Drowsy yet lucid. She could hear voices around her, yet her consciousness remained trapped beneath a murky surface, as if something was dragging her down.
Wake up…
Or something terrible will happen.
A frown appeared unconsciously on Stelle’s face.
Her body, now the vessel for her trapped mind, didn’t shy away from displaying the struggle outwardly.
Kafka glanced at Silver Wolf, who returned a confused look.
“She looks like she’s in pain.”
“Anyone forced awake by rhetoric magic wouldn’t be happy.”
“But you know this is the only way our script can start.”
Kafka extended her hand, attempting to smooth Stelle’s furrowed brows. As soon as her fingers made contact, Stelle woke with a start, as if jolted from a nightmare. Her eyes landed on Kafka.
Though fragments of memories flitted across her mind, they failed to piece together into anything coherent. Yet, this woman before her occupied most of them.
But… she couldn’t even remember her name.
“…Who are you?”
The confusion and wariness in Stelle’s eyes pierced Kafka’s heart like a sharp blade.
A trace of melancholy flickered in Kafka’s gaze as she instinctively turned to her companion.
“Wasn’t she supposed to remember me?”
“Maybe you’re not as important as you think?”
Silver Wolf had no interest in handling emotional fallout.
“Besides, I think you’d better get to the point quickly. According to the script, the Astral Express crew is almost here. We don’t want to cross paths with them.”
“…Understood.”
Keeping her hand gently on Stelle’s cheek, Kafka began speaking.
“Listen closely…”
Kafka spoke at length, yet Stelle felt as though countless stars were spinning in her mind. Words like “destiny,” “script,” and “choices” meant little to her. All she knew was that she had to survive in this harsh, incomprehensible world.
In the end, only Kafka’s last words etched themselves in Stelle’s memory.
“When the time comes to make a choice, don’t let yourself regret it…”
With that, Stelle slipped back into unconsciousness.
—
Time passed quietly until voices stirred her awake once more.
“This coordinate doesn’t match anything sent by the Space Station…”
“Does it matter at this point? We’ve got a living, breathing person right here. No way she’s one of those Void Rangers.”
“Ahem. Ladies… this young woman’s heartbeat and pulse are dangerously weak. Instead of arguing, how about administering CPR?”
“March, you do it.”
The bickering trio had a lively air to them. One voice stood out, its warmth calming Stelle’s disoriented and anxious heart.
But the girl addressed as March panicked.
“Ah?! I-I don’t have any experience! Whoever suggested it should do it! Besides, doesn’t Venti have loads of experience?”
“No way! That’s completely different! And for the record, I’ve never even held anyone’s hand before!”
“Oh, but aren’t you the ‘secret Casanova’ Lynx was talking about?”
“Ugh, now that’s a misunderstanding It’ll never wash away, not even in Belobog’s lake! Fine, fine—I’ll do it!”
As the presence drew closer to her, Stelle felt an inexplicable resonance. Even before opening her eyes, she knew who the voice belonged to.
Stelle’s eyelids fluttered open, revealing Venti’s face, alarmingly close. Rather than surprise, he greeted her with a bright smile.
“You’re awake! Did you sleep well?”
Her first response wasn’t to shy away or push him back. Instead, she murmured, “…Venti?”
“Eh?! She knows you?”
Stelle’s gaze shifted to a pink-haired girl, whose startled reaction betrayed her curiosity.
Noticing Stelle’s attention, the girl quickly pulled Venti upright.
“And you! She’s awake, so stop staying so close—it looks bad!”
“I don’t sense anything romantic here, March. Are you overthinking it?”
A male voice cut in, calm and composed, before addressing Stelle directly.
“Are you okay? Can you understand us? Do you remember your name, or where you’re from?”
“I… don’t remember anything.”
Clutching her forehead, Stelle slowly pushed herself into a sitting position.
“That’s troublesome. Can you try to recall something? Since you recognized our companion, it stands to reason you’ve met before.”
The man’s serious demeanor prompted Stelle to focus on Venti. After a long pause, she hesitantly spoke.
