News About Sasha / Sasha ...

After Elysia left, Mobius continued searching for information.

Kevin was first, Elysia second. It seemed she could only be third. It really did seem fated—the accompanying Honkai Beast of the Third Herrscher, Sessha. Their connection truly ran deep. It was three, and so was she.

Sessha was the Honkai Beast Mobius had chosen to fuse with. Simply because it possessed the ability to revive without flaw. Mobius believed that by merging with its genes, she too would gain the power of resurrection. That way, she would have a chance to fulfill her ideal.

As for whether Sessha's genes were compatible with hers or whether the procedure might fail, Mobius had never considered those questions.

Because she was Mobius! Once she made up her mind, she would definitely accomplish it.

Still, she should bring Elysia along when the time came. Although Mobius was confident in herself, she truly was not a combatant. Kevin was Mei's little follower and would only obey Mei's orders, so Mobius could not command him. As for Elysia, as long as Mobius asked, she would definitely agree.

Still, thinking that Elysia might give her a mocking look then, Mobius clenched her fists.

Fine. If she embarrassed herself, then so be it. She was only a scientist, after all. She did not possess the overwhelming strength of Kevin and Elysia.

News of Sessha

While Mobius prepared to fuse with Sessha—mainly waiting for the Flame Chasers to locate Sessha—

the news that Elysia had become the second Fusion Warrior had already spread throughout the Flame Chasers.

Naturally, Kevin had heard the news as well.

"Elysia, why would she..." Kevin recalled his earlier conversation with Elysia. "Was it... for me?"

Kevin's expression became somewhat complicated.

Elysia spotted Kevin too and ran over to greet him. "Hi, Kevin. What do you think? Aren't my ears beautiful?"

Looking at the pink-haired girl showing off her pointed elf ears, Kevin replied, "Yes, they're beautiful. But this is a side effect of becoming a Fusion Warrior, right? Elysia, why did you choose to become one?"

"Didn't I say so? I didn't want to fall behind you." Elysia answered with a playful smile.

But Kevin knew that was not the real reason. Looking at the people around them gazing at him and Elysia, he realized those looks no longer carried fear or distance.

A flash of understanding passed through Kevin's eyes. I see. It's because I'm no longer the only one. There are others like me now. And once there are two, there will be three. Is that why they're no longer so afraid of me?

Was that why Elysia had chosen to become a Fusion Warrior?

"Elysia, thank you..."

In the end, all Kevin could do was thank her.

"All right, don't look so gloomy." Elysia put her hands on her hips. "Smile more. I'll help you share the pressure from now on. As for Himeko, let's let her go. After all, we'll still have much more to go through in the future."

"Mm."

Kevin tried to force a smile at her words.

"Forget it, Kevin. You shouldn't smile after all." Seeing the awkward expression on Kevin's face, Elysia stopped him from continuing to smile(?).

"I still have a mission to carry out later, so I'll be going now. We can talk next time, Kevin."

After Elysia left, Kevin headed for the training ground. After all, he had nothing to do now. As the Flame Chasers' former sole—and now one of only two—Fusion Warriors, Kevin no longer needed to participate in low-level missions. Only when a problem could not be resolved would the Flame Chasers' higher-ups send out Kevin, their current greatest combat force. Normally, Kevin could only remain at the base on standby.

"Are you... Kevin?"

A very familiar voice came from behind Kevin. He turned around, and that familiar figure appeared before him.

"Su!?"

"It really is you, Kevin."

Only after the white-haired man before him turned around did Su finally confirm that he was his close friend, Kevin.

Having only seen his back earlier, Su had not been sure. The temperament of that silhouette differed far too much from the person in his memories.

"Su, why are you here?"

Though he was happy that his friend was alive and standing before him, this was the Flame Chasers. How had Su gotten here?

"My teacher is a member of the Flame Chasers. Through his recommendation, I joined them as well." Seeing the confusion in Kevin's eyes, Su explained, "After the Third Honkai Outbreak, I never received any news about you or Mei. I thought you had died in the outbreak. I never expected you two to join the Flame Chasers."

"I guess we were lucky. The Flame Chasers had been keeping an eye on Mei. Not long after the Third Honkai Outbreak began, they sent people to protect us. Mei and I joined the Flame Chasers as a result."

