"So... you can't just turn into other people, you can also summon the 'people you can turn into' as separate clones? And these clones even have that person's original personality?!"
March 7th finally recovered some of her sanity from the horrific image of "herself hugging Stella's thigh." After listening to Stella's stumbling explanation (who had already reverted to her original form and urgently recalled the AI [March 7th], she was once again shocked by the scalability of this ability, her eyes shining.
"Y-yes..."
Stella scratched her head somewhat sheepishly and added,
"But currently, I can only split into three at most at the same time, and..."
"Then! Can you let that little girl named Clara out?! Just for a second!"
March 7th's attention was instantly diverted, her previous embarrassment thrown to the back of her mind by her powerful psychological adjustment ability.
She suddenly leaned in front of Stella, their noses almost touching, her eyes sparkling with an undeniable light of expectation.
"T-too close!"
Stella was startled by her sudden closeness and backed away repeatedly, her back almost hitting the wall.
Looking at March 7th's almost materialized "pretty please" gaze, she sighed helplessly and willed it so.
A faint blue light flashed, and the little white-haired, red-eyed girl—Clara—appeared timidly between the two.
"Oh my god! This is awesome! This is the one!!"
March 7th let out a joyful cheer. Without giving Clara any time to react, she used a practiced "scoop and hug" to lift the light-as-a-feather Clara up, cradling her in her arms, and couldn't help but rub her cheek against Clara's soft white hair.
"Wow! So soft! So fragrant! Exactly like the real thing! No, this IS 'real'! Stella, this ability of yours is such a cheat!"
Clara, who was suddenly lifted high and had her face rubbed, was completely dazed. Her small hands subconsciously gripped March 7th's shoulders, her ruby-like eyes filled with helplessness: "U-um... p-please put me down..."
"Leave Clara."
A deep, cold, mechanical voice filled with unquestionable majesty suddenly rang out.
At the same time, a huge mechanical palm glinting with cold metallic light, like an iron pincer, steadily grabbed the collar of March 7th's back.
"Eek—!"
March 7th only felt an irresistible force surge through her. Her feet instantly left the ground, and she was lifted up as easily as a picked-up kitten! She let out a cry of surprise, her arms loosened, and Clara in her arms immediately fell.
"Clara!"
Just a moment before Clara was about to hit the ground, another huge mechanical arm shot out horizontally with amazing speed, steadily and gently catching her and protecting her in front of its broad metal chest.
"Mr. Svarog!"
The shaken Clara grabbed Svarog's cold but now very safe-feeling armor with her small hands, looking at her guardian with teary eyes.
"This scene... the déjà vu is so strong..."
Watching the combination of "little girl and giant mechanical guardian," two unfamiliar terms popped into Stelle's head for some reason.
"Illya... and Berserker?"
She tilted her head in confusion, completely not understanding what this string of syllables meant, but she just felt it was exceptionally fitting.
"Um... Big Bro S-Svarog? I was wrong! Can you let me go first? It's very embarrassing to be held like this!"
Lifted in mid-air with her hands and feet flailing in vain, March 7th felt the cold gaze from the iron hunk behind her and the focused gazes of Stelle, Stella, and Clara in front of her. Her cheeks burned as she tried to gain "leniency" by admitting her mistake.
"No."
This time it was Stella who spoke.
She crossed her arms, trying hard to put on a serious expression. Mimicking the tone of some kind of adjudicator, she cleared her throat and said loudly:
"Svarog! It has been determined that passenger March 7th, without permission, committed multiple 'crimes' against companion Clara, including 'excessive skinship', 'forced lifting', and 'illegal cheek rubbing'. The circumstances are serious, the nature is vile, and her behavior is... well, unspeakable! I now order you to immediately carry out a just punishment!"
Svarog's crimson electronic eyes flickered for a moment, seemingly analyzing the compliance of this order.
A moment later, he emitted a steady synthesized voice: "Understood. Executing punishment protocol."
