Mei: Gah! What kind of torture method is this now?! / Mei: So we're fighting Sakura?

"Not only is her speech not so sharp, but she also seems very obedient and gentle, and she's especially easy to pet~"

"Except for when..., he's usually not aggressive."

Before she could finish speaking, Xia Ling felt a warm, wet sensation from the fingers that were rubbing against Little E's cheek.

"Don't you dare take this opportunity to lick my fingers!"

Chapter 95 Mei: Quack! What kind of torture is this now!

"Although they have the faces of Jie Ge Serpent... these creations made through erosion are surprisingly easy to defeat."

"After all, these are just data she seized. The Herrscher of Corruption may not really have any experience in using the power of the Herrschers."

The Unexpected Encounter battle ended faster than the two had expected. Perhaps it was because the eroded versions were counterfeit, but even if they were taken individually, they could rival these eroded versions of Flame-Chasers.

Not to mention, the Fourth Floor of combat also introduces a friendly force mechanism.

Mei, who was in that storyline, also appeared on the battlefield to fight. However, it was obvious that her movements were a bit stiff, but it was still better than having no help at all.

"If we look at it that way... wouldn't we essentially have an extra teammate?"

Kiana was overjoyed. Although she hadn't received a single Recruitment Voucher yet, and the first two temporary recruits had already gone to play in the revival match for various reasons, this time it was Mei was being recruited.

It's impossible that Mei died in there too.

"Don't be so happy, maybe your temporary teammates for the next stage will be different..."

While the two were talking, Mei in the story was also confronting the erosion.

At this moment, Mei had already realized the Herrscher of Corruption's purpose and decided to pretend to communicate with her to buy time while waiting for Su to arrive and meet up with her.

This decision is correct. Even if Mei or Kiana from the real world were to make the decision, they would probably reach the same conclusion. But the problem is...

After receiving Mei's consent to communicate, Erosion snapped its fingers and conjured a Ferris wheel.

The Ferris wheel looked familiar, at least to Kiana, because Xia Ling and Elysia had taken them to this very Ferris wheel in Sirin's dream.

It seems like this is some kind of... Material Reuse?

It was like suddenly finding modern elements in a period drama. This Material Reuse gave Kiana a little comfort in the cold plot, but soon she stopped laughing.

Because the long-buried memories reminded her of something.

This Ferris wheel appears to have four cabins.

It seems that Mei and Erosion are about to board the Ferris wheel in the story. From the perspective of the story mode, I and Mei will definitely board the Ferris wheel together.

Doesn't that mean...?

"Kiana? Why do you have such a... uh, like you found a bug in your food?"

Noticing Kiana's complicated expression, Mei couldn't help but turn around and ask.

"Well... Mei, you'll find out soon enough."

"Um?"

Before Mei could react, the scene around them instantly became blurry.

Both of them were very familiar with this feeling; it usually happened when the scene changed.

But...

"It seems the scene has changed..."

Feeling the softness of the seat beneath her, Kiana quickly looked to her side.

At that moment, Mei sat down next to her.

"Phew... It seems the situation I imagined didn't happen. Mei, why aren't you saying anything?"

"Because I'm sitting right across from you..."

Kiana then noticed that Mei's voice was coming from across the room.

The person next to me looks like Mei from the story.

No way...

Kiana's not-so-bright brain immediately reconstructed the current positions of the four people. Although it could be considered a mathematical problem, it was at least within the range of ten, which made Kiana quickly realize the problem.

"Okay, Mei, don't make such a serious face!"

Sure enough, the eroded figure was right to Mei's right, with one hand resting on the window and the other hand leaning against the back of the chair.

The consequence of Erosion's somewhat presumptuous sitting posture... was naturally Mei's disgusted Mei.

At this moment, Mei was trying her best to lean her body in the opposite direction, as if there was some kind of large piece of trash next to her. Although she was not afraid of the Herrscher of Corruption, being touched by this guy from time to time still made Mei feel a sense of physical discomfort.

Not to mention, accompanied by provocative words that were eroding her sense of disgust, this feeling was gradually turning into an urge to punch her.

"Mei, calm down—"

Kiana quickly whispered to herself, "I'll just leave you here."

"I feel that even if I were to face Otto or Thousand-Man Herrscher now, I could listen to them without any expression."

Mei's expression was extremely aggrieved.

After all, in this part of the story, Corruption repeatedly told Mei that he was innocent and that he had no choice but to kill Elysia, which was all nonsense.

She even used the data she obtained to clumsily imitate other Flame-Chasers on several occasions, constantly provoking Mei's anger.

However, unlike Otto deliberately chose to say things that would anger people and intentionally put himself on the opposite side, the Herrscher of Corruption... probably really thinks so.

Otto spent ages trying to improve his skills, only to find that his efforts were less effective than a single, heartfelt remark from Erosion. jpg

The fact that this scene could make Mei, who had already lost her Mei once in the original story, unable to bear it again speaks volumes about the level of sarcasm it conveyed.

Fortunately, the tolerance levels of these two Mei are roughly the same.

