On the other side, Elysia was in rather cheerful spirits. After all, being an invisible person meant she never had to worry about being discovered. She could even make funny faces right in front of people, and no one would notice.
A shame she couldn't touch anything around her. Otherwise, she could've reprised her role as Miss Pink Agent.
♪ Golden wheat fields sway in the breeze ♪ ♪ Where does the traveler on horseback call home ♪
She hummed a tune no one could hear and no one could understand, hands clasped behind her back, strolling unhurriedly behind the girl ahead of her. She stepped on the girl's shadow as she walked slow, leisurely.
The road wasn't far. Not even remote.
This easy little tailing mission had even been treated by Elysia as a "put Shiraha aside for a bit" game. Her ever-present ghost companion suddenly vanishing for a while, she really hoped the little one would... miss her terribly!
"I'm back."
Raven shut the door behind her and tossed her satchel aside once again.
Elysia drifted right through the door with a grin. Doors were no obstacle at all to her... we ghosts just have better mechanics.
She floated inside, ready to see who else was in this little organization.
Hmm. Besides Natasha, there was a simulacrum... it was GREY SERPENT!!! The smile on Elysia's face froze solid.
"It seems your mood today is considerably better than yesterday's."
Grey Serpent naturally pulled out the textbooks, preparing to continue tutoring the Raven.
Even if this task might yield no concrete results, it concerned the Origin. Not a single step could be missed.
And the "Origin" in Grey Serpent's thoughts was currently stumbling two steps backward, leaning shakily against the door.
Shiraha... your sister has just uncovered a great disaster for you. Possibly even an enemy from your past life.
Grey Serpent. An accidental creation of Dr. Mobius from the Previous Era. Leader of the Anti-Fire-Moth movement. The Mechanicus cult. The Honkai Evolution cult. The largest underworld syndicate of the apocalypse!
Humanity's greatest enemy beneath the shadow of Honkai. A master manipulator. An ultimate, irredeemable monster.
There was no way Elysia wouldn't recognize him. In the Previous Era, Grey Serpent alone had increased the MANTIS' workload by at least fifty percent. He'd even appeared in the alert room during the Herrscher of Binding incident though no one knew what he'd done there.
Elysia conjured the phantom outline of a bow in her hand, aiming it straight at Grey Serpent's head. But she couldn't affect reality. Her anchor wasn't nearby. The frustration left her deflated.
"Damn it. If only Shiraha were here... I wouldn't let you see tomorrow's sun."
"Wait. He's a robot."
Elysia no longer had the heart to keep gathering intel. She forced down her emotions and stayed just a few more minutes. Once she confirmed Grey Serpent was only tutoring the Raven, no immediate schemes in motion, she turned and phased back through the wall.
Raiden Residence
Elysia stormed home in a fury, only to find Shiraha playing house with Mei!
The bedroom floor on the second floor was covered in building blocks and toys. Shiraha sat cross-legged on the carpet, placing a Barbie doll onto the balcony of a toy house. Then, as if sensing something, he looked up and met Elysia-nee's utterly expressionless gaze.
Her voice was eerily calm. "Shiraha... your maiden heart is certainly flourishing."
Shiraha didn't answer right away. He stood up. "Mei-nee, I'm going to the bathroom."
Mm. Mei didn't mind. She was too focused on assembling the Gundam model in her hands. The old guard of Anti-Entropy had always been rather fond of Gundams. This was called legacy!
Out in the hallway, Shiraha looked up at Elysia.
"Is it Schicksal?"
He guessed, feigning ignorance. His voice was kept very low.
Elysia told him the truth. "It's an old friend of you Manticores. Grey Serpent."
Though a little displeasure lingered in her heart, Grey Serpent took priority right now. The tantrum could wait.
Shiraha's steps faltered.
"Surprised, aren't you? This era still has our old friends."
Elysia watched his reaction, her voice carrying a note of complicated emotion.
After calming down, her mind had wandered to many things. For instance, could other companions from the Previous Era also be alive somewhere in this world?
Shiraha kept his expression as composed as possible. "Can he perceive you? nee-chan?"
Elysia blinked, but then it occurred to her, as someone from the Manticores, Shiraha would naturally place the utmost importance on intelligence and information.
"He can't see me." She shook her head. "That's one piece of good news, at least."
Shiraha let out a breath of relief. Good. I'm still Nee-chan's one and only proxy.
Elysia added, "We need to kill him. Eliminate the threat completely. That thing is dangerous, especially during a period when human civilization is so... thriving."
Grey Serpent's intelligence level was extraordinarily high. Even to the very end, the Manticores had never managed to capture his real main body. The same went for the MANTIS soldiers.
Shiraha paused again. Huh?
Your Majesty, why are you rebelling?
Elysia recalled matters of the past, righteous indignation rising anew. She itched to fire an arrow from halfway across the city and blow Grey Serpent's hideout to pieces right this instant.
Shiraha asked with curiosity, "What is he currently plotting?"
Elysia stopped short. Her lips were already open but she couldn't pull up any keywords. She didn't know!
"Right. Plans and schemes are indeed hard to eavesdrop on." Shiraha switched questions. "What's the name of the organization behind him? Can we confirm whether the body in this city is Grey Serpent's real main body?"
Elysia stalled again.
Shiraha deliberately let a silence linger, letting the awkward atmosphere spread between them. The hallway was quiet. If one listened closely, the distant sounds of building blocks clicking together and Mei talking to herself could still be heard.
"It's fine. Nee-chan discovering Grey Serpent at all is already amazing. You're not a professional intelligence operative, after all."
He went into the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and splashed water over his face. Then he gazed quietly into the mirror before him. The boy in the reflection had bright, clear pink eyes.
Shiraha felt his future growing brighter and brighter.
Grey Serpent in the Previous Era truly hadn't been anything good. Right up until humanity's end, he'd been testing a single question: if every individual's opinion was respected, was there a possibility for humanity to overcome Honkai?
He was anti-Fire-Moth. That experiment continued until the eve of civilization's collapse, when Grey Serpent finally confirmed one thing: humanity needed a leader. A single leader capable of deciding the fate of all.
And the one he deemed capable of deciding humanity's fate, in his own words, he had another title for him: Master.
Having finished his mental recap of the lore, Shiraha patted his cheeks and turned off the faucet.
Elysia's voice was somewhat meeker. "Aren't you afraid? That's Grey Serpent we're talking about. Even Sakura couldn't deal with him. And now human civilization is so prosperous, while he, a simulacrum, has had all these years to develop further."
Shiraha lifted his head and took Elysia's hand, holding it tightly between both of his. His two small hands couldn't fully wrap around her larger one but that didn't matter!
"Nee-chan, the one who should be afraid is him."
"I won't deny Grey Serpent is a serious problem, but… he has no idea you exist."
"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Maybe I'm the cicada, but he's definitely not the oriole."
Shiraha's voice wasn't loud, but every word came out crisp and clear.
"I know nee-chan worries about me, concern clouds judgment. But it's fine...." He smiled. "I'm the world's number one killer, after all."
Hearing that last line, Elysia nearly burst out laughing. She held her expression tight, lips pressed into a thin line, but in the end she couldn't help it. A bright, genuine laugh slipped out.
Shiraha smiled along, his whole face relaxing.
Until Elysia's eyes curved into crescents and she asked, lilting, "So while I was out gathering intel, you were here sweet-talking little girls?"
Shiraha: ….