Outside of the Solar System, in an unknown corner of the Cosmos,

A man with black hair appeared out of thin air, or would it be a thin vacuum since they were in space? The man had a thin layer of violet energy around him, acting as a small barrier protecting him from the vacuum. So he looked around curiously to check where they were,

“Where are we? And what the heck is a Stellaron?”

Amidst all the confusion, he still understood that what they were going after was a Stellaron. Unfortunately he had no idea what the heck that was supposed to be.

Noticing it, the System calmed down a bit and she realised that she had forgotten to tell him about it. So she recalled the information about the Stellarons and started explaining,

[We are outside of the Solar System, and Stellarons are pieces of Divinity from the Aeon Of Destruction, Nanook that are scattered across the Cosmos. These Stellarons are more notoriously called Cancer of All Worlds.]

So this was what outer space was like.. It was very very.. Quiet. It was so silent that he found it strange, this was because there wasn't any air or any sounds for that matter. And since they were outside of their Solar System, there wouldn't be any planets for quite some time.

Nanook, the Aeon Of Destruction. From what he understood of the conversation between Terminus and the System, this Aeon represents Destruction and should have the highest firepower in the Cosmos.. But to think they were also intellectual, maybe only battle IQ?

Nonetheless, Juviel felt sweat trickle down his forehead as he heard the last sentence from the System. That sounded very dangerous, didn't it?

“... And how exactly are we dealing with this thing? Let's just hope this Cancer hasn't developed beyond recovery..”

[Take out the Traveller's Proof, it should show us the way, isn't that right, Traveller's Proof?]

“Yes, yes, yes, of course.”

Despite the tense situation they were in, Juviel couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the Traveller's Proof's subservient attitude towards the System.

“What did you do to the poor thing? It sounds traumatised.”

[Hmph, I only taught it a small lesson.]

[Flashback time~]

Inside the space exclusively owned by the System,

“Hey, spawn of Finality. You better behave, and don't pull any tricks.. Otherwise even if you call upon your Aeon, before they arrive I guarantee that I would be finished dismantling you and absorbed your divinity.. Oh and you can't contact them here anyways.”

She sounded absolutely murderous, things were already looking very dim and now Terminus wanted to add on to her difficulties? What? It's a watch that can distort history? Once I absorb it, wouldn't I get the same ability too?

“Y-You! I didn't even do anything, how could you be so unreasonable!?”

The Traveller's Proof was actually terrified, because it really couldn't contact its Aeon in this weird space. It really felt like she could dismantle it! It felt so wronged, Juviel hadn't even used it yet!

What was up with this crazy woman!?

“You are crazy, your whole family is crazy! This is called being cautious.”

Unfortunately for it, even it's thoughts weren't safe from the System. The Traveller's Proof trembled a bit and decided to ask what exactly the System wanted.

“.. What do you want?”

The System smiled, she thought it would be a bit more difficult to tame this thing but it went quite well.

“For now, I just want a verbal agreement. Don't ever betray us, alright?”

The Traveller's Proof seemed to have gotten a huge burden lifted off its back as it's relieved voice was transmitted over.

“That's not a problem at all-”

Before it could finish, the System smiled and her eyes went cold as she interrupted it.

“If you do, not even Terminus can save you. I guarantee it.”

…

[End of Flashback]

“Is that so?”

Although he was a bit skeptical about the ‘small’ lesson, he decided not to comment on it and tapped on the Traveller's Proof, it took this as a signal and shot a thin violet beam of light at a certain direction.

[It seems that is where the Stellaron. Let's go, but make sure to keep your guard up, there are all sorts of monstrosities in the Cosmos.. It wouldn't be strange even if a world devouring bug appeared right next to us.]

Juviel initially wanted to say everything would be fine, but then he heard the final sentence of the System and was stunned. What did she say just now?

A world devouring bug could randomly spawn like that? Does that even make sense?

He couldn't find the right words to explain his shock so he simply remained silent and gave into the desire that existed in every MANTIS; to activate Active Honkai Reaction Mode.

Immediately, he was inflicted with a barrage of emotions; negative ones, trying to override his mind. The rate was so much that even his emotion control skill completely failed within a mere second. He felt like he was about to cross over the edge of sanity and become insane.

There was a very strong desire to simply let loose and destroy everything around him. But thankfully, a gentle stream of energy entered his mind and caused all of these chaotic fluctuations to settle down.

[You have entered Active Honkai Reaction Mode.

Your HP has been boosted by 3000%.
Your DEF has been boosted by 2000%.
Your SPD has been boosted by 500%.
Your Recovery Speed has been boosted by 1000%.
Your ATK has been boosted by 1000%.
Your Stamina has been boosted by 2000%.

Your Honkai Energy is being burnt rapidly at a rate of 4HW per second. You have a little over 250 seconds left, please move quickly.

In this mode, the, lower your HP the higher the damage you can deal.

