Mei asked: "To eliminate me?"
Vill-V nodded: "Yes…"
Mei was silent for a long while before mustering the courage to ask: "Then… what about Kevin, Pardo, and Mobius…? Their sacrifices seem completely meaningless?"
Vill-V nodded: "Mm, yes, completely meaningless… So… they shouldn't have happened."
Mei was stunned: "What do you mean??"
Vill-V explained: "The strongest in the Elysian Realm and its master would naturally be the top priority for the Herrscher of Corruption to eliminate… And she could help it accomplish this without raising suspicion—that's easy enough to figure out."
"How would she do it? For Kevin, she probably said something like this… hoping he would become the crucial cavalry, through her 'Kevin Destruction Button.'"
"Because… unless Kevin willingly allows it, no weapon against him can kill him. We all know that."
"And her intention was to deceive, but what she said was the truth. It was the expert's handiwork, and the backdoor really did exist. So… since she wanted to close that door, all we had to do was keep her from closing it."
"The same goes for Felis. When she disappeared, the Herrscher of Corruption hadn't returned yet."
"That Vill-V was still a genius, after all—she must have modified the Kevin Destruction Button to work on all memory bodies, right?"
"If that's the case… she should be in the same place as Kevin right now. When we liberate Kevin, we can bring Felis along too."
"And Mobius… she had already seen through her lies."
"I can only say that was Mobius's own choice. So… I want to leave the right to reveal it to her."
"You'll know the answer soon enough."
After hearing this, Mei felt somewhat relieved.
But…
She then thought of a name that hadn't been mentioned: "Then… what about Elysia?"
"Elysia, she…"
Vill-V paused before continuing: "I don't want to believe it either… but the Herrscher… seems to have truly deleted all her data…"
"That Vill-V didn't want anyone to discover that Kevin still had a chance of revival, so she destroyed the typewriter and fabricated records showing Kevin was dead."
"But on the night Elysia disappeared… the absolutely objective typewriter hadn't been destroyed yet, so…"
"As for the reason… sorry, that happened before I woke up."
"Maybe splitting us apart and stirring conflict among the Flame-Chasers really was one of the Herrscher's goals."
"At this point, you already understand the full picture of the incident."
"And the things we need to do next… there are only two."
"The first is to defeat that Vill-V and free you from my mind…"
"That should be a tough battle. After all, she possesses nearly half of Vill-V's mind… meaning half her intellect."
"Who knows… maybe in the end, you, I, and the Herrscher of Corruption will all be taken down by her? That's probably what she's planning."
"As for the second thing… it's even more difficult. You need to defeat the Herrscher of Corruption and achieve… the best possible outcome for everyone."
Mei asked in confusion: "As best as possible… the best…?"
Vill-V nodded: "Mm."
"Just think of it as… a promise I made to Elysia a long time ago."
"Sorry to make you carry it out, but she probably wouldn't mind. As for the details… let's talk after we finish the first thing. If we can actually pull it off…"
"So, will you accept my proposal?"
Mei said: "That man who's always burning—though I don't like him much… but… he said something right. Since I brought it into this world, I have to bear the responsibility and do everything in my power."
"…Let's go."
Vill-V changed into a different outfit, dressing up as the Vill-V most familiar to the audience.
"Now… how do we get to her side?"
"My mind is still quite vast, after all…"
ROAR!!!
Kukikara suddenly appeared. The gale nearly blew Vill-V away.
She hurriedly said: "Wait, you're not planning to ride this dragon, are you…?"
"Ready?"
Without waiting for more, Mei pushed Vill-V onto Kukikara.
"Eh!? W-Wait, don't push me—"
Mei ignored her struggles. Once she was on, she had Kukikara take off immediately.
They traversed countless mind spaces.
Finally arriving at the very center of the theater.
The utterly malevolent Vill-V was shocked: "That's… the Herrscher of Thunder's…"
"I think, out of respect, you should at least remember my name." Mei landed steadily in front of her.
The utterly malevolent Vill-V stared at Mei in disbelief: "No, impossible. That domain really did disappear—you can't possibly still…"
Before she could finish.
Vill-V climbed down from Kukikara, still shaken.
Though the situation had shifted so suddenly, upon seeing an existence identical to herself, she didn't even need to think to arrive at the answer.
"…It's you."
"As expected… we're all just dispensable limbs, while you're the one and only body, right? As long as you haven't disappeared, you can exist forever."
