Ashes: Long time no see, Mei.

Elysia clearly hadn't expected her request to be granted. She blinked and stared at the other person for a while before the fleeting, gentle smile on her lips vanished, replaced by a radiant smile, and said:

"It's a deal then, no take-backs allowed."

After she finished speaking, she immediately parted the facilities of the Golden Courtyard. The gate, which was shrouded in a hazy glow, was now only framed by gold. The water in the center dried up and changed position with the frame, creating endless, dark waves.

--A brand new entrance has appeared.

Elysia whispered:

"Without further ado, Mei, now that you're fully prepared, let's step into the world of [[Ashes]] from here."

Her expression turned serious as she said earnestly:

"Remember, don't get too caught up in the emotions associated with those fragmented memories."

"Whatever you've experienced or felt, it's all just what the [[Ashes]] once experienced and felt."

"But you are you. You are Raiden Mei. You are an excellent warrior who wants to leave the Sea of Quanta to help your comrades fight against the Honkai and protect what is beautiful. You are a beautiful girl who, even as Herrscher, insists on letting human reason and emotion guide her as she embarks on her path."

"No matter how real the suffering and past experiences you encounter, they are things that exist in the past."

Her tone became ethereal yet resolute:

"For us who exist here, the past cannot be changed, and the future cannot be reached."

"But Mei, you still have the right and the ability to change the future, so don't get lost in the past that belongs only to [[Ashes]]. Only in this way can you reach the ending you seek in your heart."

Raiden Mei took a deep breath.

This was a danger known beforehand. The chaotic depths of memory not only held dangerous enemies, but also the complex emotions born from that scene. Those feelings [[Ashes]] had at that time could very well push them into the abyss of losing themselves.

The [[Ashes]] in the Sea of Quanta are that person's complete memory.

The corridor of memories is itself a part of him.

If Raiden Mei cannot find a fixed node and uses the [[Floating Life]] mark to awaken [[Ashes]] herself to come and meet her, then she can only walk through all the corridors, which is almost equivalent to a process of being constantly assimilated.

Using assimilation rate as an analogy, Raiden Mei, who studies the life and personality of others in order to successfully pass the game, naturally has the conditions to be corrupted. However, if she gets lost in the corridor for too long, the assimilation rate may rise to a level that is hard to forget and fade away completely.

If it reaches fifty percent, then her personality will also tend to break down.

Although, judging from the words of Flame-Chasers [Ashes] the choices and actions they have taken, it is theoretically true that becoming half of the other would only make them more resilient and gentle, this so-called assimilation rate is never a metaphor for becoming another [[Ashes]] once it reaches its maximum value.

In other words, Raiden Mei is simply experiencing and confronting the past that [[Ashes]] went through as her own persona.

However, the same experience and past can shape two completely different lives depending on the individual.

She will never become [[Ashes]] no matter what. Even if she survives all the fragments of memory, she will only be another Raiden Mei, forged and honed by the past of [[Ashes]].

Undeniably, the memories of [[Ashes]] will inevitably interfere, either positively or negatively, ultimately causing Raiden Mei's personality to lose its purity.

--In a sense, this is the ultimate N/T/R.

In short, the so-called assimilation rate is a threshold indicating whether the purity of personality can still be salvaged.

But once you actually enter the corridor of memories, even these thresholds need to be judged by your own intuition.

She looked ahead and softly replied:

"Elysia, even though you who exist here are memory entities that cannot interfere with the outside world, every successor who came here before has been affected by you without exception."

"You have changed the future, without a doubt."

"And isn't the Sea of Quanta a facility created specifically for this purpose?"

After speaking, Raiden Mei ignored the other party's reply and walked directly to the door, extending her palm.

Her pale fingertips touched the edge of the dark, shimmering water, and her consciousness seemed to be shrouded in mist, gradually being drawn away to an unknown, mysterious place.

Elysia took a few steps ahead, her lips slightly upturned, and opened her arms, letting Raiden Mei's soft body naturally fall backward into her embrace.

The Pink Fairy Lady glanced at the girl's solemn sleeping face, Mind's Eye pointed a finger at the pair of demon horns, and said with a smile:

"I've already received my payment, Mei."

Her smile softened, as if all her passion and tenderness were contained within, and she whispered:

"May you forge your own path and future, and become a successor."

Fragments of memory overflow in absurd and nonsensical despair.

The withered branches and leaves faded away amidst the surging sorrow.

