"I was worried you might need more time to warm up. After all... you've never fought a Herrscher from the next era of civilization, have you? Perhaps it's different from what you imagined."
"Oh... you want it to be even easier?"
"How much longer are you going to keep acting, Herrscher? Everyone thinks I'm insane, but no one has ever thought I was stupid." Chijie had long seen through Raiden Mei's inexplicable attempts to provoke him.
But he did not care what Raiden Mei's true purpose was. The Deepest Place she had so desperately wanted to reach was right here. She had gotten what she wanted; now it was time to pay the price.
Chijie had been waiting for this moment since the first time they met, yearning for a bloody battle.
"Ha... hahahahaha... My rage has gone unsatisfied for far too long... far too long!"
"Since you want it to appear in this place once more, then try to bear it... with every bit of strength you have!"
"Enough nonsense. Come!"
"Within and without, kill all who cross my path! Come forward! Walk toward death, walk toward—me!!"
Though Chijie's personality was irritable and reckless, there was subtlety beneath his rough exterior.
There was laughter, rage, a thirst for battle... every aspect of Chijie's character had been written out.
He was absolutely not just a madman.
Although Chijie had comparatively little screen time, his current portrayal matched a term well known to the public.
Welt seemed to see a berserker.
Yes, a berserker.
But unlike a traditional berserker, he was not merely crazed in battle—he loved battle itself.
That small detail of subtlety beneath roughness also made Chijie feel more fully realized.
If one wanted to make a character three-dimensional, the simplest method was to establish someone who perfectly matched the public's stereotype, then use different techniques and creative character settings to break that stereotype.
That gave them something distinctive.
It kept the character from being swallowed up by generic public images and fading into the crowd, while also making character-building easier.
It was like Kevin and Cosmo in the Previous Civilization story framework Su Nian had written before. The two shared the same goal and acted together. Under such a straightforward setup, Cosmo should originally have been easy to overlook in the story.
But because of Hen's death, the two had split apart.
Cosmo had not chosen to simply inherit Hen's last will. He dared to question Kevin.
The overlap in their characterizations also separated at that moment.
Each became distinct.
Cosmo now possessed anger that Kevin had never displayed here or afterward, because Kevin had matured and sealed off his heart.
But Cosmo had anger.
Among the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, it was difficult to establish thirteen vivid and distinct personalities.
In traditional works, heroes were so noble and flawless that they became objects of faith.
It was as though the authors could not stand to let them be human, instead writing them directly as gods.
They wanted to pile every beautiful quality imaginable onto them.
But that also resulted in flat, formulaic characters with no differences beyond their fighting styles.
Su Nian had not written them as such lofty heroes. After all, they had never even achieved victory.
And some negative traits seemed capable of making them more three-dimensional as well.
Mobius seemed to have lost her humanity, Chijie was battle-crazed enough to kill successors, Pardo loved stocking up on goods and was greedy for money...
Not only had this not brought them criticism, their character reception seemed comparatively good instead.
Because these Flame-Chasers had not done anything hypocritical. They were unlike the protagonists in certain works who acted like villains while waving the banner of justice.
Those who were bad were simply bad, without being whitewashed. Those who loved battle remained that way to the end.
Even Pardo's little flaws had been treated as cute traits...
They might not have been perfect, but they were open and straightforward.
This could perhaps be a new path.
Being able to make a character memorable was already impressive. In modern major works, protagonist characterization was becoming harder and harder to pull off.
Although what Su Nian had written was not especially ingenious, it was very three-dimensional and definitely not a weakness.
Otto was rather approving. Though the figures Su Nian had created should all have real-life counterparts...
There were still major differences from reality.
The Mobius he knew was definitely not as insane as Su Nian had written her.
And the Chijie he had investigated, while somewhat bad-tempered, was not this arrogant either.
Had they been adjusted to fit the work and its plot?
Still... these characters should need something else to support their portrayals.
If so, what would Su Nian do?
The style Su Nian was writing in now was somewhat different from ordinary novels... it looked a little awkward.
Though people kept praising it as a masterpiece, everyone knew there was a Praise Cult in this world, mainly dedicated to enthusiastically pumping up the creators of works they liked.
Although Welt was right that it was a work with potential.
Otto felt that Welt's vision was simply too shallow.
That young uncle was just this impatient. Otto kept shaking his head at his rival, leaving Welt completely bewildered.
And he lacked experience, far less farsighted than Otto.
If Su Nian wanted to rise to a higher level, this alone would not be enough.
It would be difficult to reach the top through writing alone. Otto would not mind giving Su Nian a hand, but there was a major issue with that technology...
What Su Nian did not know was that Mind Imaging Technology had not been discontinued simply because it was too costly.
