"Hey, could it be that this Lumina and Herta aren't the ones we know?"
"Maybe the devs are just messing with us, creating characters with the same names to throw us off?"
Amphoreus, Okhema, Hall of Respite.
Upon reaching the quest marker, Little Bear proposed a bold hypothesis in his live stream.
He suggested that this Lumina and Herta were just false hope dangled by the developers.
And after this false hope, the devs would start a killing spree.
The kind where two characters die per version, and after three or four versions, everyone's gone.
But surely they wouldn't be that cruel, right?
[I don't know if the devs are trolling, but if Lumina and Herta turn out to be fakes, the community forums will explode this afternoon (lol).]
[Then how do you explain them being from 'Beyond the Sky' and knowing about March 7th and Little Swarm?]
[Exactly! How do you explain March 7th and Little Swarm? If they only knew Stelle and Dan Heng, it might make sense. But they even mentioned March 7th and Little Swarm. How could they be fakes? Those two never came to Okhema.]
[Speaking of which, didn't you guys notice? Lumina actually mentioned March 7th. Could it be that March 7th also came to Amphoreus?]
"Oh, right! March 7th came to Amphoreus too?" Seeing this comment, Little Bear realized the oversight.
Aglaea had mentioned four names earlier.
But only three people had entered the Amphoreus carriage.
Even if March 7th had recovered, knowing Himeko and Old Yang's protectiveness of her, how could they possibly let her enter Amphoreus alone?
So, how did March 7th get in?
Surely Black Swan didn't just toss her in, right? Little Bear mused.
He still categorized the "throw-happy" woman as a "comedic character."
Without overthinking it, he moved to the quest marker, pressed the interaction key, and triggered the cutscene.
He could find out how March 7th entered Amphoreus simply by asking Lumina.
Knock, knock, knock~
"Sister Lumina, is that you? Are you in there?"
Stelle knocked on the black and gold patterned door and shouted inside.
But after waiting for a moment, she received no response.
"Is the soundproofing too good, or are Miss Lumina and Miss Herta not inside right now?" Dan Heng, standing beside her, offered a quick analysis.
"No worries, small problem." Hearing Dan Heng's analysis, Stelle's lips curled into a smirk. She gestured for him to relax—she had a solution.
"..."
Seeing that expression, Dan Heng knew without a doubt that she was about to cause some major trouble.
Sure enough, the next second, under Dan Heng's watchful gaze, Stelle summoned her baseball bat.
With the bat in hand, Stelle's aura instantly shifted, transforming her into a cool, aloof beauty.
Her actions, however, were anything but cool.
She aimed at the black and gold patterned door and swung the bat, seemingly intent on smashing it open with brute force.
"..."
"Let's wait a bit longer. They might be resting inside."
Dan Heng knew Stelle was close with Lumina and Herta, but that didn't excuse such rude behavior.
After all, Stelle represented the Astral Express.
If no one around recognized the Astral Express, Dan Heng might have let Stelle mess around a bit.
But now was definitely not the time.
So, just as Stelle's baseball bat was about to crash into the black and gold patterned door, Dan Heng quickly intervened to stop her.
"Let's knock a few more times and wait a little longer."
"If they still don't come out, or if they're not inside, we can try sending them a message on our phones. If that doesn't work, we'll leave a note here."
Dan Heng offered some suggestions.
"Oh, right! We could use our phones to communicate inside Amphoreus, so Sister Lumina and the others should be able to receive messages too." Hearing this, Stelle's face lit up with sudden realization.
She pulled out her phone, ready to message Lumina.
Creeeak—
With the phone still in her hand, before Stelle could even send the message, the black and gold patterned door swung open.
Before them stood a white-haired woman, holy and beautiful, as if she embodied every beautiful word in the universe.
She looked at the two before her and smiled gently. "Stelle, Dan Heng, it's been a long time."
-
"I'm Miss Lumina's dog!!!"
