Sakura only then came to her senses, slowly loosening her arms, but her gaze remained fixed on Pardo, as if she would disappear again if she blinked.
She looked at the living Pardo in front of her, then at the brightly smiling Elysia and the quiet Griseo, and a huge confusion replaced some of her guilt.
"Elysia? Griseo? You... Where exactly is this place? Everything that just happened... Was it an illusion? Or..."
Her eyes instantly sharpened, scanning the pure white space, "...a trap set by the Herrscher of Corruption?"
She subconsciously clenched her fists. Although Ice Prison Hells was not with her, her battle instincts had already awakened.
As soon as Pardo gained her freedom, she immediately hid behind Elysia, peeking out half her head, looking at Sakura with lingering fear: "Sakura, you were really scary just now... What illusion trap? I just remember a flash before my eyes, purple stuff smeared on my face, and then I was here, and I saw Sister Elysia and Griseo."
Elysia sighed softly, a hint of helplessness finally coloring her perfect smile: "I'm afraid, Sakura, this is probably neither an illusion nor a simple trap. Griseo and I arrived a bit earlier than you... but besides knowing that this space is completely enclosed, and that the one who 'invited' us here calls herself 'Black Herta,' we know nothing else."
"Black Herta..."
Sakura repeated the name in a low voice, and in her mind appeared those purplish-black eyes, and the chilling Herrscher patterns.
"Yes, yes!"
Pardo couldn't help but shiver, hugging her arms, "Just hearing that name sends chills down my spine, it really lives up to the title 'mastermind'! Are we all caught in one fell swoop now? Will everyone in the Paradise think we're 'gone'?"
Griseo stopped painting with her fingers, raised her clear eyes, and said softly: "Uncle Kevin... will find us. Grandma Mobius... will too."
Hearing this, Elysia cheered up again, hands on her hips, her face resuming that infectious optimism: "That's right! Griseo is right! Although Kevin is sometimes cold, he's still very reliable at critical moments! And Doctor Mobius, she loves to study these 'anomalous phenomena' the most. Maybe she's holding a scalpel... uh, a research instrument, trying to find a way to us right now!"
She walked in front of Sakura, her blue eyes gazing at her seriously: "So, before rescue arrives, we can't lose our composure, can we? Although I don't know what Miss Black Herta wants to do, since she didn't immediately eliminate us but gathered us together, it means we still have value, or rather... she has another purpose."
Sakura looked at Elysia's seemingly never-extinguishing light, then at Pardo, who looked 'very scared but believed Sister Elysia,' and the quiet but firm Griseo. The negative emotions churning in her heart calmed down slightly.
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
As a warrior, panic solves nothing.
"I understand."
Sakura nodded, her eyes once again sharp and focused, "The most urgent task is to figure out the rules here, and... the true purpose of that 'Black Herta'."
She looked at Elysia: "Elysia, did you find anything when you were here before?"
Elysia spread her hands, winking playfully: "As for discoveries... it's just that it's really 'white' and empty here, with nothing at all. I tried singing, but my voice didn't travel far; I tried walking forward, but it felt like I was always in the same spot. But then again..."
She changed the subject, tapping her chin with her fingertip, "I always feel that 'Black Herta'... looked at us a little strangely. Not pure malice, but rather a bit of... hmm... how should I put it, like she was conducting some kind of 'observation'?"
Pardo was confused: "Observation? Sister Elysia, that sounds even scarier!"
Sakura, however, was thoughtful.
If it were just simple corruption, there would be no need for such elaborate measures.
The actions of this "Black Herta" were full of contradictions.
Elysian Realm • Central Hall
Eden sat in her opulent chair, her usual wine glass nowhere in sight, her golden eyes filled with worry, conversing in a low voice with Hua beside her.
Hua was still dressed in simple, elegant attire, listening intently, occasionally nodding, her brows also shrouded in an unyielding solemnity.
Just then, two figures walked into the hall, one after another.
"Sister Hua! Sister Eden!"
The "Pardo" who walked in front, looking startled, greeted them softly, her ears and Tail drooping a little, like a frightened kitten.
Hua nodded slightly in response.
Eden raised her eyelids, her voice still mellow but with a hint of weariness: "Sakura and Pardo. How are things outside? Any discoveries?"
Following behind "Pardo," Jack, impersonating Sakura, imitated Sakura's cool and taciturn demeanor, gently shaking her head and saying concisely: "None."
She even perfectly replicated Sakura's slight frown, as if also troubled by the lack of clues.
"Sit down and rest first."
Eden gestured gently, her gaze filled with concern, "No need to push yourselves too hard."
The two "actors" readily complied, finding an inconspicuous spot to sit down. "Pardo" even shrank her neck, trying to minimize her presence, but her cat-like eyes secretly observed everyone present.
Just as she was secretly rejoicing, there was another movement at the entrance of the hall.
Mobius and Vill-V walked in together.
Mobius's petite face was overcast with gloom, her green snake eyes flashing with irritation and unwillingness, clearly displeased that the investigation had made no progress.
Vill-V, on the other hand, spread her hands, her face complex.
(Hiss~ It's tiny Mobius! That cold face! And the one next to her... it's Vill-V! 'Teacher V's' attire and temperament, tsk tsk, truly seeing is believing!)
"Don't hold out hope."
Mobius's voice was cold, "The database's bottom layer is as clean as if it's been licked, let alone traces of intrusion, there isn't even an abnormal data fluctuation. Either all of us, including the Paradise itself, had an absurd collective nightmare..."
She paused, her snake eyes sweeping over everyone, "...or, the opponent's methods have exceeded our current level of understanding."
Vill-V interjected, her tone exaggerated: "That's right! Even I—the great Vill-V—can't detect even a tiny bit, this is the biggest provocation to a magician! Thinking pessimistically, perhaps the outside world has already completely fallen, who knows?"
She said terrifying things, but her eyes seemed to be anticipating something more dramatic.
Eden gently shook her head, her voice steady and powerful, carrying a reassuring strength: "No. Kevin is still outside. Even if the situation is worse, he will never let Honkai... or any enemy, succeed easily."
Mentioning that name seemed to inject a shot of adrenaline into everyone.
Even "Pardo" had to admit that the man's very existence was an absolute guarantee.
Just then, a chilling coldness quietly permeated the air.
Kevin's figure appeared in the center of the hall as if carrying wind and snow.
His ice-blue eyes, like ten thousand years of cold ice, slowly swept over everyone present, finally settling on Eden.
"Su," he spoke, his voice devoid of any inflection, yet it made everyone's hearts pound, "has disappeared."
For a moment, the hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
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