Phainon's and Cipher's gazes met in mid-air.
In an instant.
A plan, requiring no words, quietly formed between the two of them.
After all, opportunities to openly "deal with" Lady Sparkle weren't always available.
"Hehehe..."
Phainon's soft chuckle from beneath his icy mask made Sparkle raise an eyebrow, intrigued.
She watched as Phainon slowly picked up his own mask, a smile on his face, and placed it upon his own.
The mask emanated a power that was of the same origin as hers, yet distinctly different.
The Mask's Authority!
What was he going to do?
The next moment, the world's colors were drained.
A spotlight descended from the sky, precisely hitting the bar counter in front of them.
The counter had transformed into a stage.
Sparkle rubbed her eyes.
Under the spotlight, a man struck an incredibly flamboyant pose.
He wore blue beach shorts with red heart prints, his bare upper body was an eerie orange.
On his face was an orange mask with a huge smiley face drawn on it.
At this moment, he stood with one hand on his hip, the other raised high, index and middle fingers together pointing towards the sky, his body twisted into a captivating S-shape.
In the background, a rhythmic yet incredibly cheap electronic dance track began to play.
"..."
Sparkle fell silent.
This... this was... The God of Mirth?
Aha... in person?!
As expected, her ultimate goal!
So... the end of Joy was this abstract?
Thinking about the Mourning Clowns, that wasn't so bad either!
No!
Sparkle suddenly snapped awake, a glint flashing in her eyes.
She felt that the power of Joy constructing the illusion did not come from the depths of the starry sea, but was close at hand!
This wasn't Aha!
So all of this was done by Phainon!
As expected of Fool, no wonder Aha gave him a mask!
As Sparkle's consciousness cleared, the stage before her gradually collapsed, and the abstract Aha in heart-print beach shorts also vanished like a bubble.
The surrounding area returned to the original hustle and bustle of Golden Hour.
At this moment, the bar counter was already empty.
Phainon, Mydei, and Cipher, the three of them had disappeared without a trace.
"Haha... hahaha... This is true Joy...!"
Sparkle's laughter escaped her throat, at first a suppressed groan, then completely out of control, her shoulders shaking violently as she laughed.
Normally, she was the one playing tricks on others, but today, in a moment of carelessness, she was played by another "Fool."
Far from being angry, a surge of wild joy welled up in her heart.
Interesting!
Too interesting!
Phainon! You're even more fun than I imagined!
Just then.
A faint electric current flashed, and Cipher's figure appeared out of thin air in front of Sparkle.
Sparkle reined in her smile, examining the cat-eared girl, feeling the power on her that was so similar to Joy, yet belonged to "trickery."
"Aren't you with that white-haired kid? What, coming back to surrender?"
Cipher crossed her arms, her face filled with righteous indignation.
"Don't you know? That white-haired one has been getting more and more unrestrained lately!"
"He used my wallet for charity! Made me owe eighteen thousand!"
The more Cipher spoke, the angrier she got, her cat tail twitching high.
"He even played a trick on me! How can I tolerate this? So..."
She changed her tone, leaning closer to Sparkle, revealing a mischievous smile.
"Do you want to... team up and prank him?"
A hint of calculation flashed in Sparkle's eyes, but her lips had their own ideas, uncontrollably curving into a smile of pleasure.
"Oh? What kind of prank?"
"Make him socially dead! Hehehe..." Cipher's voice was filled with the pleasure of revenge.
Sparkle's eyes lit up completely, flickering with a flame called "fun."
"Tell me, how to make him socially dead?"
Cipher looked around mysteriously, and after confirming no one was eavesdropping, she lowered her voice.
"Do you know that strong man next to Phainon who never speaks?"
She slowly extended one of her index fingers.
Under Sparkle's expectant gaze, that straight finger slowly, slowly... bent downwards.
Sparkle's pupils suddenly dilated.
"They are... gay?"
"Shhh—!" Cipher quickly made a shushing gesture, her expression exaggerated, "Keep it down! This is a huge secret!"
Sparkle waved her hand, a knowing smile on her face.
"Without proof, just your word, I, Lady Sparkle, won't believe it."
As a follower of Joy, she knew the falsehood of words well.
