"If you agree to my request, I can preserve your life!"
Strangely, the moment Nyx heard those words, she did not show surprise or perturbation; if anything, she seemed…indifferent.
A hint of astonishment flashed past Long Nose's eyes as she wasn't expecting Nyx not to react at all. Nonetheless, she thought it was all under her control.
"What happened, Dreamy? If you want to laugh or ridicule, now is the time for it." She dismissively stated.
However, Nyx responded unexpectedly, "Why would I waste my breath? Aren't you just buying time for that formation to complete? Well, you don't have to worry on my end; I'll wait. In fact, you don't even need to hide its traces; you may increase the pace if you can."
For the first time, Long Nose's expression warped, and she jumped to her feet as she looked at emotionless Nyx with utter disbelief.
"W-what did you just say?"
Nyx blinked, looking extremely innocent, as she replied, "What? Didn't you hear the first time? I said you don't need to worry about me; you can increase the activation speed of this fascinating formation."
Long Nose almost lost her composure as she was spooked, but she was a powerful entity and quickly calmed down, 'She's bluffing! She might be shooting in the dark to scare me into stopping the 'Spirit Ripper Formation'. Although I admit her perception is quite strange to even discover the Spirit Ripper Formation, she had no idea that once this formation is set and activated, the star network can't sense it, and it's unstoppable!'
After reassuring herself, Long Nose sat down on her seat again, but she no longer seemed to be pretending anymore, and her eyes were filled with sinister intent.
"I'm very curious, when did you notice it?" Long Nose questioned in an impassive tone.
"Does it matter? I've told you I'm not interested in wasting my breath. You should increase the speed; it's taking too long." Nyx seriously advises with a hint of impatience.
Long Nose had never expected someone to get on her nerves as much as Nyx, and because of Nyx's strange yet creepy behavior, Long Nose was having difficulty keeping calm.
If this were the real world, and she wasn't worried about falling into Nyx's trap, Long Nose would have long attacked or dealt with Nyx.
Keeping her cool, Long Nose called Nyx's bluff, "Do you even know what kind of formation this is? Aren't you the least bit curious about how a runic formation could even appear, much less work, in the Virtual Star World? Most importantly, why are you being specifically targeted?"
Nyx suddenly showed a disdainful expression as if she was extremely annoyed by Long Nose's words, and scoffed, "You know, someone I know believed that…no scratch that, it's almost like a creed, do you want to know what it is?"
"Pray tell." Long Nose played along.
Nyx replied, her voice filled with disappointment, "It is to 'Never trust anyone'. I found this very strange, and thought not everyone in existence should be condemned for some rotten fool's crimes, right? But guess what? You've changed my mind."
Long Nose looked at Nyx strangely. She wasn't expecting to hear this kind of response, and for some reason, it irked her to end the conversation.
"Well, happy to clear your doubts." Long Nose sneered, "Well, since you reveal such an 'interesting' thing, let me return the favor. Do you know every race, whether it's goblin, giant, barbarians, beasts, or even dark beings? Every race has one thing in common. Do you want to know what that is?"
"Shoot." Nyx dismissively replied.
Long Nose's smile twisted, almost appearing like a crazy zealot, as she said, "END! Everyone will have an end; the stronger a race is, the more they fear their end! Some individuals might pretend they do not care about their 'END,' but the truth is, everyone with some sanity cares about their END.
"Most accept their 'END' without much thought since it a part of natural cycle, nothing can beat END, and it is also the strongest belief in existence, even more so then the 'Beginning' because no one care about how its starts, but the END, it's always appeared, no matter how much one avoids it, the END is inevitable!"
Nyx's expression finally flickered as she looked at Long Nose profoundly. She couldn't find that calm and shrewd Long Nose anymore; she appeared to be an entirely different person.
"So, everyone is afraid of death, big deal!" She sneered with a peculiar look in her eyes.
"Not death! But END you wretched thing!" Long Nose almost screamed, looking at Nyx with killing intent, "Even Death will END eventually with everything else!"
Long Nose then took a deep breath as her expression returned to normal, but the zeal in her eyes was still there as she scoffed, "Since you like to pretend you're not afraid of the END, I'll reveal your true self! It wasn't personal before, but you took the END for granted. We, the ATLAS, will never stand people like you who do not respect the END!"
"Well, forgive me if I pushed the wrong 'button,' but I wasn't expecting you to reveal your background so easily. Now that you've revealed so much, how about clarifying another thing for me? Maybe I'll start fearing this end as well." Nyx suddenly smiled strangely as she asked, "Do you have an 'Hourglass'?"
It was a simple yet ambiguous question, but in Long Nose's ears, it caused powerful ripples in her mind as she trembled ever so slightly.
"It seemed the new Star Lord was right, anyone related to that 'anomaly' should be deeply investigated and captured no matter the price. I'm glad you proved it right and now, excluding my personal interest in you, you'll become a critical piece of 'information'!" Long Nose coldly declared as she seemed to have already decided not to let Nyx escape, no matter what kind of trick she had, even if it meant paying a higher price.
Nyx also found something strange in Long Nose words, "What 'anomaly'?"
"Oh? You're finally showing interest now?" Long Nose sneered darkly.
"That's what I want to tell you before: the reason you are being targeted is that in your friend list, you have a Star ID named the 'Faceless Ancient'!"