The Grizzly led the trio—Stelle, March 7th, and Dan Heng—out of the basement with a swagger, and the process went surprisingly smoothly, with not a single Vagrant coming to check on them.
"Situation unknown, Boss's orders completed, bye-bye~"
Upon reaching the first floor, the Grizzly, swaying its bulky frame, was about to head back to the dungeon.
"Hey, wait a second! I'm at least Clara's newly recruited subordinate. As a senior, can't you stick around to protect us?" Stelle hurriedly blocked the Grizzly's path.
"Heh, a mere 19th-ranked subordinate dares to make demands of me, the 3rd-ranked subordinate?"
The Grizzly mocked in its flat, monotonous voice, "You? Heh."
Stelle: Huh?!
A robot mocking her? Who wrote its code?
And did it really think it could take her on now? If it kept acting cocky, she'd show it a grand summoning technique!
Ding!
March 7th silently poked a hole in the Grizzly's body with her spear. "Say that again?"
Grizzly: System busy, system busy…
Faced with the Grizzly playing dead, Stelle was helpless. But just then, she noticed an unusual silence throughout the villa-castle, almost unnaturally so.
"What's going on? We've only been locked up for less than half an hour, right? What happened?"
Stelle noticed scattered weapons on the floor, and a vague sense of unease crept into his heart.
"Could it be Bronya and the others, worried about us, coming back with reinforcements?" Stelle speculated.
But there were no clear signs of combat, and they hadn't heard any sounds of fighting just now…
Suddenly, Stelle spotted a figure completely encased in ice. Judging by the clothing, it was a Vagrant.
The Vagrant's expression was frozen in place, with lingering traces of visceral fear, standing like one of the ice sculptures on the snowy plains. From his posture, it seemed he had been fleeing from something.
The trio looked behind the ice sculpture. This path wasn't unfamiliar—they had passed through here when they were escorted out of Root's office earlier.
As they ventured further inside, they found not only more ice sculptures but also the bodies of Vagrants pierced by ice lances.
"These ice lances look familiar," March 7th said calmly after examining them for a moment.
"It's that lady named Cocolia," Dan Heng said, stroking his chin. "My intuition tells me something happened in the office after we left."
The trio continued their exploration upward, finally returning to Root's office, which seemed to be the source of the frost. Inside stood two figures.
One was Cocolia, whom they had already met, and the other was Root, locked in a standoff with her.
Sensing the trio's arrival, both turned simultaneously, their eyes filled with wariness.
In Root's hand lay a sphere glowing like a star, continuously emitting energy to counter the ice and snow unleashed by Cocolia.
"What… what's going on here?"
Stelle broke the silence first. "…Haha, so, Lady Cocolia, you've been on our side all along? I knew it! You must've faked having the Great Guardian's orders to trick Root into lowering his guard, then took him down to save us, right?"
Cocolia looked at him strangely. "What do your lives have to do with me?"
"Wait…"
Dan Heng seemed to notice something. He looked at the energy sphere in Root's hand. "Is that a Stellaron?"
"Hmph, you've got some sharp eyes," Root laughed. "Since you Overworld folks have figured it out, I'll drop the act. That's right—this thing in my hand is a Stellaron!"
"After I took control of the entire Underworld, this thing came to me on its own. Sure, I used to be a nobody slapped around by the old man, but now—power, ideals, purpose—it's all in my hands, hahaha!"
Cocolia grabbed his wrist. "I wouldn't be so sure."
"Hah, Overworld woman, I was thrilled when you promised autonomy, but now that you dare covet this great existence, I have no choice but to punish you! Feel the extreme cold!" Root's expression darkened as he spoke.
A violent wave of energy erupted, pushing March 7th and Dan Heng back a few steps. Only Stelle stood his ground, seemingly unaffected.
Dan Heng's eyes narrowed, and he spoke quickly: "So that's it, Stelle—I understand now. The Stellaron in your body is helping you resist power of the same level…"
"Don't start narrating on your own…" Stelle quipped. Under the gazes of the four, she slowly stepped forward, joining the struggle for the Stellaron.
She didn't know why the plot had jumped so quickly, but if she could seize this Stellaron, wouldn't everything be resolved?
"Oh? Looks like an energy source of the same type as mine?"
Root clearly sensed the familiar power within Stelle and sneered. "Too bad—I have reasons I can't afford to lose!"
Stelle: …
"Hah, just a petty thug who stumbled upon power that doesn't belong to you, spouting grandiose nonsense," Cocolia said. "Only by handing it over to the Great Guardian can all of Belobog be revitalized!"
Root struggled to pull a walkie-talkie from his pocket. "Svarog, get over here and help me!"
Not long after, Svarog stormed into the villa-castle with a group of drone soldiers, glaring menacingly.
"You think you're the only one who can call for backup?" Cocolia pulled out an old-fashioned phone. "Bronya, it's your turn!"
Tap, tap, tap…
Moments later, the Wildfire team, led by Bronya, who had escaped not long ago, charged in, ready for action.
"Bronya?" March 7th was shocked. "You actually came back?"
"I got a message from Mother saying you'd been captured by the Vagrants and to wait for her signal to come rescue you," Bronya said, supporting Seele's shoulder. "But it looks like you're fine now?"
"Oh? You dare show up on your own?!" Root laughed in rage. "Perfect—once I take you all down, I'll rule half of Belobog!"
Stelle suddenly had an idea. "Really? And what makes you think Svarog will help you?"
Hearing this, Root smirked contemptuously and pulled out a device resembling a detonator. "See this, kid? This is the trigger for a super-explosive. If I press it three times in a row, it'll blow up the bomb on Svarog's neck! You think it dares disobey me?"
Stelle's eyes lit up. With a chomp, she bit down on Root's hand, mumbling, "Gimme that…"