Outside the game, in the player world, Little Bear's live stream chat erupted. The moment he heard Lumina's voice, a slightly perverted phrase instantly slipped out.
He couldn't help it. It really had been a long time.
Little Bear missed her terribly.
He hadn't seen Lumina since the Xianzhou Wardance Ceremony ended.
How could he not miss her?
Hmm... the brief glimpse of her from the Space Station's perspective after the Time Titan incident doesn't count.
That was just seeing her, not meeting her.
This—this was a real meeting.
Little Bear wished he could jump into the game right now and give Lumina a big hug.
[Can I say something no one wants to hear?]
[Get lost! The spot as Miss Lumina's dog is MINE! Streamer, step aside!]
[Go ahead, be her dog. I'll remember to walk you both when I take my wife out for a stroll. (lol)]
[How did a dreamer sneak in here?]
Ignoring the comment section, Little Bear stared at the in-game dialogue options, feeling a pang of disappointment.
"Why isn't there an option to rush forward and hug her?"
"We're best friends, good friends, practically mother and daughter, master and dog! After so long apart, how can there not even be a hug option?"
"Can the developers even understand human language? Please add a [Hug] option to this scene, thank you."
Little Bear sighed with genuine regret, urging the developers to implement the change immediately.
Of course, he knew it was impossible.
-
Back in the Hall of Respite on Amphoreus, Lumina showed no surprise at the appearance of Stelle and Dan Heng.
She stepped back a few paces, creating space, and gestured for them to enter.
"It's not good to stand outside. Come in and talk."
"You got it!" Stelle zipped inside as if she were entering her own home, completely at ease.
"Miss Lumina, please excuse the intrusion."
Dan Heng, in stark contrast to Stelle, offered a polite greeting before stepping inside.
"Herta, are you done yet?"
After Stelle and Dan Heng entered, Lumina casually closed the main door.
She led them to a sofa and gestured for them to sit. Then, she called out to Herta, who was still somewhere in the room.
"..."
There was no reply. A moment later, Herta emerged from the bathroom.
Now neat and tidy, Herta glared at Lumina with an expression that screamed, I want to punch you.
Both of them had slept in their pajamas the previous night.
Normally, they would have tidied themselves up before answering the door.
But Lumina had just run straight to open it...
Fine, if Lumina didn't care, Herta didn't need to either. Her pajamas were perfectly normal, revealing nothing, so it didn't matter. And what was wrong with a genius having slightly messy hair?
But Lumina... that member of the Dunce Society... actually knew Purify!
As Herta had gotten out of bed and walked toward the door, with each step, her messy hair, her lazy, just-woken-up expression—all of it had vanished.
Her clothes had also changed. In just a moment, she had transformed from a fallen Holy Maiden into a holy one...
And what about Herta?
She didn't know Purify. Normally, whether at home or out, she always had the Herta Puppets tidy her up.
But before coming to Amphoreus, Herta hadn't brought any puppets, not wanting them to disturb her and Lumina... So, as Lumina had walked step by step toward the door, Herta's mind had raced, instantly understanding Lumina's intentions.
She wanted to humiliate Herta in front of Stelle, painting her as a lazy, sloppy woman who did nothing but slack off.
Although Herta couldn't see the point, she refused to believe Lumina acted without reason.
So, just as Lumina reached the door and was about to open it, Herta had rushed to the bathroom, fixed her appearance, and changed her clothes.
After carefully checking herself for any flaws, she slowly walked out.
Approaching the group, she sat down directly beside Lumina.
At the same time, she shot Lumina an annoyed glare and sharply bumped her with her arm and hip, expressing her earlier displeasure.
"Hehehe." In response, Lumina merely chuckled without saying anything more.
However, the flicker of confusion and pity in her eyes betrayed her true thoughts.
The pity wasn't significant; it had been a spur-of-the-moment idea, and Lumina hadn't expected it to succeed.
The confusion, however, was substantial.
Lumina hadn't expected that Herta—who usually relied on her puppets for everything—could tidy herself up so perfectly in such a short time without their help.
