Ding ding clang clang! (After three hundred rounds of intense battle)
"Y-You... how are you so tough?"
Hoolay, in Stelle's form, panted as he pulled back the distance, asking in bewilderment.
In the battle just now, he felt like Stelle had cheats enabled. No matter how fierce his assaults were, even cornering Stelle into desperation multiple times, as soon as Stelle shouted "For my companions and the future," her status would max out directly.
In the mental space, this was a manifestation of unyielding will.
Stelle held her fire lance in hand, steadying her breath: "I could fight you all day—for the glory of the Nameless!"
Hoolay felt the situation turning tricky. If Stelle kept stacking buffs like this, he might actually die for real.
He had no choice but to swallow his pride and seek compromise.
After a brief moment of thought, he decided to adjust his strategy. "Nameless Guest, you're a follower of [Trailblaze], aren't you?"
Stelle nodded: "That's right. As a Nameless Guest, what we must do is blaze trails for ourselves and others' futures, so I absolutely won't lose to you and let you run rampant!"
Hoolay clutched his chest, his eyes filled with sorrow: "Then what about me? Stelle, what about my future?"
Stelle: ?
Hoolay tossed aside the weapon in his hand and walked sincerely toward Stelle: "The Xianzhou people's future is a future—does that mean the Borisins' future isn't?"
"Do you know how much suffering I've endured in that prison? No matter how stained my past was, hasn't nearly a millennium of torment cleared the debt?"
"Couldn't you... become my Trailblazer?"
Hoolay's expression softened (using Stelle's face), his voice carrying a hint of nasal melancholy: "In the past millennium, I've longed every moment for a savior from beyond the stars to rescue me from this endless torment."
"If I've committed wrongs, why not let me atone with death? Why subject me to eternal mental torture? Why do you Nameless choose to oppose me unconditionally? Why can't I receive your salvation?"
Hoolay drew closer to Stelle, pressing relentlessly.
Stelle turned her head away, trying to push Hoolay back: "You're being a bit too intimate with your words..."
"Even my genuine feelings like this can't chisel a single crack in the walls around your heart?" Hoolay asked: "I, too, yearn to become a partner of justice!"
"You're lying!" Stelle said righteously: "If you yearn to become a partner of justice, why extract the crimson moon to wreak havoc on the Xianzhou?"
Tears welled in Hoolay's eyes: "Because I wanted to prove my resolve with death! Only by doing so could I die on the physical level—I could avoid being captured by the Xianzhou people and subjected to more torment."
"Do you know what they did to me? Let me tell you... (The following omits twenty thousand words of explanation; for specific content, see 'One Hundred Ways to Kill Hoolay')"
After hearing it, Stelle was like: What the hell is this guy talking about?
If that's the case, then going back to it—on-site suicide isn't incomprehensible. It really is that painful.
"So what do you want to do?" Stelle thought for a moment and asked.
Hoolay dropped to one knee: "My savior, I beseech you—let me accompany you as a memetic spirit, take me away from the Xianzhou, away from this land of sorrow."
Make Hoolay my memetic spirit? Stelle was stunned—truly an unexpected development!
But... it didn't seem impossible?
She had to admit, there was a point or two of truth in what Hoolay had just said. As a Nameless Guest, she couldn't be too hypocritical.
The problem was, would the Xianzhou side agree? By rights, Hoolay was the Xianzhou's death row inmate, meant to suffer eternally. Taking him away directly—tch... not appropriate!
This would basically grant Hoolay freedom, right? No... that's not entirely accurate. After all, on the physical level, Hoolay was already done for. What she was judging now was Hoolay's soul.
After much contemplation, Stelle finally spoke: "Then turn into a memetic spirit and show me?"
Hoolay was overjoyed: "Alright!"
With that, Hoolay's form began to shift, ultimately shrinking into a memetic spirit of "Hoolay's head + white fairy body."
Hoolay: "Master~ Do you like it this way? I—"
Smack!
Stelle pinched Hoolay in her palm, her eyes uncharacteristically a bit scary: "Don't say the word 'I'! Don't ruin her image in my heart! Otherwise, let's just have a big fight right now!"
Hoolay nodded repeatedly: "Sorry, I was wrong, Master."
He could tell Stelle wasn't completely opposed to his proposal—she was just hesitating. But no matter; as the saying goes, where there's life, there's hope. As long as he could leave the Xianzhou, one day he'd find a chance to make a comeback.
...
While Hoolay was attempting to "reform" Stelle, in reality.
A group of people surrounded Stelle, their faces grave. Especially the freshly awakened Feixiao—she felt immense self-blame over this.
It was because she'd gotten the crimson moon stuck in her throat that Stelle had to save her, leading to the accident where Stelle swallowed the crimson moon.
And unlike her, Stelle had swallowed it straight down to her stomach this time—impossible to suck back out.
So everyone was extremely anxious.
Huaiyan: "The situation is urgent. I suggest using physical means to make Miss Stelle vomit the crimson moon first. The moment it's out, I'll swallow it immediately. This old man's physical body has some attainment; it should withstand the crimson moon's energy."
Feixiao shook her head, rejecting: "No. Swallowing the crimson moon means engaging in a mental battle with Hoolay's obsession. Though I don't mean to underestimate Elder Yan, if something goes wrong and Hoolay possesses you, our enemy becomes even more formidable."
"What?!"
Hearing this, March 7th's face changed: "Possession? Hoolay?!"
The mere thought of Stelle's body potentially harboring that Borisin's soul made March 7th feel like the sky was falling. Without hesitation, she flipped Stelle upside down and shook her vigorously: "Then what are we waiting for? Get it out first!"
No one stopped her. Jing Yuan even checked the Jade Abacus database, stroking his chin: "Eh, I remember now—have you all seen that movie? In the final act, there's a nuke about to explode in the city, but tech can't stop the detonation, so the protagonist flies a spaceship out to sea, sacrificing himself to save the city."
"How about we pull that move too? Once the crimson moon comes out, Qingque takes it and leaves the Xianzhou first. From my observations, that thing only affects Foxians. Once the tech department finishes the sealing device, bring it back from space."
Everyone nodded: "Good plan."
—"Eh? What's... going on now?"
At that moment, Stelle, who had been hanging upside down by March 7th, suddenly opened her eyes, looking somewhat dazed at this inverted world, her gaze clear: "Why's the sky upside down...? March? What are you doing?"
Awake?
Seeing this, everyone's hearts jolted in shock. They instantly flanked Stelle, on high alert.
"You all... what do you mean by this?" Stelle looked at the solemn faces around her, utterly confused.
"Don't move!"
March 7th held the Starhunting Arrow, her tone icy: "Right now—are you Stelle, or Hoolay?!"