"…???"
"...Huh?"
"...What's going on?"
Silver Wolf let out a bewildered triple-question.
Just as she was about to play the hero and save the damsel in distress, the cute girl who seemed on the verge of being brutally handled by the Voidwalkers suddenly shed her gentle sheepskin, revealing the bloodthirsty wolf hidden beneath.
She grabbed a scythe and charged forward, cutting down the Voidwalkers with explosive force!
Her beauty was undeniable, and every move she made in combat was filled with grace.
However, this demeanor was a stark contrast to her previous fragile and adorable appearance—clearly, something was very off.
Split personality?
That raging power... Could it be like Sukuna and Yuji?
"It seems this little sister has her own secrets too."
Feeling a bit regretful about missing the chance to be the hero, yet relieved to have uncovered the girl's secret, Silver Wolf adjusted her neon glasses.
"How interesting!"
Secrets make a girl even more captivating~!
...
After the battle ended, Stelle, Caelus, March 7th, and Seele headed toward the central elevator in the atrium.
The group first introduced themselves to one another.
Seele had initially planned to set her identity as an ordinary resident of a planet in the galaxy, someone who had been enjoying hotpot and singing one moment, only to inexplicably find herself in this place the next.
After all, much like the Saber-face phenomenon in the Type-Moon universe, in the Honkai-impacted cosmos, the faces of famous actresses could appear anywhere.
There were already counterparts of Seele and Bronya on Belobog, and it wasn't as if Old Yang had been particularly shocked or bewildered upon hearing of their existence.
Probably, as someone who traveled the stars and had seen it all, Old Yang was already used to such things.
So what if they looked alike by just a tiny bit? No big deal~!
However, when Seele thought about the distinctive Honkai energy within her, she fell silent.
Unless Old Yang's brains had been fried and eaten by the Void Archives, there was no way he would believe such a hastily concocted lie.
So, after a moment of contemplation, Seele decided to stick with little Seele's persona from the past—playing dumb to any questions.
Although the spirit residing in this body could still benefit from the mask's ability to control emotions, Caelus, too lazy to put effort into acting, simply activated auto-battle and handed over control of the body to little Seele.
Seemingly uneasy in this unfamiliar environment, even her steps were somewhat restrained. The girl glanced around at the various things in the space station, her eyes occasionally flickering with curiosity and confusion.
The space station was enormous, filled with high-tech equipment that little Seele couldn't comprehend.
When she looked out through the glass windows, the awe of being in space for the first time—gazing up at the sea of stars and looking down upon planets—was impossible to conceal.
Her sea-blue eyes were filled with sincerity and simplicity.
Even Aha would have to remark that it didn't seem acted!
"What? Really? Seele, you've never heard of the Aeons?"
March 7th widened her eyes in disbelief.
"Big Sister March, Seele has never heard of a god by that name."
Her hanging strands of hair swayed slightly as Seele shook her head.
"Aeons aren't specific names; they're more of a conceptual term."
March 7th scratched the back of her head, utterly baffled, her face full of bewilderment.
How strange!
Even residents of planets that haven't reached interstellar civilization would have heard of the Aeons!
As a wanderer without a name, she had visited all sorts of planets. Even civilizations still trapped in medieval feudal dynasties more or less knew of the existence of a few Aeons.
This had nothing to do with whether they had access to the interstellar information network.
On any planet, with a population of billions and thousands or even tens of thousands of years of human history, there would always be individuals who, through sheer will, could stir the Paths and attract the gaze of the Aeons.
These Pathstriders were the source of information about the Aeons.
However, after a brief exchange with Seele, March 7th discovered that the girl truly knew nothing about it.
"Seele, let me tell you, Aeons are actually..."
March 7th's lively and cheerful personality easily dissolved White Seele's wariness, and her gentle comfort even alleviated the unease of being in an unfamiliar world.
[Aeons and Paths?]
Listening to March 7th explain the concepts of Aeons and Paths, Black Seele, who was inside the Stigma Space, fell into silence.
After a moment, she spoke in the Seele team voice channel.
[Other Seele, care to explain?]
Her tone had returned to its usual coldness, with a hint of intimidation.
Three minutes later, the rift in Stigma power forcibly opened by Stelle-Seele vanished. Her control over the body and the power transmitted to the outside world were abruptly severed by the closing rift.
Just as Black Seele was about to forcibly seize control of Seele's body and turn everyone who dared to bully Seele—ahem, bully her body—into dust, she was startled to realize that the Stigma's power was no longer under her control!
It was as if she had only been granted temporary access, and the true master of the Stigma was someone else.