Vill-V said: "The current you is all the data left after I was corroded. If you truly cease to exist, there's a high chance I'll disappear too."
The utterly malevolent Vill-V said coldly: "To be precise—I'll definitely disappear."
"Indeed."
Vill-V admitted frankly: "I just wanted to comfort myself a little. After thinking it over, the only thing I can rely on now is a miracle."
The utterly malevolent Vill-V sneered: "Haha… Excellent. Wonderful. The Helix Flame-Chaser, the true Vill-V, now has to rely on some miracle from who-knows-where to save herself?"
In truth, both knew that this so-called miracle referred precisely to Mei…
The utterly malevolent Vill-V's hatred toward her was fully laid bare: "This is… an unexpected delight. Hahaha…"
"Then you must look forward to it even more… The deeper the better…"
"Best if it's deeper than what I felt in that darkness."
"Only then will your disillusionment… be truly worth savoring!"
The utterly malevolent Vill-V directly summoned several turrets.
Vill-V immediately retreated to the back to cheer Mei on.
Only then did Mei realize that "together defeating the utterly malevolent Vill-V" meant she would fight while the other watched from behind.
However…
The thought had barely formed.
Both of them noticed that Vill-V had vanished.
The utterly malevolent Vill-V fixed her gaze on Mei: "Since she's gone, let's start with you—"
A voice suddenly interrupted her: "Welcome to the show—Vill-V's one-woman performance!"
The utterly malevolent Vill-V was startled: "What… the Magician?! That's impossible… I clearly already…"
The grand magician Vill-V said: "Don't jump to conclusions too soon, dear audience."
"Because next, you'll see an even bigger surprise—"
The Expert Vill-V appeared: "Mm, I knew it. I've told you so many times… I have no interest in this kind of thing. Every time you call for the Scholar, you get the wrong person."
The grand magician Vill-V said: "Oh, sorry! Then how about… one more time?"
"This is the real surprise!"
The Scholar All-Flavors Vill-V and the Discipline Scholar Vill-V both appeared.
The grand magician Vill-V said: "Oops, this time I accidentally conjured two friends!"
Vill-V All-Flavors said: "To mix up two people like that—it's like saying sugar and salt are the same…"
The overlooking-the-stars Vill-V said: "Mm, the gap between her and me is as vast as the sun and moon, though the light comes from the same source."
The Conductor Vill-V said: "Actually, it's four friends…"
Vill-V Model Five: "…"
The utterly malevolent Vill-V said: "This… no…"
She realized: "It's you! You've been… re-segmenting your mind this whole time, sabotaging my abilities!?"
As she began to rage.
Thunder exploded.
Mei blocked with her blade, pinning her in the center of the theater.
Vill-V said: "To be precise… I first became them, then segmented myself out again."
"They were thoughts already in my mind… Even if you destroyed them, they're easy enough to recover, right?"
"You say I don't believe in myself… but that's not true."
"Nameless is the crowd. Only like this do I count as myself. Vill-V."
"Let us see what happens when all of me converge into the Helix—"
"As long as I will it, then I can!"
All the Vill-Vs united, becoming the complete Helix Vill-V.
The utterly malevolent Vill-V suddenly froze.
All her attacks collapsed at that moment.
Within the consciousness.
The utterly malevolent Vill-V faced the Helix Vill-V. The utterly malevolent one had become transparent.
Vill-V said: "Sorry, your body…"
The utterly malevolent Vill-V asked coldly: "How did you do it?"
Vill-V said: "I simply… guided everything I possess and everything you possess into the simplest, most direct collision."
"I wanted to compare their weights… This isn't a lie."
The utterly malevolent Vill-V said: "So this is the result? In truth… I'm utterly fragile?"
Vill-V shook her head: "…I don't know."
The utterly malevolent Vill-V asked: "Back then, we died on the moon, right?"
Vill-V continued shaking her head: "I don't know that either…"
"But… probably, yes. We did."
The utterly malevolent Vill-V still felt unwilling: "We? Hmph, don't lump yourself in with us. We're just the spider's limbs… Unlike you, you…"
"…Hm? You…" She noticed the other's body was also beginning to turn transparent.
Vill-V said: "You noticed? After all, it's half of Vill-V's mind… To defeat you, this was the only way."
"Looks like I segmented too many times… Now I'm just another limb like the rest."
The utterly malevolent Vill-V didn't understand: "…Why?"
