After her healing attempt failed, Elysia dejectedly left the Life Flower Field, and her life soon settled back into its familiar routine.
During the day, she would idly hang around the White Tower, occasionally offering Baldy Burke ideas that made his scalp tingle. In the evenings, she would chat with the Scholar via video call.
Beyond this, she frequently visited the Prophet. Having given up on curing her, she now sought methods to induce sleep, seal her away, or otherwise prolong her life.
"I can't save you now," Elysia said, "but who knows what the future holds!"
Though she didn't know which Identity the Masquerade System would grant her next, if it lacked healing abilities, she could simply wait for the one after that, or even the one after that. There had to be another chance eventually, right?
Upon hearing this, the Prophet simply smiled serenely and said a single word: "Alright."
How could anyone possibly harbor ill will toward someone who was working so tirelessly to save their life?
Finally, as the one-month deadline approached, the Prophet acquired a specially crafted magical coffin from the United Egyptian States. It could preserve the user's life by effectively suspending time.
Meanwhile, in Sakura Prefecture, research progress had surged thanks to the Scholar's transmission of comprehensive data on Dimensional Rifts from Little Glutton's World before its destruction. However, they were still far from Elysia's goal of establishing a stable method for discovering other Otherworlds.
After all, Little Glutton's World had only managed to map the coordinates of ten other worlds before its demise, underscoring the immense difficulty of this endeavor.
As time flowed onward, the completion percentage of Elysia's True Self in the System steadily increased. The only noteworthy event during this period was the commencement of the new White Eagle Eight Election following the stabilization of the White Eagle's political situation.
To fill the vacancies left by the "Wizard" and "Hunter," the frontrunner was a young man named Harold Wendell.
The name alone might not ring any bells; even Elysia didn't recognize it. Yet, incredibly, Harold sought her out specifically before departing for the White Eagle Eight Election. With unwavering confidence, he declared, "Lady Elysia, I will succeed!"
Elysia, who had been lounging on the sofa, idly scrolling through her phone, looked utterly bewildered, her cute mouth slightly agape. "...Huh?"
Harold Wendell, an "ordinary" superhuman from Elysia's White Tower and one of the earliest members of the Church of Elysia, might not immediately ring a bell. But perhaps this will: wasn't he one of the siblings Elysia rescued from a monster summoned by the Eldritch Concord shortly after her arrival?
At the time, Elysia had saved Harold and his sister, Faye Wendell. Overwhelmed with gratitude, young Harold vowed to become stronger and repay Lady Elysia for her kindness.
From that day forward, Harold threw himself into handling Dimensional Rift disasters. Just as someone had once held an umbrella over him in the rain, he now dedicated himself to shielding others, helping as many people in need as possible.
Perhaps due to his innate talent or sheer good fortune, Harold steadily grew stronger, step by step, until he reached his current position.
Now a leading candidate for the White Eagle Eight, Harold's rise might seem like a coincidence—or perhaps not.
Elysia had helped so many people and was so widely admired that even without Harold, there would likely have been another "Haarold" or "Haaarold."
Theoretically, given the current political landscape of White Eagle, the next elected member of the White Eagle Eight was highly likely to be one of Elysia's fans.
This realization struck Elysia sharply. If this young man were to succeed, his fervent adoration for her would likely mean that getting him to relinquish control of his territory would be as easy as asking.
Wouldn't that mean half of White Eagle's eight territories would fall directly or indirectly under her control?
Good heavens! White Eagle, originally a parliamentary confederation, was essentially transforming into a semi-autocracy under her influence!
One of the world's five great powers, with half its political power concentrated in a single person's hands—her own power would be absolute, enough to cover the heavens. Elysia's only thought was:
Baldy Burke is going to work himself to death, isn't he?
While some might become consumed by power, losing themselves in its intoxicating allure, Elysia was clearly an exception. Compared to the exhausting daily grind of striving to make the nation even greater, she found far more appeal in staying home, lounging in bed, and waking up naturally.
Life continued in its relatively peaceful rhythm, but Elysia could clearly sense the frequency of Dimensional Rifts increasing.
In the Dragon Nation, for instance, where each city had previously experienced one Rift per month, the rate had now doubled to two. This directly resulted in the Longcheng Bureau of Anomalous Investigations becoming noticeably busier, with Zhong Wanhong's team embarking on missions far more often.
While most Dimensional Rifts in White Eagle were handled by its citizens, Elysia still intervened frequently, helping to resolve numerous cases.
Even SAM, who had vanished for some time, reappeared, streaking across the skies of the European Union to assist with particularly troublesome Rifts.
Finally, at the end of the sixth month since Robin and Elysia had met the Prophet and obtained the terminal, a ray of morning sunlight streamed through the window, landing on Elysia's cheek. Her eyebrows twitched slightly, then she abruptly rolled over, turning her back to the light. Clutching the blanket tightly between her legs and chest, she squinted for another ten minutes before slowly sitting up.
The moment she opened her eyes, the System interface materialized before her:
Beautiful Girl Masquerade System at your service.
Host: Mu Heng
Current Identities: Robin, Firefly, Sparkle, Elysia
Current Objectives: Songstress (Completed), Iron Cavalry (Completed), Elation (Completed), True Self (Completed)
All objectives have been completed. Draw a new Identity?
Yes/No
After more than half a year, the True Self progress bar had finally reached its maximum. Wearing an utterly languid expression and letting out a soft yawn, she silently selected "Yes" in her mind.
Drawing in progress... Please wait...
After all this time, I can finally draw a new Identity!