"Sis... Sister Lumina, I... I don't want to die..."
In the Hall of Respite, Okhema, Amphoreus, inside Stelle's room.
After waking up from the Darkness and seeing the radiant Lumina before her, Stelle stared blankly for a moment before uttering these words.
Lumina: ?
Hearing this, although a giant question mark popped up in Lumina's mind, she still maintained that gentle smile on the surface.
This smile was enough to heal people's hearts, enough to cure all diseases.
All pain and illness would vanish upon seeing this face...
Of course, this wasn't the effect of her face, but Lumina silently taking action in the shadows.
If one could heal all things with just a face, then the Aeon of Abundance, the Emanator of Abundance, and Lumina could directly go to the factory to turn screws.
Um, not turn screws like Screwllum...
Hearing this, Lumina gently comforted her: "Don't worry, Stelle."
"With me here, nothing will happen to you."
"Waaaah, Sister Lumina, I want a hug for comfort!" Lumina's words of comfort did not completely "reassure" Stelle; instead, she opened her arms and looked at her Sister Lumina with a face full of anticipation.
Dan Heng: ...
Taking in Stelle's appearance, Dan Heng arrived at a conclusion with almost no thought at all.
This guy is faking it...
Clearly, just as Miss Lumina said, Stelle had immediately entered her "wilding" state upon waking up.
Regarding this, Dan Heng felt relieved.
Miss Lumina was omnipotent. Having Stelle go wild on her was much better than having her go wild on him.
Miss Lumina was a decent person; a situation like the one with March would not occur.
Stelle would go wild on March, and then March would be bamboozled and dragged along by Stelle.
In the end, the two of them would go wild together...
And eventually be suppressed by Himeko and the Conductor.
This was practically the normal state of the Train traveling through the Cosmos.
Now that Miss Lumina was here, such a scene would likely not unfold.
Thinking this, seeing Stelle's current appearance, still having the leisure to go wild, the remaining worry in his heart completely vanished without a trace at this moment.
While Dan Heng completely let his guard down, the story between Lumina and Stelle continued to unfold.
Seeing the child-like posture of begging for a hug before her, Lumina's heart instantly melted.
"Alright, alright, let's hug."
Lumina's voice was extremely gentle, looking at Stelle before her like a compassionate mother.
Then, just like a mother who cherishes her daughter, she opened her arms, leaned her body slightly forward, and gently, tenderly, and carefully took Stelle into her embrace.
Feeling Stelle's softness in her arms, that strange emotion surfaced in Lumina's heart once again.
The urge to devour Stelle...
Damn that little Herta.
The emotion didn't last long, soon being forcefully suppressed.
With great decisiveness, Lumina once again shifted the blame to Herta.
She'd never had these inexplicable feelings for beautiful girls before; it was only after meeting Herta that such emotions gradually began to arise.
Who else was to blame but her?
If Herta hadn't been constantly thinking about all sorts of nonsense, why would Lumina become like this?
Although this emotion was inexplicable, Lumina knew exactly what it meant.
She wasn't foolish. Isn't this just the precursor to wanting to "devour" a beautiful girl?
As long as the precursor appeared, it was basically impossible to extinguish.
The final result would be to erupt upon some beautiful girl, and then forcibly "devour" that "unfortunate" beauty.
Hmph, damn that little Herta.
Thinking this, and considering what she would surely do in the future, Lumina snorted in anger at Herta again.
If she truly errupted in the future, she would test her blade on Herta!
Make her pay for all the karma!
Lumina thought so fervently.
But soon, Lumina realized another point.
Recalling Herta's attitude toward her, as well as her previous actions, Lumina had every reason to be suspicious.
If she were to use Herta as her test subject, not only would it fail to make her realize her mistakes, but it would also... make her enjoy it to the fullest...
No, it wasn't a suspicion; it was a certainty.
If she used Herta as her test subject, she would definitely make her enjoy it.
Hiss... Thinking about it this way, Lumina really had no way to deal with Herta.
If she backed down, it would be bad; Lumina couldn't swallow her anger.
If she went forward, it would be bad too; it would make Herta enjoy it...
At this moment, Lumina truly felt this sense of being caught in a dilemma.
Forget it, whatever. When the time came to erupt, she would simply erupt on whoever was by her side.
After some thought, Lumina didn't think about it any further and entrusted everything to the arrangements of fate.
If Herta happened to be the one by her side at that time, she would erupt on Herta.
Regardless of whether Herta would enjoy it because of her actions, she herself would definitely enjoy it.
If the person by her side wasn't Herta but some other beautiful girl, then she would erupt on that "unlucky" beauty.
In Lumina's eyes, all beautiful girls were the same anyway.
Who did she erupt on, did it really matter?
The only thing Lumina needed to worry about was whether, after erupting, she would become completely lost in it and utterly infatuated with this feeling.
And then, every time she saw a beautiful girl, she would erupt on her...
Would that not make her a... ?
Well... that shouldn't happen. Even if I, Lumina, were to become infatuated with this feeling, I definitely wouldn't be that kind of person.
Sensing that her thoughts were gradually becoming a bit dangerous, Lumina quickly snapped back to her senses.
After feeling the softness transmitted from Stelle's body one last time, Lumina released her arms.
Lumina suppressed all the thoughts in her heart, ending this hug and comforting of Stelle.
"How do you feel?"
After ending the hug, Lumina asked Stelle with a smile.
"Waaa, huggie."
Facing Lumina's smiling question, Stelle still looked at Lumina pitiably, wanting to hug her once more.
"Answer my question." Seeing Stelle's pitiful appearance, Lumina did not soften her heart.
She extended a slender little finger and lightly flicked her forehead.
"Ouch."
The pain caused to Stelle by Lumina's flick on her forehead was such that one could say it hurt, or say it didn't hurt, just enough to knock Stelle out of this state and back to normal.
She covered her head with both hands, knowing that the thoughts in her heart had been seen through by Sister Lumina, and immediately responded with an awkward but still polite smile.
"I feel like I could take down ten people with one punch!"
Stelle sat on the bed, hands on her hips, speaking with a sense of pride and confidence.
"Hehehe." Seeing Stelle's cute and proud and confident appearance and hearing her words, Lumina chuckled softly.
She reached out her small palm, placed it on Stelle's head, and gently rubbed it.
"Take down ten people with one punch? There's no need to be so troublesome."
"Next, you only need to focus on thinking about how to complete the Trial of the Time Titan."