Vill-V said: "I just wanted to say a proper goodbye to everyone left—and to the rest of myself."
The utterly malevolent Vill-V sighed: "You know the consequences, right?"
Vill-V nodded: "Mm, soon I'll disappear just like you. But before that, I'll have enough time to carry out my plan."
The utterly malevolent Vill-V asked: "She's not us—why should she be able to do it?"
The answer was a smile.
The utterly malevolent Vill-V said: "Fine, fine, I get it. Because you believe?"
"That's right."
"…"
The utterly malevolent Vill-V said: "I could have eliminated the Herrscher of Corruption myself, alone."
Vill-V didn't deny it: "Of course. But that obviously wouldn't be the best outcome for everyone."
"You're me, so naturally you know the weight of that promise."
"Hmph…" The utterly malevolent Vill-V gave a soft snort: "So, that's it?"
"Mm, farewell." Vill-V nodded.
The utterly malevolent Vill-V said: "Farewell? Hmph, you'd better… pray that never happens…"
The form that had once symbolized utter malevolence fully dissipated.
At her feet remained only a pitch-black crystal flower.
"As expected… I'm still not good at looking people in the eye."
Vill-V bent down and solemnly placed the pitch-black flower in her palm: "Leaving it with you is the safest option. After all… only I can stop you."
She handed the crystal flower to Mei: "Here—take it. A final gift."
"Take it to Eden. Don't lose it, okay?"
Mei looked at her gradually transparent body: "Vill-V, you…"
Vill-V sighed: "Ah, probably beyond saving, huh? We thought of that before setting out, didn't we? But we still need to hurry— I have to send you out of [Vill-V]'s mind before I completely disappear."
"…Thank you."
Mei thanked her, looking at the flower: "This crystal flower… So you were one of the secret guardians too?"
Vill-V nodded: "Mm. That's the second thing you need to do. Remember the method we mentioned for defeating the Herrscher of Corruption?"
"When building the Elysian Realm, the expert habitually left behind a program. In a certain sense, it can accomplish this flawlessly."
"But whether intentional or not… by the time we realized it, the Herrscher of Corruption had already eliminated the correct threat, removing the program's sole activation condition."
"But… that's only in the current situation."
"When I say it like this… do you understand? The hint is pretty obvious."
"…"
Mei frowned in thought. An utterly unbelievable idea flashed through her mind.
But she still grasped it accurately.
"Ah…"
Her expression was fully seen by Vill-V.
"Looks like you've figured it out."
"But right now, you probably still can't realize… just how crucial you yourself are to the entire plan."
"It's fine. Su will make you understand. I hope he's already seen the message I left him."
"…That's all the pieces."
"You see, Elysia is always like this. Both the beginning of everything and its end."
(How wonderful.) "It's so marvelous—the very thing you've been trying to do all along ends up giving the current situation a completely different meaning in this way…"
"So… now, the last thing I can do in my own plan is just one more thing."
"If I remember right, the Conductor should have mentioned to you… that she alone couldn't fully explain the Helix Inscription to you."
"I'm the same, actually…"
"But now, perhaps… you can witness the end of the Helix."
"We will merge into one, becoming the complete Vill-V."
Mei asked: "What next… What can I do?"
Vill-V said: "Remember the time we exchanged everything?"
All the Vill-Vs spoke together: "Just open your heart—"
The grand magician Vill-V said: "That's right—exactly like this, dear audience."
Mei said: "…It's you."
The grand magician Vill-V said: "That's the key to magic—by the time you're surprised, everything has already quietly finished. Not bad. This is my final performance, and you… are my greatest assistant. Ready to take your bow?"
Mei said with relief: "Do I need your permission, Grand Magician?"
The grand magician Vill-V replied: "Of course—but I grant it. After all… no performance lasts forever, right? Ah, let me try being the big villain for once—Farewell, my dearest audience!"
"—Something like that?"
"Hmph." The expert Vill-V emerged, smiling: "Noisy one."
Mei said: "First time I've seen you smile."
The expert Vill-V said: "Don't misunderstand—I'm proud of myself. The chess player deserves praise, right?"
Mei nodded: "I agree."
The expert Vill-V continued: "Good. Though since you've been so humble—your performance wasn't half bad."
Mei smiled: "Don't force yourself too much, okay?"
"Hmph… Don't push your luck."
With those words, the expert Vill-V disappeared.