"Then the things I heard must all be true? Dr. Mei, and Kevin, the first Fusion Warrior?"

"Mm, they're all true."

Something must be wrong. Looking at the dejected Kevin before him, Su noticed that Kevin was concealing something. As a doctor, while he was not a professional psychologist, Su could still sense a patient's emotions.

Is it because of the Seventh Herrscher? I heard she was Kevin's comrade. No wonder he's like this. It's a pity I'm not a professional psychologist, but I should still be able to help Kevin work through it.

And so, as he spoke with Kevin, Su quietly guided him through his emotions. Kevin's psychological troubles had already mostly improved after Elysia comforted him, and with Su's subtle adjustments, Kevin felt much better.

Though after everything he had experienced, Kevin could no longer return to being the sunny young man he once was, at least he no longer looked as downcast as before.

Su's arrival made Kevin and Mei happy, since they were friends. But it had no impact on the Flame Chasers.

Everyone continued living as they normally did.

Until one day—Elysia knocked on the door of Mobius's laboratory.

The door opened, and a girl with light green hair appeared before Elysia.

"Oh, it's Klein." Seeing the heavy dark circles beneath Klein's eyes, Elysia asked with concern, "You look very tired. Are you all right?"

Klein was Mobius's new assistant. Elysia had visited Mobius's laboratory several times recently, and Klein had opened the door every time.

When they first met, Elysia remembered Klein as a fairly normal person. But over their later meetings, Elysia noticed Klein's mental state worsening and the dark circles under her eyes growing deeper. At first, makeup could still cover them a little. Now, even makeup could not hide those heavy dark circles.

Honestly, Elysia would not have been surprised if Klein suddenly dropped dead from overwork someday.

"I'm fine, Miss Elysia." Klein let Elysia inside. "May I ask what you need the doctor for?"

"Hi, Mobius."

Rather than answer Klein's question, Elysia walked up to Mobius, swept aside her long pink hair, and revealed her elf ears.

"Look, aside from these ears, I've discovered a new side effect."

At that, Mobius became serious. This was extremely important data.

"What is the new side effect?"

"Mobius, listen. After observing myself for all these days, I discovered that no matter how late I stay up, my hair is still fluffy when I wake up in the morning, and my skin keeps getting better. Also, no matter how much I eat, I don't gain weight. My figure is becoming more and more beautiful too."

"E-ly-si-a!" Veins bulged on Mobius's forehead as she gritted her teeth and called Elysia's name. "Are you making a fool of me?"

"How could I? My dear Mobius. I only wanted to share my joy with you."

"Enough!" Mobius suppressed the anger in her heart. "If you have something to say, say it quickly. I have no mood to fool around with you here!"

"All right, all right. You really are impatient, Mobius." Elysia shrugged. She really did have other news to share, but she genuinely wanted to share her joy with Mobius too.

"The Honkai Beast you asked me to find has been located."

Sessha

"You found Sessha!?"

"That's right. It's still active in Changkong City. The Flame Chasers have already dispatched troops. What do you want to do, my dear Mobius?"

"It's still in Changkong City?"

Mobius did not correct Elysia's use of "dear," because she knew that even if she said something, that woman would not listen.

"That makes sense. As the accompanying Honkai Beast of the Third Herrscher, it would not leave its territory so easily."

But the Flame Chasers had already mobilized? That made things troublesome. Though she was confident she could deal with Sessha, she should still have Elysia serve as insurance.

"Elysia, consider this a request from me. Can you help me recover Sessha?"

"Oh my, this really is..." Elysia looked at Mobius in surprise. "But since it's a request from you, Mobius, I accept."

After all, this was originally a mission assigned to me by the Flame Chasers. But Mobius can't know that. A cute girl needs a few secrets of her own, after all.

Seeing that Elysia had agreed, Mobius turned to Klein and said, "Klein, pack up. We're going to recover the judgment-class Honkai Beast, Sessha."

"Hiss, hiss."

A sound of tongue-flicking rang out before the three women as a massive black serpent appeared before them. At a glance, it was forty to fifty meters long.

The judgment-class Honkai Beast Sessha appeared before Mobius and the others at that moment. Perhaps "appeared" was not quite accurate, since Mobius and her group had come looking for it.

