March 7th: "Ah, wait…!"
March 7th: "Does this mean we've run right into the Stellaron?"
March 7th: "This is way too creepy!!"
Stelle: "What's so scary about it?"
Stelle: "It's just a Stellaron. Who's afraid of whom?"
Stelle: "It's not like it's going to eat me, right?"
Hu Tao: "Oh?"
Hu Tao: "Speaking of eating…"
Hu Tao: "If Miss Stelle could just eat this Stellaron too, wouldn't the problem be solved once and for all?"
Furina de Fontaine: "Uh… but is this thing even edible?"
Qingque: "Others definitely couldn't, but with Stelle, it's hard to say."
Stelle: "Don't even start. Having one Stellaron in my body is already a massive headache."
Stelle: "If I take another one, I might just explode."
Silver Wolf: "Look on the bright side?"
Silver Wolf: "Maybe if you take another one, you'll become even stronger?"
Boothill: "Muddle-Fudging! Having a Stellaron in your gut is already 'woo-hoo' levels of unreasonable."
Boothill: "If you could fit even more in there, damn it, Nanook would make you a Lord Ravager for sure!"
Paimon: "Walking around with a Stellaron inside…"
Paimon: "Miss Stelle really is one of a kind!"
....
『 [ Are these puppets just stage props? ]
[ Even so, the fact that there isn't a soul in the front hall is highly abnormal. ]
Himeko watches the eerie puppets, her expression growing increasingly grave.
Then, the three of them continue deeper into the Grand Theater.
[ Something feels off... We're in the right place, right? ]
After wandering the Grand Theater for ages with nothing to show for it, March 7th can't help but speak up.
[ There shouldn't be a second Grand Theater in this dreamscape. ]
Himeko shakes her head, refuting March 7th's theory.
[ Then is Sunday playing us for fools? ]
[ We agreed to settle things on stage, so why is everyone gone? ] 』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
March 7th: "What is going on?"
March 7th: "We've been wandering the Grand Theater for so long, and we haven't seen a single person."
March 7th: "Has Sunday forgotten about the three of us?"
March 7th: "I knew he didn't take us seriously."
Stelle: "According to my calculations."
Stelle: "While we were aimlessly wandering, Sunday was busy showing off his 'Big Boss' energy to the Dreammaster."
Stelle: "Then, the Dreammaster was so intimidated by Sunday's aura that he just… kicked the bucket."
Stelle: "And now, Sunday is probably cleaning up the pile of corpses the Dreammaster left behind."
Stelle: "Otherwise, it wouldn't look very aesthetic if we walked in on that."
Guinaifen: "I'm dying of laughter."
Guinaifen: "I can just picture Mr. Sunday hunched over, picking up the Dreammaster's corpses one by one."
Furina de Fontaine: "I get it now. The Dreammaster committed suicide on purpose."
Furina de Fontaine: "His goal was to leave a mess of corpses behind to gross Sunday out!"
Hu Tao: "Hahaha, seeing everyone joking around with such straight faces is just too funny."
....
『 [ Apologies for keeping you waiting, Miss March 7th. ]
Just as March 7th finishes speaking, Sunday's voice suddenly rings out from nowhere, making March 7th jump.
[ You scared me! Where… where are you speaking from? ]
March 7th exclaims.
[ I am waiting for you all behind the curtain. ]
[ Before the grand ceremony begins, in accordance with the ancient traditions of Asdana, I wish to invite you to view three pre-curtain plays. ]
[ History is a mirror; it reflects the universe in its most authentic form. ]
[ We may take this opportunity to understand the history of Penacony and the Aeons more deeply. ]
[ And the contours of the future—they are naturally revealed within. ] 』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Stelle: "Tsk tsk, looks like there are a lot of Dreammaster corpses~."
Stelle: "Sunday can't clean them all up in a short time…"
Stelle: "So he's started stalling for time?"
March 7th: "Uh… although that's just a joke, could it actually be true?"
March 7th: "Otherwise, why would Sunday be playing these mind games now that we're already at the Grand Theater?"
March 7th: "Wouldn't it be easier to just let us get on stage and fight it out?"
Welt Yang: "He is making a final attempt to dissuade us."
Himeko: "Three acts?"
Himeko: "I wonder what each represents?"
