"Hehehe… Don't be so irritable, Lady Jade. Life is like a game—only by savoring it slowly can one truly appreciate its elegance, don't you think?"
Sparkle appeared in front of Jade with a playful laugh. Her plum blossom-like pupils were widened, filled entirely with amusement and teasing intent.
After teasing Jade, the girl gently waved her hand toward the collapsed wall behind the other party. In an instant, an invisible force swept across it. The originally collapsed wall revived as if returning from the dead, restoring itself to its original state and standing tall once more just as it had at the beginning.
"Having too hot a temper is never a good thing. It will cause you to enter…"
'Bang—!'
"…to enter menopause early."
Accompanied by the explosive sound of a firing pin striking a bullet, the imaginary pulse pistol's bullet shot out of the chamber, flying straight toward Sparkle's face.
Faced with the incoming bullet, our Miss Sparkle simply extended two fingers, easily predicting the bullet's trajectory and stopping it in mid-air.
"Ai~ I just said not to be so irritable. Miss Topaz, you haven't really entered menopause early, have you?"
Looking at the golden bullet in her hand that resembled a coin, the girl only glanced at it a few times before crushing it into powder with her soft, boneless little hand.
"I come to examine, I come to calculate, I come to reclaim. In the name of contract I command, righteousness without grasping wealth, wishing for no mercy, no cowardice, no confusion. All is offered to—the Amber Lord!"
Realizing the gap in power between herself and the opponent, our Miss Topaz decisively used the power of the 'Cornerstone' as well. With a burst of gorgeous red radiance, our Miss Topaz also completed the 'Cornerstone' transformation and obtained a portion of the [Preservation] Emanator's great authority.
As for why the girl used the 'Cornerstone' instead of the even stronger [Causality] imprint… it could only be said that our Miss Hair was feeling a little heartache. The power within the [Causality] imprint had already been 'squandered' by her until almost nothing remained; each use meant one less time it could be used.
Before truly finding a way to replenish the [Causality] imprint's energy, the girl would absolutely not use this power lightly except in moments of crisis.
"This is…!"
The moment Topaz completed her transformation and could truly 'see clearly' the world before her, while gazing at the colorful conceptual space in front of her, the girl's pupils suddenly contracted sharply.
"Jelena, did you notice something?"
At this moment, Lady Jade's brows were already deeply furrowed, almost twisted into a spiral shape.
Just now, when Sparkle suddenly appeared behind her, she had not sensed it at all, even though she had already activated the power of the 'Cornerstone.'
So if they wanted to win in the end, they probably could only rely on the [Causality] imprint in Topaz's hands. However, at present, little Jelena who had completed the 'Cornerstone' transformation seemed to have discovered something within it.
"Interesting…"
Topaz's reaction naturally could not escape Sparkle's eyes. Seeing the other party's expression, she must have noticed something from this space, and moreover…
Slightly lowering her gaze, the girl finally fixed her eyes on the back of Topaz's hand. Although Topaz's hand was covered by white silk gloves, our Miss Sparkle could clearly sense that a [Causality] aura was faintly emanating from the back of her hand.
Compared to a [Causality] Emanator, this [Causality] aura was much, much weaker, but for ordinary Pathstriders—or even top-tier Pathstriders—it was already quite a powerful force.
At the very least, this power was considerably stronger than the current 'Cornerstone' state that Topaz and Jade had transformed into. Unfortunately, the [Causality] power on the back of Topaz's hand had significant limitations. After a few more uses, the energy within the imprint would likely be completely exhausted.
"This is… the power of [Causality]… You are a Pathstrider of the [Causality] Path!"
Topaz pointed at Sparkle, her tone carrying an unmistakable note of disbelief. She had never imagined that this Masked Fool would possess [Causality] power. But if the other party truly was a Pathstrider of the [Causality] Path, then what was with that [Nihility] aura from earlier?
"Correct answer~ Unfortunately, there's no reward."
Our Miss Sparkle seemed to greatly enjoy Topaz's shocked expression. The girl spread her hands slightly, looking rather helpless.
"A [Causality] Pathstrider?"
Compared to Topaz, who was still in shock, our Miss Jade could think of far more. Upon hearing that Sparkle was a [Causality] Pathstrider, the first thing that came to her mind was 'Jarilo-VI.'
After all, that was a planet being developed in the direction of becoming a major base for [Causality] followers, and its Great Guardian, Cocolia, was also a follower of [Causality] whose power was nearly at the Emanator level.
Recalling now the incident where more than a dozen Company representatives were killed by Sparkle in Belobog, Jade—who had originally thought the Masked Fool was sowing discord—could not help but let her thoughts drift in another direction: conspiracy theory!
Belobog and the Masked Fool Sparkle might be in cahoots. They were originally one group, and everything they had done before was just an act, all to legitimately eliminate the Company's representatives.
— — — —
"Xianzhou Luofu… I never thought that after circling around, we would ultimately return here. Truly, the workings of fate."
After completing the landing procedures at the Huixing Port, Welt, who had been flying in the universe for a long time, finally set his feet on 'solid ground' once again. For a moment, our Lord of Anti-Entropy could not help but feel a myriad of emotions.
"Hahaha, flying in the universe, the star skiff is like a lone boat, giving people no sense of security. Brother Welt's current strength is only natural."
Hearing Welt's sigh, our General Huaiyan gently stroked his grizzled beard and unhurriedly walked to Old Yang's side, adding these words.
"General Huaiyan, thank you for the assistance from the Zhuming Xianzhou. I, Welt, will remember this kindness."
Welt imitated Xianzhou etiquette, cupping his hands toward General Huaiyan of the Zhuming, and spoke with a serious expression.