Chapter 218: The Mysterious Mr. Captain
"I am L."
Before March 7th could even open her mouth to issue a standard pre-match challenge, the Cloud Knight standing opposite her struck a dramatic pose and dropped that completely beyond understanding line.
'I am L?'March 7th blinked, her mind racing to process the absurdity. What on earth did that mean? What did'L' stand for? L-Labubu?
Was this some sort of highly popular, new-age psychological provocation tactic? Should she be doing it too?
"I am an emotionless killer," another Cloud Knight chimed in, his voice deadpan.
"Why have you come to participate in this competition?" a third asked, playing along with the bizarre script.
"Because it's fun."
"We're not participating just for the sake of fun!" the first Knight suddenly broke character, his voice cracking with passionate intensity. "Right now, somewhere up there in the audience stands, Guinaifen is watching us. Brothers, we cannot let Guinaifen down!"
"Guinaifen... oh, Guinaifen."
March 7th nodded slowly, finally grasping the situation. These guys were just hardcore fans.
"Then, do you want me to help you get her autograph after this?" she offered genuinely.
"Really?!" The Knight's eyes practically sparkled.
"Idiot!" his comrade smacked him on the back of the helmet. "If we surrender directly to get an autograph, won't the general punish us with a thousand laps, ten thousand push-ups, ten thousand squats, and ten thousand pull-ups for the entire next month?!"
"Right, right...!"
March 7th watched the chaotic group of opponents bickering among themselves. She silently tightened her grip on the twin swords in her hands, letting out a soft sigh.
"Um... could you guys finish fighting first before you argue?"
"Destroy them, nya!"
"Execute the cleansing protocol, nya!"
Rumble, rumble, rumble—!
A howling gale erupted across the Wardance arena. The invincible little whirlwind known as March 7th began to spin at a terrifyingly high speed. Her dual blades sliced through the air, churning up the dust and debris on the arena floor to form a highly visible, rapidly expanding pink tornado.
"Gwah! She's an expert! Everyone be careful, nya!"
"What kind of weird move is this?! There's no opening at all!"
"Don't clash head-on, look for an opportunity..."
But her rotational velocity was simply too extreme. She was literally spinning across the arena floor like a high-speed top.
The squad of Cloud Knights only saw a massive, pink-tinted hurricane bearing down on them. No matter what angle they thrust their spears or swung their halberds from, their weapons were violently deflected by the ridiculously high-frequency parries of her spinning blades.
"Fall back! Fall back! Fall back! Don't get close to her, you'll get sucked into the vortex!"
"Brothers, hold steady! As long as we endure, just wait for her to get exhausted and nauseous—!"
Before the squad leader could finish his tactical assessment, March 7th's spinning trajectory suddenly snapped into a bizarre, jagged Z-shaped wobble. Instead of losing momentum, she used the rebound force from her erratic footwork to accelerate, crashing directly into their defensive line.
A perfect Z-flash maneuver.
The Cloud Knights clearly had no desire to return to headquarters and face brutal, high-intensity remedial training for losing miserably in the first round.
"Hold on, hold on!"
"Go for it—"
After struggling to maintain their footing against the relentless pink blender for what felt like an eternity, the squad finally collapsed, battered, bruised, and thoroughly defeated.
Only then did March 7th finally manage to halt her spin.
"My head feels... a bit dizzy..."
Even with the superb, highly adaptable physique of a Nameless from the Astral Express, spinning like a top for over ten minutes straight was pushing the limits of human biology. A normal person's internal organs would have been blended into a smoothie by now.
March 7th's eyes were rolling with literal dizzy spirals as Rekka gently supported her swaying frame and guided her back to the competitor's rest room.
"We won... but it feels like the whole world is spinning." She leaned heavily against the cold wall, her body still swaying from side to side as if she were on a rocking ship. "No, no, no, I need to lie down. I feel like I just spun my breakfast all the way up to my throat..."
"That move didn't seem to be derived from the combat AI analysis, right?" Rekka asked, an amused smirk playing on his lips.
"I thought of it myself!" March 7th shook her head, trying to clear the fog. "I just figured, since the swords are meant to deflect attacks, if I spin fast enough, wouldn't I be able to deflect from all directions at once? The theory wasn't wrong, I just didn't expect spinning for so long to make me this nauseous."
