A Long Talk, and Memories

"... Now, let's get to know each other properly again, Maple."

Zhu Yufeng looked at Elysia with some surprise. He didn't know why Elysia would choose to come over and persuade him to confess. Since she had already confessed, there was no need for him to hide anything.

"The third of the Fire Moths, Zhu Yufeng of the [Divine Shadow] Inscription," Zhu Yufeng began. "Long time no see, Elysia... May I assume that?"

"We really... haven't seen each other in a long time." Elysia's voice suddenly became lighter. "So... how was our first official meeting since our rebirth?"

Zhu Yufeng smiled and said, "Just like the first time we met."

Elysia laughed too, "I'm so happy! When you introduced yourself, you used the imprint I came up with, acknowledging your Flame-Chasers identity... I thought..."

"I have always been proud of your Flame-Chasers," Zhu Yufeng said calmly. "I have always been honored to fight alongside you."

Elysia was somewhat surprised. Looking into Zhu Yufeng's eyes, she knew he wasn't pretending at all; his answer came from the heart. But... if that's how it is...

"Maple, can you answer a question for me?" Elysia whispered.

Zhu Yufeng hesitated for a moment. What had Elysia discovered? Did she want to ask about the truth of the Rebel Army purge or the truth of the Twelfth Herrscher Incident? He couldn't answer either of these questions because he didn't want Elysia to see his filthy side, and... he didn't want to lie to Elysia either.

"Ask away, I... will answer everything I know," he said, having already decided that he wouldn't care even if Elysia beat him up later.

Elysia took a deep breath and asked very seriously, "I want to know, I clearly gave you an invitation to that the Final Banquet, so why... didn't you come?"

Zhu Yufeng almost lost his composure. He thought she was going to ask something else. Was this what Elysia was concerned about?

"I already answered this question when Kevin returned the invitation to you on my behalf, and Kevin should have told you that too," Zhu Yufeng said. "The people present came because they believed in Elysia, and the people who left did so because they believed in Elysia and refused to attack her."

Elysia lowered her eyelids slightly; this wasn't the answer she wanted to know.

Seeing Elysia's expression, Zhu Yufeng had a strange premonition. He tentatively asked, "Could it be... that you really want me to die?"

After he finished speaking, he realized that he had asked a pointless question. The first question Elysia asked already explained the situation well enough. She really wanted him to come to the appointment, which is why she sent out that invitation.

So he immediately tried to salvage the situation. "Sorry, I was being insensitive. That's not the answer you wanted, right? I don't have any questions. The most important reason is..."

He paused for a moment, then recalled the situation and said, "At that time, I felt that you didn't trust me."

"I..." Elysia opened her mouth, but didn't know how to answer. Zhu Yufeng's answer was something she hadn't expected.

Zhu Yufeng, however, seemed to have opened a floodgate of words and continued, "After receiving that invitation, I checked with the other Flame-Chasers, and none of them had received it. Your initial purpose in becoming Herrscher should have been to unite the rest of us, right? I know you're a girl who's afraid of loneliness and isolation, so you were afraid that becoming Herrscher would anger us and alienate us. But you were wrong. We've always believed in Elysia. In my eyes, the story of the Fourteen Schicksal exists because of you. You didn't send invitations to anyone else because you were also afraid of being disliked and wanted to leave the choice to them. But you sent an invitation only to me, and on it, as Herrscher, you asked me to attack you... Elysia, do you know how heartbroken I was at that time? I was thinking, I've done so much for humanity, fought so long, and you think I would attack you just because you're Herrscher..."

Zhu Yufeng was telling the truth. He had originally planned to attend that the Final Banquet. He wanted to witness the end of Elysia's life, to witness the end of the most beautiful and brilliant Flawless One of this era... However, when he received the invitation, the words on it pierced his heart like a sharp arrow.

"I am not trusted by her," he thought sadly at the time.

After calming down a bit, Zhu Yufeng continued, "Of course, this is only the main reason. There are other external factors as well, such as the fact that the [Project: Ascend to Divinity] has reached its final stage..."

Elysia interrupted him, her head bowed, obscuring her expression. Her voice trembled slightly. "Then why... why didn't you want to see me after the Tragedy of Binding? No matter what I tried, you wouldn't see me... I finally managed to see you, but you were lying on the operating table, your life hanging by a thread, and I could only stand outside watching you, unable to do anything... I always thought you hated me because of Lilith!"

By the end, Elysia's voice was tinged with tears. Zhu Yufeng felt as if someone had hit him in the chest with a hammer. That's what she was thinking.

