Chapter 220

【The weaknesses of human nature cannot be overcome in a day; with just these efforts, can we really make everyone turn over a new leaf?】

Although the plan sounds good,

Black Swan does not believe it can be successfully implemented.

Stelle: "I bet ninety percent of the people here don't want to wake up from the Dream of Ena."

Dr. Ratio: "Ninety percent?"

Dr. Ratio: "Still too conservative."

Dr. Ratio: "In my opinion, at least ninety-nine percent."

Dr. Ratio: "At this moment, there are about a million people in Penacony."

Dr. Ratio: "But only a handful of you are still awake."

Dr. Ratio: "The temptation of the Dream of Ena is far greater than you imagine."

Hu Tao: "I can understand that."

Hu Tao: "Who wouldn't, when the dream is so sweet it's unbelievable?"

Hu Tao: "If they can't even realize it's a dream, it's even harder to wake up."

Furina: "Then what should we do?"

Furina: "Everyone doesn't want to wake up."

Furina: "Won't the Dream of Ena just become more and more solid?"

Paimon: "Hmm... for the Sabzeruz Festival, you only needed to find one person to wake up from the dream to break it."

Paimon: "But the Dream of Ena requires everyone to wake up..."

Paimon: "Comparing them like this... Lumine, I suddenly feel the Sabzeruz Festival was actually pretty good."

Lumine: "Paimon, you're right."

Lumine: "After seeing this Dream of Ena, I also feel the Sabzeruz Festival was nothing."

The video continues.

【That is indeed true, Miss Black Swan.】

【Therefore, the most important part of the plan is not to make everyone turn over a new leaf...】

【--but to let everyone choose to save themselves.】

Acheron suddenly speaks up.

【So... it finally comes back to you, doesn't it?】

Black Swan looks at Acheron and smiles faintly.

【The power of the Choir is no different from an Emanator; it ultimately requires equal power to oppose it.】

【The final step to subvert the sweet dream... will be completed by me.】

Stelle: "Only an Emanator can rival the power of an Emanator."

Stelle: "Damn it, if I'm not an Emanator, I'm just a small fry after all!!"

Stelle: "Quickly tell me, which Path is missing an Emanator? I want to apply!"

March 7th: "Do you think you're looking for a job?"

March 7th: "Applying..."

March 7th: "An Emanator is something you only become if an Aeon likes you."

Stelle: "Is there no Aeon who likes me?"

Stelle: "If not, then I'll just throw myself into the embrace of Nihility."

Stelle: "At least Nihility relies on its own ability to become an Emanator."

Dr. Ratio: "Do you think you have that ability?"

Stelle: "I think I might."

Silver Wolf: "I think you think wrong."

Stelle: "I don't care what you think, I only care what I think."

Furina: "Uh... although, but..."

Furina: "After stepping onto the Path of Nihility, there's no turning back, right?"

Furina: "I think the risk is still quite high."

Sparkle: "Tsk, little grey-hair, why not join the Masked Fools instead?"

Sparkle: "As long as you can pull off big pranks often, maybe the Aeon of Elation will be happy and make you an Emanator?"

Stelle: "Emanator of Elation?"

Stelle: "Good heavens, I haven't even seen what an Emanator of Elation looks like."

Stelle: "Sigh, forget it, becoming an Emanator is too much trouble."

Stelle: "I'll just let it be."

Hu Tao: "So in the end, we have to rely on Miss Acheron to exert her power again?"

Miss Sushang: "I'm a bit curious how Miss Acheron will exert her power?"

Miss Sushang: "Slash Sunday with one strike?"

Guinaifen: "Shangshang, Sunday is an Emanator now, one strike won't kill him, right?"

Miss Qingque: "Indeed, Aventurine was sent flying by one strike, that doesn't mean Sunday will be sent flying now."

Lumine: "Speaking of which, is Aventurine still in the Asdana system?"

Lumine: "He hasn't left already, has he?"

Topaz: "The IPC fleet is still docked outside the system; he should be recovering from his injuries."

Stelle: "Docked outside the system?"

Stelle: "Interesting, you guys are quite cautious."

The video continues.

【Hearing you say that is very reassuring.】

Black Swan nods.

【Since the division of labor is done, let's head to our respective battlefields!】

【Get ready—to have a big fight!】

Boothill gives the order,

and everyone begins to disperse,

preparing for action.

【Stelle, can we talk alone?】

【There is one more thing I am obligated to explain to you.】

【This grand banquet is coming to an end.】

【This is the starting point for the final stage... and it was once the starting point for all the stories of Penacony.】

Acheron suddenly stops Stelle, who was about to leave,

wanting to tell her some things.

【Firefly discovered the truth right here.】

Stelle looks at the familiar hotel lobby,

recalling the scene Firefly encountered earlier.

