Robin's fingers were still resting on the communicator screen, yet she froze where she stood.
That wisp of Nihility drifting off Kallen quickly spread through the entire room.
It was not contagious, at least not in any literal sense, but visually, it was terrifying enough.
Robin's pupils contracted sharply.
She knew that aura far too well.
The children who had been brought back to Penacony occasionally gave off that same kind of presence.
But this felt... slightly different.
Very soon, Robin realized a chilling fact that sent a shiver down her spine.
The Nihility surrounding Kallen was a hundred times, a thousand times denser than what those children carried.
In an instant, Robin's mind filled in countless possible stories.
Then, almost instinctively, she stepped forward.
Her hand moved faster than her thoughts. Her fingertips touched Kallen's shoulder, and Harmony began to gather at her lips—
Then she froze.
She had forgotten.
At present, she could no longer use the melody of Harmony.
That voice which had once soothed countless hearts now held only the warmth of an ordinary person.
Robin's fingers trembled slightly, but she still let them rest gently on Kallen's shoulder, as if that alone might convey something.
"Miss Kallen..."
"When you said you were depressed, did you mean... being eroded by Nihility?"
Kallen blinked. That gray aura continued winding around her, refusing to disperse.
"More or less." Her voice was unusually serious.
"Aren't you going to teach those kids? Why not bring me along?"
Robin looked at her carefully.
Judging from Kallen's demeanor, she was bright, open, and talkative—nothing like someone afflicted by Nihility.
Had she once been treated by a chaos doctor?
Or was she one herself?
"Miss Kallen... are you a chaos doctor?"
Kallen shook her head. "I'm not."
"Then you're...?"
"I'm a patient." Kallen said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world, then edged a little closer to Robin.
"See, Senior? I'm seriously ill."
But Robin did not laugh.
Her gaze rested on those faint gray currents surrounding Kallen, the worry in her eyes deep enough to drown in.
"This isn't funny, Miss Kallen," she said softly.
"Nihility isn't a joke. Those children... I've seen how it tortures them."
Perhaps realizing her tone had grown too grave, Robin shifted the subject.
"Miss Kallen... how did you recover in the first place?"
"Looking at you now, you don't seem like someone still being affected by Nihility."
As if worried she had been too intrusive, she added in a softer voice,
"Of course, if it's not something you want to talk about, then pretend I never asked..."
Kallen tilted her head, seemingly considering how to answer.
After all, she had never actually been eroded by Nihility at all.
If anything, by the logic of her current setup, she was closer to being Nihility itself.
Which meant she had better invent herself a convincing backstory.
A moment later, she raised her hand.
A thread of golden light appeared in her palm, warm and weighty, standing in stark contrast to the gray aura of Nihility from before.
"Preservation."
Kallen said it lightly. "I've gone fairly far down the path of Preservation. That power helped me stabilize a lot of things."
Robin's eyes settled on that golden light, her pupils trembling faintly.
Of course she recognized it.
That was the gift of the Wall-Maker—the signature power of a Pathstrider of Preservation.
But unlike the agents of the IPC she had met in Penacony, the golden light in Kallen's hand felt far purer, far more substantial.
"Miss Kallen is a Pathstrider of Preservation?" Robin asked, surprised.
She had assumed Kallen was a Harmony Pathstrider like herself.
After all, Kallen seemed able to amplify sound with Harmony power.
Still, Robin did not find it especially strange. In this galaxy, there were more than a few people who could wield two Paths.
"Mhm." Kallen withdrew her hand, and the golden light vanished with it.
"If it weren't for Preservation, I'd probably still be depressed."
Robin fell silent for a moment.
Suddenly, she recalled the first time she had seen Kallen in the street—riding that outrageously flamboyant motorcycle, chain-like afterimages trailing behind her, the whole of her radiating reckless brilliance.
At the time, Robin had thought this girl simply had a fiery personality.
Now she understood.
Perhaps that brightness had never been mere temperament. Perhaps it was resistance.
Robin knew better than most how difficult Nihility was to face.
Maybe that was simply the method Kallen had chosen to push back against it.
"So that's why you keep moving?" Robin asked. "Whether as a wanderer or as a singer... is all of that your way of fighting that feeling?"
Kallen blinked, then burst out laughing.
"Senior, you're overthinking it." She waved her hand dismissively. "I run around because I can't sit still. It has nothing to do with depression."
"As for Nihility..."
