Chapter 166: The Xianzhou Cannot Surpass the Legend
「 (Will we meet again?…What kind of question is that? She knows the answer perfectly well in her heart, doesn't she?)
(If you ask me, of course, it's…)
"I want to see Kafka again." After a moment of hesitation, Stelle finally voiced her answer.
But whether it was her imagination or not, Stelle felt a faint blush creep onto Kafka's ear tips the moment she finished speaking, and simultaneously, her slender eyelashes fluttered.
"Heheheh…" She was still smiling, but the glimmer in her eyes was too revealing, threatening to betray her innermost thoughts at any moment. So, she simply closed her eyes and took a deep, deliberate breath—when she opened them again, her gaze was like a mist-shrouded mountain, and she had once more become the enigmatic Kafka, impossible to decipher.
"Alright, I'm done asking." Kafka shook her head. "You truly surprise me, Stelle; I can't quite see through you. Now, it's your turn to ask."
Stelle intended to continue asking questions about herself. No matter what Kafka answered this time, at least one answer would be the truth.
"Who was I before?" Stelle repeated her previous question.
But this time, Kafka's answer was distinctly different: "You are an artificial construct, born to house a Stellaron. From your genesis, your destiny was to receive the Stellaron at Herta Space Station. My role was to protect you before then, and to teach you basic combat skills and knowledge."
"The reason you don't remember is that I wiped your memory before the operation at Herta Space Station," Kafka stated without hesitation. 」
「 .....」
〜Chainsaw Man World〜
In a corner cafe at dusk, Makima elegantly stirred her black coffee. Opposite her, Hayakawa Aki rested his chin on one hand, slightly raising the other as he gazed up at the twilight sky.
Kafka's answer instinctively made Hayakawa Aki's brows unfurrow. Faced with such an outlandish response, it was almost effortless to discern which answer was the truth.
"So Stelle was a life form unexpectedly created by a Star God…"
Hayakawa Aki mused aloud.
"And the Star God who created her didn't even use divine power to dominate her… The thoughts of Star Gods are truly peculiar."
Makima suddenly chuckled softly:
"Aki-kun, how do you know the Star God's will isn't dominating Stelle?"
"'Dominance' never requires brute force, you know. Look—believers have followed Yaoshi, the 『 Abundance 』, for millennia; the Supreme Guardian of Belobog steadfastly adheres to the will of the 『 Preservation 』… True 'dominance' is often hidden within 'willingness'."
Makima's smile deepened, and she slowly shook her head:
"Stelle believes she's walking her chosen path, yet little does she know that the Star God's power might have subtly influenced her thoughts… It's not impossible, you know."
"…Dominance."
Hayakawa Aki chewed on this unfamiliar word. With Makima's mention of it, a strange thought suddenly surfaced in his mind… Were Denji and Power also willingly accepting Miss Makima's "dominance"?
Was the entire Tokyo Public Safety Department also willingly accepting this "dominance"?
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Hayakawa Aki's forehead.
Makima, however, merely smiled, the rim of her ceramic cup reflecting the seemingly bottomless whirlpool in her pupils: "Aki-kun, the expression on your face… did you think of something amusing?"
—
「 As the two were conversing, Yanqing suddenly walked in.
Upon seeing Kafka, a flicker of hostility crossed Yanqing's eyes, but when his gaze shifted to the side, and he discovered Stelle was also there, his brow immediately furrowed: "Eh? What are you doing here?"
Before Stelle could even begin to explain, Kafka slowly stepped out from behind her, a meaningful smile playing on her lips: "Naturally, it's because she's fallen under my Spirit Whisper."
"My suggestions can make people willingly accept commands, without even realizing anything is amiss," Kafka said, crossing her arms and slightly tilting her chin towards Stelle: "Stelle, defeat this young man, and your mission will be complete."
"—You, you wretched fiend!"
Watching Stelle stride towards him, brandishing a baseball bat, Yanqing gritted his teeth in fury, yet was utterly helpless.
Stelle was an honored guest of the Xianzhou and had just triumphed over Phantylia alongside the General, saving the Xianzhou. In this battle, he absolutely could not let her be harmed.
Yet Stelle's strength was also considerable, and with his old wounds not yet healed, merely fending her off would exhaust him. But then… he also had to divide his attention to keep an eye on Kafka.
That woman, with her Spirit Whisper, was even more dangerous than Stelle…
"—This isn't good!"
Muttering a silent warning, in that split second of distraction, Stelle had already swung her bat, closing in. Yanqing was about to raise his sword to defend, but suddenly, Stelle, before him, became blurred, like an oil painting soaked in water beginning to bleed.
As if his hands were sinking into viscous amber, Kafka's voice surged from all directions, each syllable echoing with a faint purple resonance in his mind.
"Go back, Yanqing~."
The fiercely aggressive Yanqing from a moment ago thus quietly retreated the very next second.
With the crisis averted, Stelle finally let out a sigh of relief. After successfully suppressing Blade's Mara-struck state, Kafka thanked Stelle once more, but as Blade still had someone to meet, the two parted ways there.
Blade walked out of the room, saw Stelle, who hadn't left yet, and slowly began: "I remember you. You used to follow Kafka, didn't you? For a while, she was on a mission, and you were by her side. I still remember."
"You're the first one to follow her for so long and still be alive," Blade said with a cold smile.
"Every Stellaron Hunter has made a deal with Elio. Since Kafka, like me, agreed to be driven by Elio, what she desires must be extraordinary, and everything she does comes at a tremendous cost."
Blade slowly turned his back: "She must have done many things to keep you alive until now, little girl." 」
「 .....」
〜Shingeki No Kyojin World〜
Outside the camp at night, the bonfire crackled. Armin gazed at the distant horizon, a meteor streaking across like a phantom of the Astral Express.
"Blade knows so many inside secrets. Why doesn't he say a bit more?"
Eren pouted, watching Blade's receding figure in the light screen with lingering dissatisfaction.
"Since Stelle used to follow Kafka, then her identity is clearly established, isn't it? She was once a member of the Stellaron Hunters."
"…No wonder her attitude towards Stelle is so unusual."
Mikasa looked at Eren's profile and said softly,
"But Blade also said that every Stellaron Hunter made a deal with Elio. Does that mean Stelle did something similar, too?"
"Hmm, so I'm guessing Stelle's deal with Elio is mostly related to her subsequent amnesia and slumber… I even think there's a possibility that Stelle actively requested to fall into slumber and lose her memory, solely to perfectly reach Elio's future later on,"
Armin mused.
"But why would she do that?"
Mikasa didn't understand.
"Who knows? Perhaps to deceive and hide from a Star God who governs all memories in the universe? Or something else?"
Armin let his thoughts wander.
"The information we have now is still too scarce, but according to my guess… Stelle, bearing a Stellaron, is likely the core of Elio's script. She must hide some important memories that even a Star God cannot know. But to deceive a Star God, she must first deceive herself, so she used Kafka's Spirit Whisper to forget."
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