"Elysia-san? What were you going to say?"
Pardofelis heard Elysia trail off mid-sentence and couldn't help but press curiously.
Elysia thought for a moment. She decided there was no need to continue the "pot calling the kettle black" kind of topic.
"It's nothing. Let's not talk about that."
She smoothly changed the subject: "Actually… aside from Pardofelis' voice acting…"
Her tone lowered.
"There's something else on my mind… Vill-V is the culprit. She killed Kevin and Pardofelis? Hmm… I can't quite wrap my head around it. What do you all think?"
"Since Vill-V already admitted it herself, there's probably no doubt she's the culprit, right?"
Pardofelis followed up Elysia's thought. "But in the game, isn't there an evil persona of Vill-V who was imprisoned for fifty thousand years?"
"And by coincidence it broke out? Then… stirred up chaos? Causing the current turmoil in Elysian Realm? Something like that?"
"Come to think of it, I didn't expect Vill-V-san to have some evil persona. Good thing it's just in the game."
She added that last bit half in relief, half in amazement.
But—
A different voice cut in, interrupting her.
"Oh my, oh my, Little Pardofelis~ when did you get the impression that the real me doesn't have an evil persona?"
Vill-V spoke in the exact same tone as [Malice] from the game.
"Or rather, how do you know the Vill-V talking with you now… is still the Vill-V you're familiar with?"
"Maybe, just like in the game…"
"???"
"Vill-V-san, please don't scare me," Pardofelis' voice trembled slightly.
"Hahaha, I'm just joking, just joking." Vill-V returned to her normal voice. "Little Pardofelis really is the ideal audience—your reaction's perfect. That's what I like about you."
She paused, then returned to the topic: "As for Elysia's earlier question, I'm not really the best person to answer… But maybe Mobius has some thoughts?"
"Hmph."
Mobius snorted when Vill-V brought her up but didn't refuse.
Instead, she directly gave her opinion.
"Vill-V is definitely the culprit. But… she's not just a simple culprit."
"For one, the person who talked with Kalpas clearly wasn't Vill-V, since she was playing detective with Mei at the time. She had no opportunity to act."
"You mean…?" Elysia prompted softly.
"There's more than one culprit in Elysian Realm right now. The malicious Vill-V isn't even the mastermind—she merely took advantage of the chaos."
Mobius gave her conclusion.
"The true mastermind, I believe, is the Herrscher of Corruption that Mei brought into Elysian Realm."
"The Herrscher of Corruption… Mei brought it into Elysian Realm?" Elysia was surprised. "What do you mean?"
"Just what the words say."
Mobius didn't elaborate. Instead, she added: "Of course, that's just my theory. We'll have to see… how the story continues."
"The next part of the story, huh~?"
Elysia checked the time. Still dozens of minutes to go.
"Why did Honkai Impact 3rd go down for maintenance all of a sudden? I'm so impatient~!"
"No use rushing. We can only wait it out."
"Ugh… guess there's no other way."
…
An hour passed amid everyone's discussions.
The emergency maintenance for Honkai Impact 3rd ended.
Elysia immediately wrapped up her discussion and re-enabled the livestream audio while quickly logging into the game.
[Miss Elf is back!]
[Spirit returned to the vessel!]
[Didn't expect Miss Elf to be more impatient than me—logging in the second maintenance ended. Though… same here.]
Most players reacted the same way. The second maintenance ended, they rushed to log in.
Thank goodness Hokuto hadn't pushed Griseo online yet.
Otherwise, many players with Griseo on their bridge would've heard her say:
"I promised Pardofelis-onee-chan… we'd take a nap together…"
They'd probably break down emotionally and log out on the spot.
Maybe that was MiHoYo's last bit of mercy… as if.
Honestly, cats hating dogs really isn't without reason.
Anyway.
Elysia had already entered the main Elysian Realm interface.
"We're continuing the main story immediately. No more delays."
She said this, and a flood of supportive comments rolled in:
[Yes yes yes! I've been waiting for Sheer Veil Vill-V! Just waiting for her to shatter!!]
[I'm done feeling sad, hurt, or mournful… I just want to fight! Let's go!!]
