Kohane, Robin, and Sora, right?"
After hearing this, Shunji nodded in agreement. "Isn't that obvious? The answer was practically written on their faces. Who wouldn't be able to tell?"
Judging from her species and facial features, wasn't that little girl his daughter?
Could there really be someone who could not tell? If there was, just how stupid would that person have to be?
Hotaru, who was secretly eavesdropping from behind, suddenly had a question mark pop up over her head.
What the hell?
She had only been unconscious for such a short time, so why could she suddenly not understand the situation now?
Kohane was Sora's daughter?
With that question in mind, Hotaru compared the two of them in her head.
And the result she came to was naturally...
"Other than her brows and nose, how does that little girl look like Sora at all?"
Didn't she look completely different?
Unfortunately, Hotaru's quiet murmur did not reach the ears of the three captains discussing the matter ahead.
Because they were discussing a very serious problem!
At Shunji's response, Unkyō smiled coldly.
"Since he and Robin already have a child, what about us?"
The moment those words came out, the chatter around them suddenly fell silent.
That was right. This question was exactly why the mood had turned strange!
Since Sora and Robin had a child together, what about them?!
"This..."
Shunji was immediately at a loss for words. It did indeed seem to make sense.
But just then, she suddenly realized something.
"If I'm remembering right, Robin and Sora haven't known each other that much longer than we have..."
Previously, a girl named Anna had visited the Silver Radiance.
In their conversation with her, the Iron Cavalry learned something extremely important.
Namely, Sora's trip to Zieltworth had actually been arranged by her. At the same time, they also learned a very important fact from her.
Sora actually had not known Robin for much longer than he had known them.
In other words...
"Is there something wrong with that child?"
Hearing this, Hotaru, behind the crowd, also nodded in agreement.
This was precisely why she found it difficult to believe that Kohane was the child of those two.
When she heard it the first time, she had even thought she had somehow crossed into another world without realizing it!
"Sigh~"
Only, what Hotaru did not expect was that after hearing Shunji's explanation, Unkyō gave a long sigh.
What now?
The reason for Unkyō's sigh was nothing else but...
"Right now, we don't need to worry about that child's origins. The most important thing is what her appearance means!"
Unkyō now felt that Shunji spent too much time on the internet, to the point that she had practically been absorbed by it.
What kind of place was this?
This was Penacony. This was the dream planet!
In this place, apart from normal living beings, there were also strange things like Memory Zone Memes!
So was that child's origin important? Not at all!
What mattered was her identity, and what it meant for her to appear in this place!
"You mean..."
Shunji seemed to have grasped something, yet also seemed not to have grasped anything.
"Then let me ask you this. You understand Sora's personality, right?"
Shunji nodded. She agreed completely on this point.
Setting aside everything else, when it came to the number of times she had interacted with Sora, she could definitely rank near the top.
After all, the two of them still had video-related business that required frequent discussion.
So this was something she could speak on with confidence.
"Then if a little girl who claimed to be his daughter suddenly appeared in front of him right now and said sweetly, 'I want to see Mommy and Daddy sooner,' what do you think would happen?"
For a moment, Shunji froze at the scene those words painted.
But when she suddenly came back to herself, she immediately sucked in a breath!
"Don't tell me... Could it be...?!"
"That's right! This is the most terrifying part!"
As expected, Robin would not simply sit back and do nothing. She had just arrived in her own territory and immediately used a move like this.
"This is an open scheme, a simple strategy aimed straight at the heart!"
And the simplest strategy aimed straight at the heart was also the kind most likely to move someone like Sora.
So...
"We need our share too!"
"That's right! We absolutely can't let Robin-san win all by herself!"
Even if they could not break those two apart, they had to at least claim a small piece for themselves somehow!
"So!"
Unkyō raised her arm and shouted, "Sisters, in this incredibly critical moment, we must all stand united!"
"Yeah!!!"
Hotaru stood behind them, looking at the Iron Cavalry before her as they suddenly got fired up. For a moment, she actually felt out of place.
No, had she missed something, or had she skipped something?
Why could she suddenly not understand this development?
"And this operation's name shall be—Snatching Food from the Bird's Beak!"
The true goal of this plan was to forcibly snatch a piece of meat from Robin's mouth, despite her harmless appearance and deeply calculating mind.
"For our tomorrow—fight!"
