A petite, beautiful girl clutched a map, carefully surveying the surrounding shops. She walked and paused, paused and walked, wandering through the streets of the Tokyo metropolis.
She was an exceptionally beautiful girl. Her blue eyes were remarkably bright, her willow-leaf eyebrows slender, her delicate nose finely shaped, and her jade-like cheeks faintly flushed. Her skin, like the purest white jade, was of a rare and wondrous beauty.
She wore a magnificent long robe in the style of Shenzhou, and in her hand, she held a goose-feather fan, filling her with a classical charm.
Her lower half, however, was dressed in a very Japanese style: a cyan-blue short skirt paired with over-the-knee white socks. The pristine white stockings stretched from the soles of her feet to just a few centimeters below the hem of the skirt, outlining an alluring curve.
When a gust of wind blew, the edge of her skirt rippled, dancing and swaying, half-revealing and half-concealing the creamy-smooth skin of her legs...
Exquisite. Perfect.
She possessed a beauty so profound it could take one's breath away.
A girl like this was incredibly eye-catching. Even doing nothing, she became a part of the scenery, and the pedestrians coming and going couldn't help but slow their steps as they passed.
However, the girl who had become a landscape in the eyes of others was not in a very good mood.
Miss Stargazer was bewildered.
Completely and utterly bewildered.
Empire Era, Year XX, the Qixi Festival.
Some time ago, the Thousand Stars Pavilion had been constructed in the city of Huangyue. It was to be the site for the annual Qixi prayers for favorable weather and for the people to enjoy the lantern displays with the people. The pavilion was nice, and the lanterns were lovely, but the ritual's procedures were far too tedious. She had even heard that the court musicians had specially choreographed a dance for the prayer...
Hmph. I will certainly not be performing such a boring dance. I must find a way to slip away.
Holding such an attitude, the young sovereign of the Huang Empire very directly chose to make her escape.
And then—
Then she encountered a white-haired girl who looked extremely disheveled, with hair that resembled a mop.
"O, monarch of a world already dead, will you not try to save your own world?"
"By way of taking revenge upon us, your Creators."
Thus spoke the Military Uniform Princess—whose true name was Altera, but was known on the streets as 'Mop-Head'—to the monarch who had skipped out on her duties.
Before the young monarch could even react, she was thrown into another world.
But—
Before she could even utter a few words of reprimand, that Mop-Head was ambushed by an Immortal and hammered into unconsciousness on the spot. Then, just as the Immortal was sizing her up, Mop-Head woke up and fled.
The white-haired girl recalled that Mop-Head, who had seemed so full of imposing grandeur but had ended up being beaten like a rat in the street, and the corners of her mouth twitched.
Talk the biggest game, take the hardest beating. After getting thrashed, she didn't even drop a single threat before scurrying away.
All that was left was her, alone with someone who appeared as ethereal as a transcendent immortal, yet fought with the heaven-splitting power of Inch-Force.
"The world bubbles within the Sea are worlds that have already been sentenced to death by the 'Tree,' worlds that have been utterly abandoned."
As if possessing foreknowledge, the Immortal, who had just so casually sent Mop-Head flying, looked her over a few times before speaking those words.
"To change the fate of a world bubble that has fallen into the Sea, destined to eventually be devoured by the Sea of Quanta, is not something the so-called 'Creators' of this world are capable of."
Is this person a genuine Immortal, truly capable of divination and calculation?!
Miss Stargazer, who had seen that person violently thrash Mop-Head and had always assumed Miss Fu Hua walked the path of shattering the void through martial arts, was stunned.
"Is there a solution?"
The young monarch, who had become aware that worlds existed beyond her own—and that the proper term for her world was a "world bubble"—after several unusual individuals entered the Huang Empire, put on a solemn expression. She directed her question to the Immortal, who did not appear to be very old.
If...
If these so-called world bubbles were truly as ephemeral as soap bubbles, then as the monarch, she had a duty to her people to find a way to save their world.
"Using the Starry Chalice as your throne, from the apex of the Tree and the abyss of the Sea, you must emanate the Law of your Self, extinguish the old rules, and remake the world—to reverse all of creation."
The Immortal, whose gaze seemed to hold some indescribable feeling as she looked at her, stated this very placidly.
So then, what is a Starry Chalice?
What on earth is the Tree?
And what is this Law of the Self?
After asking, Miss Stargazer found herself with even more questions, and confusion welled up in her heart.
"In that case..."
The young monarch made her attitude as earnest as possible and then asked the very dependable-looking Immortal, "Excuse me, but what are this so-called 'Starry Chalice,' 'Law,' and 'Tree'?"
"I don't know."
With just those three words, the Immortal's image in Miss Stargazer's heart shattered.
She stared in disbelief at the Immortal, who had just moments before projected the air of an enlightened master. Her large eyes were filled with incomprehension.
Weren't you just speaking so eloquently and logically?
How could you suddenly...
"Because that is what my husband told me."
Very bluntly, the Immortal, who had received her marriage certificate with a certain someone fifty thousand years ago, looked at the girl who would undoubtedly come into conflict with that man in her quest to save her world, and explained, "He only gave me a rough overview of how to reverse all of creation. He did not explain the technical terms."
The Immortal, whose knowledge was a bit ahead of the curve due to a certain someone's constant meddling with the timeline, spoke words that nearly gave the young monarch a heart attack.
"You didn't ask for details on something so important?"
Miss Stargazer, who felt as if she had been dropped from heaven straight into hell, looked at the Immortal, her pretty little face twisting slightly.
"Because it was just idle chatter before our wedding ceremony."
A playful look on her face, the Immortal looked at the white-haired girl who was completely out of sorts. Her expression gave Miss Stargazer the distinct impression that she was holding back laughter.
.....
Miss Stargazer fell silent.
That reason was truly irrefutable.
For a woman, forging a pact to spend a lifetime with the one she loves is undoubtedly the most important event of her life. At such a time, one really shouldn't get bogged down in the details of pre-ceremonial small talk.
But—
Did this mean the clue to saving her world was severed just like that?
She looked at the already-married Immortal and asked with sincere hope, "In that case, where might your husband be?"
"Right here, in this world."
A slight smile touched the Immortal's lips as she looked at the little white-haired dumpling. It was a faint, enchanting smile, carrying a charm that could make one's head spin. "Next, I can take you to meet him."
Imperceptibly, the Immortal, having planted a few bits of information into Miss Stargazer's perception, chuckled lightly at the anxious little dumpling.
...
So, where exactly did the Immortal's husband live?
The white-haired girl, who had been unceremoniously dropped in Tokyo's Far East district because the Immortal had gone to "chat with an old friend," held a map that the Immortal had casually drawn. She lifted her head and gazed ahead.
As far as the eye could see, there were towering skyscrapers of steel and concrete, and a ceaseless, flowing river of mounts that were apparently called "automobiles." Her expression was one of melancholy.
It was perhaps shameful to admit.
She...
She seemed to be lost.