The Giant Trash Can swung its bat and launched the first attack.
Facing the strike, Mechanical Pom-Pom raised its shield, easily blocking it, then swung the Akivili fruit knife in return.
The Giant Trash Can, though clumsy in appearance, made a nimble roll to dodge the attack.
Realizing that her strength wasn't on par with Mechanical Pom-Pom's, Stelle crossed her arms over her head as soon as she stood up.
Power from the Path of Destruction enveloped the Giant Trash Can, setting it ablaze with raging flames.
[Giant Trash Can: Destruction Form]
In its Destruction Form, the bat in the Giant Trash Can's hand emitted a blue glow.
"Rules are made to be broken."
Shouting with all her momentum, Stelle charged again, swinging the glowing bat.
Facing this attack filled with destructive energy, Pei Guang's expression grew serious.
He could feel that Stelle truly intended to destroy them.
But… how could he be afraid? Especially when Stelle had her unique abilities: how could he not have his own?
Pei Guang: "Mechanical Pom-Pom, ultimate evolution!"
With Pei Guang's shout, light appeared all over the previously chubby Mechanical Pom-Pom's body.
The Harmony class allows summoning of companions with sufficient affinity to fight together. However, since it was only a temporary class, that function couldn't be used for now.
Still, even if the main function didn't work, some smaller features could be experienced.
Summoning through this class, Pei Guang successfully obtained some high-affinity friends' data information.
In reality, this data had no effect—but this was a dream. And Pei Guang still had the Heliobus Armor.
Inputting this data into the transformation device, the three synchronized their will, and the Heliobus Armor transformed once again.
Mechanical Pom-Pom, once plump and round, became human-sized.
Below it appeared a projection of the Lighting Lord.
The tall Lighting Lord's arms, legs, and head shrank, leaving only the torso connected to Mechanical Pom-Pom's body.
This Lighting Lord wasn't the real one: it was a simulated projection based on the Lighting Lord's appearance data.
A large head of Bronya and a large head of Seele appeared on each shoulder, forming the pauldrons of the Lighting Lord's armor.
With the appearance of the pauldrons, a blue dragon and a purple dragon emerged on the arms: the blue dragon forming the right arm, the purple dragon forming the left.
The left and right arms connected to the Lighting Lord's torso, while the head transformed into five fingers, gripping a cooking pot lid and the Akivili fruit knife.
Around the waist appeared a purple orb, and with it came a purple-and-blue belt encircling the lower torso.
As for the legs, perhaps because the upper-body special effects had run out… the lower half remained normal legs modeled after the Express.
This giant's sudden appearance made Stelle widen her eyes.
"Wait, what's that thing on you?"
Pei Guang: "That's the bond between me and my companions, of course! Stelle, take this!"
As Pei Guang spoke, he turned his body. In that instant, the giant head of Seele on his shoulder fired off.
With the launch, everyone clearly heard the girl's chillingly fierce voice:
"Disappear among the sea of butterflies—Rocket Headbutt!"
Before Stelle could react, the Seele head struck the Giant Trash Can hard, making its body wobble.
That hit alone wasn't too serious for the Giant Trash Can, but what followed made Stelle break out in cold sweat.
Because the Bronya head on the opposite shoulder suddenly spoke: "The time is now. Lend me your strength!"
Bronya's head then transformed into Seele's head: "I'll free you from your chains. Disappear among the sea of butterflies—Rocket Headbutt!"
Consecutive Rocket Headbutts nearly toppled the stiffened Giant Trash Can.
As the saying goes, strike when your enemy is down.
Although Stelle was one of his most trusted people, since the fight had already begun, Pei Guang had no intention of showing mercy: he planned to finish her off completely.
The blue-dragon arm wielding the sword swung forward.
"Dragon Form, Three-Strikes Style: Azure Dragon's Tainted World!"
With a casual swing of the fruit knife, a water dragon formed out of thin air and crashed into the staggering Giant Trash Can, slamming it to the ground.
"Damn it."
Stelle gritted her teeth, trying to get up, but even a giant's strength has its limits.
Though the trash cans granted her their power, how could she alone stand against three people?
Looking at the fallen Giant Trash Can, Pei Guang pressed the advantage. The Lighting Lord in his chest shone with golden light, and countless golden chicken wings floated in the air around them.
"Golden chicken wings, heed my command—strike, without mercy."
The floating golden chicken wings received the order and launched a saturation attack on the toppled Giant Trash Can.
The golden light exploded with tremendous force and completely enveloped the Giant Trash Can.
With this barrage of golden chicken wings, the Giant Trash Can lost all vitality.
When the giant appeared, everyone's hearts had been filled with hope.
But seeing their hopeful Giant Trash Can defeated in just a few exchanges, their spirits instantly sank.
Despairing Family member: "Did we lose? Is this… our last hope gone? Is Penacony going to be destroyed by the Stellaron Hunters?"
The Family members had forgotten that their patriarchs were still overhead—and frankly, even their patriarchs were confused now.
Five patriarchs: one escaped on the spot, one slipped on a banana peel and knocked himself out. The remaining three knew something had happened in Penacony, but had no idea what.
All the information they received was:
"Dewlight Pavilion was attacked by the Stellaron Hunter."
"Crushing defeat."
"We lost."
Yes, from beginning to end all they received was the outcome: no details and no idea what had actually happened.
All they knew was that Dewlight Pavilion had been attacked by a Stellaron Hunter, and the Family's side lost.
A joke here: in the dream, their Family lost?
The three remaining patriarchs were left wondering if they themselves were dreaming, or if the messenger was dreaming.
They tried to use the special surveillance system to see what happened on-site, but unfortunately, the area was already shielded by the power of Harmony.
Except for those designated in advance, no one could get inside information.
Damned if even Family members, and even patriarchs, were blocked by Harmony. They genuinely started to suspect this was all just a dream.
With no hope of their patriarchs arriving, and the situation changing so quickly, the Family members' emotions were directly influenced by the scene: they all became dejected.
The Family believed they were done for; even such a powerful Giant Trash Can was easily defeated, what could the Family possibly use now to stop the Stellaron Hunter?
At this somber moment, a young girl's voice rekindled hope for everyone.
"Now is not the time for despair—because we're still alive."
Her words seemed to have a kind of magic, making the Family's eyes light up.
"Who was that?"
Hearing that confident voice, everyone looked over and saw a girl in "school uniform" waving to the Family members.
Behind her was a massive crowd stretching into the distance.
These people weren't Family members: they were Dreamchasers who had come to the scene.
A high-ranking Family member on-site exclaimed, "How did you all get here? It's dangerous here! For your safety, please leave at once!"
Though the Family was powerful, they knew these Dreamchasers were the backbone of Penacony: only with them would Penacony continue to thrive.
Plus, among them, who knew if some held high positions?
If the Dreamchasers had a bad experience here, it'd be a major loss for Penacony.