Chapter 81: Get Lost

Chen glanced down at the Geo-Map in her arms, its internal gears spinning with a silly, clueless whir. Then she looked up at the ethereal, ghostly image of the little girl floating before her.

‘Fine…’she thought with a mental sigh.’So even a navigation bot with a circuit board this bizarre can connect with the Path of Preservation… The standards for joining this club are truly… unconventional.’

She had no time to ponder the esoteric principles behind it; there was still a complete disaster waiting for her back in the real world.

With a decisive wave of her hand, she cut through the solemn atmosphere. “Forget it. I can’t be bothered to think about it. Basically, a series of coincidences just led the two of us to stumble into your channel, right?”

She jabbed a thumb toward the majestic, heavy spear embedded in the ground. “This spear, this trial, this whole ‘witnessing convictions and choosing a Path’ ceremony… you should leave it for the person who’s actually supposed to be here. We won’t be staying.”

Her tone shifted, taking on the air of someone giving well-meaning, if unsolicited, advice. “Take it from me, don’t be in such a rush to find substitutes like us just to fill a quota. Wait a little longer for the real protagonist—the little gray-haired girl outside holding the baseball bat. Wait until she’s been pushed into a corner, right to the point where she’s about to be driven to tears, and then pull her in here. The effect will be so much better. I guarantee her awakening will be spectacular, far more impressive than roping in a half-hearted participant like me.”

Without waiting for the phantom girl’s reaction, Chen turned to leave, still cradling the Geo-Map.

“Let’s go, let’s go,” she muttered to herself, already plotting her escape. “How do we get out of here… In the original game, didn’t pulling out the spear trigger the teleport? Tch, but I really don’t want to touch that thing…”

Meanwhile, in the physical world, on the windswept ridge of Everwinter Hill, it seemed as though only a single moment had passed.

Stelle froze, the weight of Chen’s suddenly limp body slumping into her arms a shocking reality. She could feel the life-warmth draining away, replaced by an encroaching, unnatural cold that seeped through her own clothes. A ghastly wound gaped in Chen’s chest, its edges rimmed with crystalline ice that glittered cruelly in the dim light. Beneath her hands, she felt a heartbeat and breath that were rapidly, terrifyingly, fading away.

“Wake… wake up…” Stelle whispered, her voice small and lost. Her fingers tightened on Chen’s shoulders, shaking her gently, as if the simple motion could somehow jostle the fading life force back into place.

Her wide eyes were fixed on Chen’s pale face, her lids closed. For the first time since they had met, the usual daze in Stelle’s gaze was gone, replaced by the sharp, clear reflections of fear and utter helplessness.

“You! Don’t you dare scare me!” March 7th finally broke out of his shock, rushing to their side as tears immediately streamed down his face.

“What do we do, what do we do?!” he cried, his voice pitching high with panic. “The wound… the whole wound is frozen! The blood can’t even flow out! How—how are we supposed to treat this?! A doctor! Dr. Natasha isn’t here!”

He reached out, his hands hovering frantically over the injury, wanting to help but terrified of causing more harm. He paced back and forth, a mess of panicked energy.

Dan Heng had already moved, planting herself in front of them. Gripping the tip of her Cloud-Piercer spear, she kept her vigilant gaze locked on the terrifying Father of Falsehood hovering above, guarding against any follow-up attack. Her expression was incredibly grim, her peripheral vision catching the state of Chen’s injury.

Her heart sank. A wound of that magnitude, corrupted by the energy of the Fragmentum, was beyond any ordinary means of healing.

“WHY?!”

Bronya’s roar tore through the howling wind and snow. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at the inhuman monster in the sky—the creature that was once his father. Just moments ago, that monster had launched a despicable sneak attack right before his eyes, piercing the chest of an unarmed girl… a girl who might even share his bloodline.

“Why did you do this?! Father! Answer me!” he screamed, his voice cracking with a grief that tore from his very soul. “What is it you’re protecting?! Belobog?! Or is it just your own twisted, selfish obsession?! Look at what you’ve become!”

The words were a torrent of despair, fury, and a sorrow so deep it felt bone-breaking. The long-held reverence for his father, the cruel reality now laid bare, and the shock of seeing Chen at death’s door all combined into a weight that threatened to crush him completely.

Yet, in the face of his son’s heart-wrenching anguish, the Father of Falsehood suspended in the air didn’t even shift its gaze. Its attention remained locked on Stelle, who was being shielded by Dan Heng—or more accurately, on the Stellaron nestled within her body. The threat of the automaton army had been temporarily neutralized by its ultimate attack; this defenseless vessel right before it had now become the highest priority target.

It offered Bronya no response.

Instead, it simply raised its hand once more.

A volley of ice shards, far thicker and more menacing than before, materialized in the air. Resembling lances of judgment, they shot down toward Stelle with a deafening roar.

“Watch out!” Dan Heng shouted, her spear flashing like a striking dragon as she moved to shatter the incoming projectiles.

March 7th scrambled to deploy a shield.

Even Bronya, wrenched from his grief by the immediate danger, drew his sidearm and lunged forward.

But at that critical juncture, something changed.

Stelle, who had been cradling Chen as if paralyzed by fear, slowly lifted her head. Her eyes, which always seemed to hold a hint of distant confusion, were now exceptionally clear. And exceptionally cold. They reflected the whistling ice lances and the chilling blue frost spreading across Chen’s chest.

She didn’t look at the attack. She didn’t look at the monstrous Father of Falsehood.

She simply lowered her head again, holding the body that was growing colder by the second just a little tighter.

Then, she spoke two words.

“Get lost.”

The moment the words left her lips, a speck of pure, blazing golden light erupted from the depths of her eyes, a light so intense it felt as if it could scorch the very soul.

That light was like freshly ignited kindling, flaring to life all around her. It was an amber light—impossibly pure, deeply warm, and unyieldingly firm.

The light solidified, expanding violently outward with Stelle at its epicenter, forming a tangible barrier.

BOOM!

The first of the descending ice lances slammed into the seemingly thin but indestructible amber shield. The impact produced a deep, thunderous boom, like a glacier crashing against ancient, unmoving stone.

The ice lances shattered, cracking inch by inch before disintegrating into nothing more than vapor.

The amber light merely rippled, concentric circles of energy flowing across its surface, but it remained utterly unmoved.

“This is…?!” Dan Heng’s pupils constricted, her warrior’s senses immediately recognizing that pure, vast power of a Path.

Bronya froze mid-stride, staring in utter shock at the girl now enveloped in a halo of amber light.

March 7th’s mouth hung open, his tears forgotten, his panic silenced by awe.

[Elysian’s Note:

Having a good time with the story?

Every single bit helps immensely:

Thanks a ton for making this journey possible!]