Flowers of the Past, Prelude to Elysian Realm

Everything before this had merely been buildup. Now, the real story began!

A cute, charming, and mysterious girl! Elysia in her Flame-Chaser outfit.

And her Herrscher of Human form, dressed in a gown adorned with crystals, magic, and other such elements!

Fairy Ai Li, modeled after Elysia, was adorable too.

No matter what form she took, Elysia was always so lovable!

And the story of Elysian Realm unfolded from Mei's perspective as she explored it.

Elysia...

At first, players saw her as a suspiciously overfriendly woman who might have been sweet on the outside but dark underneath...

At first, I was skeptical;

In the middle, I remained neutral;

Later on...

Like every beautiful encounter, after a chance meeting, she left.

But then...

Why had Mei gone to Elysian Realm in the first place?

The version had been so long that Su Nian could barely remember.

Although Kevin had wanted to lure a Herrscher over to fulfill that promise with Elysia: "If you encounter a Herrscher who fights for humanity in the future, tell me about it."

That probably wasn't the reason.

Su Nian thought carefully, pondering the plot.

Ah, it was because Herrschers of the new era could break free from the control of the Honkai God.

The Elysian Realm Arc

Within World Serpent's base, the "Lord" was speaking with the Third Herrscher of the current civilization.

"...When I clashed with the puppets using Herrscher power, my consciousness was drawn into an indescribable space."

"That should have been the source of Herrscher Authority. I felt a boundless consciousness enveloping that place."

"That consciousness seemed to want to force something directly into my mind... but that attempt—was obstructed by the excessive electromagnetic waves overflowing within me."

"Kevin, this has left me confused. If that consciousness is the so-called god of Honkai..."

"Could it really be unable to influence its own apostle for such a reason alone?"

It was because of this question that Raiden Mei led all the players into the entirely new concept of Elysian Realm.

And this conversation hit every viewer like a blow to the head.

What?! What did you say? Herrscher power?!

He called him Kevin??? The Lord of World Serpent?

They were talking—when could a Herrscher use their Authority and still retain their sanity? What had I missed?!

They were quick to pick out the key information.

In the blink of an eye, they had broken down every sentence.

Su Nian had only just written that the battle against Honkai could continue in the next era.

And now the story had jumped straight into the next civilization era?

Logically speaking, wouldn't it have been best for the story to end openly after the battle against The End?

But now, Su Nian had introduced another new storyline.

He refused to play by the rules.

Didn't expect that, did you? This was the real main story!

The man had not expected her to ask such a question. When had she come to understand things to this extent?

"You, the last hero of the Previous Civilization, who has fought from the previous era until now, cannot possibly know nothing about this." Mei stared Kevin directly in the eyes.

"How many secrets have you still not told the humans of this era?"

"I need an answer. Now."

Kevin remained silent, considering something... After a long silence, Kevin agreed.

"...Fine. You now have the right."

Kevin raised his hand and pointed in a direction. A lightless passage twisted out from one corner of the ritual grounds.

At the end of that darkness lay the origin of the world.

"The right to seek answers."

When you first played through this part, you thought he was just speaking in riddles.

In truth, he was unwilling to answer, and he did not know how to answer.

If you looked at Kevin's story from back to front, many things became understandable...

Want to know the answer to this? If you want to know, I can tell you everything.

But you have to find it yourself.

Go and see it—Elysian Realm!

All the truth had been placed there.

But she really was cute.jpg

That was kind of terrifying. You guys had already pushed the bounty up to seven chapters owed???

Good thing I chickened out and set a limit. I updated seven chapters tonight; two were regular updates, and I paid back five chapters. I'll finish the rest soon!

The reviewers would be back at work tomorrow, so the images would probably explode. Enjoy them while you could.

Chapter 43: Flowers of the Past, Prelude to Elysian Realm

Su Nian wrote the final part as a meme, and the prelude to Elysian Realm had now begun.

And after Raiden Mei entered Elysian Realm, the first Flame-Chaser she encountered was...

Raiden Mei did not know how long she had been walking. Since just now, everything around her had been pitch-black.

It seemed as though this corridor stretched on endlessly, extending into another space.

"...Kevin, Kevin. You really do love making trouble for people."

At that moment, Miss Pink Fairy, seated upon something resembling a "throne," had already noticed Raiden Mei arriving in search of answers.

