The pure white knight ultimately fell to Jingliu's superb swordsmanship. Its body collapsed to the ground, dissolving into specks of light that scattered and reformed within the space, finally surging toward the pitch-black door.
As the pure white light made contact with the dark door, it merged as one.
"Creeeak..."
The door, now a blend of black and white, slowly swung open for the three of them. In stark contrast to the current room, the space beyond was nothing but profound darkness, like a ravenous beast opening its bottomless maw, beckoning them to enter.
"Black. So fucking black..."
For some reason, that particular line popped into Wende's head.
"?"
Jingliu shot Wende a look that said, "Has this child's brain been fried?" Had he been infected by those two little rascals? How could he see a dark room and immediately associate it with such strange things?
Tingyun gazed at the dark room before them. The Yang energy within her body suddenly fluctuated slightly, as if something was guiding her from the shadows.
"Benefactor, Sister Jingliu, I feel that something isn't right here. It's as if something is luring me inside."
Tingyun didn't hide her feelings, turning to tell the other two exactly what she was thinking.
"Luring?"
Wende looked at the pitch-black room and couldn't help but begin to ponder.
The previous room corresponded to Yang, and to fight Yang, it required Jingliu, who belonged to "Yin," to battle. The door to this room was black. If his deduction was correct, then the enemy inside should also belong to "Yin," and to deal with a Yin enemy, Tingyun would be needed.
In truth, Wende could also take action. After all, Yin and Yang were ultimately just differentiations of the Chaos within his body. As the "origin," he could naturally confront the enemy in either of these rooms. However, Tingyun said she felt a pull...
Could it be that the masters of these two rooms didn't want him to intervene? Was it unnecessary, or was there another motive?
But the Stellaron... what was its purpose in doing this?
Wende didn't understand, but since they had been led this far, they could only follow the script provided.
However, Wende had his own source of confidence. The power of Chaos was his confidence, and it was their greatest guarantee at the moment.
"If that's the case, then let's go and see."
Jingliu spoke softly to Tingyun, her cool hand giving Tingyun's fox ear a gentle rub.
"Mmm..."
Tingyun nodded slightly, then took the lead and stepped through the pitch-black door.
"You've... come..."
A familiar voice echoed in Tingyun's mind, instantly making the hair on her neck stand on end. Her fluffy fox ears and large tail bristled at once, like a startled little fox. She stared with utmost vigilance at the figure before her.
To be precise, it wasn't a physical object, but a mass of incorporeal, blue-gold flame. And she... was the one Tingyun knew all too well, her former nightmare, the Lord Ravager... Phantylia!
This time, it wasn't an illusion. It was the genuine Phantylia! The flame before her was her true form!
---o---
"You thought I was just a fake, didn't you! Didn't expect this girl to pull this move! Take this for your sneak attack! Eat bow!"
March let out a sharp cry, swinging her longbow like a full moon and smashing it viciously at the dimensional rift projection before her!
"Wait! Aren't you an archer?! And a support, at that! Why are you fighting in melee with a longbow like a berserker?!"
The rift projection, so cornered by March's bow that it couldn't even fire a single arrow, stared dumbfounded at the berserker-possessed March. This isn't what the script said! Wasn't her character setting supposed to be a support who diligently protects everyone?!
"Huh? Isn't it perfectly normal for an archer to know melee combat?! Eat my bow!"
March raised an eyebrow disdainfully, a hint of mockery in her eyes as she looked at the imposter. Her longbow continued to rain down on the rift projection's head like a tempest!
While March was going full War God, Stelle on the other side was no less impressive. To the utter astonishment of her rift projection double, Stelle decisively whipped out the baseball bat she hadn't used in ages. Before its shocked eyes, she began to dual-wield!
"Wait! Aren't you a tank?! How can you dual-wield?!"
The rift projection, holding a fake Flame Lance, stared in disbelief at the menacing Stelle charging toward it. Do these people not follow their own character settings?!
"Huh? Sorry, I'm also a DPS!!!"
Stelle, with a lance in one hand and a bat in the other, and to the absolute panic of the rift projection... started to spin!
"KILLING AURA!!!"
"?"
"What kind of power is this?!"
"..."
"What's all that commotion?"
Himeko, who was in a standoff with her own rift projection, spared a glance toward March and Stelle's position. When she saw what the two live wires were doing, she froze on the spot, momentarily stunned.
This... had she entered some kind of Lostbelt? Stelle's move was somewhat normal; she had seen it many times. But March's...
"It seems that after we get back to the Express, I'll have to give Little March some training on how to be a lady."
Himeko shook her head helplessly, raising her monomolecular saw slightly.
"CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!"
The continuous sound of saw clashing against saw rang out, the sparks illuminating Himeko's face. Her golden eyes held a hint of amusement as she looked at her own rift projection.
"Launching a sneak attack while someone is distracted... that's not really in my character, is it?"
Himeko smiled, then pulled a wrench from the inner pocket of her coat and threw it at her opponent's head!
"BONK!"
Blowing on the wrench, which was now emitting a wisp of white smoke, Himeko looked gently at the projection that had collapsed to the ground.
"You were the one who attacked first. Besides, as the train's maintenance person, it's perfectly normal for me to carry a wrench, isn't it?"
Dan Heng, who had long since finished his battle, looked at Himeko with a sense of helplessness. What was going on? Had even Himeko started acting so unhinged?
What? You ask where Dan Heng's projection went?
He one-shot it.
The Stellaron had copied the data from somewhere, but the projection's moves were completely unchanged, identical to his own. He had spotted a flaw in an instant.
What he hadn't expected, however, was that Himeko would be the second one to finish her fight.
"Should we help them?"
Watching March and Stelle chasing their own projections around, Dan Heng silently walked to Himeko's side and asked.
"Err... I don't think that'll be necessary. It's good for them to get some practice..."
"Probably..."