Chapter 1528: NO．143：Is This a Horror Drama?

NO. 143: Is this a horror drama?

"Need me to knock you out? Sirius, you don't seem to be resisting the anomaly."

"Huh? That's really something only Trainer Aomorton would say... And besides, anomaly? Do you really think following your heart counts as an anomaly?"

"Impulsive actions regardless of time or place can only be called anomalies."

Aomo remained completely calm.

He glanced at the undertaker who had been fighting the aberrated biomechanical enemy for over three minutes, nearly single-handedly holding back the frenzied machine tide, and also noticed the trainer prince who had cleanly distanced himself from everyone, repeatedly poking at the light screen, clearly eager to leave—he gradually pieced together some meaning from it all.

The deepest obsession in your heart?

No no no, this is absolutely not that kind of profound thing.

As Aomo kept retreating under Sirius's step-by-step pressure, yet still didn't forget to observe the environment and his teammates' conditions, he had felt something off since the music began.

Based on his information gathering, Arturo Miss's most striking ability is the power to awaken deep-seated memories through music.

That music which resonates with deep emotions is exactly like the ability of the Joy and Sorrow Separation Monster—it awakens regret and longing. But now, what kind of reaction are these people having?

Nishizaki Yutaka is just rushing to leave, Federico simply rolled up his sleeves and got to work, while Sirius...

Sirius, on the other hand, carries some serious weight.

She directly asked Aomo what he thought of her, and in his evasive, dismissive response, she quickly escalated—now it's come down to physical contact—

Literally.

She reached out her hand, not sure what she intended to do, but the wary Aomo chose to raise his hand to block.

The faster her reach, the faster he swatted it away.

After her persistent reaching was repeatedly shoved aside by his forearm, this strange confrontation shifted in nature—transforming from petty squabbling into a high-speed standoff resembling Wing Chun practice. After over ten seconds, Aomo, belatedly realizing something felt off, broke it by stepping back first.

But he only broke the image.

The deadlock of being pressed step by step still remained, which is why the initial dialogue happened.

Honestly, Aomo isn't even sure if he's been affected by the piano music, because while observing his three teammates' discomfort, he realized the music isn't so much stirring up some inner restless thing as it is amplifying a resonance with some repressed emotion in the present moment.

Yes.

It's not the long-held regret and desire from deep within, but the release of repressed emotion happening right now.

Regarding this, Aomo only realized it after admitting he'd made a rookie mistake.

——When he first met Arturo Miss, he was always consciously verifying the information at hand.

——This was his usual habit: when holding information but meeting someone for the first time, a pragmatic mindset became an unconscious guide for action.

——But… could it be that he was misled precisely because of this?

When his mind kept assuming Arturo Miss was about to perform her so-called secret technique, all his thinking and subsequent vigilance were directed toward that idea—resulting only in strong discomfort.

Is this what everyone's deeply buried inner selves look like?

Federico Mr. may not be someone we know well or understand deeply, so we'll set him aside for now. But in Aomo's view, Nishizaki's suppressed inner thoughts should be something sharper—something impulsive and regretful enough to upend current relationships.

As for Sirius symbolizing the true depths of the heart, that had already been revealed by the Dark Route El card—no need to say more.

This isn't just unrelated to current developments—it's completely disconnected, especially given her attitude: even when directly confronted with the problem, she still doubles down on being stubborn:

"Compared to anomaly, couldn't this be a kind of awakening and courage instead?"

When she's being stubborn, she still has to pull out that mischievous, roguish persona she's been promoting lately—the kind that, if done by a man, would get mocked endlessly and turned into memes lasting into next year. But on a woman of heroic bearing, it makes people shout 'SiriusSAMA' in frenzy. This gender bias in society really makes one feel chilled to the bone.

Aomo didn't feel that chill, after all—he doesn't follow that path, and he has the professional composure from helping the horse girls establish their idol career development routes.

And that professionalism also means he acknowledges that this version of the horse girl possesses enough charm to captivate an audience.

Including himself.

But you probably can't expect Sirius to realize this on her own.

Aomo, expressionless and showing no sign of being enchanted, had the same thought.

He only suspected she was treating this posture as a universal trick to boost persuasiveness, so he just sighed.

"Of course." He said, stopping his steps.

"I hope when I play this recording back for you later, you'll still be able to show this kind of awakening and courage."

Though retreating step by step must eventually hit a wall, before that wall even arrived, he already felt he'd wasted too much time here.

So he didn't just stop retreating—he cleanly and firmly raised his hand to press down on her shoulders.

Normally, he couldn't hold her down—just like how he was retreating earlier because the university horse girl's punching speed and palm strength posed a real challenge for him without magic.

But if he were magically enhanced, he'd have to worry about scales or bone spurs on his forearm or elbow hurting her—and even then, he couldn't stop Sirius if she truly went full magic.

A university-graduated horse girl is no less formidable than some Zhouri Ningjing who hasn't shown up in ages—without divine power from the Rainbow Snake God, it's truly hard to match up.

Not only hard to resist, but you can't even outrun her.

To be honest, since he started training hard, fighting often, and eagerly exploring the Rainbow Snake God's divinity and monster cards, Aomo hasn't felt this kind of disadvantage in speed and power against horse girls for a long time.

Now, experiencing it again brings no nostalgia or emotion—just a desire to escape this awkward situation as fast as possible.

True, he holds many monster cards with teleportation or flash-move abilities, so leaving would be easy—but this approach clearly neglects the bigger picture.

How are trainers and horse girls supposed to interact like this? If he runs now, what will he think when he turns back?

Though maybe he's overthinking it.

When Sirius turns back and returns to normal, she might just pretend none of this happened—unlike Brixie, who once poured her heart out drunk and then went silent for ages. Sirius's current abnormal state could easily be cleared with a more legitimate excuse.

Though she's currently acting like she has no intention of dodging responsibility.

"Hah? Who's afraid of that kind of thing!"

Even if repressed emotions being stirred could cause internal conflict, seeing Nishizaki Yutaka and Federico's unusually clear anomaly scores, Aomo tentatively assumes Sirius also has no room for inner tug-of-war.

So just take that comment with a grain of salt—no need to overthink it. Though Aomo himself wonders whether his own offline calmness might also be a reflection of current emotions.

emmm Probably not.

Thinking: if he were truly releasing present emotions, he'd be asking for an 11-day vacation—Aomo quickly dismissed that doubt.

The immediate priority was to stabilize Sirius's current state, though this kind of handling wasn't unfamiliar to him—after all, while it differed somewhat in nature from what happened with Bichutikes back then, promising to set aside time for verification was always the right approach.

But just as he began to act and saw initial results, before he could even exhale in relief, the thick snake tail that suddenly clung to him from behind stiffened his entire body for an instant.

"Making promises to delay the present again—this won't do, Your Excellency, Lord of the Rainbow Snake Divine Pavilion."

The serpentine words, coupled with the undeniable damp heat of the sensation clinging to his ear—far from being an illusion—reached him all at once, causing his gaze to shift to the corner of his eye, where he caught a glimpse of brown and gold hair tips.

Even he, in that moment, felt the urge to press a hand to his forehead.

Stunned. jpg