There was indeed a reason why he didn't Lilith Elysia, and it was definitely not because he hated Elysia, but rather... he didn't know how he should face Elysia.

In his previous life, Lilith was the only girl who confessed her feelings to him. Even after he rejected her, she stayed by his side until the very end, trusting him unconditionally, yet he was unable to protect her. His guilt towards Lilith, along with other inexplicable emotions, prevented him from letting go of her passing. Before her own demise, Lilith had said she envied Elysia for making him so devoted to her, and this very statement became the greatest barrier between him and Elysia.

That was the first time he showed his dark side to Elysia. He had to do it because he wanted to protect his teammates.

In Elysia's eyes, he must have looked very ugly.

Even so, when he learned that Elysia had bestowed upon him the [Divine Shadow] inscription, making Flame-Chasers... he was genuinely happy...

In short, he felt that Elysia would definitely not like him as he was, and because of Lilith, he felt that he might actually have fallen for Lilith. He didn't know how to face Elysia, so he chose to be a coward and avoid the problem, simply disappearing to end it all.

"I... have never hated you..." Zhu Yufeng said with some bitterness. He didn't know that Elysia would have such thoughts. He had always regarded her as a character in the game. At first, it was probably his self-comfort after his confession failed. Then it evolved into self-hypnosis, hypnotizing himself that Elysia would not fall in love with any individual, in order to avoid the problems he should face.

Both of them fell silent.

After a while, having calmed down, Elysia spoke, "When you first confessed to me, I was very surprised because you were the first boy to confess to me. I chose to reject you because I felt I didn't know you well enough... I thought there was enough time for me to understand you and then give you a serious reply. However, not long after that, you left my team, and our interactions became less frequent. So I've always been watching you, watching you become Heroes step by step..." She received a few pure feelings, and she didn't want to let them down, so she wanted to understand them seriously and give a serious reply.

"I am no Heroes," Zhu Yufeng thought to himself.

"Then, I saw Lilith confessing to you. She looked so beautiful then..." Elysia continued softly, "I don't know why, but I didn't want to see what happened next, so I left like I was running away."

Zhu Yufeng also recalled the situation at that time. Lilith asked him out and said that she had something very important to tell him. He saw Lilith dressed up in the moonlight. She confessed her feelings to him, but after thinking for a long time, he chose to refuse.

He watched as the expectation in the girl's eyes turned to dejection, but she still smiled and told him that she would never give up and that she would definitely surpass Elysia.

He said, "You don't need to surpass her, you are you, unique... I rejected you not because of Elysia, but because... I... am not ready for this, I don't think I am capable of responding to your feelings."

He actually... doesn't know how to be in a relationship...

When Elysia confessed her feelings to Kevin, she did something foolish in a moment of impulse.

Come to think of it... Elysia was there back then?!

In fact, it wasn't just Elysia was present at the time. Lilith's elaborate attire before Lilith arrival attracted a lot of attention, but after seeing that the person she was looking for was Zhu Yufeng, most of them dispersed—after all, the relationship between Zhu Yufeng and Lilith was one of the topics that the members of the Fire Moth were discussing when they were bored.

Zhu Yufeng understood what Elysia was trying to say, but he could no longer simply like Elysia purely... He...

He once thought he was the chosen one. He even went through the Fusion Warrior surgery, which was not yet fully developed in the early days. He felt he could change his destiny.

But what about the conclusion? What did he change?

Disaster died from the invasion of the Eighth Herrscher; he was unable to save her.

Hen died in the Ninth Herrscher incident; he still couldn't save him.

Despite the fact that all the Fusion Warrior except for the Thirteen Flame-Chasers perished in the Covenant tragedy, he remained unchanged.

He wanted to save Elysia, but he was defeated time and time again in the face of the Honkai of humanity. He could not resist the trend of the times and could only watch helplessly as Elysia headed towards her end.

Fate, in the end, stubbornly went in its original direction.

But... at the very last moment, he finally changed the course of fate. He left behind twelve Flame-Chasers and 100,000 human elites; this was the limit of what he could do.

But the Present I think about it, was all of this really useful?

Did he truly triumph over fate?

He didn't know, but at least for that moment, he truly twisted fate, even if only for a brief instant.

This time, he can do even better!

In the previous chapter, he had considered eliminating those high-ranking officials who were holding him back, but the problem was, what would he use to do so? He had transmigrated alone, without power, influence, or a system. If he wanted to kill the high-ranking officials, the first person he would have to face was Kevin! Even if Kevin didn't stop him, there was still Hen, and Disaster and a group of Fusion Warrior... What was the point of him fighting?

