"Ahhh, well this is… something."
Sampo crouched behind a boulder that had frozen into a solid lump of ice. In the distance, a world-shaking battle raged—the Engine of Creation smashing the earth with each punch, the Stellaron's cold tide freezing the air itself into cracking, brittle fractures, while the Astral Express crew kept charging forward like their lives were optional.
"Been doing business for years," Sampo muttered as he clicked his tongue, fishing out a handful of sunflower seeds. "First time I've ever seen people this reckless. Especially that pink-haired girl—weak as a baby chick, and she's still baring her teeth at the Stellaron… tsk tsk, gutsy."
His gaze drifted to the cracked ice coffin nearby. His brows jumped.
"Oh? He's awake?"
Inside the ice, Huo Linfei was slyly peeking one eye open, stealth-checking the battlefield like a guilty cat. Sampo almost laughed out loud.
"Good grief. Playing dead, are we?"
He knew the move. Back when he was flipping secondhand radiators in the Underworld, he'd "fainted" plenty of times—waited until the buyer bargained down to rock bottom, then slowly "came to" and wheezed, 'Brother, that price is impossible…'
Ice coffin POV: Huo Linfei's "strategic nap"
Honestly? The ice coffin was pretty comfy.
If you ignored the minus-two-hundred-degree temperature… and the occasional ice shard trying to crawl up his nostrils.
Huo Linfei had woken up before Himeko's orbital support ever hit the Engine. With that much noise, even a corpse would roll over. But he didn't immediately break out—he narrowed his eyes and watched the fight instead.
"[Host's feigning-sleep technique is truly breathtaking.]"
"[Would you like this system to play snoring sound effects for added realism?]"
"Shut up," Huo Linfei snapped internally. "I'm stabilizing. Can't you see Firecloud Art and Shadow Frost Art are still throwing hands inside me?"
And they were.
Inside his body, it was basically a civil war:
left-side meridians running glacial Shadow Frost; right-side roaring with volcanic Firecloud.
If he hadn't learned how to reconcile opposing energies back in the Super Beast universe, he'd have already self-detonated like fireworks.
Outside, the fight escalated. He watched Stelle wrench the lance free—then get played by the Mother of Delusion. The Engine's massive palm came down toward Bronya, ready to pancake her—
"Tch. I can't watch this."
He flexed his fingers. The ice gave a faint crack.
"[Recommended plan.]"
"[Standard Super Beast Armament will trigger energy conflict.]"
"[Suggestion: compress Super Beast output into Phantom Qilin armor.]"
"[Effect: short burst. Side effect: may fry brain cells.]"
"As if I have that many brain cells to burn," Huo Linfei thought, rolling his eyes. "Do it."
"No skill—just stats": the compression build
In an instant, his energy began compressing violently.
The massive output that normally went into summoning a beast-form was forcibly stuffed into the armor state instead. The Phantom Qilin's red patterns deepened into dark gold, and icy-blue energy flame burst from the joints like exhaust.
"[Energy stacking complete.]"
"[Current peak output: 0.8 black holes (temporary).]"
"[Note: Show-off window: three minutes.]"
"Three minutes is plenty!"
He punched the ice coffin apart and dropped to the ground in a shower of shards—very cool, if you ignored the fact his legs were numb and he nearly buckled on landing.
And then came the "hero moment" everyone saw:
one hand catching the Engine's fist like it was nothing.
Bronya stared at him so hard she forgot to breathe.
March's mouth dropped into a perfect O. "Huo Linfei… since when are you THIS insane?!"
Dan Heng's lip twitched. "He was definitely awake the whole time."
Stelle, holding the lance, suddenly felt like her new Preservation power wasn't so impressive anymore.
Behind his boulder, Sampo applauded. "Beautiful! Full marks for the classic 'hero saves the damsel' play!"
Huo Linfei didn't hear any of it. He was too busy enjoying that intoxicating "I am cracked" sensation—and ignoring the system screaming in his head:
"[WARNING: energy overload!]"
"[Remaining show-off time: 2:30.]"
He looked up at the Mother of Delusion and crooked a finger.
"Stellaron, yeah? Come down. Let's talk."
The Mother of Delusion snaps back
Her golden hair whipped violently in the wind. Her already-blurred face twisted, purple Stellaron light bleeding through her body and freezing the surrounding air into glittering ice dust.
"Insects… dare provoke the Stellaron's will?!"
She swung her hand.
The Engine of Creation—that enormous machine—was launched like a toy, slammed into a distant glacier, and the whole ridge shook.
Huo Linfei landed smoothly. On his armor, the gold-and-blue lines became clearer. He shook his wrist and grinned.
"That's it? You mad already? I haven't even warmed up."
"[Remaining show-off time: ~2:15.]"
"[Friendly reminder: your dialogue is extremely punchable right now.]"
He ignored the system, stomped once—ice exploded—and he shot forward like a cannon round. Fire and frost braided around his fist; each strike carried a wrecking-ball level of force.
The Mother of Delusion raised a barrier of Stellaron energy—
and his punch cracked it on contact.
"How is that possible?!" Real shock finally flickered in her eyes.
