Nero walked through outer space, seeing Nanook's figure standing at the farthest end, the bleeding golden wound like a crack, swallowing countless starry skies into it.
Karmic fire scorched the universe, matter turned into floating ash, souls fell and sank.
The power Aha had given him surged within his body, and this time Nero wasn't affected at all from directly looking at a Aeon or from being glanced at by one.
Nanook's golden eyes swept across him once, and in the next moment, that majestic body vanished.
Nero kept walking forward. Aha's power protected him, allowing him to fearlessly ignore the blazing flames, disregard the souls screaming in their fall. He traveled through the mist of ash, walked along the road of annihilation.
Until, he saw the raging energy and the bright point deep within the starry sky…
Stelle was in unbearable pain.
She felt her consciousness being torn apart, her body evaporating. Endless pain tugged at her soul.
The flames were burning her alive…
Suddenly, a gust of wind appeared, supporting her body from behind. Stelle felt like she smelled the scent of the sun, different from this starry sky baked dry by karmic flames. It was the scent of life, full of vitality.
A hand reached out from behind her and quietly covered her eyes.
From then on, she could no longer hear the crazed noise of souls, nor see the karmic flames burning heaven and earth, nor feel the aftertaste of ashes left after everything was burned away…
Only a familiar voice sounded beside her ear, soothing and comforting.
Stelle thought of that boy who crashed into the space station…
"Don't look. I'm here."
The boy's hand gently closed her eyes, the gentle breeze calming her restless soul. All the pain receded like a tide…
She fell asleep gently in the boy's arms.
———
On the platform, Himeko, Dan Heng, and March 7th suddenly saw the violent energy of the Stellaron's rampage vanish.
As the terrifying energy and shockwaves dissipated, two silhouettes appeared within them.
The tall, gray-haired girl and the white-haired boy were both unconscious, falling backward.
A gravitational force quietly appeared, pulling the two toward each other so neither would hit the ground heavily.
Dan Heng and March 7th rushed forward immediately, each catching one of them.
"Mr. Yang, they…" March 7th asked anxiously when she saw the refined-looking middle-aged man holding a staff suddenly appear.
"They're fine now."
Walter's voice was reassuring. He pushed up his glasses and gave a deep look at the unconscious Nero in March 7th's arms.
'To charge alone into the Stellaron's violent energy field, and then forcibly suppress the rampage using an incomprehensible power… this boy is no ordinary person…'
"Let's talk somewhere else."
Mr. Yang's voice landed perfectly in Nero's ears.
Just now, everything looked like he had passed out from exhaustion, but suppressing the Stellaron's rampage required Aha's power. Honestly, Nero was extremely awake right now; he could probably do a few hundred push-ups without issue.
Aha's power had fully negated the effect of Nanook's downward gaze, and even suppressed the Stellaron perfectly. From now on, Stelle should be able to use the Stellaron's power very freely.
Nero still kept his eyes closed, pretending to be unconscious.
Because it looked more tragic this way.
This was very good. Only if he looked a bit miserable, not like he solved things lightly, would it be easier to gain popularity. From all the tragic scenes he'd read before, that was always how it worked.
And also, being in the arms of a pretty girl was very comfortable.
Plus, from the outside perspective, he had now sacrificed so much. When he requested to join the Express Crew later, it should be much easier.
Although he felt that Himeko probably wouldn't reject anyone joining the Nameless anyway. But having this premise was much safer.
Nero felt himself being carried, and then they started moving.
He wondered how long Stelle would stay unconscious…
Thinking about it, Nero decided he would take a nap first. After all, he had fought multiple battles in a row.
When it's time to rest, you should rest well.
———
[Reality]
[Inside Siberian Duck's livestream Room]
She continued following the mission.
After the public release, because a character like Nero had been added, the story had changed quite a bit. For her, this made her expectations for the Honkai: Star Rail game even higher.
Siberian Duck was now very excited about the upcoming plot developments.
After calming Abraham down, she controlled her character to report back to Asta.
"Huh? Nero is gone. And the Doomsday Beast attacks at this moment. In that case, the plot is the same as before again." Siberian Duck murmured softly.
[BigBroDon'tHitMe: I don't know why, but I smell something bad coming.]
[Mango~: Don't tell me Nero's story ends here, and we won't see him again until the train departs?]
[Aha's Messenger: It's also possible Nero is staying at Herta's space station to work off his debt.]
[LittleFishBaby: Noooo, I just started liking this character, don't take him away from me already!]
"I don't know. Let's keep watching. I hope Nero can still be with the crew." Siberian Duck said after glancing at the chat.
———
The story continued.
"Discussing escape routes here hasn't changed… huh?"
[LittleFishBaby: YES!! Nero is back!!]
"He just broke the door directly." Siberian Duck burst into a helpless laugh seeing the scene of Nero tearing the door down and bumping right into the crew.
Then she saw a map she hadn't seen in the beta.
The walls were full of holes smashed open by brute force, and many doors were torn down.
"Nero has given up completely, huh."
[XIYTK_Final: Nero: Since I broke it already, what's a few more holes? Herta won't miss the money anyway.]
[My Pee Is Yellow: Because the Doomsday Beast appeared, Nero was worried for our safety and smashed even more stuff while searching for us. He likes us so much, I'm crying!]
[Senior Have Mercy: For real, he loves us so much. And I love him too! Baby, come give me a kiss!]
[Monk Hair: With Nero's natural personality, he probably already sees the whole crew as his close friends. Because he genuinely likes them so much, he does things like this. And that's exactly why he's so cute!]
[Herta Fans United: You're all correct, but that's not an excuse for destroying the space station. Lady Herta already said it, Nero will be punished by being confined at my house for a month!]
[Glue Man: You better honestly think that's a punishment and not a reward you're giving yourself.]
After the chat got noisy again, Siberian Duck continued the mission. After twisting around and solving puzzles, she finally reached the Walkway.
"Even though both the plot and map changed a little, you still have to walk in circles, huh!" Siberian Duck complained, then fell silent.
Because at this moment, it cut to a starry-sky closeup on the walkway, a scene that didn't exist before.
[WAKAKA: Holy crap, that's gorgeous!]
[Fell For Master: So beautiful! Space is so vast and ethereal. Stunning!]
Everyone admired the beauty of the universe for a while, then the main story moved on, finally reaching the moment when the Doomsday Beast appeared.
"This time it didn't show off, it just attacked immediately! March, woah Nero!!"
Siberian Duck exclaimed excitedly when Nero jumped in and cleaved down to block the Doomsday Beast's attack.
The beast attacked immediately, the sensory impact extremely strong.
The chat exploded with praise.
[Wind Boy SoloStan: See that? THAT is the sense of security our Xianzhou sword-immortal gives!]
[I Love Sunshine Kids: So cool, my baby!!]
[I Am Watching: Holy crap, the sword is cracking!!]
Just as everyone was praising nonstop, the animation gave a closeup. With a crisp sound, a clear crack appeared on the blade Nero had taken from Arlan.
At that moment, everyone's hearts shot into their throats.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.