In order to fight against the later stages of the Honkai, he certainly had enough power to ignore everything and wipe out the higher-ups, but who could replace the higher-ups in their work? Should he make Vill-V split into the Hochi family personality and then work Vill-V to death? Didn't May eventually die from overwork?

How to defeat the Honkai with a bunch of incompetent teammates dragging us down is indeed a problem that needs serious consideration.

He also considered giving up and waiting for Otto to come and save Alicia in the next era, but... he still wanted to try; he wanted to save Elysia...

Seeing that Zhu Yufeng remained silent, Elysia also paused for a moment before saying, "Feng, can you tell me when you fell in love with Lilith?" At least let her know why...

Zhu Yufeng opened his mouth, but didn't know how to answer. When did he fall in love with Lilith? He had never agreed to be with Lilith... No, in the end, in the end, he actually fell for Lilith, right? Or was it even earlier?

Elysia waited for Zhu Yufeng's reply. After thinking for a long time, Zhu Yufeng only managed to say, "I didn't accept her confession back then, and we've never been together. If I had to say something, I would have been forced into a relationship and ended up with a tragic ending. That's when I realized that I think I've already fallen for her to some extent."

"But after that, you almost always appeared with Lilith..."

Zhu Yufeng squinted at Elysia: "She's my deputy. Is there a problem with her appearing with me?"

That's how things are. Although almost no one knows the final outcome, they all view him and Lilith with a degree of scrutiny. Since he and Lilith work together, and Lilith handles everything he's bad at—various affairs and interpersonal relationships—it's understandable that some people have their doubts. His relationship with Lilith is similar to that in the original storyline, Kevin, as the leader of the Flame-Chasers, only focuses on being powerful, while Elysia handles everything else. The difference is that Lilith always wants to win him over.

He didn't care what others thought. He didn't even have the energy for romance; he was exhausted from fighting the Honkai, so he had no time for that. Let them do whatever they want; it's none of his business.

Where can women be saved? (Interesting. jpg)

He never expected that the misunderstanding was that Elysia was among the people. It was a misunderstanding, but in the end... she actually fell in love with him and was dragged down from the mortal world.

Elysia was taken aback. They weren't lovers? She said somewhat indignantly, "Then what's with you two wearing matching earrings?"

"Those sun and moon earrings?" Zhu Yufeng stroked his chin. "This is how she explained it to me: as the leader of the Thirteen Fallen Angels, and she as the deputy leader, it's reasonable for me to Sun Earring and her to Moon Earring..."

Elysia looked at Zhu Yufeng with narrowed eyes, she didn't believe that Zhu Yufeng couldn't see through Lilith's thoughts.

Zhu Yufeng felt uneasy under Elysia's gaze, and he said somewhat awkwardly, "I did ask her if she had ulterior motives, and she frankly admitted that she did, saying that since I had already rejected her and she still had to clean up my mess, it was reasonable for her to accept some compensation..."

In short, he was being manipulated.

Elysia: "..."

Lilith... you're ruthless!

Mobius, trying to eavesdrop outside the door. "..."

This needs to be noted! Why hadn't she thought of this before? She's helped Yu Feng so many times... Wait, the reward... she seems to have received it... either making him collect experimental materials or putting him on the operating table...

I want to go back and kill myself from that time.

Zhu Yufeng, however, thought back to that time when he asked Lilith, "But the sun and the moon only have a brief moment to meet at the boundary between dawn and dusk."

"Even if it's just for a moment, being able to gaze at each other until they disappear is romantic, isn't it?" Lilith laughed like a little devil. "So, tell me, are you going to wear it or not?"

"Can I refuse?"

"Then I'll give up~"

"..."

Watching him reluctantly put on the earrings, Lilith said leisurely, "Besides, what can I do? My name is Lilith Atagina, the Moon Goddess, so of course I have to wear moon earrings~"

Zhu Yufeng recklessly asked, "Then why didn't you choose the Star Moon Earrings?" What Moon Goddess? You're more like a moon demon!

Lilith squinted at him. "There are countless stars in the sky, what do you take me for?"

Zhu Yufeng: "..."

... That makes sense...

Snapping out of his reverie, Zhu Yufeng noticed that Elysia was looking at him with a strange gaze, and subconsciously moved back a little. "Elysia, do you... have any other questions?"

"I will not give up!" Elysia clenched her fist.

Zhu Yufeng: "???"

Wait, isn't the most important thing the Present to fight against the Honkai and try to change the fate of the previous generation?

Elysia got up and left. "I'll go to Hen's place and get your qualification and examiner status for the team assessment."

Zhu Yufeng: "???"