Rekka casually fished a small, metallic cube out of his pocket and pressed it directly against her forehead. A wave of crisp, cooling energy radiated from the device. The tingling sensation made March 7th squint her eyes in absolute comfort as the intense vertigo rapidly washed away.
"The Hallelujah Whirlwind, huh."
"What kind of name is Hallelujah Whirlwind? It sounds awful."
March 7th lay sprawled on the plush sofa, the cool little cube still stuck to her forehead, her voice dripping with distaste at the moniker.
She paused, a suspicious glint in her eye. Was he trying to frame her with that terrible naming sense? Wait, did she actually yell that out in the arena?
"By the way, do you have any idea what your specific goal is for participating in this Wardance now?" Rekka asked, pulling up a chair nearby.
"Hmm, yes. I want to... play more, have fun, that's the ultimate goal." March 7th nodded with utmost seriousness. "Now I'm gradually able to rely less and less on these two swords..."
"Maybe you really are a natural-born genius in this area."
"Even if you praise me like that, I won't be happy..."
She claimed she wouldn't be happy, but her internal delight was entirely transparent. The silly, triumphant grin plastered across her face completely betrayed her true thoughts.
The heavy door to the rest room was suddenly pushed open. Stelle strolled in, carrying three large cups of iced juice that were still steaming with frosty condensation.
"Come on, come on, iced Immortal's Delight, fresh from the stall outside." Stelle set the cups down on the glass coffee table, immediately grabbed one for herself, and took a massive, refreshing gulp.
"What's the situation outside now? Who's fighting who next?"
Stelle pulled up a chair, sat down heavily, and crossed her legs, radiating the energy of a well-informed gossip peddler.
"I took a walk around the perimeter just now and heard the crowds discussing the brackets. One of the arena defenders is a pretty mysterious guy. He basically finishes all of his opponents in a single move..."
"One move? Is it really that exaggerated?" March 7th's suspicious gaze instantly snapped toward Rekka like a heat-seeking missile. "Could it be that Rekka secretly handed out some weird, overpowered cheat weapons behind our backs again?"
Rekka immediately threw his hands up in a gesture of pure innocence.
"Don't pin every cosmic anomaly on my head. I've been sitting with you all day today; when would I have had the time to hand out hacks to anyone?"
Although the situation was indeed directly related to Rekka, this technically didn't count as handing out a cheat weapon, right? It shouldn't count.
A pitch-black cloak. Beneath the heavy fabric, an unreadable, solid white mask.
The identity of this individual was completely obvious to anyone who knew the truth.
"Another flawless victory—! This is undoubtedly one of the most mysterious arena defenders of this entire Wardance! However, the time has finally come to reveal the true identity of this enigmatic warrior!"
Owlbert's enthusiastic broadcast voice echoed through the massive speakers, vibrating across the entire venue.
"The master of the Hyperion, the man who travels through the dark cosmos, bringing salvation and hope to countless planets on the very verge of destruction—Mr. Captain!"
Although March 7th and Stelle found the title incredibly familiar, they didn't immediately connect the dots to suspect Rekka.
However, the pink and blue twins who cheerfully called Rekka 'Captain' every single day had already realized the massive problem unfolding in the arena.
Captain.
Captain.
Captain.
Hyperion.
Hyperion.
Hyperion.
That's right. It was precisely the alternate identity fabricated entirely by Rekka... The Captain. Or rather, the Ferryman.
The Ferryman was the single most powerful individual among the various entities fabricated by Rekka's chaotic powers. He was a being devoid of true self-consciousness, merely acting on a single, overriding directive.
He had appeared here on the Luofu because, after accidentally saving the populace of a planet that was about to be annihilated, he had simultaneously drawn the attention of both the Xianzhou Alliance and the Interstellar Peace Corporation. Ai-chan had directly connected to Rekka's comms, asking him how he planned to handle the sudden galactic spotlight.
After a brief moment of thought, Rekka had formulated a brand-new, highly entertaining idea. And so, the Ferryman took action.
This was exactly why Rekka had been so deeply invested in watching this Wardance.
Because he could put on yet another spectacular performance.
And putting on a show just felt absolutely great.
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