[After bidding farewell to Kalpas, Aponia's body also began to emit a green light and shadow. Eden asked with surprise and doubt, "Aponia, your body…"
"Yes, I'm sorry. Kalpas… used his own life to reveal the enemy's location to us and allowed me to complete the [Touch]."
"As for the [phenomenon] on my body…"
"[Please], absolutely do not make contact with the other party—this commandment is the last gift I can leave for you."
"The enemy…"
Aponia nodded: "Yes, please hurry to the location of the final keepsake immediately, and protect its owner…"
"…[Vill-V]."
Aponia explained: "There is no traitor among us. But…"
"For the [Egos], the enemy we face here is an existence akin to the [Finality]."
"Eden… I don't understand why it has appeared here…"
"But it has come… right here in the Elysian Realm…"
"The [Herrscher of Corruption]… has already descended."
The screen went dark, then switched to the archive. Kalpas, who had always had his back to us, this time completely shattered.
And, as the corruption intensified, a sinister shadow fell over the archive.]
Stelle: "Dammit! Why did you make this archive so realistic!?"
Aha: "Aha thinks only this way provides a better immersive experience~~"
Fu Hua: "Now there is a 'key' in Vill-V's hands, but the current Vill-V is only the Malevolence left. What should be done about the key?"
Black Swan: "That's not right. The 'true' Vill-V hasn't appeared yet—the Vill-V that the Conductor mentioned is still sleeping."
Raiden Mei: "It seems turning the tables will likely depend on 'her'."
Kiana: "Mei, Mei, so what should Vill-V do?"
Bronya Zaychik: "Idiot Kiana, Sister Mei hasn't been to the Elysian Realm yet."
[This time, the perspective shifted to Raven's side. While on a mission, Raven and Gray Serpent easily found the main body of the Herrscher of Corruption.
The current Corruption was like a newborn infant. This time, they needed to delete all backups of the Corruption, otherwise…
A Herrscher that understands death might resort to some desperate actions to survive, just like the Corruption in the Previous Era.
Afterwards, this Gray Serpent sealed the Corruption within his own body and then self-destructed. Thus, the Herrscher of Corruption in the outside world was completely eradicated.
This time, the perspective shifted to the Herrscher of Corruption itself…
The Herrscher of Corruption was born in a pure white space. Raiden Mei personally stood before the consciousness of the Honkai.
At this moment, the newly born Corruption, through their conversation, began to understand what [information] was.
Various pieces of information transformed and took shape within its consciousness, and then… became a [choice].
Corrupt the [Honkai Consciousness] or corrupt the [Herrscher of Thunder].
[Corruption]… was like an instinct to it, like breathing, like eating.
Then it chose to corrupt the Honkai Consciousness, and nothing happened.
But, being newborn, it didn't understand what failure was, so… it chose to split itself in two, one half going to reality, the other half parasitizing Mei.]
Stelle: "The Herrscher of Corruption is a real newborn!"
Fu Hua: "Should we say this is a case of 'newborn calves aren't afraid of tigers'? Following its instinct, it tried to corrupt both the Honkai Consciousness and Mei."
Natasha: "Looking at it this way… the newly born Herrscher of Corruption is also just a child."
Silver Wolf: "That's right, the Herrscher of Corruption is freshly born!"
Qingque: "One half of itself was deleted by Gray Serpent, the other half parasitized Mei, experienced the trials of Aponia, Kalpas, etc. Using this method to educate a child? No wonder it grew up twisted!"
[After arriving at the Elysian Realm with Mei, the Corruption first left a backup on Klein (Local Backups: 2, Remote Backups: 5, Current Target?)
Mei came to Elysia's side. With Elysia, the Corruption quickly learned what [Joy] was. It recorded joy in purple (Local Backups: 3, Remote Backups: 7, Current Target?)
At Mobius's place, because of joy, it also understood [Anticipation]. It recorded anticipation in the blue here (Local Backups: 4, Remote Backups: 13, Current Target?)
At Griseo's place, because of anticipation, it understood [Curiosity]. It recorded curiosity in this green (Local Backups: 5, Remote Backups: 17, Current Target?)
At Aponia's place, because of curiosity, it understood… [Fear]. But at this time, it still didn't understand what death was, until…
At Kalpas's place, it finally experienced what [Death] was (Local Backups: 4, Remote Backups: 26, Current Target?)
After death, it understood what [Relief] was. Whenever faced with a choice, it would replicate itself. Because of this, it managed to survive until now.
It also began to understand [Regret]. (Local Backups: 4, Remote Backups: 25, Current Target?) (Local Backups: 4, Remote Backups: 24, Current Target?)
Amidst the Corruption's confusion… (Local Backups: 4, Remote Backups: 0, Current Target?)
It was alone once again?
[I don't want to die.]
[I don't want to disappear like this.]
Thus, anticipation turned into the will to live.
Thus, curiosity turned into desire.
Thus, countless [Joys] surged from all directions, embracing it— (Local Backups: 4, Remote Backups: 0, Current Target: Survive!)
So, this time… it must make the right choice…! It sought out Elysia and deleted her.
"Oh."
"So this is your experience?" The "Malevolence" Vill-V laughed.]
Stelle: "So the Corruption really is a newborn! What is this? Scared by Brother Kalpas? That's no excuse for the Corruption's birth!!"
Kafka: "Because of Aponia's prophecy, the Corruption learned fear. Then, because of the prophecy, Mei found Kalpas, causing the death of the Herrscher of Corruption's backup. Ironically, the prophecy itself facilitated the realization of its predicted outcome."
Aponia: "Yes, fate is so wondrous, so… suffocating."
Silver Wolf: "Lol, the newly born Corruption is so weak, no wonder it didn't dare appear directly. Having one backup killed didn't even register with Kalpas."
Dan Heng: "Kalpas making it understand death was just a trigger. What followed was the complete annihilation of the external Herrscher of Corruption, forcing it to have only one goal: survive, by any means necessary."
Fu Hua: "One can only say fate plays tricks. If the Corruption had appeared openly in the Elysian Realm from the start, perhaps none of this would have happened. After all, the Herrschers of the Current Era possess self-awareness."
Stelle: "The child grew up twisted. Look at me, look at the Herrscher of Sentience, we're both one year old, how come the difference is so big?"
Herrscher of Sentience: "Huh? How am I one year old?"
Sparkle: "Little Grayie~ You can only say… you've roughly taken human form, and barely grasped human nature…"
......
What can I say? Nobody wants to attend early morning classes