To maintain your sanity, 1000SP will be deducted per second.]

Juviel fell silent, damage increases the more HP is lost? Wasn't that completely incompatible with his Preservation powers? But nonetheless, he could feel the immense vitality and strength flowing through his veins. He grinned, feeling a bit more confident and wanted to move towards the light ray, but he quickly realised something.

“Hold on, I can't float.. Nor can I fly, how am I supposed to even go there?”

The System felt speechless, all that powering up and he still didn't know how to fly? Is he not aware of the fact that he can sprout wings? Unfortunately, she didn't know how either.. So the System asked Fu Hua, the expert. Of course, she pretended to be an artificial intelligence owned by Juviel.

Inside the Dorm, in Fu Hua's room.

A small panel popped up infront of the meditating Fu Hua, this was what she usually does when Juviel wasn't there. Fu Hua heard the ding sound and her eyes snapped open. She felt a bit excited when she saw it was the artificial intelligence.

“Hn? Is it Juviel?”

Unfortunately it wasn't, and instead it was the artificial intelligence. So she felt a bit disappointed.

[Valkyrie Phoenix, Juviel is having difficulties trying to fly. Could you send over the memory regarding how to?]

Fu Hua didn't mind and simply used Fenghuan Down to make a copy of the time she used wings. Afterall, her new most joyful thing to do was helping Juviel. Except, she would have preferred if he came to her and asked instead.

That way she could have used it as an excuse and spend more time with him. Sending the memory would be the fastest method of course, but it wouldn't allow her to spend the most time with him.

There was a time she used her wings, but over time she learnt that using them made her very conspicuous, which she didn't like. She liked being low profile, plus there wasn't really a need to use the wings either.

After making a copy, she conjured a plume and put the small memory packet inside it. Then she did as the System said and threw it into the air. Under her amazed sight, the plume disappeared.

Fu Hua felt through their connection that he was going to do something like an adventure.

“.. I wish you the best of luck, Juviel.. Ahh. I wish to fight by his side too.”

The System decided to bring Fu Hua's message back to Juviel, because that would atleast repay Hua for what she did. Of course, Fu Hua probably didn't expect her mutterings to be delivered like that.

Back to Juviel,

[Here, this is how you can fly.. And Hua also said she wanted to fight by your side.]

A small red plume appeared on his hand, despite how fragile it looked, it seemed to be completely unaffected by the vacuum of space; it spoke volumes about how strong Fu Hua was.

Upon hearing the message from Hua, Juviel smiled happily. He thought about it and wanted to summon her, but the System stopped him.

[It might be dangerous, I suggest you don't summon her unless necessary.]

They were about to deal with a Stellaron, what it could do was beyond either of their imaginations. It might really be able to disregard the fact Fu Hua was a Valkyrie and permanently kill her.. Which was all bogus, she knew Hua would be able to aid him better..

But the real reason was that she didn't want to see the two flirting all the way until they reached the Stellaron!! Of course, it totally wasn't because she would be jealous or anything. She had confidence that they could handle it even without Hua.

“Sure, that would be fine too.”

Juviel nodded and didn't mind even though he found it strange. Fu Hua was stronger than him, afterall. If it was dangerous even for her, how could it be any less dangerous for him? Bringing her should alleviate his burden quite a bit.

Thinking about it for a moment, he decided to bring Fu Hua out at the slightest sign of danger. Then he focused back on the feather.

“By the way, how do I fly using this feather?”

He sounded genuinely confused, this thing was so small, how could it allow him to fly?

The System fell silent for a second before she realised she hadn't actually told him how to absorb the plume.

[Crush it.]

Juviel raised an eyebrow, but still clenched his hand into a fist that held the plume, this caused it to shatter into tiny fragments. Then these fragments went into his hand, almost like snowflakes melting when they make contact with something hot.

He felt a surge of knowledge and closed his eyes to digest it. A few seconds later, he shook his shoulders a bit and two fiery wings made from pure flames sprouted out of his back. The wings also had an outline made of black flames.

[10HW per second is being consumed to maintain these wings.]

He thought the wings were very cool, but they consumed a ton of Honkai Energy to maintain! So he decided to speed things up a bit and flapped his wings with all his might.. And then with a blur, he vanished!

He thought it would be fast, but he didn't expect it to be this fast. He couldn't even check his surroundings, he had to be fully focused on trying to make sure he didn't go off course by accident.

In a few seconds of constant flight, he hadn't yet grasped how to drive this ‘car’. So before he knew it, they had reached their destination.

*Bam!*

Except what greeted him was a transparent wall, and since he was going at such a high speed.. It directly shattered all of the bones in his body into dust. But in the very next second, he recovered. He clutched onto the transparent wall and started panting heavily, not out of exhaustion but out of fear.

“Haa.. Haa.. That was terrifying, I don't think I want to fly ever again..”