"Wow! My dear you really are a never-ending source of surprises for me~!"
"Can you tell me how you did that, my dear? Tell me please tell me"
!"
Sparkle covered her small mouth in shock, though her expression was a bit exaggerated, and her tone was so cloyingly sweet it could give you goosebumps.
She was only feigning surprise on the surface, but in reality, she was genuinely astonished.
Her control over her clone had actually been usurped, as if it had been corroded by some power and reshaped into Caelus's form.
What Sparkle found most incredible was that the spiritual will contained within the clone, a part of her, had been influenced by Caelus...
She wasn't sure if it had been overwritten, replaced, fused, or absorbed by Caelus's persona, but regardless of the specifics, such a feat was unprecedented!
"Is it a special ability of your~ exclusive mask, my dear? And what's this blade?"
As lively and animated as a Disney princess, more hyperactive than a case of ADHD, Sparkle circled Caelus, touching, poking, and rubbing up against him.
Hopping on one foot like a game of hopscotch, she landed in front of Caelus-Sparkle. After steadying herself, she started a staring contest with Caelus-Sparkle.
"For inquiries, please press 5."
After staring into those sakura-pink eyes for several seconds, Caelus-Sparkle put on a professional smile, placed her arms demurely in front of her, and adopted the posture of a public service attendant.
"55555!"
Feigning a look of sudden realization—'Oh, so that's how you ask a question~'—Sparkle pulled a button with a '5' on it from somewhere and mashed it with a speed that would put a certain top-tier intergalactic gamer to shame.
"Your inquiry has been received."
Caelus-Sparkle maintained her customer-service tone and smile. "The answer is—I have 5-othing to tell you!"
Caelus-Sparkle held up a slender, fair finger and added with a smile, "Oh right, the '5' is a homophone for 'nothing' Isn't that hilarious~!"
"Hahaha Wasn't the great Sparkle's joke so funny?"
The twin-tails on her little head swayed back and forth as Caelus-Sparkle leaned in close to Sparkle with a grin. Their two identical, charmingly pretty faces were less than five centimeters apart, close enough to feel each other's breath.
"The great Sparkle would never tell such a boring dad joke~"
Staring at the clone controlled by Caelus, Sparkle pouted and shook her head with a wronged tone.
"That's right That third-rate dad joke is completely beneath the great Sparkle's taste!"
Caelus-Sparkle's pink pupils narrowed into two crescent moons.
"How about we play a game?"
She raised a delicate, jade-like hand, and a small, toy-like lady's revolver appeared. It was pink and white with sakura blossoms engraved on it.
Her thumb flicked the cylinder, which spun as she twirled the gun in her small hand. Caelus-Sparkle pressed the little pink pistol against the back of Sparkle's head.
"Let's bet... on the life... of the fake~"
Sparkle's feigned look of grievance suddenly froze. Her brow twitched.
Another Sparkle clone appeared before the original. She placed a finger by her right eye, pulled down the lower lid, and taunted Sparkle:
"Nyah nyah nyah~!"
This clone came from Caelus-Sparkle. Just as Naruto Uzumaki's Shadow Clones can create more Shadow Clones, Sparkle's clones had the ability to clone themselves again.
Of course, this would consume the Caelus-Sparkle clone's energy—Sparkle's own un-rechargeable power of Elation.
Since there wasn't much to begin with, why not use it all up at once to mess with Sparkle?
Just like now. The smile and pretense on the real Sparkle's face vanished completely. She stared at Caelus-Sparkle, whose sakura eyes were glowing brightly and whose lips were curled in an excited smile, and shot out a hand to grab the little pink pistol.
Caelus-Sparkle let her grab the gun's grip, while simultaneously clasping her own hands over Sparkle's hand and the gun itself.
Pressing the muzzle to her own temple, Caelus-Sparkle asked with a smile:
"What is Elation?"