Within the boundless darkness, she seemed to sense something.

In an instant, the darkness before Mei's eyes vanished. When she opened her eyes, she found herself looking at a rather strange structure.

Rubble and broken walls spiraled upward around a tower, intersecting to form a birdcage-like lattice, as though proclaiming itself the center of the world.

Most of Elysian Realm's color scheme was pink, and the sky here, along with the trees beside it, were all pink as well.

What Raiden Mei saw before her was a bizarre sight.

The decorative architectural style of the Previous Civilization era had been commonplace in that time.

But to Mei, a person from the modern age, it was still far too advanced. The state of the Previous Civilization was far beyond anything she could imagine from a few scattered words.

When Mei first entered Elysian Realm, she was first arranged to undergo a trial.

Every World Serpent operative had to face it.

By earning the Flame-Chasers' recognition through battle and obtaining their Marks, one could pass the trial.

But Mei had not come here for a trial. She had come to seek the truth she had asked about.

Yet she knew very little about everything here.

Just like that, she entered an unfamiliar place in a daze.

She did not know Kevin's purpose or thoughts, and she could not understand them. When she first arrived, she was also somewhat wary of the unfamiliar Elysia.

Kevin had only told her that she could find the answer she wanted here.

As for how she would find it, that was up to her.

The girl's playful voice echoed through the space as she chatted with Mei. Once she had confirmed that Mei had adjusted to being in Elysian Realm, she began the "tutorial" while Mei still did not understand the situation.

There was no objective. Raiden Mei did not need to defeat anyone, nor did she need to search for anything.

Elysian Realm's structure was simple, and its purpose was the same.

Captains only needed to use their playable Valkyries to grind scores here to their hearts' content and collect rewards.

Experiencing the story... that was something only a small number of people did.

After all, there was simply too much text. Even with every line voiced, it was hard to patiently listen through it all.

For some players, Elysian Realm only meant collecting crystals. Once they got the crystals, they left!

Su Nian appropriately omitted some content. After all, the differences between a novel and a game were simply too great.

If the plot were advanced solely through dialogue... then Su Nian would clearly just be writing an actor's script.

"In short, just follow your heart and explore to your heart's content. I'm also very curious about how deep you can go... without the help of the other Flame-Chasers."

The playful voice did not sound like a preprogrammed system. Her interaction with Mei felt more like casual conversation.

Following the guidance of that voice, Mei decided to proceed to the next step. There, she offered her blessing to help Mei explore more smoothly.

"I will grant you my blessing, and your soul shall bloom with an even more dazzling light."

"Raiden Mei's great Elysian Realm adventure begins now!"

Calling it an adventure...

But in truth, Mei simply wandered around like a headless fly, continuously proving her own guesses.

Still, her actions were indeed rather adventurous at times, so calling it a great Elysian Realm adventure was not wrong.

If you wanted to judge whether a line was famous, you had to see whether even players who never watched the story knew it.

For example, when she deliberately provoked Chijie and sought death in order to break Aponia's prophecy...

"Chijie, please get the hell over here."

That sentence provoked the hot-tempered Chijie, while the word "please" also created an unexpectedly funny contrast.

It had the same sort of charm as, "I'm talking to you, brat."

It was one of miHoYo's little amusing details.

What greeted Raiden Mei was a battle with an unclear objective.

This structure seemed capable of reproducing certain enemies based on Raiden Mei's memories: several Honkai Beasts, as well as... Anti-Entropy Titans.

But for a Herrscher, these enemies were still far too weak.

They posed no threat, and she was not injured.

Raiden Mei had already experienced many battles and knew swordsmanship. Enemies of this level truly posed no danger.

Elysia had not lied. Mei had indeed performed very well.

After the battle ended, Raiden Mei returned to Elysian Realm's main hall.

A portion of the structure's appearance was revealed to her. Its unfamiliar layout and decorations were divided between one side in a lavish classical style and another adorned with technological elements.

"I'm over here."

"Hi~ Welcome back."

A pink-haired girl was sitting on a sofa nearby. Seemingly noticing Mei's gaze, the girl smiled softly.

She had pointed, fairy-like ears. Her clothes had been custom-made by Eden, and every accessory, every detail, was the result of her careful styling...