Mei: I'll protect the kitty! / Theresa: I'm almost out of toilet paper!

Kiana stood in front of the node.

"Mei, be careful too... who knows what might be inside this Wish Fulfilled?"

"It's nothing, let me see... Huh? What's falling?"

As soon as the node was reached, countless pieces of paper began to fall from the sky like raindrops.

Mei casually caught one of the cards, picked it up, and then her hand suddenly jerked.

She was extremely familiar with the handwriting and sentence structure above; after all, she had just seen the same handwriting in the Elysian Realm Archives.

"Kevin... is dead?"

With a familiar, crisp sound of shattering glass, the second piece from the Shattered Standee series appeared in their backpacks.

Chapter 82 Mei: I will protect the cat!

"???" ×2

"Is this something a human could do?"

"Don't worry, Mei, I think I understand what Sister Xia Ling is doing..." Kiana said weakly, "This Wish Fulfilled probably not for us, but for the Wish Fulfilled."

"So Kevin's gone too...?"

Mei almost laughed out of anger.

"Now another standee is broken. The good news is that two deployment slots have been returned. The bad news is, I have a feeling... these standees will all break in the end?"

Looking at the two Shattered Standee collection items in her backpack, Kiana had a bad feeling.

"It shouldn't be that bad, right?"

Even Mei was starting to feel uncertain. She knew that not all the Flame-Chasers were skilled in combat, but if they were all destroyed...

Doesn't that mean Griseo's cat will also break?

"Sister Xia Ling shouldn't be so heartless as to harm even a child, right..."

Anyway, let's keep watching.

Upon entering the Third Floor, Kiana felt that her ominous premonition was likely to come true.

Because there is only one path to follow for nodes in the Third Floor.

Although there were many branches in the middle, they all eventually converged on the last node.

As for the content of the last node... it's a real combat node, Perilous Enemy.

"Damn it, why can't we see any detailed information about the boss level this time...? Even just a name would be nice!"

Now the two have figured out some patterns. When facing a new ending for the first time, Xia Ling usually doesn't let them encounter too many difficulties in battle.

On the other hand, she probably focused all her efforts on improving her mental resilience.

"You probably can't tell anything just by looking at the nodes... Look, there's a Mind Boundary in front of the boss on the Third Floor."

Mei sighed and took the lead in entering the first Unexpected Encounter on the Third Floor.

A moment later, the two walked out of the node, looking completely bewildered.

It wasn't for any other reason than... there was one more person in their group.

In the third position of the team member list, a lively and cute cat avatar appeared—in the Unexpected Encounter just now, they met Pardofelis, who is usually the shop owner at the shop node.

The other party wanted to help, so they asked to explore with Mei. Then, the system popped up a temporary recruitment option.

To be honest, they often snatched the cat's shop when they were doing trials, which was one of the tips Xia Ling had told them.

That's why they knew exactly what this cat-like girl was capable of... After all, if she maxed out all her skills on running away, her combat ability was practically nonexistent.

However, if you look at it another way, if she wants to escape, there shouldn't be many people who can stop her.

"It's alright, anyway, we only have two deployment positions, so there's no need to send Pardo to the battlefield."

Kiana comforted us, "However, with Pardo, thanks to Pardo's unlocking skill, the restriction on lateral movement is directly removed for us. In other words, as long as we have Pardo with us, we can freely jump back and forth between nodes in the same column."

"Now... we don't have to worry about not having enough keys to complete all the branches."

Mei nodded. "It's a pity that this Pardo isn't like the one in the shop that you can talk to freely, otherwise I would have liked to apologize to her... I just robbed her shop several times yesterday."

"It's alright. Judging from Pardo's 'habits' when we rob shops, she's actually quite afraid of dying," Kiana said with a grin. "So as long as Mei protects her, she'll be very grateful."

"I hope so..."

Having acquired a cat, the two gained some confidence, but what followed was clearly not as smooth as they had imagined.

According to the plot of the node, while Mei and Neko went to find Vill-V, Su and Hua's actions on the other side were not going smoothly.

First, Chijie tricked Su into opening his eyes, and then used this to tear a crack in the Elysian Realm, intending to force the invaders out by destroying Elysian Realm itself.

Then, the two, who were planning to go and discuss the situation with Mobius, stumbled upon the crime scene where Mobius had just died.

Just as they were pondering the cause of Mobius's death, the next turn of events startled them.

"Narrow Encounter?"

The two exchanged a glance, a sense of foreboding rising in their hearts.

As things stand, there seems to be only one Flame-Chasers could potentially trigger this turning point...

"Could it be... Brother Jie...?"

"It is highly likely to be Chijie, a one-on-one Narrow Encounter, and the other Flame-Chasers of the Elysian Realm do not strictly meet the conditions for going it alone."

After a moment's hesitation, Mei stepped into the node first.

Then...

"Why should we just stand by and watch this Chijie happen when we've met on Narrow Encounter?!"

Mei's exasperated voice came from the node.

"I knew it..."

Kiana sighed and followed her inside.

Upon entering the node, just as she had guessed, the content of this node was a conversation between Chijie and Erosion.

