After Elysia controlled her character into battle, the story progressed as usual.
Within the cutscene, Kiana reflected on that moment from a third-person perspective.
Watching Mei force herself to stay calm and raise her hand against her...
Her heart was instantly filled with regret.
"Mm, that day, I will never forget it."
"If I could go back to that time, the current me should have hundreds of ways to keep Mei from leaving."
"No, I should go back even earlier, back to the time of Sweet Pepper Curry… or even earlier, back to Arc City. That way, Mei wouldn't have been so sad."
Elysia paused in her controls.
With these keywords mentioned, scenes from past chapters surfaced in her mind.
She couldn't help but feel a sharp pang in her chest.
"I'm already a Herrscher, so why is there still nothing I can do?"
Hokuto: Because in the main story, Elysia is already dead.
He had the sense not to say this out loud.
Otherwise, everyone at MiHoYo would probably kill him before Otto, and then pop champagne.
"But if not for that, we wouldn't have made it to today." With Kiana's soft sigh, this recollection finally came to an end.
Elysia took a moment to adjust her emotions.
After this ordeal, there was nothing left for her to fear...
She continued controlling her character forward.
The final memory segment.
The screen turned into a blinding white.
It was still... the all-too-familiar scene.
The chocolate door.
[???]
[Are you okay, Honkai Impact 3rd?!]
[乆乆乆乆乆乆乆!]
["I ran out of tissues"]
"Why! Why…"
Just a moment ago, Elysia thought she had nothing to fear, but was instantly hit by a critical blow.
She whimpered, yet her hands subconsciously rotated the camera, searching for that fiery red figure.
But... nothing.
Once again returning here, but she was no longer present...
Only Himeko's voice echoed in her ears.
"As for Mei, I think you don't need to worry too much. She's a kind child. That won't change."
Elysia: "..."
Elysia was silent.
Kiana picked up Himeko's words: "Mm, I understand. Of course, I believe in Mei. Her feelings… I know them all."
"It's just... I can't help but miss her."
Fortunately, this cutscene didn't last too long and quickly came to an end.
Otherwise, Elysia felt like she wouldn't be able to hold it in.
With all three memories done, she controlled Kiana to a white gate ahead.
"What's beyond here…"
Elysia hesitated briefly, then recalled the earlier plot: "Mei?!"
She perked up immediately.
Precisely because of the emotional wounds earlier, she could now fully appreciate the hard-earned sweetness.
MiHoYo really understood how to stack buffs effectively.
Quickly, she guided Kiana to touch the light gate.
The scene began.
A pure and tranquil [Void] spread across the entire space, like the serene sky above a storm, in the stratosphere.
Kiana could feel it—she had been to a place like this before.
"This place is..."
"The depths of the Herrscher Core, where our minds can connect."
Mei's voice slowly came through, and Kiana turned around hurriedly. Mei's phantom appeared behind her.
At long last, Kiana and Mei met once more.
"A place where minds can connect? The Herrscher Core has such a function? That's way too romantic!"
Elysia's eyes widened, the corners of her mouth rising uncontrollably.
"So sweet! So sweet! Hehe~~"
"It's killing me! I can't handle this, it's just too sweet…"
"..."
Hokuto: "..."
Though it was indeed sweet, this was just the beginning.
When it came to the scene on the moon with Kiana and Mei, wouldn't you need to pinch your philtrum to survive?
[Candy's here! Real candy! Early New Year, brothers!]
[Kiana and Mei reunited! Once in a lifetime moment! (⋟﹏⋞)]
[It's been nearly a year, do you know how I've endured this year, MiHoYo?!]
[Mei, look at her Quad-Core Greatsword, go stop her! (doge)]
[Mei! Look at my Quad-Core Greatsword, isn't it cool?!]
...
After so long, neither of them expected to reunite in this way.
For a moment, both were at a loss for words.
"..."
"Am I... dreaming…" Kiana was the first to speak, her voice trembling slightly.
"If I said yes, you wouldn't want to believe it, right?"
Mei's voice was especially gentle, completely different from how she spoke to others.
After a brief silence.
Kiana composed herself: "Why didn't you tell me in advance?"
Her tone was calm, but it made people feel she was taking it hard.
