"So, you pretended to agree to their terms back then, and then, when they let their guard down, you sent people to capture them."
"But you failed, and now they've fled to the Underworld?"
Inside the Qliphoth Fort, in the Supreme Guardian's office, Clara summed up the situation in those two sentences after listening to Cocolia's explanation.
"Mmm… I'm sorry, we weren't able to apprehend them…" Cocolia nodded, offering Clara an apologetic look.
"Well, it's not really a big deal~"
"Even if you had caught them, with the Silvermane Guards and the conditions of Belobog's prison, there's no way they could've been held."
Clara let out a yawn, not particularly concerned.
"Is that so…" Cocolia fell into a brief silence after hearing Clara's words.
"Alright, time's about up." A Stellaron materialized in Clara's hand, its violent, destructive energy instantly flooding the office.
"It's time for me to fuse the Stellaron with you."
"Very well."
Hearing Clara's words, Cocolia snapped back to attention and gave a serious nod.
"Then, close your eyes. It might hurt a bit." Clara took an exaggerated deep breath before offering a reminder.
"But don't worry, it won't cause the slightest harm to your body, your soul, or your consciousness."
"Proceed!"
Cocolia closed her eyes without any further preparation.
"Mm." Clara nodded and activated the Stellaron in her hand.
The Stellaron began to rotate slowly, then levitated in the air before drifting toward Cocolia and finally sinking into her body.
"Clara…" Watching the Stellaron disappear into Cocolia, Firefly leaned in close to Clara's ear, a puzzled tone in her voice.
"Is it really okay to fuse a Stellaron with an ordinary person?"
"Of course it's not okay. If a real Stellaron fused with an ordinary person, no matter how strong their constitution or willpower, they'd probably be corrupted instantly."
Firefly: ??
"Then why did you…" Firefly didn't finish her sentence, instead casting a glance full of confusion—nine parts out of ten—toward Cocolia.
If Clara knew that fusing a Stellaron with an ordinary person would corrupt them instantly, then why would she…?
"It's simple."
Clara shot a sidelong glance at Firefly, seeing right through her thoughts, and replied in a flat tone:
"The Stellaron I fused into Cocolia isn't a real one, that's all."
"?"
"A Stellaron… can be fake?" Firefly muttered, bewildered.
"Just because there weren't any before doesn't mean there aren't any now." A faint smile touched Clara's lips at Firefly's muttering.
The Stellaron fused into Cocolia was a one-to-one replica she had created based on a real Stellaron.
The only difference was that a real Stellaron contained the power of Destruction. The one she had made was filled with the power of Remembrance.
Though the two were worlds apart, without firsthand contact, it was impossible to tell the real from the fake.
As long as she could make Cocolia feel the power the "Stellaron" granted her, Cocolia would believe in its authenticity.
"This… this is the… power of the Stellaron…"
Soon, the fusion of the "Stellaron" was complete. Feeling the incredibly surging power within her, Cocolia reopened her eyes, unable to suppress the joy bursting from her heart.
"So powerful… so intoxicating."
Sensing the power within her—enough to destroy all of Belobog—Cocolia swelled with confidence.
"How does it feel?"
"I feel… I've never felt better than I do today."
Cocolia walked slowly to the window and spread her arms as if embracing the entire city of Belobog.
"Now, a brand new world."
"Is about to be born!"
Watching Cocolia's chuuni-like display, Clara stifled a laugh and walked over to stand beside her.
"Then let's go."
"To make the final preparations."
"When the time comes…"
"We won't have to eat beef anymore!" (Scratch that)
"The world… will witness a true revolution!"
…
"Just as I thought."
"That woman Cocolia is no good person."
Meanwhile, in Belobog's Underworld.
"Ahhh~ If Mr. Yang knew Cocolia was no good, why didn't you say so earlier?"
March 7th, already furious that Cocolia's midnight attempt to capture them had interrupted her beauty sleep, shot Welt a deeply resentful look upon hearing his words.
"Ahem, it was just an unfounded suspicion before, so I didn't mention it." Feeling March 7th's gaze, Welt coughed awkwardly a few times.
He couldn't very well say he'd judged her as untrustworthy just by her appearance and name, could he?
After all, with Himeko as a prior example, Welt hadn't been too surprised when he first met Cocolia.
He'd kept reminding himself that this wasn't the Cocolia he knew, so he shouldn't let personal bias guide his actions.
But who would have thought she'd actually turn out to be no good?
"Ugh, I hate people like that the most." The memory of what Cocolia had done to them filled March 7th with fresh anger.
"If you don't want something, just say no. If you do, say yes. If you'd said no, we could've just left."
"But instead, one moment you're calmly agreeing to cooperate with us, and the next you're framing us and sending people to arrest us for no reason."
"Is she crazy or what?"
March 7th kept cursing Cocolia with every word she knew, clearly showing how truly angered she was by the woman's actions.
"Mmm… but little Clara is so kind and beautiful."
The moment she thought of Clara, the little angel they'd met along the way, all the resentment March 7th felt toward Cocolia was completely purified.
"Wait a second!"
Then, a sudden possibility occurred to her, and she spoke up with urgent worry:
"Clara knows about our backgrounds. If she hears that Cocolia framed us and forced us to flee to the Underworld…"
"She wouldn't be foolish enough to go confront Cocolia directly, would she…?"
"What if she…"
At this thought, March 7th couldn't help but worry for Clara's safety.
"What do we do, what do we do…"
Welt, Dan Heng, Stelle: …
"I think you're worrying unnecessarily." Dan Heng let out a helpless sigh at March 7th's incessant fretting.
"Judging by how familiar she seemed with Cocolia, they've probably known each other for a long time."
"I don't think she'd confront a longtime friend over people she's only known for a few system hours."
"You don't understand." March 7th immediately rebutted Dan Heng's words.
"You don't get it. Clara is kind and beautiful."
"She would definitely do that!"
Dan Heng: …
"Sigh… whatever makes you happy."
Dan Heng couldn't follow March 7th's train of thought, so he didn't know what else to say.
Besides, he had a feeling of his own.
This Clara…
She probably wasn't a good person either…
…
I have completed the author to TL pipeline, 2 chapters per day. Advanced chapters available on patreon.
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Give power stones please I survive solely off of number go up.