But how could that be?
[As 'the other me' has seen, this is neither a bubble universe in the Sea of Quanta, nor the original timeline before you entered the Sea.]
Black Seele's coldness and intimidation couldn't scare Stelle-Seele. After all, she knew all too well that Black Seele's heart was warm beneath her tough exterior.
[Have you heard of the concept of parallel worlds?]
[Seele knows. Big Sister Bronya told me about it.]
[Tch~!]
Seemingly dissatisfied with White Seele's constant mentions of Bronya, Black Seele curled her lips.
[So? Are you the Seele from a parallel world?]
Sitting on the fairytale-style, ornate black-and-red princess chair in the Stigma Space, Black Seele asked this question, then suddenly raised her head as if struck by a realization.
If that were the case, it would explain why this Seele's personality differed from that of the "crybaby."
And the difference in Honkai energy.
Earlier, everything had happened too suddenly and urgently for her to notice, but now, back in the Stigma Space, Black Seele finally realized:
The Honkai energy inside her body felt... off.
Black Seele couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.
If she weren't a transcendent being born from the Stigma, with an affinity for Honkai energy far surpassing that of humans, she might not have even noticed the subtle difference.
But never mind—Honkai energy wasn't important. Seele was.
[That's right.]
Who could deny that she, who possessed Seele's body, was, in this world, "the Seele from a parallel world"
[The body Seele is using now is actually my body.]
Caelus-Seele's tone was gentle.
[Eh!] White Seele gasped in surprise.
[So that's how it is.]
Black Seele seemed to have found the root cause of all the anomalies, a look of understanding dawning on her face. Propping her chin with one hand, she asked:
[Then, why did we come to this world?]
[Well...]
After pretending to ponder for a moment, Caelus·Seele broke into a smile, softening her voice to match White Seele's tone, shedding the calmness of Caelus.
[Perhaps the divine being heard my intense longing and desire for 'another me,' granting me the ability to connect with my parallel world self~]
Intense longing for another me!?
This direct, zero-frame confession, paired with a tone that was 100% 'Seele-esque'—soft and sweet—dealt a ton of true damage to Black Seele, instantly dyeing her cheeks crimson.
[Y-You... what are you saying?]
At this stage, Black Seele clearly couldn't handle such a direct attack and, flustered and angry, immediately went silent.
Meanwhile, the considerate White Seele was pondering something else entirely.
[Is it really okay for the parallel world's me to let Seele use my body?]
[Seele, do you want to go back?]
As soon as the words were spoken, Caelus·Seele already received the answer.
Fear, panic, and other emotions surged out like a tidal wave, swelling like a storm.
Without a doubt, she didn't want to return to that abyss of nothingness and darkness.
But it wasn't right to just occupy the body of her parallel world self either!
Suppressing her fear, White Seele was about to speak, but Caelus·Seele beat her to it.
[Things weren't looking good for you before you came here, right? You can use my body for now. After all, we're both 'Seele'~!]
In their shared body state, Caelus·Seele could sense Seele's mental state—like a spring compressed to its limit, gradually losing its elasticity and on the verge of breaking.
Having held a high affection for Seele in a past life, and considering the possibility of needing Dark Seele's help in battles later on, Caelus·Seele naturally wouldn't stand by and do nothing.
Unlike sharing a body with multiple consciousnesses, as long as she turned off 'auto-battle,' she could reclaim control of the body.
Absolute control!
While the Seele's were communicating in the team channel, Caelus was also having a mental exchange with the system.
[System, is the difference between 'Phantom Sea Butterfly' and 'Bianca: The Other' the ability to master and use the power of the Stigmata?]
Having a rough guess about this, Caelus was just confirming with the system to make sure it wasn't hiding any other surprises from him.
[That's essentially it.]
The system replied succinctly.
[The host can master the power of the Stigmata through their own efforts. Once successful, it's somewhat numerically different from 'Bianca: The Other'...]
[What if I later draw the character card for 'Bianca: The Other' from the gacha? Or the Herrscher of Life and Death—will I get another Seele body?]
Caelus continued questioning.
[No, only the first character card for each person comes with a physical body. If you later draw Bianca: The Other, you'll directly gain power equivalent to it. The same goes for the Herrscher of Life and Death.]
[In addition to directly obtaining the corresponding power that the character card can master, you'll also unlock the character's 'Stellar Soul'...]
[Stop! No need to say more, I get it.]
Before the system could finish, Caelus cut it off.
Caelus covered his face, trying to suppress the urge to complain.
He's still stitching things together!
He's still stitching things together!