Just as Mei was about to make her move, she had already drawn her long sword in the story.

Then... the scene changed once again.

"Sigh... Look what you've done! Don't do dangerous things at high altitudes, Mei. Do I have to teach you that?"

Like a persistent ghost, the erosion reappeared behind Mei once again.

In the ensuing conversation, Kiana and Mei understood the current situation—in the story, Mei felt the time was right and attacked Erosion, which then teleported them to the mist-shrouded island.

This is the island that Elysia mentioned before, the island that holds her memories.

However, it is clear that there is nothing here at the moment.

However, such provocations can no longer have any effect on Mei. After turning the tables and engaging in a battle with the erosion, Mei successfully achieved her goal, sending a signal throughout the entire Elysian Realm.

With this attack, the two also broke free from this point.

"Are we finally going to give Corruption a good beating?"

Kiana's face was full of eagerness. After all, the next point was Narrow Encounter, and considering the previous plot, it was obvious that reinforcements were coming.

But... the next detail left both of them stunned.

When Narrow Encounter —our hearts will never waver.

[Enemy Information: Mei Raiden, Sakura Thirteen Flame-Chasers]

[Special Support Unit: Faded Miss Fairy?]

Chapter 96 Mei: So it was us fighting Sakura?

Upon seeing the combat information at the node, the two realized why they had suddenly switched to a third-person perspective on the Fourth Floor.

Although I have fought against Herrschers before, and even fought against Sakura quite a few times... how can this be compared to the previous battles?

"Is this also... part of Sister Xia Ling's deliberate manipulation of our mindset?"

Kiana looked distressed. "Couldn't we just stay with Sakura...?"

"It's okay, maybe it will be like when we were on the First Floor, where we won't even have a chance to make a move."

Mei comforted her, "Let's go in and take a look anyway..."

Upon entering the node, the first thing you encounter is a memory of Sakura.

The two had already seen the first part of the flashback, which was the conversation between Sakura and Elysia when the erosion was born. As for the second part...

Seeing that Su had directly swapped his data with Sakura's data after it was corrupted, the two of them, who had just been a little worried, immediately felt uneasy.

"Although Su transferred his data to Sakura, as Mental Perception Fusion Warrior, Su shouldn't shatter anytime soon, right?"

Kiana's smile seemed somewhat forced.

"After all, Aponia seemed to be fine after it was corrupted, so Su should be able to hold out for a while."

"I hope so..."

The perspective shifts from the memories, but the two are unaware that Su is already plotting his move.

"To call that previous encounter a fight would be a stretch."

Wearing the mask of Poison Cocoon, Sakura placed her hand on the Seven Thunders of Retribution at her waist and said coldly.

"So, let's start over, Herrscher of Corruption."

"Oh dear, does everything always turn out this way? I was just concerned about you, that's why I wanted you to stay out of it!"

"...?"

Sakura turned to look at Mei. Although her face was covered by a mask, anyone could sense the deep confusion in her eyes.

"Yes, it's not just her appearance, her personality is also changing like Elysia's... I mean, the bad aspects."

"At first I was also surprised, but now it seems that her purpose was the device used for the curtain call."

"Is that so... I have learned about the current situation through the data that Su Liu has provided, but it will take some time to fully understand it."

"Ahem, excuse me for interrupting you just now, Sakura."

While Sakura and Mei were having a pleasant conversation, the Herrscher of Corruption finally couldn't help but speak up.

"It's not good to neglect one of the three girls when they're together; you're ruining a date!"

"Really? I think that's the norm."

Mei's sudden remark almost made the two people next to her burst out laughing.

After all, during their previous academy days, the Big Three experienced this kind of "three-person date" routine every day.

Unfortunately, this little Easter egg that brought a knowing smile to their faces didn't last long. Soon, the battle began amidst the infuriating voice of the Herrscher of Corruption.

Due to the nature of these Narrow Encounter, battles on the battlefield can only be one-on-one or two-on-two. Kiana initially thought the situation would be a choice between the two of them, but...

In the first round of battle, Erosion didn't even appear, leaving only Kiana and Mei against Sakura and Mei on the other side.

"This..."

Looking at Mei in her red electric dragon form opposite them, and then at the battleground—the rooftop.

Kiana fell silent for a moment.

Is this... even a match? Won't it just be a repeat of the rooftop battle from before?

She didn't want to be knocked away again.

However, compared to Kiana, Mei's situation is even worse.

Mei, who is completely underdeveloped, is no match for the Third Floor boss, Sakura, who is wielding the Seven Thunders of Retribution.

Especially due to certain lazy behaviors, or due to some selfish motives.

Ling added a little bit of her own personal touch when designing this part.

Theoretically speaking, Sakura in this part of the story would not use the Instantaneous Blade -kill technique, "Myriad Illusions Without Light."

However, Rin directly brought over Sakura, the boss of the previous three-level heterogeneous level.

So...

Before Mei could even speak, she was sent out of the battle.

Mei's instant elimination left Kiana helpless. She was already struggling to fight one against one, let alone two. It was a bit too much to ask Kiana Cat to do.