"Sampo?"
The instant Evan saw the figure behind him, that name surfaced in his mind.
After all, he had crossed paths with Sampo before.
Sampo—one of the Masked Fools who appeared on Jarilo-VI, a follower of the Path of Elation.
To be honest, ever since Evan first encountered Sampo, he had sensed something odd about him.
Compared to Sparkle—the Masked Fool who would appear later—Sampo felt… different.
Whenever it came to Jarilo-VI, Sampo never acted directly. Instead, he kept throwing out questions—sharp, uncomfortable ones that forced people to make choices.
And when you examined those questions closely, they were often cruel, cutting straight to the core.
Yet Sampo himself would simply grin, waiting cheerfully for an answer, as if the outcome didn't matter to him at all.
Back when Evan had just arrived in this world, still stuck in the Underworld, the first Pathstrider he ever met wasn't anyone else.
It was Sampo.
Because Evan wasn't familiar with the Elation faction at the time, he had foolishly kept muttering about wanting the Amber Lord to notice him—
Only to end up attracting the gaze of Nous instead.
In hindsight, a typical transmigrator would have prayed to Aha first.
After all, Aha lived for chaos and amusement. Who knew? He might have casually tossed someone the power of an Emanator just for fun.
The next best option would have been the Trailblaze.
But the Aeon of Trailblaze had already fallen. Gaining their attention—or a true Path Resonance—was far more difficult.
So when it came to Sampo, Evan's understanding from his previous life made things clear very quickly.
Sampo, Giovanni, and Zhong Shanshan were all the same kind of people.
They delighted in the joy born from human nature—whether that joy came from kindness or cruelty.
The difference was style.
Giovanni preferred setting up massive stages, letting people perform freely within them.
Sampo and Zhong Shanshan, on the other hand, liked slipping into different roles, nudging events forward through something closer to elaborate pranks.
At their core, all three had boundaries.
They weren't the sort who would trample everything just for amusement.
Elation followers, after all, always had their own way of finding fun.
Which was why Evan didn't dislike Sampo.
Sampo didn't seek to humiliate people. His brand of joy was built on respect.
Even when he offended others, those people often ended up laughing along with him.
A win-win.
But standing here now, faced with a twin-tailed girl, Evan froze.
Wait.
Why was Sampo suddenly getting involved?
And yet—Evan's instincts screamed that something was wrong.
He didn't hate Sampo.
But Sampo had connections.
And among those connections was someone very familiar.
If Evan remembered correctly, Sparkle's very first appearance in the dreamscape of Penacony had been in Sampo's form.
That was why Evan had mistaken the person behind him.
But now—
This wasn't Sampo.
It was Sparkle.
Damn it.
"Oh? Looks like you finally recognized me."
Sparkle clasped her hands together, smiling brightly.
"Sparkle is so happy right now~"
A small golden fish circled Evan lazily as she spoke, her tone light and playful.
"But tell me… why do you have the Herrscher Authority that Sister Vita mentioned?"
The words hit like ice water.
"A Herrscher who walks a Path…"
Sparkle tilted her head, eyes glimmering with delight.
"If Sister Vita found out, she'd be thrilled, wouldn't she?"
Just a few casual sentences.
Only seconds had passed.
Yet the atmosphere instantly turned strange.
Seele and Clara were still processing what was happening.
Svarog remained in standby mode.
But Evan—
Evan felt a chill crawl down his spine.
The Moonlight Throne snapped back into existence, its cannon trained directly on Sparkle.
In response, Sparkle skipped over to Seele's side, casually patting her shoulder.
Before Seele could even react, Sparkle had already slipped behind Clara, hugging her from behind.
She peeked out over Clara's shoulder, stuck out her tongue at Evan, and laughed.
"Looks like old Sampo was right after all!"
"This planet—Jarilo-VI—is packed with fun!"
"Coming here was definitely the right choice~"
...
Evan exhaled slowly and waved his hand.
The Moonlight Throne dissolved into pure energy.
Using it against Sparkle was pointless.
This woman was far too bizarre.
First of all, Evan couldn't even be sure whether the figure in front of him was her real body—or just a Sparkle-shaped construct.
Second, her actual strength was impossible to gauge.
During the Penacony incident, Sparkle had manipulated events from the shadows, guiding Aventurine and the Trailblazer's group toward the truth.
In the end, she even staged a spectacular fireworks explosion, rescuing the heroes in a dramatic finale.
She was chaos incarnate.
"So."
Evan rubbed his temples and finally spoke.
"What exactly are you here for?"
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