Corrupted Griseo (1/100) / Theresa: Xia Ling, you have no heart!

For a moment, the Herrscher of Corruption fell silent.

Now, if Cosmo is allowed to use this method to slow down the erosion process, even if he is eventually completely eroded by himself, the time spent will be more than a hundred times that of before.

In other words, the time that was originally more than enough for him would become completely impossible to track Mei's whereabouts due to Cosmo's interference...

However, if we abandon the idea of corrupting Cosmo and simply erase his data...

Elysia, if you were in this situation, what would you do...?

Such hesitation flashed through her mind for only a moment before she made her decision.

She cannot accept any risk that might threaten her survival.

However, despite making a quick decision, the Herrscher of Corruption could not ignore one thing: she made a choice that Elysia would never have made without hesitation...

"Forgive me... Cosmo."

"You have already obtained eternal and wonderful life within my body... If I let you continue like this, it would be tantamount to pushing them into death once again."

"If this is your choice..."

Erosion finally made up its mind and used the ability that could easily solve everything, but which it had only used once before.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... I didn't mean for this to happen..."

"Ugh—I can't take it anymore!"

A fiery sword, seemingly distorting the very space itself in the heatwave, slammed into the corrosive body.

Unfortunately, because friendly fire was disabled, this attack still had no effect.

At this moment, Kiana's expression had turned into an angry cat's head.

"How can this guy be so disgusting! He clearly doesn't want to take any risks, but he pretends to be forced to do it!"

"Indeed... but I always feel it's not that simple..."

Mei looked thoughtful. "Erosion has a way to directly erase memories, and the Herrschers can't be unaware of this. Under these circumstances, Cosmo still chose this method; he must have his own reasons..."

Just then, the erosion that had finished erasing Cosmo suddenly twisted to the side.

The Cosmo, which had supposedly vanished, reappeared in the space.

"What--"

This attack failed to harm Corruption, but it surprised her more than ever before.

"Really..."

Mei and Kiana both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Herrschers don't fight unprepared battles. Besides, they already know how terrifying their enemies are, so they will definitely be prepared..."

However, at this point, the two were unaware of just how heavy the price of their preparations would be.

Until...

"Okay, come out now. I didn't agree to be your model..."

Like a piece of paper that has been set ablaze, the world she had imagined was torn in half.

"No wonder Cosmo seemed to have changed his personality so drastically, no wonder his stats vanished from the very beginning, yet he was still able to fight me..."

"So, he had already become a painting of yours all along... Little Griseo?~"

In the original battlefield, a child holding a drawing board suddenly appeared in the birdcage, and her appearance instantly plunged Kiana and Mei's mood to the bottom.

Now they know why there are two people involved in the battle when they meet on Narrow Encounter.

At the same time, another memory slowly unfolds before their eyes.

That was a conversation between Cosmo and Hua before the battle.

From this conversation, the two also learned the reason why Cosmo was in this situation.

He asked Hua to hypnotize Griseo and, using all his data, create a painting to evade the erasure of the erosion and to avoid his own inner demons.

But doing so also means that he is essentially giving up his own life.

To their surprise, Hua did not hypnotize Griseo, and Griseo, whom they had treated like a child, showed unexpected strength.

Not only did he complete the painting without being deceived by Feather Dust, he even left some of his own arrangements...

Although they were not quite sure what Griseo meant when she said that she had also deceived Cosmo.

However, before they could analyze it, the brief memory was immediately cut off.

The scene shifts, and the setting returns to the battlefield.

"So that's how it is... Although it seems strange, the Cosmo from just now was exactly himself..."

"And you still say you're not a hypocrite?"

Although Griseo did not draw the hero he envisioned, as Cosmo had imagined.

But perhaps because he didn't understand himself well enough, the realization that the boy claimed he had never grasped was actually already engraved deep in his heart.

"But Griseo, since you already know about the '77-dan' incident, why did you still appear in front of me?"

"Aren't you worried about letting him down, Cosmo...? But I stayed behind so that you wouldn't have to sacrifice yourself."

Faced with the encroaching question, Griseo simply tilted her head slightly. "Because... I can't leave."

"Yes, I shouldn't have asked that."

Her voice, though filled with relief, betrayed a deeper meaning than her tone suggested.

"If Cosmo could see you like this now, he would be very pleased."

"Hasn't the Morning Light he received from Hen been passed down very well?"

"Then, little Griseo..."

"I will take good care of you?"

Immediately afterwards, the scene shifted, and the two entered combat mode again.

Under their shocked and furious gazes, the Herrscher of Corruption raised her bow and arrow without hesitation, aiming it at Griseo was holding her easel in the middle of the field.

"???"

Looking at the node information for [Erosion Griseo (1/100)], Kiana's fingers involuntarily tightened around the sword hilt.

