Golden Hour.
Firefly used the Bubble Pinball Machine to launch herself onto a tall rooftop, choosing this quiet place to think alone about the three deaths written into her script.
Penacony's dreamscape was said to be absolutely safe, with no precedent of death.
Yet over the past few days of investigation, she had come across rumors of monsters being killed.
Combined with her own script, these were likely not just rumors.
So, the question was—where was she supposed to find monsters to kill her?
Just as Firefly was struggling with this thought, Kafka requested a communication link.
She established the connection and asked with some confusion, "What is it, Kafka?"
Seeing Silver Wolf in Penacony had already been strange enough.
Receiving contact from Kafka was even more puzzling, especially since Kafka had previously told her to focus on the script and promised minimal interference.
"SAM, Silver Wolf has gone missing," Kafka said, her expression serious and her tone heavy.
"?"
Hearing the magnetic female voice in her ear, Firefly couldn't help but feel puzzled.
Could the Silver Wolf she had just seen—the one who transferred her ten million credits—have been fake?
She stood up and walked to the edge of the rooftop, looking down, and saw Silver Wolf still wandering around with Sol Mercer.
In such a short time, the two had already moved from one arcade machine to another, enthusiastically experiencing Penacony's signature games.
Kafka continued, "A few days ago, an unidentified individual appeared aboard the Astral Express. After Elio looked into him, he discovered that this person had recently gained the favor of Nous and became an Emanator of Erudition. His name is Sol Mercer."
"He's currently in Penacony. I sent Silver Wolf to investigate, but I didn't expect her to vanish outright."
"You must be careful. This is a dangerous individual not accounted for in the script. Elio cannot see this person's past or future. Your script may very well fail."
She had never imagined that Silver Wolf—who could come and go freely through Herta Space Station and the Interastral Peace Corporation headquarters—would fall so quickly.
And the Stellaron Hunters currently knew nothing about the other party.
This enemy was more troublesome than any they had ever faced.
"Mr. Sol is actually quite nice. Silver Wolf is currently shopping around Golden Hour with him," Firefly said calmly as she took a photo and sent it to Kafka.
"Earlier, they ran into Stelle with me and helped me out once. Silver Wolf even transferred ten million credits to me."
"And then, because she lost a bet to Sol, she started calling him 'Boss.'"
"She looks very motivated right now."
Yes—very motivated.
As if she had found an opponent worth going all out against, someone who demanded her full strength to challenge the summit. Just like when she provoked Herta before—perhaps with a similar outcome.
Firefly now understood that Silver Wolf truly had lost a bet to Sol, only that the loss was likely far worse than she had imagined.
"You're saying Silver Wolf is currently free?" Kafka asked, looking at the photo on her phone.
In the image, Silver Wolf was energetically battling arcade machines alongside a young man, brimming with vitality.
This was fundamentally different from the life-or-death crisis Kafka had imagined.
Firefly recalled what she had just seen and replied with certainty, "Yes. She looked very free earlier, and she still looks very free now."
"Sigh~" Kafka let out a soft sigh, like a parent looking at a child who didn't want to come home.
At least knowing Silver Wolf was safe was enough.
From the current situation, that Mr. Sol didn't seem quite as dangerous as expected.
After all, he was keeping Silver Wolf by his side—not mincing her into meat.
"Kafka, what should I do now?" Firefly asked, still watching the two playing arcade games below, suddenly feeling lost.
She had followed Elio's guidance and paid the price of acting out a script in hopes of finding a cure for her Entropy Loss Syndrome.
But if the script might fail, what was she supposed to do?
Kafka became uncharacteristically serious and warned, "Don't act for now. This interference is extremely severe. He's an Emanator of unknown origin and purpose, unlike other Emanators who leave traces."
"According to what Elio saw, even before being noticed by Nous, he already possessed the power to annihilate star systems."
"With such a massive variable involved, the three deaths in your script could turn into a single real death. Don't attempt it lightly."
Everything that has occurred is recorded in the Akashic Records of the universe.
The Aeon of Remembrance can view them. The Aeon of Erudition can calculate them.
And the Aeon of Finality, arriving from the distant future and moving against time itself, sees it all with absolute clarity.
Elio, the Emanator of Finality, witnessed the moment Sol Mercer triggered a cosmic electromagnetic storm.
Unfortunately, this figure's deeper past could not be explored, and his future was shrouded in fog. Only what had already happened was immutable.
He was a variable of the entire universe—one that had already drawn the focused attention of the Aeon of Finality.
"A real death," Firefly murmured softly.
She held no fear of death—that was something she had discarded long ago, nearly impossible to reclaim.
But she did hold hope for life. She wanted to truly live, or rather, to live as herself.
From the moment her life sprouted, she had been an iron cavalry meant to cleanse evil for the Empress. That was the meaning of her birth—but not the meaning of her existence.
"For now, the script is temporarily frozen. Do what you want to do," Kafka said.
"Go and form bonds with the current Trailblazer. Try to become companions again."
Kafka smiled faintly, unafraid of variables. "After all, it's not so easy for Order to return, is it?"
Whether it was the Emanator of Nihility originally written into the script, or this newly arrived mysterious individual, both had the power to flip the table.
"Mm." Firefly nodded, looking once more at the two figures below. "I understand."
===BREAK===
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