Sparkle was silent, as silent as Counselor Tang watching Zhang Mazi weep over his dead wife while shouting his lines for him.
Her gaze shifted complexly to the gray-haired young man standing aside, enjoying the one-man show.
"I... am ELATION~~!!!!"
A world-tearing, surging madness, accompanied by hysterical laughter, erupted as Caelus-Sparkle pulled the trigger.
With a bang, a bullet hit her between the eyebrows, but instead of blood, it burst forth with colorful streamers and confetti like a party popper, passing straight through her.
The two Sparkle clones controlled by Caelus, as well as the little pink pistol in the real Sparkle's hand, vanished like illusions.
"My dear how come you're done so soon? I wasn't finished playing yet!"
Caelus bounced in front of Sparkle, but since he was now controlling his own body, he was using his original voice.
The scene was truly and utterly cringe-worthy.
Even Sparkle's eye couldn't help but twitch for a second.
Afterward, the atmosphere in the Moon-Gazing Pavilion grew quiet, with only the starlight blanketing the area.
"My dear using the 'me' that I gave you to mess with me like that is just too much!"
Sparkle pouted with a look of displeasure, appearing to be angry.
But Caelus could feel a faint sense of joy radiating from Sparkle.
After all, most people couldn't comprehend her unconventional path of Elation. Caelus's earlier performance had shown Sparkle just how highly compatible the two of them were!
The side he had shown after gaining control of her clone—Sparkle had to admit that 'Sparkle' was, in fact, Sparkle!
Even for her, meeting a friend who could understand and even walk the path of Elation with her would evoke genuine feelings of happiness.
The silent atmosphere was broken by the sudden sound of music. Accompanied by the voice of the galactic superstar Robin, Caelus's phone rang.
"Oh my it looks like today's game is over!"
Sparkle made a gun shape with her small hand, verbally sound-effecting a 'biu' as she 'shot' at Caelus. Her figure gradually faded into an illusion and disappeared, leaving only a playful chuckle behind.
"Well then, my dear fiancé, until we meet again~!"
"Next time, let's have some more fun together~!"
Sparkle was no sore loser. She admitted that she had been slightly outplayed this time.
She had never imagined that Stelle and Caelus were actually the same person. No matter how she looked at it, they didn't seem like clones!
She could sense that Caelus wasn't lying to her, and this was the only explanation for how he could have seen through her disguise instantly.
A mistake on the first step had caused every subsequent move to be a passive one.
Now, Sparkle's entire interest was piqued by Caelus. She planned to go back, prepare properly, and then come 'play' with Caelus again.
Next time, she would play him for all he was worth!
"Hey, don't run off so fast! Leave me another clone to play with!"
Caelus reached out with a dramatic, pleading hand, but Sparkle bolted as if she'd been possessed by the Flash.
"Damn it, I shouldn't have used up all the clone's energy. I got careless!"
It took the combination of Jizo Mitama, Fenghuang Down, and the Persona Mask to snatch control of her clone from Sparkle, and that was only possible under the preconditions that the clone wasn't too strong and Sparkle's guard was down.
His current Jizo Mitama and Fenghuang Down weren't enough to seize a stronger clone. If Sparkle had been determined to resist, she could have dispelled the clone before Caelus took control.
Next time, it definitely wouldn't be so easy to snatch one to play with.
Although the energy clone couldn't compare to a Valkyrie character and didn't have a sensory link mechanism, it was still a unique kind of fun to play with!
What a pity! Such a pity!
Caelus took out his phone and accepted a video call. "Hello?"
"Caelus dear! What are you up to!?"
The piercing shriek of the Stellaron host instantly assaulted his eardrums. Stelle had her face pressed right up against the phone camera, her golden pupils magnified to a comical size!
"Who did you give my crystals to!?"
"Is the crystal really the main point here?"
March 7th grabbed Stelle's shoulders and shook her vigorously, snatching the phone from her hand.