Kiana was really turning into Mei's wife.
Of course, no matter what, Elysia was completely shipping them.
Mei began explaining the current situation to Kiana.
They were in a group chat space where Herrscher Core minds connected.
Through this, she could establish a one-on-one call with Kiana.
As for the technicalities?
In Honkai, anything can be explained away.
Later, Mei learned of Kiana's predicament and decided to lend her strength.
"[Conquering Thunder]... take my power. No matter how many times, the blade you lose, I will forge anew for you."
What an absolute confession. Players felt their smiles stretching all the way to the moon.
Sweet, sweet, unbelievably sweet!
Elysia nodded with an auntie smile. Mei really learned well from her stint in the Elysian Realm.
As expected of her.
In a way, Elysia had indeed taught Mei many things.
Though... the cost was another matter.
Kiana had countless things she wanted to say to Mei, but now wasn't the time for reminiscing.
"I have so, so much I want to say to Mei. But I'll save it for our next meeting."
"Next time, it'll be a [face-to-face] meeting, right?"
Mei nodded lightly: "Mm."
Elysia furrowed her brows at this, feeling something was off.
Leaving aside how that line sounded like a flag, why emphasize [face-to-face] with brackets?
This was clearly suspicious!
[Seeing Kiana set a flag, I'm getting a bad feeling.]
[With the current plot development, Kiana and Mei might not meet until the grand finale. But Honkai 3rd's ending... we all know what that usually means.]
[Maybe Mei and Kiana will have to fight again?]
[No way, once was enough. Their next meeting should be sweet, right?]
The audience's discussions yielded no conclusion. Elysia temporarily shelved her doubts.
In the story, Kiana knew the situation outside was dire. Though reluctant, she chose to leave.
"Then... I'm going. Look forward to my performance."
"...Don't lose, Kiana."
"Of course! After all, having Mei with me is like having the strength of a hundred people."
Kiana's consciousness returned to her body. Mei's voice echoed in her ears.
[Take this power of 'a hundred people'!]
A red thunderbolt struck from the sky, reforging her blade. Flames ignited once more on the Flaming Greatsword.
"One strike! Scorch through!"
The once-stable space was torn open.
"Durandal, now!"
"Understood!"
Kiana and Durandal seized the opportunity and charged in.
Thus, the path to the final battle was fully opened.
[Everyone who used Mei-brand power banks recommends it.]
[Having Mei is like having 70 SP!]
[Love this feeling of bridging the old and new, sob sob, MiHoYo give us more!]
[Captain Mei, my superhero!]
...
The scene shifted.
A towering structure without up or down appeared.
As the camera zoomed in, Durandal rode Klishina into the tower.
Then—
Please select battle difficulty:
[Easy]
[Normal]
[Hard]
Three options appeared before Elysia.
"This time, there's the Hard difficulty you like, Elysia."
Elysia's hand paused just as she was about to select [Normal] upon hearing Hokuto's words.
How long ago was that?! Why do you remember so clearly?
"I'm not really that fond of it..."
Mainly because Bianca's new battlesuit had just been introduced. Even for her, mastering it immediately was impossible.
Using an unfamiliar character on the highest difficulty?
She believed that knowing when to back down was the true wisdom.
["No Hard difficulty, really?"]
["Normal mode can't satisfy me."]
[Elysia, don't be scared! It's just Hard difficulty!]
But friendly barrage comments wouldn't miss the chance to tease.
Speaking of which, Elysia was now a well-known Honkai Impact 3rd streamer famous for spawning countless memes.
"I ran out of tissues," "OG players' gameplay level"...
She practically owned half of Honkai 3rd's meme repertoire.
Elysia: "..."
"Everyone really wants to see me tackle the highest difficulty, huh?"
[Yes, absolutely.jpg]
"Aiya, I didn't expect everyone to be so enthusiastic. Well then…"
Seeing Elysia's hesitation, Hokuto kindly added: "This boss battle has three phases. The difficulty isn't low, but you can save before each phase. Elysia, you can give it a try. If it doesn't work out, you can always lower the difficulty. No big deal."
"There's a save function~~"
Hearing this, Elysia nodded lightly, having made up her mind: "Well then... it's decided~!"