Before the words finished, he changed his posture of holding March 7th. With a bend of his giant arm, he directly tucked the screeching March 7th under his steel-forged armpit like a briefcase, firmly!
March 7th was turned sideways, with only her head and struggling lower legs sticking out.
"Ah?! Wait! What kind of posture is this! Put me down! I protest! I want to see Auntie Himeko! I want to see Mr. Yang!"
March 7th was dumbfounded. This feeling of being completely controlled and unable to move was even worse than being lifted just now.
Then, under the curious and shocked gazes of everyone (mainly Stelle and Stella), Svarog slowly raised his other free metal palm, which was comparable to a small shield.
"Could this be the legendary..."
Looking at that high-raised giant palm that seemed to be gathering strength, and the despairing March 7th fixed on the "execution rack," an ancient and familiar term escaped Stelle's lips.
The giant palm brought a gust of wind as it fell swiftly and accurately—the target was exactly March 7th's... butt, which was particularly prominent due to her posture!
"Ansai Waist Drum!!"
Stelle and Stella shouted that rhythmic and rustic (?) term in unison!
Slap!
A crisp sound mixed with a dull thud.
It wasn't very heavy, as Svarog had controlled his strength, but the sound effect was outstanding.
"Wait wait wait! I'm not a child anymore! Ah! Don't hit my butt! This is too embarrassing! Stella! Stella, I was wrong! I was really wrong! Make Svarog stop quickly!!"
March 7th's wails instantly resounded through the entire segment. Filled with shame and anger, she struggled even harder, but unfortunately, it was all in vain under Svarog's steel strength. (Stella had secretly given Svarog a buff.)
SlapSlap
Svarog meticulously executed the "punishment" with a steady rhythm and even force, as if he were truly playing some kind of metal percussion music.
"Um... Stella, maybe we should stop?"
The kind-hearted Clara hid behind Svarog, watching March 7th's "execution" and quietly pleading with Stella.
"No need."
Stella waved her hand very calmly. She even had time to glance at the system prompt only she could see [Strong shame and anger detected, stellar jade +5+5+5...], and analyzed:
"You're only level 8. Svarog's output probably can't even break through March 7th's defense. At most, it's like a massage."
She knew March 7th was a Pathstrider of Trailblaze, not someone ordinary people could compare to.
"But it's so humiliating! Mental damage is also damage!"
March 7th's face was so red it looked like it was about to bleed. She twisted her body and shouted, no longer caring about the slap on her butt that indeed didn't hurt much; it was mainly this posture and situation that were deadly!
"Endure it."
Stella spat out two words coldly (pretending).
"Endure it!"
For some reason, Stelle beside her also suddenly put her hands on her hips, raised her head, and repeated after Stella, mimicking her tone and expression, with a bit of excitement on her face as if she "didn't mind making things bigger."
"Why are you repeating after her, hey!"
March 7th was so angry she almost choked. She couldn't even care about her butt anymore and turned her head to shout at Stelle.
"Whose side are you on anyway! And you're mimicking her too fast!"
For a moment, the scene was extremely chaotic:
Svarog conscientiously executed the "Ansai Waist Drum" punishment, the rhythmic sounds entering everyone's ears;
March 7th shouted in shame and despair;
Stelle was beside them, excitedly repeating words to fan the flames;
Stella was calm on the surface but busy counting stellar jade inside;
Clara covered her eyes and peeked through the gaps in her fingers...
Until Himeko's voice, carrying a bit of confusion and realization, came from the other end of the passage: "Are you... holding some kind of special welcoming ceremony?"
The air suddenly went silent.
Only the lingering sound of Svarog's last "Slap" echoed faintly in the awkward silence.
March 7th: "..." (Completely giving up struggling, burying her face in Svarog's cold armor, playing dead.)
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(T/N): I tried to see what I could replace the Ansai Waist drum with anything else but.. failed to find any good replacements