Nero and Stelle did not stay where they were for long. They immediately began exploring this maze-like place.
This was nothing unfamiliar to either of them. Back at the Herta Space Station, the two had explored a maze together before, and the method they used was very simple.
As everyone knows, although things like normal thinking, remembering routes, and finding the real exit were not difficult for Stelle and Nero, they usually chose methods that required less effort.
This was also one of the reasons the Fright Maze had broken down back then. No matter what tricks it used, it simply could not do anything to the two of them.
The two first picked a few paths at random and walked through them, but ended up circling back to the starting point.
Then, a voice came from somewhere unknown.
"Hehe, it seems you've already realized that this place is a maze of countless paths... huh?"
However, before the voice could finish speaking, Nero narrowed his eyes and turned his head, as if he had locked onto its location. Then he lifted his leg and kicked directly at a courtyard wall.
The next moment, a loud crashing sound rang out. The courtyard wall was shattered by Nero's kick.
Along with a brief cry of surprise after the distant voice abruptly stopped, countless ghostly flames floated behind the wall Nero had kicked down.
"Kid... taking shortcuts, huh..."
After a brief silence, the voice sounded again, though it seemed somewhat gritted through clenched teeth.
But very quickly, her attention shifted away from Nero and toward Stelle.
"Hm? Hiss... You have a special scent on you. You are..."
At this point, the voice paused, then changed the subject.
"I hear the whispers of fallen leaves in the Sui Garden, hear flames weeping. They tell me that two powerful bodies have approached... They say those two carry the aura of having fought Phantylia...
"Hehe, you are the ones who drove away Phantylia. As for your bodies, I have already seen enough... But which one should I choose..."
"Wrong. We didn't drive away Phantylia. We captured her and brought her to work in my factory."
Nero interrupted the distant voice again.
"Being captured and working in my factory is very different from being driven away. I hope you understand that."
Nero raised a hand and spoke at length, slightly lifting his chin. He did not care at all how others felt while listening to him.
"If you can't even tell the difference between those things, then I don't think you're suitable for this kind of mysterious act.
"If you want to create a sense of mystery, rambling about random things is useless. It only makes people think you're an old lady at the village entrance grabbing passersby to chat. Though if you're a Heliobus, then that's actually pretty similar."
"Of course, that's not the main point. If you want to create a mysterious atmosphere, it actually requires a fair amount of acting skill and some related basic knowledge."
"With your current condition, I think it'll be very difficult for you to handle this job."
At some point, the distant voice fell silent.
Only the surrounding flames could be seen drifting and tangling lightly with each other, though nobody knew what exactly was happening.
But amid this oppressive silence, it only felt as though this person was desperately holding herself back.
Without question, this was a familiar rhythm.
At least, it was for Stelle.
Whether at the Herta Space Station or in Belobog, things like this had happened before.
She was probably one of the earliest people to experience this behavior from Nero.
At this moment, Stelle's eyes lit up.
All she wanted to say was, Nero was at it again.
But she loved watching Nero talk at length, especially when he had a target to attack. It always felt satisfying.
"And you clearly didn't bother understanding the situation before acting. Whether it was me, Stelle, the battle with Phantylia, or the outcome of that battle, you lacked any relatively complete and correct understanding of them.
"And yet, while possessing no correct understanding whatsoever, you stood in front of us making grand statements."
"This doesn't make you seem mysterious or unfathomable, nor overwhelmingly powerful. It only makes you look ugly and ridiculous to those of us who personally experienced these events."
"By your current standards, if I were grading this operation of yours, I couldn't even give you a normal score. Even zero points feels too generous. Perhaps a negative score would be more appropriate."
"The next time you want to do something like this, I hope you'll remember what I've told you today, study seriously, and improve yourself."
"At the very least, stop handing in papers with negative scores. Even getting a zero would count as passing, okay?"
"I think my standards are already very low. If you can't even meet this requirement, then I don't know what to say. Maybe you simply weren't born with this talent."
"After saying all this, I think you should understand by now. You know where your mistakes lie, and you know that I'm actually saying this for your own good."
"But your performance makes me worried for you, so I still need to emphasize a couple more points. I hope you can..."
"Shut up!"
Seeing that Nero was still about to continue, the distant voice suddenly let out an angry roar and cut him off.
She seemed to have reached the limit of her patience. To avoid drowning in Nero's endless stream of words, she launched an attack first.
A fierce wind suddenly rose.
Then all the flames floating in the air gathered into a single mass and charged straight toward Nero.
However, facing the flames rushing toward him, Nero made no effort to block or dodge them. He clearly did not take them seriously at all.
As the ghostly fire drew near, Nero raised his hand even faster. With a casual flick, his wide white sleeve swung through the air and struck the incoming ghost fire.
In the next instant, the ghost fire was scattered into countless drifting sparks and vanished.
But at the same time, another flame flew out from the darkness.
At some point, it had circled behind Stelle, then immediately rushed toward her.
Before any reaction could be made, the ghost fire instantly drilled into Stelle's body.
The next moment, a large round eyeball appeared beside Stelle.
The eyeball looked toward Nero and laughed.
"Hehe, not bad. You're very strong, but so what? Didn't I still find an opening in the end? I'm attached to this person now. Do you still dare attack me?"
Nero turned his head and looked at Cirrus.
"A feint to the east while attacking in the west? Not bad. I'll give you one extra point."
While Nero and Cirrus were still talking, only Stelle suddenly felt uneasy.
She didn't know what other people would do.
But if it was Nero...
Given his personality, he might really slap her with one hand.
Stelle's gaze landed on Nero.
What was happening now seemed to be proving her guess.
Nero was slowly rolling up his sleeves, revealing smooth, fair arms.
This was his habitual movement before hitting someone.