At first, 'Cyrene' thought this tricky problem wouldn't be solved so quickly.
But after several rounds of back-and-forth meetings—
Once Herta carefully recalled the scene of Noa's appearance—
She suddenly had an idea.
"Hey, Bai Ming, let me ask you something. If you lost a body like the one you're using now, what effect or harm would that have on you?"
"…Effect? No real effect. I'd just get a new one."
'Cyrene' scratched her head.
Even if she died outright, the character card wouldn't shatter; it would just force an end to the role-play and start recharging.
That previous Hertatomb card was practically one character split into two people, and it didn't stop the card from recharging.
She just didn't know if, when used again, another Herta's consciousness would still be there.
But in any case, whatever happened to the character card couldn't reach her true self. The system's hand, while not all-powerful, was still plenty reliable.
Of course, relying solely on that to gamble on Fuli's mechanisms and whether she could break free… would be far too reckless.
So 'Cyrene' had never considered using that method to solve the problem.
After getting 'Cyrene's' affirmative answer, Herta flashed a slight smile at Divine Herta.
Then, tilting her head up, she walked over to 'Cyrene', raised a hand, and pointed rather rudely at her nose.
"Well then, Bai Ming, let's make a bet. Let's see if I can solve this problem, or if we'll ultimately need Noa to step in."
"…You haven't actually thought of a way, have you?"
'Cyrene' looked at Herta with an expression like she'd seen a ghost.
It couldn't be… the time limit, combined with it being a matter of her own safety, had pressured Herta, forcing her potential to burst out, could it?
"Heh, you can sing my praises all you want. I, Herta, never back down from a challenge."
Herta crossed her arms, tilted her head back with a narcissistic hum, and didn't mention a word about her frantic, hair-pulling experiences from the past few days.
"By my count, your current identity should expire in a few days, right? Perfect timing—avoids any waste."
Herta didn't know that the time on 'Cyrene's' character cards could be refunded as a recharge ratio. So she had even meticulously chosen the final day to do this.
"So, what exactly is the method?"
A mischievous smile curled at the corner of Herta's lips as she looked at 'Cyrene' with unmistakably ill intentions.
"Want to know?"
"…I suddenly don't want to know."
"Tch, boring. I don't need you here. Come back when it's time."
Herta's face instantly shifted to one of boredom and disdain as she waved 'Cyrene' away.
"Seriously? Holding a grudge again?"
'Cyrene' knew exactly why she was being shooed off.
It was because she hadn't 'trusted' Madam Herta before, hadn't even considered relying on her to solve the problem. And now Herta was determined to send her away to prove that even without 'Cyrene' around, she, Herta, could handle it.
As for 'Cyrene's' complaint, Herta wasn't bothered in the slightest; she even looked rather pleased with herself. That was just the kind of person she was. Got a problem with that?
"Yes, I hold grudges. Is that news to you?"
"…"
What else was there to say?
I surrender, meow.
A woman who could hold a grudge for centuries… there's probably only one like her in all of creation.
'Cyrene' even thought that if Herta kept a little grudge notebook, she'd probably jot down 'Cyrene's' name whenever she was in a bad mood over those few hundred years.
'Cyrene' helplessly raised her hands in surrender and turned to leave the cabin.
She'd just wait.
It wasn't like there were many days left anyway.
--+--
But having abruptly left the project team, 'Cyrene' really didn't know where to go for the moment.
After her visit, Miss Himeko had departed some days ago.
Who knew where she was now, or when they might run into old man Welt and the Void Archives?
Over on Amphoreus, because they'd signed some cooperative trade agreements with both the Land of Light and the Interastral Peace Corporation, Aglaea and Cerydra were now swamped, barely touching the ground.
Even Tribios was forced to split herself into a thousand copies again to bolster Amphoreus's workforce and handle the mountain of tedious tasks.
Yes, because Tribios had been reborn and reconstituted after Tribbie, Trianne, and Trinnon first became Digimon, her mechanics meant she was essentially a fusion-type Digimon.
As for the consciousness connection between these thousand copies and the main Tribios, 'Cyrene' had checked. No conflicts.
But she admitted she couldn't comprehend what it felt like to split into a thousand.
Seeing the main Segments acting perfectly normal, she didn't pry further.
In short, Amphoreus was incredibly busy lately. Even Cipher was pulled in to work—imagine how much there was to do.
Since going there meant no one would be free to keep her company, 'Cyrene' thought it over.
In the end, she stirred the aura of Nihility and let herself fall towards its border once more, arriving again at that desolate edge of nothingness.
Acheron turned her head to look at the pink-haired beauty who had suddenly appeared.
After a careful once-over, she spotted the familiar ring on the girl's left hand.
"This form is quite… lovely. Like a young lady from some noble house."
Acheron smiled as she walked up to 'Cyrene'.
Looking at this pink-and-white maiden, so strikingly bright compared to her own dark palette.
"A young lady is an exaggeration, but this outfit does rather look like a gown. Not very practical for fighting," 'Cyrene' stated without batting an eye, spinning a tall tale.
If little Cyrene were here, she'd probably jump up in a fluster to expose her nonsense.
Acheron took 'Cyrene's' hand, initially intending to sit on a nearby rock, but then hesitated, wondering if sitting on a bare stone was unbefitting of 'Cyrene's' current elegance.
Before she could voice the thought, however, 'Cyrene' had already settled down on the rock herself, her beautiful skirt spreading out over the stone like a blooming flower.
"What's the identity this time? I have a feeling it's quite remarkable."
Acheron finally sat down beside 'Cyrene'.
Even though the other's identity was different each time they met, sitting this close and sensing carefully, she could still detect a faint trace—hidden beneath these various guises—of the essence unique to Bai Ming.
"The Pure Child of Amphoreus."
"Pure Child? What's that?"
"Ah, right, you don't know about the memory intel yet. Let me tell you…"
'Cyrene' suddenly remembered that Acheron spent all her time in a place like this, far removed from the material world.
If it weren't for dead Pathstriders turning into Sin Thirsters here, Acheron might not even have known what happened when the Irontomb blew up the universe.
So, with growing enthusiasm, she pulled Acheron into telling the whole story—about Amphoreus, the Pure Children of Anāsrava, the Irontomb, different worldlines, and more…
Though the time had been brief, the experiences of this period were anything but ordinary.
--+--