The Herrscher of Corruption snapped her fingers.
Several faded monsters suddenly appeared, pressing toward Mei.
Meanwhile, she retreated backward: "Sigh, alright. If Mei insists on learning the hard way before behaving, then I can only give you some loving education."
"Let me warn you in advance—this time, I won't hold back."
These monsters were completely different in strength from before—overwhelmingly powerful. Even for the current Mei, dealing with them required considerable effort.
Moreover… Mei hadn't yet shown her true power.
The Herrscher of Corruption yawned leisurely: "See? Still exactly the same as before. How many more times does this scene have to play out?"
"Mei, aren't you getting tired of it yet? I'm about to yawn myself…"
Mei said coldly: "Is that so? Then, how about this—"
A strike wrapped in thunder cleaved downward from above, splitting the ground in two and leaving a massive fissure. Icy blue data streams flashed within it for an instant.
Mei said: "Looks like my guess was correct… Due to the corrosion's influence, the Elysian Realm is no longer as stable as it once was."
"As long as I master the technique, creating a rift in the data space… is something I can do too."
The Herrscher of Corruption asked: "And what does that accomplish?"
Mei said: "What? You seem awfully concerned."
The Herrscher of Corruption blinked but said nothing more.
Mei continued: "I've always been curious—what exactly did Kalpas do that forced even a cautious lurker like you to change plans and personally step in?"
"From what I know of him, there's only one possibility—that man only ever uses the most direct and effective method: violence."
"Since the Realm has become the medium for your existence… any damage to it would naturally translate to damage to you, right?"
The Herrscher of Corruption was surprised: "From just a few words, you've pieced together so much? Mei, no wonder everyone says you're better suited to be the Herrscher of Reason."
"As long as you keep damaging the Realm space, you'll weaken my power… Aha, a one-person war of attrition? What an interesting idea. But…"
She casually extended three fingers and lightly swept them across her view. The massive fissure simply vanished.
"A strike like that… must have taken full power, right?"
"Mei, are you that confident in your stamina? Who'll collapse from exhaustion first isn't so easy to say."
Mei said: "As the only existence in the Realm that cannot be corroded, you know full well what kind of threat I pose to you."
"It's been some time since Elysia disappeared, yet less than half the Flame-Chasers have been corroded—given your intense need for control, this isn't because of your plan. It's because of your limitations."
"I don't know what price it costs to corrode a resolute soul—perhaps energy, perhaps time—but it surely isn't easy."
"Moreover… now that you've chosen to take on Elysia's appearance—this should be a double-edged sword for you."
"To avoid breaking character, your actions are heavily restricted. Even so, to firmly hold control over Model 666, you had no choice but to do it."
"That's why you appeared willingly and kept me talking—only by stalling me, a far more dangerous potential threat than Kalpas, do you have any chance to continue your plan."
The Herrscher of Corruption said: "A very logical deduction. But… that's all it is."
"Hehe… Sigh, looks like I really shouldn't have chatted with you so much."
"If this keeps up, I'm afraid I'll end up handing all my cards straight to Mei."
"But… even if you discover more of my weaknesses, you still can't stop my corrosion of the Realm."
"The gap in power is still insurmountable, isn't it?"
Mei said: "Perhaps. But at least right now, I've achieved my goal."
"You're not omniscient, nor are you invincible—proving those two things is enough."
"Haven't you realized yet? While we were talking, the aftershock from that earlier strike has already spread to every corner of the Realm."
"The two people in the Realm with special status couldn't possibly miss that signal. And now…"
"…the response has come."
With her words, light flared in the distance.
Blinding white radiance enveloped everything.
"Fortunately… I wasn't too late."
"So, let's start over…"
"Herrscher of Corruption."
This voice was utterly familiar to every viewer—she was the one suspected from the very beginning: SAKURA.
Seeing her appear.
The audience erupted.
Chat messages flooded in instantly.
"It's SAKURA! SAKURA's here—she's still alive."
"I always said there were absolutely no traitors among the Flame-Chasers."
"She's here! She's finally here!"
"This is the final counterattack starting!"
"What exactly happened that night? How is SAKURA still alive? Shouldn't we get the answers now?"
"Yeah, SAKURA's here—so we should finally learn what happened back then."
"…"
Just as some viewers had guessed.
After the voice fell.
The scene shifted to that very night.
Elysia said to SAKURA: "So, SAKURA…"
"Are you still willing to trust me? Just like… back then."
"Consider it my request… please don't do it, alright?"
SAKURA asked: "What's wrong, Elysia? It seems like there's something you want to tell me."
In the hazy, dim surroundings, SAKURA's expression was hard to make out.
But the weapon hanging at her waist had a perfectly clear outline.
Elysia said: "I'm just a little worried… In the Realm, there shouldn't be any more situations requiring you to use the Seven Thunders of Retribution, right?"
"Here… there won't be any betrayers."
SAKURA said: "Elysia, I just want to confirm one thing."
"As for what happens afterward… sorry, I can't make any promises yet."
Elysia agreed immediately: "Mm, alright… Girl talk between us? Of course I'd welcome it… So, what do you want to know?"
SAKURA said: "It's about a certain girl. I want to hear the answer from your mouth."
"You might avoid it, but you would never lie. And only you, in a situation like this, would prioritize… whether staying silent is still fair to me."
