"Ah-ha! Now there's only one me left. We did it!"
March's delighted voice reached his ears. Nero slowly opened his eyes and happened to see the members of the Astral Express waking up one after another, as well as the enormous body of the Lord Sunday.
Nero narrowed his eyes slightly. His mood was not nearly as excited as March's.
Because... he still existed right now, which meant that their success was nothing more than an illusion created by the dream. This operation had failed.
But before Nero could tell everyone about this, Lord Sunday made a move. He raised the conductor's baton in his hand and faced everyone with the bearing of a god.
"You have broken free from the dream of Order..."
"I've slept long enough!" March said. "Let me show you the temper of a Nameless after waking up!"
Facing these people who had struggled awake from the dream, Lord Sunday said, "Without Order, how can the weak become good?"
Then, he gently lowered the conductor's baton in his hand. Music immediately began to play from the void. Notes fell and danced like little spirits, transforming into attacks through their choral voices and crashing down toward the members of the Astral Express like waves.
The members of the Astral Express dodged one after another, then began fighting those note-like spirits. As for whose methods were the most unusual, that was naturally Nero's.
Although he realized that their attempt to break through the dream had failed, Nero still threw himself into the battle at the first opportunity.
The young man flew into the sky, dodging Lord Sunday's attacks. Then he stretched out his hand and shouted, "Sword, come!"
The spirit formed from a musical note suddenly trembled for some unknown reason. Then, somehow, it flew toward Nero's palm. While the others were fighting these things, Nero had already caught it in his hand.
The child did not care whether what he had gotten was actually a sword. Perhaps he had long since gotten used to treating all kinds of things as treasured swords in his daily life.
Once the "weapon" was in his hand, he flew straight toward Lord Sunday, raised the "weapon" high, and brought it down heavily.
Lord Sunday was not an Iron Cavalry. This was the first time He had seen such an unconventional way of fighting. When He saw Nero using His own summon as a weapon and flying over with a jumping strike, He froze for a moment.
Then, in the next instant, the jumping strike landed on His head.
Bang!
It was a thunderous boom. When the little spirit struck Lord Sunday's head, it shattered on the spot. Lord Sunday's entire body shook violently as a result.
Even after transforming into this great body and usurping the incarnation of the Chorus of Equilibrium, He still felt pain and dizziness from that jumping strike.
This gave Him a more direct understanding of the young man followed by those Knights of Beauty whose overall stats were generally higher than others.
Although the child was small and his weapon was not exactly convenient, he had a lot of strength.
When Lord Sunday raised His head, He watched as some fragments fell from His body.
The right side of His forehead, which had taken the jumping strike, had developed cracks. It looked like a marble slab that had been smashed heavily, and half of one of His wings had been forcibly broken off.
"Haha, Nero, nice hit!"
Seeing Nero's results, March praised him, then turned around and fired an arrow, striking Lord Sunday's right arm.
The next moment, a faint glow bloomed across Lord Sunday's right arm. Countless Six-Phased Ice grew over it and formed ice flowers.
His right arm was covered in ice in an extremely short time, and this special crystal left it completely unable to move.
At the same time, a red light flashed in the sky. A shooting star fell, the point of light rapidly growing larger. Himeko's orbital cannon naturally followed up with another attack.
BOOM!
The orbital cannon struck Lord Sunday's body. The flames of the explosion rapidly expanded, but in the next instant, they quickly collapsed inward as if they had been swept away.
When the flames disappeared, a pitch-black sphere floated before Lord Sunday. Enormous gravity erupted from what seemed to be a black hole, pulling at His body and causing the area within a certain range to lose all color and light.
During this time, Stelle looked thoughtfully at the hat in her hand, wondering how she should use the power of Harmony.
She thought of how Robin used singing, while Sunday used chanting...
Then, inspiration struck Stelle, and she immediately performed a dance with Clockie.
Stelle had yet to notice what it meant for Clockie, an existence resembling a dream meme, to suddenly appear here.
But the power of Harmony was indeed transmitted through her dance, and everyone in the Astral Express felt as though they had been strengthened.
As the main attacker, Nero had the clearest sense of this strange feeling. Looking at the wing he had broken with his earlier jumping strike and the cracks he had left on Lord Sunday's head, he actually felt an urge to rub salt into His wounds.