“I think my name is Stelle… As for Venti, I feel like I’ve seen him before. He was with a lot of people… and everyone seemed to like him…”
Her uncertainty was evident, leaving no doubt about her amnesia.
“What about you, Venti? Do you remember her?”
March jabbed Venti with her elbow, but he shook his head.
“I know every Belobog citizen, but she isn’t one of them.”
“Wow, your memory’s that good?”
“Well, as a bard, I need to remember who tips well and who doesn’t.”
“No one memorizes an entire city for something like that!”
While the two continued their banter, the composed man extended a hand to Stelle.
“For now, let’s stick together. I’m Dan Heng, she’s March 7th, and that one over there… well, you seem to know him already—Venti.”
As Dan Heng introduced them, the bickering duo exchanged sheepish smiles.
“Hey there! We’re members of the Astral Express crew, sent by Himeko to assist with the evacuation.”
“This station is under attack by the Antimatter Legion, so for your safety, stick close to us, okay?”
Though Stelle nodded, her bewildered expression lingered.
After some time explaining the situation and reassuring her, the group pressed onward.
Dan Heng eventually split off to search for Alan, leaving March and Venti to guard Stelle.
“Venti, with the Legion running wild and the route back unsafe, can’t you use your almighty power to clear the way?”
“Unless you want the station’s inhabitants spinning like laundry with the Void Rangers, I’d advise against it.”
March sighed, realizing the futility of her suggestion, and began searching for a weapon for Stelle.
Her gaze landed on a confident-looking baseball bat.
It felt predestined—like King Arthur drawing Excalibur. Stelle’s fingers tightened around the bat as a voice whispered:
You can be as confident as this bat.
Her demeanor shifted, her earlier fragility fading.
Venti peeked from behind her, flashing a playful grin that seemed to say, You’re exactly who I needed.
Despite his reputation, Venti’s carefree attitude made him seem unreliable.
Before Stelle could dwell on it, his voice rang out.
“Ladies, we’ve got Void Rangers closing in from the left corridor.”
“Why do you sound so smug, like Sampo when he’s scheming?”
“…I’ll protect you.”
Choosing to stand before Venti, Stelle’s firm resolve contrasted with March’s grumbling.
“Hey! I found her first!”
Caught off guard, Venti smiled warmly at Stelle’s bravery.
“I’ll immortalize your heroism in song—a tale of the legendary Cosmic Slugger!”
“Hey, stop giving people embarrassing nicknames!”
“Why? Isn’t ‘Cool Guy Dan Heng’ a great nickname?”
“When did you even come up with that? Wait, you didn’t give me some weird nickname too, right?”
“Sweetheart Pink Dragon.”
“You’re impossible!”
Amid the playful exchange, Void Rangers finally reached them, cutting the conversation short.
However, the ensuing battle was one-sided. Stelle and March dispatched the Void Rangers with ease, while Venti stayed back, contributing little.
Stelle couldn’t deny it—having her new bat made her feel unstoppable.
“You’ve got my back, and I’ve got yours. We’re comrades!”
“What nonsense are you on about now?”
Venti’s playful antics earned another sharp reprimand from March.
Though Stelle felt a sense of camaraderie grow, March’s pout was unmistakable.
“Don’t get carried away!”
March 7th, noticing her emotions becoming unusually volatile in Dan Heng’s absence, quickly conjured a shard of ice to cool herself down. It also gave her a moment to regain her composure.
“Anyway, let’s stop arguing for now. We need to take the elevator to reach the main control cabin.”
The central elevator in the atrium was nearby. After a few quick steps, they reached it. However, the control panel quickly became March 7th’s next headache.
No matter how she tinkered with it, the elevator wouldn’t budge.
“Did March break it?”
Stelle’s straightforward question came without malice.
“It wasn’t me!” March 7th instinctively defended herself. “It must’ve been that pulse explosion from the Antimatter Legion earlier! It must’ve damaged the control terminal!”
Her protest was more reflex than logic, and it didn’t solve their immediate problem.
