["Uh..." March 7th was instantly rendered speechless by her.]
[Welt crossed his arms and said seriously: "Allow me to remind you—this stage and Stelle's identity should both have nothing to do with apprehending the true culprit."]
["No, they do. Of course they do. Otherwise why would I work so hard to gain your trust and then invite all of you here? Because she is the only eyewitness who has witnessed all three murders—the best candidate capable of proving that 'there are no casualties inside the dreamscape' is nothing but empty talk!"]
[Himeko furrowed her brows: "Three murders?"]
["Yes, madam. The third murder is about to happen right here—Clock Studios Theme Park... a truly grand death."]
["You, you, you... and you… everyone will die—and all of this is because of you, Miss [Stellaron]... you will personally transform into [Death] right here."]
——
Gintama.
"Does Stelle know she's this amazing?"
Gintoki dug at his nose while looking at the completely dumbfounded Stelle on the Celestial Screen: "Isn't this guy maliciously hyping her up to kill her? That classic trope of 'wildly praising the protagonist before the fight so the protagonist gets inflated and actively exposes a weakness.'"
"If it weren't for Miss Acheron standing beside her, I might have believed it a little." Kagura sat on Sadaharu's neck, hugging its fluffy head. "The problem is… there isn't a single scene that could threaten Acheron. For Stelle to instantly obtain power surpassing an Emanator, she would probably need that to bring death to Acheron."
"Instantly surpassing an Emanator..." Gintoki imagined it a little. "If Stelle could transform into a Super Saiyan it might be possible, and she'd have to evolve straight to Super Saiyan 3 level... roughly able to fight Acheron fifty-fifty, right?"
"Hey hey, Gin-san, aren't you looking down on Stelle too much?" Shinpachi pushed up his glasses, his eyebrows already furrowed into the shape of the character "eight," and began discussing seriously: "Super Saiyan 3 has a combat power of 400 times the base state! Stelle is at least someone who has been glanced at by Nanook—a pure-blooded Pathstrider of [Destruction]. If the power of one of her strikes is multiplied by 400, she can definitely beat Acheron!"
"Shinpachi, have you ever seen Acheron draw her blade?" Kagura suddenly interjected from the side.
"..."
This question stumped Shinpachi. In his impression Acheron always fought with the scabbard. The more distant combat scenes he could no longer recall. But he still insisted that since Acheron was an Emanator, the gap between her and Jing Yuan and the others wouldn't be that large.
"I've never seen it, but it should be about the same power as the Divine General's great slash, right?"
——
["How do you guarantee you can survive?" Stelle asked.]
[Aventurine chuckled: "Of course. Don't underestimate Preservation. The Cornerstone of the Amber Lord will naturally point out a path for me. Let me put it more clearly: I will detonate the Stellaron inside you and create a small 'accident' in Penacony..."]
["Boom! The entire park will turn into a shattered dream. Then, before the Family can react, I will become the navigator of the Company's fleet."]
[Acheron completely did not believe it. She planted one hand on her hip and looked up: "Bluffing is useless against us. If you could really do it, you had plenty of opportunities earlier."]
["You're betting against me? Fine. Then I'll bet against you too. I bet I can achieve total victory and use an unprecedented explosion to prove that the oath of [Harmony] is a complete joke from head to toe."]
["…You can't do it." Acheron said coldly.]
["Of course I can. It's just another gamble." Aventurine's previously high-spirited tone gradually calmed. "I walked out of the deserts of Sigonia. For sixty copper coins, people branded marks on me, fitted me with shackles, sent me up onto the rack, and buried me in the yellow sand..."]
["But the sun could not kill me. The quicksand instead delivered me into the embrace of the Guild and the Company. Remember—I did not win once by chance. I have never lost."]
["Allow me to share a proverb with everyone: Sleep is a rehearsal for death. Why does life fall into slumber? Because we are not yet prepared to welcome death. Every night's entry into dreams is no different from going to one's death—just like you and I at this very moment, harboring the resolve to die and hiding inside the land of sleep. And [Death]… will also come in response to our dream-murmurs."]
["Friends, the game has already begun. You cannot refuse—"]
["—There is no reason, and there is no room."]
[The instant Aventurine's words fell, all the spotlights suddenly extinguished. The sky was gradually swallowed by lead-gray dark clouds. Stelle subconsciously raised her lance of fire and stood in front of everyone.]
["The dice have been cast. Is everyone ready to reveal their cards?"]
[In the pitch-black darkness, the display screen on the stage suddenly lit up. Aventurine appeared on the screen. He unscrupulously sized up the fire lance in Stelle's hand, the corner of his mouth curving into a disdainful arc.]
["The inferior stone of the Architects. Hahaha... not worth a single copper."]
[He casually tossed out three dice. They tumbled in the exact center of the stage and finally stopped at everyone's feet—three of the same suit, like three mocking eyes staring fixedly at everyone.]
["I place the bets. I play the game. I take the win."]
[Stelle seemed to realize something and abruptly raised her head—]
[The darkness was like a pierced curtain. A point of golden light leaked out. It slowly fell like a drop of liquid gold until it suspended in midair above the stage.]
[The light gradually converged, revealing Aventurine's figure—yet it was completely different from usual.]
[He wore magnificent clothing, his face covered by a strange mask. But the most eye-catching thing was the object he held loosely in his palm—a Cornerstone that was emitting a faint halo yet was covered in cracks...]
["I let fate spin the roulette. I stake everything on one throw, traverse the land of death, and then live."]
[The instant he gripped the Cornerstone tightly, a brilliant golden pillar of light burst forth from within his body, as if a child who had been imprisoned for many years had finally broken free of the shackles... That light was too dazzling, like a sword forged from the sun itself, vowing to split open the night of Penacony that was drunk on gold and glittering with decadence.]
["Everything is dedicated to—the Amber Lord!"]
——
Record of Ragnarok.
"Oh? Is this the power of an Emanator of [Preservation]?"
In the resting room of the gods' side, Zeus excitedly widened his eyes, his white long eyebrows raised high.
Although he had heard Sunday explain that the power of an Emanator of [Preservation] was sealed inside the Cornerstones, he had never seen it with his own eyes. He had originally thought that the power of an Emanator would mostly be related to the concept of "Preservation" and be primarily defensive... yet he never expected that on Aventurine it would manifest so gorgeously and full of aggression.
…It seemed even more extravagant than Jing Yuan's and Acheron's displays.
"This kid actually hid this kind of power... shouldn't he have wiped out the Katika clan the very first day he obtained the Cornerstone?" Shiva dug at his ear. "As long as he is willing to transform, destroying a world without any Emanators would be easy, right?"
"Hey hey, is that eye on your forehead just for decoration? If you don't need it you can donate it to a god who does. How could Aventurine be the same type as you, a god who specializes in destruction? He's quite restrained when it comes to hatred, okay?"