Zero said nothing, merely casting a look of quiet sympathy toward her mother.
She knew her mother wasn't one for the limelight, nor did she enjoy being the center of attention.
The last time she'd been forcibly dragged into the spotlight by the Aeon of Elation, it was rumored she had been driven nearly half to death with sheer irritation.
Even the decision to scatter the Originium had been a calculated move intended to divert the public's gaze.
But as fate would have it, things had backfired.
The initial fervor hadn't even fully died down yet, and now, thanks to those two idiot dragons getting into a scrap, the entire world was bound to fixate on her mother all over again.
While Zero didn't quite grasp why her mother was so loath to be noticed—in her eyes, it was only natural for the powerful to be watched—she blamed those two stupid dragons regardless.
As a representative of the Land of Light, Zero was no stranger to the public eye; her own popularity had never exactly been low.
Besides, her mother was breathtakingly beautiful.
Even Zero, watching her mother's silhouette appear in the heavens that day, had felt her heart skip a beat.
Don't misunderstand; it was purely the kind of heartbeat born from an appreciation of beauty, untainted by any stray thoughts.
Zero personally felt her mother should have inherited the seat of the Aeon of Beauty rather than this inexplicable path of Elation.
Still, it was her mother's own preference, so Zero wasn't about to question it.
Ultimately, it was all Aha's fault. And the fault of those two idiot dragons. Whoever was to blame, it certainly couldn't be her mother.
With that thought, Zero pulled a silver bracelet from her pocket and handed it to 'Cipher'.
"Mother, those two asked me to pass this along to you. It's a material that... fell off the Great Dragon's head."
"...What do you mean 'fell off his head'? What on earth did they tear off of him??"
'Cipher' couldn't keep her composure. she reached out, took the bracelet, and peeked inside.
Her vision nearly went dark. There, lying peacefully within, was a massive dragon horn—an object so colossal it dwarfed stars.
She felt numb.
That woman snapped off their horn and sent it to me??
No, wait... why would you go and break someone's horn off for no reason? A single scale would have been plenty. Was she just bored and looking to create rivals to spice up her life?
'Cipher' looked at Zero. "So, what happened to those two dragons in the end? And how did you end up bringing this horn back?"
Seeing her mother's expression, Zero knew she was likely worried about the Great Dragon. Her own expression turned a bit sheepish as she thought for a moment before speaking.
"It's... alright, I guess. Losing a horn is a bit uncomfortable for them, but it grows back pretty fast."
"What do you mean 'alright'? They had a pointless fight and he lost a horn; wasn't he furious? Wait, don't tell me he's coming after me?"
"Uh, I don't think he was that angry." Zero scratched her cheek, looking embarrassed.
"Actually, I accidentally snapped that horn off while I was trying to mediate. Those two idiot dragons were making such a mess of the nearby star systems that I... I might have used a bit too much force by mistake."
"..."
'Cipher' opened her mouth, but no words came out. She just blinked, staring at Zero.
What do you mean 'accidentally' snapped it off while mediating?
How do you 'accidentally' break something that size? Is your version of mediation just beating them both into submission until they start behaving?
Under her mother's piercing gaze, Zero felt a flush of awkwardness. She gave a dry cough and continued:
"They were fighting so intensely that they weren't listening to a word I said. I had no choice but to step in. It's just that the horn had already been cracked by Madam Typhon, so it ended up snapping when I moved in..."
Speaking of it now, Zero felt a bit self-conscious.
She had truly only intended to stop the brawl. But she had tried playing nice, and those two fools refused to listen.
As the fight grew more heated, she started hearing mentions of 'Madam Bai Ming'—her mother.
Zero didn't know the full story, but based on previous news from the Vidyadhara, she assumed these dragon-kin were targeting her mother to cause trouble.
In a moment of lost patience, she led her squad into a fusion and dealt each of them a 'Guillotine' strike.
The fire dragon Typhon had conjured had its neck severed, vanishing into the void.
The Great Dragon, however, had his horn lopped off by the blade. The former was one thing—it was just an energy construct, meant for combat and easily damaged. But the latter... that was his actual body.
When that massive horn was sliced away, everyone on the field fell into a surreal silence.
Even though Typhon had been aiming for the horn all along and had weakened it, it was still a dragon horn—arguably the sturdiest part of his body.
Having it snapped off in a single blow felt almost... disrespectful to the Great Dragon's years of cultivation.
The Great Dragon's other four heads leaned in to inspect the wound.
The cut was smooth.
Far too smooth.
It was like a mirror, reflecting the light.
