Iconic Scenes of Collapse Exposed, Paradise at the Start

I trusted you so much, believed in you so completely, and you actually had thoughts like that about me?

Kiana's eyes widened at the same time.

She had thought Elysia was a good person, that she was helping Mei out of kindness, with no ulterior motives whatsoever.

Who would have thought you had the same filthy thoughts as me?!

Kiana: "Miss Elysia, don't you think you owe us an explanation?"

Himeko Murata: "Elysia, didn't you say you weren't interested in Mei's horns?"

Pardofelis: "Sister Elysia, this is kind of..."

Elysia: "My, my, I've been exposed. Honestly, System, how could you reveal a girl's secret to the public? So naughty."

Faced with everyone's accusations, Elysia showed no panic at all. It wasn't as if she had gotten to touch them yet.

She merely had the idea; she hadn't actually done anything.

Besides, even if she had touched them, it still would have been totally worth it. Three years in prison would be a bargain!

Mei answered incorrectly and received a punishment: loss of the Herrscher of Food Authority for three days.

For the next three days, no matter what Mei cooked, it would be hard to swallow and taste like chewing wax.

Raiden Mei: "I can understand my cooking tasting bad, but what the hell is a Herrscher of Food?"

Himeko Murata: "It probably means Mei's cooking is really delicious."

Elysia: "Pfft... Hahahaha! Mei's cooking is so good that even Honkai acknowledged it and couldn't resist giving her the title of Herrscher of Food? Hahaha, I'm dying!"

Pardofelis: "Sister Elysia, don't laugh. When you laugh, I want to laugh too. Hahaha."

Laughter echoed through the Chat Group.

By the time Mei came to her senses, she realized that it was not just Elysia and Pardo laughing. The people beside her were laughing as well.

Damn it!

She had always been the one cooking in the St. Freya Academy dorms, working diligently like some housewife, yet in the end, she had somehow earned the title of Herrscher of Food.

Raiden Mei: "Is that really so funny?"

Himeko Murata: "Pfft... Mei, you know we've received professional training. Generally, we don't laugh."

Theresa: "Unless we really can't hold it in! Hahahahaha!"

Raiden Mei: "..."

Mei made sure to remember that.

After all, she would be cooking dinner tonight. In fact, she had always been the one cooking.

When the food she made turned out impossible to swallow, let's see what you all would do then!

When an ordinary man was enraged, blood would be spilled within five steps.

When the Herrscher of Food was enraged, all other Herrschers would starve to death!

Before Mei could take any actual action, an image appeared in her mind.

In the image, Elysia was holding a large loudspeaker and broadcasting nonstop throughout the Elysian Realm, drawing attention wherever she went.

"What are you doing? And what is with that loudspeaker?" Raiden Mei stared at the loudspeaker in Elysia's hand, trying to see what was special about it.

"I traded for it from Felis. It cost me three Crystal Flowers, you know. It's durable, the sound quality is clear, and the voice is sweet. It couldn't be more suitable for promoting our adorable Mei."

Elysia waved the loudspeaker in her hand and held it out before Mei, introducing its functions.

"Look, it even has a recording function. Just press here, and it'll play automatically..."

As Elysia pressed the function button, a sweet voice played out, tinged with several traces of Pink Fairy Miss's obsession.

"Ah! I really want to touch her horns! I care so much, I care so much!"

"..."

Raiden Mei remained silent, staring sternly at Elysia as she waited for her explanation.

Raiden Mei: "Elysia, what do you have to say for yourself now?"

Elysia: "I've been wronged! The me in the Elysian Realm is only a Memory Body, not the real me. Mei, you can't falsely accuse a good person!"

Seeing that the situation was not looking good, Elysia unleashed her ultimate technique.

—Memory Body Blame-Shifting Technique.

Once this technique was activated, everything that happened in the Previous Era Elysian Realm could be blamed on the Memory Bodies and had absolutely nothing to do with the real Elysia.

Bronya: "But don't the Memory Bodies in the Previous Era Elysian Realm retain your original personalities and traits? In other words, Elysia, you have those thoughts too, don't you?"

Kiana: "Mei, it was obvious at a glance that Elysia had bad intentions when she approached you. From now on, you have to stay far away from that bad woman!"

Himeko, who had always insisted that Elysia was a good person, immediately turned on her the moment she realized she had a formidable rival.

Damn it!

That pink fox spirit could get lost. Mei could only belong to her!

On-screen, Mei had remained silent, intending to explain herself once Elysia's momentum had weakened. But Elysia was not so easily dealt with.

After readjusting the speaker, she began changing the subject.

"Ah... this, um, right! Look, it even has a recording function. Just press here, and it'll play automatically."

Elysia pressed the switch, and a voice utterly unfamiliar to Mei came from the speaker.

"Hmm... how exactly does this thing work? Canned Food, do you know? Forget it, I'll just toss it aside. Maybe someone will want it someday."

"Whose voice was that?" Mei asked. Aside from herself and Raven, the only ones in the Previous Era Elysian Realm were the Flame-Chaser Memory Bodies.

She guessed that the owner of that voice was also one of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers.

"Do you remember the friend I mentioned before? Her name is Pardofelis, the owner of the Elysian Realm shop."

Elysia put away the speaker and introduced her.

"Phyllis isn't good at fighting, but when it comes to gathering intelligence, she's the best among us. You still don't know where Natasha is, do you? When it comes to finding people, she'll definitely be able to help."

