"Oh, right! What did you mean earlier when you said you couldn't enter the Dream Pool with me?"
Just as Herta was about to lie down in the Dream Pool to enter Penacony, she suddenly remembered Lumina's earlier words. A glint sparked in her eyes as she turned to Lumina and asked.
"Exactly what it sounds like," Lumina replied, shrugging. "The Dream Pool has no effect on me. Even if I completely suppress my power, it can't break through my defenses and naturally pull me into Penacony."
"So, I have to rely on unconventional methods to enter Penacony."
"The Dream Pool doesn't work on you?" Hearing this, Herta's interest immediately piqued. She circled Lumina, scrutinizing her from every angle in a full 360-degree sweep.
Hmm, well, there are still some blind spots.
Like her clothes... If only I could soak Lumina's bare body in formaldehyde.
Lumina: ?
"What's this? Suddenly interested in me?" Seeing Herta's intense scrutiny, Lumina's heart skipped a beat, sensing a hint of ill intent.
"Exactly."
Herta readily admitted it, facing Lumina's question head-on.
Lumina wasn't the Emanator of Remembrance, nor the Emanator of Finality, yet she could completely ignore the Memetic Substance within the Dream Pool. How could Herta not be intrigued?
After all, Herta herself, also an Emanator, couldn't achieve such a feat.
No, perhaps most Emanators couldn't do what Lumina could...
Unless...
"Hey, Lumina, can I borrow your body for some research?"
Herta's gaze settled on Lumina's figure, her eyes burning with an undisguised, fanatical fervor.
"What are you doing?" Sensing Herta's undisguised, fanatical fervor, Lumina felt a knot of unease tighten in her stomach.
Wait, no one told me Herta goes into heat too?!
If Lumina had known Herta would go into heat, she wouldn't have stayed in the room for anything.
"Ahem, I merely wish to use your body to verify something."
As Herta's expression gradually returned to normal, she realized her earlier words had carried a rather ambiguous connotation. She cleared her throat and elaborated.
"Your body's resistance to the Dream Pool's influence suggests you may have already transcended the boundaries of 'humanity'—you might not be human anymore."
"You're the one who's not human! Your whole family isn't human!" Lumina retorted, her lips twitching at Herta's "explanation," which was worse than no explanation at all.
"Um... sorry," Madam Herta muttered, lowering her head slightly. Even someone as proud as her couldn't help but apologize when she realized her words had been ambiguous.
"Hmph," Lumina scoffed, crossing her arms.
Then, noticing Herta's lowered head and murmured apology, Lumina's eyes glinted with mischief. A mischievous smile curled her lips as if she'd hatched a wicked plan.
"Waaah! You vile woman! I'll never forgive you unless you call me 'Sister Lumina'!"
In the next instant, Lumina burst into exaggerated tears, looking as fragile as glass, melting hearts with her feigned vulnerability. Anyone would have wanted to cradle her close, whispering soothing words to comfort and reassure her.
Herta: ...
Of course, this "anyone" didn't include Herta.
Watching Lumina's over-the-top theatrics, Herta shook her head, pressed a hand to her forehead, and sighed wearily.
Herta decided to retract her earlier remark about Lumina acting like a child.
She wasn't just acting like one—she was a child, the kind who never grows up.
Every inch of her being radiated childishness, foolishness, and sheer shamelessness.
Lumina: /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~
"Waaah! Boo-hoo! Ah-ah-ah! /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~"
Herta: ...
"Sigh... Sister Lumina, please stop crying."
After a moment, seeing Lumina still sobbing uncontrollably, Herta sighed and, giving in to Lumina's whim, finally said, "Alright, Sister Lumina, don't cry."
As soon as Herta uttered the words "Sister Lumina," Lumina instantly stopped crying, her tearful expression replaced by a mischievous grin.
Having said "Sister Herta," Lumina even extended her wicked hand, attempting to bestow a tender pat on her "little sister's" head in her self-proclaimed elder sisterly authority.
Slap!
But "Little Sister Herta" had no intention of letting "Sister Lumina" succeed. Seeing that wicked yet delicate and beautiful hand—a jade-like hand that irresistibly tempted one to play with it roughly—Herta immediately slapped it away, thwarting Lumina's attempt to touch her head.
"Dream Dive."
Too annoyed to deal with Lumina any further, Herta simply stepped into the Dream Pool. Ignoring Lumina's pitiful, pleading gaze, she lay down, closed her eyes, and followed the Dream Pool's guiding voice, entering Penacony.
"Isn't this just tempting me to commit a crime?"
After Herta entered Penacony, Lumina watched her lying unconscious in the Dream Pool, stroking her chin as if hatching some scheme.
"Got it!"
Lumina chuckled, conjuring a pen in her hand. She stepped into the Dream Pool, crouched down, raised the pen, and began scribbling all over Herta's exquisite face.
"Perfect!"
After a few moments, Lumina put away the pen, nodding in satisfaction at her "masterpiece."
Clap, clap, clap!Clap, clap, clap!Clap, clap, clap!
She stood up, pulled out her phone, and began snapping photos of Herta from every angle, leaving no detail uncaptured.
Clap, clap, clap!Clap, clap, clap!Clap, clap, clap!
Only after her phone's photo album overflowed with hundreds of images did Lumina finally relent. She put the phone away and gazed at Herta's current state, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.
"I wonder what kind of expression Herta will make when she wakes up and discovers the graffiti on her face?"
"I'm so curious~"
"When that happens, I absolutely must record the whole thing with an Image Stone! I can't miss a single detail!"
Finally, Lumina poked Herta's cheek one last time before stepping out of the Dream Pool. With a swift punch into the air, she shattered the Dream's Memetic Substance and entered Penacony.
Herta: ...
As Lumina's figure vanished from the room, Herta, who had already entered Penacony through the Dream Pool, abruptly opened her eyes.
"This power... it far surpasses anything an Emanator could possibly achieve..."
Watching Lumina shatter the Memetic Substance to enter Penacony, Herta frowned deeply and muttered to herself.
As an Emanator of Erudition, Herta had naturally interacted with other Emanators.
Even without directly clashing powers, she could confidently assert that the gap between herself (and them) and Lumina was absolutely vast.
If she had to draw an analogy, it would be like the difference between a firefly and the full moon... or perhaps more accurately, between an Emanator and an Aeon.
"Could it be... that Lumina is now just one step away from becoming an Aeon?" Herta murmured.
The true extent of the difference between an Aeon and an Emanator remained unknown to Herta, and she had never cared to investigate it.
Yet now, Lumina's power clearly surpassed the realm of Emanators, but no new Path had emerged in the Cosmos...
"Never mind. I won't dwell on it." Herta couldn't figure it out, nor did she care to. As long as Lumina remained the same Lumina, that was enough.
She shook her head, raised her hand, and swept it through the air before her. A mirror materialized in front of her.
Without a flicker of emotion, Herta wiped away the doodles on her face.
She then put away the mirror, closed her eyes once more, and sank back into the Dream Pool.
"Such a childish trick."
A slightly amused voice echoed through the room.
As the voice faded, Herta slipped into Penacony.