Elysia said: "I know. Everyone thinks the same way. First a comrade, then everything else. I've always believed that."
"What a group of people who say one thing and mean another."
Elysia smiled as she looked toward the anchor point. Her gaze inadvertently crossed with Mei's nearby, as if speaking to her across time and space: "Mei, you have to keep going too. You need to break through that barrier soon."
"Because what lies beyond isn't just the truth—it's everyone's acknowledgment and trust."
Hearing these words.
Pardofelis looked at Elysia with some reluctance: "Ellie-nee…"
Mei, however, remained calmly rational: "There are no more clues here. Let's move forward."
They arrived at a new memory scene.
It was precisely the conversation between Hua and Su.
Pardofelis asked: "Could this be what Hua wanted to tell us~?"
Mei shook her head: "Let's first hear what they're saying."
Hua asked Su: "Are you alright? Su."
Su nodded: "Mm, I've already located Kalpas. He's still nearby."
"Sorry, due to the special nature of the memory space, the Xu Mi Mustard Seed can't exert its original effect—"
"I couldn't trap Kalpas in a world bubble. I could only teleport him to somewhere in the Realm and restrain him until he calms down."
Hua asked: "In that case… why don't we go see him directly?"
Su said: "Even if conflict is unavoidable when facing him while his anger hasn't subsided, I still hope to leave some room for buffering."
He paused. The earlier simulation surfaced in his mind once again.
"Compared to Kalpas's attitude, his trustworthiness as a stance is far more important."
"No matter what, among the Flame-Chasers, there truly is someone with ulterior motives. Even among those present just now, we can't easily trust everyone completely."
"But the betrayer is absolutely not Kalpas—that's an easy consensus to reach."
Hua nodded: "Indeed."
"So in other words… what you did was actually to protect him?"
Su said: "It's not quite protection… but Kalpas's words and actions earlier, if exploited by someone with ill intent, would be sufficient pretext to sideline him or even eliminate him outright."
"But for us, people we can trust… are crucial."
"However, while you and I can understand that, Kalpas… may not think the same way. After all, there are still irreconcilable contradictions between us."
Hua asked: "Then… what about me?"
"Do you trust me? Although I can understand your intention in asking me to come along, I don't think I have sufficient reason to be fully trusted either."
"I don't want to say it outright, but… Hua, you do have the right to know."
Su fell silent for a moment before confessing: "If, at a necessary moment, I need to rely on my special status in the Realm to suppress… or even erase a certain memory body, you would be the one for whom I pay the smallest price."
After some further exchange.
They resolved to confront Kalpas.
Su directly released him.
They had expected an enraged, flame-engulfed Kalpas, but he looked at the two with exceptional calm.
That stillness seemed too out of place on him, even startling.
Su said: "Good that you're alright."
Kalpas snorted coldly: "Hmph! If you'd made me wait any longer, that might not have been the case."
"What, no guts to face me directly, huh?"
Su said: "Because it wasn't necessary. No matter what, we're glad to see you safe and sound… and that the conflict didn't escalate further."
Kalpas said: "You want to say… putting the bigger picture first, right?"
"Pah, don't use words like that on me—it makes me sick!"
"How many people have you killed with that excuse? A hundred thousand? A million? Hmph… In the end, I'm the one who's the indiscriminate killer, is that it? Hm?"
"Let me tell you—I have no interest in cooperating with you. One such experience was enough."
"As for what I'm going to do next… stance doesn't matter to me at all. I don't care."
Su said: "Kalpas, both Kevin and Elysia have already met with misfortune. Right now, in the field of frontal combat, you are the indispensable number one."
"Oh?"
Kalpas looked toward Hua, who had remained silent until now.
"You knew, yet you only brought her along. Do you really think you two can convince me?"
"One frail and weak… one at the end of her rope…"
Su said: "But you know I still have cards left unplayed. Moreover… since you've already calmed down, we don't necessarily have to go that far."
"Like you, I don't want to suspect SAKURA, but I've exhausted every effort in tracing back… Among the Flame-Chasers, only your and her data showed anomalies. This is indisputable."
"Therefore, if we want to find the truth, I must seek your help."
"Up to this moment, I still can't probe SAKURA's data, but you… are no longer anomalous. That's why I questioned you earlier—"
"Kalpas, you've seen SAKURA. At least… you were in the same space as her at some point, right?"
"…"
Kalpas asked coldly: "What else do you know?"
