On the screen, Raiden Mei encountered Apponia again and was forced by her to discuss some rather unpleasant topics.
When she woke up, Mei chatted with Raven for a while about Apponia's prophecy, and somehow the conversation turned to Chakravartin again.
"Chakravartin once told me that she was the final trial here. And only he and Mobius had truly caused successors to die."
That did not sound like something worth celebrating.
At least, it certainly was not for whoever had the misfortune of encountering Chakravartin as their final trial.
"Then I really dodged a bullet," Raven sighed.
Chakravartin felt like a wild beast to her, completely unlike a Flame-Chaser. If her instincts had not been sharp enough, she probably would have been finished.
But Mei bringing up Chakravartin now definitely was not to praise how powerful he was.
"Oh, so this is the method you came up with?" Raven had already guessed Mei's purpose.
"That's right. Apponia's prophecy was that I would die in ten days. So I was curious—what would happen if I faced a certain-death situation before then?"
Raiden Mei said, "For that, I have to challenge Chakravartin!"
Putting aside whether this method would work, Raven was at least too shocked to say anything.
Watching Mei's departing back, Raven silently stared after her.
Mei going to challenge Chakravartin was like a warrior carrying explosives to blow up a bunker, and she clearly could not be talked out of it.
Chakravartin: "Hahahaha! Herrscher, I admire your madness and acknowledge your courage to seek death. Come, let us slaughter each other!!!"
Theresa: "Hey, hey, hey! Mei, calm down! Come back! Don't go throwing your life away! You can't beat him!"
Raiden Mei: "No, wait, I don't want to either!"
Holy shit!
She had not felt much about it just now, but seeing with her own eyes that she was about to seek out Chakravartin over a prophecy, Mei was starting to wonder whether she had gone insane.
Kiana: "Mei, there are so many ways to break a prophecy. You don't have to be this extreme. Let's sit down and discuss it first. Don't be so reckless."
Raiden Mei: "I... I lived until After Honkai!"
Pardofelis: "Living until After Honkai could also mean Brother Jie beat you to death, then Sister Snake brought you back."
Elysia: "If Mobius brings you back, forget After Honkai. As long as you want to, you can live for as long as you like."
Raiden Mei: "..."
Hey, hey, hey, don't scare me like that!
After Pardo and Elysia put it that way, Mei, who had already been feeling a little guilty, completely panicked.
First, she would get beaten senseless by Chakravartin, then Mobius would forcibly revive her to prolong her life. Just imagining that scene was terrifying.
She had seemed a little too cocky just now. Was it too late to apologize?
Chakravartin, Get Your Ass Over Here
Pardofelis: "Sister Mei, why don't you draw Dreamer's Heart? Then, even if Brother Jie comes looking for you, you won't be completely powerless to fight back."
Raiden Mei: "Ah, this..."
Kiana: "No way, absolutely not! Mei's cooking will be protected by me!"
Impossible. Dreamer's Heart absolutely could not be drawn.
Even if Chakravartin beat Mei so badly that she was seriously injured, Kiana felt she could take care of her.
When the time came, she would definitely look after Mei with meticulous care.
She would raise Mei into a little girl who could not live without her and thought of her in everything she did. Then she would not have to worry about Pink Fox stealing Mei away.
She would turn Mei into someone like herself. Hehehe...
Theresa: "It's all that Apponia's fault. Why did she have to make some ten-day prophecy and fool Mei into thinking she was going to die? Now look, Mei lived until After Honkai, making Apponia's prophecy fail, and Mei is going after Chakravartin too."
Pardofelis: "Sister Apponia would not make a prophecy for no reason. If she issued one, something major must be going to happen."
Raiden Mei: "Why does it feel like I haven't had a single peaceful day since entering the Previous Era Elysian Realm?"
Theresa: "The moment you enter, you have to play riddle games with Elysia. Now you have to fight Chakravartin, and there's also that life-threatening ten-day prophecy. Is your Previous Era Elysian Realm some kind of demon den?"
Elysia: "Could it be that the Previous Era Elysian Realm isn't a place for retirement and sightseeing, but a trial ground?"
Raiden Mei: "...Then I really have to thank you all."
The moment she entered, she was either playing guessing games with riddlers or getting her horns touched by Elysia. The Flame-Chasers inside were strange too—every one of them was a character, and they all spoke so nicely.
Mei could not stay in this damn Elysian Realm for another second!
The quiz began.
To break the prophecy, Raiden Mei sought out Chakravartin. What was her first polite greeting to him?
[A: Chakravartin, let's have a fight!]
[B: Chakravartin, please get your ass over here!]
[C: Foolish Chakravartin, feel my wrath!]
[D: Chakravartin, submit to me!]
Raiden Mei: "?!!"
Elysia: "My, my, I never expected Mei to be such a chuunibyou girl. Her chuunibyou aura is practically overflowing from the options."
Chakravartin: "Good. Very good. Are you ready to bear my wrath, Herrscher?!"
Raiden Mei: "Wait, Chakravartin, I think I can explain! That wasn't something I did!"
The chuunibyou Mei in the Previous Era Elysian Realm was not the same Mei as the housewife Mei from St. Freya Academy!
Mei now firmly believed that in her heart. Otherwise, no matter which of the four options was correct, Chakravartin would beat her to death.
Even knowing she would live until After Honkai, acting that cocky could still earn her a brutal beating!