Mei truly did want to find Natasha—that was, Raven—but finding someone in such a vast Elysian Realm was no easy task.

Now that a professional Flame-Chaser was leading the way, things could not have been better.

Pardofelis: "Sister Elysia really gets me. I'm not good at fighting or anything, but when it comes to finding stuff, no one among the Flame-Chasers is better than me."

Raiden Mei: "Pardofelis, do you... have some special ability?"

Pardofelis: "Hehe, not really. I'm just lucky, that's all. I always manage to escape danger, and I always find the goods."

Finding one person was no big deal.

Not to mention, as long as Mei was willing to pay, even asking Pardofelis to swipe a Divine Key would not necessarily be impossible.

Kiana: "But who is this Natasha woman? Why does Mei have to go looking for her?!"

Theresa: "Doesn't ring a bell. I don't know her."

Elysia: "It sounds like the name of a pretty girl, but unfortunately, I don't know her either."

Raiden Mei: "I think she was a companion who entered the Previous Era Elysian Realm with me. We got separated after entering, so that's why I'm looking for her."

Kiana: "No! The only person who gets to team up with Mei is me. That Natasha person even got lost—she's obviously unreliable. Mei, don't ever team up with her again!"

Himeko wrapped her arms around Mei's hand and spoke earnestly.

Why? Why were there always random girls around future Mei?

What if Mei got led astray by those bad women without her by her side?!

Even knowing that none of this had happened yet, Kiana resolved to protect Mei and snatch her back from the Pink Fairy and Island Explosion Crow!

Mei could only be mine!.jpg

Bronya: "Regarding this person named Natasha, I have a guess. Didn't we learn earlier that the Previous Era Elysian Realm was meant to cultivate World Serpent cadres?"

Bronya: "I guess she was someone who went with Sister Mei to undergo World Serpent's trial, hoping to become a World Serpent cadre."

Kiana: "But what even is World Serpent?"

Pardofelis: "I know! It's an organization founded by Sister Snake, meant to fight the Honkai and wait for the right moment in the shadows."

Unfortunately, by the end of the Previous Era, they had already met their deaths.

As for what Mobius and World Serpent had become afterward, even Elysia and the others did not know.

Theresa: "Pardofelis, wasn't I right that you were pretty scared of that so-called Sister Snake? Aren't you afraid she'll come after you for revealing information about her organization?"

Pardofelis: "Haha... I am a little scared, but with Sister Elysia protecting me, I'm super brave! Besides, this is Death Space, isn't it? Sister Snake isn't here. What can she do to me?"

Elysia: "Phyllis really is getting braver and braver. Don't worry—if Mobius comes to Death Space too, I'll protect you before she takes you apart into [Pardo] and [Phyllis]."

Pardofelis: "Sister Elysia, don't scare me like that!"

Given Mobius's interest in Pardofelis, she really could do something like that!

She simply could not understand it. They were both Fusion Warriors, and there was nothing special about her, so why did Sister Snake always obsess over her?

While the kitty was trembling with fear, the scene changed once more.

On-screen, Raiden Mei returned to where Elysia was. Judging from her expression, she had clearly undergone a long expedition and encountered some rather unpleasant things.

"Eden said you could let me go to The Deep?"

Mei stared at Elysia's face and asked seriously.

The Deep was a domain born from Apponia's memories alone—the Elysian Realm's most mysterious place, where its greatest secrets lay buried.

Since it had been created by Apponia's [subjectivity] within the Elysian Realm, it differed greatly from the real Deep.

Put more simply, it was Apponia's inner world.

"Oh my, Mei, that's quite bold of you."

Elysia smiled, putting on a bashful, embarrassed expression. "After me and Mobius, you want to step into Apponia's heart too? I never expected you to be such a dangerous girl."

Raiden Mei knew Elysia's personality very well. She knew that staying silent was the best choice at a time like this.

When facing Elysia, no matter what she said, as long as you continued the conversation, you would very likely walk right into a trap she had dug.

"It's okay."

Elysia nodded, then abruptly changed the subject. "But going to The Deep is quite a difficult matter for me as well, isn't it? I might need a little help from Mei."

"My help? If it's something I can do, then of course..."

Mei trailed off halfway through her sentence when she suddenly noticed the fox-like smile on Elysia's face.

Her words came to an abrupt stop. Following Elysia's gaze carefully, she looked upward, until it finally settled on just the right spot.

There was nothing there except her horns.

"Let me think, would this count as setting up a payoff?"

Elysia said with a smile, like a fox hunting its prey, watching a rabbit walk step by step into her trap.

Kiana: "Mei, don't let her touch them! She's a fox—she's deliberately leading you into a trap."

Raiden Mei: "Elysia, I never expected you to be this kind of person, using threats and temptations over something so pointless."

Elysia: "I'm truly heartbroken. How can something both parties agree to be called threats and temptations? Let me think, this should be called an equivalent exchange."

Elysia: "Mei gets the chance to go to The Deep, while I get a reward that satisfies me. Why not?"

Elysia herself had not been particularly interested in Mei's horns before, but after watching the video, she felt it was necessary to give it a try.

As for how to make Mei agree, she had already thought of a way.

When the time came, she would corner Mei against a wall, pin her there with a kabedon, lift her chin, and say—

"Mei, you wouldn't want your classmates to find out that your horns were touched, would you?"