"Surprised?" Huo Linfei grinned wider, spun, and whipped a brutal roundhouse.
"This is what REAL power looks like!"
She flew back dozens of meters, her ice-crystal body webbing with fine fractures. Purple light in her eyes stuttered violently.
"You think… this is over?!"
She raised both arms. The Stellaron core emerged from her chest, and terrifying Imaginary energy began to gather. The cold tide of Everwinter Ridge surged toward her like rivers to the sea. Moisture in the air crystallized into countless floating ice blades.
"Creation's Final Echo—"
The sky over Jarilo-VI darkened as if even starlight had frozen. The extreme cold compressed into a beam—an attack that looked capable of freezing the entire planet—and it crashed down toward Huo Linfei.
"HUO LINFEI! MOVE!" March's scream was swallowed by the roar.
Bronya's face went pale. Seele's scythe flew—but couldn't get close. Dan Heng planted his spear in the ice, grimacing. "Too late…"
Stelle's Preservation glow flared—but it couldn't pierce the storm.
And at the center of it all, Huo Linfei simply looked up calmly.
"Creation's Final Echo? Cool name."
He raised his right hand, palm up. Fire and frost spun together like a vortex.
"But unfortunately—"
His fingers snapped shut.
"Your ice can't freeze my fire."
BOOM—!!!
Crimson Firecloud and icy Shadow Frost twisted into a spiraling pillar that slammed upward—meeting the falling beam head-on. The collision drained color from the world. The shockwave shaved a whole layer off the surrounding glaciers.
The planetary-freeze beam… was held in midair.
It couldn't drop even an inch.
"No… impossible! The Stellaron's power—!"
"Because your Stellaron," Huo Linfei said, eyes burning with gold-blue flame, "is dead energy."
He stepped forward, drew back his right fist, and compressed everything into a single point.
"And I—"
Punch.
"—am living conviction."
The spiral blast punched through the "Final Echo" and hammered the Mother of Delusion in the chest. The Stellaron core shuddered, shrieking. Her crystal body began to collapse—and inside, Cocolia emerged, stripped from the Stellaron's control, barely conscious.
"[Remaining show-off time: 1 minute.]"
"[Suggestion: finish fast.]"
Sealing the Stellaron—by "two-sided interference"
"Is there a way to seal the Stellaron?"
"[Given host's ability to reconcile opposing energies…]"
"[Attempt: use two opposite energy natures to clamp the Stellaron, disrupting its circulation.]"
"Fine."
Huo Linfei blinked in—right in front of her—and pressed one hand onto the Stellaron. Fire and frost became chains, wrapping it from both sides. Opposing forces pulled in perfect balance, and the Stellaron's rising glow dimmed—suppressed, disrupted.
The Mother of Delusion's form dispersed completely.
Cocolia fell from the air—Huo Linfei caught her and lowered her gently to the ground. Her hair returned to its original color; the purple in her eyes faded, leaving only exhaustion and confusion.
"Why…" she rasped. "Why… not kill me…"
"Because someone will grieve for you," Huo Linfei said, releasing his armor. "And because your sins aren't something you can wash away with one death. I'm not dumping this mess onto a kid's shoulders. I can't."
Cocolia's pupils trembled. Then her eyes closed.
"[Show-off time over.]"
"[Output returns to baseline: 0.5 black holes.]"
"[Score: 9/10. Minus 1 for final line being too cheesy.]"
Huo Linfei exhaled, long and slow, and turned back to the others.
March 7th was the first to sprint over—then thunk—a punch to his shoulder.
"You bastard! You were awake and you still played dead?!"
"Ow—ow—OW!" he yelped. "I was giving you guys a chance to shine!"
Dan Heng walked up and, for once, let a faint smile show. "Well done."
Stelle hoisted the lance and raised a brow. "Next time you're doing 'hero saves the day,' tell me earlier. I want it on video."
Bronya knelt beside Cocolia, hands trembling. Huo Linfei came over and patted her shoulder.
"She can be saved."
Bronya looked up, eyes red. "Thank you."
Post-credits: Sampo gets grabbed, and the system gets real suspicious
In the distance, Sampo crawled out of the rubble, dusting ice chips off himself.
"Welp, show's over. Time to—"
He turned—
—and ran straight into a wall.
Seele stood there. Her scythe rested against his throat.
"Sampo," she said with a cold smile. "Wildfire's been looking for you."
"Misunderstanding!" Sampo laughed nervously. "I was helping!"
Huo Linfei glanced over and suddenly shouted:
"Hey! Auntie!"
"Hey! Nephew!" Sampo reflexively replied—
Then froze.
Huo Linfei pointed at the half-exposed mechanical device in Sampo's coat.
"That battle energy you've been siphoning… mind sharing?"
POP.
Mid-sentence, Huo Linfei's entire body started shrinking like a punctured balloon.
"…."
"System," he said slowly, "I need an explanation."
"[Th-the system doesn't know anything at all (totally not guilty)~]"
And that last line hit exactly where it was supposed to:
Something is very wrong with the "system," and this "balance" he's been forced into is starting to collect interest.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 50)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 50)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 50)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 54)
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