"Mmph~" Hyacine struggled slightly, but with her feet dangling off the ground and her arms still cradling Little Ica, she had no leverage and couldn't exert any strength. The more she squirmed, the more it looked like she was simply nuzzling against the Female Wizard's chest.
Hmm, I have to admit, she's so soft and fragrant... the sensation is quite nice.
But that's not the point! Hyacine finally managed to gasp, "Mmph... can't... breathe!"
Hearing this, the Female Wizard reluctantly and apologetically loosened her grip. "Oh, I-I'm so sorry! I just got too excited. You're just so incredibly adorable..."
"It's fine, it's fine." Hyacine shook her head to show she didn't mind. In truth, even without leverage, she could have used her divine abilities to summon a gust of wind and break free. But this wasn't an enemy's restraint; it was a friendly embrace. Using divine power would have been a bit overkill.
Hyacine caught her breath and glanced down at Little Ica in her arms. At that moment, Little Ica was looking up at her with a puzzled expression, as if asking, Why wasn't she hugging me?
Since they were waiting anyway, the Female Wizard pulled up a chair and sat beside Hyacine, striking up a conversation. After all, Hyacine was a True God walking the world, and she was incredibly approachable—an opportunity like this was rare.
Hyacine settled Little Ica on her lap, which was clad in white stockings, and gently stroked the little creature's back as she chatted with the Female Wizard.
Their conversation wasn't about lofty topics like gods, divinity, or authority. Instead, it was like casual small talk—what they did in their daily lives, what they ate, their likes and dislikes.
Hyacine answered each question openly; none of it was a secret. Lately, she'd been streaming, acting cute for the camera, singing, and dancing. It was no exaggeration to say that she had become immensely popular in Okhema, widely recognized as the top streamer with the largest fanbase.
Of course, her popularity wasn't just due to her inherent cuteness and solid performance skills. The revelation of her identity as one of the Twelve Demigods was another major factor. This caused many rival streamers who had wanted to challenge her to surrender, all online haters to vanish, and her follower count to double overnight.
It was like on the internet, where a previously unremarkable streamer might suddenly go viral over some event or encounter a lucky break, making it entirely possible for them to blow up overnight. Except, Hyacine's "opportunity" was something she had intentionally hidden, never wanting it to be discovered.
After her secret was revealed, it felt like playing a single-player game with an invincibility cheat enabled. It might have been thrilling at first, but the game's lifespan was drastically shortened. She instantly hit max level, no longer needing to grind for experience, leaving nothing left to do.
So, after that, Hyacine started streaming much less frequently. Recently, she hadn't gone live for a full half-month.
Not that she could stream now even if she wanted to. Aglaea's intensive manipulation of the Golden Threads within the All Nations Alliance had caused Okhema's entire network to slow down, effectively downgrading it from 4G to 3G. No one could stream anymore; even watching videos was a laggy mess.
As she chatted with Hyacine, the Female Wizard sighed with admiration. "From every angle, aside from being excessively cute, you seem just like an ordinary girl to me."
Hyacine smiled sweetly. "Rather than fulfilling a god's duties like a machine, responding to believers' prayers, isn't it better to live happily like a human?"
Time flew by as they chatted, and in the blink of an eye, the afternoon was gone. The Floating City, as expected, arrived at its destination: the place where the World Barrier had shattered once before.
The Female Wizard took a deep breath and began putting on the three layers of heavy protective suits again. Meanwhile, Hyacine, her legs clad in white stockings, walked over to the telescope. She tiptoed lightly, but finding she still couldn't reach it, a gentle breeze swirled around her, lifting her petite body into the air.
Hyacine floated up to the telescope, closed her left eye, and pressed her right eye against the eyepiece. Through layers of intricate and complex Divination School Magic, her vision pierced the World Barrier, allowing her to observe the scene beyond. The crimson Moon—the eye of the Mother of Flesh—was now extremely close to the Barrier, staring right back at her.
The feeling was like tiptoeing to look through a peephole, only to find an eye staring back from the other side. An ordinary person would probably have been scared half to death by such a sight.
But Hyacine simply blinked, her clear, azure pupils showing not the slightest hint of fear.
Moon:Staring intensely, trying to unleash corruption.jpg
Hyacine: You're so ugly.
Soon, Hyacine moved away from the telescope and said, "That thing is right outside the World Barrier. I don't know what it's doing..."
BOOM!!!
Before Hyacine could finish her sentence, a massive explosion echoed from outside. Heinrich frowned slightly and waved his hand, projecting a blue image before everyone.
It was the Moon outside the World Barrier, firing a red beam that struck the Barrier. After a moment of frowning, Heinrich's eyes widened as if he'd realized something. "I think I know what that thing is trying to do!"
He explained, "Imagine a wooden barrel. If it gets a hole, and you patch it with nails and a wooden plank, the barrel is repaired, right?"
"But the new plank nailed on and the barrel itself aren't truly a single entity. If the Moon attacks other parts, it's like attacking the entire barrel—it would have to shatter the whole thing. But if It attacks this plank, once the plank is broken, the original hole will reappear."
Heinrich continued, "So the Moon is now trying to wear down the energy of this 'plank,' aiming to destroy it!"
However, after hearing this explanation, Hyacine frowned. It came back to the same point: because Anaxa had repaired this breach, she knew the situation best. Heinrich's logic was sound, but the "plank's" strength was incredibly high—almost 70-80% of the barrel's total strength.
Shattering the plank shouldn't be much easier than shattering the entire barrel.
Heinrich was still speaking, "We need to supply energy to this 'plank'! We can't let its energy be completely depleted!"