"Sigh~ Aha has always been curious—which of the Lord Ravagers under Nanook was born to destroy Eternity?"
"Who knows?"
Adrian munched on the fruit the substitute priestess had brought. Now that Screwlloyd was back, the poor girl no longer had to collapse daily under the mountain of church paperwork.
"You've worked hard."
"I-It's nothing… Everything is for Lord Ite. Even if it wears me down, I don't mind… haha~"
Adrian: …
He really needed to have a word with Blake and the others. They'd driven the poor girl half-mad.
After the trembling substitute priestess left, the hidden mask popped up again.
"Aha! Isn't this a ready-made Lord Ravag—ow!"
Before it could finish, Adrian slapped the mask straight into the pool.
"You're overthinking it."
Adrian watched the mask flail in the water. The fictional historians hadn't lied—THEY really were soluble in water!
Speaking of Lord Ravagers, the one meant to destroy Eternity… probably Asat Pramad.
Public opinion held HIM as the most terrifying of them all. HE was obsessed with the beauty of the instant everything crumbled. Some even said drawing Asat Pramad was the best luck you could have among the Lord Ravagers—because meeting HIM meant a painless death.
No surprise there. HE definitely had a grudge against Eternity… or more accurately, against the church. Hadn't HE fought Freesna once before?
The Omen Vanguards once prophesied: Nanook's flames would swallow everything, and in the heat death, the universe would greet the final end of eternity.
Was that Destruction… or Eternity?
Of course, it was also possible every Lord Ravager's ultimate goal was to destroy Eternity. Facing that many Emanators of Destruction… ugh, just thinking about it was exhausting.
"Your deacon seemed to be talking about something explosive~ Why don't we go check out that place it mentioned and have some fun?"
"The timing isn't right."
Seeing Adrian wasn't interested, the crimson mask cursed a few times and vanished.
To avoid Pom-Pom getting mad about HIM leaving without notice, Adrian decided to head back to the Astral Express immediately.
Hm…
Just to be safe, better bring a helper.
And… HE seemed to sense the aura of true Tayzzyronth swarms?
"Little Frees~ Wanna go kill some more bugs?"
Aboard a spaceship, Freesna—who had been passionately preaching about Eternity mid-lecture—suddenly froze.
...
Astral Express, parlor car
"AAAAAHHH! Th-there's a weird noise—scary, scary pa! Did you guys hear that?!"
A massive boom rang out. Pom-Pom was so frightened she hugged Dan Heng tight and refused to let go.
"With how well I know the Express… that sound definitely, definitely wasn't from the train pa!"
"Could the earlier tremor have damaged something… and let something unexpected slip aboard?" Himeko set down her coffee and analyzed calmly.
"Found the source of the noise yet?"
"It seemed to come from the passenger cars… but also maybe the conductor's cabin pa!"
March 7th patted Pom-Pom's head. "…Those are completely opposite directions. How about we each check our own rooms?"
"Remember to look under the bed." Stelle suddenly whispered right by March 7th's ear.
"Wah! This is no time for pranks! Read the room!"
"Hey, a gentleman uses legs, not mouth. I'm heading back to my room to check… I'll report if I actually find anything."
"Passenger March has a point. Pom-Pom will check the conductor's cabin first!"
The moment March 7th returned to her room, she saw a horrifying sight.
Standing by the bed was another March 7th—identical in every way… except with lifeless, darkened eyes!
"Why is there another me?! And she's talking to me…"
In that moment, March 7th's first emotion wasn't fear—maybe from hanging around Stelle and Adrian too long—but a tiny spark of excitement?
"I know your past. Everything you want to see, touch, understand… your home, your family, your friends, your feelings, love and hate…"
"I am the complete March 7th, holding all the memories you've forgotten."
Click!
March 7th whipped out her camera and snapped a commemorative photo first.
Huh? Why did the picture show a bug?
She rubbed her eyes. The dark version of herself had transformed into a frantically flapping true Tayzzyronth.
The next second, March 7th unhesitatingly blasted it with her ice lance.
"Gross gross gross AAAAAHHH!"
BOOM!
Hearing the scream, Stelle and the others closest to the room burst through the door.
Seeing the already-frozen true Tayzzyronth, they all froze too. Looked like they weren't needed.
"Ugliness… a discordant note has been rooted out."
"I-I was scared to death! I thought my long-lost twin sister showed up… and it was just a bug!"
Argenti stepped forward, gazing at the ice-sculpture bug. "We meet again, true Tayzzyronth."
"Ah… when Argenti found me in that cave earlier, I was busy fighting off the swarm."
Bertnis laughed as he explained. Really shouldn't drink so recklessly—though he was just unlucky. He didn't recall swarms being attracted to alcohol.
"I thought I'd driven them all away… but given the current situation, the true Tayzzyronth seem to still be chasing us."
"It appears… Bertnis has swarm pheromones on him."
All eyes turned to Bertnis.
"I read about true Tayzzyronth in the archives. When these insects flap their wings, they shed fiber dust that causes hallucinations in anyone who inhales it."
"The reason March saw another version of herself in her room was likely from breathing in some wing powder."
The well-read Dan Heng analyzed the situation, only to catch March 7th's slightly disappointed expression.
"So it really was just a hallucination… why am I kinda bummed…"
"Wait wait wait, but hallucinations… shouldn't they be completely random? Why did I see myself?"
"What, did it do anything weird?"
"It told me it knew my past… then stopped."
She shouldn't have taken the photo—should've let the bug spill a few more secrets. Now it felt like she'd been trolled by a riddler.
"…I'm afraid we won't get any answers from this."
"More importantly, I'm worried more true Tayzzyronth have infiltrated the Express… These creatures are extremely stealthy. They could be hiding in the dark or wandering around. We have to stop them from breeding, or else…"
"Eww~ I do NOT want to see a bunch of March 7ths running around the cars! One of me is chaotic enough."
March 7th was a very self-aware pretty girl.
Hearing that, Dan Heng—the steadiest of the Express's younger generation—felt deeply gratified. "…Your self-awareness is worthy of praise."
"Teacher Dan Heng speaks the truth."