Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'

This speech was not unexpected for her, and Nomi laughed, once again charmed by the other's natural cuteness.

The beautiful girl, previously displaying grandmotherly warmth and strength, now revealed a charming tsundere side due to her clumsy fall and ignorance of common knowledge. The contrast was so stark that it touched the heart of this immortal old lady.

"Yes, yes, the Outer World is indeed so dangerous. A young lady like you should be careful here,"

Nomi teased with a smile.

"However, it's precisely because of the danger that you mortals seem so great."

The red-haired girl propped her chin up, her crimson-gold eyes gazing at Nomi, softly saying:

"The entire old world will eventually be burned away by the newborn flames."

Nomi was taken aback.

That phrase...

"I kept my word."

The girl smiled gently, her stunning visage seemingly overlapping with someone from her memories.

But —

"Uh!"

Nomi held her forehead as the scarred area began to throb faintly.

Memory.

Just like reloading a system, each revival would lead to memory loss.

Sometimes it's the pain before death that the brain deems unnecessary and discards.

Sometimes it's trivial tasks, like the process of peeling potatoes by the furnace, of little use.

Sometimes it's petty arguments, where forgetting seems better.

More often, the losses were memories with strong emotional shocks.

Nomi couldn't remember what she had experienced — memories before she was 19 were vague and obscure. Even when she occasionally recalled, it was piecing together others' accounts.

But this scar is the sole proof of those memories' reality.

And now — the scar for the first time became searingly hot. In the forgotten memories were possibly pieces not entirely erased, being continually triggered to respond to the red-haired girl before her.

Could it be? Could it truly be...

Nomi looked up, eyes filled with surprise, then quickly lowered them, calmly pondering for a moment before looking up again, eyes brimming with shock and hesitation.

Subsequently, her gaze grew increasingly stern, saying uncertainly:

"...After that, the rose will bloom on the ruins of the Four Nations."

The girl slowly stood, flames floating up her body, sweeping the snow off the ground. She lowered her gaze; compared to her, the sunlight from behind seemed dimmer.

"I think I see not Jian Neriya, but Nomi Anderson Guesette, right?"

The girl said with a smile:

"Long time no see, Nomi."

"You — you remember me? You saved me back then, and just now, you destroyed the Apostle of Entropy, rescuing me again. No, before that, you had also saved me, rescuing me from Mingji Humanity — yet I can't recall your name."

Nomi stared blankly at the other, then:

"I — I can't remember. I'm truly sorry."

The girl quietly looked at the other, showing no change in expression, which only made Nomi feel worse.

'Don't be like this! I don't want to see you sad or disappointed...'

Facing such a perfect girl, letting her show even a hint of disappointment felt more unbearable to Nomi than dying — although she felt she might prefer death right now.

She racked her brain, trying to find something to lighten her mood.

"Wait a second!"

Suddenly, her mind sparked, and she blurted out:

"Civilization Frost Plating!"

After saying it, Nomi immediately regretted it, staring at her shoes, wishing she could disappear into the ground.

'What the hell did I do? Nomi! You idiot, dummy, fool, you good-for-nothing! Ahhh! You're over fifty, how can you still be so foolish?'

However, against her expectations.

Snap!

The girl threw herself forward, hugging Nomi's shoulders, opened her mouth but pressed her lips together, and said with emotion:

"Ah, just like that."

A moment later, she released the hug, looked up with nostalgic eyes at the tall and strong Nomi, and said:

"You've grown taller, little one."