As mentioned earlier, ever since MEI stepped onto the Path of Erudition and awakened the special ability known as "Incorporeal Might," she had never told anyone what else it could do besides move objects from a distance.
Now, she was revealing one of its other functions before everyone's eyes.
Bzzzz...
Vill-V's original body and Sim Vill-V were still bound by Pardo's Emanator-level Path Power.
Neither of them could resist.
MEI had deliberately chosen this moment to act.
Before the crowd's astonished eyes, translucent figures were forcibly torn from the two Vill-Vs, one after another.
They were consciousnesses.
Every personality partitioned within the two Vill-Vs had been extracted from its physical vessel and suspended in midair as an ethereal figure.
The sight was almost like...
"The Human Path's soul-extraction ability from that ninja series?"
"No, it resembles the astral projection used by Mystic Arts sorcerers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe."
"And apparently... heh... it has other applications too."
Aboard the Stellaron Train, Ling Ke casually analyzed what he was seeing.
Regardless of what MEI's Incorporeal Might most closely resembled, however, she had succeeded. All of the consciousnesses housed within the two Vill-Vs had been extracted from their bodies.
"You..."
Even without physical bodies, the ethereal Vill-Vs could still speak, and everyone present could clearly see the shock written across their faces.
MEI remained unmoved.
"Aponia."
She suddenly addressed the nun standing nearby.
"Do you remember how you eliminated the Herrscher of Sentience back then?"
"..."
Aponia did not answer.
Meanwhile, the other consciousness residing within Fu Hua's body, Xiao Shi, inexplicably felt as though she had been caught in the crossfire.
Naturally, no one else noticed that small reaction.
After a moment, Aponia finally nodded.
"I remember."
"Then please lend me your strength."
MEI delivered what she believed to be the correct judgment.
"Eliminate these traitors. All of them."
Her gaze swept across the disembodied Vill-Vs.
"My power can only transfer a person's consciousness. It cannot directly erase one."
She appeared to be revealing the true nature of Incorporeal Might.
And perhaps she was telling the truth.
Even so, it was obvious that she was downplaying the full extent of the ability.
After all, the word "transfer" covered an extremely broad range of possibilities.
Just then...
"Must every Vill-V consciousness be eliminated?"
Sim Su, who had already stepped onto the Path of Nihility, spoke up.
In truth, she felt no goodwill toward either Vill-V. She completely rejected what they had done.
Members of the Original Su's family had also died in the previous disaster. Strictly speaking, that made Sim Su and the Vill-Vs enemies.
Even so...
"Should we perhaps..."
"No."
MEI cut her off before she could finish.
She stared directly at Sim Su, whose eyes remained gently closed.
"We no longer need people who make unilateral decisions without telling anyone."
"Billions died this time alone."
"How many more times do you want something like this to happen?"
"How many more times can we survive it?"
At that moment, MEI seemed to attain a new and terrible clarity.
Unknown to everyone around her, she had already resolved to kill another person who had acted in the same manner, and who had begun doing so even earlier.
Sim Mobius.
MEI no longer intended to continue their secret collaboration.
She would eliminate every remaining source of instability.
Then...
"Aponia."
MEI called her name again, this time as a sharp warning.
"Have you gone soft?"
Her chilling gaze settled on the nun.
"Or are you planning to act unilaterally too?"
"..."
Aponia once again fell silent.
After a long pause...
"Sigh..."
She released a deep, weary breath.
"Actually, I..."
"Do it."
One of the Vill-Vs suspended in midair suddenly spoke.
She was powerless to resist. More accurately, she no longer had any intention of resisting.
It was the "Id" Vill-V, the sole consciousness that had remained untouched by "Pure Evil."
"My purpose has been fulfilled."
Her voice was very soft. She had never been someone who could speak loudly or argue passionately.
"My function has served its purpose."
"In that case, I no longer need to exist."
Yet, in that final moment...
"It is a shame that I won't be able to see the future."
MEI's gaze sharpened.
Aponia merely stared up at the Vill-Vs in silence.
After a long while...
"I understand."
The nun had made her choice.
She spoke without another moment of hesitation.
"Miss Vill-V... all of you."
"I 'request' that your consciousnesses..."
"DISAPPEAR NOW!!!"
Half a day later...
"...And that is almost everything I know."
They were still gathered inside the training ground of the Newborn World Serpent's backup base.
