The weight in her embrace vanished.
It disappeared so quickly, so completely.
For a moment, Mei didn't know how to return her posture to normal.
After a long while, she slowly began to move her arms, waving them in the air, trying to grasp something.
But not even a handful of cold mist could she touch.
Mei picked up Pardo's only remaining keepsake, the gold coin she always carried with her. Sobs echoed in the theater, and Mei finally couldn't hold back her loud, mournful weeping.
If she had a companion here at this moment, they might gently pat her back, but wouldn't say a word.
Only time can erase such an experience... words are useless.
—And yet, at this very moment, what she lacked most was precisely time.
"So... it was you?"
Mei barely restrained her anger from immediately placing her blade against the other's neck.
"Mhm, it was me."
"You've seen those memories. What way do I have to deny it now, right?"
That Vill-V's voice sounded utterly indifferent to Pardo's death, as if she hadn't considered her worth a second thought.
"...Why Pardo?" Mei struggled to suppress her rage and sorrow.
"Oh, that wasn't something I could control. You can think of it as... an [accident]?"
With that tone, Vill-V sounded almost completely innocent.
"After all, my current target is only [you], after all."
[Stelle]: "...Why Pardo?"
[March 7th]: "No matter how you look at it, this can't be an accident!"
[Kiana]: "Yeah, yeah, even I can see that! Those faded monsters belonging to the Corruption even blocked Mei's path to save Pardo!"
[Silver Wolf]: "What exactly is Vill-V trying to do? The normal Vill-Vs shouldn't betray the Elysian Realm, so the one cooperating with the Corruption must be [Malevolence]?"
[Qingque]: "You actually guessed it right, March. There really is a traitor. Vill-V really managed to be both a traitor and not a traitor at the same time."
[Stelle]: "The Corruption and Malevolence are just the worst!"
[Stelle]: "Give me back my Pardo waaaaaah!!"
[Pardofelis]: "I'm not dead yet, you know! I definitely won't die in the future either, right? I told you, my luck's always been good."
[Can]: "Meow~"
["Those memories... regardless of their content, the person involved is either risking their life, experiencing real pain. Or... they are facing [imprisonment]."
Mei stared straight at the person before her, as if she wanted to tear her apart with her gaze: "From the moment I started investigating... you were already using these memories to drain my power, weren't you?"
"Because the process was so gradual, if not for..."
"..."
"...If not for Pardo, I might never have noticed."
Vill-V agreed: "Yes... So you see, people who scream during a performance are really quite rude, don't you think?"
"Otherwise, watching you slowly die from your own curiosity would have been quite amusing."
"By the way, when did you start suspecting me?"
Mei remained silent, but Vill-V kept chattering away: "Let me guess, you probably never [trusted] me from the start, right?"
"Don't worry about it, I'm used to it. But you see, to reach the Deep End, you still need my help."
"It seems now, that was merely a [beginning]... wasn't it?"
Vill-V couldn't help but laugh, but unlike before, this laughter was utterly maniacal: "Wrong!"
"Exchanging everything... To me, that wasn't a [beginning] at all..."
"It was just... [setting the stage]."
Now that she no longer needed to hide her purpose, a crazed smile surfaced on Vill-V's face: "The real performance is only now about to begin."
"How should I introduce myself to you?"
"Long time no see... or... is it our first meeting?"
......
The Flame-Chaser files materialized. This time, the playful cat stood in the center spot. The sound of shattering glass, identical to when she vanished, rang out. Pardo disappeared forever from the files.]
[Boothill]: "Well, I'll be... This trap was clearly targeting Pardo, wasn't it? By Woobaboo, does Ya-Ya know how to pick locks?"
[Stelle]: "Aaaaah! Showing us the cat shattering once wasn't enough, you had to shatter her in the files again!?"
[Aha]: "Aha~ The one who designed this is a real genius. Aha would love to have a chat with them~~"
[Tail]: "Hehe, see? The whole point of a seal's existence is to be broken. But it's been locked for so many years, why is it only causing problems now?"
[March 7th]: "Corruption, you're the worst! Give me back my Pardo!"
[Einstein]: "So that means... Malevolent Vill-V made contact with the Corruption when she was exchanging memories with Ya-Ya. If the Corruption really entered the Elysian Realm through Ya-Ya, that is."
[Stelle]: "Dammit, we actually have a mole among us!"
[The scene shifts to Su's location...
The room was silent, save for the experimental data flowing silently across the central screen.
This was a place Su rarely set foot in. Just moments ago, the room's owner had passed away suddenly before Su's eyes.
All Su could do now was search the laboratory for clues as best he could.
Su looked at Mobius's experimental data and knew she still hadn't given up on her plan—to leave the Elysian Realm.
But it also showed that every step of her plan had been deliberately thwarted, never coming to fruition.
Within the Elysian Realm, only three could accomplish this: Su, Aponia, and Vill-V.
Neither Su nor Aponia knew about this matter, so Su immediately suspected Vill-V.
Su also recalled the Armament 666 that Vill-V had invented back then. He thought Vill-V might have conceived of some new armament to eliminate Kevin.
"But... why?"
Su was puzzled. He completely failed to understand why Vill-V would choose to betray them?
When he rushed to Vill-V's location, the place was already empty.
However, a line of [small text] was left on a nearby step, as if anticipating his visit.
"..."
"...Sigh."
Among those present during that past memory, Kevin had already fallen into the net of death, leaving behind only countless scattered pieces of paper, drifting down silently like prayer flags.
In that very instant, Su perceived that Vill-V's presence had also vanished within the boundless data space, becoming untraceable.
"No, perhaps..."
Su seemed to understand something. His eyes trembled slightly. He looked once more at the message before him and fell into an eternal silence.
Only one sentence was written there...
"Do you think there is any absolutely safe place in the Elysian Realm?"]
[Kiana]: "What does that sentence mean? Ya-Ya, do you know?"
[Fu Hua]: "Judging by this sentence... could it be that Vill-V didn't betray them after all?"
[Stelle]: "Is there a safe place? There is... sort of!"
[Dr. Ratio]: "The most dangerous place is the safest place. Therefore—Kevin's death must also be part of their plan."
[Sampo]: 'Even Mobius knew about this fact.'
[March 7th]: "Can someone explain it more clearly... I'm a bit lost."
[Stelle]: "You're not alone!"