Her tone was so casual, yet so chilling.
As people accustomed to life and death partings, both understood: the heavier the grief, the calmer it appears.
"Due to my experiences in life, among the memory bodies, I'm the one with the most missing cognition. Fortunately, everyone can share information, so there hasn't been much inconvenience or many misunderstandings."
"But there's one exception."
"…All this time, I've been trapped in the exact same recurring dream. In it, aside from a desolate void, there's only a single girl sitting alone, crying full of hatred."
"Perhaps because of the missing memories, I've never been able to recall who she is. Every time I approach her, I jolt awake from the dream."
"This dream shows no sign of stopping—instead, it appears more and more frequently."
"It's been so long already—since I learned…"
"Since I learned… that RIN was killed as the Herrscher of Corruption."
She finally said it aloud.
Elysia was completely shocked: "What… it's been that long already? SAKURA, you…"
Only then did she realize that SAKURA had known the truth long ago.
SAKURA nodded gently: "Mm. I've always known."
Elysia widened her eyes: "How… since when? You never said anything…"
"Is that so? SAKURA… while everyone was keeping it from you out of kindness, were you doing the same thing?"
SAKURA said: "Not everyone did it purely out of kindness. Each person had their own conclusions about the consequences of letting me know."
"But some just didn't want me to feel sad—like you."
Elysia's eyes reddened: "SAKURA… I…"
SAKURA said with feeling: "…Surprising, isn't it?"
Elysia quickly shook her head: "No, SAKURA—you never surprise me in a bad way. I just… didn't want to see you face such a painful choice again."
SAKURA nodded: "Yes, what a painful choice… I couldn't accept letting it go, yet revenge had also lost all meaning…"
"Who could I even take revenge on? On the perpetrators who died ten thousand years ago? Or on Aponia, who has also passed away, leaving only a wisp of memory?"
"Eden always says she wishes time could stay in this moment forever—but I'm the one who most wishes time would stop. Some things should end abruptly so that such beautiful instants can be preserved."
"Once you step toward the future, everything gets swept into chaos and pushed toward… some unpredictable outcome."
"…In my view, Honkai is exactly that kind of existence. No one truly committed any wrong, yet everything must be lost."
"I'm… no exception."
Elysia said guiltily: "Sorry, I should have noticed sooner…"
SAKURA said: "Elysia, don't make that apologetic face… I chose to keep it from everyone."
"RIN… for a very long time, she was my entire life. So when I happened to learn the truth of what happened, hatred truly consumed my mind."
"Everything I said earlier was just meaningless reasoning. Even now, though I can understand it rationally, my emotions still refuse to accept it…"
"Even though the target of revenge is long gone, I still have to endure this torment of impulse… Maybe if I were like Kalpas, taking revenge on everything, my pain would lessen a little."
Elysia said: "But you didn't do that…"
"So, when you asked Vill-V to repair it, it was actually to recover the sealed memories?"
She turned her gaze to SAKURA's waist, where the Divine Key hung.
SAKURA nodded: "Mm. I wanted to find an answer that would set me free from it, but what Discipline sealed… was only the memory of when I drew my sword against my own kind. It was useless."
"Instead, here—through this miraculous typewriter—I gained some memories that didn't belong to me—including the memory of that night when I said goodbye to you."
Elysia also felt some regret: "Unfortunately… we should have left sooner back then."
"…"
SAKURA looked calmly at the guilt-filled Elysia and said: "Elysia, what if I told you… that the one hiding something back then was actually me?"
"Before RIN was taken away by Fire Moth, I originally had the chance to take her and leave. But… RIN refused."
Elysia was shocked: "What are you saying? How could…"
SAKURA continued: "Though in my eyes she was still a child, in reality, she no longer was."
"RIN grew up watching a world ravaged by disasters, just like everyone else. She quickly understood her own condition… even worrying more about her own uncertainty than Fire Moth did."
"Though she was very afraid, she believed the measures Fire Moth took weren't baseless—voluntarily letting herself be taken, so others wouldn't bear greater risks because of her. That was her choice."
"And she also believed… that MEI would ultimately make the right judgment. Even though Honkai is such an unreasonable existence, we… humans… still have the chance to control ourselves."
"Through responsibility… through compassion."
Elysia said: "…She was a truly remarkable child. Back then… did you not agree with her decision?"
SAKURA nodded: "Yes, so… that led to our farewell, and everything that happened afterward…"
"The moment I recovered that memory, I realized… the girl who keeps appearing in my dreams wasn't someone else—it was…"
"…me."
At this point, she couldn't help but give a bitter smile.
"I thought that pain and hatred were echoes RIN left in my heart… but that was my misunderstanding."
"Just as I mistakenly believed I was always protecting RIN, the moment I decided to go against her original wish and rescue her, the roles between us had already reversed…"
"So actually, she was the one protecting me. The one who couldn't leave the other… was me."
"And because of that… I absolutely cannot let myself take revenge."
"A MANTIS like me, once rationality is lost and self-control gone… the only outcome is becoming no different from a Herrscher."
"And that would be the same as shaming everything RIN once struggled so hard to prove."
"I cannot disappoint her again."
Even though she was so skilled at hiding her emotions, the helplessness in her voice still spilled out uncontrollably.
"After all… I'm the older sister. I have to set a good example, right?"
Elysia looked at her with nothing but heartache.