But that happened to suit Nero perfectly.
Unlike Yanqing, who had received proper instruction from a master, Nero had come from a completely unorthodox background when it came to fighting. To him, an enemy's wounds and weaknesses placed before him were no different.
It might sound a little rude, but he really was the type who would grab a crippled person's leg and kick it repeatedly during a fight.
As long as he could quickly and cleanly defeat his opponent, he would not care whether the methods he used were underhanded.
Of course, because the child's stats were absurdly high, whether or not he specifically attacked other people's wounds, he could usually make them lose the ability to act with a single blow.
At this moment, taking advantage of Lord Sunday's movements being restricted by Uncle Yang's black hole, Nero rushed forward without hesitation. Then he swung his palm toward the wound he had previously left on Lord Sunday's head!
Bang!
Another thunderous boom rang out. Under the enormous force, Lord Sunday's body uncontrollably tilted backward, while even more fragments fell away.
The half of the wing that had fortunately remained was knocked off by this slap as well, while the forehead that had already been cracked was directly smashed apart.
Compared with that, Nero's own body was much sturdier than Lord Sunday's notes. Combined with the blessing Stelle had given him, this slap was even more powerful than the jumping strike just now.
Lord Sunday took the full force of the Super Break damage.
He really did feel uncomfortable at this moment. Nero's strength had far exceeded His expectations, while the coordination between the members of the Astral Express was also extremely smooth.
He had basically had no time to react to that series of combination attacks. In fact, the Nameless before Him did not even need to communicate to perform such coordinated attacks. They could do it naturally.
In this regard, the Nameless seemed much more harmonious than the various factions of the Family.
However, He had been beaten like this partly because Nero's strength had far exceeded His expectations and caught Him off guard.
After steadying Himself again, Lord Sunday proclaimed, "I swear upon one hundred and seventy thousand three hundred and thirty-six notes, announcing to you all, join the glorious chorus, return to Heaven!"
He waved the conductor's baton according to rhythm and melody. Rings of tremendous power spread out one after another like halos.
He then made the notes spread their wings, and amid a brilliant golden radiance, an even more terrifying impact poured down over the heads of the members of the Astral Express.
Facing such an attack, Nero forcefully waved his hand. In the next instant, a surging hurricane rose from the ground!l.
"Wind Sword Formation, open!"
After the impact dispersed, the entire battlefield was dyed green. Countless Wind Swords stood everywhere. Nero stood on the hilt of one sword with his hands behind his back.
Faint cracks appeared across the young man's body, and within those cracks, a faintly purple galaxy could be seen slowly churning.
Nero actually rarely used the Wind Sword Formation in battle. After all, jumping strikes and slaps were usually enough to deal with things, and using a sword formation to bombard one person was really a little like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.
However, if he was facing a divine body transformed by Phantylia or an enormous opponent like Lord Sunday, that was another matter. In such circumstances, he did not mind unleashing all his firepower.
At the same time, clear music suddenly sounded, followed by Robin's singing.
"...Music?" Lord Sunday raised His head toward the sky, somewhat stunned.
The members of the Astral Express also raised their heads together.
Mr. Yang smiled slightly and said softly, "It seems that another voice has appeared in the musical composition of Order... Penacony's first, and final, discordant note."
As Mr. Yang's voice fell, a splash of color bloomed in the sky. Amid the reflections of countless stars, a phantom everyone in the Astral Express was extremely familiar with came rushing over. The Astral Express sped through the stars and flew over the heads of everyone!
Seeing the train, a smile appeared on Nero's face, and he blurted out, "All right! Knock Him flying, Pom-Pom! I'm joining too!"
As he spoke, Nero shot into the air. Countless Wind Swords also flew upward and circled around, covering the sky. Like a storm, they surrounded Lord Sunday, and like a long dragon, they followed beside the train.
The next instant, the train and the Wind Swords charged toward Lord Sunday with overwhelming force.
As the saying went, "Ten thousand miles of sky, sweeping the mountains and rivers with swords. Crossing mist and piercing clouds, scattering stars across the heavens!"
Countless blades instantly swallowed Lord Sunday within them.
When the attack subsided, Lord Sunday wearily supported His body, while the divine body He had manifested was already riddled with holes.
