Phainon stood in the very center, with Star and March 7th on his left and right, and Dan Hengleading the way.
The four of them, with a strange unspoken understanding, trekked through the vast snowy plains, with Phainon as their moving core of warmth.
Suddenly, Dan Heng stopped, pressing his right hand down in a gesture of caution.
"There's something ahead."
Before he finished speaking, a bird-like monster covered in ice crystals, flapping their wings, emerged from the blizzard. their hollow eye sockets glowed with an eerie light as it aimlessly drifted.
Dan Heng frowned deeply.
"There are no obvious signs of the fragmentum here yet, but fragmentum creatures have already infiltrated to this extent."
"It seems the influence of the 'Stellaron' on this planet is more severe than we anticipated."
Just then...
March 7th and Star suddenly felt the heat source beside them vanish!
"Huh?" March 7th jolted, turning her head sharply. "Where's Phainon?"
Phainon, like a phantom, had already appeared directly in front of the fragmentum creature.
He hadn't moved; it was more as if he was always meant to be standing there.
The fragmentum creature let out a shriek, as if triggering some biological instinct.
It flew over rapidly, opening their pale, gaping maw wide enough to swallow Phainon's entire head.
Swish—
A flash of dark sword light streaked across the air, then vanished.
The fragmentum creature's body silently split in two, the cut as smooth as a mirror.
their shattered body turned into ice crystals, and before they could even hit the ground, they were completely evaporated into ethereal water vapor by the invisible, scorching heat field around Phainon.
[Ignitable Tinder: +1]
Why... is this happening?
The cold words shattered the gate of Phainon's reason.
Countless desperate images of him personally slaying loved ones and destroying his home surged through his mind like a breaking dam, overwhelming his sanity!
"Hehehe..."
The golden mask could no longer suppress the maniacal laughter.
[Current Emotion: Euphoria (rapidly rising...)]
It seems... practicing destruction can also yield firewood... This thought spread quietly in his mind like a virus.
"All... fragmentum creations..."
"Can all be... turned into firewood!"
Ignite the tinder... more power!
Seeing this, March 7th tugged on Dan Heng's sleeve. "Dan Heng! While we haven't gone too far, why don't we just send him back to the train?"
Dan Heng was silent for a few seconds.
Phainon's current state was identical to when he went on a rampage at the Space Station.
But he finally shook his head.
"It should be fine. His sword, at least, won't be swung at us; the zero casualties at the Space Station are the best proof. And with him leading the way, we'll be much safer."
"Alright then..." March 7th rubbed her cold shoulders, muttering, "But it gets chilly again as soon as he leaves."
"Is that your real intention?" Star used a seemingly joking remark to hide the solemnity in her heart.
With Phainon cutting down everything in his path, the rest of the journey was peaceful.
However, as they passed a few Antimatter Legioncorpses frozen in ice and snow...
Everyone watched as a black light flashed, and a huge mountain peak in the distance was neatly sliced in half, collapsing with a roar and triggering a small avalanche.
And Phainon, having done all this, simply continued forward as if dusting himself off.
As they walked, March 7th looked around idly.
She suddenly pointed to an inconspicuous snowdrift ahead: "Hey, did you guys see that? Something seems to be moving there..."
Dan Heng was a bit puzzled. "It's just an ordinary snowdrift. Are you sure it's not your imagination?"
"Absolutely not! My eyesight is excellent! Come on, let's get closer and take a look."
Just then...
That reassuring warmth enveloped everyone again.
Phainon had silently reappeared behind them at some point.
"Hey! Can you stop appearing and disappearing like a ghost?"
March 7th clutched her chest. "I really need to learn from Uncle Yang and keep a bottle of quick-acting heart medicine for emergencies!"
Phainon didn't speak, just quietly watched the constantly wiggling snowdrift in front of him.
As everyone approached, they heard chattering teeth coming from inside.
After trying various wake-up calls to no avail, Dan Heng, expressionless, thrust his spear like a dragon, precisely into a certain elastic part of the snowdrift.
"Ow!"
A strong, somewhat flamboyant male voice shrieked and scrambled out of the snowdrift.
He rubbed his backside: "I say, buddy, isn't that a bit much? Hiding in a snowdrift to slack off isn't a big crime; there's no need to poke me with a spear, is there?"
Phainon looked at the blue-haired, purple-clad man before him, and in his consciousness, a name instantly formed—Sampo!
Sampo's eyes swept over everyone's faces one by one, and his grinning expression froze abruptly when he saw Phainon.
That golden mask!
His pupils contracted; it was a sense of familiarity that went deep into his bones!
No mistake!
The Fool's mask!
The frivolity on Sampo's face instantly faded. He tentatively asked, "No, buddy, how come you're here?"
"Who?" Dan Heng heard the implication in Sampo's words; there was definitely something fishy between these two.
Sampo's gaze lingered on Phainon's mask for a long time. His cynical smile also receded a bit, replaced by a tentative enthusiasm.
"Oh, my, isn't this... a fellow traveler!"
He dramatically patted the snow off himself, leaned closer, and lowered his voice.
"On the path to finding fun, how did you end up in this icy wilderness? There's nothing fun here. Great disaster is coming!"
Phainon did not respond.
Beneath the mask, his pupils simply watched him silently.
There was no familiar camaraderie of a "fellow traveler" in his eyes, only a bottomless cold abyss.
And beneath the abyss, a faint, almost imperceptible hunger.
[Joy Collected: +5]
Sampo's smile instantly froze.
A master, he can remain so unfazed?!
He gave no reaction at all.
What he saw in those eyes was not mockery, not pleasure.
But a profound, unresolvable pain?
Could it be that this guy wasn't here to find fun?
Sampo subtly took half a step back, creating what he considered a safe distance from Phainon. He then reverted to his grinning demeanor, turning to March 7th and Star.
"Friends from afar, you don't look like locals, do you?"
"My name is Sampo Koski. I like making friends and doing a little business. You can call me Sampo."
March 7th, with a suspicious look, pointed at Phainon, then at Sampo: "You... know each other?"
"No, no, no, how could that be!" Sampo shook his head vigorously. "I just think this big brother's mask is particularly artistic, and I couldn't help but look at it a few more times, right, big brother?"
He winked at Phainon.
Phainon remained silent, only the temperature around him grew a few degrees hotter.
Dan Heng's gaze swept back and forth between the two, finally concluding, "He's afraid of you."
This statement was clearly directed at Phainon.
"Hahaha... this young man certainly knows how to joke!" Sampo chuckled dryly, trying to smooth things over. "I, Sampo, fear neither heaven nor earth; how could I be afraid of someone?"
"Ahead is the city boundary of Belobog, but it's guarded by the Silvermane Guards. If you go like this, you'll definitely be arrested as suspicious individuals."
He changed the subject, skillfully starting his sales pitch.
"But, well, you're lucky to have met me, Sampo!"
"I happen to know a secret shortcut that bypasses the guards. For just a small fee for my trouble, I can take you safely into the city. What do you say?"
Star tilted her head, looking at the glib-tongued man, then at the silent Phainon next to her, suddenly finding things getting interesting.
She took a step closer to Phainon and said, with an air of righteousness despite not being entirely in the right,
"You can lead the way. But, we don't have money."