But what surprised Kiana even more than the chibi version of Chijie, who was already in position to prepare for battle, was Chijie's storyline.

"Chijie... he actually had such a past?"

Kiana covered her mouth slightly. "Although the Memory Plate mentioned the sacrificial site, I didn't expect that Chijie would actually... voluntarily let those villagers bleed him."

"He just wanted a place to belong... Could he really be such a gentle person at heart?"

"Elysia once said that Chijie is actually a gentle person... I thought she was joking."

Looking at Chijie, who was clearly no match for the erosion in the arena, Mei's face showed some pity. "Elysia really knows each of them... and Chijie is indeed worthy of their trust."

"But Chijie is clearly no match for Erosion..."

The battle on the field could even be described as one-sided. Although Chijie's attacks were powerful and could cause some damage to Erosion, in the data space, Erosion was essentially an existence equivalent to the Finality.

These damages will be easily eroded and restored to their original state in no time.

"Wait, there's still a chance!"

Kiana's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Time! There's a time limit to Narrow Encounter!"

"As long as we hold out until the time limit is exceeded, Chijie will have a chance to survive!"

Following Kiana's voice, Mei looked up and sure enough, the countdown, which was originally three minutes long, now only had a dozen seconds left.

Chapter 83 Theresa: I'm almost out of paper!

Fortunately, the erosion did not suddenly intensify as time approached. A dozen seconds later, time was up, and both sides stopped attacking simultaneously.

Kiana and Mei were subsequently kicked out of the node.

"Judging from this, Brother Jie should have survived..."

Kiana breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hmm... it's hard to say, but generally the battles within a node are not disconnected from the plot, so at least for now, Chijie should be alright."

"But..."

Mei looked at the node ahead with some worry. If the line at the node she was currently on extended one more grid, it would return to the main trunk.

In other words, this branch of the storyline will end soon, and this situation makes it hard not to suspect...

Suppressing her unease, Mei took a deep breath and entered the next stage.

And the scene within this node is the Deepest Place...

"Why here? Does the next point not connect to the previous plot?"

Kiana looked around, but could only see Eden talking to Aponia. This was probably the situation on the other side, because it was mentioned in the previous story that Eden was going to check on Aponia's safety.

"I'm afraid that's the case. If I remember correctly, Chijie's location should be in an area quite far outside of the Elysian Realm. After all, if he wanted to destroy Elysian Realm, he couldn't possibly start from the center. And given his condition, it would be difficult for him to stay here any longer."

Mei sighed and said, "It's alright, no news is still news. At least we don't have to confirm Chijie's..."

Before the words were finished, Eden and Aponia in the dream were stunned.

Mei and Kiana were also stunned.

Their gazes converged on a corner of the Deepest Place, the entrance to which was originally shrouded in darkness.

But at this moment, a body that was still burning with only half remaining was walking step by step into the Deepest Place.

"That is... Chijie?"

"Please wait, Eden... Do not touch him, or even come near him."

Aponia stopped Eden's actions with a sorrowful voice.

"As expected... his memory is riddled with holes, and it's only a thought away from disappearing." Aponia's voice trembled slightly. "He got here by relying on the instincts of this broken body, and only he could do such a thing."

"This damned erosion!"

In the node, Kiana, who was watching the plot, was starting to lose her composure.

Although Chijie is usually a bit irritable, as a boss they often encounter, he is honestly more approachable. In previous battles, Chijie's soft heart, which is inconsistent with his appearance, has indeed left them with a three-dimensional and approachable image.

Seeing Chijie's body in this state, Kiana couldn't bear the frustration in her heart... She really wanted to find this corrosive entity and beat it up.

Unfortunately, even within the data space, she couldn't possibly defeat the erosion—especially since this was a predetermined ending.

All they could do now was silently send this soldier on his final journey.

"Given such severe damage, even I must devote myself wholeheartedly to communicating with the remaining consciousness of the Chijie Calamities."

In the blink of an eye, the story has reached the part where Aponia is about to communicate with Chijie.

"During this time, my body will be nothing more than an empty shell, so, during this period, Eden..."

"Please... no... please protect me..."

"Actually, Aponia is a very gentle person too~"

Meanwhile, within the Elysian Realm, Elysia was also reliving the "script" that had once brought her to tears several times.

"Since Kevin and I have both met with misfortune, if the Erosion really catches up, Eden alone will not be able to defeat it."

"That's why she didn't use the Commandments to enhance Eden's combat power, but instead chose to abandon the Commandments, preserving a sliver of hope for Eden when the erosion came chasing after him... After all, Eden has no mental resistance, and if he were hit by the Commandments, he would truly fight to the death."

"But Sister Eden ... shouldn't have run away in the first place?" Xia Ling asked doubtfully.

"Normally, she would definitely stay and accompany Aponia to treat [the patient]..."

A glint of tears welled up in Elysia's eyes. "But in this situation... she has two 'keys' on her, so she will definitely prioritize the safety of the keys."

"After all, she values those keys more than her own life..."

"Hmm? Elysia..."

A sly glint appeared in Xia Ling's eyes. "Are you starting to feel a little overwhelmed?"