It was because most people could not imagine things in enough detail, making it difficult to bring out the technology's true power.
Ask them to imagine an image... and perhaps they would be like AI that had not yet learned how to draw hands.
It was very difficult for someone without artistic foundations to operate it.
They could only slowly make adjustments and sculpt faces, which was even harder than directly hiring someone to draw them.
After all, many clients did not know what they actually wanted.
But artists did...
So afterward, the rewards for these contestants became complete sets of character illustrations.
Still, there were a few people who could quickly use this technology, and their imagination was worlds apart from everyone else's.
Because of the practical issue of insufficient and limited imagination, that technology had not become a regular feature of the program.
"Hmm... Besides Mind Imaging Technology, Schicksal has recently developed several relatively useful technologies as well..."
"Otto, do you really have so little confidence in her?... I believe she won't disappoint me."
"Of course I believe in her too, but that isn't... Forget it."
Otto naturally knew, since Su Nian had already finalized every character's image.
Their appearances seemed exactly identical to certain people in reality. All that was needed was a little inspiration and experimentation.
What was lacking was a sense of visual imagery, as well as their movements.
And most importantly... the special effects.
"Then make these into options. Every contestant with a good grade can freely choose which one to use."
The two of them settled on that in the end and instructed the production team to change the prepared prizes overnight.
By a stroke of luck, the thing Su Nian had been hoping for had fallen right into her hands!
I'm speeding up. Heh, my writing output is invincible now.
Because I am the Donkey of the Production Team, invincible and overflowing with enthusiasm.
Wait for me, there'll be another update tonight!
Aponia Appears, the Secret Deep Within the Elysian Realm
Su Nian continued writing. Only a little remained before the final stretch of The Past's Paradise and the truth would be revealed.
Countless flames fell from the heavens, crashing onto the battlefield and interfering with Raiden Mei's movements. For the moment, neither side held the upper hand.
But Chijie... he had not yet used his full strength. Raiden Mei could sense it.
"Come, show me one last desperate struggle!" Chijie leaped into the air, transforming into a meteor as he crashed toward Raiden Mei. But her domain was not limited to the ground!
"Roar, Kurikara!"
She summoned Kurikara, immediately taking to the skies and claiming the advantage. Chijie's terrifying strike missed, and Kurikara unleashed red-black waves of energy from its mouth at him.
"Hahahahaha... Now that's more like it, Herrscher!"
Within The Past's Paradise, the Marks bestowed by the Flame-Chasers were not useless. As successors fought, they could teach them how to use their own power.
Thus, Raiden Mei had improved at an astonishing pace, already far exceeding Chijie's expectations.
"Be annihilated!" Drawing the katana at her waist, Raiden Mei descended from the air and slashed at Chijie, actually knocking him back several meters.
Now, he had no choice but to bring out some real skill!
"Congratulations, Herrscher. You have proven with all your strength... that you are worth killing!"
"But this is not a [battle]. It is a [hunt]."
A pillar of fire shot into the sky, enveloping Chijie. When the flames faded, Chijie's body seemed to have transformed into flowing red magma.
This was completely different from the power he had displayed just moments ago. This was Chijie's man-made Honkai.
"I am facing a Herrscher? And you are facing... Chijie!"
The battle that followed... no, this was not a battle. The slaughter that followed had completely spiraled out of control. Before strength beyond ordinary reach, Mei's situation became difficult.
But this was exactly what Raiden Mei wanted. Chijie... reveal the truth of [No Survivors] to her. Reveal the true face of...
[Fate].
The air became scorching once more—everything was evaporating, burning away, making it difficult to breathe.
Chijie's hand had already risen. If this strike landed, then from any perspective, she would undoubtedly be [destroyed].
Darkness filled Raiden Mei's vision. She had broken... Aponia's fate, as well as her prophecy.
Yet no response came from anywhere, not even a single word, not even a flashback-like memory.
Aponia had not appeared. Had her judgment been wrong? No, perhaps she was not dead yet.
Mei tightened her grip on her weapon. If fate could not be broken by someone else, then she would break it herself!
At that moment, the past she had once severed with her own hands began to emerge scene after scene beyond her control, emerging...
Raiden Mei's goal had been achieved.
Seeing this, everyone was completely dumbfounded.
She died just like that?
So carelessly?
Wasn't the ten-day prophecy supposed to be broken? What was going on?!
I admit the battle was written pretty well, but why kill someone now?
No, bro, we were only joking. You really brought out the knife?!
Since Raiden Mei no longer had anyone familiar around her, you just decided to stab her instead?
This time there wasn't even any tragedy. I didn't even understand why you had to serve her a boxed lunch...
Where's Elysia? Save her! If she dies, who's going to let you touch those horns?
Before you continue