At this moment, after receiving Kallen's brutally serious beatdown,
the Dreammaster clutched his forehead, where that piercing sensation of Nihility still lingered, while Sunday struggled to calm the turmoil raging inside him.
The two exchanged a glance and saw the same helpless shock in each other's eyes.
The evenly matched clash they had imagined had never materialized. They had not even managed to force out their opponent's trump card before being utterly routed.
The gap in strength was simply too great—so great that they did not even understand what had just happened.
It seemed that until Sunday truly became the bearer of Order, they still had no way to stand against an existence on the level of an Emanator.
"So," Kallen asked, making no move to attack again, "can we finally talk properly now?"
"About the dissonant noise in Penacony that shouldn't exist… and your little plan to revive Order."
The Dreammaster took a deep breath.
"…What do you want?" He abandoned any further useless resistance and went straight to the point.
Kallen looked at the two of them, both still on edge as if facing a mortal enemy, and suddenly let out a soft laugh, breaking the tense atmosphere in the grand lobby.
"Oh, come on. I'm not some kind of villain. Can't you relax a little?"
"To be honest, that little display just now was only a joke. I wanted to see how you'd react."
"A joke?" Sunday was caught off guard. "What exactly do you mean by that?"
"It means exactly what it sounds like." Kallen shrugged. "I'm interested in Order, too, so I wanted to test your resolve."
"And now I've seen enough. Your strength may be lacking, but at least you're not completely hopeless."
The hall fell into an even deeper silence.
That was Kallen's real reason for coming to Penacony ahead of schedule. She intended to hitch herself to Order's grand scheme.
After all, this Dreammaster—who had already fused his soul into Penacony itself—seemed to possess an authority bordering on omniscience as long as one remained within Penacony.
If she did not want to simply bulldoze her way through the situation, and did not want to be watched every second, then she only had one option left: walk a different story route.
That was right. Since Kallen's role was that of a double-crossing antagonist, what was the problem with temporarily joining Order?
It was not as though the Dreammaster had the power to refuse her.
And in any case, the only reason she was leaving him alive now was so she could kick him again later.
Faced with this, the shock had not yet faded from the Dreammaster Gopher Wood and Sunday's faces before this abrupt reversal hit them like a second blow.
"Interested?" Sunday repeated. "What do you mean?"
Kallen continued, "Exactly what I said."
"You want to revive Order. I happen to be interested in Order. Seems like a perfect coincidence to me."
"I could simply join you."
Sunday frowned. "But just now, you said you came here to cause trouble."
"To cause trouble?" Kallen blinked innocently. "Did I say that?"
Sunday: "…"
Dreammaster: "…"
Kallen waved her hand as though there were nothing strange about her behavior at all.
Sunday opened his mouth, clearly wanting to say something, but found himself at a loss. The sting from that punch was still painfully clear on his face.
And this supposedly refined and courteous "Galaxy Ranger" was standing there with that enormous cross on her shoulder—a weapon capable of smashing the floor open with a single blow—while calmly denying everything she had said moments earlier.
The Dreammaster took another breath, forcefully suppressing the lingering stab of Nihility in his brow, then asked in a deep voice,
"Then tell me this: what exactly do you mean when you say you are interested in Order?"
Kallen replied, "Gopher Wood, don't play dumb with me. You should understand very well."
"Although the Aeon of Order, Ena, has fallen, the Path itself has not truly perished. It was merely swallowed by Harmony, where it now slumbers in deeper layers."
"And you—you are trying to dig it back out."
The Dreammaster's pupils tightened.
This time, he did not deny it. There was no point anymore.
He had no idea how she had done it, but from the moment this Emanator stepped into Penacony, she had already seen straight through all of their hidden cards.
If they kept denying it now, they would only be humiliating themselves.
"So then," the Dreammaster asked again, "what is it you want to gain from us?"
"Are you here to stop us, or…"
"I already told you," Kallen interrupted. "I came to Penacony to join you."
"Your top-end combat power is insufficient. You need someone who can actually fight. I just so happen to be very good at that. Seems like a match made in heaven."
At this point, Sunday could not hold back any longer. "Miss Kallen, you are an Emanator of Preservation. Why would you be interested in Order?"
That question struck at the heart of things.
Preservation and Order were not directly opposed the way Destruction clashed with other Paths, but they were certainly not close.
For a Preservation Emanator to appear out of nowhere in Penacony and announce that she wanted to join a plan to resurrect Order—there was something deeply suspicious about it.
Kallen tilted her head and considered for a moment, then gave an answer neither of them had expected.
"Because I believe in Order now."
That answer plunged the hall into yet another dead silence.
