The road to becoming champion was not easy, especially with a former champion like Topaz as an opponent, which made the path even harder.
But it didn't matter. With the appearance of the Aether Spirit Falcorez, Stelle and March were not without a chance to defeat Topaz. In fact, under its one-of-a-kind field effect, Topaz was actually the one at a disadvantage.
This Interastral Finals Festival could also be considered Falcorez's debut show!
So in the end, Stelle and March naturally won the championship.
Everyone spent the first day enjoying the joy of becoming the "Champion Leader," and then on the second day, they received a message from Giovanni.
This festival sponsor who always wore a mask invited Stelle and March to the entrance of Everwinter Hill.
According to what had been mentioned before, it should have something to do with that mysterious expert.
Following Giovanni's instructions, Stelle and March headed to Everwinter Hill, and finally saw the true identity of the so-called mysterious expert. It turned out to be Hook.
After finishing a match against them, Hook expressed how much she missed the Trailblazers.
What nobody expected was that this part had also been broadcast live by the Interastral Finals Festival.
After Stelle and March brought Hook back to the festival venue, they talked with Giovanni again, but the most surprising thing was that a group of "Topaz Supporters" suddenly ran over and started calling themselves the "Trailblazer Support Group."
This made Stelle and March suspect for a moment that it might be some kind of company corporate culture.
After that, they met another unexpected person in Belobog.
"Miss Topaz! And..." March and Stelle had only planned to greet Topaz, but when the familiar pink hair and tall figure came into view, March cried out in surprise, "Miss Asta!?"
"Hi, you two. Long time no see, and congratulations too." Asta smiled.
"Congratulations on becoming Champion Leader." Topaz nodded from the side.
"You're too kind, too kind." Stelle slightly raised her head, not acting humble at all.
March turned to look at the dishonest person beside her and sighed helplessly. "Thanks, you two, hehe! But it wasn't all us either. Falcorez was an Aether Spirit we borrowed from Nero."
"No need to be modest. Trading is also part of Aether Wars gameplay. Being able to trade for such a powerful Aether Spirit is also part of your strength."
At that moment, a white-haired figure passed by here. "Nope, not giving it!"
Very quickly, the projection of a certain little Stellaron Hunter girl chased after her. "What's the big deal?"
"Let me play on your Aether Wars account for a while. In exchange, I'll add dozens of security locks to your account, how about it?"
Topaz helplessly glanced at the two figures hurrying past...
March blinked at the scene, then looked at Stelle and quietly said, "Even after interacting with them several times, I don't think there's really anything wrong with them, and I don't feel like that little girl from the Stellaron Hunters named Silver Wolf is some unforgivable villain..."
"But that group does have a bad reputation after all. Isn't it kind of inappropriate for Nero to get along with them so well and so often?"
"I think it should be fine." Stelle thought about how the Stellaron Hunters treated her, then remembered how Kafka had spoken with her on the Xianzhou and revealed a lot of information.
So she replied to March, "I don't think the Stellaron Hunters can really have much influence on Nero."
"Even though he gets along well with them, he also has a very good relationship with the Knights of Beauty too!"
"Let's think about it another way. Suppose one day you accidentally discovered Nero secretly discussing something suspicious with Sampo behind your back. What would you think?"
"Then Nero definitely got tricked by Sampo!" March answered without hesitation, then froze.
Stelle spread her hands at March. "Exactly."
Passing by here, Giovanni, who was about to announce the completion of the Aether Wars DLC, overheard the conversation between March and Stelle and unconsciously stopped in place.
The face beneath the mask twitched slightly, and the shoulders under the suit also trembled lightly.
In his understanding, he, Sampo, and Nero were the same kind of people, so hearing the people around Nero talk like this now made him inexplicably amused.
He never expected Sampo to be this unpopular.
Standing by Stelle and March's feet, Bubbles twisted its body and let out a series of grunting noises.
As a unique Trotter, an Aether Spirit that stood out from the crowd, even after seeing Numby, it had no reaction at all.
'What a sigma space pig.'
Numby at Topaz's feet looked at Bubbles twice, then jumped onto Topaz's shoulder in a few hops and started grunting into its master's ear.
But nobody here could understand what they were saying.
Asta lowered her head and looked at Bubbles, "Oh my, this little guy is still so full of personality."
The way Asta seemed to know Bubbles surprised March and Stelle.
"You two... know something about this little guy?", March asked.
"We know a little, but Miss Asta should explain the details." Topaz said.
After that, Asta carefully explained Bubbles' situation to the two of them, and in the end asked for their decision.
"Although this Trotter is cute, to me, it is ultimately only a cluster of data, a collectible... After all, I don't have the chance to travel with it like you do, to fight together with it, to share joy and sorrow together."
"For me, the feeling of its existence here is completely different from yours, so as its current trainer... Bubbles' current trainer, I'm willing to let you decide this little guy's future."
"In that case... then let Bubbles stay." Stelle said.
Asta nodded and did not reject the decision.
Bubbles let out a happy series of grunts beside Stelle's feet.
March smiled from the side, then said, "...That's great. Now our Astral Express has another new companion!"
"Speaking of which, ever since Nero and you boarded the train, we've been getting more and more new companions."
"Checker's still sitting in Nero's room right now, and this time after coming back from the Xianzhou, he brought back two Diting and one Aurumaton... We might as well put Bubbles in his room too."
"I don't mind." Stelle said.
"Ahem, friends who came to watch the Interastral Finals Festival, and all Aether Wars players, I am Giovanni, the organizer of this Interastral Finals Festival."
"Now that the Champion Leader has been decided and the festival is about to come to an end, I have good news to announce to everyone."
The broadcast suddenly rang out. Stelle and March temporarily stopped talking, and both the people in the venue and those watching the livestream across the universe had their attention drawn to Giovanni.
"The good news is this, the Aether Wars DLC, Real Aether Spirits, has finished development, and it will launch on all game terminals today for all Aether Wars enthusiasts to experience and enjoy.
"In the DLC content, progress from the main Aether Wars game will not be retained on each account."
"Players' consciousness will enter an environment called Peak of Victory in the form of Aether projections, where they will begin a brand new adventure from scratch."
"Players will need to use their own methods to capture Aether Spirits, and train together with your Aether Spirit companions."
"The growth of Aether Spirit strength will also no longer rely on levels and chips. This will be a brand new and harsh test for every trainer!"
"And besides that, every Aether Spirit will possess its own personality, emotions, and even thoughts. They will no longer simply follow commands. This will be an entirely new training system.
"As for more details, I won't say any more. Everyone can experience it for yourselves in the game.
"And lastly, I especially want to thank the Fragmentum Factory of Nero and the brand's owner, Boss Nero."
"The successful development of the DLC was also thanks to Boss Nero providing the venue and real data..."