He exhaled and placed both palms on his chest. He paused for a moment to choose his words, then finally began.
"Stars…" he murmured, looking up at the sky. "I still don't understand why you show me such favor, but... I hope you'll stand with me tonight."
Closing his eyes, he began to gesture with his fingers and traced a symbol before his chest — a six-pointed star.
This symbol was a six-pointed star.
When he finished, with his eyes still closed, he whispered.
"I pray... Become my light once more."
With that, the ritual was complete, and he began to wait... but it wasn't even necessary.
The result was instantaneous.
"Haa...!" Feeling the warmth growing in his chest, he exhaled excitedly and opened his eyes slightly.
A pale celestial light bloomed from the mark of the Champion on his chest. Gradually, the pale blue glow took on a tiny shape.
"..." Looking up, he saw that one of the stars in the sky had become brighter. It seemed as if it was shining directly on him. "Unbelievable..." he whispered.
No matter how many times he witnessed it was too wonderful to be true. Every time, it felt no less miraculous than the first.
The rush of emotion made him want to pinch himself, but...
"Ow…!" he exclaimed, perhaps a little too dramatically.
A hot sensation spread across his cheek. It wasn't painful, quite the opposite... The feeling was like a light, playful tickle and brought with it a feeling of warmth. It seemed that if he allowed it, this warmth could even warm his dark soul.
"..." The reason was right in front of him.
A tiny star flew next to him, very similar to those he was used to seeing in the night sky. It had no visible face, no body — and yet it possessed a will of its own.
"..." It flew around his face, leaving a pale sparkling trail behind it and touching his cheek every now and then.
"Hey, come on, stop it..." he replied, trying not to be too rude.
It wasn't that he was embarrassed... More like a little uncomfortable. He was someone who was used to burying most of his attachments in the bud and avoiding intimacy altogether.
He didn't know the nature of this phenomenon. It was unlikely that this phenomenon could even be called alive. And although the sensations were very pleasant, he would rather avoid closeness with something that even seemed alive and conscious.
"..." The tiny star stopped at his face and began to simply pulsate in the air.
"Can I ask you for help?" he asked with an embarrassed smile.
At his request, the little star flared brighter and began to circle around his head. It seemed this was its way of expressing joy.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'..."
"..." The little star gave something like a nod and waited for instructions.
He briefly explained the thief contract.
"There are at least a hundred Dirty Baals at this base. They can recognize their own kind by smell and by face, so it's impossible to sneak in or play 'double agent'... And fighting against a hundred of them will just lead to a stupid death." He scratched his cheek awkwardly. "We need another way," he said awkwardly. "That's what I'm asking your help with."
"..." The tiny star pulsed softly — as if in understanding and circled around his face once more. It pressed against his cheek again, despite his objections, and then...
It flew straight to the Scavengers' base, leaving a trail of pale celestial light in its wake.
…
"Phew..." He exhaled heavily and sat down on the ground.
Perhaps from the outside, the way he interacted with his ability might have looked almost cute… but he was certain his stress levels had spiked.
Taking advantage of the fact that the star had not yet returned, he lit a cigarette and gazed at the celestial objects in the sky. There was always something to look at.
Countless stars... A black hole called Doomsday, the Abode of Dreams, known as the Celestial continent, and... something else that couldn't be seen in daylight. Something located directly above Concord.
"..." But his thoughts kept returning to the recent ritual, the star, and his own ability.
In general, the ritual itself wasn't fixed. Although he used this power extremely rarely, the method of activation became clear even without practice.
Two things mattered: the gesture and the intent.
As he understood it, the gesture was intended as a call and, simply put, was necessary for the stars to be able to see him. He traced a six-pointed star outward from his chest.
The intention was much easier. It came from his soul; all he had to do was give it words. For this, he resorted to a kind of prayer.
The last point was that the gesture and the intention had to be combined. Separately, they would not work.
As for what this ability could do... That was a little more complicated.
"Haa..." He exhaled smoke and, seeing the distant glimmers of starlight, stamped out his half-smoked cigarette.
He could count the number of times he had used this power on the fingers of two hands. During that time, he realized that there were only two ways to use this power.
The first was to resort to the help of a star, which he was using now.
In this case, the star would show him the path. He called this part of the ability the Guiding Star.
The second was to resort to the help of constellations. This option was radically different from the first and did not have the same spirituality, metaphoricality, and atmosphere. Its manifestation was tangible.
He had used this power only once and did not have a clear understanding of it. But repeating the words of his Peak, he could use the starlight.
He had not yet come up with a name for this part of his ability.
"A-are you done?" The sudden appearance of the little star before his face snapped him out of his thoughts about the mysterious nature of his power.
"..." The star almost drifted right up to his nose.
"Well, then..." He wanted to step back and cover his eyes from the intense glow...
But he was not allowed to do so.
"..." In the next instant, the star shone and flew straight into his head.
It felt like sudden enlightenment.
He wanted to exclaim, 'How did I not see this before!'
He saw the star path laid out by his Guiding Star.
...
Five minutes later.
Everything became simpler once the path lay open before him.
The plan was ready.
"Paymax," he called.
"Yes, Mr. Nobody?"
"Get ready for Plan I", he said, climbing back on his bike. "We're leaving at dawn."
"The 'Interception' tactic has been put into action. If you'll excuse me..."
"Anything else?"
"May I leave a comment regarding our future actions? I apologize in advance if you find it inappropriate."
"Well... go ahead."
The hologram of the planet emerged from the bracelet and, flaring crimson, shouted.
"Let's ambush those dirty bic…!"