At Nero's request, Black Swan closed her eyes again and began searching this memory zone for Himeko and March.
She quickly locked onto their location. Then she drew a card and tossed it to the side. The next moment, the card turned into a beam of light. The surrounding memoria structure instantly melted and collapsed, gradually forming a rotating doorway.
"All right, I found them," Black Swan said. "Just go through that door. It should send you somewhere near them. Also, anyone who wants to leave this primitive dream and return to reality can use this door as well."
"Thanks!"
Nero politely thanked Black Swan, then flipped onto the Shell of Faded Wrath.
"I'm heading out first."
After saying that to Stelle, he rode the purple tyrannosaur straight into the doorway.
Using a Memoria Meme that knew the way as a mount was perfectly reasonable from a practical standpoint, but... no matter how anyone looked at it, the whole scene felt completely out of place.
After watching Nero leave, everyone stood there in a daze for a while. They all had the strange feeling that a thick barrier separated them from him. Their styles simply did not belong in the same world.
A few seconds later, Acheron was the first to come back to her senses. She glanced at the doorway Black Swan had opened, thanked the memokeeper, and then walked through it as well.
Stelle also planned to follow Nero to find the others. After promising Firefly once again that they would meet in reality, the two of them entered the doorway together.
The light and shadows before her eyes began to shift. After her senses flipped for a brief instant, they gradually stabilized. Stelle stepped out of the doorway. The portal Black Swan had opened slowly disappeared, and the scene before her settled into place.
She looked around, using the dim light to examine her surroundings, and realized she was in the lodging area's main hall.
The next moment, she spotted a familiar flash of gold in one corner.
The man in the overcoat with multicolored eyes stood up, turned toward them, and said, "You're finally here. I've been waiting here for a long time."
Aventurine then looked past Stelle. Black Swan was walking over at an unhurried pace.
"You've worked hard, Memokeeper."
"I merely honored our agreement. The transaction is complete," Black Swan said flatly.
Stelle blinked, and a thoughtful look gradually appeared in her eyes.
The little raccoon looked at Aventurine, then at Black Swan beside him, and couldn't help asking, "What's going on? Weren't we supposed to find Himeko and March?"
"The situation's a little complicated, my friend. We'll have to take it one step at a time," Aventurine said as he looked at Stelle. "But I can tell you this first. I'm the one who wanted to see you. We're on the same side, aren't we?"
Stelle looked at Aventurine in confusion, remembering that he had once said he wanted to protect Nero from getting caught in the whirlpool of trouble on Penacony.
"First, there's something I need to explain. Our Memokeeper friend sent you away from that Galaxy Ranger like this because she was saving you. She sent the Ranger somewhere else. You don't need to worry about everyone else's safety."
As he spoke, Aventurine cast a half-smiling glance toward Black Swan.
Black Swan said nothing and simply walked off to one side.
Stelle blinked. She didn't quite understand what Aventurine meant. From their few brief encounters, she actually had a very good impression of Acheron.
Although she didn't talk much, got lost easily, and sometimes said things that made no sense, Stelle felt she was unexpectedly gentle.
"Go into detail," Stelle said, finding a place to sit.
Because of Nero, even though Aventurine's way of speaking was hard to like, she still had a certain amount of trust in this ally who stood on the same front.
Aventurine nodded.
"This woman called Acheron is far more than she appears to be. Some Galaxy Ranger? She's an Emanator. She brings death and the end."
Stelle was indeed surprised to hear that, but only a little.
As for why...
She had long felt that Acheron's strength was extraordinary. Even now, she still didn't see her as a bad person. There wasn't any conflict of interest between them at all.
Besides, she had seen plenty of big shots before. She had met quite a few Emanators already, Herta, Jing Yuan, Phantylia... especially the last one. She and Nero had even beaten her up together.
For those reasons, after hearing Aventurine's news, the first thing Stelle felt wasn't surprise but curiosity. Almost the moment he finished speaking, she asked, "An Emanator? Whose Emanator?"
For a brief moment, Aventurine's expression became somewhat subtle, but he still answered, "Perhaps the Hunt... the Destruction... perhaps even the Finality. It doesn't really matter. One of those Paths. They all point to the same outcome."
At this point, Aventurine paused. He felt that perhaps he should use something simpler and more direct to help Stelle understand how serious this was.
"Let me tell you something from the IPC, my friend. I think you know Duke Inferno, Ifrit, the fire demon from Tefet. Not long ago, he caused chaos at Herta Space Station, which has ties with the IPC. As far as I know, you were there and helped resolve the situation."
Stelle nodded.
"Then I'll keep it short. I think you know that Duke Inferno is an elemental lifeform. It's said his origins are connected to a certain Genius."
"He and his followers formed the Ever-Flame Mansion. They regard Nanook as their benefactor. In reality, they follow the Duke's lead, burning, killing, and looting wherever they go, carrying out Destruction's will. They don't even spare other Annihilation Gangs."
"I have no idea whether something was wrong with the Family's heads, or whether someone was pulling strings behind the scenes, but those people actually received invitations as well."
"Naturally, the Ever-Flame Mansion didn't refuse. They came in force, determined to burn the Planet of Festivities into a sea of flames..."
"But now, they won't be honoring that invitation. Do you know why? Because Ifrit is dead."
"They were wiped out on the way here. The murderer killed Ifrit through a method so unbelievable it bordered on the miraculous, then took the invitation the Annihilation Gang had received. The Ever-Flame Mansion fell apart, and its members scattered in every direction."
"After that, a mysterious Galaxy Ranger arrived at Penacony and checked into the hotel using a music box."
[🎉 Shoutout to Someone's_Nobody, MahSty and Shinto for joining p@treon. Your support will help me bring better stories to you. Thank you very much.🤗]