"Ooooooh!!!!"
Looking at the scene before her, which had inexplicably become fired up, Hotaru kept feeling like she did not quite fit in.
But what they were doing probably was not anything major, so there should be no harm in joining in a little.
And after she joined in, this hastily launched plan moved straight into execution.
The first goal of this plan was...
"After we came back, those two ran off somewhere, so our current objective is..."
Mitsutake threw the two photos onto the table!
"Find Sora and Robin."
...
After receiving their mission, the Iron Cavalry immediately showed impressive discipline.
Several people from each group split off and divided up the areas they were responsible for.
For a time, countless distinctive figures flew through the sky above the Twelve Moments.
However, they could never have imagined that the targets they were patrolling the Twelve Moments to find were currently...
"Every time I come here, I can't help wondering if your secret base is a little too hidden."
Sora looked at Robin's secret base before him and offered his honest impression.
This mansion, located at the edge of Golden Hour, was hidden to a practically unreasonable degree.
In any case, if he had come here on his own, he doubted he would have been able to find this house easily.
"That's what makes it a secret base."
After receiving Sora's comment, Robin only raised a brow.
And Kohane, whose hand she was holding with her other hand, had her eyes light up in surprise when she saw this hidden mansion.
What child would not be interested in a secret base?
Boys and girls alike, when they were young, all wanted to have a secret base like this.
This was also why Robin had brought Kohane here.
"Judging from how unfamiliar you are with Penacony, you probably don't know this place, do you?"
That was right. Robin had noticed at once that Kohane was unfamiliar with Penacony.
From that, she could infer the answer.
That was why she had brought the girl here.
And Kohane's reaction was indeed just as Robin had expected.
Her little head shook frantically.
"I've only heard about it. You always said you'd bring me here later, so this is my first time seeing it."
Hearing Kohane's words, Robin showed a smile.
But deep in her heart, she also felt some resentment toward her future self.
What was worth delaying about this kind of thing? Getting around on the Silver Radiance should be quick enough.
Why had Kohane gotten this big and still never come to this place before?
Her future self was far too lazy!
Robin developed some dissatisfaction toward her future self deep in her heart.
Fortunately, her present self had successfully brought Kohane here to fulfill this wish.
Thinking this, Robin's face also carried a hint of a smile.
"Then I'll give you a proper tour!"
After saying this, Robin took Kohane's hand. And at that moment, she suddenly realized something.
Wait. If that was the case...
Then it seemed that this was also her bringing this little girl here to look around.
Her future self had made the promise, and her present self was answering that promise.
And for this little girl, it did indeed seem to be something that would only happen later...
Could it be that my future self knew about this?!
If her future self understood this, then that meant she knew Kohane would cross through time and space.
After understanding the paradox just now, Robin suddenly thought of this series of questions.
Then came the question.
Why would a mother who knew her daughter would cross through time not be worried?
The answer was obvious!
No matter who heard something like that, they would probably feel alarmed.
After all, this involved time. Unless there was someone her future self trusted completely to accompany Kohane, she could not possibly be unconcerned.
Then came another question. Who was the person her future self trusted to bring Kohane back?
Could it be...
Robin's gaze landed on Sora. If there was anyone who made her feel most at ease, it was probably only him.
Could there be another Sora?
Curious, Robin immediately began searching the surroundings.
But in this remote place, she did not see anyone.
No, she saw one special figure!
That was...
"Mr. Trash Can?!"
When Robin walked over, she suddenly discovered that this figure was none other than Mr. Trash Can from Dreamville.
It could be said that during the DESTRUDOS incident, he had left an extremely deep impression on Robin.
Although they had not met many times, she still retained a profound impression of him.
However, she never expected to actually see him in this place.
"Why are you here?"
She was somewhat curious.
"Me? I came to get something."
Mr. Trash Can replied calmly.
"Get something?!"
Robin scanned the surroundings. This place seemed to have only one mansion capable of storing anything, and that was her secret base.
Then what had Mr. Trash Can come here to take?
As though sensing Robin's gaze, Mr. Trash Can's voice carried a hint of helplessness.
"No need to keep looking. I was the one who passed this mansion on to you."
Huh?!
Mr. Trash Can's words stunned Robin in place.
What? This mansion she had treated as her secret base had actually been given to her by Mr. Trash Can?!
