A Golden Core Realm cultivator is the equivalent of a planetary nuke. I sent five of them to Otto. There's no problem with them beating him up first before Kiana utilizes her Void Renormalization power.
For now, the matter at hand is more important.
It took another second to appear at the Elysian Realm's entrance.
"..."
"Hello."
I greeted the stunned Gray Serpent avatar.
"You… aren't supposed to be here."
Unlike the cold and mechanical Gray Serpent I faced, his voice is more expressive.
"Yet I am here. Meeting you today is fate."
"..."
He simply gave way to us three. When he saw my questioning looks, he replied:
"It's meaningless to prevent you from breaking in. I am made of old cogs."
"..."
It is my turn to be speechless.
I know him. He is the Gray Serpent who is the closest to Raven. He is the most humane of them all, going as far as to sacrifice himself to contain the Herrscher of Corruption. He also cared for the children brought by Raven.
Before entering the simulation world, I left behind some words.
"Project STIGMA won't succeed."
"..."
After sending the message to the Gray Serpent network, we stepped inside.
Buzz-!
The world changed in a blink. The disorienting sensation attempted to overwhelm my senses, but to no avail. The same went for Seele and Veliona. We resisted the 'force' that attempted to transport us elsewhere, leaving us in this world filled with 0's and 1's.
I saw traces of copying the Sea of Quanta's chaotic nature, but to a smaller scale. It only houses the six-dimensional plane, too.
Nonetheless…
We bugged the system.
I took matters into my own hands. A swipe of my fingertip revealed a slit leading to the other side.
Seele looked around with familiarity. She soon noticed my looks.
"I visited this place a couple of times. Most of them are eccentric, mostly the Miss Pink Elf."
"..."
I knew what she wanted to talk about.
Thinking of the Elysia I knew, it wasn't far off. What she wanted the most is to be an ordinary girl. It is why she likes ordinary girls as she sees her ideal self on them.
Honkai Impact 3rd has a lot of nuances only the players themselves would understand. To the eyes of others, they come off as eccentric and, like Seele's description, a sexual offender.
"Hm..?"
Speak of the devil.
The place we landed in is Elysia's "Realm". Each Flamechaser has a separate space inside the Elysian Realm.
The Miss Pink Elf looked at us in confusion.
"There isn't much time left for explanations. Seele." I called out to her.
"Um."
The Bubble World inside of her turned active. Waves of energy belonging to the Sea of Quanta came from her. The energy is huge enough to cause instability inside the Elysian Realm.
Although, it did not last for long.
A perfectly identical Elysia manifested in front of us. She did not say anything as she stared at the simulated Elysia. The latter did not say anything as well.
After some time, the simulated Elysia broke her silence.
"I did not expect to entrust it to you. I was looking for a beautiful girl to pass it on to."
"That is a specific requirement." I replied.
"You will work fine. As long as you dress up as a g…"
"No."
I expressed my firm refusal, though I knew she was just joking.
"I am not joking."
"..."
"Just kidding~"
I finally understood why Mobius had troubles handling Elysia's teasing attempts.
"This would have been easier if we met at the right conditions."
Her sigh turned into these words of regret.
"Who said I can't bring you and the compass to Project STIGMA's space?"
"Ah~?"
Despite being confused, her head tilt remained very cute.
"Hold my hand."
"How bold~"
"Yes, yes." I added, "Even you, too."
The Bubble World Elysia was startled.
"You are not satisfied with one Elysia. You wanted to have two?"
"Two is better than one."
"..."
It is my shamelessness that trumped Elysia this time.
With a swipe of my hand, the Origin Beacon hidden inside the Elysian Realm manifested atop my palm in the form of a glowing white orb.
Buzz-!
In front of my eyes, the two Elysias gained a 'physical substance'. Her power fell short by a huge mark. This is where I come in.
Bright red flames surrounded my body. The [Nine Lives Burning Samsara Art] worked wonders, transforming my "lifespan" into a tangible power.
The hundred-meters tall Dharma Avatar appeared behind me. It exists in a semi-transparent state. The burning flames gradually converged into its chest.
Due to my Nascent Soul Realm breakthrough, the required lifespan to bridge the gap to the Divine Transformation Realm decreased. Five thousand years is all it took to empower my Dharma Avatar.
Swoosh-!
The avatar itself collapsed into crumbs of white light before converging into a circular shape. It took form into a halo of sorts.
The crown represented the [Divine Realm].
"Wait here for a while."
"..."
Seele's gaze coalesced into strong possessiveness. Her jealousy seeped through her eyes.
"That girl loves you a lot."
"And she's not the only one."
"Oh~? This is starting to sound more interesting."
The joint attack of two Elysias threatened my side once again.
Not wanting to face them anymore, I utilized the Divine Laws within my [Divine Realm] to form a stable bridge towards Project STIGMA's imaginary space.
The space slit in front of us turned into a huge crack. The other side revealed a vast expanse of bright orange light.
The last bit of my power was used to strengthen the two Elysias' connection towards somewhere. Their physical forms became more solid.
Right after I was finished, a sense of loss welled up inside of me. My entire being felt weakened.
""Are you alright?""
The two Elysias asked at the same time.
"Yes. It will take some time to recover… but we should head there now."
Just like that, we treaded back to the Imaginary Space.
*****
"This power."
Far away on the Moon, Kevin oversaw Earth's changes.The Will of Honkai no longer existed; the fragment of Finality gained by the Previous Era's backdoor ended up in his hands.
As he had expected, the Finality Fragment is a powerful yet destructive authority. The rejection he bore alone aimed to destroy every fiber of his being. He only managed to take hold of it after using all of his remaining strength.
A part of Finality's Fragment flowed towards Hare, the core of Project STIGMA. This further helped Kevin cope with its burden.
"I am not mistaken."
He recalled his prior discoveries within Shi Tian. A part of his power belonged to other worlds. That darkness, aiming to dissolve all things into meaninglessness, can end humanity in an instant.
However, there was something that held it back—the mental power of a peak Void Refinement Realm cultivator.
Despite not being a complete Void Refinement Realm power, that alone is enough to suppress Nihility's power. It demonstrated the full-might and potential of immortal cultivators. It is also the main reason why Kevin became more lenient with humanity.
He saw a new future through immortal cultivation.
Project STIGMA serves as its final hurdle. If they can get past it—and Kevin—he is more than willing to accept their means of defeating the honkai.
Everything that Shi Tian did within the Elysian Realm did not elude his eyes. The Divine Transformation Authority is inferior with Finality itself, but it is stronger than anything else.
Finality's Fragment made Kevin realize that there are still a lot of things they missed out in the Previous Era. His judgement no longer remained as resolute as before.
For the first time in a long time, he started to have expectations.
Whatever outcome may remain in the end…
"I will see to it."