[Vill-V]'s portrayal was undeniably brilliant.
So much so that players were willing to accept her "righteous execution" of them.
And now, the livestream chat was in chaos.
After taking several screenshots, Elysia gently tapped the screen again.
The story continued.
The Villain, seeing the True Self respond to her doubts with just a smile, sounded a little exasperated:
"Alright, alright, I get it. It's because you believe, right?"
"That's right," said the True Self, as calm and composed as a girl.
The Villain, still a little dissatisfied, muttered: "I could've defeated the Herrscher of Corruption on my own."
No wonder the Villain had revealed so much intel about the Herrscher of Corruption to Mei earlier.
It turned out she'd already been planning a betrayal.
So this was part of a setup?
After realizing that, the players didn't feel surprised or impressed—
Instead, they felt… sad.
Especially the ones who had once doubted the Flame-Chasers.
They hadn't expected that even the Villain's end goal was to destroy the Herrscher of Corruption.
Perhaps, just as Mobius once said—Flame-Chasers had always been fractured.
But!
They all shared a common goal: to defeat the Honkai, even at the cost of their lives.
The weight of the phrase "There are no traitors among the Flame-Chasers."
Was heavier than they imagined. And far more genuine.
It made them regret ever suspecting that any of the Flame-Chasers were traitors.
They were all worthy of the title Flame-Chaser.
The culprit shouldn't have been any one of them.
It shouldn't have.
It never should have.
...
Some players were caught in their feelings.
Others—those who had never doubted the Flame-Chasers—kept watching attentively.
When the Villain said she could defeat Corruption alone,
The True Self didn't argue. She just nodded slightly.
"Of course."
She didn't doubt the Villain's ability—after all, the Villain possessed half of Vill-V's talents.
And it was precisely because she knew the Villain's skills and intentions
That the True Self had outmaneuvered her.
Thinking about it, it seemed no matter how things developed, Corruption was already cornered.
Just as Kevin had said—defeating Herrschers wasn't difficult for the Flame-Chasers (except for Pardofelis).
Poor Corruption.
Even Hokuto probably didn't anticipate that players would make such associations—
Or that they'd still have the capacity to feel sympathy for Corruption right now.
But no worries—their sympathy would soon evaporate, and…
Their blood pressure would skyrocket even more than when the Villain destroyed Cat Cat.
"But that obviously wouldn't have been the best ending for everyone. You are me, so of course you understand the weight of that promise."
"Hmph…"
The Villain snorted lightly. She had nothing more to say.
"So, this is it?"
"Yes. Farewell."
The True Self was indeed especially polite.
Even though she had just calculated and defeated the Villain,
She still felt sweet and gentle—an unexpected contrast.
As for the Villain's parting words—she spoke coldly just before her form faded.
"Farewell? Hmph. You better… pray that it doesn't come to that…"
[A piece of soul faded quietly into nothing...]
[This scene gives serious déjà vu of Kiana vs. the Herrscher of the Void. And why is this Villain acting just as stubborn as the Herrscher?]
[Another tsundere personality?]
[The Villain, V2V, and the Herrscher were arrogant. Tsundere was totally Veliona.]
[I just can't stand how confused Seele always is!!]
What the Villain said before vanishing indeed resembled what the Herrscher had once said to Kiana.
And when the form that once falsely symbolized the Villain completely vanished,
It left behind a single obsidian crystal flower beneath her feet.
Crystal flowers were something all players were very familiar with.
Ever since the story in Elysian Realm began, the Flame-Chasers often mentioned them.
However, the true function of crystal flowers remained a mystery.
So upon seeing this "drop," players were surprised—but not especially excited.
Had they known how emotional and meaningful its purpose truly was—
It would have sparked a very different reaction.
Because that moment was one of the most splendid, most romantic, and most Elysia-like segments in all of Elysian Realm's story.
"…As I thought… I'm still not good at looking someone in the eye."
The True Self murmured, gently sighing as she bent down to solemnly place the dark flower in her palm.
"Leaving this with you is the safest choice. After all… only I can stop you."
The implication being: even if the Villain, who possessed only half of Vill-V's talents,
Was formidable—only she, the True Self, could defeat her.
Slick boast.
After this, the True Self handed the crystal flower to Mei, and asked her to go find Eden.
Mei accepted it, but didn't move immediately. She looked at the True Self, worried.
"Vill-V, you…"
"Ah, probably beyond saving, right? We expected this before we even set out."
This was the cost of defeating the Villain.
The True Self had split her consciousness too many times.
Now, V2V had degenerated from a central body to mere limbs.
A spider can lose legs, but not its torso.
So—she could only face death.
But the True Self didn't seem especially sad about it.
Perhaps death really wasn't something to fear for the Flame-Chasers?
Players thought of Brother Kalpas, of Snake-sis, of Kevin…
They realized each of them faced death with such… calm?
Except...
[Wait a sec!! If Vill-V dies, who's going to bring Cat Cat back?!]
[You guys didn't say it, but I almost forgot—what about Cat Cat?! If she's not rescued soon, I'm afraid Kevin's going to freeze her to death.]
[Don't panic. With all this foreshadowing, even if Vill-V's gone, there's no way Cat Cat won't be revived.]
Indeed.
Pardofelis would definitely be revived.
But… for how long? That's another story.
Because...
[A person's fate… is their personality.]
...
The True Self then calmly began to tell Mei about the second matter—
How to defeat the Herrscher of Corruption.
"When we constructed Elysian Realm, the experts instinctively left behind a program. In a certain sense, it really can destroy the Herrscher of Corruption."
"But whether it was intentional or not… by the time we realized it, the Herrscher of Corruption had already eliminated the correct threat, making the program's one and only activation condition void."
One and only activation condition?
Corruption eliminated the correct threat?
In players' minds, a familiar image of a pink-haired cutie surfaced.
Elysia?
Was it her?
The True Self's next words confirmed what everyone had guessed.
"You see, Elysia is always like this—both the beginning, and the end of everything."
A straightforward unveiling of the truth.
No more riddles in the Elysian Realm plot.
But some players noticed a hole in this logic.
[Wait, didn't Elysia already… how can she reappear to end all this chaos?]
[Which means what?! It means Elysia didn't die! Elysia's really not dead!]
[No way. The True Self already said Corruption erased Elysia's data completely. You think Corruption went soft just because she's pretty?]
[But… if that's true, doesn't it break the continuity of the story?]
Players were confused.
Until someone offered a theory.
[What if—even though Corruption did delete Elysia's data—the Flame-Chasers have a special way to bring her back?]
[Time to pull out my "Fusion Theory" again! Since all the Flame-Chasers in Elysian Realm are memory constructs, what if everyone extracted their own memories of Elysia, pieced them together—and reconstructed her?]
Elysia, currently streaming live, glanced at the chat as viewers debated whether she would be resurrected—and how.
She thought of the Faded Fairy.
But… something didn't quite feel right.
Her instincts told her—
The Faded Fairy was definitely not the same fairy everyone once knew.
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