Sylvia watched Himeko disappear into the distance before quickly returning to reality and teleporting aboard the Astral Express. There, she found Mei lounging around and enjoying the show.
"What's happening out there?"
"They've been deadlocked for a while. The Eternal Centurion really lives up to its name."
The Eternal Centurion summoned by The Family was even more aggressive than Mei had expected. It had even less regard for its own survival than Zephyro, charging forward with the clear attitude of, 'I'm taking you down with me, damn it!'
Zephyro, meanwhile, hadn't even seen the target he'd come here for yet. There was no way he'd actually blow himself up fighting The Family's Eternal Centurion before that. He was reckless, sure, but he wasn't stupid. Who'd go all-in against some random opponent before even seeing their real target?
As a result, although Zephyro's raw strength was greater, he hadn't managed to break through. The two sides had fallen into a stalemate.
From Zephyro's point of view, he'd win if the battle dragged on long enough. The Eternal Centurion was powerful and didn't need The Family to control it directly, but at the end of the day, it could only be summoned after all of The Family's members joined together in Harmony.
The Eternal Centurion wouldn't tire, and Zephyro wasn't afraid of a drawn-out battle either. The ordinary members of The Family, though, would eventually run out of strength. That was why The Family normally wouldn't fight an Emanator to the bitter end.
Then again, Emanators themselves rarely fought until one of them died.
So Zephyro was also waiting to see what The Family would do next. They couldn't seriously intend to fight him to the end, could they?
Sylvia stood far away and looked through the Express's window. The Eternal Centurion had its back to her as it traded blows with the flaming giant, while the Antimatter Legion troops nearby were, for some strange reason, slaughtering each other.
"What's going on with those Antimatter Legion soldiers?"
"Zephyro summoned them. The Eternal Centurion can turn enemies it defeats into units on its own side," Mei explained.
Sylvia blinked. "Then why's Zephyro still summoning more?"
"Because Zephyro can also recycle fallen soldiers of Destruction and remake them. He only needs to tear open one gap in the defenses, and he can send his army into Penacony."
"Uh... so they're abusing a bug against each other? What is this, a two-man comedy act?"
You steal my troops, then I steal them right back?
Seriously, what kind of comedy routine was this?
Sylvia knew perfectly well how dangerous the situation was, but she still couldn't resist making a joke. Mei paused for a moment before smiling.
"You're not wrong. So when're you going in?"
"I figured The Family would pretend they couldn't hold on much longer and urge me to step in. They did say from the start that I'd be the one handling this."
Sylvia grinned. The problem was that The Family hadn't just held Zephyro back—they were fighting him head-on. That made Sylvia feel a little bad about delaying for too long.
"I'll head over now. Might as well see what the Dreammaster and Sunday are really planning."
"All right. I'll watch your back from here."
"Haha. Works for me."
Sylvia reached over and planted a quick kiss on Mei's cheek. Mei didn't mind in the slightest and returned it just as briefly. Neither of them lingered.
A moment later, Sylvia walked out of the Express. The wings on her back spread wide, and with a single beat, she became a streak of light racing toward the battlefield.
"Hm? A second Emanator?"
Sylvia's sudden appearance drew Zephyro's attention. Both sides stopped fighting at once and turned toward her.
The Eternal Centurion still looked furious enough to tear the universe apart, but it gave Sylvia a slight nod. Then Sunday's voice rang out.
"You came quickly."
"I've been itching for a fight myself."
Zephyro stared as both sides turned their attention toward him. Their gazes almost seemed to say, 'I was waiting for backup. What were you waiting for?'
Once Sylvia drew close enough for him to see who she was, Zephyro suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! So that's why The Family's acting so tough. Sylvia, you've become an Emanator too!"
His laughter boomed across the entire star system, amplified by the might of Destruction. The flames around him surged higher, as though eager to bury this newly risen Emanator in fire.
"If you think having one more person means you can use me as your stepping stone, then I'll show you just how high the price is for looking down on Destruction!"
The flaming giant raised one hand and clenched its fist.
BOOM!
Scorching white flames, thick with the aura of Destruction, erupted outward from Zephyro. In an instant, more than half the Asdana star system became a sea of fire. Soldiers of Destruction emerged endlessly from the flames, as though Zephyro intended to turn the entire system into his hunting ground.
