Knock-knock-knock—
After her conversation with Kevin, Lynelle quickly returned to the Elysian Realm and knocked on Seele's door.
After all, even though Kevin hadn't specified exactly when they should set out, from the way he described the situation, it was clearly a matter of "the sooner, the better."
Moreover, if things followed the original storyline, Kevin might even go there personally.
If Lynelle moved too slowly… by the time she reached Nagazora City, she might already see a purple electric dragon wreaking havoc.
"Big Sister Vill-V, is the experiment starting again… Huh? Big Sister Lynelle?"
The door opened quickly, and a small head poked out, still yawning. When she saw it was Lynelle, Seele couldn't help but pause in surprise.
Over the past month or so of training in the Elysian Realm, Lynelle had rarely disturbed Seele during her practice or rest periods.
According to Lynelle, when it came to guiding successors, the Flame-Chasers each had their own specialties.
Not to mention, Seele had even found a split-off "instructor" personality from Vill-V—though, based on Lynelle's observations, this might very well have been something Vill-V intentionally guided her toward.
After all, it was already a foregone conclusion that Seele's two personalities would eventually separate.
Something like Kiana and Sirin seamlessly operating the same core with dual personalities was probably unheard of across both eras of history.
More importantly, for Seele, she could never allow her other self to remain in a state where 'the world only consists of herself'.
Under these circumstances, the memories related to personality division held by this instructor personality became especially precious for Seele.
"Big Sister Lynelle, is something the matter?"
"Well…" Lynelle thought for a moment, deciding not to directly state the mission.
Instead, she approached it from the side: "Seele, after this past month together, how do you feel about the Flame-Chasers?"
"Why suddenly ask about that…" Seele blinked.
"Big Sister Vill-V may have more split personalities than I do, and she's quite strict with me, but I can tell she really cares about me; Big Sister Elysia likes me a lot too, though she loves holding me like a doll, which makes my other self a bit uneasy; and then there's Brother Kalpas… he looks fierce, but he's actually a very gentle person…"
"Then, Seele," Lynelle suddenly spoke up, "if I told you that you could leave the Elysian Realm now… what would you choose?"
"Huh?!"
Seele let out a sharp gasp of surprise.
"Just now, Kevin gave us a mission: to go to Nagazora City, help Raiden Mei complete her Herrscher ascension, deal with the possible Honkai Beast tides and Imaginary Singularity disturbances there, and… we might also have some conflicts with Otto along the way."
"But, we can set aside the mission details for now. The key point is, if you want to leave the Elysian Realm… this is an opportunity."
"I told you before we came to World Serpent that Kevin wouldn't stop you from leaving. If you want to go back, now's the time to say your goodbyes to the Flame-Chasers."
"…"
Contrary to Lynelle's expectations, Seele fell into an unusual silence.
"Big Sister Lynelle, could you give me a little time? This is… rather sudden. I… want to discuss it with my other self."
"Of course." Lynelle patted Seele's head.
"I'll give you two some space then. The mission is time-sensitive, and before we depart, I still need to go see someone."
"Mm, thank you, Big Sister Lynelle."
Seele nodded obediently, then withdrew her consciousness inward.
"Hey, scaredy-cat, didn't you always want to go back and see your 'Big Sister'? Why are you hesitating now?"
As soon as she entered the inner mindscape, Dark Seele's voice rang out.
"Because…"
Seele's voice was hesitant too. "I feel like… I'm still not strong enough. I can't protect everyone yet…"
"I originally thought that if I could fully master the power of the Herrscher core, I'd be able to help Big Sister Bronya, but… even now, when we've grasped a portion of the core's power and have the Elysian Realm's own amplification systems, we still can't defeat Big Sister Vill-V and the others during sparring. We might not even have made them take us seriously."
"When I sparred with Brother Kalpas, I could clearly tell he was holding back."
"When he fights Big Sister Lynelle, the intensity of his flames increases by a huge margin. After over a month of training, the only Flame-Chaser we might be able to beat… is probably Big Sister Pardo…"
"Can a Seele like this really help Big Sister Bronya and Big Sister Lynelle?"
"There are so many memory fragments from the Previous Era in the Elysian Realm, plus those enemies from the Previous Era we've seen before… Have we really reached a level of strength where we can go back and enjoy peaceful days with Big Sister Bronya?"
If this were before, Dark Seele would have confidently declared that she would protect Seele. But unfortunately, in the examples Seele just mentioned, Dark Seele was responsible for a large part of them.
Like when sparring with Kalpas—Dark Seele had once demanded he go all out, and the result was… she was knocked out cold in less than a minute.
"And… about the records in the Elysian Realm, the secrets left behind by the Previous Era, Big Sister Lynelle's origins… I don't want to give up on those either."
"The history of the Previous Era must hold great significance for our fight against the Honkai. So, I want to learn more, grow stronger, and then return to see Big Sister Bronya."
"Hey…" Dark Seele's voice sounded resigned. "It sounds like you've already made up your mind from the start."
"But, we are both Seele," Seele said earnestly.
"Even if I already have an idea, I still need your agreement… We are one. I won't make any decisions without you."
"You dummy… if you put it that way, how can I refuse?" Dark Seele let out a soft huff.
"But, if you want to defeat the Flame-Chasers, you'll have to work a lot harder. From what I know, it's not just Kalpas—even Vill-V has more than one hidden personality… And the ones she shows on the surface probably aren't the ones truly in charge of combat."
"Or rather, while the Conductor is skilled in battle, that's definitely not the full extent of her strength."
"I'll keep doing my best!"
Seele nodded firmly, her resolve solidified.
"But… where did Big Sister Lynelle go? She didn't say where to find her just now…"
So, where was Lynelle at that moment?
The answer was… the Deep End.
After being in the Elysian Realm for so long, she had finally met, for the first time, the one who had been avoiding her all this while—the being who could be called the strongest psychic-type MANTIS in history: Aponia.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.