Asta's words made Ruan Mei and Herta exchange glances. The Genius Society's finest, being stared at by Aha? Aha might not care about face, but Herta certainly did.
She had no desire to become a "Useless Scholar" or the butt of anyone's jokes.
Herta summoned her magic key, opened a [Mirror], and teleported directly before Aha.
She crossed her arms, half-closed her eyes, and regarded the Aeon of Elation with an air of utter indifference.
"Aeon of Lols, did you come by when 'Yu Qingtu' appeared in Herta City last time?"
The only response was the laughter of a circus clown from the Tavern.
Herta frowned. "Why are you here? You can't just be a spectator."
Aha kept laughing—mocking, jeering, cackling.
But a few words formed in her mind, carried by Elation.
"When fish encounter gray fire, and the Cat's Cradle holds a wind-up apple, will all living beings sleep peacefully in the boundless white night?"
Herta gritted her teeth, glaring at Aha. "I don't walk the Path of Elation! I don't understand what you're saying!"
Aha seemed to wave a hand, laughing without restraint.
In an instant, an absolute, terrifying power of Elation surged forth.
Herta tensed, instinctively raising her magic key.
But the Elation power flew toward a tavern somewhere on the Luofu.
A flash of gold—no, purple—no, a shifting blue light, carrying the breath of Elation, elevated someone to an Emanator of Elation.
Herta froze. From past to present, the only known Emanator of Elation was that insect. Now there was another.
Wait... a tavern... 'Yu Qingtu' had gone drinking, hadn't she?
Could it be? 'Yu Qingtu' had actually become an Emanator of Elation?
But she was still pretending to be Yu Qingtu!
Herta's face darkened. She glared at Aha with resentment and cold finality.
"You unreliable Aeon, obsessed only with amusement—what are you thinking?!"
Aha laughed again, this time fading from the Luofu as it did.
In the distance, the Lord Ravagers exchanged puzzled looks.
"What? The result is a new Emanator of Elation?!"
Phantylia sighed. "I thought we'd see absolute Destruction. Is this it? Wherever Aha appears, Destruction rarely follows."
"Enough. What a waste of time. Herta #3156's will for Destruction was limited after all."
With that, Phantylia and the other Lord Ravagers turned and left.
Seeing Aha gone, and 'Yu Qingtu' having almost certainly become an Emanator, adding another layer of challenge for her, Herta decided to snuff out this uncertainty before it grew.
What if, by some slim chance, she deceived Ruan Mei?
She returned to Ruan Mei's side, displeased.
"Ruan Mei, Asta, go back to the space station. I have something to handle."
Asta nodded lightly.
Ruan Mei pressed, "You're going to see the new Emanator of Elation?"
Herta nodded. "Do you want to come with me?"
Ruan Mei hesitated. Just as she was about to answer, Herta spoke first.
"Ruan Mei, Tingyun, Wisteria Cake, and Ruan Mei Cake and Forgotten Cake—they went to the blue planet, didn't they? They're investigating my past. My childhood."
Ruan Mei paused. Herta continued, "They're at my residence on the blue planet. But there's been a small problem. You should go see for yourself."
She opened a [Mirror] to the blue planet. Ruan Mei, conceding to Herta's wishes, went to find them, leaving Herta to face the familiar-yet-stranger Emanator of Elation alone.
Once Ruan Mei was gone, Herta found 'Yu Qingtu' dead drunk.
She could clearly sense the Emanator's Path power radiating from her.
Erase her to eliminate the threat? Or send her back to Herta City for now?
'Yu Qingtu' opened her eyes and looked at Herta, a natural smile on her face.
"So it's you, Herta. Come, try this Xianzhou osmanthus brew."
Herta said nothing, but silently raised her magic key.
Half-drunk, 'Yu Qingtu' murmured, "Herta, I've been having a dream lately. Want to hear it?"
She didn't wait for an answer. She continued.
"I dreamed that I was a small-time star on a frontier planet. Framed by others, shelved, no popularity, sinking into depression, at the end of my rope. Then I met some Masked Fools from the Tavern. They told me about Aha—how They laugh in bitterness, in anger, in sorrow... all kinds of laughs. After witnessing the fools' antics, that little star changed her name to Sparkle. She invented many backgrounds for herself: an abandoned existence, a puppet, a cursed fairy. In the end, she wasn't satisfied with any of those made-up identities. Then she thought: if only she could become a genius, make a genius walk the Path of Elation, seek amusement—better yet, fall in love with one, hate one—wouldn't that be the ultimate Elation?"
With that, Herta raised her magic key, ready to send this now-uncontrollable Sparkle to Herta City.
Sparkle pouted and smiled. "Perhaps in other ways I can't match you. But using spatial powers in front of an Emanator of Elation—aren't you a little too confident?"
Herta realized something was wrong. Sparkle walked toward the [Mirror], but the other end had been spatially swapped; the destination was no longer Herta City.
Only a mocking laugh remained in the air.
"Madam Herta, I am Sparkle. I am also Yu Qingtu. So I, too, will pursue Madam Ruan Mei. The competition among geniuses is always cruel. I can't wait to see you filled with regret, jealousy, despair, and utterly helpless."