A red-haired man smashed the mirror with a single elbow strike. The Stelle reflected inside let out a pained scream.
"Ow! You're way too rough!"
A mass of energy shrouded in green light shot out and immediately hid behind Stelle's back.
"Hiss… There's a special scent on you. I heard the falling leaves of the Sui Garden whispering, the flames weeping. They told me a powerful physical body was approaching…"
"They said that person carried the lingering aura of one would have after clashing with Phantylia… You're the one… the one who drove away Phantylia…"
"So… so powerful. Just sensing your existence is delicious enough to make one tremble!"
Hearing this perverted, stalker-like speech, Stelle only felt a chill crawl up her spine.
"Let me taste you? Just one bite, a tiny little bite. I can't wait to savor your flavor!"
"Blegh~"
An untimely retching sound interrupted it. The red-haired knight pulled out a pair of earplugs. "Disgusting."
"What?!"
Another voice clearly wasn't happy. "Hey, watch your mouth!"
"Joke's on you! I am Bertnis, Knight-Captain of the Eternal Church, unrivaled in strength and renown across the cosmos. Being this arrogant is simply in my nature; nothing I can do about it."
"Huh? Unrivaled across the cosmos?"
Stelle blinked. How come she'd never heard of that?
"Hiss~ Miss, how can you tear me down at a time like this?" The red-haired Knight-Captain sighed, then suddenly remembered he hadn't introduced himself properly.
"Ahem! A true man never changes his name whether he sits or stands. Bertnis—at your service."
Bertnis ignored the flickering wisp of ghostfire beside him and pulled out the mandatory copy of The Book of Eternal Virtues every church member carried.
"Sigh… I was happily drinking tea in a teahouse when the big sis dragged me here."
"Big sis… you wouldn't happen to mean Freesna, would you?"
"Oh ho! Sharp one, aren't you, miss? Since you know the High Priestess, this'll be easy!"
In a certain sense, Freesna really was the "big sis" of the Eternal Church; it was just hard to picture the image together.
"The High Priestess told me she heard someone crying out for help to Eternity! And since I, the Knight-Captain, happened to be on vacation in the Xianzhou, she conveniently dragged me along…"
"You get it, right? Being forced to work on paid leave—it hurts!" Bertnis clutched his head. At least he wasn't caught slacking off.
"Hey, how long are you two gonna chat? Am I invisible or what? Forget it!"
Under Bertnis's gaze, the ball of energy dove straight into Stelle's body.
"Hah? A surprise attack? Is there no law left in this universe!"
Stelle angrily condemned the unfair move, but the other party was shockingly efficient and immediately hunkered down inside, refusing to come out.
"Heehee~ Those few seconds of resistance just now really sparked your survival instinct. I'll take that as an invitation and temporarily attach myself to your body, okay?"
The instant she was possessed, Stelle simply emptied her mind: "Fine, stay there. Just don't cause trouble."
"…Whoa, your emotions are so relaxed—like a fluffy cake. It's almost like… this body isn't even yours? Sis, what makes you so chill?"
"Also, what's that thing deep inside you? A sun? It's scorching!"
"Wait… why is there suddenly another cup of milk tea? Hey hey hey hey! Sis, why is the milk tea flying toward me?!"
Cirrus's tone suddenly turned panicked, successfully catching Bertnis's attention.
"Milk tea?"
Then came Cirrus's continuous wails. "Aaaah~ Bad news, sis! The milk tea inside you is attacking me! Do something!"
"It hurts so much! Why does it even have weapons?!"
"Damn it! There's a limit to what I can endure! Sis, brace yourself—this next part might sting a little."
Cirrus finally snapped. Stelle clearly felt the voice growing more distant while a restless agitation stirred inside her body.
Hmm… is this situation optimistic or pessimistic?
"The annoying voice is gone. Where were we?"
Bertnis picked up a shard of the broken mirror. This Sui Garden was really gloomy.
"You were slacking off and neglecting your duties."
Bertnis: ?
"No no no, miss, there must be some misunderstanding. Whether priests or knights… we all strictly abide by the rules set by Pontiff Blake. Slacking off is an unforgivable evil!"
"To be completely honest, the thing I hate most in life is people who don't take work seriously—only clocking one hour a day and having a terrible attitude!"
It made sense that Bertnis felt this way. The church and the knight order truly operated on different schedules; they didn't need sleep, but mental fatigue still accumulated.
As Knight-Captain, he had to lead by example.
"Sigh~ If someone like that tried to work at the church, Pontiff Blake would fire them the same day."
"Haha… is that so." Stelle gave an awkward laugh. Why did everything he just described perfectly match Adrian!
After waiting in place for a few minutes, Stelle was actually looking forward to the outcome of the fight. Soon enough, a huge boom echoed inside her, followed immediately by Cirrus's scream.
"You've pissed me off! If you've got guts, fight me one-on-one! Why'd you call a masked guy for backup?!"
Unfortunately Stelle couldn't referee, but she could feel the battle was extremely fierce.
"Hey sis, you've got a lot of stuff inside you… There's even a flame spear that switched sides and healed me! Suddenly I feel fully shielded again!"
"So what exactly are you?"
"Ahem… You can call me Cirrus. I just want to leave this place; I don't want to hurt you."
"Let me explain the situation. The Xianzhou folk would call your predicament 'ghost hitting wall.' Wandering around aimlessly won't help."
While explaining, Cirrus didn't forget to keep clashing with the mysterious milk tea inside Stelle.
"So here's the deal: I'll help you escape the illusory maze of wrathful flames set by that other Tayzzyronth, Furyflame. In return, you help me evade the Ten-Lords Commission judges hunting me."
"Mutual benefit, no one drags the other down. How's that?" Cirrus proposed.
"New term alert! Furyflame?"
"As you can see, I'm not the master of this place. Another Tayzzyronth named Furyflame created this maze… Unfortunately, I'm the only one who can help you right now."
"Enough talk—let's form a strategic alliance."
This Cirrus really had some skill; she could fight those two things on even footing while still finding time to chat with her.
"Hm~ Not bad. You do have some insight. Out of respect, I won't mess around with your body…"
Crack!
The sound of a shield shattering. Cirrus only realized it afterward.
"Hah, what was I saying? Are you kidding me! Your body is the one attacking me right now!"
"Ow~ That milk tea is spitting black bullets at me! Sis, can you control it? If this keeps up I'm gonna die!"
"Nothing to do with me." Stelle spread her hands innocently. How was she supposed to know Adrian had left protective measures planted inside her!
Besides, this was a good thing! Teacher Adrian really thought of everything.
May Eternity forever accompany HIM… wait, something about that feels off.