She could only sense that she had lost her physical form, her freedom, and her ability to move independently, and was wandering in a pitch-black, lightless spiral.

Up, down, left, or right.

This is the memory corridor of [[Ashes]]. The memories of a single person and the lack of the Elysian Realm technology in the area cannot provide a long-term stable scene. It is not even possible to turn Raiden Mei's personality consciousness into a real state, making the rendering of emotions and the immersion of memories even more terrifying.

Even though she knew the risks of entering this place beforehand, it was only when she actually arrived at this lightless spiral zone that the girl truly realized how terrifying the memory corridor could be once it fell into chaos.

Before she could even process the fragments of her memories, she was already being interfered with by the heavy atmosphere around her, and completely lost the right to control her own actions. She could only drift along and slowly extinguish her own consciousness in the endless darkness.

If you want to see [[Ashes]], you must at least bear half the weight of what they went through at that time.

Unlike memories like Raiden Mei and Elysia, who can freely visit other memories, Raiden Mei's personality is not protected by the Elysian Realm mechanism. The [[Floating Life]] mark she can rely on requires a fulcrum to function as an object for the [[Ashes]] trap, and it does not help the current situation.

Therefore, aside from silently waiting, this consciousness had no other choice but to struggle.

This is the greatest risk of the memory corridor being in a state of disorder.

Without [[Ashes]]'s knowledge, Raiden Mei could become lost and unable to find any answers, falling into utter chaos.

The scale of time is gradually becoming blurred.

When one is unable to recognize that they are human, the shelf life of their beliefs and sense of self will always tend to collapse in the boundless darkness.

The time of consciousness exists in a perceptual discrepancy between the corridors of memory and the real external world.

Elysia had only been holding her in her arms for a short time when the girl was forced to make a choice.

In this environment, the only way to avoid going insane and completely collapsing is to stop thinking and minimize her perception of the outside world. But once she chooses this approach, she will have no chance of seeing [[Ashes]].

Raiden Mei endured just the right amount of hardship; she didn't possess the willpower to persevere in environments that even ultimate beings couldn't withstand.

In the endless darkness, the girl kept recalling the perilous futures and ominous premonitions she had dreamt of during her time trapped in the Sea of Quanta. These memories served as a driving force, inexplicably strengthening her inner resolve. Finally, after sixty seconds had passed in the outside world, she encountered the fragments of memories she had initially anticipated.

Here, the chaos almost immediately vanished.

Raiden Mei stood in a courtyard full of flowers. She raised her head and let the not-so-bright sunlight fall into her eyes, carefully feeling the reality of being alive as a human being. She instinctively used her powers to make the tingling current roll down her blood, making her whole body feel comfortable, which eased most of her depressed and confused mood.

She could clearly sense that the time she had experienced was not actually long, but the illusion created by her physical sensations seemed to stretch out this state of darkness and non-existence indefinitely, causing her prolonged torment.

But once she was truly in the space of a memory, the girl could sense that illusion slowly fading away. It seemed that as long as she got through that extremely oppressive stage, the subsequent feelings would dissipate quickly like clouds being parted, leaving no lingering gloom.

Raiden Mei finally had the energy to observe her surroundings. It seemed that because they were fragments of memory, the azure sky could be seen to its exact end, and the distant buildings gradually blurred as the distance increased.

She tried to use her powers to accelerate her way to the edge, but found that the area she could actually reach was only about a mile in radius. If she took a few more steps, she would return to the disordered and chaotic outer space.

... Leaving aside the feeling of wandering inside, just to make the [[Floating Life]] imprint work its due role and end this long journey, we can't just turn around and leave so abruptly.

The girl looked back at the area and walked back to the villa that was clearly the center of her memory space. Referring to the "[[Ashes]] Puzzle Explained: Big Data Analysis and Coordination" book inherited from Mobius, she vaguely found the corresponding information in her rather dizzy brain and murmured to herself:

"This is... the place where [[Ashes]] and the Class President were assigned to live?"

Raiden Mei glanced at the half-open door and rubbed her temples.

Because the massive database left behind by Mobius collected every nook and cranny of [[Ashes]], it also indirectly wiped out Fu Hua was most closely associated with her.

The meticulous attention to detail, stemming from scientific rigor, allowed Raiden Mei to gain a deeper understanding of the civilization of the previous era from a completely new perspective.

In the past, the Moth to Fire people voluntarily to join their ranks, and warriors with the necessary skills received quite good treatment.

For example, villa areas allocated in small teams.