"Does she really intend to harm Griseo? Is she even human?"

Unfortunately, the Herrscher of Corruption couldn't hear Kiana's voice at this moment, while the real Little E outside the arena looked away with a wandering gaze.

She and Griseo were like sisters, how could she treat her like this?

Cut ties, absolutely cut ties. I would never do such a thing to Griseo.

At most, he could just blame Griseo for hiding the Sesser comics?

Chapter 101 Theresa: Xia Ling, you have no heart!

Please accept my heartfelt gift.

Perhaps feeling that the erosion was not fast enough, the erosion even activated Elysia's signature skill, Flawless Dome.

Under the repeated ricochets of arrows, Griseo's shield was decreasing at an extremely rapid rate. In a blind spot unnoticed by everyone, the painting was also torn open with crack after crack as it was subjected to the corrosive attack.

"..."

Kiana suddenly stood up.

She was furious, but she still managed to maintain some semblance of rationality.

As mentioned earlier, battles that Narrow Encounter have a time limit. Although she cannot attack the erosion, if she can help Qu]n's neighbor, Bell (Part 3), help Griseo buy time, she might be able to avoid being eroded.

As for the ending... Kiana's long experience has taught her that if she were to give up saving Griseo for the sake of the so-called ending, she probably wouldn't be able to sleep for the next few nights.

"Mei, help me intercept the Herrscher of Herrscher of Corruption's Reimu Ryūrei's arrows as much as possible."

Kiana appeared in front of Griseo in an instant.

Her plan was this: although she couldn't touch the erosion herself, her abilities, as her "enemy," could be effective against Griseo.

Unlike other Flame-Chasers, Griseo will not retaliate... In that case, using his teleportation ability to quickly move Griseo around the field might buy him enough time.

All I can say is that Kiana's idea was good, but... she didn't understand the plot.

The moment she touched Griseo, the rate of erosion spiked slightly.

Kiana's eyes showed a hint of apology, but compared to her plan, such an increase in erosion was still within the scope of the plan.

But what happened next left Kiana dumbfounded.

"How... how could this be..."

Under Mei's questioning gaze, Kiana's expression changed drastically, revealing undisguised shock and sadness on her face.

However, Erosion's words quickly cleared up Mei's doubts.

While Kiana was stunned, the corruption level finally reached ninety-nine after being baptized by the rain of arrows, and the Herrscher of Corruption strolled leisurely to Griseo and placed her hand on Griseo.

The power of erosion was activated instantly.

Then, she showed the same astonishment as Kiana.

Because... unlike previous erosions, she did not feel the strange sense of satisfaction that followed.

Only then did she finally understand that Griseo's insistence on not leaving was perhaps simpler than she had imagined.

"You... you painted yourself into that painting too?"

Mei's eyes widened suddenly, and at the same time, Theresa outside also stumbled and almost fell off the sofa.

"Because, in the end, someone else made the choice for him. That's what Cosmo himself said, right?"

Griseo's voice was as calm as usual.

"Therefore, there should certainly be another person in this painting."

"Since everyone says I'm like a blank sheet of paper... then I'll use myself as my canvas. I hope Cosmo won't be angry."

The Herrscher of Corruption could hardly conceal her anger at this moment. After all, she had plenty of time, but most of it had been spent corrupting a painting.

Not only did she fail to obtain any data about Flame-Chasers, but she also personally exhausted the power of the painting. How could this not infuriate her?

"So, Griseo... did you make this decision yourself?"

Erosion forcibly suppressed his anger and asked, "Just to prevent me from pursuing you, you're willing to waste your own life?"

"Pursue? What does that mean...?"

Griseo tilted her head. "Although Cosmo doesn't say it, I know that he is most afraid of being alone."

"I just didn't want him to be alone in the painting too..."

"Waaaah— Xia Ling, you have no heart!"

At this moment, Theresa had already thrown aside the HOMU plushie she was holding because it was covered in tears. Now she was holding a chibi-style Xia Ling plushie.

This was originally a version that Xia Ling deliberately released to confuse people and make it easier to hide her doll. Unexpectedly, because her pairing with Theresa became increasingly popular, this doll sold surprisingly well.

However, Theresa did not fulfill the original purpose of the doll at all. It was as if she was biting someone who was pressing down on the corner of their mouth. She was looking at the screen with tears streaming down her face while biting the head of the doll Xia Ling.

"Waaaaah... Xia Ling, you just wait..."

So what was Xia Ling doing at this time?

The answer is...

"Ugh—Ugh—"

Because she was laughing so happily, Xia Ling was now lying horizontally on Elysia's lap.

And the reason Elysia positioned Xia Ling in this way was naturally...

"Smack—"

Her jade-like hand gently landed on Xia Ling's shapely buttocks.