At this moment, even Duke Inferno, slow as he might be, could sense that the seemingly very young girl before him possessed a rather extraordinary status.
"Wait, you… seem to have received my Lord's blessing?"
"Not 'received,' more like 'still receiving,'" Lynelle's face was full of rueful nostalgia.
"I actually wish he'd stay as far away from my life as possible."
"?"
Though the scene was somewhat comical, Lynelle genuinely felt palpable shock emanating from that flame.
"You have received my Lord's blessing, yet you scorn the Path of Destruction?"
"Yes, exactly," Lynelle nodded repeatedly.
"Judging by how you address yourself, you seem to hold some standing among the followers of Destruction. How about you have a word with Nanook for me?"
"Tell the old fellow to stop seeking me out when he's bored."
"THEY—keep pestering me, and then Yaoshi the Abundance gets wind of it and comes to stir up trouble too, then Aha finds it hilarious and drops by for a look, and finally they just start brawling."
"..."
Duke Inferno fell silent.
Although the girl's words sounded utterly sincere, for some reason, the Duke felt grievously wounded by that short sentence—not once, but twice.
"My Lord's decisions are not something we can interfere with," the Duke spoke after a moment.
"However… by my own will, I am now rather intrigued by you…"
"Ho ho… Not only are you not running away, but you're approaching me instead?"
Lynelle was taken aback for a second, then chuckled. "If you were to flee, you might actually have a chance to preserve a spark of that Phase Flame, you know?"
"Unnecessary," the Duke flatly refused.
At the same time, the cluster of blue flame began to swell instantaneously, expanding and coalescing into the imposing figure of a ram-headed, human-bodied giant.
"Destruction is a scene of magnificent tragedy. To cling to life through cowardice would make this existence far too long."
"In battle, to destroy one's foe, or to enact destruction through one's own body—that too is my path."
"Even facing an Emanator, I would have the courage to battle them and prove my way with my very being. Let alone… you are no Emanator, and this is not my true form."
"Battling an Emanator… Hah, I believe you will have that chance."
The Duke's words couldn't help but remind Lynelle of this fellow's original fate. It seemed he truly was consistent in this regard, only…
His Destruction was not pure.
After all, when facing Acheron, the Duke himself chose to meet his end, yet he went against the teachings he had always given his children and begged Acheron to spare their lives.
One could only say, this guy was quite the walking contradiction.
"But to be honest, I'm not really in the mood to fight you. If I end up attracting Nanook's attention again, I'd get a headache. So…"
Lynelle snapped her fingers. Instantly, Duke Inferno felt the space around him completely sealed in an instant.
"Corruption-chan, this one's for you. Just erase the consciousness within his flame; the fire itself can be kept for fun."
"Oh, and no need to hold back either. His true form is extremely far from here. Daring to come to Herta Space Station, he probably abandoned this flame cluster long ago."
"Mission guaranteed, Mama… ahem, Big Sister Lynelle!"
"Mmm…" Watching the bluish-purple-haired girl's eyes still gleaming with anticipation, Lynelle's mouth twitched slightly.
Finally, she let out a helpless sigh.
"Fine, if you do well, I'll give you extra lessons later… But don't get any weird expectations, alright? Until your body adjustments are complete, I still have to ensure your physical stability…"
"Yay!"
Under Lynelle's "encouragement," Corruption-chan's voice instantly turned cheerful. Even Duke Inferno opposite her could feel the thick, combative will radiating from the girl.
In theory, with an enemy possessing such intense fighting spirit, the Duke should have been exhilarated.
But… as Corruption-chan's fighting spirit ignited, he also noticed a slight problem.
Putting aside that petite girl floating in the air for a moment, what about this other one beside her, whom he had originally assumed was just a follower?
Why did the aura she was releasing feel somewhat like… an Emanator? And not just any Emanator, but one of those veteran ones whose presence felt strangely familiar.
At this moment, Duke Inferno couldn't help but miss his daughter—Constance.
That excellent daughter, who walked the paths of both Remembrance and Destruction, had collected many memories.
If she were here, she would immediately recognize which Aeon's Emanator aura belonged to this girl before him.
"Your presence is quite imposing, but, little girl… if I'm not mistaken, your strength seems concentrated in your physical prowess, correct?"
With his appraisal-specialist daughter absent and completely failing to realize that Corruption-chan wasn't even human, Duke Inferno continued his impromptu performance.
"So, how exactly do you intend to attack me, who lacks a physical form entirely… What?"
In the Duke's widening eyes, the ground beneath Corruption-chan's feet shattered instantly.
Then, thick, sturdy vines began to grow at a biologically-defying speed across the metal floors of Herta Space Station.
Following that, from the fruits on those vines, emerged… bugs?
Before the Duke could process his confusion further, this swarm of semi-transparent True Swarm bugs, fresh from bursting out of the fruits, charged toward the Duke's flame in a faint, flickering, semi-intangible state.
In a suicidal assault, they began nibbling away at the consciousness residing within the fire.
And, seemingly because they weren't purely physical entities, the Duke's flames were almost entirely ineffective against these bugs.
Before he could even burn them, they would self-annihilate, taking a wisp of his consciousness with them.
Not to mention his now-useless Phase Flame—with Lynelle here, teleportation was strictly forbidden in this area.
"Among the six great lineages of Propagation, the Starcrusher Swarm isn't exactly specialized in psychic attacks…"
Perhaps because of the promised 'extra lessons' from Lynelle, Corruption-chan commanded her bug swarm while explaining to Lynelle by her side, almost like seeking praise.
"But no one ever said a Starcrusher True Sting can only give birth to more Starcrusher True Stings."
"In fact, if we wish, any Swarm bug from any lineage can reproduce bugs of all types within the genetic library. So, picking out some Swarm bugs that feed on spiritual entities isn't difficult at all."
"That makes sense. After all, you Propagation folks even have Computer Stings that survive on consuming data. Even if you told me about even stranger bug types one day, I probably wouldn't be surprised…"
Watching the eager Corruption-chan and the semi-transparent bugs now filling the space station corridors as densely as dumplings in a pot, Lynelle felt she really ought to delete the surveillance footage here.
Otherwise, if Madam Herta saw this, she'd definitely make Lynelle pay for it.
"It's just… someone on the Express might have to pull some overtime soon…"
Thinking of the myriad Swarm species in Corruption-chan's genetic library—each seemingly more bizarre than the last—Lynelle couldn't help but sweat for Dan Heng, who was responsible for supplementing the Express's data bank.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.