"Aaaaah! Who snatched them all?!"
In the parlor car, Stelle clutched her head with both hands, filled with regret: "Why? Why did I hesitate for just a moment? I really want to see what exactly Dan Heng drew!"
Dan Heng sat to the side and helplessly shook his head: "Stelle, I already said, that wasn't drawn by me. It was the me from another universe…"
Stelle cried and fussed: "But that's still you! I want to see the forbidden romance story between General Jing Yuan and Blade that must not be told. I want to see it so badly. I… damn it, I dream about it every night!"
Himeko comfortingly patted Stelle's back, her helpless tone carrying a trace of fondness: "Alright, alright, stop crying and fussing."
"I want to see it, I want to see it! Make Dan Heng draw one for me!"
"Stop joking. Let's continue watching the livestream, okay?"
"..."
In the viewing, after everyone broke free from the Heliobus's bewitchment, they finally reached the deepest part of Scalegorge Waterscape. It was here that they finally saw the mastermind behind this incident.
Lord Ravager, Phantylia!
[Stelle: Finally at this part. General Jing Yuan, for the Luofu, use the Divine Lord on her!]
[March 7th: Thinking back now, we and General Jing Yuan are really amazing. Even a Lord Ravager on par with Irontomb was defeated by us!]
[Dan Heng: Strictly speaking, Phantylia should be one of the weaker ones among the Lord Ravagers. It's normal for her combat strength to be relatively low.]
[Welt: Indeed. Speaking of oppressive feeling, she doesn't seem as strong as the enemies from my homeland.]
The Express crew began their coordinated "insulting Phantylia."
[Phantylia: It was merely this one casually creating a body that got destroyed. If you all feel proud about it, then this one has nothing to say.]
[Stelle: I don't believe it. I refuse to believe you can casually find a body on the same level as the Ambrosial Arbor.]
[March 7th: Exactly, you're definitely just being stubborn.]
[Phantylia: Hmph. After this battle, the Luofu suffered heavy losses. Although this one didn't gain anything, I also didn't lose anything. How can this be considered a great defeat?]
[Stelle: Don't believe it.]
[March 7th: She's definitely just being stubborn.]
[Phantylia: …]
Phantylia's mouth twitched. She was rarely a bit annoyed.
What Dan Heng said earlier was actually correct. Among the Lord Ravagers, although her methods were the most bizarre, her direct combat power was indeed inferior to the others. But she had never felt this was a problem — wisdom is also a form of strength, after all.
If she were talking to someone like Jing Yuan, Phantylia would have confidence in gaining the upper hand verbally and further achieving her best "heart attack" effect.
But when facing people like Stelle and March 7th, her usually invincible tongue couldn't gain the upper hand.
No matter what she said, the other side only needed to shake their heads and say "Don't believe it," and she would feel like punching cotton — full of anger with nowhere to vent.
This matter was also recorded in the Dreamjolt Hostelry, such as with Professor Ratio and Sushang…
"Don't be angry, don't be angry. If I get angry to death, who would be happy?" Phantylia steadied her mind and said this to herself.
Mm, that's right. As a qualified Lord Ravager, one must maintain a good mentality.
[March 7th: Eh, then what do you guys think — who is stronger between this universe's Phantylia and the Phantylia we met?]
[Stelle: Don't know, but she shouldn't be weaker than the one we met, right?]
[Phantylia: !!!]
If she had known earlier, she should have taught those two little brats a lesson last time!
...
"Oh? You all arrived faster than I imagined."
In the scene, Phantylia slowly transformed into a gigantic humanoid form and looked down at everyone with a domineering attitude: "Nice to meet you. This one is Phantylia, Emanator of [Beauty]."
"I know your intentions. You simply saw that this one revived the Ambrosial Arbor and came to subjugate me, right? However, before that, may I have a word?"
Contrary to everyone's expectations, when Phantylia saw them arrive, she did not show hostility right away. Instead, she very politely introduced herself and requested a talk.
Her words and demeanor actually felt a bit like [Beauty].
"Hm? Emanator of [Beauty]?" Jing Yuan frowned and said, "What do you want?"
Phantylia looked with pity: "Former General, what this one wants to do is start from the Luofu and create a happy, perfect world without suffering, then spread from the Luofu as the center to the entire universe, making the galaxy have only joy and no pain."
"As long as the Ambrosial Arbor is fully revived and its pollen is spread to every corner of the universe, all living beings can fall into the beautiful dream I weave. Everyone can obtain everything they want…"
[Sunday: ? Why are my lines being used?]
[Stelle: You also want to become the sun in the sky? Then why not find Sunday to do it together? Uh, everyone don't misunderstand. I mean the Sunday from the viewing universe.]
[Robin: Mm… Maybe it's because my brother in this universe didn't go astray and is a responsible good person?]
[Phantylia: ??? What does this mean? Am I not even qualified to be a "Lord Ravager" anymore? Why [Beauty]?]
What does this mean? How did they kick her out of the "Destruction" circle?
This kind of twist was something Phantylia could never accept no matter what: What roadside Path is [Beauty]? Idrila is already dead. In the current version, the strongest Paths are only four! Don't you know what "version answer" means?
Lord Nanook, I am a loyal subject!
—"What utter nonsense!"
At this moment Stelle spoke up. "No one will sink into a false beautiful dream. Why do lives fall asleep? Because beautiful dreams are the path leading to tomorrow!"
"We will eventually awaken from beauty!"
Seeing this, Phantylia was not surprised. She sighed and said: "Since that's the case, then our final negotiation ends here."
"Are the righteous and the sinners equal? Are day and night equal? If humans are born weak, where should the weak seek peace from which god?"
"Now, I grant you all the right to look directly at the sun…"
[Express Crew: …]
[Robin: …]
[Aventurine: …]
[Firefly: …]
Both those who participated in the final battle and those who didn't fell silent.
[Stelle: Wait, why does the progression of this plot feel a bit weird? Sunday, I can't tell, I really can't tell.]
[Dan Heng: Did we really leave Ena's Dream back then?]
[March 7th: Logically we should be fighting Phantylia, right? Why is Phantylia reciting Sunday's lines?!]
[Evernight: How strange… There's no memetic pollution…? ]
[Phantylia: My brain! My brain!]
[Welt: I must have drunk too much Salsotto. I should ask Miss Black Swan to clean this segment from my memory later.]
[Sunday: Seeing these words from a third-person perspective is truly a… a wonderful experience. I admit I shouldn't have spoken like that back then.]