Watching the Wind Swords shatter one after another under the impact of Primordial Action, Nero stood where he was, without much change in his heart.
The outcome before him was within his expectations.
Knowing that his current self was merely a product derived from the will of his companions through Ena's Dream, it was still somewhat difficult for him to block a move like this.
After all, he was not the original body. No matter how strong everyone else believed he should be, he could not break through the inherent shackles.
But it was not a big problem. Although completely blocking this move, Primordial Action, was somewhat difficult, protecting everyone through this wave of attacks was still no problem.
Besides, so much time had passed. No matter where his original body was, he should have found a way to solve the problem by now, right?
While doing his best to maintain the final Wind Sword Formation, Nero thought to himself.
He still had quite a lot of confidence in himself.
Then Nero took a step forward and looked back at the members of the Astral Express.
"The current me can't quite block this move with the sword formation alone. Wait a moment. I'll be back soon."
After saying that, Nero gently waved his hand. The Wind Sword Formation suddenly shrank, then wrapped the members of the Astral Express inside it.
As for himself, he came outside, summoned the wind as a barrier in front of him, and guided almost all of the impact that had to be endured head-on toward himself.
Bearing most of the impact of Primordial Action was undoubtedly very painful, but to Nero, it was nothing much. His tolerance for pain was quite strong.
After all, every time he fought seriously, his entire body would be immersed in pain as though it were being torn apart. He was already used to it.
"Ah... I knew it. I really can't hold it..."
During the final stage of Primordial Action, Nero saw part of his right hand shatter along the cracks, and his mood suddenly became somewhat complicated.
How should he put it? Knowing in advance that this was how things would turn out was one thing, but seeing his own body crack apart bit by bit with his own eyes was another.
A moment later, the impact brought by Primordial Action dissipated.
The Wind Sword Formation that had wrapped around everyone also shattered along with it, then turned into a strand of wind and disappeared.
"Nero!" March was the first to raise her head and start looking for Nero. Only after seeing the boy's back did she let out a sigh of relief.
By now, March was somewhat traumatized by Nero's habit of acting on his own. After all, this kid had a history of it.
Although nothing had happened in the end, the incident of him swallowing the neutron star explosion in the Luofu was still fresh in her memory. She was genuinely a little scared.
After letting out a sigh of relief, March hurried over to the boy and reached out to pat him on the shoulder.
"Why aren't you saying anything? Everyone's going to worry when you're like this... Eh..."
After turning Nero around, March's body instantly stiffened. Her entire person seemed to have been frozen in place, her eyes blank as she stared blankly at the scene before her.
If March could remember this scene afterward, perhaps it would become a nightmare that haunted her for the rest of her life.
The boy before her looked so broken that he was almost unrecognizable, like a sand sculpture model that someone had smashed to pieces. Cracks covered almost his entire body.
His right forearm had completely disappeared, while the most severe damage was to his head. Centered around the position of his left eye, nearly a quarter of his bodily tissue had disappeared, as though something had forcibly dug it out.
Outside those gaps, something seemed to be drifting and glowing faintly, like reflective powder, carrying a faint, eerie purple hue...
"Ne... Nero...!?"
March staggered backward two steps and covered her mouth, staring blankly at the boy before her, seemingly still unable to react.
After the other members of the Astral Express saw this scene, their expressions all darkened.
In a more concealed place, Aha watched all of this, feeling somewhat excited inside.
Some things would be far too dangerous to carry out in reality. Even He could not fool around with them. But this time, Ena's Dream was a rare opportunity.
Ahead, March looked at the battered Nero as though she wanted to say something. But suddenly, her body froze in place. Then, she seemed to pat Nero on the shoulder, turn Nero back around, and quickly retreat.
The others behaved much like March. Then, the shattered and dissipated Wind Sword Formation reassembled, once again wrapping around the members of the Astral Express. Primordial Action, which had ended long ago, also erupted once more.
Everything seemed to begin rewinding like a tape. Apart from Nero's body, which remained damaged, everything else began moving back toward its "original position."
At the same time, a faint, dark-purple starry sky began spreading through the gaps in Nero's body. The slowly flowing light extended outward, reconstructing Nero's right arm. A strand of incomparably bright fire gradually became clear, then ignited at the position of Nero's left eye.
As that flame burned more and more fiercely, the dream began to shake and tremble. In the star-speckled night sky above Hunan, a shuttle-shaped void suddenly shattered into existence.
Cracks like fractures in the sky began spreading. The dark-purple light within the void grew brighter and brighter, then spread downward, shrouding everything in a faint purple glow that slowly swirled like a starry sky.
The void looked down upon the earth, like an eye.
Seeing this scene, Aha became excited. For an instant, He wished He could clap His hands and laugh loudly. Unfortunately, the paws of the little cat cake were somewhat short, and they were soft and bouncy besides, so clapping was not very convenient.
He was genuinely very pleasantly surprised. Although the master of this Ena's Dream was not His beloved old friend, under the influence of Order, His expectations had still been answered by this dream.
Even this "Observer's Eye" could be reproduced.
Such a scene made Aha feel extremely amused. He could not wait to quickly contact the other Aeons through the communication network created by Nous. Of course, the most important thing was to contact Idrila.
Ever since He ascended because of the Observer's Eye, He could only rely on this network to actively contact Her.
Oh my, although Idrila had taken the initiative to appear and conceal this gaze back then, the fact that Her divine body and even Her divine core had shattered because of the Observer's Eye was still a fact. Now that this eye had appeared again, Idrila would definitely be very happy after seeing it!
At this moment, Aha really wanted to praise Sunday for being so capable.
Unfortunately, Aha's expectations fell flat this time.
After entering the communication network, the first thing He saw was Idrila chatting happily with Fuli. This forced Him to use some means to attract their attention, and as a result, Nous mocked Him for adding emoticons to the communication.
Why was the machine head paying attention to things here too? Why not go do His arithmetic problems properly?
Aha thought somewhat gloomily. Then He raised His head and looked at the Observer's Eye in the sky, feeling that He seemed to understand.
That was true. With this eye here, forget the machine head, even the Braised Egg Head (that black-skinned braised egg with uneven-sized eyes) might not be able to sit still.
After all, even if the Braised Egg Head could sit still, once He collapsed into some other messy thing because of observation, He would not be able to sit still anymore.
Thinking of this, Aha had a sudden inspiration. He swept up Little Ena with His tail, placed him on top of His head, and ran away carrying this cat cake.
The rest of the matter could be left to His good brother to handle. Aha could not deal with this thing.
Aha!