"Caelus, what on earth happened over there? Why did I just see a video of you proposing to Stelle?"
March 7th didn't understand, but she was deeply shocked.
But proposing with a trash can was something that only Stelle or Caelus could possibly do.
"March, how did you find out?"
"What do you mean, 'how did I find out'? The proposal video is already trending on the Xianzhou's video feed! The comments are all asking where you two are from, what kind of planetary culture uses a trash can for a proposal! I feel like you two are going to ruin the Express's reputation again."
After rattling off all her complaints in one breath, March 7th finally caught herself.
"Uh, wait, that's not important... no wait, it is very important."
She went around in a few circles, almost confusing herself, before shaking her head and spitting a few times to get to the main point.
"Anyway, Stelle has been with me the whole time, so the Stelle you met was a fake, right!?"
"I know she was a fake. That's why I was just playing along with her,"
Caelus said with a casual smile.
"Huh?" March 7th froze for a moment. "Oh, never mind then."
"Who says never mind? The crystals? Where are my crystals? Caelus dear, weren't you going to propose to me with crystals? I accept, now give me the engagement gift!"
Stelle snatched the phone back, shoving March 7th aside with her shoulder, and stared at Caelus with the shining eyes of a husky locked onto the dog food in its owner's hand.
"You're not even asleep yet, how are you already dreaming."
Caelus gave a dismissive chuckle.
Not a care in the world about the proposal, the first thing she does is ask for crystals? Stelle, you little rascal...
"I don't care! I won't accept without the crystals!"
"Who asked you to accept?"
While Stelle and Caelus were having their daily squabble, Welt forwarded a video link, asking what was going on.
Caelus simply sent a message to the group chat saying he would explain when he got back that night.
After ending the video call with Stelle, Caelus glanced at the time on his phone screen.
"It's about time."
Taking out the Tara Mask from his inventory—its aesthetic value increased by +11 thanks to Herta's modifications—he put it on. Caelus's figure slowly sank into the shadows of the wooden pavilion under the bright moonlight.
He began moving toward the inn through the shadow world.
As Caelus walked through the world of shadows, he summoned several thumb-sized Shadow-Eating Soldiers.
At this size, the Shadow-Eating Soldiers had almost zero combat capability—a child could defeat one by stepping on it—but this also had its advantages.
Being non-threatening, they wouldn't trigger the danger sense of certain powerful individuals, and they possessed extremely high stealth capabilities.
Taking out his phone, Caelus opened his chat with Tingyun. He casually started a conversation with her on a random topic to confirm her location.
While continuing to chat with Tingyun, Caelus mentally commanded the tiny shadow soldiers to set out and find her.
After about half a system hour of chatting, the small soldiers located Tingyun.
Caelus didn't have them attack immediately, instead ordering them to hide in the shadows and follow Tingyun.
Caelus returned to the inn and told everyone about what had happened with Sparkle.
Meanwhile, the small soldiers reported that Tingyun had fallen asleep.
[Devour her shadow.]
Caelus issued the command to his small soldiers.
Inside Tingyun's room.
A small, cockroach-like, shark-headed shadow wriggled to Tingyun's bedside. The slanted moonlight cast the silhouette of her graceful curves onto the wall.
The small soldier opened its mouth and activated its ability, devouring the Foxian's shadow.
Tingyun's shadow began to slowly enter the small soldier's body, like cloth being sucked up by a vacuum cleaner, and then...
It had barely sucked in a tiny bit before a jade-gold spiritual fire abruptly flared up and incinerated it.
"Hmm?"
On the bed, the feigning-sleep Tingyun's brow twitched. She opened her eyes, her narrow Foxian eyes narrowing further as she looked at the spot where the Shadow-Eating Soldier had been.
What was this?
What was that feeling?
Elsewhere.
Sensing the death of the Shadow-Eating Soldier, Caelus opened his eyes.
"Now I can be absolutely certain."
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