There was even an option like "Chakravartin, submit to me!" It was simply social death.
Right now, Mei desperately wanted to drag the chuunibyou Mei from the Previous Era Elysian Realm out and slap her twice across the face.
Himeko Murata: "You know, those options might sound incredibly chuunibyou, but they'd actually feel especially awesome coming from Mei."
Kiana: "Gale, submit to me!"
Bronya: "Roar, Jigokurou!"
Pardofelis: "At the peak of thunder, I stand above the world. Where Mei is, there is heaven!"
Raiden Mei: "Stop talking! All of you, shut up! Whoever says another word won't get dinner tonight!"
Damn it, was making fun of Mei really that entertaining to you people?
Didn't you feel embarrassed saying such chuunibyou lines out loud?!
Elysia: "They're all lines bursting with chuunibyou energy. Even Pardo has learned them. Chakravartin, you should really learn from Mei. The moment you say things like that, your presence changes."
Chakravartin: "Boring."
Theresa: "Ahem, ahem. The urgent matter is choosing the correct answer first. All four answers mean roughly the same thing—they're all provoking Chakravartin. How are we supposed to choose?"
Kiana: "The last one. 'Chakravartin, submit to me!' has the most presence, and it really sounds like something Mei would say."
Raiden Mei: "Huh? Wouldn't that option be a little too arrogant? I think we should be more polite toward a Flame-Chaser."
Himeko Murata: "But Mei, aren't you trying to provoke Chakravartin? Why be so polite?"
Raiden Mei: "Oh, right."
Since she was trying to provoke Chakravartin, she definitely needed to use the most insulting words possible. Otherwise, what if Chakravartin suddenly kept his composure and did not fall for it?
If she was going to provoke him, it had to be the kind of anger that seeped into his bones and made his brain tremble!
Kiana: "Since everyone thinks so, then I choose D. This young lady's meticulous analysis can't possibly be wrong."
Incorrect answer. The correct answer was B: Chakravartin, please get your ass over here.
The system's answer left everyone dumbfounded, except Chakravartin, whose temper suddenly flared.
Chakravartin: "Herrscher, are you trying to..."
Pardofelis: "Brother Jie, calm down! Calm down! At least Sister Mei added a 'please,' right?"
Elysia: "As expected of Mei. Even when provoking someone, she doesn't forget to add 'please.' What a polite, good student."
Kiana: "No, Mei, why are you being so polite? Aren't you trying to provoke Chakravartin? Why add 'please'?"
Himeko only felt that life had turned bleak, as though she had been deceived.
Could it be that adding a "please" did not affect Chakravartin going berserk at all, and even made the effect more pronounced?
Kiana received a punishment. You will be responsible for dinner tonight.
Kiana: "Huh? What kind of punishment is that? Are you looking down on me?"
Wasn't it just cooking? How was that a punishment?
What a small matter. Kiana strode into the kitchen with her head held high, ready to display her exquisite culinary skills.
Raiden Mei: "Wait, I'm worried. I'd better go watch Kiana in the kitchen first. Hopefully, she won't eat up all the sugar and salt while taste-testing."
Theresa: "Nothing will go wrong, right?"
Bronya: "There should be no problem. Sister Mei is watching her."
That was what they said, but everyone could see that letting Kiana into the kitchen was not a particularly wise decision.
They could only silently pray that Mei would be able to handle it.
With nervous hearts, everyone looked forward to the scene's next development.
On the screen, Raiden Mei successfully found Chakravartin as she had wished, and immediately greeted him politely.
"Chakravartin, please get your ass over here!"
Raiden Mei's tone was incomparably resolute.
For a moment, even Chakravartin was thrown off.
"Huh? Herrscher, what, have you mistaken me for someone else?"
"No. I learned this from you too, Chakravartin. All this time, haven't you been bluffing in this way? It's nothing new. I've seen many small animals scare off their natural enemies in similar ways."
With that final kick, Mei stepped directly onto the landmine. Every sentence was a dance on the edge of death.
Kill All Who Come, Within or Without
Although Mei's words sounded rather baffling and did not fit her usual caution at all, that did not affect Chakravartin's fury.
Ouroboros had never been good at thinking about boring matters.
"Hahahaha! You think this is bluffing? Good. Very good!!!"
Chakravartin's final syllable was drowned out by the sound of air tearing apart. The distance between them vanished in the blink of an eye—no, even faster than that. Chakravartin's right fist had already grazed Mei's cheek.
Her blade moved in time to defend her, deflecting Chakravartin's strike, but the shockwave alone forced Mei back several steps.
That's right, this is the power!
Even now, Mei was not concerned about her own safety.
What mattered was that provoking Chakravartin truly could put her in a certain-death situation.
"Before provoking me, have you prepared your funeral arrangements, Herrscher?"
Chakravartin withdrew his fist as his fury continued to build.
"My only preparation was planning what I would do next if you disappointed me. You once said that, when you were the final trial of the Elysian Realm, there had been a time when no one survived."
Mei smiled and asked, "That wasn't just your bragging too, was it?"
"Let me think. Don't tell me you don't even have the nerve to fight a successor without authorization?"
Very good. She had stepped on Chakravartin's landmine once again. Mei felt that she was one step closer to the edge of death.
"Hahahaha! I had just started to think you weren't so irritating, yet you insist on seeking death now. No matter what happens, I will not show mercy."
Before you continue