Chapter 99: Stelle: You Were Actually Going to Put Food on the Ground
"Waahhh~!"
Clara's ears turned bright red. She first covered her face in embarrassment, then frantically tried to wipe the glistening mark from Caelus's neck with her small hands, apologizing over and over.
First being licked by her tongue, now being rubbed by her little hand, a ticklish sensation spread from his neck, making Caelus unable to stop himself from shifting.
"Don't move around, you'll fall."
His words carried a hint of amusement from the tickling. Hearing the voice next to her ear, Clara finally noticed that the three of them were more than twenty meters in the air!
Clara immediately stopped moving her limbs and her body ceased its panicked trembling.
"This is... this is!" Clara's eyes widened.
The three of them were standing on something she had never seen with her own eyes, only in the movies stored in Mr. Svarog's memory banks—a rainbow, said to appear after it rained in the outside world. The big brother was holding her, sliding down the arc of the rainbow.
The curve and slope created a thrilling, high-speed sensation, sending the girl's snow-white hair flying in the wind. Clara looked up, following the rainbow to its other end. The candy bridge spanned several large factories, extending from the area above the mines in the northern part of Rivet Town, like a rainbow stretching from a cliff down to a valley.
However, the rainbow was now disintegrating as its power faded. At the gradually collapsing end, Clara could see several figures rushing towards them. They were all strangers, but there was one person she recognized.
"Big Sister Seele!"
"Clara! What are you doing here?"
Seele immediately recognized the girl in Caelus's arms. Clara often helped the miners repair their equipment; in the Underworld, few could match the girl's mechanical skills. More importantly, the girl was one of Svarog's people, the leader of the robot settlement. Clara was the only person in the Underworld who could communicate with Svarog, acting as the bridge between Wildfire and the automaton leader.
Seele glanced at the section of the street destroyed by the battle, the collapsed walls, the craters in the ground, and the recently destroyed robots still emitting black smoke and sparks. Even Seele couldn't help but feel a lingering fear, a drop of cold sweat trickling down her forehead. She was thankful Caelus had acted so quickly. If anything had happened to this little girl, who knew what Svarog and his pile of scrap metal would have done.
"Wooohooo~!"
Only Seele was feeling shaken. Running on the rainbow bridge, March 7th let out a lively and delighted cheer. "Dan Heng, Dan Heng, this is a bridge made of candy paste!"
"It's so magical!"
Looking back at the candy bridge collapsing behind them as they ran, March's face was filled with the excitement of a child on a slide. Even though she had traveled to many planets with the Express and had seen all sorts of peculiar people and events, priding herself on being worldly, she had never even heard of a "candy person" with such a magical ability.
Equally amazed by Caelus's power, Dan Heng didn't dwell on it. He held his Cloud-Piercer spear and reminded March, "Watch out for the enemy. This Fragmentum creature is unusual, much stronger than the ones we've encountered before."
Dan Heng suspected that their actions of turning Fragmentum creatures into energy candy might have drawn the Fragmentum's attention, but the Fragmentum itself wasn't supposed to be sentient.
"Hmph hmph~ Time to get serious for once!"
March 7th stopped in the middle of the rainbow candy bridge. The high ground was a perfect position for an archer.
"Have a taste of my power!"
Her slender white hand swiped across the leg ring on her thigh, and an arrow brimming with pink and blue energy appeared in her palm. She nocked the arrow and drew the bowstring.
The speeding arrow exploded in mid-air, scattering into countless cute, icy Pom-Pom dolls. A famous ninja once said that even if he only had one drop of chakra left, he would still carve a dog's head into his Earth Wall!
The ice Pom-Pom dolls rained down like hail on the "Flame of Outer Space," extinguishing its fire, freezing it over, and temporarily sealing parts of its body, hindering its movements.
Seeing their chance, Dan Heng, Bronya, and both Seeles charged forward, using the candy bridge to launch their attacks against the Flame of Outer Space. March 7th provided support from a distance.
Five people were more than enough to handle the elite monster. Caelus, still holding Clara, and Stelle didn't join the fight. They sat on the candy bridge and slid down its arc to the ground.
"Safe landing~!"
However, because they had slid down, Caelus and Stelle landed in a half-lying position. Clara ended up sitting on Caelus's lap, her small bottom pressed against his abs.
Having rarely experienced something so thrilling, the still-shaken Clara was breathing a bit rapidly. She pressed a hand to her chest as if to keep her heart from leaping out, momentarily forgetting to get up from Caelus's lap.
"Clara, are you alright?"
Thankfully, Clara was very light, so Caelus had no trouble lifting her up.
"Clara's fine." The candy person's body was soft and warm; Clara felt like she was lying in a pile of cotton candy.
"Big Brother, are you okay?"
Being lifted into a princess carry by Caelus, Clara's face flushed slightly. She pursed her lips and looked up to ask about his condition. She was enjoying the feeling of being held by him a little.
Hmm, Big Brother smells nice, is soft, and sweet!