It seems Herta isn't as "lazy" as I thought, Lumina mused. She's just too lazy to bother with daily chores.
This was a conclusion Lumina had previously drawn from the System's
T H E H E R T A'S M A G I C K I T C H E N.
(Spy-Always found the title format funny so keeping it consistent here)
But now, that conclusion seemed meaningless.
Averting her gaze, Lumina decided not to dwell on the matter.
She turned to Stelle and Dan Heng, offering a gentle smile. "Stelle, Dan Heng, if you have any questions, just ask."
"I'll answer anything I know."
Of course, with the exception of Lygus and the [Data World], Lumina silently added in her mind after she finished speaking.
If I said that out loud now, wouldn't Amphoreus just be speedrun?
What would be the point of that?
I might as well just go and solo the [Lord Ravager] that Amphoreus is incubating.
As for the Chrysos Heirs meeting their end during this Flame-Chasing Journey? There was no need to worry about that.
Lumina would intervene.
At the very end, she would use a little of her power to help them transform into truly living beings.
Before arriving at Amphoreus, Lumina might have added a question mark to that statement. After all, she had never attempted such a thing and didn't know if she could succeed.
But upon reaching Amphoreus, upon arriving at Okhema, she knew the answer.
She could do it. She had confirmed this through her contact with Aglaea and Tribbie.
Tribbie was just one of a thousand fragments, making the process more troublesome; it would take some time to completely transform her into a living being.
Aglaea, on the other hand, was much simpler. Although her Divinity held dominance due to her status as the [Romance] Demigod, that posed no problem for Lumina.
When interacting with Aglaea, Lumina had intentionally released a sliver of her aura, curious to see how Aglaea would react.
Through simple observation, Lumina understood.
With Aglaea, she wouldn't even need to perform any complex rituals.
All she had to do was release some of her aura and let Aglaea rest in her embrace... ahem, let Aglaea stay by her side for a while. Aglaea's humanity would fully recover, and she would transform from data into a truly living being.
The others, with the exception of the special case Tribbie, should be much the same.
Therefore, elevating the Chrysos Heirs—or even the entire population of Amphoreus—from data to life was a trivial matter for Lumina.
As Lumina contemplated this, Dan Heng and Stelle exchanged a glance. Then, Stelle turned to Lumina and asked, "Sister Lumina, are Little Swarm and March okay?"
"They're fine. As for Little Swarm... hmm, how should I put it?" Lumina pondered for a moment before continuing. "Little Swarm has her own unique, destined opportunity, much like the one you had when you found your bat on the Space Station, Stelle."
"That good?!" Upon hearing this, a look of utter shock instantly appeared on Stelle's face.
Stelle knew exactly what her bat meant to her.
It seems Little Swarm... is about to gain a "second life."
"Uh... I don't know what you're thinking, Stelle, but it's definitely not that," Lumina quickly corrected, seeing the shocked expression on Stelle's face.
"In short, just know that Little Swarm is fine. In fact, she's even turned this misfortune into a blessing."
"As for March..." Lumina paused briefly. "March is also in Amphoreus."
"After you left, her physical discomfort worsened significantly."
"Her soul detached from her body and entered Amphoreus."
Lumina explained simply, avoiding overly technical terms.
"Where is she now?" Dan Heng asked.
"Hmm... in a place we can't reach at the moment." Hearing Dan Heng's question, Lumina responded with a frustratingly cryptic answer.
"Then..."
"Don't worry, March is safe right now. There's no need to be concerned."
Hearing this, Dan Heng opened his mouth to ask more, but Lumina, as if reading his mind, gently reassured him.
"Hmm... That's good then." Since Miss Lumina had said so, Dan Heng didn't press the matter further.
"In short, you don't need to worry about Little Swarm and March's safety, or any other lingering concerns."
"Just enjoy this Flame-Chasing Trailblaze."
Lumina smiled faintly and gave the two a nod.