「 "In the eyes of many, Mother is an excellent Guardian… If the truth is to be preserved, then let all those errors, madness, evil, and dreams be stored in my memory. I will bear the burden."
"Since I am destined to take on the duty of the [ Great Guardian ] … then I must abandon naive fantasies."
Bronya looked at the young girl beside her with a hint of apology: "Sorry, Seele. Please keep this secret with me… until the end of our lives."
"Of course, I know what to do." Seele nodded at her with determined eyes. 」
「 .....」
~Runeterra World~
"How about it? Envious?"
Looking at this scene on the light screen, Jinx elbowed Silco beside her and chuckled:
"Didn't see the part where your beloved Undercity and Piltover go to war. A little disappointed?"
"...Heh, how could I be?"
Silco moved his gaze from the light screen and stood up, walking towards her. He wasn't tall, but his shadow instantly filled the room.
"On the contrary, Jinx… I am quite satisfied with this outcome."
He had spent his entire life fighting Piltover, even selling Shimmer and sacrificing the interests of Zaun's bottom dwellers for it. He was willing to refer to Belobog's current situation, but Zaun had the filth and violence of the Undercity, yet no "outsider" like Stelle.
Zaun had no savior… except the people of Zaun themselves.
To earn Piltover's respect, those high-and-mighty individuals needed to know Zaun's strength.
In the light screen, Belobog's Undercity and Overworld finally reconciled because of a common crisis like the "Stellaron"; if possible, Silco also hoped Piltover and Zaun would face a crisis of similar magnitude to the "Stellaron."
The Overworld and Undercity would join forces to resolve it… By then, the respect he desired would surely come.
But what that crisis would be, Silco had no clue yet. A cataclysmic disaster? Or a city-state eyeing Piltover and Zaun covetously? Or perhaps an extremely dangerous individual?
…He couldn't see it clearly, but Silco had patience.
However, there was one thing in the light screen that truly made him envious—watching Seele and Bronya in such a loving, harmonious way, he never imagined a girl from the Undercity could influence the Great Guardian's decisions. It was simply unimaginable to him.
If Zaun also had such a person, who could marry into Piltover's council and become a bridge for communication between the Overworld and Undercity, then the matters he longed for would probably be much easier to handle.
What a pity, what a pity…
—
「 "Stelle, you suddenly appeared on the battlefield just now, holding such a cool weapon… What exactly happened? It's time to tell us, right?"
March 7th asked curiously.
"This is the second time I've sacrificed for you, March…"
Stelle looked at her affectionately.
March awkwardly scratched her head: "Uh… thanks? But that's not answering the question…"
"She probably doesn't even know herself, does she?"
Dan Heng said faintly, arms crossed: "This isn't the first time. Something similar happened when we faced the Doomsday Beast on the Space Station—remember Nanook's gaze?"
Continuing to think about such things would yield no results, so the group decided to leave the Stellaron for Uncle Welt and Big Sister Himeko to deal with, focusing instead on the immediate matters at hand.
Back in the Undercity, the group wanted to deliver the good news of the Stellaron's sealing to Natasha and the others, but after reporting the good news, Uncle Yang also sent a message in the Star Rail family group chat:
They had successfully sealed the Stellaron and were gradually clearing the navigation channels. However, Belobog's situation was not optimistic—although the Stellaron's influence had largely receded, both the Fragmentum and the Eternal Freeze made it difficult for the planet to recover its vitality of a thousand years ago in the short term.
Their mission as Trailblazers was complete. Now, they could only trust in humanity's resilience and will. 」
「 .....」
~Frieren: Beyond Journey's End World~
"Ah, how can this be…"
Fern had a dejected expression.
"The Stellaron has clearly been sealed, and the biggest problem is solved."
"It's normal, Fern."
Frieren raised her hand and patted Fern's head, smiling slightly,
"Look, the Hero and I defeated the Demon King decades ago, yet even today, the continent is still affected by the Demon King's remnants. Disasters are not formed overnight, and their effects do not fade overnight."
"Bronya and the others are now on the path to eliminating the effects, and we are also on the path to eliminating the Demon King's influence,"
Stark said,
"In a sense, we are fellow travelers, aren't we?"
"Yes, compared to Bronya and the others, we are more like Stelle, March 7th, and Dan Heng,"
Frieren said with a smile,
"They are Trailblazers, we are adventurers, both are people who explore new things… Once things settle down in Belobog, they will probably head to new worlds in the universe."
"New worlds?"
Fern's eyes drooped slightly,
"…But I really don't want to leave Bronya and the others."
—
「 The group decided to convey these messages to Bronya when the time was right.
They didn't wait too long. The news of unsealing the Overworld and Undercity also reached Natasha. The passenger cable car, which had been locked for decades, would restart. Bronya also sent a message at this moment, hoping that everyone could return to the Overworld to attend her succession ceremony.
Stelle and the others certainly wouldn't miss it. They, along with Natasha, took the first cable car with Hook and the other children.
The moment they saw the blue sky, Hook exclaimed: "Wooow…! Th-this is such a big, blue roof!"
Natasha's voice was both sad and joyful: "That's not a roof, Hook… that's the 'sky'." 」
「 .....」
~Zenless Zone Zero World~
"These children are truly pitiful. What we take for granted every day is something new and wondrous that these children from the Undercity have never seen…"
This scene reminded Tsukishiro Yanagi of the first time she brought Soukaku to New Eridu.
At that time, she held Soukaku's small hand, passing many shops along the way. From beginning to end, Soukaku's gaze never left those colorful cakes and snacks.
"Sister Yanagi, what is this? Can I eat it?"
In her memory, that was the most common thing Soukaku said to her that day.
At that time, she hadn't joined the H.S.O.S.6, nor did she know how to interact with the little Oni girl, but that day, she bought all the snacks Soukaku wanted to eat. Watching Soukaku 's satisfied expression, she also felt an inexplicable warmth.
Was it a desire to compensate her?
Yanagi couldn't quite figure it out, but if she were to bring Hook and Clara to such a colorful world, she would probably end up spending a fortune.
Exchanging priceless smiles from children for cheap money—what could be more worthwhile in this world?
—