"The hunt begins now. I'll show you that Destruction is the one destination shared by all life."
Sylvia ignored his arrogant declaration.
Meanwhile, the towering Eternal Centurion slowly faded from sight.
"No, no. You've misunderstood something, Zephyro."
Sylvia's aura climbed higher and higher. At the same time, her body began to grow, and her human form gradually disappeared beneath layer after layer of fine, beautiful scales.
She stretched without restraint.
Even though she'd transformed into a gigantic dragon, Sylvia felt as though this was the shape she'd always been meant to have. A deep sense of freedom rose within her, like she'd finally broken free of some invisible cage.
The noble white dragon towered over the void. Even Penacony looked like little more than a small stone beside her.
"ROOOAR!"
Her dragon cry rang out with wild, unrestrained pride, as though announcing to the universe that true Permanence was about to return to the stage of fate.
What Sylvia hadn't expected was what came next.
She'd only roared because her transformed body felt so comfortable that she'd wanted to let the sound out. But suddenly, a brilliant river of destiny appeared before her, glittering like the Milky Way itself.
The power of fate poured into Sylvia like a river falling from the heavens.
Zephyro watched with his own eyes as the target of his mission somehow grew stronger again for no apparent reason. Yet he made no attempt to interrupt her. Instead, he waited with surprising fairness until the surging power around Sylvia settled down.
"So you're a dragon of Permanence. No wonder nobody could find any information about you."
Zephyro guessed she'd probably spent ages sleeping in some forgotten corner of the universe before finally waking up. After that, she'd taken human form and started wandering the galaxy.
That would explain why every major faction had failed to uncover anything about her.
"But this ends here. Today, you'll become the first dragon of my hunt!"
Zephyro finally attacked.
The gigantic flaming giant abruptly shrank to nearly half its previous size. Then it swept one arm forward, and an enormous blade emerged from the flames, carrying terrifying sharpness and the burning force of Destruction as it came crashing down toward Sylvia's head.
Sylvia might've been enormous now, but she was anything but clumsy. Her long dragon tail swept forward in an instant with crushing force. Though flexible, the tail became tougher than any metal.
Changing the properties of matter and making it display whatever traits she desired was one of Permanence's powers. For Sylvia in her current state, it came as naturally as breathing.
CLANG!
The impact rang across the stars, sending the surrounding flames surging like great waves.
Sylvia twisted through the void and struck with a claw as fast as lightning. The flaming giant was ripped apart, revealing a core as dark and deep as a black hole.
A terrifying force of Destruction erupted from that core.
Pure Destruction became a vicious strike. Blazing radiation compressed into a brutal beam and shot straight toward Sylvia's chest.
But Sylvia's dragon body was already her strongest weapon and shield.
The beam carried enough heat to turn several planets into glass in an instant, yet it failed to achieve the effect it should've had. Sylvia hardened her body's defenses and charged straight through the blast.
Then, with the force of a thunderbolt, she drove another claw toward the pitch-black core.
Perhaps Zephyro was shocked by her defenses, or perhaps he simply couldn't afford to let her reach his weak point. Whatever the reason, a new giant formed around the core before retreating at high speed, trying to escape Sylvia's pursuit.
--+--
Meanwhile, on Penacony, The Family had dismissed the Eternal Centurion but hadn't ended their state of collective Harmony.
Only after Sylvia and Zephyro began fighting—and after it became clear Sylvia even held a slight advantage—did Sunday finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Sylvia was finally gone.
Now Ena's Dream could begin.
The Astral Express was already on the verge of sealing the Stellaron, so drawing more power from it to expand the dream had become difficult. On top of that, Sylvia and Zephyro were now fighting across the Asdana star system, which meant Ena's Dream could no longer spread throughout the entire system as originally planned.
In that case, they'd start by placing Penacony inside Ena's Dream.
That would be enough.
After all, Penacony was the only inhabited planet in the entire star system.
Without much hesitation, the Dreammaster handed the central role over to Sunday. At the same time, the masked auction was about to decide its final winner.
Every visitor on Penacony was caught between danger and celebration.
Then, in a corner no one noticed, the Harmonious Choir descended once more.
This time, Sunday stood at its center while the Dreammaster assisted him from the side. In a single instant, every member of The Family was drawn into one unified whole.
And without anyone realizing it, Dominicus of the Harmonious Choir changed under the descent of Order, becoming "Harmonious Choir" The Great Septimus.
Ena's Dream expanded at terrifying speed. It connected to the existing Synesthesia Dreamscape and rapidly replaced it.
Himeko, who was about to complete the Stellaron's seal.
The auctioneer about to bring down the final hammer.
Robin, anxiously waiting for the result.
March 7th and Stelle, who were already celebrating ahead of time.
Mei, who'd been looking up at Sylvia's battle.
And countless others.
Without noticing a thing, every one of them fell into the beautiful dream of Order woven by Sunday.
"Screee?!"
The bug carrying Himeko was close enough to sense the discord of Order. Unfortunately, that also allowed Sunday to notice the strange memetic entity.
"Oh? A memetic entity... and one that follows the Harmony."
Sunday was certain this creature had never belonged to Penacony or The Family in the past.
Yet it was helping the Astral Express seal the Stellaron.
Why?
Where had this branch of Harmony followers—one even he knew nothing about—come from?
As Sunday considered the question, he exerted a little power and forcibly dragged the bug into his own dream. He intended to study the strange little creature and figure out exactly where it had come from.
At the same time, he continued moving the dream forward.
The auction ended successfully, earning Penacony a fortune. Sylvia successfully sealed away Zephyro and returned in triumph.
After that, the Charmony Festival proceeded without trouble.
The Family formally invited the Astral Express to invest in Penacony, while also beginning a hidden struggle against the IPC, and so on.
No one immersed in Ena's Dream noticed anything wrong.
Except for two people.
--+--
Firefly had been happily enjoying a date with Sylvia.
Yet for some reason, the longer the date went on, the stronger a strange emptiness became. Whenever Firefly unconsciously touched the bracelet around her wrist, that hollow feeling grew even sharper.
It was almost as though the bracelet itself were warning her.
Thanks to the script, Firefly gradually realized what was happening.
Maybe, without knowing when it happened, she'd already fallen into Order's trap.
"Anything involving Sylvia feels so wrong. And this bracelet..."
Firefly raised her left hand and pinched the plain bracelet between her fingers. The more she touched it, the stronger her feeling became.
The Sylvia in front of her was fake.
The real Sylvia wasn't here.
She had no proof at all.
But she was willing to believe it.
"Is this another hint you left me?"
Firefly lowered her head and kissed the bracelet.
She'd known that she would eventually fall into Ena's Dream. But knowing that fact didn't tell her when it would happen, or whether she'd notice once she was inside. None of that had been written in the script.
Without this bracelet, how long would've passed before she'd realized something was wrong?
"I need help. Even if I escape the dream alone, what good would that do?"
Firefly couldn't even be sure how much time had passed in reality.
Had Sylvia's battle with Zephyro already ended? After The Family made its move, had they turned around and betrayed Sylvia too?
If Sylvia was too busy dealing with her own crisis right now, Firefly would have to gather enough strength inside the dream to break the deadlock herself.
But who should she find?
Firefly forced herself to walk away from the fake Sylvia and began searching the dream for clues.
--+--
The other person who noticed something was wrong was Mei.
Ena's Dream had a hard time affecting her in the first place. Order's power had never managed to truly invade her body.
At first, while Ena's Dream still closely matched reality, Mei only felt that something was slightly off. But once Sunday began pushing the dream's world forward, the contradiction became obvious.
The great battle in the dream had already ended.
Yet the voice of Sylvia's heart was still in the middle of the fight.
That was when Mei realized The Family had already made its move.
High resistance had its advantages. The moment Mei understood that something was wrong, the false scenery created by Ena's Dream shattered around her.
Mei stepped out of the Astral Express.
The Reverie should've been packed with people, but everyone was lying unconscious on the ground.
That included members of The Family.
"So everyone got caught in it."
Mei raised her head and looked toward the heavens.
Penacony was still protected by Sunday's power, but the battle outside was clearly still raging.
If Mei struck Penacony right now, Ena's Dream would collapse on the spot.
The problem was that almost everyone on Penacony would probably die from the same attack.
If she wanted them to still be alive afterward, she'd have to enter the dream herself and break Sunday's creation from within.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL