"Another one, huh," Mei murmured, gazing at the weapon in her hand.
Before she even entered the Elysian Realm, The Obsidian Concord had subtly mentioned the Flame-Chasers were extremely dangerous. After arriving, Pardofelis's descriptions confirmed this. Mei initially thought the danger referred to the indiscriminate rage of someone like Kalpas.
But when even the seemingly cold Sakura warned her, she finally realized the peril might not just be about direct attacks from the Flame-Chasers.
Could it be a problem with the Elysian Realm's own operating system?
It wasn't impossible. After all, she had encountered two system malfunctions in just a few days. It was hard not to suspect. But if that were true, how could she avoid it? Surely, she couldn't just abandon her exploration and leave the Elysian Realm.
With no immediate answer, Mei could only heighten her vigilance as much as possible.
After leaving the prison, her view returned to the trial area. As expected, the place she had mistakenly entered wasn't the trial proper; this was the true thirteenth floor.
Judging by the surroundings, it seemed to be some kind of laboratory. Seeing this, she actually felt a small sigh of relief; it was a relatively familiar environment.
But she quickly abandoned that notion. Even though the enemies weren't as overwhelming in number as in the prison, their strength had nearly doubled. After just over ten minutes, she was forced to retreat.
"Elysia?" she tentatively called out. Thankfully, Elysia responded quickly this time.
"No problem, Mei."
...
Failure.
Failure again.
Over the next two days, Mei stubbornly challenged the floors several more times. But no matter how she combined her Signets, the best she could manage was reaching the fourteenth floor. The end remained frustratingly distant.
"It seems she was right. The areas beyond are probably beyond my current capabilities."
Clearing the twelfth floor was already the limit for ordinary trial-takers. The extra areas were ridiculously difficult. She had barely scraped through the thirteenth floor once by sheer luck, but on the fourteenth, she couldn't even last a minute.
"Do I really have to keep seeking more Signets? But who else can help me?"
She had already visited all the Flame-Chasers in the Golden Courtyard area. The others were either loners like Sakura or resided in deeper regions, making them extremely difficult to even contact.
Had she truly hit a wall?
"My, my, little lab rat, you seem to have encountered some difficulties?" Just as Mei was deep in thought, someone else appeared in the main hall. She looked up to find Mobius staring intently at her.
"..." Mei didn't respond. Her intuition screamed that Mobius meant trouble.
"Don't look at me so warily~ I did save you, you know, Big Sister~" Mobius adopted a pitiful tone, which, combined with her young girl appearance, gave off a deceptively innocent air.
"I'm grateful you saved me, but I also know that if Elysia hadn't been present, I might have received an autopsy instead of treatment. Also, please try to hide the malice in your eyes when you're pretending to be a little girl, Mobius."
"Hehe, this isn't a disguise, you know. This body is my true form now."
Mei's eyes were full of doubt. She had checked the Elysian Realm's database and knew that Mobius was already a renowned biologist long before Elysia even joined Fire Moth. There were even clear records, including photographs, of Mobius presenting academic papers back then. The Mobius in the photos was clearly an adult woman, yet the one standing before her looked barely sixteen.
"Oh dear, you don't seem to believe me. But this is merely a side effect of the ICHOR—power always comes with a price, doesn't it?" Mobius explained with a smile, then gave Mei a meaningful look. "If Big Sister wants to become a child too, I can help you right now"
"I have no interest in that."
"What a pity~ After all, a Herrscher like you, Big Sister, interests me greatly."
Mei scoffed. "As one of Fire Moth's top doctors, I imagine the Herrschers who haven't ended up on your operating table are the minority."
"But a living Herrscher like you, possessing your own will... that's entirely unique to me."
"Possessing self-will... Is that really so rare?"
Mobius paused, her eyes narrowing slightly, seemingly judging if Mei was lying. "Are you saying that in your era, it's normal for Herrschers to possess consciousness?"
"It's certainly not uncommon."
"..." Rarely, Mobius fell into deep thought in front of an outsider. Just as Mei was growing impatient, Mobius chuckled slyly. "A lab rat's value lies in allowing me to safely acquire information. It seems you are indeed an excellent little lab rat."
Information? What did my words reveal? Mei felt a jolt of alarm, uncertainty clouding her mind.
"As thanks, I shall unlock all of my Signets for you." Without waiting for Mei's agreement, Mobius directly unlocked the Signet of [Infinity] for her. She then casually took a scale from her floating container and pressed it into Mei's hand.
"A little souvenir. I hope you'll carry my Infinity with you and bring me back more useful information."
"..."
Mobius departed, leaving Mei frowning in thought. She stared at the dark green scale in her hand, a persistent feeling of unease prickling within her.
Sakura's warning was still fresh in her mind, and her own intuition repeatedly sounded alarms, all pointing to Mobius's danger.
However, her exploration had reached an impasse, and this new Signet could very well be the key to breaking through. If she hesitated, she didn't know how much more time she might waste before reaching the next area.
Stagnate, or embrace the unknown risk?
A flicker of hesitation crossed Mei's eyes. She subconsciously glanced around, but Elysia wasn't in the hall at the moment, and she hadn't seen Pardofelis for days. Then, the Obsidian Concord Signet on her arm caught her eye. Looking at the black and white mark, constantly intertwining like a spiral, clarity suddenly dawned.
"When I chose to walk into the darkness, wasn't I already prepared for this?" As if amused by her own indecision, Mei let out a soft, beautiful laugh. When she looked up again, her eyes shone with unwavering resolve.
She clenched her fist around the scale, her other hand already gripping her weapon tightly.
...
"My, my, haven't seen you for a bit, and Mei seems to have gotten much stronger~" In the Elysian Realm's control hub, Elysia stood in the trial monitoring room, watching Mei test her new Signet on the screen.
The Signet of Infinity was undeniably powerful. Mei, previously stuck at the thirteenth floor, had now broken through to the fifteenth. Soon, she should be able to enter the exclusive Flame-Chaser domains.
As Elysia focused entirely on the screen, a figure quietly approached.
"I don't recall you mentioning that all Herrschers in this era possess self-will, Elysia."
"Eh? Mobius, you're here again?" Elysia turned, meeting a pair of dark pink eyes. She cut the communication link to the trial grounds and offered a cheerful greeting.
"Could you please answer my question, Elysia? What exactly have you done? What are you hiding?" Mobius wasn't so easily fooled.
"Who knows? Maybe their wills are simply strong enough to resist the Honkai's corruption."
"Stop playing dumb. Practically every Herrscher captured by Fire Moth ended up on my operating table. If willpower alone were enough, then Himeko (PE) and the others wouldn't have been controlled by the Honkai, Klein wouldn't have died because of it, and the Herrscher of Sentience certainly wouldn't have caused such devastation."
But no matter how much Mobius pressed, Elysia maintained her smiling facade, even reaching out to pinch the cheek that had leaned in close. "Mmm, let's just say... I gave fate a chance to choose?"
"Is that your answer?"
"Don't worry about it so much, Dr. Mobius. After all, our era has already ended. The outcomes of the past cannot be changed."
She twirled playfully, her gaze shifting to another figure in the control room.
Mobius followed her line of sight and saw the small form diligently working overtime at the massive control console.
ELF Klein.
The ELF was silently adjusting the equipment, seemingly oblivious to their conversation.
Looking at the ELF's long, green hair, an image involuntarily surfaced in Mobius's mind: a young woman in a white lab coat sternly taking away her instant noodles, urging her to go eat properly in the cafeteria. But after Mobius left, the young woman had remained alone in the lab, continuing to work late.
The vision flickered and faded, leaving only the small figure of the ELF.
"Klein..." Mobius fell silent for a moment, then looked back at Elysia. "What are you trying to say?"
"Even if you gave her that name, she is no longer the Klein you knew. She is a new individual with her own independent thoughts. Even if you added many familiar settings, you cannot change the fact that the real Klein is already dead. The Herrschers of our era are all gone, and those of us in reality have met our own ends. The emergence of humanity in Mei and the others now... isn't that the hope that can help civilization overcome the Honkai? Why must you probe so deeply, Doctor?"
Retracting her gaze, Elysia smiled and extended her hand towards Mobius.
But the next second, her hand was pushed away.
"No. The Serpent of Infinity has no end. Since you refuse to tell me the truth, then I'll go see for myself!"
"Where do you intend to go?"
"Outside the Elysian Realm!" Glancing at the screen showing Mei's battle, Mobius let out a cold snort, a chilling smile spreading across her face.
With that, she turned and left, seemingly without giving Klein another glance.
"Outside..." Watching Mobius depart, Elysia wore a thoughtful expression. She instinctively looked back at the screen. Mei had just entered the sixteenth floor—Mobius's laboratory.
"Mei, oh Mei, you really must be careful."
A flicker of worry crossed Elysia's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by her usual smile.
"But then again... with that flower, this little obstacle shouldn't be a problem."