Su said: "Let Hua fill in the rest. It was her reminder that made me realize I'd overlooked this possibility."
Hua said: "Since SAKURA's data didn't disappear but showed anomalies… perhaps her anomaly isn't in herself, but in the space after she used that sword technique."
Su nodded: "Exactly. And why she swung that sword—is the key to everything."
Kalpas said: "Looks like you're not that stupid after all."
"Just the same as before… looking down from on high, thinking you can hide anything from everyone."
"You're not the first to notice. The night SAKURA went missing, I already received the special signal exclusive to Cocoon of Venom."
Hua asked urgently: "What was the content?"
Kalpas said: "A plea for help…"
"As always, right? Whether it's toward her little sister or herself… you always first suspect someone… who needs others to save her."
"So noble, so noble! Watching you all, I'd rather be a beast."
Su asked: "In other words, you believe SAKURA was also one of the victims of an attack?"
"And after that? During the period when your data also became anomalous, what happened?"
Kalpas said: "I went to the location the signal pointed to."
"But aside from this mask, there was nothing there."
Mei followed Kalpas and the others' line of sight.
It was a mask stained with blood.
Hua said: "This design… it's Cocoon of Venom's mask?"
Kalpas said: "Only when carrying out special missions does Forget-Me-Not wear it."
"And only when the mission is complete does she take it off of her own accord."
"—Of her own accord, understand?"
Su's earlier judgment had been: either dead or turned enemy.
He said: "It matches what I judged before. That's why you've been sticking close without leaving, right."
Kalpas snorted: "Hmph… Don't think I care that much about your judgment. I just want to make you all convinced."
"Come on. Aren't you very special in the Realm…? Tell me, whose blood exactly is on this?"
"…"
After examining it, Su let out a long sigh, seemingly unsure what to do next.
Because he understood—this easiest-to-follow and most crucial lead had broken here.
Everything they had done in this place had merely brought them back to square one.
"…It's Elysia's."
Silence followed.
Kalpas laughed in fury: "…Ha… Hahahahahaha!"
"In the end, the fool… turns out to be me?"
Su hurriedly said: "I understand how you feel right now, Kalpas, but…"
Kalpas shouted: "Enough! To think I was stupid enough to try proving SAKURA's innocence using your methods…"
"Since that's the case…"
"What you didn't finish discussing back then is now over."
"And what I couldn't finish doing back then… should continue now, right?"
At this point, Hua stepped forward directly to stand in front of Su.
Seeing this segment of memory.
Pardofelis felt especially pained: "Mei-nee, it can't be SAKURA…"
Mei said: "Pardo, nothing can be confirmed yet. We're only trying to clear their suspicions."
And next—
Kalpas used Su's attack to tear open a rift in the Elysian Realm and jumped in alone.
The scene before them changed again, like gradually melting snow—becoming dim and distorted. At the same time, another layer of scenery struggled to leap into view.
Pardofelis asked urgently: "Mei-nee, what's happening?"
Mei guessed: "A deeper memory is surfacing from the depths of consciousness, clashing with this peaceful recollection."
"…I'm afraid this is the emergency Hua wanted to tell us about."
The blurred scene gradually became clear.
Mei finally recognized where she was.
Mobius's laboratory—she had once fought a difficult battle here.
At this moment, the entire lab was enveloped in dead silence. The experimental data that once flowed endlessly across the light screens had turned into indecipherable garbled code.
"This is…"
"Mei-nee, wait for me."
Mei didn't have time to respond.
As if sensing something, she followed the memory's owner and rushed into the laboratory…
Then, there, deep within the lab…
They found Mobius.
Or rather… what had once been Mobius. What met their eyes was shattered debris everywhere, and familiar wreckage floating in a sea of black sludge.
"Ah… ah…" Pardofelis couldn't believe the sight.
"What?!"
Mei was equally shocked.
Amid the flickering, unstable streams of garbled data, only the last faint afterimage of Mobius remained.
Hua asked urgently: "Mobius, what happened?"
Su stopped her: "Hua, don't get close yet!"
Seeing Hua and Su burst through the door, the corners of Mobius's mouth curled into a mocking arc. Her lips moved slightly.
Immediately after, that afterimage gradually became hazy and indistinct, dissipating into the air like smoke.
"…!!"
