"Alright, let me check your system and core first…"
Lynelle, who had just relaxed a moment ago, instantly perked up.
"Ch-check what?"
"Your bodily systems and Herrscher core, of course," Mobius replied, sounding a bit puzzled. "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
"N-no, nothing…"
Lynelle immediately shrank back into her chair.
So it was just a routine health check-up.
She'd thought, for a second, that Mobius had somehow managed to dig up Customer Service Kiana-chan's real identity without her noticing.
"Even though your current life form can already be considered a Herrscher, and your body's recovery ability is quite strong, you still need to pay attention to your daily habits."
"After all, the way Herrscher energy works is rather… contrary to one's heart. Your mental state greatly affects how well you can use your abilities… Wait a second?"
As she was speaking, Mobius suddenly stopped mid-sentence and stared at Lynelle with a deeply strange look.
Lynelle simply blinked back innocently, her expression warm and clueless.
"What is it?"
"Your core…" Mobius wore an expression of someone struggling to find the right words. "Has it… never been fully unsealed?"
"Ah, yes…"
Lynelle tilted her head in confusion. "Hasn't my core always been in this state? Haven't you checked it several times before, Doctor?"
"Is it possible that you usually enter the Elysian Realm as a data entity? And the amount of Honkai Corruption Virus I injected into your body is limited—it's not like I could just go and study the state of your core whenever I wanted…"
After offering that brief explanation, Mobius quickly steered the conversation back to the main issue.
"But if your Herrscher of Corruption core has been in a sealed state all this time… then why, during our experiments in the Elysian Realm, has the output of your corruption Authority consistently exceeded the records of the previous era's Herrscher of Corruption?"
"I thought that, as your strength grew, you'd already fully mastered your core…"
"Um… well, that's because every time I use my abilities, I activate them through Elysia's Stigmata?"
Lynelle answered honestly.
"Alright, alright, let me take a look!"
Just then, Elysia leaned in closer.
"Hey, hey, if you're looking, then look—but don't stick so close to Lynelle…"
Watching the two pink-haired girls practically pressed together, Mobius curled her lip, feeling a tiny, secret pang of envy.
After all, she could never let go of her pride enough to hug and cuddle Lynelle openly like Elysia did whenever she felt like it.
Fortunately, Lynelle was perceptive enough to often come to her on her own to chat, which kept their stubborn snake from turning completely red with frustration.
Compared to Mobius's examination, Elysia's power was much gentler.
A warm, primal energy flowed along Lynelle's body inward, successfully touching the core within the girl and gently enveloping it.
A moment later, a look of understanding dawned on Elysia's face.
"So that's how it is… The final seal on Lynelle's core seems to be composed of Origin energy. No wonder she has such good results when mixing authorities."
"Oh?" Mobius grew interested. "Elaborate?"
"It's simple, really. You can think of the final seal on Lynelle's core as a membrane that only allows Origin energy to pass through."
"When Lynelle uses the Authority of Origin to drive the core, the core can operate at maximum output. But if she only uses the Authority of Corruption, the core's output is reduced somewhat… But what's the point of a seal like this?"
After analyzing it out loud, Elysia found herself a little confused too.
"The only function of this seal seems to be preventing Lynelle from fully mastering her Herrscher of Corruption core… After all, she can always use Origin Authority to drive the core and achieve maximum output whenever she wants."
"That's exactly it." After hearing Elysia's explanation, Mobius wore an "I see now" expression. "What you just described… is likely the very effect this seal was meant to have."
"After all, given Lynelle's current state, if she gained full control of her core, she would almost immediately reach the level of Herrscher Finalization… So, this seal restricting her finalization was most likely put in place to maintain the original [order]."
"As you know, the Herrscher of Corruption in the previous era was the last Herrscher before the arrival of the Final Herrscher."
"And in this era, to maintain our understanding of the Final Herrscher consistent with the previous civilization, the plan to introduce Prometheus was devised…"
"And now, although the Herrscher of Corruption core has appeared, if Lynelle were to fully finalize, it would disrupt the original sequence… My guess is, there must be something else on this seal that allows Lynelle's current state to be recognized by the Will of the Honkai as an unclaimed core…"
"And the person who left this seal absolutely knew that Lynelle would inevitably inherit the Authority of Origin, so they deliberately left a backdoor for her—allowing her to fully utilize the power of the Herrscher of Corruption core even without finalizing, by amplifying it with Origin power."
"Clap clap—"
Elysia immediately began applauding cooperatively. "As expected of Dr. Mobius! Such a rigorous analysis~"
"That's probably because I have a feeling the one who came up with this plan… is most likely the 'me' from outside."
Mobius couldn't help but sigh.
For the first time, she was vividly experiencing how those from the previous era who had to deal with her must have felt.
"Wait, um, I still have a question…"
At that moment, Lynelle timidly raised her hand.
"Doctor, your analysis makes a lot of sense, but… I don't really feel that process you described… Every time I use the Authority of Corruption, it's just something I do instinctively. I don't really feel like I'm consciously driving the Authority of Origin…"
Elysia and Mobius exchanged a glance, then each took one of Lynelle's hands.
"Can you… try using your Authority now?"
Lynelle obediently nodded, then quietly activated her power, transferring a honey-coated pastry from Elysia's plate to her own.
"See? Little Lynelle still used her usual trickster method…" Elysia tilted her head cutely.
"First, she activates the Authority of Origin, then releases energy, links it to the core through the Stigmata, and finally releases it carrying the Authority of Corruption… I'd give that a perfect score, honestly?"
"R-really…?" Lynelle blinked. "Isn't it just about directly releasing the power from the core?"
"…"
An awkward silence fell over the scene.