Considering the technology available at the time, this accommodation wasn't particularly luxurious, but it was still quite good. Assuming this memory space wasn't restricted, there should also be armed helicopters on rotation and corresponding recreational facilities nearby.

However, it is clear that, judging from the timeline of the civilization's collapse, the warriors of the Moth to Fire did not have much time to enjoy themselves; in fact, the average lifespan of the people in this villa area was less than five months.

In short, this should be part of [[Ashes]]'s memories.

Since he lived here for quite some time, there must be a lot of information there that is not mentioned in the database.

She knocked silently on the door, but there was no response.

Without further hesitation, he went straight in.

I wandered around the first floor for a while. There were unique personal items hidden everywhere, limited edition game facilities, and CG scenes were playing. The background music automatically unmuted when I walked in, breaking the dead silence, and then went silent again after I walked away.

Raiden Mei walked to a corner of the living room where a guitar, which someone had left there, was placed there. She picked it up and, with her pale fingertips rather clumsily, played a melody before putting it back in the distance.

The guitar wasn't dusty, as it seemed to be cleaned regularly. Was it an old item belonging to the Class President?

It doesn't seem like it; it's probably a hobby her teammate used to have.

Her gaze fell on the sofa, where the fluffy gray blanket and the colorful dolls piled up to half the sofa were quite eye-catching, as if someone used to often curl up here, waiting for the door not far away to open.

Raiden Mei walked to the window. On the counter nearby was a vase with neatly trimmed flowers inside, looking elegant, almost on par with the level of the flower arranging teachers at the St. Freya Academy.

She looked out the window and could see a large flowerbed, its fragrance carried on the gentle breeze. But whether it was due to the special nature of the memory space or the technology of the Previous Civilization, there was not a trace of mosquitoes.

The flowers in this vase were probably taken from the garden.

Besides this decoration, there was also a picture frame covered on the counter, presumably to keep it from getting dusty.

Raiden Mei flipped it open.

This appears to be a group photo taken after the dance, gathering the participants together. Apart from the most familiar Hua, most of the others are strangers.

... This is a perfectly reasonable feeling.

Aside from the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, Class President more than 50,000 years ago, she had no reason to know what they looked like, but there were some of them who seemed quite familiar to her.

For example, a beautiful woman with striking red hair, dressed in a formal gown.

This person's appearance was almost identical to that of an old friend I knew.

She murmured:

"Himeko- sensei..."

And perhaps it was just a misconception stemming from this, but she even felt that one of the girls looked remarkably like a classmate she wasn't very close to from the St. Freya Academy.

Raiden Mei could only remember that the other person's major was logistics, and their missions were mostly as pilots. Because of this, they had met and communicated a few times, but since they didn't have much contact, she wasn't sure if they looked alike, but she did have a strong sense of déjà vu.

Besides...

Although I had noticed this while reading the data in the database, the girl with dark blue hair in the photo really did look a lot like Bronya's sister; they were practically identical.

Reincarnation? Isotope?

She cast aside these meaningless thoughts and fixed her gaze on the few men in the photograph, almost instantly identifying [[Ashes]].

Since even someone with Sakura's personality would comment on her appearance that way, it wouldn't take much effort to find her.

But after Raiden Mei clearly saw the other person's face, a strange and nostalgic sense of déjà vu instantly spread from the depths of her chest.

Yes, it really is very good; Sakura's assessment is not an exaggeration.

But what is this feeling of being both distinctly unfamiliar and familiar, seemingly incongruous yet harmonious?

Could it be because I lingered in the memory corridor outside [[Ashes]] for a while, and thus received some unconscious information, leading to the discrepancies in my current perception?

Raiden Mei put the photo frame back in its original place. She didn't want to delve too deeply into the issue; what was more important was to continue searching for any potential catalysts that could form a node here.

After that, the girl stayed on the first floor for more than ten minutes. During that time, she saw a room that was obviously used to store the collection. After observing the extravagance of the items and the few names of the donors, she knew that it contained gifts that Eden had given to Hua.

In the room on the first floor, there was a group photo of Hua with two unnamed girls. In the photo, Hua's expression was aloof, with only a faint smile on her lips, as if she was hiding heavy thoughts.

These must be Hua and his two cohabiting teammates.

The girl glanced at the upward-spiraling white staircase. The electromagnetic barrier and Honkai Energy shield stretched detached from her skin, and lightning flickered in the depths of her eyes. She whispered uneasily:

"It's too quiet."