She paused, as if choosing her words.
"It really is always there. But once you get used to it, it's not so bad. Like people who live by the sea—after long enough, they stop noticing the sound of the waves."
Robin said nothing.
She had seen children corroded by Nihility.
Some lay awake all night, night after night. Some shut themselves in their rooms and refused to come out. Some would suddenly break down in tears for no reason they could explain.
She had never seen anyone talk about it as lightly as Kallen did.
"Miss Kallen," Robin said suddenly.
"Mm?"
"You said just now that you wanted to come see those children with me?"
"Yeah." Kallen nodded. "I want to see whether I can help."
Robin studied her, her gaze now carrying something harder to define.
"Is it because you feel for them? Because they're children like you?"
Kallen thought for a moment, then seriously shook her head.
"No." She said, "It's because I'm stronger than they are."
"Something like Nihility can't be solved with comfort alone."
"You have to make it understand who's really in charge."
"The reason those children are being tormented is because they're afraid of it. I'm not."
She paused, and the corners of her lips lifted slightly.
"I'm the king of purity. What does a little Nihility matter?"
Robin did not understand the second half of that sentence, but she understood the first.
"So you want to go... to be their example?"
No, actually, I just don't want to keep singing here.
Kallen very much wanted to say that.
But it would be far too humiliating.
Before she could answer, Robin spoke again.
"Miss Kallen... you really are a strange person."
"Strange?" Kallen raised a brow. "What's so strange about me?"
"Everything." Robin said, though the corners of her lips curved upward again despite herself.
"You're clearly being eroded by Nihility, and yet you live more flamboyantly than anyone. You clearly can't sing, and yet you're going to stand on the stage of the Charmony Festival. You were obviously forced into this, and yet you're still thinking about helping others."
She paused, then added,
"And you even say you're depressed."
Kallen: "...Please don't repeat that last part."
Robin finally could not hold back and laughed softly.
She walked to the window and pushed it open.
But soon enough, the smile faded, and she looked back at Kallen.
"The children are at a sanatorium deep in the memory zone," she said. "The Nihility there is much denser than outside. Your body... will it be all right?"
"No problem." Kallen cut her off, her tone firm.
Robin looked at her for a moment, then said nothing more.
The wind blew in from outside, carrying Penacony's signature sweet, cloying scent.
"Then let's go now," Robin said, turning around.
"But before that, Miss Kallen..."
She paused, her gaze falling to Kallen's casual clothes, which she had not yet had time to change out of.
"You should put on the Iris Family dress."
Kallen looked down at herself, then back at Robin.
"...Why?"
"Because you're a returning singer of the Iris Family," Robin said, as if it were self-evident.
…
"...This is the place," Robin said softly.
Not long after Kallen changed clothes, Robin brought her to their destination.
They passed beneath an archway, and a spacious courtyard opened before them.
At its center stood a fountain, but no water flowed from it anymore. A layer of gray-white residue had settled in the basin below.
The moment Robin finished speaking, it seemed someone inside had sensed their arrival.
The building's doors opened from within, and a middle-aged woman dressed in a nun's habit hurried out.
"Miss Robin!" Her voice was filled with unmistakable delight. "You're finally here!"
Robin inclined her head slightly. "Sorry. I'm late. Something came up on the way."
"And this young lady is...?"
"Not late at all, not late at all. The children have all been so happy ever since they heard you were coming." The nun said, then shifted her gaze to Kallen behind Robin.
"She's Miss Kallen, a returning singer of the Iris Family," Robin said, stepping aside to introduce her. "She's here to help as well."
The nun's gaze lingered on Kallen for a moment, as though she wanted to say something. In the end, however, she merely nodded.
"Welcome, Miss Kallen. The children... need all the help they can get."
Kallen nodded, but said nothing.
Because she had already felt it.
That aura seeping out through the windows—faint, yet stubborn, like a shadow that could not be dispelled.
It was the aura of Nihility.
"This way, please," said the nun, turning to lead them inside.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
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Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 150)
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TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
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I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter222)
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Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 190
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
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Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 215
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 200
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
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The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 115
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 130
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 100
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
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My Harem Is Indescribable 85
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Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 81
Still playing traditional Honk 69
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 65
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Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 60
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 61
Checking In in Demon Slayer 65
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 80
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 66
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 58
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 65
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 63
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 59
Why did they assign me to Uma 55
MYGO Beauties 56
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 45
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 49
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 26
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