Pardofelis asked in terror: "Mei-nee, what's going on… what the hell is happening…"
Mei and Pardofelis exchanged a glance. Both saw the same disbelief in each other's eyes—
"Mobius… is dead?!"
A moment later.
Although they had already left Hua's memory space.
Mei still found it hard to believe: "Mobius… how could this be?"
Pardofelis said: "This, this can't be possible. Doesn't Snake-nee have special abilities? She shouldn't die no matter what, right?"
Hua said: "If Su and I hadn't witnessed it with our own eyes, we wouldn't have believed the situation would develop to this point either."
"But she did disappear right before us. After that, Su checked the entire Realm—no data related to her could be found anywhere."
"Su is currently organizing the clues he has, so he asked me to inform everyone of this news first and remind you all to stay vigilant."
"Now that the message is delivered, I should go. I need to inform the others of Mobius's death."
Mei looked at her: "Hua…"
Hua asked: "Is there anything else you want me to pass on?"
Mei shook her head: "Nothing. Stay safe. Take care."
After hearing Mei's relay, Vill-V folded her arms across her chest and lowered her head in silence.
After a moment, she said: "How could this… I thought at least she could stay safe for a while. This isn't a good sign."
"Although Mobius always did outrageous things, her abilities were beyond doubt. Now that she's gone… it undoubtedly weakens our strength."
"There's no time to hesitate. We have to stop this before greater sacrifices occur."
"After the previous two experiments, this hat's functions have been fully verified. Let's use it to continue screening suspects."
"Mei-san, you shouldn't have any objections, right?"
Mei nodded: "It seems that's the only way. If necessary, I'll take forceful measures."
Pardofelis added: "I may not be good at fighting, but, but I'll cheer you on from the side, Mei-nee!"
Vill-V said: "In that case—I'd like to use it first to prove my own innocence. That's fine, right? We should have done this earlier."
"To be honest, being suspected so many times today has left me a bit frustrated. Since it's an extraordinary time, I'd rather spend less time explaining and defending myself."
"Besides, aren't you curious what this brilliant mind of mine is really thinking?"
Mei said nothing, staring intently into Vill-V's eyes, trying to discern how serious her words were.
Vill-V stared back without flinching, looking utterly confident.
Mei finally spoke: "Alright. But since this is your invention after all, I'll still suspect… the possibility of a backdoor."
Vill-V said: "Well… that's up to you to discover. Memories don't lie, right?"
Pardofelis volunteered: "Then I'll go with Mei-nee too."
Mei withdrew her gaze, hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
The discomfort of traversing the memory space slowly faded.
However, this time they didn't land in any particular memory segment. Instead, they found themselves in an empty, dim space.
Mei looked around: "This is… Vill-V's world of thought?"
"Why is it… the Theater of Domination?"
Pardofelis said: "I've never seen this building before! Mei-nee, do you know this place?"
Mei said: "This is a place I've visited before. The Herrscher of Domination of the current civilization once fought us here. Why would Vill-V's memory contain this place?"
Pardofelis said: "Maybe it's another one of Vill-V-nee's grand magic tricks! She loves doing things to scare you like this!"
Magic…
Mei fell into thought: As far as I know, the Tenth Herrscher of the Previous Era didn't have this kind of authority. This can't be a coincidence.
Could it be… from that time?
After seeing my own mind, she used my memories as a blueprint… and remodeled this place? Has she been planning everything since then?
"Mei-nee!"
"Mei-nee!!"
Mei snapped back: "…Pardo?"
Pardofelis said: "Mei-nee, standing here in a daze won't do. Aren't we supposed to uncover the truth?"
Mei nodded: "Mm, let's go."
The two proceeded deeper into the Theater of Domination.
Along the way, patches of light appeared here and there. When they approached, scenes from memory presented themselves.
"Pressure valve… drive core… good, that's done."
"Test data… wait, why is there a 0.1% deviation?"
"To ensure the data is accurate, let's retest…"
This was the memory of the expert.
Mei said: "Although she seemed hard to get along with at first, thinking back now, the expert might actually be the most normal version of Vill-V."
Pardofelis said: "After all, Vill-V-nee is a very complicated person. But when it comes to practicing what she's good at, she's extremely serious."
"Of course, the same goes for creating scares."
The expert Vill-V said: "Looks like the part caliber doesn't match the parameters. I'll report it to the materials department."
A moment later, she returned to the lab, but her expression had subtly changed from before.
Clearly, this was now the grand magician Vill-V…