The moment the sword was plunged into its body, the stelleron knew its "life" was about to end.
After leaving Jarilo-VI, its immortality and powerful healing abilities vanished, leaving it vulnerable. On the ground, the natural disasters he caused were being fixed one by one. In the end, the stelleron could not take many human lives with it.
This sparked a feeling of "unwillingness" in it, which was clearly noticed by Orion. His expression remained cold, and his eyes remained focused on the stelleron.
Still, he asked the stelleron one last question.
"Do you have any regrets now?"
As the stelleron's body began to disintegrate, it wondered where it had gone wrong.
Orion understood its thoughts. In this situation, Stellaron's thoughts were laid bare.
"You didn't lose to me, stelleron, you lost to the people of Belobog."
Orion Astra's words were like a final judgment. His large sword was raised high, splitting the stelleron's form in two.
Just before the consciousness of the stellaron faded, a scene appeared in his mind. It was a beautiful sky untouched by his cold wave, pure and moving like a flawless sapphire. It filled him with nostalgia.
"The sky back then was so beautiful..."
After Orion swung his sword, the stellaron responsible for the damage to Jarilo-VI was revealed.
The personality is completely wiped out, and the body cannot be recovered.
"Is this the original appearance of the stellaron?"
In front of Orion, a glowing ball of light appeared, like flowing stars forming a ring.
In the distance, the Astral Express rested in space. It looked like a steam locomotive but could travel across the stars to any world. No matter how often he saw it, Orion Astra still felt amazed and joyful.
At that moment, Orion received a message through the spiritual link he had set up with Welt.
"Orion, I sensed that the energy fluctuations in space have stopped. How are you? Are you injured?"
Worried voices came from the communication, and it sounded like there were many people around Welt. The noise gave Orion a slight headache.
After moving the meteor away from the city, establishing a spiritual connection with nearly a million Belobog residents, fighting the stellaron, and using the Cleaver of Shamash, even he felt a bit weak.
After calming himself, Orion replied to Welt, "I'm fine, Uncle Yang. The stellaron has been completely destroyed, and its original body has been recovered by me. How is everyone doing?"
"Okay." Welt briefly responded, seemingly informing everyone that Orion was safe. Thousands of miles away, Orion could feel the cheers and joy of the people on the ground.
"Really, they're such optimistic folks." Orion sighed. With the stellaron issue resolved, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted, and the pressure was greatly reduced.
"Orion, if you can, please hand over the stellaron to Himeko first. She will handle everything." Welt's voice was very low, almost as if he were speaking in private.
"Himeko?" Orion Astra immediately thought of that sister with the flaming red hair. Even though he hadn't seen her in years, the memory was still vivid.
After confirming with Welt, Orion flew toward the Astral Express and carefully pushed the stellaron forward. Once it made contact with the train, the stellaron melted into it like water. Orion wasn't in a rush to see Himeko. He would wait until he got back to the train with the crew to discuss things.
A 'door' opened in front of Orion as he stepped through, as he re-entered the familiar streets of Belobog.
"Lord Orion Astra has returned safely!" someone shouted, their voice ringing out across the city square.
Orion greeted them with a warm, humble smile, trying to wave them off gently, but the people of Belobog had no intention of letting him slip away. With sheer joy in their hearts, they surrounded him, lifting him effortlessly off the ground. Laughter and shouts of his name filled the air as they tossed him up, catching him again and again.
"Orion! Orion!" they chanted, their voices uniting in a wave of admiration. Though he tried to resist, his protests were drowned out by the sea of jubilation, and soon enough, they carried him on their shoulders, moving as one toward the city's heart.
From the side, Stelle watched the scene unfold, helpless but smiling at the spectacle. "Uncle Yang, should we help Orion?" she murmured with a mix of amusement and worry, watching Orion being swept away by the jubilant crowd.
Standing beside her, Welt allowed himself a rare, genuine smile. He glanced at Orion, who was being paraded like a hero, and sighed softly. "This is his moment," he said, his voice filled with a quiet pride. "Let him enjoy it. He's earned it."
March 7th, ever the spirited one, could barely contain her excitement. She bounced on her heels, her eyes sparkling as she joined the crowd, shouting, "Let's go! Let's head to the celebration!"
Dan Heng, usually more reserved, couldn't resist the pull of the moment either. With a small smile tugging at his lips, he quietly joined the others.
Humans truly are a resilient and extraordinary species. No sooner had the dust of disaster begun to settle than the people of Belobog transformed their fear and uncertainty into celebrating Orion's return with a grand party.
No one in Belobog would be sleeping peacefully tonight—not because of fear, but because the streets were alive with celebration. From the heart of the city to its farthest corners, cheers echoed through the night air, accompanied by the hum of music and festivities.