"Robin, it was you singing...?" Lord Sunday murmured.
"Brother, you heard the voices in people's hearts. This is not the paradise they want." Robin's voice came from the sky.
Lord Sunday raised His body. "But they still do not know where they should go, so I must become the only star in the sky and guide them."
"Even if the place where that star exists... is an eternally lonely night?"
"..."
Lord Sunday fell silent. After a moment, He raised His head.
"If you and I were never lonely, how could we ever have embarked on a road that takes us farther and farther apart...? Let the final negotiation end here."
With that, Lord Sunday raised His head and lifted His hand, holding countless notes in His palm. He loudly chanted, "The work of all creation is complete. The Day of Certainty has arrived. O Fetus of Philosophy, recreate heaven and earth for us!"
The next instant, Lord Sunday's face changed, revealing the entirety of the face that had been hidden.
Sunday's voice rang out from within the Fetus of Philosophy, "If your paradise can save more people, then personally cut off my path ahead."
"Dead Aeon, I pay my respects to you."
"By this seven-day oath, I command you to obey..."
"It is not you who created all things... but humanity that created you anew."
"In the beginning was the Word."
After those words, sacred radiance descended upon this place. The Fetus of Philosophy whispered, "On the first day, give them truth..."
"On the second day, give them the calendar..."
"On the third day, give them language..."
"On the fourth day, give them value..."
"On the fifth day, give them rules..."
"On the sixth day, give them meaning..."
"On the seventh day, give them dignity..."
As Sunday chanted, the radiance around the Fetus of Philosophy grew increasingly immense. Golden halos expanded and revolved behind it, as though divine might were shining upon all living beings.
"Brother... the weaknesses of human nature are not something others can redeem for them." Robin urged him again.
But Sunday did not answer her directly. The Fetus of Philosophy reached a hand toward the sky.
"Using your divine body, lay the foundation for our paradise!"
As the Fetus of Philosophy reached its hand toward the sky, golden light spread across the night like curtains.
Amid the sacred radiance, halos bloomed, and it seemed that some enormous figure was emerging from behind layers upon layers of clouds.
"Behold... the Beginning of Creation."
Accompanied by the words "The Beginning of Creation," a tremendous force tore through the sky.
But in the next moment, Sunday froze.
What answered Him was not the remains of Ena, but... something white, soft, and springy. A huge shadow resembling a cat-shaped cake hid behind the clouds, extending its tail downward.
At the same time, the cat-shaped cake stretched its body hard and answered, "Meow~"
This development was somewhat unexpected, even a little abstract. But what happened next told Sunday that His ability had indeed succeeded in activating.
Yet this result left Sunday even more puzzled. Even now, a thought could not help but appear in His mind.
Could it be that Ena's appearance was that of a cat-shaped cake?
The moment the pure-white cat tail touched the fingertip of the Fetus of Philosophy, some enormous power suddenly erupted. It swept in all directions like raging waves, its momentum as invasive as a blazing fire.
Seeing this scene, Nero suddenly waved his hand, and countless Wind Swords flew over in circles, blocking in front of him.
At the same time, Nero controlled the Wind Swords to wrap around his companions as well and shouted, "Hide behind me!"
BOOM!
In the next instant, all the members of the Astral Express were swallowed by that magnificent impact!
At the same time, a small figure was lying in the back, watching this scene.
The figure was entirely red. It was also a cat-shaped cake, with what seemed to be colorful popping candy sprinkled across its body. It had even prepared a mask for itself.
Little Aha, or rather, Aha, after leaving the deep dreamscape of the Sky Depths, followed the most intense fluctuations in the dream and brought Little Ena to the deep dreamscape of the Dawn Depths.
"Ah-ha, I didn't expect it to be Little Ena who answered the Beginning of Creation? The way this dream responds to an individual's expectations is really... so interesting!"
"Then, if that's the case, can my expectations be answered too? I'm really looking forward to it. Can you let me see it? You can let me see it, right? Hahaha, if I witness that eye, will this dream still exist?"
Aha's tone was extremely cheerful. He seemed to be looking forward to what was about to happen. With this anticipation, He turned His gaze toward the center of the Beginning of Creation and quietly waited to see whether the young man who had blocked all the impacts for his companions would undergo the change He desired.