The dragon heads collectively shrunk back.
They had heard the name of the technique Zero shouted: Guillotine.
Not 'Horn-Cutter'. Guillotine. This thing was designed specifically to take heads!
Typhon had just served as a perfect demonstration; the way her construct's head flew off was nothing if not efficient.
At that thought, the Great Dragon's fiery rage was instantly doused by the cold reality of that blade. If it could sever his horn, it could sever his neck. He shot a wary look at Zero.
He had heard rumors that the people of the Land of Light possessed a unique ability to temporarily boost their power through fusion, similar to the Heliobi.
He hadn't paid much mind to it before, but now he had experienced it firsthand. No wonder no one in the universe wanted to provoke the Land of Light.
As for Typhon, she was currently doing her best to stifle a laugh.
Even though she'd been 'beheaded,' it was just a combat avatar. Her goal all along had been the broken horn, and now that it was achieved, she was satisfied.
She'd just swipe the thing later and bring it to Bai Ming.
Deep down, she was terrified too. That strike had gone through her avatar's neck like a knife through butter.
Even if it wasn't her physical body, an avatar capable of brawling with that big guy wasn't exactly fragile. The people of the Land of Light were truly fierce.
Zero, for her part, had been quite embarrassed at the time. She had only planned to cut about halfway through the horn as a warning.
Since she'd heard Typhon started the provocation, she had aimed for Typhon's neck but only the Great Dragon's horn.
Who would have guessed Typhon had spent the whole fight softening that horn up? Zero's strike was simply the final straw that sent the horn flying.
It was awkward.
She'd intended to be harsher on Typhon, but it ended up looking like she'd targeted the Great Dragon instead.
Still, it was done. She couldn't exactly offer to glue it back on—that would be even more of an insult.
So, seeing as both dragons were finally willing to listen to her, she just rolled with it and pushed the mediation through.
Typhon, naturally, had no objections. The horn was off; the Great Dragon couldn't exactly sneak back, pick it up, and reattach it. As for the rest, she didn't care.
The Great Dragon felt much the same.
On one hand, Zero was clearly the stronger party; knowing when to back down wasn't a disgrace.
On the other hand, he'd wanted to stop fighting for a while anyway.
Typhon was aggressive, persistent, and incredibly annoying. While losing a horn was a blow, compared to his true form, it wasn't an irreparable loss—he could grow another.
Plus, Zero's polite attitude—even suggesting the Land of Light owed him a favor—left him feeling somewhat mollified.
Making friends with the Land of Light through this favor wasn't a bad deal. And if we're talking about embarrassment, Typhon getting her head cut off was arguably worse.
So, despite their mutual loathing, both dragons tactfully accepted Zero's "fair" mediation.
As for the horn... while it would likely end up with 'Cipher' regardless of who took it, the Great Dragon refused to let Typhon have it. He didn't want to carry it back himself either, so Zero naturally packed it up and took it with her.
After hearing Zero's tale, 'Cipher' felt her mind becoming a tangled mess.
What kind of chaotic nonsense was this? The worst part was that she was a completely innocent victim in all of this.
She had always thought her reputation was decent, relying on the long-standing good name of the Land of Light. Now? Not so much.
'Cipher' glanced at her status panel:
--+--
[Roleplay System]
[Name: Bai Ming (Cipher)]
[Lifespan: ∞ + 3 Days (Roleplaying)]
[Transformable Characters: Big Herta, Acheron, Celenova, Jingliu, Ruan Mei, Sparkle, Hertatomb, Lord Ravager - Jingliu, Young Herta, Robin, Artoria (Charge: 96.4%), Cyrene - Fuli (Charge: 13.1%), Cipher (Currently Playing)]
[Available Draws: 6 (74.1%)]
--+--
Because of this bizarre turn in her reputation, her "Emotion Points"—which had been slowly trickling down—had suddenly spiked.
At this rate, she'd be able to do a targeted gacha pull in less than two weeks.
The problem was, thinking about the cost of this "harvest" made it hard to be happy.
She felt like she'd been set up. First, Aha stepped in to set the tone, then Typhon showed up to raise the stakes.
In one fell swoop, her public image was now inextricably tied to Elation.
Judging by the surge in Emotion Points, the entire universe likely now believed she had both the strength and the means to walk the Path of Elation to its fullest.
'Cipher' felt her reputation was likely beyond saving.
She even began to wonder if, after she eventually replaced some other Aeon, she should just change her name entirely when traveling the world.
She was, quite frankly, starting to give up on herself.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL