Without Kiana's company, Mei felt a little scared and lay down, prostrating herself on Benares's head.
Although Benares was flying very steadily and carefully, it was Mei's first time flying in such a manner, which made her both happy and anxious.
Besides, Benares still looked fierce and intimidating, and Mei didn't know how to get along with him...
It wasn't just Mei; Benares was actually very nervous too. The dragon's whole body was tense, afraid that Mei might slip and fall.
I don't know where Her Majesty the Queen suddenly ran off to. Sob, sob, I'm a socially anxious dragon.
But gradually, as Mei got used to the feeling of riding a dragon, her nervousness and fear seemed to suddenly disappear, replaced by a thrilling rush of excitement rising in her heart.
"Benares..."
"Roar...?"
"Shall we... fly a little faster?"
Mei sat sideways on Benares's head, her legs dangling casually to one side. Her long black hair fluttered in the wind, revealing her excited, slightly flushed face.
Receiving Mei's command, Benares powerfully flapped his wings twice and then accelerated with a roar, turning into a blue meteor and carrying Mei away, disappearing from everyone's sight.
Only Mei's excited and unrestrained laughter remained in the air.
"Ahaha! Benares, faster, faster!"
On the deck of the Hyperion, Bronya and Project Bunny stood face to face, looking at each other.
Bronya: "Project Bunny 19C, Big Sis Mei looks very happy right now. Take me to catch up with Big Sis Mei!"
Project Bunny: O.o?
Bronya: (???)
———————————————
Inside a Bubble Universe in the Sea of Quanta.
The desolate world was on the brink of destruction. Seele moved through one tall building after another, searching for any supplies that could be salvaged.
The flow of time here was different from that of the prime world. Even the lengths of day and night were completely different from the prime world.
Seele had already lost her concept of time. The unit she used for time was, instead, how many Bubble Universes she had been through.
What could be a more fitting tool for a unit of time than the death knell that rings when a world perishes?
"My other self... are you there?"
Seele held her scythe, cautiously exploring the mall while staying close to a corner.
Dark Seele quietly appeared to Seele's left rear, then reached out and tapped Seele's right shoulder.
Seele's body instantly trembled, and she turned her head to the right.
"Over here!"
Following the voice, Seele quickly turned her head to the left.
And then she saw Dark Seele, bleeding from all seven orifices, her eyes wide open, dead with a look of eternal grievance.
"Ah!!!"
Seele covered her face in terror and jumped up in fright.
"Hahaha... you coward. How many times has it been, and you can still be scared by this?" Dark Seele clutched her stomach, laughing so hard she couldn't breathe at Seele's panicked state, her eyes squeezed shut.
Every time it was pitch black like this, Dark Seele would pop out and pretend to be a ghost to scare Seele. Although it was the same trick every time, it always caught Seele off guard.
"Hmph, my other self! I've decided not to talk to you for half a day!"
After calming down, Seele snorted angrily, then lowered her head and started jogging to put some distance between herself and Dark Seele.
Dark Seele had just been laughing her head off. When she recovered and opened her eyes, she found that Seele had already run quite far.
"Hey, Seele, wait up! Don't leave me all alone!"
Dark Seele, who was afraid of the dark, immediately lost her previous arrogance and ran after Seele in a panic.
"Seele? Seele? Seele?" Dark Seele called out to Seele in a fawning manner.
"Mm...? Hmph!"
Seele was about to respond to Dark Seele, but she immediately caught herself. She glanced at Dark Seele, then closed her eyes and turned her head away.
She didn't want to talk to her other self for the time being. This time, she felt she had to stick to not talking to Dark Seele for half a day to make her understand her mistake.
Seeing that White Seele really seemed angry and didn't want to talk to her, Dark Seele crossed her arms, closed her eyes as if she had made a momentous decision, and spoke insincerely to White Seele.
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry, I know I was wrong! I promise I won't scare you again next time!"
Only after hearing Dark Seele's apology did Seele slowly open her eyes. Then she angrily poked Dark Seele's head with her finger.
"Then we have a deal! Pranks like this are not nice at all..."
"Oof..."
Dark Seele rubbed the spot on her head where Seele had just poked her, feeling a little wronged. But if she didn't play pranks, she didn't know how else to interact with Seele...
At that moment, the sky was suddenly illuminated by something. The light shone through the mall's windows, lighting up the pitch-black corridors.
Seele and Dark Seele subconsciously held hands, huddled together, and slowly walked towards a window to see what was happening outside.
"Huh...? My other self, look! It's a shooting star!" Seele pulled Dark Seele's hand, both of them pointing at a large fireball that had suddenly fallen from the sky.
Dark Seele glanced at the meteor a few times and said nonchalantly, "Hmph, looks like this world is about to be destroyed too. We'll have to set out on our journey again."
When a world is heading towards its end, all sorts of natural disasters that are only seen in novels will appear. Things like giant fireballs and meteors appearing out of thin air were considered quite common.
"But... my other self, that big meteor seems to be flying towards us..." Seele said weakly.
"Huh?"
Dark Seele was taken aback for a moment, then she quickly pressed her face against the window to get a closer look at the meteor.
After a rough estimation of its trajectory, it seemed its landing point was indeed where they were.
"Idiot Seele, what are you waiting for, run!!"
Dark Seele grabbed Seele's hand and pulled her into a frantic dash.
The two little figures ran at top speed through the mall, quickly weaving between buildings.
When they encountered a tall building that was difficult to cross, if Seele couldn't make the jump, Dark Seele would act as a stepping stone, tossing Seele over, and then revert to her Stigmata form, returning to Seele's body.
But to the two Seeles' surprise, the big meteor seemed to have a built-in tracking function. Wherever they ran, it would automatically adjust its course and fly towards them.