The Divine Grace Ring

—Elysia.

She was the center of the Flame-Chasers, someone who, in the truest sense, had earned everyone's affection and trust.

"Thank you for trusting me, Apponia."

Elysia nodded and said, "So I want you to promise me something. You won't refuse, will you?"

"Of course."

Apponia looked at Elysia in confusion. As far as she remembered, this was the first time Elysia had ever asked her for something.

"From now on, no matter what happens, you must never impose a Precept like [Never give up hope in fighting Honkai]. And you mustn't interfere too much with other people's fates either. Apponia, can you promise me that?"

"Can you? Can you?"

"..."

Elysia's voice remained sweet and playful, but Apponia sensed an unprecedented seriousness in it, as well as Elysia's concern.

In the end, Apponia nodded out of trust.

Whether it was imposing Precepts or foretelling other people's fates, Apponia had already tasted the bitter consequences of both.

The twenty-four hours of the Life Coin had ended.

The next moment, Elysia saw the space around her begin to twist. When she opened her eyes again, she had returned to Death Space.

Elysia: "How cruel. I was just about to spend some happy time with Apponia, and the system sent me back without mercy. It could've at least given me one more minute."

Pardofelis: "Sister Elysia, what did you do when you went back? Did you find where the treasure chests were?"

Kiana: "Pardo, I don't think anyone besides you would be that obsessed with treasure chests."

Pardofelis: "Who says? Maybe Sister Elysia flipped the entire continent over just to find one chest she missed?"

What a joke.

As a qualified traveler, she couldn't let a single treasure chest within sight escape her. That was basic professionalism.

Eden: "Elysia, how did the matter you went back for turn out?"

Elysia: "It should have had some effect. Sigh, I didn't even give up my position as number one. If even my final little wish failed, that would be far too cruel to me."

In any case, she had already flapped the butterfly's wings with a smack. As for what sort of storm it would stir up afterward, that would have to wait until the next Life Coin.

The quiz began.

Why did Mei join World Serpent?

[A: World Serpent offered great benefits, excellent pay and perks, two days off every week, and never exploited its employees.]

[B: Theresa at St. Freya Academy was too stingy. She spent all the funds on comics, and the academy was on the verge of bankruptcy and about to shut down, so Mei had no choice but to quit and leave.]

[C: To save Kiana.]

[D: World Serpent had pretty girls, especially in the Previous Era Elysian Realm.]

Elysia: "System, you really get it. The girls in Fire Moth weren't just ordinarily pretty, you know. Especially me, Elysia."

Theresa: "The question says World Serpent has lots of pretty girls. What does that have to do with Fire Moth?"

Pardofelis: "You don't get it. World Serpent was only an organization founded by Sister Snake. Sister Elysia and I weren't members of World Serpent, but we left our Memory Bodies there."

Kiana: "I get it. You're saying the girls in World Serpent aren't as pretty as you, right?"

Elysia: "Of course. After all, it was an organization founded by Mobius. Did you expect her to gather pretty girls? All sorts of deformed monsters would be more like it."

They knew Mobius's personality all too well.

Although Mobius herself was beautiful, her obsession with scientific research and human experimentation could only be described as deranged.

If World Serpent had remained under her control until Fifty Thousand Years later, no kind of talent within the organization would have been surprising.

Raiden Mei: "We've gone off-topic. Wasn't the question why I joined World Serpent? The last answer is definitely wrong, isn't it?"

How could she possibly join World Serpent because of pretty girls?

Did they think she was Kiana?

Bronya: "Sister Mei has a point, but the other three answers don't sound very plausible either. Did World Serpent really have such good benefits that it could poach Sister Mei?"

Eden: "Whether the benefits were good depends mainly on who led World Serpent Fifty Thousand Years later. If it was Mobius..."

Pardofelis: "If it was Sister Snake..."

The two of them trailed off halfway through.

If Mobius had really managed World Serpent, forget employee benefits—any normal person would want to escape as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, within a few days, researchers who used white mice for experiments might end up lying on the operating table as the new white mice themselves.

Of course, according to Mobius herself, that was called glorious evolution!

If the surgery succeeded, you became a World Serpent executive, one of the powerful fighters against Honkai.

If the surgery failed, notify the family... notify what family?

After failing, they probably wouldn't even have the courage to keep living. Better cremate them directly, with a full funeral service included.

Ring of Divine Grace

Elysia: "Mobius's management ability is indeed worrying, especially after losing Eden as a source of funding. So let's look at option B... St. Freya Academy going bankrupt."

Pardofelis: "Is your St. Freya Academy that poor? Are students already having to quit and run away?"

Theresa: "Slander! Pure slander! My academy is doing perfectly well, with a steady stream of funding, and it's right in the heart of Schicksal's Far East Branch!"

Theresa: "And with my careful management, the budget is more than sufficient. Forget bankruptcy—even supporting twenty more Kianas would be no problem!"

What a joke!

With that little bit of money, all she had to do was act cute a few more times around Grandpa, then save up by buying fewer comics. She might even have enough to open another St. Freya Academy.

Forcing Theresa into bankruptcy?

Impossible. Even if Anti-Entropy went bankrupt, she never would!

Himeko Murata: "But Theresa, what if one day your cute act stops working and Schicksal Headquarters stops sending money?"