"Of course, I'm fine," Caelus said, about to put Clara down on the ground.
"Wait!"
A sudden, anxious shout from beside them made Caelus freeze. Clara looked nervously at the gray-haired big sister who had yelled.
Stelle's brows were furrowed in disapproval, her hands on her hips as she righteously declared, "Caelus, my boy, Caelus. I have to say something about this. I'm so frugal and thrifty, how can you be such a spendthrift?"
"You were actually going to put food on the ground!"
Stelle crouched down to look at Clara's little white feet, which had almost touched the ground, and began to strongly condemn him in a stern tone.
"What if they get cold or hurt and we can't eat them?"
"Huh? Food?"
Clara blinked in confusion, looking left and right. Where was the food? People in the Underworld were especially sensitive about food, and wasting it was something no one would ever do.
Caelus paused for a moment, then, noticing Clara's adorable, lotus-like feet, he nodded in agreement. "My apologies, I forgot. That was my mistake."
Caelus's expression was solemn. "I was careless."
His serious tone left Clara bewildered. She followed the gray-haired big sister's intense gaze down to her own small feet. Stared at by Stelle's fervent eyes, Clara's feet, which had a pearly white sheen, wiggled uncertainly. Her toes, plump as grapes that seemed to be just waiting for someone to pop them in their mouth, moved about restlessly.
"Big Sister..."
Clara mustered her courage and looked up at Stelle, trying to correct her. "These are Clara's feet. They're not food."
"Hmm?"
Stelle's mouth twisted into a comical arc as she stuck out her tongue and rotated it like a fan. "Who says? Aren't they the same thing?"
"Aah, don't eat Clara!"
That slightly unhinged expression terrified Clara. Like a startled bunny, she threw her arms around Caelus's neck, pulling her entire body into his embrace as she watched Stelle, trembling. She seemed genuinely afraid her legs were about to be eaten.
"Alright, alright, Clara. Don't mind her."
Caelus patted the frightened girl's back reassuringly and finally set her down, but not before using his fruit ability to create a pair of candy shoes for her, preventing her tender feet from directly touching the ground.
"Why didn't I think of that... Caelus, my boy, you did a good job! Caelus, my boy!"
Stelle looked at the feet now encased in transparent candy and gave a gleeful thumbs-up. "As expected of me, I'm a sweet genius!"
Wrapping the food in a candy skin—sweet on the outside, moist on the inside!
"You two, that's enough!"
A flash of pink entered Caelus and Stelle's vision. March 7th stared at them with dead fish eyes, looking somewhat helpless.
"I can let Caelus slide, but Stelle, why didn't you come help?"
Caelus had been continuously using his strange ability to turn Fragmentum monsters into energy candy. The constant use of his power had drained his stamina; March could see the sweat on the side of his forehead.
"Me!?"
Stelle puffed out her rather ample chest and tilted her head up proudly, declaring with righteous indignation, "Because it's my turn to become a candy person!"
"Eh? You have this amazing ability too?" March asked in surprise.
"Of course. It was originally a product in my shop. Caelus was just faster on the draw."
Her words left March 7th completely bewildered.
"Caelus, can this guy be turned into candy?"
Seele's voice, full of anticipation, came from the battlefield ahead. She didn't understand Caelus's abilities, but she knew that the more powerful the Fragmentum creature, the more energy candy it would produce! That was life-saving material!
"I'll try! Let me at 'em!"
The next second, a rainbow beam the size of a bowl shot from Caelus's hand. The moment it touched the Flame of Outer Space, ripples of energy spread out.
"ROAR—!!!"
The Flame of Outer Space seemed to sense the threat. It raised its hands, its red armor flared, and crimson energy gathered into a sphere, which was then bound and absorbed into its body. Instantly, as if a barrel of oil had been poured on a fire, its body erupted in scorching flames, becoming completely engulfed.
The rainbow-colored light became chaotic and then dissipated.
"It should be possible, but it needs..."
He had failed, but Caelus showed no disappointment.
Seele disassembled the Key of God in her hands into Black Abyss and White Flower. A crimson light glowed on her fair chest as the power of the Stigma of Death poured into Black Abyss.
"Pierce, Gae Bolg!"
Dark red Honkai energy emanated from the tip of the spear, swirling around the shaft like a spiral of light. Seele threw Black Abyss with all her might. Rings of a white shockwave expanded as Black Abyss shot forward like an arrow, piercing the shoulder of the Flame of Outer Space. The power of withering spread slowly like a curse. This was the result of her holding back; otherwise, that one spear could have finished it.
The Flame of Outer Space's self-immolation state was dispelled.
"Stelle, it's all yours now."
Caelus patted Stelle's shoulder. His fruit's time limit had ended, and he reverted from his candy person state. Next up was the repetitive work of a factory line worker.
"Ooh-ooh~!"
A smile bloomed on Stelle's face. It was finally her turn! She immediately opened the product interface and pressed down on the Lick-Lick Fruit.
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