[Justice for Sheer Veil!!]
Elysia glanced at the suddenly heated chat but said nothing.
After Mobius' analysis, she believed Vill-V might still change.
Or rather, she preferred to believe… there are no traitors among the Flame-Chasers.
So she simply tapped into Chapter 30, Phase 3.
Picking up from… well, this time not from "above."
But from the moment just before Vill-V's betrayal—when Su and Hua had just witnessed Mobius vanish.
In Mobius' lab, Su and Hua watched helplessly as Mobius disappeared, unable to stop her.
Hua decided to inform the other Flame-Chasers about Mobius' death, while Su remained in the lab.
Data on the lab monitors showed that Mobius was still clinging to her plan—to leave Elysian Realm as a data construct.
But all of her actions had been cut off—something only three people in Elysian Realm could accomplish: the administrator Flame-Chasers—Su and Aponia, who knew nothing of it, and… Elysian Realm's architect, Vill-V.
With an awakened mind, the moment Vill-V entered his vision, old memories flooded back—
For example, years ago, Vill-V once joked with him and Kevin about her claimed invention: [Kevin Armament Model 666], capable of deleting memory constructs.
It was the 666th time she'd brought Kevin one of her "Kevin Armaments."
In a sense, Kevin had it rough.
But Vill-V remained cheerful: "This one's made specially for you. No feedback?"
Kevin responded coldly—or maybe just in resignation.
"…Deleting my data doesn't equate to erasing my existence."
"Fair point. Sigh, it's hard being digital beings." Vill-V put her hands on her hips and sighed.
Then, after some thought, she added:
"But, if I could erase all data, records, thoughts, and memories of 'Kevin' from this world… wouldn't that be social annihilation?"
In short—social death.
"The method?"
Kevin was, it seemed, curious how she planned to socially destroy him.
Vill-V shrugged, saying it was still hypothetical, though Mobius seemed to be researching a way to influence reality through Elysian Realm data.
Maybe she'd borrow it once Mobius figured it out.
And when she mentioned the one-button memory deletion device just now, Kevin didn't react.
But he immediately warned Su to be cautious of Mobius.
Clearly a double standard!
If Mobius were here, she'd probably call Kevin out on it.
Come to think of it… did Kevin really believe that rumor floating around in MOTH? For fifty thousand years?
Well, as a Kaslana… it's possible.
That's the kind of paramecium-like stubbornness written into their DNA.
Let's drop that.
Su's memory ended here.
Despite remembering all this, he still didn't understand Vill-V's motive.
So he had to find her and ask directly.
But when Su arrived at the location where he sensed her…
Vill-V was gone. Just like the other missing Flame-Chasers, she had vanished from his perception.
All that remained was a single line left behind—by some version of Vill-V:
"Do you think there's any absolutely safe place in the Elysian Realm?"
"Is there?"
Elysia uttered softly.
Did she mean that misty little island? Or somewhere else?
A few guesses circled in her mind, but she didn't pursue them further.
She was more concerned about Vill-V. So were the viewers. There was none of the usual chat banter.
She tapped the screen.
The scene shifted back to Vill-V.
In Vill-V's mental domain, Malice formally appeared—confronting Mei… or maybe chatting.
"What were you thinking the first time you saw me?"
'This person seems to always be lying'—that's right, isn't it?
Seeing the name Malice on-screen…
Everyone immediately tensed up.
It was her. No doubt.
Malice Vill-V! Give us back Cat Cat!!
One detail stood out: Malice appeared in quotes—'Malice' Vill-V.
Before, personas like the Great Magician were displayed as "Great Magician Vill-V."
So this formatting… carried some extra weight.
"Then… let me ask you something."
"If a liar—no, a deceiver—when she doesn't hide her lies at all… could that be called honesty?"
Huh??
What is this? I'm a scammer, pay me!? If it works, is it still fraud?
You might ask that to Ro—no, Mei.
Players were mentally roasting Malice nonstop.
That said, Vill-V's voice acting was phenomenal.
So many distinct vocal tones, and she could switch flawlessly—even the nuances were unique per persona.
It was like her VA had split personalities too.
The more you thought about it, the creepier it got.
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