"Wait, wait…" Mobius stared at her in disbelief. "If you have no conscious awareness of that process, then how do you normally use those crystal magic tricks you learned from Elysia?"
"Well… isn't it just about channeling magic into the Stigmata, then picturing the shape of the crystal I want to manifest in my mind, and then it just… happens?"
This time, Mobius was rendered completely speechless.
After a moment, she turned to Elysia with a strange look.
"May I ask… when you users of Origin employ your Authority, do you all rely purely on intuition and the power of wishful thinking like this?"
"Um… Elysia doesn't know~?"
Elysia immediately turned her face away guiltily.
After all, a certain Pink Elf, before attending that final banquet and returning to the Origin, truly hadn't known whether she could accomplish her goal of "imbuing the preparations for future generations with humanity."
Because of that, she currently had no way to refute Mobius's teasing.
"Is that… strange?" Lynelle asked, confused.
"Extremely strange." Without hesitation, Mobius vigorously pinched Lynelle's cheeks, as if venting her frustration.
"To put it in perspective, it's like you're a master chef at a hotel, but when you cook, you just toss in seasonings randomly—you don't even know whether you just added salt or sugar—yet the dishes you make turn out exceptionally delicious every time."
"Hmm… that does sound pretty amazing?"
"Ugh, forget it, forget it." Mobius sighed helplessly, then casually picked up a long, cylindrical biscuit from Elysia's plate and tapped it on the table.
"Consider this an impromptu lesson. Since you've been using the power of Origin purely on instinct, you probably still don't understand the distinct roles of the Origin Authority inside you, Elysia's Stigmata, and the 'Ego' Signet. You're just very skilled at using them."
"Mhmm, mhmm, mhmm!"
Lynelle nodded eagerly, only to be lightly tapped on the head by Mobius.
"Don't nod like that during the lesson, it distracts me."
"First, the Origin Authority. Most of the miraculous aspects of your body are likely achieved through this. The principle is unknown, but the effect is that it draws power from the Origin."
"And, if you wanted to, after receiving Elysia's approval, you could even condense your own core… But there's not much point, since Authority follows the person, not the core. You could say that you and Elysia are, in a way, the recognized bearers of the Origin Authority."
"Next, the Stigmata and Signet on you. Honestly, since you already had Elysia's Stigmata beforehand, her signet doesn't offer you much benefit, because the Stigmata's effect actually overlaps with the 'Ego' Signet."
"Or rather, that Stigmata essentially is the [Ego] Stigmata."
"Wait, it can overlap?" Lynelle tilted her head.
"Yes, exactly. Otherwise, how do you think an abstract ability like strengthening the Origin is realized? In the end, it's still an effect of the Origin Authority." Mobius sighed.
"Stigmata are carriers of information. As you know, the current Project Stigma of World Serpent involves compiling the planetary directory to invert the Stigma Space and reality."
"Conventional Stigmata connect with Stigmata of the same type, forming a [Stigma Space]. If you're curious about this, you can look into that World Serpent executive called Hare."
"The Signets given by the Flame-Chasers can be thought of as small, 'offline, non-networked' Stigmata that don't come with their own space. Additionally, a Signet's abilities provide unique techniques belonging to each Flame-Chaser and convenient circuits for using those techniques."
"For example, the signet of Gold reduces the cost of using your abilities, so you don't have to wait forever to use your ultimate. The signet of Vicissitude greatly improves your survivability… And Elysia's 'Ego' signet amplifies your origin via the Origin energy recorded within it. This effect can also be achieved by the Stigmata you bear."
"You should have noticed something when using that crystal flower magic."
"If you channel energy through someone else when releasing your Authority, Elysia's Stigmata and signet activate together—what you might call a 'dual-core' drive…"
"I see…" Lynelle nodded, only partially understanding. "I completely get it now!"
"But, Doctor, I have another question… Since you said Stigmata connect with Stigmata of the same type to form a Stigma Space, does the Stigmata on me… have that kind of effect too?"
"It does." To Lynelle's surprise, Mobius nodded without hesitation. "Stigmata with excessively large amounts of information naturally generate an independent Stigma Space."
"Like that story you told us about Yae Sakura… And the Stigmata on you undoubtedly have something like that as well."
"However, the Stigma Space connected to your Stigmata is extremely well-hidden. I suspect it's also the work of that 'me' from outside. Moreover, she specifically implemented certain countermeasures against me…"
"Eh? There's something even Mobius finds tricky?" Elysia asked with a laugh.
"You're underestimating me, Elysia." Mobius gave a light humph.
"When it comes to Stigmata… there's nothing I can't handle. In fact, if I wanted to, I could uncover the secret hidden behind Lynelle's Stigmata."
"But as I said, she implemented protections specifically targeting [me]. These protections aren't aimed at my technical skill, but at my personality…"
"Although I could uncover that secret, it would require Lynelle to stay by my side, practically inseparable from me, for at least a few years…"
"She calculated that I would never keep Lynelle trapped in the Elysian Realm for such a ridiculous reason, so she designed this not-complex-but-tedious protection."
"As expected of another Mobius…" Elysia nodded in deep agreement. "Even though our cute Mobius often talks tough, when it comes to Lynelle, she's truly a devoted 'good mom.'"
"A Mobius who cares so much about Lynelle would never lock her up in the Elysian Realm, no matter how much she might want to keep her close… Mmmph!"
Before she could finish, Mobius—whose face had almost instantly shifted from pale green to bright pink—completely forgot about maintaining any elder's dignity and lunged at Elysia, trying to cover the mischievous fairy's mouth.
"Elysia! No one would think you're mute if you stopped talking!"
"Ehehe!"
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T/N: New hi3 fic!
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T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.