"When Kafka and Stelle found me, I had just finished my final battle as one of Glamoth's Iron Cavalry.
"The empire had already fallen. All restraints were gone. For the first time, green flames ignited on my body... and for the first time, I came into contact with the true Path-power of the Glamoth Iron Cavalry.
"That was when I finally understood that Entropy Loss Syndrome was a death born of Propagation."
At this moment, in order to better treat Entropy Loss Syndrome, Cecilia had asked Firefly to explain its nature in detail.
After all, while the condition had long been recorded across the galaxy, only beings like Firefly truly knew the secret behind it.
And even though Cecilia already knew the truth, she still cooperatively voiced the doubt she was supposed to have.
"Propagation? So that's the source of your Glamoth Iron Cavalry's power?"
Firefly nodded again.
"Yes. I've seen scenes like that before. When the Swarm King they belonged to died, the swarm would lose all vitality and fall into dormancy.
"Just like the Iron Cavalry, they were never given a self of their own. The moment they became separated from the swarm, they would begin to slowly die.
"And Entropy Loss Syndrome is the same kind of thing."
That was the true nature of Entropy Loss Syndrome.
In the current historical record, people generally believed that Entropy Loss Syndrome was a fail-safe deliberately written into the Iron Cavalry's genes by the Glamoth people in order to control them.
But that explanation was not entirely accurate.
The essence of Entropy Loss Syndrome was the death of Propagation itself—the innate flaw of those who walked the Path of Propagation.
Whether Iron Cavalry or swarm, so long as they were Pathstriders of Propagation, they were born under the restriction of a blight like Entropy Loss Syndrome.
And there was only one trigger for it:
Separation from the swarm—or, put more simply, loneliness.
Legend said that the Swarm King Tayzzyronth had ignited Their Path through a longing born of loneliness.
And ever since They opened the Path of Propagation, everything within that Path revolved around a single underlying principle:
The rejection of loneliness.
The mechanisms of clustering, assimilation, and all the rest of Propagation were merely extensions of that fundamental logic. That was why Pathstriders of Propagation could only function in swarm mode.
Any act that severed them from the collective was equivalent to betraying the Path itself.
And the moment they betrayed the Path, whether swarm or Iron Cavalry, their power would begin to fade until, in the end, they died.
Then Firefly summoned Sam.
In an instant, flames flared, and silver-white armor wrapped itself around her entire body.
Only then did Firefly finally let out a relieved breath.
As things stood, she still could not survive away from Sam. The reason she had been able to move around in Firefly's own form earlier was solely because Kiana's Harmony had temporarily sustained her.
And now Kiana was no longer by her side.
Though the power of Harmony still lingered within the Alchemy Commission, Firefly could already feel a trace of discomfort.
Only now did Cecilia finally have the chance to examine the armor from the perspective of Abundance.
"Hm... if I'm understanding you correctly, can I put it this way?"
"You Glamoth Iron Cavalry are like batteries, and this Sam armor is the tool that stores and restores your charge?"
Firefly paused, thought it over, then nodded.
"That... is actually a very apt comparison."
After that, Cecilia thoughtfully circled Firefly once, her gaze pausing at every joint of the armor.
It had to be said that even among the Glamoth Iron Cavalry, Sam's model was advanced.
If "Old Yang" were here, he would probably be unable to resist getting his hands on it.
Then Cecilia opened her perception of Abundance to its fullest, and only then could she clearly see the power inside Firefly's body slowly draining away.
The nature of that draining was strange. It did not look as if something were siphoning it off. It was more like it was dispersing on its own.
Looks like a flaw rooted in Path itself... even Abundance would have trouble fixing something like this.
As Cecilia saw it now, there were only two possible ways to solve Firefly's Entropy Loss Syndrome.
The first was for Firefly herself to become a new Swarm King and restart Propagation. That way, she would never need to worry about separation from the swarm again.
But leaving aside how Cecilia was supposed to help Firefly become a Swarm King, Firefly herself probably would never agree to that option.
Which left only the second method.
Find another being aligned with Propagation, and keep that being with Firefly at all times. That way, Firefly would never be in a truly separated state.
But that method had its flaws too.
Because "separation from the swarm" was a very abstract concept. It was not as simple as saying that if both of you walked the Path of Propagation, then merely staying together would solve it.
It had to be a Propagation existence that was wholly and sincerely part of the collective.
Otherwise, Firefly could just grab some random bug and keep it tied to her side, and that alone would have solved the problem.
Hm... what to do?
Ah—but Cecilia really did have a way.
Back when she had exchanged for Cecilia's Character Adjustment, she had not chosen to treat Firefly immediately. Instead, she had first come to the Xianzhou Luofu.