Theresa: "Um... that probably won't happen, right? Grandpa may do some awful things, but he has never shortchanged me when it comes to funding."

Elysia: "From the sound of it, Theresa, your grandfather is quite an interesting person."

The sharp Elysia immediately caught the scent of gossip.

Theresa's grandfather was probably very wealthy, and he could practically cover the sky with one hand within Schicksal. If nothing unexpected had happened, he was Schicksal's biggest boss.

He probably doted on Theresa, but their grandfather-granddaughter relationship wasn't particularly good.

Elysia's intuition told her that Theresa was very afraid of her grandfather, or perhaps that he was simply a ruthless person.

Theresa: "Sigh, even an honest judge can hardly settle family matters. In any case, St. Freya Academy cannot possibly go bankrupt. I believe Mei wouldn't change jobs for that reason either."

Nonsense!

Mei was St. Freya Academy's designated cook.

If Mei left, who would cook in the dorms afterward?

Bronya: "But the third option is also hard to believe. What kind of predicament did idiot Kiana encounter that would make Mei join World Serpent to save her?"

Theresa: "Could it be that my niece was about to starve to death and needed Mei to rush over and feed her?"

Raiden Mei: "Principal, that assumption makes no sense. Even if I needed to cook, there would be no reason for me to go to World Serpent."

Himeko Murata: "Could it be that someone in World Serpent cooks even better than Mei?"

Kiana: "Really?"

Raiden Mei: "I refuse to accept that."

She wouldn't admit it. Raiden Mei absolutely wouldn't admit it!

Against World Serpent, she might be slightly inferior in a fight, but when it came to cooking, Mei would never admit that she had been surpassed by a bunch of lunatics.

Pardofelis: "Um, have you considered that only World Serpent could help Mei save Kiana?"

Elysia: "Pardo, your guess is worth considering."

Bronya: "That doesn't make sense. From your description, World Serpent should be a very powerful underground organization that continued from the Previous Era to the present."

Bronya: "What kind of trouble did idiot Kiana get herself into that only an organization like World Serpent could help Mei?"

Theresa: "Could Kiana have rebelled against Schicksal?"

A possibility flashed through the principal's mind, but she found it hard to believe.

Kiana aspired to become the strongest Valkyrie.

And she was only an ordinary student now. Even if her father, Z Siegfried, was wanted by Schicksal, that shouldn't be enough to make Kiana rebel alongside him, should it?

Bronya: "The principal's guess isn't unreasonable. If they needed to seek help from World Serpent, that means another major power had set its sights on Kiana."

Of the major powers they currently knew, besides Schicksal, only Anti-Entropy remained.

But if it were Anti-Entropy, Schicksal and Theresa would definitely protect Kiana without hesitation. So no matter how unbelievable it seemed, only one possibility remained.

Himeko Murata: "But I still don't understand why Kiana would leave Schicksal."

Bronya: "I don't know. We can only see whether the video provides more information, then make further deductions."

A shadow fell over the hearts of everyone at St. Freya Academy.

Kiana leaving Schicksal and Mei joining World Serpent—those two pieces of news were simply too incredible, and they worried everyone.

Elysia: "So, who will answer this question?"

Theresa: "I'll do it. Since I came up with that possibility, I should bear the consequences if I'm wrong. I choose C."

On one hand, she wanted to get it right. On the other, she was afraid of getting it right.

Because if she did get it right, it would mean that Kiana might truly stand against Schicksal in the future, just as they had guessed.

Theresa's heart was filled with mixed feelings.

Correct answer.

Congratulations to Theresa for obtaining the item: Ring of Divine Grace.

Description: It could transform the user into her grown-up appearance. Her figure, measurements, height, and all other attributes would reach the golden ratio.

Note: It could only be used for ten minutes per day.

Elysia: "A ring that can turn a young girl into her grown-up appearance. What a wonderful thing. Too bad I have no use for it."

Pink Fairy Miss touched her beautiful hair.

It was still as smooth as ever, and her skin was getting better and better. She had none of the troubles of growing up.

Pardofelis: "What a great item. If I had it, I could definitely sell it for an incredible price!"

Theresa: "No. How could something like this be sold for money? That would be such a waste... I mean, this is the first reward I've received. Even if it isn't useful, I have to keep it as a memento."

The principal would never admit that she cared deeply about her height.

She was a mature adult!

Himeko Murata: "Pfft, that really is a reward that suits Theresa. Stop pretending and hurry up, try it out."

Kiana: "Yeah, Auntie, transform already and let us see."

Theresa: "Transform your head! Do you think I'm a magical girl?"

In the academy dormitory, Theresa shot Kiana an annoyed glare, then took out the Ring of Divine Grace and put it on.

The next second, holy light flickered around her body. When the light faded, a larger Theresa appeared before everyone.

Silver-white hair, a voluptuous figure, and a face that still retained a little of its original baby fat. Her blue eyes were clear and bright like gemstones.

The silver hair behind Theresa's head spread loose, cascading down like starlight. Her mature charm was on full display.

She couldn't be called exactly identical to Kallen, but she was at least eighty percent similar.

Of course... intelligence excluded.

Kiana: "So pretty, so pretty! Is this what Auntie looks like when she grows up? Her presence is amazing! Could this be an additional function of the Ring of Divine Grace too?"