"It's this group of Vagrants again!"
Seele recognized the Vagrants surrounding Bronya at a glance—thugs who roamed the edges of Stellaron Town, specifically looking to cause trouble for those alone.
She swung her scythe, ready to charge, but was gently stopped by a hand wearing a white glove.
"She is very lost right now. Leave it to me."
The trial version [Bronya] said calmly, a flicker of complex emotion that Stella had never seen before flashing in her eyes.
"You?"
Seele frowned.
"How do you know she's lost? And how are you going to—"
[Bronya] didn't answer, just smiled slightly.
She raised her firearm in front of her. Her Silvermane Guards uniform fluttered without wind, and light blue energy began to gather around her.
The energy grew more and more intense, almost turning into tangible streams of light.
"Please, lend me your strength!"
[Bronya] said softly, then suddenly slammed the butt of her gun against the ground—
"Boom!"
It wasn't an explosion, but a strange, resonant sound, as if some barrier had been broken.
The ground rippled with blue light, and a complex crest unfolded beneath her feet.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Seele completely failed to understand this move.
Just then, an aura so powerful it was suffocating erupted from behind them—no, not from behind them, but directly from the void!
An ice-blue figure rushed out with terrifying speed, so fast that only a trail of afterimages remained.
The figure held dual pistols, her silver hair fluttering, and tiny ice crystals condensed in the air wherever she passed.
The real Bronya was currently in a predicament.
With no weapon in hand to face the few Vagrants surrounding her, she could only try to resolve the conflict with words: "I have no malicious intent, I only—"
"A big shot from the Upper District comes to our dump of a place and says they have no malicious intent? Who would believe that!"
A scarred Vagrant spat on the ground.
"Being this arrogant! Don't blame us for being rude!"
Another Vagrant lost patience, directly raised the homemade firearm in his hand, and pulled the trigger!
"Bang!"
The gunshot was exceptionally piercing on the abandoned street.
Bronya watched in horror as the bullet flew toward her, but her body was stiff with shock, unable to dodge at all.
Time seemed to slow down.
Just as the bullet was only half a meter away from Bronya's forehead—
"Clang!"
A long spear condensed from ice crystals appeared out of thin air, precisely blocking the bullet!
The bullet struck sparks against the spear and then weakly ricocheted away.
The next second, that ice-blue figure was already standing in front of Bronya.
She held a beautifully crafted spear in each hand, the shafts spinning like windmills, kicking up waves of cold currents.
"Wha—?!"
Before the Vagrants could react, they were swept by the spear shafts and sent flying backward like ragdolls.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The four men slammed into the wall in the distance one after another, slumped down, and passed out.
The entire process took less than three seconds.
Bronya, who was sitting slumped on the ground, stared blankly at this scene, then slowly looked up, wanting to see the face of her savior: "Thank you, you are..."
Her words stuck in her throat.
Golden long hair, ice-blue eyes, a familiar face, and the outfit she had seen countless times since she was a child—
"Mo... Mother?!"
Bronya's voice trembled uncontrollably, and her eyes were wide open.
[Cocolia] put away her dual spears and turned to look at her daughter sitting on the ground.
A trace of almost imperceptible tenderness appeared on her cold face as she knelt on one knee and opened her arms.
Bronya had completely lost the ability to think.
Almost instinctively, she threw herself into that embrace, clutching [Cocolia]'s lapels tightly, as if afraid that if she let go, the person in front of her would disappear.
"It's good that you're okay..."
[Cocolia] said softly, one hand gently patting Bronya's back.
"Mm..."
Bronya buried her face in her mother's shoulder, her voice choked with sobs.
At this moment, the responsibilities of the Silvermane Guards, the conflicts between the Upper District and Lower District, and the crisis in Belobog were all thrown to the back of her mind.
She was just like a child who had finally found home after being lost, holding onto her mother tightly and refusing to let go.
What a warm and touching reunion scene—
—if you ignore the "family drama" playing out on the other side.
The moment [Cocolia] appeared and hugged Bronya, the composed smile on [Bronya]'s face instantly froze, then cracked.
"Wait... wait."
She blinked, seemingly unable to understand the situation before her.
"That's who I summoned... the support I summoned..."
Then she saw [Cocolia]'s hand gently patting Bronya's back.
Then she saw Bronya's dependent expression of "Mom, I finally found you."
Finally, she saw [Cocolia] say softly to The real Bronya: "Don't be afraid, I'm here."
[Bronya]'s brain crashed for three seconds.
Three seconds later, the reboot was complete, and a system notification seemed to ring in her ears: Warning, serious injustice detected. Warning, mother-snatching incident detected. Warning, detected—
"UN—FAIR—!"
[Bronya] let out a wail completely out of character for her elegant persona and was about to rush over with her firearm: "That's my mom! The one I summoned! My mom!"
Seele was quick-witted and grabbed her arm: "Calm down! You need to calm down!"
"I can't calm down at all!"
[Bronya] struggled.
"Look at her! Who is she hugging! That should clearly be my mom!"
Stella pounced from the other side, hugging [Bronya]'s waist tightly: "Don't be impulsive! That's The real Bronya! You're also Bronya! Roughly speaking, that counts as your mom too—no, wait, this logic is flawed—"
"The logic is fine!"
[Bronya] tried to shake off both of them. Although she was LV80, her main combat power was in [Cocolia], so she couldn't break free.
"I summoned her! I called for the support! My mom should have hugged me first!"
"How old are you that you still need your mom to hug you!"
Seele retorted while pulling hard.
"I don't care! I want mom to hug me too!"
[Bronya] said righteously, completely unaware of how childish what she just said was.
[Cocolia] in the distance seemed to notice the commotion over here and looked up.
When she saw [Bronya]'s current state, a trace of confusion flashed in her purple eyes.
The real Bronya also looked up, following her mother's gaze, and then—
"Another... me?"
She was stunned.
Seeing [Cocolia] look at her, [Bronya] instantly stopped struggling, straightened her messy collar, and revealed a standard and elegant smile: "Mother."
The switching speed was so fast that Seele and Stella were dumbfounded.
"You... who are you?"
Bronya looked at the mother in her arms, then at the person in the distance who looked exactly like her, feeling that the world was a bit magical.
The trial version [Bronya] was just about to speak, but [Cocolia] spoke first: "Bronya?"
Who was she calling?
Both Bronyas answered at the same time: "Yes, Mother!"
The air froze again.
[Cocolia] chose the most direct solution—
She let go of The real Bronya, stood up, and walked toward [Bronya].
[Bronya]'s eyes lit up instantly, like a child who had just received candy.
She straightened her back, waiting for her mother's hug.
However, [Cocolia] just stopped in front of her and reached out to gently pat her shoulder: "Well done."
Then she turned around and walked back to The real Bronya's side, pulling her daughter back into her arms.
[Bronya]: "..."
Her expression went from anticipation to shock to grievance to anger, which could be called a wonderful piece of inner drama.
[Cocolia]: Hehe, it's fun to troll a little!