【Yes.】

【It was she who first discovered that the other side of death had a different world, and she passed this information to all of us.】

【You should know this: in the boundless dream, the reason we were able to find you, to find the key to breaking the situation, all relied on one person's sacrifice and effort...】

【Miss Firefly, it was she who woke up from the dream early, found the Express in the sea of stars, and brought everything about the remnants of the Order to us.】

【There might have been the help of a script in this, but the price...】

【You know, as a stowaway, her way of entering the dream is different from ours.】

【Without the hotel's dream-entry device, without the help of the Family, the only way she could wake up from the dream was... a true death.】

Stelle: "There's no such thing as peaceful years; it turns out Firefly was carrying the burden for us in places we couldn't see!"

March 7th: "Wait!"

March 7th: "A true death?!"

March 7th: "Ah! Miss Firefly didn't...!"

Furina: "She shouldn't have, right?"

Furina: "According to the logical sequence of events."

Furina: "Miss Firefly must have experienced death and then woken up to successfully bring the information to the Express."

Furina: "So what she experienced was still the pain of death."

Paimon: "Others gain happiness in the sweet dream."

Paimon: "Only Miss Firefly experienced the pain of death..."

Paimon: "What a heartbreaking experience!"

Hu Tao: "The pain of death... sounds simple."

Hu Tao: "But just how painful must it be to make even Miss Acheron look so unbearable?"

Acheron: "In short, it was definitely a pain that ordinary people would never want to endure in their lifetime."

Guinaifen: "Woooo, Miss Firefly, what a miserable girl!!"

Firefly: "It's okay, at least I'm still alive."

Firefly: "Isn't that the best news?"

Firefly: "As for the pain... that's not important anymore."

Firefly: "Being able to help everyone gain a glimmer of hope to defeat the Dream of Ena."

Firefly: "My little contribution is truly insignificant."

Welt: "Miss Firefly's awareness is moving."

Welt: "Thank you for everything you have silently contributed behind the scenes."

The video continues.

【Do not let her will go to waste.】

【This doesn't mean we must win everything on this trip, but our determination should match that brave girl's.】

【Are... you ready?】

Acheron asks Stelle solemnly.

【Of course, I am ready.】

【Let us head to the final stage.】

Stelle's eyes are firm,

and she nods at Acheron.

【Very well.】

【Then, please close your eyes...】

Stelle: "Close my eyes?"

Stelle: "Why close my eyes?"

Miss Qingque: "I understand, Miss Acheron is probably going to start exerting her power!"

March 7th: "I don't know how Miss Acheron is going to exert her power."

March 7th: "I'm looking forward to it."

Black Swan: "To make people save themselves, they must encounter a huge crisis."

Black Swan: "But they are trapped in the Dream of Ena, it's impossible to encounter a crisis in the dream..."

Black Swan: "So, the crisis can only come from the outside... Hehe, I think I understand."

The video continues.

The scene shifts,

to Acheron's memory.

【...】

【How long... has this rain been falling?】

On the shore,

an old man looks at the gloomy sky,

and the grey-black rain,

whispering.

【If I remember correctly, it could be years, decades, or even centuries.】

【The death-will of the Hunt will not subside until life ends, but fortunately... we have finally ferried these souls.】

【They were heroes in their lifetime, and they will never become puppets of Nihility again.】

【Look, the shadows on the sea have all dissipated.】

【Do you remember? You said that when the regrets of the dead subside, the sky will clear up.】

Beside the old man,

Acheron patiently answers his question.

【But, the rain still hasn't stopped...】

The old man shakes his head with regret.

【... es.】

Acheron sighs.

【So, why exactly is that...】

【Why did this rain choose me?】

The old man is puzzled.

【Perhaps, it is because there are still people whose regrets have not subsided.】

【Mortals walk on the Path like a small boat crossing the water, leaving a winding trail, pushing away ripples of countless possibilities.】

【Compared to the fleeting life of a human, these waves will not subside for a long time.】

【And among them, some people's traces of existence are too strong, leaving their own reflections in these clusters of waves.】

【Blood-Sin Spirit... the obsession of a Pathstrider, born from the shadow of IX, viewing itself as the subject, unknowingly repeating the actions of the deceased.】

Stelle: "Why did we suddenly go back to Acheron's memory?"

Stelle: "And why is she repeating what she said before to this old Galaxy Ranger?"

March 7th: "Could it be that this old man is old and forgetful?"

March 7th: "But they actually ferried these souls... oh no."

March 7th: "It should be called a Blood-Sin Spirit."

Furina: "Uh... were these Blood-Sin Spirits really ferried?"

Furina: "The scene of them gathering and reaching out to the black sun in the sky is a bit scary..."

Hu Tao: "Nihility is truly terrifying."

Hu Tao: "I feel like this is even more terrifying than simple death."

The video continues.

【They are born from Nihility and head towards Nihility, spending a meaningless life.】

【But such an illusory shadow...】

【has walked with me for a long time.】

Acheron looks at the old man with a complex expression.

【...】

【So that's how it is.】

【I... have already died.】

As the words fall,

the grey sky begins to turn crimson.

The old man, who originally had a form,

turns into a gloomy black shadow at this moment.

And beside the old man,

Acheron's posture also becomes crimson.

Stelle: "!!!"

Stelle: "Oh my god, my scalp is tingling again!"