Hu Tao: "Probably… just a performance to praise the Order."
Furina de Fontaine: "Yeah, that's what I think too."
....
『 [ Let us begin with the dawn of heaven and earth— ]
[ Since the Dusk War, darkness veiled the sky, and chaos consumed the earth. ]
[ Ena the Order emerged, destined to restore all existence. ]
[ That marked the first day. ] 』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Stelle: "Damn!"
Stelle: "I thought the 'why not start from the beginning of time' line was just a meme."
Stelle: "But seriously… brother, are you for real?"
Stelle: "It's just a story, do you really need to go back that far?"
Silver Wolf: "If he doesn't spin a long yarn, how can he highlight the 'Big Boss' aura of an Aeon of Order?"
Silver Wolf: "Listen to his next two sentences; he's practically painting Ena as a savior god."
Li Sushang: "It's great to be cultured; even bragging sounds so sophisticated."
Paimon: "Mm-hmm, true!"
Paimon: "If Paimon had that kind of cultural depth, I could definitely talk myself up into a legendary hero too!"
Lumine: "But Paimon, when you brag about yourself, it's just plain bragging."
Lumine: "But the Aeon of Order, they should actually be that powerful, right?"
....
『 Accompanied by Sunday's narration, the three of them begin to pull back the curtain, entering the space to experience the three plays.
[ THEY gathered the nebulae to create strings, crafting a great harp with black and white keys. ]
[ Striking the white keys, the sun rose; striking the black keys, the moon rose. ]
[ Thus, day and night were established. ]
[ This was the second day. ] 』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Qingque: "This… isn't this a bit too pretentious?"
Qingque: "Say, doesn't our Xianzhou's Lan the Hunt have mythologies that aren't this pompous?"
Fu Xuan: "It's just artistic embellishment."
Fu Xuan: "It doesn't count as pompous."
Fu Xuan: "It's saying that the Aeon of Order establishes rules for all things in heaven and earth."
Fu Xuan: "That is why there is order in the world."
Stelle: "I'm telling you, this is like treating him as the Creator God."
Stelle: "Establishing rules for all things in the world."
Stelle: "If you didn't know better, you'd think Ena was the creator of this universe."
Furina de Fontaine: "Is it possible that it was precisely because of this act by the Aeon of Order…"
Furina de Fontaine: "That THEY ended up falling at the hands of a dark force?"
Furina de Fontaine: "After all, THEY aren't the only Aeon in the universe."
Furina de Fontaine: "Other Aeons wouldn't be willing to let the universe run solely according to the rules of the Order, would THEY?"
Hu Tao: "I feel like that's basically the reason."
....
『 [ The puppets are gathered around the frame; are they asking us to enter? ]
After reaching the end of the path, March 7th sees several puppets kneeling before a frame, seemingly realizing something.
And so, the three of them begin to enter the interior of the frame.
Stage Play Act I: Ode to Prisoner
Vaguely, a narration sounds.
A moment later, the three arrive inside a mysterious space.
[ Where have we ended up? ]
After looking around, March 7th seems a bit lost.
[ The atmosphere in this place… is very similar to Sunday's inner world. ]
[ Perhaps this so-called Stage Play uses similar abilities. ]
[ This play is titled "Ode to the Prisoner," and combined with the surrounding atmosphere… ]
[ I fear what is about to be staged is the past of Penacony. ]
Himeko says after analyzing for a moment.
[ I thought things were finally looking up as I managed to dodge prison during my recent trailblazing expeditions! But now it looks like I'll be back behind bars again... ] 』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Stelle: "Good grief, so we're doing dream prison time this go-around?"
Stelle: "Pretty trendy."
March 7th: "Ahhh! Why does every Trailblazing expedition have a nine-out-of-ten chance of involving something like a prison?"
March 7th: "It makes it seem like the Astral Express isn't a group of renowned Nameless, but a bunch of notorious interstellar pirates."
Furina de Fontaine: "By the sound of it…"
Furina de Fontaine: "Does this Trailblazing expedition often involve getting thrown in prison?"
Dan Heng: "Not exactly."
Dan Heng: "It's just that misunderstandings tend to arise along the way."
Dan Heng: "So we're often mistaken for wanted criminals."
Lumine: "Uh… actually… I've had that experience many times, too."