Sunday and the Dreammaster exchanged a look, each seeing the same bafflement in the other's eyes.
A genuine Preservation Emanator, declaring faith in Order?
"Forgive me," the Dreammaster said carefully, "but if we are not mistaken, you should be an Emanator of Preservation, should you not?"
"So what if I am?" Kallen shot back. "Who made the rule that an Emanator of Preservation must believe in Preservation?"
"An Aeon is an Aeon. A Path is a Path. Aeons may die, but Paths do not. Order, Preservation—they're just different roads leading toward the same end."
The logic was wildly heretical, yet neither the Dreammaster nor Sunday could refute it.
After all, among the information they had gathered, even the IPC seemed to have a supervisor named Taravan who was suspected to be an Emanator of Preservation without truly believing in it.
And the two of them were doing exactly the same sort of thing themselves—
walking the path of Harmony while chasing after Order.
"You are very candid," Dreammaster Gopher Wood said slowly. The hostility in his tone had diminished by at least seventy percent, replaced by careful consideration.
"Still, how can I be certain this is not a trap laid by Preservation?"
At this point, he was still wary.
After all, given Preservation's attitude toward Propagation, there was always the possibility of interference.
Kallen arched a brow. "A trap laid by Preservation? Are you joking?"
She scoffed, openly mocking him. "That old man Qlipoth is too lazy to tidy up his own backyard. Do you really think he has the spare time to meddle in your little Penacony affair?"
It was an outrageously disrespectful thing to say.
But somehow, coming from the mouth of a Preservation Emanator, it felt oddly convincing.
The Dreammaster fell silent for a moment.
He had to admit she had a point.
From the moment Preservation's Aeon Qlipoth was born, he had only ever had one goal: to build the wall.
The enemies beyond the wall. The survival within it.
As for what the people inside that wall thought, did, or believed, the Amber Lord had never cared.
That was also why the IPC could act as it pleased in the name of Preservation, conducting commerce and power plays without ever receiving so much as a glance of interference from its Aeon.
"And besides," Kallen continued casually, "even if Qlipoth really did have the time, do you think he'd send an Emanator who smells like Nihility to handle it?"
The moment she said that, both the Dreammaster and Sunday's expressions changed again.
They remembered that fleeting instant just now—that faint gray aura that had spilled from Kallen's fingertip.
It had been Nihility.
Pure, unmistakable Nihility.
An Emanator who wielded the powers of both Preservation and Nihility?
No—that was not quite right.
Suddenly, Sunday grasped something. A guess so absurd it looped around into plausibility flashed through his mind.
"…Were you once a Self-Annihilator who was healed?"
That, to him, was the only explanation.
The corruption of Nihility was notoriously difficult to erase, but it could be suppressed through healing.
That was precisely what many Chaos Doctors had devoted themselves to doing.
Even his own sister, Robin, had once helped many people suffering from the erosion of Nihility.
If this Preservation Emanator had once been touched by Nihility, then it was not impossible that even after being healed, she might still retain some measure of its power.
Kallen looked at him and, for once, chose not to deny it.
"I once nearly walked the path of self-annihilation because of Nihility. It was Order that helped me."
"And because of that, I believe Order, not Preservation, is what this world should truly follow."
"Well?" She spread her hands. "Is that explanation enough?"
Of course it was not enough.
Neither the Dreammaster nor Sunday had any real desire to accept her into their camp.
True, their plan was fraught with dangers. The IPC, the main branch of the Family—everyone's eyes were already fixed on Penacony.
At a time like this, the slightest misstep could cast them into an abyss with no return.
And yes, having a powerful Emanator join them would unquestionably raise the odds of success.
But opportunity always came with equal risk.
If this overwhelmingly strong Preservation Emanator betrayed them halfway through, their plan would be doomed beyond recovery.
No matter how much Kallen said, these were still nothing more than her own claims. Who could verify any of it?
The Dreammaster remained silent for a while.
Sunday stood beside him, his gaze moving back and forth between the Dreammaster and Kallen, clearly wanting to speak but holding himself back.
At last, the Dreammaster spoke.
"Your candor leaves me little room to refuse without seeming ungracious."
"Welcome, Miss Kallen, to Order."
Yes. Faced with Kallen's absurd strength, the Dreammaster finally decided to yield.
Join here to read ahead.
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Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
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Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
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Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 206
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
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The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 106
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 125
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 90
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My Harem Is Indescribable 80
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"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 81
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The Most Filial Son Under Heav 65
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Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 57
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 45
Transmigrated as Sukuna 59
Checking In in Demon Slayer 59
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 73
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 45
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 36
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 40
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 60
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 30
Why did they assign me to Uma 35
MYGO Beauties 43
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 30
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 31
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