"I have no reason to lie to you. There are a total of 1,332 songs stored inside, and among the rock songs, there are..."
He gave an extremely precise string of numbers, and those numbers also shocked Robin.
Because that string of numbers was completely correct.
As someone who loved music, after taking over this mansion, she had naturally counted the songs inside.
The number of songs in this mansion was naturally not unknown to her.
Hearing it from him now undoubtedly proved that what Mr. Trash Can had just said was not false.
"I... I really didn't expect that..."
Robin suddenly became somewhat embarrassed.
Back then, she had bought this mansion from him at an extremely low price.
And after she counted the music albums inside, she discovered that the price she had paid was practically the same as him giving it away for free.
Now that she had met him again, she inevitably felt a little awkward.
"It's fine. To me, this was a very fair transaction."
Mr. Trash Can replied calmly. At this moment, Sora also came over to him.
"When you built this mansion here, was it because of that underground shelter?"
Sora had not forgotten that during the ORDER Samsara Dream led by Sunday, there had been a place beneath the mansion that was immune to the other party's samsara.
So he guessed that the reason this mansion existed was to conceal the shelter underground.
"Well..."
Mr. Trash Can's tone grew somewhat deep.
His round body tilted slightly to one side, as if he were looking at Robin beside them.
"Sigh, I know underground work isn't easy. You had it rough too."
Sora sighed with emotion and patted Mr. Trash Can's round back.
What? You wanted to ask how he distinguished front from back?
Of course, by the wings on his back!
After being patted by Sora, Mr. Trash Can also recovered somewhat from his earlier mood.
"Oh, not at all, not at all. None of us have it easy."
At this point, he seemed to suddenly remember something and took an object from his arms.
"Right. To thank you for helping earlier, please accept this gift."
"A gift?!"
Sora looked at the thing the other party handed him.
It was an extremely rough-looking package. Just from one glance, it was hard to imagine that what was inside could actually be a gift.
"That's right. To thank you for what you did earlier, this is a gift prepared especially for you."
For some reason, Sora kept feeling that Mr. Trash Can's tone seemed a little off.
But before Sora could figure anything out, Mr. Trash Can unexpectedly gave Robin and Kohane one thing each as well.
"These are for you two. Keep them safe, okay?"
After saying this, he even rubbed Kohane's little head before turning to leave.
Looking at his back, Sora and Robin exchanged a glance.
What a mysterious guy...
"I wonder what his true body looks like in reality."
Sora was honestly rather curious.
...
"Have you forgotten the dream you upheld?"
Sunday listened as the person before him, almost identical to himself, questioned him, and his brow furrowed.
The two of them could almost be called identical.
One had a frail body, while the other had a strong one. One was radiant and splendid, while the other wore ordinary clothes.
Their expressions were also completely different. One looked calm, full of tranquil elegance, while the other had a gloomy expression and tightly furrowed brows.
It was unclear whether he was originally like this, or whether that gaunt face made him look that way.
In any case, the two Sundays were confronting each other here at this moment.
"That dream where all living beings receive what they desire, and everyone finds satisfaction."
Noble Sunday spoke quietly. "That is the direction we have striven toward since childhood."
Although he had now failed, there was someone who could allow the dream to continue.
So that remaining trace of consciousness had ultimately sought him out.
"As long as the two of us merge, we will surely be able to realize that dream again."
DESTRUDOS had been formed from the twins of the Order, and the two Sundays were likewise twins of the Order.
To some extent, the two sides were actually the same.
As long as Frail Sunday was willing to touch the Stellaron, they would be able to continue realizing their dream.
Unfortunately, faced with the other party's long speech, Frail Sunday remained unmoved.
"A dream? Something like that has no chance of being realized at all!"
"DESTRUDOS has already been completely defeated. There are no longer any obstacles before our dream!"
Noble Sunday's tone could not help becoming stern. "Then why are you giving up on yourself?"
"Hahaha, what did you say?"
After hearing the other party's words, Frail Sunday could not help laughing. "No obstacles? Has your brain short-circuited?"
Frail Sunday did not even know how this guy dared say something like that.
There was clearly still the hardest, nastiest rock sitting in the path ahead.
Anyone who wanted to walk that path would be tripped up badly by that thing.
And yet this consciousness was telling him there were no obstacles...
"Even two DESTRUDOS working together couldn't defeat that guy Sora. You think we can?"
