"...…"
Seeing everyone's gazes converge on her, Silver Wolf—who had originally wanted to act as if nothing was wrong—quickly found she could no longer keep up the act. Still, she tried to struggle a little at the end.
"…Hm? Kafka, Firefly, is there something wrong with the way you two are looking at me?"
Silver Wolf spoke extremely quickly, then, without waiting for Firefly and the others to answer, turned her head away on her own and refocused her attention on the supercomputer in front of her.
"Sorry, there seems to be some issue on my end. You guys chat first. I'll handle this with priority."
While handling the matters on the computer, our Miss Silver Wolf casually blew a bubble, then no longer paid any attention to Kafka and Firefly.
"No… it's nothing. Wolfie, take your time."
As companions who had been together for a long time, Kafka and Firefly naturally knew what kind of personality Silver Wolf had.
As for the matter that day when Kafka casually asked Silver Wolf to inform Blade that Firefly had obtained a new power, the child had probably forgotten all about it while playing video games.
"Sam… no, Firefly. Since you have obtained Emanator-level power, I wonder… could you fulfill my long-cherished wish?"
After confirming that Firefly had truly obtained Emanator-level power, Blade—who was usually taciturn within the Stellaron Hunters team and normally acted like a cold, aloof male god—unexpectedly showed interest for once.
At this moment, Blade's eyes were fixed rigidly on Firefly's body. In his golden-red eyes flashed a look completely opposite to his usual coldness and deathly stillness. What kind of gaze was that?
Deranged, frenzied, excited, murderous…
Various indescribable negative emotions intertwined, making the current Blade look utterly terrifying, like a demon god walking the earth.
"Blade, listen to me~ Calm down…"
Taking in Blade's reaction completely, our Lady Kafka couldn't help but frown slightly. She could sense that the moment Blade learned Firefly might be able to fulfill his wish, the Spirit Speech power binding him was struck as if by lightning and suffered heavy damage, on the verge of losing control at any moment.
In response, Kafka could only call upon her Path power again and add another layer of binding on top of the existing Spirit Speech restraint, hoping it would help somewhat.
Sure enough, under the dual layers of Spirit Speech power, Blade—whose 'Mara' power inside his body was nearly running rampant—gradually calmed down like a hunting dog whose limbs had been bound.
"What was I…"
Blade, whose consciousness had regained clarity, rubbed his brow. Looking at the group who were all on high alert, he asked somewhat hesitantly.
"It's fine now."
Kafka shook her head. A trace of an inexplicable look flashed in her wine-red eyes.
"Your Mara nearly relapsed just now, Blade, but fortunately it has been suppressed again."
"Mara? Ah, I remember now…!"
With Blade's words, the suppressed Mara power surged once more. However, this time the Mara power did not break through Kafka's Spirit Speech binding. Instead, it maintained a relatively balanced range, constantly fluctuating back and forth.
"Firefly, can you fulfill my long-cherished wish? Can you? Answer me!"
"I…"
Listening to her former companion's urgent words, our Miss Firefly did not know how to answer for a moment.
As one of the former 'High-Cloud Quintet,' what was the long-cherished wish of Yingxing, the genius swordsmith?
After the Imbibitor Lunae incident and the fact that Baiheng seemed to have no possibility of resurrection, Yingxing's final wish had become nothing more than seeking death.
For ordinary people, "seeking death" did not seem particularly difficult, because life itself is fragile like glass — a slight external force could shatter it.
However, this concept for ordinary people did not apply to Yingxing. In order to perform the 'Dragon Transformation Art' and bring someone back from the dead, he had willingly tainted himself with the flesh and blood of an Emanator of Abundance.
The gift of the [Abundance] Emanator 'Shuhu' was both a blessing and a curse. This power granted him near-eternal life. Even if an Emanator of [Hunt] acted personally, they might not be able to grant him eternal rest.
But… Firefly might be different.
From the conversation just now, Blade had already learned which Path this Emanator-level power Firefly had stepped into belonged to.
The Path of [Causality] could be said to be the most mysterious among all current Paths, and also the one with the broadest future prospects.
The might of the [Causality] Aeon — Blade had already experienced it that day while pursuing Dan Heng on Jarilo-VI. With a single thought, an entire planet's time could be reversed. Such power, strong enough to turn decay into miracles, would surely be able to fulfill his long-cherished wish.
"Blade, I can do it… but I cannot do it."
Facing her companion, facing this companion who longed for death with all his heart, our kind Miss Firefly did not choose to hide the truth.
Yes, the girl had no intention of covering it up with a well-meaning lie. Instead, she chose to honestly tell Blade, "I do have the ability, but I cannot do it."
"Why."
Blade's voice was as cold as frost, carrying a bone-piercing chill. The next moment, a cold glint flashed as the indestructible 'Shard Sword' that could cut through iron like mud appeared in his hand.
"Because we are companions. We are all Stellaron Hunters. I, Stellaron Hunter — Sam, will absolutely never choose to act against my own companions."
Facing Blade's questioning, Firefly's attitude was extremely resolute. The girl placed one hand on her chest, gently touching the badge representing the Stellaron Hunters. Her tone was full of solemnity and determination.
"Companions… Heh, then consider it a request from a companion. How about that?"
"...…"
Firefly did not reply to Blade's question. Her attitude, I believe, was already very clear.
"Heh! Fine, let's end this matter here!"
After the atmosphere remained deadlocked for a moment, Blade finally let out a self-mocking cold laugh. He put the 'Shard Sword' away into another space once more, then turned and walked toward the door without looking back.
However, just as Blade's foot had already touched the threshold of the door and he was about to step out of the room, Firefly's voice suddenly rang out from behind him again.
"Blade, wait!"