The distorted, eerie melody echoed through the room, as though winding a spring inside people's hearts. The quiet Dreamscape Hotel finally became lively, but the commotion only made people feel more uneasy.
"...What's going on?! Why did all the lights suddenly come on? This is so creepy..." Firefly carefully watched the changes around them.
As the lights came on, the two girls gradually saw their surroundings clearly. Countless towering doors stood along the circular walls.
After confirming there wasn't any immediate danger nearby, Firefly said, "There are actually so many doors here... We should be able to leave through one of them..."
Stelle nodded, but all of the doors looked identical. Neither of them could find any clue pointing toward an exit.
In the end, trusting her instincts, Stelle chose one of the doors. The two of them entered together, walked through the corridor, and opened another door...
Only to find an identical room waiting on the other side.
It wasn't completely the same, though. Various noises mixed with the distorted melody. The televisions all around them lit up with static, continuously emitting a hissing sound.
At the same time, the door behind them disappeared the moment they stepped inside.
The two girls didn't stay there for long. They picked another door and rushed through it. After passing another dim corridor, they arrived in yet another identical room.
There were even more televisions showing static here, as though deliberately pointing out that something was malfunctioning. There was another change as well.
The distorted melody gradually became more hurried, as if something invisible were following behind them. As it drew closer, the eerie music became increasingly frantic, like a death march played across human vocal cords.
Once again, they ran.
However, when Stelle and Firefly opened the door and rushed into the corridor, the melody suddenly slowed before stopping completely in the next second.
As silence once again filled the surroundings, the deafening ringing of a giant alarm clock erupted, drilling into their eardrums.
The shrill alarm quickly faded away. As the two of them returned to another identical room, the distorted melody came back, haunting the two girls relentlessly.
They left again, running through another identical corridor. They pushed open the next door amid the piercing alarm, and the distorted melody abruptly stopped beside their ears.
Only the ticking of a second hand remained, along with the pounding of their own heartbeats.
The two sounds seemed to overlap.
Then came faint screams and cries. They seemed to come from somewhere unimaginably far away, yet also sounded as though they were right beside their ears, carrying a madness that could drive people insane.
Firefly raised a hand to shield her eyes.
"The flashing from the TVs is so bright... Be careful, there's something..."
As Firefly's voice fell, the piled-up televisions suddenly burst with blinding light.
The next instant, strange purple diamond-shaped eyes appeared on the screens one after another, staring fixedly at the two girls.
Stelle drew her baseball bat and stepped in front of Firefly.
The next moment, within the dim darkness surrounding them, a faint light flashed. Like a blade cutting through mist, it stirred the black radiance around it.
The shadows suddenly expanded, and an enormous, horrifying creature emerged from within them, extending its sharp claws.
It was difficult to describe what kind of monster it was. It resembled a deep-sea fish swimming through memoria, or perhaps some kind of black Bobbit worm.
It emerged from a mist that looked like stars. Countless eyes opened across its body, and it let out a howl that was muffled, low, hoarse, yet unbelievably shrill, almost enough to tear apart its own vocal cords.
This monster wasn't easy to deal with. Its body was enormous, yet incredibly agile. Every fragment split from its body could become a blade, leaving the two girls locked in a hard fight.
Stelle's baseball bat could hardly do any real damage to it.
As for Firefly...
She was the one being protected.
The outcome of the battle was obvious.
Stelle was defeated, her baseball bat falling to the side, while Firefly was seized by the enormous monster.
The monster's hard claws gradually tightened. With only her current strength, Firefly couldn't break free.
She looked at Stelle worriedly. Although she didn't want to reveal her identity as a Stellaron Hunter just yet, it seemed that transforming into SAM and fighting the monster was the only way to make the situation relatively safe.
Firefly silently clenched her fists.
But then something unusual happened.
She heard footsteps.
Rapidly approaching footsteps.
The next moment, light began to spread, and a magic circle gradually formed beneath the monster. Several crystal arms reached out from it, restraining the creature and slamming it into the ceiling.
Firefly took the opportunity to escape.
At some point, a figure had appeared in the shadows of a corner. She sat atop a television, her fingertips lightly brushing across a magical instrument and dreamlike cards.
She was a mature woman with a graceful figure. Her clothing carried an air of mystery, making her look like a fortune teller.
The older sister gently parted her lips and said calmly, "Without mastering the proper method... it's impossible to retreat... from the shadow of death... completely unharmed."
By now, Firefly had already helped Stelle to her feet and retreated to one side.
Meanwhile, the crystal arms restraining the monster were shattered apart by it with a tremendous crash.
It looked like a major battle was unavoidable.
Just then, a tremendous boom suddenly came from nearby.
The three of them instinctively looked in that direction, only to see that one of the room's walls had apparently been kicked by some terrifying giant beast. It collapsed with a thunderous crash, leaving behind a massive hole.
The next instant, a beautiful white-haired young man wearing a trench coat and a top hat flew in through the opening.
The boy traced an arc through the air, flying straight toward the grotesque monster. While still airborne, he raised his hand and mercilessly slapped it.
BOOM!
A wave of air rolled outward, cracking the walls that were still standing nearby. The monster that took the slap instantly turned into a black shadow, spinning, tumbling, and twitching as it flew across the room.
It smashed another huge hole into the opposite wall before collapsing onto the floor. Only its faint sounds and slight twitching proved that it was still alive.
As Nero landed, the knight with vivid red hair and spotless armor and the young swordsman from the Xianzhou had already rushed forward.
One protected Firefly and Stelle.
The other pointed his sword at the monster lying on the ground.
At the same moment, the monster let out a series of mournful shrieks. Almost instantly, it twisted its body, crawled back into the doorway of shadows, and disappeared without a trace.
Seeing this, Nero immediately shouted, "Yanqing, what are you doing? Get over there and deal some damage! Why are you acting like that big sister? The moment the enemy gets crowd-controlled, all you know is how to stand there looking cool, huh?"
"Uh..."
Yanqing froze for a moment and suddenly felt a little wronged.
He didn't think this was his fault. It should be Nero's fault. After all, every time Nero made a move, the enemy was finished immediately. Who would have thought this one wouldn't die from a single hit?
But he didn't want to blame Nero, so he could only force out a bitter smile.
Silver Wolf... no, Argenti looked at Nero with a serious expression and said, "If I heard correctly... just now... I think you slapped it so hard it cried."
Not far away, Black Swan stared blankly at the scene.
"...?"
'What was going on?'
Watching what had just happened, even the elegant, mysterious older sister found it difficult to maintain her composure.
Although she had suffered a major blow not long ago because of a certain "Galaxy Ranger", she still couldn't help but turn a curious gaze toward Nero.