"Why not?"
"Then guess why I'm like this now?"
The moment those words came out, Noble Sunday fell silent for a moment.
When DESTRUDOS merged, THEY had also been able to glimpse the other party's memories.
He had understood that this DESTRUDOS had not been born by devouring him.
Now, here, the answer to why THEY had not devoured him was finally revealed.
"You lost to Sora?"
Noble Sunday said the most cutting words in the calmest tone.
Frail Sunday immediately fell silent. After he recovered, he looked at Noble Sunday before him and pulled his lips into a smile.
"You say that like you never lost to him!"
"What?!"
Noble Sunday was somewhat confused.
He had already fully completed the dream of ORDER. How could anyone say he had failed?
"Are you sure?"
Sunday raised a brow. "Time and space are overlapping. New memories should be appearing for you too."
Noble Sunday frowned. And just as Sunday had said, new memories did indeed appear in his mind.
This was...
Noble Sunday's eyes widened at once. What was with these new memories?
How had he never known of this development?
"I caused it."
Yet just then, a voice suddenly sounded by his ear.
It was Sunday. At this moment, he chose to kick him while he was down.
"I was the one who drove the train into your face. I was the one who lifted the dream of ORDER high, then smashed it to pieces!"
After experiencing Penacony's past, Mikhail's advice, and Misha's mediation...
Sunday had long since become different from who he once was.
Thus, the dream of ORDER had arisen because of him, and likewise shattered because of him.
If Sora was the obstacle, then Sunday had completely severed that road!
"So, if you want to persuade me to continue, then I can only give you this answer..."
Frail Sunday looked at his gorgeously dressed self before him and let out two soft laughs.
"If you want to get beaten up, go by yourself. I'm not going with you!"
Some kicks only needed to be taken once. Knowing better and doing it again was not something he would do.
After saying this, Sunday directly mobilized what little power he had left and cut off the Stellaron's connection to him.
His frail body swayed.
Just then, a pair of hands directly supported his shoulders.
"Young man, why don't you sit down and rest first?"
Bob helped Sunday over to a nearby seat.
"Thank you."
Sunday thanked him with a smile.
Seeing him like this, Bob also showed a faint smile.
"When you first came in just now, I could tell you were troubled by something. Looking at you now, though, you seem much better."
Sunday immediately looked at him in surprise after hearing this.
Hadn't he only just entered the Parlor Car? This person could tell his earlier state with a single glance?
Sensing Sunday's surprised gaze, Bob blew at his hair.
"Ever heard of Touslehead Detective? I'm the model for that animated show's protagonist."
"Touslehead Detective? I remember that was based on a Navigator of the Astral Express..."
Bob nodded repeatedly after hearing this.
As the Navigator least like a Navigator, he naturally paid close attention to anything involving himself.
So it was perfectly reasonable for him to search his own name online.
And seeing him admit it, Sunday also looked somewhat surprised.
Although this matter was a little absurd, when he thought of those bizarre experiences just now, it no longer seemed all that important.
"I never thought I would actually meet the real person here."
"We're holding a Trailblaze concert soon. Want to come support us?"
Bob invited Sunday. "Otherwise, if no one shows up, it'll look pretty bad!"
"A Trailblaze concert?"
Unfortunately, Mikhail would not be able to see it.
Mikhail had given everything for Penacony, while he had intended to turn the other party's dream into a dream of ORDER.
Thinking of this, Sunday inexplicably felt a trace of anger toward his past self.
Just then, a large hand patted his shoulder.
"Hey, brother, don't get too tangled up over this kind of thing."
Bob saw Sunday's expression just now and said to him, "Some things feel different when you look at them at different points in your life."
Just like how he had joined a cosmic crime syndicate when he was young. Looking back now, his past self really had not been much of a person.
"But you should know that it's never too late to start over. There's always someone worth doing it for."
"But what I did was no simple matter..."
"Hey, what I did wasn't any small thing either. But if you put your heart into it, things will always be different, right?"
After saying this, "Touslehead" Bob walked away from Sunday's side. "I'll be waiting for you at the Trailblaze concert, buddy."
"Hope you've figured things out by then!"
Figured things out?
Sunday fell silent.
What he did not see was that in the shadow beneath the corner of the table holding the Stellaron, a mask was hanging there...
---
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