Qlipoth Fort.
"...According to what Takagi said, the debt we owe the IPC is probably this much. Oh, right, he also claimed that he isn't from this world, but a visitor from beyond the stars." Pela pursed her lips and looked up at the Supreme Guardian Cocolia. Apart from Pela and Cocolia, the leader of the Silvermane Guards, Bronya, was also by her side.
"Visitor from beyond the stars? To arrive at this time!" Cocolia frowned tightly.
"IPC? An astronomical debt? Could this be true?" Bronya looked at Cocolia with doubt. She understood that if Belobog truly owed such a debt, Cocolia was the most likely person to know about it. As for such a debt, Bronya naturally didn't want to admit it—the amount was too terrifying.
"That's not important, Bronya. What's important is the purpose of these visitors," Cocolia said with a serious expression. By the side, Serval, who was in an invisible state, couldn't help but sigh when she saw Cocolia's indifference toward the city's plight.
"Pela, you said earlier that Takagi might have united the people of the Underworld and wants to lead them to seize control of Belobog, right?" Cocolia asked.
"That's right! Some of them even said they wanted Takagi to become the King of the World. Supreme Guardian, please make sure to capture those people. Serval is still in their hands right now. I'm worried she won't be safe." Pela said with great concern.
Serval, standing invisible nearby, looked at Cocolia with anticipation. However, Cocolia remained calm, as if she wasn't at all worried about Serval being "captured." This made Serval sigh again.
"Supreme Guardian, please allow me to lead the Silvermane Guards to capture the criminals," Bronya stepped forward solemnly.
"These people, of course, need to be arrested. However, what I'm curious about is... Pela, why did they let you go?" Cocolia looked at Pela with confusion.
Pela: "This... I don't know either." She clearly had no way to resist Takagi, yet after a small punishment, he let her go while keeping Serval. Could it be that Takagi didn't know she would inform the Guardian?
"Could it be that Takagi is trying to provoke us?" Bronya said with a frown.
"Arrogant!" Cocolia snorted coldly.
Pela: "Oh, right, those people also mentioned something called a 'Stellaron' during their conversation."
Cocolia: "Hmm?! Pela, did you just say... Stellaron?"
Pela nodded heavily. "That's right! I remember very clearly! Vache's sister—that woman named Natasha—when she was asking me about Vache, the girl Seele mentioned the Stellaron."
Cocolia: "What did she say?"
Pela: "Seele asked Takagi how he planned to deal with the Stellaron, and Takagi's intention... seemed to be to seal it."
As her voice fell, a cold light flashed in Cocolia's eyes. "Stellaron... Bronya, immediately take the Silvermane Guards to arrest the people Pela mentioned. Pela, assist Bronya. You must arrest all of them."
"Yes, Supreme Guardian!" Pela and Bronya received the order and turned toward the main entrance. Just then, an unfamiliar voice echoed in the office.
"Want to catch me? Then you'll have to see if you have the ability." The speaker was Takagi, currently invisible.
"Who!" Bronya raised her rifle and looked around vigilantly.
Pela: "It's... it's that man's voice!"
"Takagi?" Bronya looked at Pela, only to see Pela disappear from where she stood. "Pela!" Bronya ran over, but suddenly felt her arm grabbed by an unseen hand. A force so strong she couldn't resist pulled her into someone's embrace.
To Cocolia, Pela and Bronya seemed to have suddenly vanished into thin air. "Bronya!" Cocolia's eyes widened, and a turbulent cold wind instantly surged from her body, enveloping the office. The biting frost swirled toward the spot where Bronya had been, but Takagi had already moved with his "captives." Cocolia's energy missed its target.
"Bronya, where are you? Answer me!" Cocolia looked around frantically. But it was not Bronya's voice that answered, but Takagi's mocking laughter. "Bronya is mine now. If you want her back, exchange her for the Stellaron."
As Takagi's voice fell, the window behind Cocolia shattered. "Damn it, don't think you can escape!" Cocolia thought Takagi had jumped out with the girls. She grabbed her weapon and leaped through the window, searching the area, but found nothing. "Damn it!" She plunged her spears into the ground, a severe blizzard enveloping her in her rage.
Fortunately, the arrival of one person calmed her slightly. "Supreme Guardian? What's wrong?" a young man's voice asked.
"Gepard?" Seeing him, Cocolia immediately ordered: "Gepard, take all available Silvermane Guards to arrest the criminal named Takagi! He took Bronya, my daughter!"
Gepard: "What? Miss Bronya! Supreme Guardian, tell me what the criminal looks like!"
Cocolia pointed back to the room. "There is a portrait Pela left in my office. Come! Also, the criminal can become invisible; you must go all out."
"Yes!" Gepard followed Cocolia back to retrieve the portrait and immediately took action. Soon, only Cocolia was left in the office.
No—to be precise, only Cocolia was there on the surface. In a corner of the office, Takagi, Natasha, Seele, Jean, Lumine, Pela, and Bronya were all gathered within Takagi's invisibility barrier. With the power Cocolia possessed, there was no way for her to see or hear them.
"Damn it, let go of me! What do you want, you bastard? Supreme Guardian, I'm here!" Bronya tried hard to break free, shouting toward Cocolia, who was panting heavily in front of her desk. Her voice couldn't reach her mother's ears.
"I always feel like I'm a bad guy... what do you think?" Takagi, who had Bronya clamped under his arm, turned and asked the group.
Natasha chuckled. "This is part of the plan; I believe you aren't a bad person, Takagi."
Seele agreed. "That's right! The real bad guy is that Supreme Guardian."
Barbara: "Mr. Takagi is doing this for a greater purpose."
Lumine: "Takagi, do you want to take off her stockings too?"
Hearing this, Pela—whose shoulders were held by Serval—shivered, recalling her own "punishment."
"As expected of you, Lumine." Takagi looked at the Traveler with emotion, then at the glaring Bronya. "Don't worry, I don't have any thoughts of taking off your stockings for now, Miss Bronya."
Bronya said cautiously: "What exactly do you want, Takagi?! Why did you capture Serval, Pela, and me? And why stay here? Do you intend to harm the Supreme Guardian?" Her worry for her adoptive mother increased.
"Bronya, actually, I wasn't captured," Serval scratched her cheek awkwardly.
Bronya: "!!!"
Pela: "???"
"In short, there is a deep story here. Pela, Bronya—rest assured, Takagi will not harm you." Serval thought of Pela's punishment and added, "Oh, and don't do anything unnecessary, or Takagi might administer a 'small punishment'." Serval glanced at Pela's legs.
"I think you should struggle a bit. That way, I can help Takagi take off your stockings. These look even better than Pela's," Lumine said.
Klee: "Klee thinks Serval and Natasha's stockings are also very nice!"
Lumine: "Then take them all off!"
Natasha and Serval shot Lumine unfriendly gazes, and Paimon quickly covered the Traveler's mouth. Serval turned her attention back to Cocolia.
"Bronya, Cocolia really cares about you. Compared to you, Pela and I were directly ignored. Even when she sent my brother to arrest Takagi, she didn't mention us being 'captured'." Serval spoke with a complicated expression.
"Well... she must have been too anxious to notice for a moment..." Although Bronya was confused, she still wanted to comfort her elder.
"Don't comfort me, Bronya. I'm used to it. Furthermore..." Serval's expression turned serious. "Compared to the matter of Cocolia being corrupted by the Stellaron and leading Belobog toward destruction, her attitude toward me is nothing."
Bronya: "Corrupted by the Stellaron? Leading us to destruction? Serval, what are you talking about?"
Pela: "I see. Serval, have you really been deceived by this Takagi?"
"Whether I've been deceived, you should see soon," Serval sighed.
"Hmm?! This voice is..." Suddenly, Lumine raised her hand to her forehead.
"Traveler, what's wrong?" Paimon asked.
"It's the voice of the Stellaron." Lumine looked in Cocolia's direction.
"The Stellaron?!" Serval exclaimed.
"Lumine has a sensitivity to it, so she can hear its voice. Of course, I can too." Takagi looked at everyone. "Do you want to hear the voice of the Stellaron? If you do, I can use my Imaginary Energy to build a line for you to hear its voice."
Everyone's eyes widened, even Pela and Bronya.
[Mona: Takagi actually has this ability? Can you let us hear it too?]
[Dehya: Is listening to it okay? Doesn't it corrupt minds?]
[Zhongli: Listening through the live stream should be fine.]
[Tartaglia: It stands to reason that only those with weak hearts will be corrupted; resolute blades will not be defeated.]
[Ningguang: Takagi wouldn't risk us.]
[Dottore: I'm looking forward to experiencing the corrupting power through the screen. Is there a more direct way to prove it?]
[Kaeya: As crazy as ever! Why not ask Takagi to let you talk to it directly?]
[Dottore: If such an opportunity arises, I will cherish it greatly.]
[Takagi: How about I just bring Belobog's Stellaron directly to your house, Dottore?]
[Venti: !!!]
[Dottore: Please do so, Lord Takagi.]
[Venti: Don't listen to him! Lord Takagi, please do not bring that thing to Teyvat.]
[Amber: The Anemo Archon has appeared!]
[Furina: Is it necessary to be so afraid? We don't even know if it can destroy worlds.]
[Zhongli: It's better to be cautious. The Stellaron should not come to Teyvat.]
[Hu Tao: Rex Lapis has also appeared!]
[Furina: You guys... can't you have a little more confidence befitting gods?]
"Takagi, can we... can we really listen? We won't be corrupted, right?" Paimon asked nervously.
"Relax. It won't be able to detect you. If simply listening to the conversation between the Stellaron and Cocolia is enough to get corrupted, then your willpower is just too weak, Paimon." Takagi smiled.
"Who has weak willpower?! Let me listen; I want to listen now!" Paimon shouted, crossing her arms.
Takagi chuckled at her false bravery. "So, Cocolia wasn't talking to herself, but to the Stellaron? Takagi, let me hear what it promised her," Serval said firmly. The others nodded.
"As you wish." Takagi used Imaginary Energy to manipulate the invisible lines gathered around Cocolia. The next moment, a voice Jean and Serval had never heard began to echo in everyone's ears—including Pela and Bronya's.