The two unconscious bodies left behind by the Vill-Vs had been cryogenically sealed and placed under strict containment.
By acting so decisively, MEI had severed several of the chains of hatred running through the organization.
Kevin's.
Kosma's.
And her own.
Aponia had withdrawn to one side. For now, she seemed content to observe everything in silence.
Kiana was similarly quiet, remaining beside the unconscious Theresa and continuing to care for her.
Under those circumstances, everyone's attention naturally settled upon a certain cat-girl(?).
After the Sims left the Elysian Realm, Pardo had been one of only two Flame-Chasers who had not joined the Newborn World Serpent.
The other was Sim Mobius, who had chosen to act alone and had personally killed her original body.
Pardo, by contrast, had simply vanished from everyone's radar.
Naturally, they all wanted to know what she had experienced during that time.
More importantly, where had she obtained the overwhelming teleportation ability that even the two Vill-Vs and all their allies had been powerless to resist?
Faced with those questions, Pardo made no attempt to conceal the truth.
She understood that the situation had grown far too dire for any of them to keep unnecessary secrets.
And so, she told them everything that had happened to her.
The revelations were staggering.
First, she explained how she had originally planned to ignore the world's troubles and quietly enjoy her precious second life with Can-chan the Cat.
Then she told them how she had secretly helped ordinary people survive the global Cold Wave.
After that came the moment Bastet, the Aeon of Harmony, selected her and transformed her into an Emanator of Harmony.
Using that newfound power, she had created temporary teleportation gates across the world and rescued even more survivors.
And there was still more.
"I see."
Once their initial shock subsided, MEI and the others began to understand the greater implications of Pardo's story.
They learned of Bastet and the existence of the Path of Harmony.
They learned about the "Three Rules" Ling Ke had imposed upon Pardo.
They learned that Ling Ke's status stood even above that of an Aeon.
They learned that the Herrscher of Blood had already secured her victory.
And finally, they learned that Earth's crust would undergo a catastrophic displacement in three years.
Such an overwhelming flood of information was difficult for anyone to process all at once.
MEI, however, quickly began formulating a new plan.
She looked directly at the cat-girl(?) who had become an Emanator of Harmony.
"Pardo."
"Uh..."
Pardo scratched her head uneasily.
"I knew coming here would mean getting dragged into a whole mountain of work, but..."
She offered MEI a nervous smile.
"Please take it easy on me, okay? I really don't know what counts as 'breaking the rules' right now."
Under MEI's steady gaze, she was visibly flustered.
"Don't worry. I won't ask you to do anything that violates those rules."
MEI answered calmly.
"First, I have no means of forcing you."
"Second, you are extremely important to us now."
Her tone grew more solemn.
"Far more important than you realize."
Pardo blinked at her.
"The next matter involves neither the Herrschers nor the Cocoon of Finality," MEI continued. "The restriction Ling Ke placed upon you states that, until the Trial ends, your maximum teleportation range is limited to the Earth-Moon System."
She turned and surveyed everyone gathered around her.
"Therefore, I believe we should relocate immediately."
"We will establish our new base on the Moon."
"From now on, all travel between Earth and the Moon will be handled through Pardo's teleportation ability."
"As long as Aponia maintains a detection perimeter, we can prevent the Herrscher of Blood's Spawn from infiltrating our base. We will also be protected from surprise attacks by the Herrscher of Thunder and the Herrscher of Stars."
Everyone's gaze converged on MEI.
Kevin's expression became particularly strange.
Establish a base on the Moon?
Does that mean... "that place" might be reactivated?
Recently, their faction had internally confirmed a crucial fact.
When Ling Ke completed his so-called "Project Broken Branch," only Earth's time had been reversed.
The rest of the Solar System, including the Moon, should have remained untouched.
Kevin was one of the few people who understood what that might mean.
"That is indeed a good idea."
As a Returnee who knew part of the inside story, he nodded and immediately endorsed MEI's proposal.
However...
"MEI."
The original Elysia spoke up.
"Are you planning to abandon everyone else on Earth?"
"No, Elysia. You have misunderstood me."
MEI shook her head.
"Over the next three years, as long as our actions do not involve directly confronting the Herrschers, we can use Pardo's teleportation ability to rescue people from Earth in batches."
Her gaze remained steady.
"The Moon will not be our escape from humanity."
"It will be humanity's final line of defense."