[[Ashes]]'s memory fragments are extremely disordered and chaotic, and because there is no systematic sorting out, what he can encounter is almost only the scenes that left a deep impression on the other party.

Under these circumstances, the scenes that can be glimpsed in fragmented memories are either extremely beautiful memories or tragic past events that cause pain or even hatred.

To be honest, she wasn't surprised that she would directly encounter a war with the Herrscher.

But what kind of memorable things could happen in this quiet villa, which is like [Ashes]?

Raiden Mei slowed her pace, her hand resting on the edge of the hilt of her katana, and slowly ascended the steps.

Her expression was somber.

If we combine this with the previous conversation with Mobius, the information he provided, and the familiar girl in the photo, the answer seems to be becoming clear.

Just as they were about to get close to the correct answer, a miniature Honkai Energy storm roared like a thunderclap from a clear sky, almost completely confirming their suspicions.

Raiden Mei sensed the increasingly strong primal connection Herrscher Core within her body and, without slowing down, almost instantly followed the guidance to a room on the third floor.

She took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and stepped into the room.

Then, his gaze lingered on the girl who was still sleeping peacefully on the bed.

A highly condensed vortex of Honkai Energy swept towards her like a tide, with mysterious runes hidden among the Honkai Energy particles, flowing into her body and seemingly shaping her into a form suitable for being an apostle of the gods.

The scene in this memory fragment is indeed the moment when Seele Fulei was transformed into the Herrscher of Death.

Raiden Mei silently extended her palm, forcibly intercepting all the surging Honkai Energy within the electromagnetic barrier, and ultimately using the connection between the core and the Imaginary Space to reverse its flow back to the boundless region.

The Honkai Energy level generated during the process of creating Herrscher and endowing it with a core was too enormous, and such actions ultimately could not prevent the opponent from becoming the Herrscher of Death.

She gazed at the cocoon of light, its form slowly taking shape like a silkworm's silk, taking ten times the normal speed, her brow furrowed in silence.

I am now undoubtedly carrying out the result that [[Ashes]] desires.

As long as Seele Fulei doesn't become the Herrscher of Death, whatever the tragic details that follow, it's unlikely she'll end up being killed by his own hands.

However, this is the birth of a native Herrscher, dominated by Honkai Consciousness of an extremely high level, which is far more difficult to hinder than the process by which Bronya and I directly awakened to the Herrscher state using our cores.

It's like using the same ocean to irrigate. To stop the birth of a native Herrscher, you need to control the flow of water from all directions to enter the other's body. But to become Herrscher directly with the core as the main force, you only need to remove the Herrscher Core, which is the ocean itself, and everything will be fine.

At this stage, Raiden Mei can only use the core's properties to interfere slightly, but this Honkai Energy is essentially controlled by a higher-dimensional consciousness.

As she watched the watering rate rise uncontrollably, resembling a blooming flower in a cocoon of light, she sighed and released the restraint on the Honkai Energy.

Then, a magnificent band of light surrounded the girl, and a purple mist enveloped her, while an inexplicable suction force, like a gluttonous beast swallowing the heavens, completely absorbed the enormous Honkai Energy level.

Finally, a core of free-floating reality slowly descended.

Raiden Mei seized the opportunity, Ghost-Kiana's Hand arm gripping the massive katana in reverse, and like a bolt of lightning, she unsheathed it, striking the Herrscher Core the moment it materialized. The crashing, semi-circular arc tore through the building's shell, and the storm and heat destroyed the villa's third floor, filling the rooms inside with the violent roar of Sound of Wind and Thunder.

This strike was a culmination of long-accumulated swordsmanship and power, and even the distant sky seemed to have been torn apart.

She let go simply because she was gambling.

The core of gambling, something that resembles a rule, does not directly condense within the other party's body.

As the cocoon of light enveloping the girl gradually shattered, the jewel-like dark blue core was precisely severed and fell a mile away, buried in the remaining gaps of memory.

This exploit of a bug forced the Herrscherization process to fail, and the Honkai Consciousness was thus extinguished.

Raiden Mei walked to the bedside, which was well protected by the electromagnetic barrier. She looked at the girl's still -Awakened face and couldn't help but smile slightly at her cute and innocent face.

At the same time, the [[Floating Life]] imprint emerged with a brilliant light, and the world of memory seemed to lose its fulcrum and shattered.

Just as the girl was once again enveloped in the chaotic darkness, continuing her wandering, a clear yet strangely familiar murmur suddenly resounded in her ear:

"Long time no see, Mei."