It was not because Cecilia wanted to string Firefly along.
In fact, the exact opposite was true. Cecilia had come to the Luofu precisely for Firefly's sake.
Heliobi. That had been Cecilia's reason for coming here.
Heliobi were good things. They had no physical body, and could become part of someone's "form," just like Tail did with Huohuo.
Switching Paths was not some easy trick.
Don't let Kiana's smooth switching fool you—Kiana and the other Lord Ravagers were all far beyond ordinary beings in raw strength.
So not just any heliobus could be grafted onto Propagation.
That was why Cecilia had deliberately set her sights on a certain Lord Ravager.
That's right, I'm talking about you, Phantylia.
Your turn to shine.
Cecilia took out the Stellaron that sealed Phantylia.
It emitted a dark, shadowy glow, and within it one could faintly see a writhing mass of violet flame.
Inside was none other than the former Lord Ravager, Phantylia.
That was right—Cecilia intended to turn Phantylia into Firefly's Propagation symbiote.
Firefly fell silent. After hearing Cecilia's long stream of analysis, she naturally understood the treatment plan.
"So... this is how you're going to solve it?"
She sounded a little stunned.
If it were really this simple, then Entropy Loss Syndrome did not seem that hard to treat after all.
But of course, that was not the case. A heliobus on Phantylia's level was not exactly easy to catch.
And grafting Paths together was, to put it mildly, a pretty high-difficulty operation.
Inside the Stellaron, after hearing Cecilia's plan, Phantylia's struggles became even more violent.
The violet flames churned wildly, apparently using every last bit of strength she had to protest.
But Cecilia merely clenched her hand lightly, and the power of Abundance surged into the Stellaron like a tide, instantly suppressing all of Phantylia's resistance.
"Stop struggling, Phantylia."
"Didn't you always want a perfect body? I think Firefly's Sam transformation device suits you just fine. What do you think? Shouldn't you be thanking me?"
Cecilia had no intention of turning Phantylia into something like Huohuo's Tail.
That Lord Ravager was rotten to the core. She could not be given freedom. When it was time to throw punches, she was going to get punched.
Cecilia continued,
"You haven't paid for that stab you gave me yet. I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself. You ought to be grateful."
Hearing that, the struggles inside the Stellaron grew even more intense.
But Cecilia had already lost interest in humoring her.
Ungrateful thing.
In an instant, Cecilia switched accounts. Kiana moved with a thought, and the passive skill belonging to the King of Destruction activated.
Immediately, Phantylia inside the Stellaron went still.
Firefly watched the scene, momentarily unsure what to say.
She had seen plenty of madness. During her years with the Stellaron Hunters, all sorts of absurd things had happened in Elio's scripts.
But turning a Lord Ravager into your personal symbiote...
That was the kind of thing even the wildest script would not dare write.
Still, since all of this was for her sake, Firefly was hardly going to start saying things like Phantylia is so pitiful.
Then Cecilia placed the Stellaron on the table and covered it with both hands.
The power of Abundance began to circulate. Green light seeped into the Stellaron, interweaving with the violet flames inside.
"Firefly. It's your turn now."
Firefly moved at once. She began to channel her own Path power into the Stellaron as well, even though she honestly had no idea whether it would actually help.
Gradually, the violet flames began to change.
Threads of green spread through them, and what had once been a purely Destruction aura now began to mingle with the ripples of an entirely different Path.
It was an ancient, eerie presence.
The Path of Propagation.
Firefly shuddered.
At the instant that aura appeared, she felt a strange resonance.
It came from the deepest part of her being—from the Propagation Path that had always existed within her since birth.
Sweat began to bead on Cecilia's forehead, but her hands never paused.
Reshaping the Path of a Lord Ravager was no easy matter, even for her now.
Since that was the case, then fine—she just wouldn't do it alone.
111, Yaoshi, are you there?
Your child needs help!
That was right—Cecilia chose to call in outside assistance.
And the very moment she made that silent call in her heart, an even stronger force of Abundance wrapped around her whole body.
Instant response on a battlefield summon.
As expected, Yaoshi was still spying on her.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 138)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter160)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter98)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter175)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 163
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 150
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 100
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 170
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 145
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 125
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 69
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 90
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 100
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 70
Uma Musume: I Want All 90
I Can Copy Unique Skills 65
Summoning an Evil God, but the 52
Supernatural Multiverse 65
My Harem Is Indescribable 55
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 55
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 66
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 55
Still playing traditional Honk 35
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 35
What Should I Do After Switchi 24
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 35
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 27
Transmigrated as Sukuna 27
Checking In in Demon Slayer 32
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 44
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