The gaming session was surprisingly harmonious. The other side didn't seem interested in trash-talking back—or maybe they were just brewing up some mischief.
In any case, Sylvia made it all the way through claiming her rewards and logging off without any of the "entertaining" drama she might have expected.
Just as she was about to call it a day, Acheron suddenly replied on her phone.
[Acheron: How was the game? The scenery on my end is pretty nice too. I think you'd like it.]
[Acheron: [Image][Image][Image]]
It looked like the photos were taken especially for her. Acheron stood atop some high peak, gazing down at the land below.
A violet wasteland stretched out, barren and desolate, while the thin atmosphere painted the sky in shifting, otherworldly hues.
And there, at the horizon, a colossal creature—or maybe a gigantic plant—towered into the clouds, churning the mist and glow as if it owned the skies.
The pictures Acheron sent were beautiful, no doubt. But the wreckage in the background and that enormous thing in the distance… none of it looked the least bit safe.
Sylvia knew Acheron was incredibly strong, but seeing her in such a place still made her worry instinctively.
[Sylvia: It really is stunning… but what's that in the background? Some kind of structure, or a monster?]
[Acheron: Not sure. They're pretty aggressive, and clever too—just not that strong. After I killed a few, the rest stopped approaching. Maybe they caught my scent.]
[Sylvia: You're not hurt, are you? Maybe you should leave early? If some unknown giant decides to attack while you're resting, that could get messy.]
Meanwhile—
On some unknown planet.
Acheron's lips curved slightly as she read Sylvia's message.
Leaning on her sword, she typed back carefully:
[Acheron: I know. This planet's pretty dull, and it's not on the Trailblaze route. I'll leave right after sending you these photos.]
Had Sylvia been there, following Acheron's gaze, she would've realized:
What Acheron was standing on was no mountain.
It was clearly a monster, identical to the one looming at the horizon—
Except this one bore a massive, vertical slash running from bottom to top, nearly splitting it in two. A single strike had ended it.
Enormous amounts of blood had spilled, forming rivers and lakes spreading beneath its body.
And if she had looked behind Acheron, she would've seen an almost endless field of monster corpses lying quietly, waiting to decompose and return to the planet.
Yet Acheron herself remained, as always, spotlessly clean.
Even her clothes still carried the faint scent of the ointments and essential oils Sylvia had blended for her.
She never enjoyed large-scale slaughter.
So once the fight was over, she instinctively opened her phone, hoping to connect with Sylvia.
Maybe it was luck, or fate—
Sylvia noticed Acheron's message right away and replied immediately.
Sylvia told her about her day: meeting diviners from the Divination Commission, and Fu Xuan, the Master Diviner herself.
She also mentioned the delicious food she'd tried, saying that someday, when Acheron returned to the Xianzhou, she could be her tour guide—showing her around, eating and drinking and having fun together.
Just ordinary, everyday little things.
But as Acheron read on, the restlessness inside her—along with the discomfort that always followed using the power of Nihility—began to fade, like a tide receding.
Emotions she hadn't felt in a long time slowly filled her chest.
[Acheron: I've heard Penacony is a world of dreams. Next time we meet, even if there's no time for the Xianzhou, we should be able to taste the delicacies you mentioned there.]
[Sylvia: Already dreaming of Penacony, huh? I've heard it's crazy expensive to go—without an invitation, it'll cost a fortune.]
[Acheron: Don't worry. I'll handle it.]
Sylvia's heart skipped a beat.
Thinking of the late Duke, who'd "died with regrets," she wondered to herself—was Acheron planning to randomly "acquire" another invitation?
Just pick some "lucky" winner for express delivery?
What a grim punchline.
[Sylvia: Did you save up a lot? But there's no rush—I looked it up, and the next Charmony Festival is still a while away. Who knows, maybe I'll get an invite by then, or earn enough on my own. I can't always rely on you for everything.]
[Acheron: Okay.]
Acheron always respected Sylvia's wishes.
Of course, that didn't mean she wouldn't prepare a backup plan.
Besides, she was curious how Sylvia planned to get that invitation—or earn enough credits.
--+--
They chatted for over a system hour.
It wasn't until Acheron said she was about to set off that Sylvia reluctantly put her phone down.
After putting the device away, Sylvia washed up and was just getting ready for bed when—
BAM—!
The front door of her room suddenly exploded out of nowhere.
Flames and thick smoke surged into the room from the doorway, so intense that Sylvia was nearly stunned.
Then, a tall, imposing silver-white robot strode into the room, wreathed in blazing fire:
"Protocol approved. Commencing Scorched Earth tactics!"
"Holy crap, Sam!"
Along with Sylvia's shocked cry—
WHOOSH—
Like a flaming meteor, Sam charged straight at Sylvia, trying to engulf her in fire.
But Sylvia reacted instantly—she flipped backward, one hand braced against the sofa, easily dodging the direct assault.
As for the scattered flames? To Sylvia, who was also cloaked in fire, they were hardly a threat.
And in that moment, a flash of purple blade light cut through the air—
Clang—
A greatsword was drawn. Sylvia raised it backhanded, blocking the slender blade headed her way.
A pair of hollow purple eyes gazed at her with amusement from close range.
"Caught you, little prey~"
Shing—
Blades crossed and parted. Flame erupted from Sylvia's body, violently forcing Kafka back.
As the fire faded, Sylvia was now clad in form-fitting silver-white armor.
"What are Stellaron Hunters doing here?"
Sylvia was baffled. At this point in time, why were Stellaron Hunters showing up at her place?
Weren't they afraid Jing Yuan might just summon the Lightning Lord to take a swing at them?
But Sam and Kafka clearly had no intention of giving her time to think. They rushed at her from two directions, forcing Sylvia into continuous combat, leaving her no room to focus on anything else.
As the fight dragged on, though, Sylvia began to sense something odd.
Sam's flames had little effect on her—that was expected. She worked with fire herself, so unless it was some insane, otherworldly kind of flame, she wasn't likely to get burned badly.
But just because she couldn't be burned didn't mean the flames shouldn't even scorch the sofa, right?
Sam's fire had spread across the entire living room, flames licking high over the couch—yet after all this time, the sofa remained completely untouched, without even a hint of charring.
An illusion?
But that didn't make sense—Sparkle shouldn't be on the Xianzhou right now. She ought to be heading toward Penacony too.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.