When Mobius and the others found Sessha, it was coiled around a patch of ruins, its eyes closed as if it were resting.

Purple-black lightning occasionally flickered over its skin, while a black mud-like liquid continuously dripped from the gaps between its scales. Beneath Sessha, it formed a black mire that resembled a patch of shadow.

Upon sensing something unusual approaching, Sessha immediately opened its eyes and warily watched the three humans before it, without attacking right away.

Though the three people before it all appeared extremely weak, Sessha somehow sensed a faint yet deadly threat.

Seeing that Sessha merely remained in a standoff with them rather than launching an attack, Mobius said, "Elysia, as we discussed, you are the final safeguard. Do not intervene until I fail. Klein, follow the plan."

After receiving Mobius's orders, Klein swiftly assembled her weapon. Elysia, meanwhile, retreated to the side and left the battlefield to Mobius and Klein. Her task now was to observe changes on the battlefield and ensure Mobius and Klein's safety.

Honestly, after hearing Mobius's battle plan, even Elysia thought Mobius was a little crazy. She actually wanted to take down a judgment-class Honkai Beast herself. But then again, she was Mobius.

Still, with Elysia protecting them from the side, Mobius and Klein would at least not be in mortal danger.

On the battlefield,

Mobius and Sessha were locked in a fierce battle. Of course, that was largely thanks to Klein's support from the side. Even so, it was already astonishing that a researcher like Mobius could fight a judgment-class Honkai Beast for so long.

But as a doctor, it was only natural that Mobius knew a little self-defense for her own safety, right?

Sessha realized it could not eliminate the little insect before it through its own abilities alone. So it chose the most primitive method—opening its massive jaws and biting straight at Mobius.

Finally, I've been waiting for this!

Sessha had previously been hunted by the Flame Chasers, and the Flame Chasers had thoroughly identified its weakness. Naturally, Mobius knew it too.

The weapon Klein held at that moment had been designed specifically for Sessha's weakness. As long as the attack could strike inside Sessha's body, this hunt would be over.

"Klein, now!"

Whoosh!

A beam of light brushed past Mobius's face and shot directly into Sessha's mouth. After a brief moment of reaction, Sessha's thrashing body was blown into several pieces.

"Again and again, you exposed your weakness to your enemy. You really are foolish. A judgment-class Honkai Beast? Nothing more than a slightly larger ant."

Mobius took the spear Klein handed her and walked step by step to Sessha's head, driving the spear viciously into the space between its brows.

"Looks like I was right. It really is this spot. Now you can't revive again, can you?"

Mobius had always believed that resurrection abilities without side effects did not exist in this world. And the fact that Sessha grew smaller with every revival confirmed her speculation.

At the time, Mobius had wondered what Sessha needed to resurrect and how it could ensure its own revival.

Through her research on other Honkai Beasts, Mobius found the answer. It was the Honkai Energy crystal within Sessha's body—the foundation of Sessha's ability to revive. In every previous hunt, the Flame Chasers had failed to destroy Sessha's Honkai Energy crystal, giving it chance after chance to resurrect.

But this time, Sessha would not get such a fortunate opportunity. Its Honkai Energy crystal had already been completely destroyed by Mobius.

Looking at Sessha, now entirely devoid of life, Mobius sighed. "The ability to revive is truly wasted on you. But don't worry, I'll make good use of your body. Let it become the first step in my evolution."

While Mobius dealt with her spoils, the Flame Chasers' soldiers finally arrived.

"We're almost there, right, Immer?" Hua asked her temporary teammate. The surroundings were so familiar. Since fleeing that time, this was her first return to the city where she had once studied.

Hua had never forgotten those memories from the past. It was a pity that the fiery red figure who had once saved her from death... was no longer here.

"Mm, the readings show that the Honkai Energy reaction is up ahead." Immer had no idea what the girl beside him was thinking and continued diligently carrying out the mission.

"But we should still be careful. Though there is indeed footage of it being killed, it is said to possess the ability to revive. A judgment-class Honkai Beast... that's not something we can handle. Hopefully, things go according to the original plan and we'll only be responsible for recovering the corpse."

"Judgment-class... has it been confirmed?"

"Mm. The judgment-class Honkai Beast, Sessha."

A Chance Encounter