[While Stelle was marveling at the grandeur of the Ambrosial Arbor, the restraints on Kafka's hands suddenly snapped open with a "click."]
["Huh?" Snapping back to reality, Stelle saw Kafka about to escape and hurriedly prepared to give chase.]
[But after just a few steps, Blade descended from the sky wielding his Fractured Sword, blocking Stelle's path.]
["Let's go, Blade. We still have two places to visit."]
[Kafka clasped her hands behind her back and walked to the edge of the Matrix of Prescience Ultima. Her gaze lowered, like a curious girl peering at something below. With her arms spread, she gracefully leaned backward, as if the abyss behind her were not a sheer drop but a cozy mattress.]
[Blade, in contrast, dove straight down like a deep-sea torpedo.]
Demon Slayer world.
"They just let them go like that?" Sanemi Shinazugawa grumbled discontentedly. "At least have a go at that Blade guy, right?"
Blade looked ridiculously strong… and a rare swordmaster at that. Since watching Jingliu, the Demon Slayers hadn't seen Luofu's swordsmanship in a while.
"Blade's attire suggests he's from the Xianzhou too. Probably Mara-struck, right? He seems like the same type as Jingliu. If they fought, Stelle might not be his match."
Everyone had seen Stelle's strength. Though she was formidable with her baseball bat, she lacked the killing intent to end lives. When fighting, she always left room for survival.
…Subdue, but don't kill.
Even against Cocolia, she only forced her to undo her transformation.
But Blade was different. Just looking at his eyes, everyone could tell he'd kill without hesitation, not stopping at a mere spar.
"On the Xianzhou, besides the General, probably only Jingliu could take on Blade. With Jingliu gone, if the General doesn't act, we might miss out on seeing Xianzhou's swordsmanship," Obanai Iguro, the Serpent Hashira, sighed.
"No way! Have you forgotten that young boy, Yanqing?" Shinobu Kocho suddenly spoke up. "He's the General's personal guard at such a young age. In terms of swordsmanship, probably only General Jing Yuan could surpass him. Plus, he's about the same age as Muichiro."
Her last sentence sent a ripple through the room's atmosphere.
The Hashira's gazes toward the Mist Hashira shifted, moving from studious observation to eager anticipation for some excitement.
This bunch…
Muichiro Tokito let out a long sigh, slightly tilting his head, his mint-colored eyes half-hidden under the shadow of his lashes.
"I wonder whose swordsmanship would come out on top, his or mine?"
——
[Stelle hurriedly ran to the platform's edge to look, but it was too late… Kafka and Blade were nowhere to be seen below.]
["Kafka got away? Damn, how are we supposed to explain this to the Master Diviner!" March 7th said, exasperated.]
[Recalling Kafka's words, Stelle hesitated. "If she wasn't lying, we might not need to explain anything…"]
["…Hey, you haven't been brainwashed by her, have you?!" March 7th gasped, covering her mouth in shock.]
[Stelle briefly relayed Kafka's words to March 7th and Welt, proving she hadn't been swayed by the mature older sister.]
[They decided to find Fu Xuan and Jing Yuan first to discuss the next steps. On their way, they spotted Tingyun standing on a nearby covered bridge, gazing entranced at the still-growing Ambrosial Arbor.]
[March 7th was puzzled. "Isn't that the half-withered tree Qingque showed us? How did it suddenly start growing?"]
[Tingyun seemed oblivious, lost in her own awe. "Marvelous, too marvelous! I'm so lucky—most long-lived species don't get to witness such a spectacle in their lifetime!"]
Teyvat, Fontaine.
"Huh? So this is how Xianzhou people react to the Ambrosial Arbor's revival?"
Furina studied Tingyun curiously, wondering if this Foxian miss was the type to revel in chaos.
Navia, sipping her black tea nearby, suddenly exclaimed, "The Ambrosial Arbor revives, and while the Divination Commission's people are nowhere to be seen, Miss Tingyun isn't thinking of fleeing but instead wants to admire the Arbor's scenery first… That's bolder than our Spina di Rosula's style."
Clorinde, however, frowned slightly. "But when she was capturing Kafka with Stelle and the others, Miss Tingyun didn't seem like this. From what I recall… she was quite afraid of death. Didn't she say she wanted to live a peaceful life for another hundred years or so?"
Navia lowered her head in thought. "True, Miss Tingyun does feel a bit off, but I can't quite put my finger on what's strange…"
["Maybe someone used some super-strong fertilizer?" Stelle mused, suddenly recalling an ad for fertilizer that "one bag works like two."]
[March 7th gave her a speechless glance.]
["This abnormal energy… it's the Stellaron," Welt analyzed. "The Stellaron the Cloud Knights are searching for is likely the cause of this phenomenon!"]
[Meanwhile, Fu Xuan, via a communication projection, had already relayed the intelligence she obtained from the Matrix of Prescience Ultima to Jing Yuan.]
[Even now, she wore a look of shock and doubt.]
["Don't panic, Fu Qing. Trust that the Matrix of Prescience Ultima never lies," Jing Yuan said, his tone as calm as ever, not only unruffled but even comforting Fu Xuan. "The logic behind Kafka's words is highly reliable. It's added a piece to my puzzle."]
["I know the Luofu must have external enemies, as a Stellaron couldn't appear out of nowhere—someone must have smuggled it in using some method. The internal threat must be the hidden malicious group claiming to follow the Abundance—the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus."]
["When the Stellaron first appeared, the Xianzhou was protected by the Reignbow Arbiter. Without another Aeon's Emanator intervening, how could it infiltrate the Luofu without my knowledge? Thus, there must be an external enemy."]
["The Stellaron has affected various areas but bypassed the Seat of Divine Foresight and the Shackling Prison, clearly with a specific target. The enemy's planning indicates they have internal intelligence on the Luofu, so an internal threat is imminent. Understanding these two points isn't difficult…"]
"Another Aeon's Emanator… So, does that mean the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus have an Abundance Emanator backing them?" Stark wondered, puzzled.
"Not likely, right? The Disciples are bold enough to recruit openly in Changletian. Without an Emanator, they're already this brazen. If they really had an Emanator behind them, I can't imagine how much bolder they'd be."
Perhaps this was what they called borrowing a tiger's might?
"With the Xianzhou as a convergence point for three Aeon factions, if we rule out an Abundance Emanator, that leaves only Destruction."
"Nanook's Emanator? But don't they destroy everything wherever they go?" Fern recalled how, in Belobog, the first Architects summoned a cold wave to wipe out Destruction's forces, and those were just ordinary Antimatter Legion troops… Yet, on the Xianzhou, an Emanator is acting so discreetly?
——