“What now?” Stelle asked again.
“Ugh… If only Dan Heng were here. He’d probably be able to fix the elevator too…”
“Hey, why not ask me? I’m Venti—maybe I’ve got a solution?”
“You? Didn’t you just say you’re too powerful and might blow the whole space station away?”
“Heh, but summoning a little wind field to help us explore up and down? That’s no problem.”
Before them, Venti retrieved his lyre and plucked its strings with a light touch. A strong gust surged forth, forming a concentrated wind field.
Though he couldn’t bypass the locked elevator, the wind field could act as a substitute for vertical movement.
Meanwhile, the staff in the monitoring room finally broke their silence.
“March, Venti, hold on—”
“Huh? Dan Heng?”
March 7th, who had been nervously clinging to Venti, worried that his wind field might fail mid-air and send them plummeting, paused at the sound of Dan Heng’s voice over the comms.
In contrast, Stelle was far more daring. If it weren’t inconvenient, she might have even asked Venti to carry her directly.
Although… judging by his slight frame, the prospect seemed a bit ridiculous.
Still, the feeling of being supported by someone so “manageable” had its own charm.
Unaware of their thoughts, Dan Heng’s calm voice came through.
“I’ve found Alan. He’s injured and hiding in the monitoring room. He had to temporarily disable the elevator’s permissions. Even if you manage to get up there, you won’t be able to open the elevator doors without a keycard.”
“Ah… Now that you mention it, Himeko did give me a card…”
It was as if something clicked in March 7th’s mind. Her earlier excitement about trying Venti’s wind field vanished as she began rifling through her pockets.
Finally, she pulled out a gleaming keycard.
“Uh…”
“March…”
The heavy silence between them was palpable, but Alan, observing from the monitoring room, quickly reminded her to insert the keycard into the terminal.
After a little effort, the group managed to reunite with Dan Heng and Alan. Together, they headed for the elevator that would take them to the main control cabin.
Their journey to the elevator’s entrance was smooth, and for a brief moment, the end of their mission seemed within reach.
Unfortunately, that hope was short-lived.
The glint they saw was not the light of success but the reflection of an antiproton shell.
Voidranger Marauders, Voidranger Manipulators, Voidranger Trampler…
Antimatter Legion soldiers swarmed in from all directions.
March 7th, however, showed no sign of fear.
“Tch. This? Did they think switching to group fights would work?”
Having Venti around gave March 7th the confidence to taunt their foes without hesitation.
Her bold words even managed to relax Alan, who had been on edge.
Stelle, initially worried, quickly mirrored March 7th’s cocky stance, hands on her hips with a smug expression.
Dan Heng remained silent, leveling his spear at the enemies before turning to Venti.
“How confident are you about handling them all at once?”
“Hmm… I don’t particularly want to use my full power, but it seems I don’t have a choice this time.”
Venti’s lyre transformed into a ranger’s bow, and the carefree air around him shifted. Even his clothes seemed to billow dramatically, as if the winds themselves had come to his aid.
In Alan’s confusion over how such a powerful gale could form indoors, Venti nocked an arrow, taking aim at the Trampler.
The concentrated wind energy swirling at the tip of his arrow was enough to create a miniature cyclone, capable of shredding the Voidrangers to pieces.
However, before he could release it, a shadow loomed overhead.
A deafening roar echoed as the hull of the cabin shattered.
“ROAR!!!”
“T-that’s… the Doomsday Beast!?” Alan’s voice quaked in shock.
Its mere presence generated a shockwave that threw the group into chaos. Closest to the impact, Venti was swept into the void of space before anyone could react.
Stelle reached out instinctively, but she was too late to grab him.
March 7th, who had been boasting moments ago, froze in shock. She fumbled for her comms, desperate to call for reinforcements.
Yet the Doomsday Beast showed no mercy. It destroyed the elevator entirely, severing the connection between the upper and lower cabins.
With no backup coming and nowhere to retreat, the group was forced to face the monstrous threat alone.
—
T/N: Already?!
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