Lumine: "I have to say, the feeling is just terrible!"
Paimon: "We clearly came to help, but we ended up being treated like criminals with bad intentions!"
Paimon: "Paimon gets annoyed just thinking about it!!"
Stelle: "If I recall correctly, the last time I almost went to prison was in Belobog, the time Bronya was chasing us down!"
Sampo Koski: "Hey, sister, I have to mention my contribution to that!"
Sampo Koski: "If I, old Sampo, hadn't come to the rescue in time, you really would have ended up in prison."
Sampo Koski: "And you wouldn't have been getting out for months!"
Bronya Rand: "Ahem… it was all a misunderstanding."
Bronya Rand: "We are grateful that you all let bygones be bygones and helped us in Belobog so much."
March 7th: "We're Nameless, aren't we? Why would we be petty?"
March 7th: "We won't take such a small misunderstanding to heart!"
Stelle: "I took it to heart!"
Stelle: "Because during the final battle, I got stabbed pretty hard by an ice lance!"
Stelle: "Man, that was cold as ice!"
Stelle: "If it weren't for my unique constitution and physiology, I would've been totally done for!!"
March 7th: "Hey, if you hadn't been stabbed, you wouldn't have gained the power of Preservation, right?"
March 7th: "So if you think about it, it wasn't a total loss!"
Stelle: "Now that you mention it… is it because I didn't get stabbed when I was on the Xianzhou that I didn't get the blessing of the Path of the Hunt?"
Stelle: "So… maybe I should go back sometime and find an opportunity to get stabbed?"
Stelle: "After all, I've been eyeing the power of the Hunt for a long time!"
Silver Wolf: "Stabbed to get stronger?"
Silver Wolf: "What kind of masochistic protagonist trope is this…"
....
『 [ You are guests from afar, and I, for one, do not wish for us to draw blades against one another. ]
[ Therefore, before everything becomes irreversible, I have arranged three plays. ]
[ Where should the story begin? Let us start from when Penacony was still a frontier prison. ]
Sunday's voice comes again.
Guiding Stelle and the others, they walk forward along the path.
[ In the Amber Era, 2147, the prisoner Hanunue ignited the flames of a massive war and achieved victory. ]
[ IPC referred to it as the 'War of the Frontier', while the Asdanians dubbed it the 'War of Independence' ]
After the three reach the first puppet, Sunday's narration begins to sound.
And beside the puppet, some text gradually appears.
[ This was once a cramped prison. ]
[ But we shall make it a paradise of freedom! ]
These words flash by.
The three begin to head toward the second puppet location.
[ It's true that Hanunue was a legendary hero, but it must be acknowledged that while he bestowed freedom upon the prisoners, he didn't grant them true liberation. ]
After Sunday's words fade, text appears beside the puppet again.
We've shattered the cages!
And expelled the guards!
But...
Where shall we go? 』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Raiden Ei: "The end of a war should have been a good thing."
Raiden Ei: "But they felt lost because of it…"
Raiden Ei: "Is it because… no one could lead them to find a new direction in life?"
Gallagher: "Just like this kid said, Hanunue was undoubtedly qualified as a leader to lead people in rebellion."
Gallagher: "But asking him to govern the people? That was asking too much of him."
Gallagher: "Fortunately… at the time, we didn't just have Hanunue; we had the help of three Nameless."
Gallagher: "What Hanunue wasn't good at, those three Nameless made up for."
Gallagher: "Mikhail's title as the Father of Penacony wasn't earned for nothing, after all!"
Hu Tao: "Mr. Hanunue led the people to resist the tyranny of the IPC and won their freedom."
Hu Tao: "And the three Nameless, Mikhail and his friends, built upon that foundation to help the people who had won their freedom establish a new home."
Hu Tao: "Only then could we have the Penacony of today."
Hu Tao: "Truly a touching and heroic story!"
....
『 The three continue to the next puppet location.
[ The three Nameless stayed on the planet, endeavoring to spread the tenets of Trailblaze throughout the frontier prison. Alas, their efforts proved futile. ]
After Sunday finishes speaking, the text appears beside the puppet as usual.
Thank you for staying here
Honorable travelers
However, not even you could banish the guards
Though they are no longer in Asdana 』
『 ....』