"Tch."
Cipher pouted, as if she had expected her distrust.
She unhurriedly pulled a brown paper envelope from her bulging pocket.
"I originally wanted to find a buyer who knew their value, but since you're not interested..."
"Hey, hey, hey!"
Seeing Cipher make to leave, Sparkle grabbed her.
Cipher stopped then, and slowly pulled out a corner of a photo from the envelope.
In the photo, Phainon's cool and handsome profile was clearly visible, and beside him, Mydei's mountain-like reliable arm.
Their upper bodies were very close, and the atmosphere, under the special cropping, was so ambiguous it almost overflowed the frame.
Just as the photo was about to be fully revealed, Cipher suddenly stopped, stuffing the photo back in.
"One price, one million credit points." She named an exorbitant price.
"All the 'evidence' inside will be yours, how about it?"
Sparkle snorted, her laugh tinged with mockery.
"Do you really think I wear my mask for nothing?"
"Then forget it, I'll find the next buyer, I'm sure Ash will be very interested in this." Cipher made to leave.
"Wait!"
Sparkle stopped her again, "How about this, I have no grievances with that white-haired kid, it's purely for fun."
"I'll pay you fifty thousand credit points first, for an 'unboxing' opportunity. If what's inside is truly interesting, I'll pay you the rest."
Upon hearing this, Cipher gave Sparkle a thumbs up.
"As expected of you! Very shrewd! Deal!"
She urged, "Hurry and transfer the money, if I go back late, the Savior Kid will get suspicious."
Sparkle, in a good mood, pulled out the phone she had swiped from Sampo, skillfully operated it, and transferred fifty thousand credit points to Cipher.
With a "ding," Cipher's terminal received the payment notification.
She nodded in satisfaction, and very readily slapped the entire envelope into Sparkle's hand.
"Happy cooperation!"
Before her words faded, her figure turned into an afterimage, instantly disappearing.
Only a sentence echoed in the air.
"Remember to transfer the remaining payment after you've seen it!"
Sparkle weighed the envelope in her hand, the smile on her lips becoming even more twisted.
She was already eager to see what kind of wonderful expression would appear on Phainon's icy face when these "evidences" spread throughout Penacony.
Slowly, with a ritualistic sense of pilgrimage, she pulled out the photo.
Then, the smile on her face froze.
The photo... was only half a picture!
The ambiguous composition was entirely made up through cropping and imagination!
"Was I tricked?"
Sparkle didn't get angry; instead, she laughed. She wanted to see what exactly these fifty thousand credit points had bought.
She dumped the remaining contents of the envelope out.
No more photos, no voice recorder.
Only a... beautifully bound novel.
On the cover of the book, the title was printed in gilded letters—
"The Love of Er and Di."
Sparkle's eye twitched.
She casually flipped open a page, her gaze sweeping across it.
"...He held him captive in his arms, his hot breath caressing his ear, his voice hoarse and domineering: 'You can't escape. From the moment you entered my world, you became my only 'weakness'...'"
Slap.
Sparkle abruptly closed the book.
A suspicious blush crept up her cheeks.
She, Sparkle, Fool of the Mask, actually... blushed reading a BL novel?
The next second.
Two completely opposite emotions, fury and ecstasy, collided violently within her chest, exploding into a dazzling chaos!
"Phainon—!"
"Se—fa—lia—!"
A sharp roar echoed through Golden Hour.
"You two just wait! I'll remember this fun!"
But the next moment, taking advantage of no one being around, she furtively took out the book again, quickly flipping back to the previous page like a thief.
No, this is too silly... But... but what did it say next?
"Sparkle is just taking a tiny peek."
Her fingers trembled slightly as she turned to the next page of the novel.
However.
Just at the most exciting part.
The novel abruptly ended.
The rest was blank.
Sparkle was stunned.
She quickly flipped through the entire book, not believing it, every page pristine white.
Gone?
It just... ended?!
Sparkle took deep breaths, trying to calm herself, but the feeling of her heart being clawed at intensified.
She slowly raised her head, her smile completely distorted, squeezing out a few words through gritted teeth,
"Why! Did! You! Stop! Updating!"