A moment later, Vill-V emerged from the kitchen, stretching with a yawn.
"Hmm... Conductor, is that you?"
"Correct~ Seems little Lynelle has sharp eyes."
The Conductor patted Lynelle's head with one hand, then smiled at Seele beside her.
"Hello, first time meeting. I'm the Conductor personality of Vill-V. Though, you can just call me 'The Engineer'."
"Gourmet already synced me in on your situation... Honestly, if she were still around, she'd be the best one to handle this..."
"'She'?" Lynelle tilted her head in confusion.
"That would be 'Ego', that old friend. Who knows how long it's been since she last woke up. And this whole 'thought segmentation' ability? It was actually one of the things she taught me."
After a brief explanation, the Conductor turned her attention back to Seele.
"As for you... well, to be frank, separation would actually be the ideal solution in your case. What you have going on isn't really dual personalities so much as... two highly similar souls sharing one body."
"On the surface they might seem similar, but they're fundamentally different."
"For instance, each of my personalities occupies a fixed, dedicated region of the mind. Your current situation... is more like two people cohabiting in a single, shared space."
"If I were to forcibly separate your thought regions, it might disrupt the delicate balance you have, leading to worse outcomes... like the stronger one completely suppressing the other."
"So what, you're saying you can't do anything about it?" Dark Seele scowled and turned away.
"Whatever. I'm not separating from Seele. Unless one day... she masters all her power and doesn't need me anymore. Then I'll leave on my own..."
"Now, now, no, no..." The Conductor gently shook her head. "Actually, from a pure optimization standpoint, your other personality is more suited to leaving this body."
"After all, you are an existence born from the Stigma. Forcibly separating you would likely cause significant harm."
"Now, don't you start bristling just yet."
Preempting Dark Seele's outburst, the Conductor cut in first. "I didn't say I was completely helpless against your situation either... my dear little sister."
"Hah?"
"While my thought segmentation technique isn't applicable to you, I do have a method to help maintain cognitive dominance. Its original purpose was to prevent a single problematic personality from seizing permanent control."
"Though, we later found that, given Vill-V's genius, every personality developed effective countermeasures against it, so the project was eventually shelved."
Vill-V snapped her fingers. "But for you? It should be perfect. I'll teach this method to your other personality."
"It will ensure she remains the dominant persona even after you fuse with a Core. In fact, with this, she could even fuse with a second Herrscher Core if she wished."
"Whoa, dual-core drive? But that sounds awfully familiar... kinda like Kiana's situation," Lynelle couldn't help but muse.
"Not sure who this 'Kiana' is, but the principle is probably the same." Vill-V nodded.
"Having different personalities wield different Herrscher Cores, then operating the body together in combat. As long as the synchronization between all personalities is sufficient, the method is perfectly viable. I've tested it myself."
Dark Seele glanced silently at Lynelle, trying to gauge if this woman, who seemed full of wild ideas, was actually telling the truth.
"Don't doubt her! Let me tell you a universal truth, Seele."
Lynelle gave a thumbs-up. "You can always trust Vill-V. She doesn't guarantee victory, but she does guarantee she's got your back."
"And, she was probably even more hardcore than you can imagine back then. She used the Blank Key to control eight Herrscher Cores simultaneously and went to throw hands with the Finality itself."
"Must we bring up such sad old history? I lost that fight, after all." The Conductor shrugged.
"If I'd survived that battle, I would have definitely come back and synced the memories with myself... Pity. I never did receive any memories of that fight."
"Anyway, let's not dwell on that. You can go discuss it with your primary personality. If you decide to go through with it, have her set aside a full day to come visit the Spiral Workshop."
"Of course, if you manage to obtain a Helix Signet as well, the effects might be even better. At the very least, it would make using this ability much more convenient for you."
"Signets?" Dark Seele blinked. "I think I heard Eden mention those... How does one get them?"
"Heh heh..." A smirk played on Vill-V's lips.
"If you want them, you'll have to earn them—by going through the trials. Gain the recognition of the corresponding Flame-Chaser, and you'll naturally receive their Signet."
"Though, the difficulty varies for each. For instance, with Kalpas, as long as you can survive a sparring session with him, you'll probably get his Signet."
"For a normal candidate of World Serpent, obtaining just one Signet is considered completion of the trial. But given your... unique status, you could choose to stay and try for more."
"Considering you're a Herrscher, and Lynelle brought you here, most of the Flame-Chasers probably wouldn't refuse an audience."
"Alright, that concludes matters on your end. Think it over carefully... Now then, my dear little Lynelle, what was it you needed help with?"
Having finished explaining the Signets and seeing the girl lost in thought, likely conversing with her other self, Vill-V didn't disturb her further.
Instead, she led Lynelle deeper into the Spiral Workshop.
Naturally, her tone with Lynelle was much softer...
Truth be told, within the ranks of the Flame-Chasers, few could bring themselves to be stern with someone bearing the title of "Elysia's daughter."
"It's about this thing..."
Lynelle held out her hand, revealing the blue-purple bracelet on her wrist—as if sensing something, the bracelet immediately began to crackle with a few sparks of electricity, almost as if introducing itself.
"Ah, so it's Seven Thunders of Retribution..." The Conductor clapped a hand to her forehead, a slightly embarrassed look crossing her face.
"Has its virtual personality module been causing you trouble? If you need, I can help you remove..."
"No, no, no! Seven Thunders is very well-behaved. We get along just fine."
Seeing Vill-V look like she was about to dismantle the weapon, and feeling the bracelet on her wrist vibrating fearfully even faster than a Purple Electric Eel Dragon, Lynelle quickly shook her head, dismissing the idea.
"Is that so? My apologies for assuming. Can't be helped, with that precedent set by a certain Void Archives, plus Seven Thunders was indeed an early work of mine. I thought the virtual personality system might have malfunctioned again."
Vill-V let out a sigh of relief.
"Uh... Seems Void Archives left quite an impression on you, Sister Vill-V..."
"Of course it did." Vill-V sighed. "After all, that project had Mei's involvement. The very consciousness of Void Archives ran completely counter to my original intentions…"
"If it were solely up to me, I would never have created something with such obvious personality flaws just to limit the weapon's own power."
"Though, that flawed nature also means Void Archives likely has greater potential for growth. Honestly, looking at it that way, its best master would have actually been Elysia—it's just..."
"Alright, I think I know the reason," Lynelle interjected with a helpless sigh.
"If, back then, Sister Vill-V had made Void Archives into a cute, pink cube, maybe Elysia would have happily accepted it."
"But now... it's probably set in its ways. Hard to change."
"Doesn't matter, I've got it covered." Vill-V waved a hand dismissively.
"I anticipated this might happen one day, so I left a few... little backdoors in it. If you'd like, I can install them into Seven Thunders for you."
"That's great! I actually wanted to ask you to give Seven Thunders an upgrade anyway." Lynelle's eyes lit up.
"Since its original transformation modes didn't include a bow, I haven't been able to use it very comfortably..."
"Oh, is that all? Simple. No need to involve the others; I can handle this one myself."
Vill-V snapped her fingers, took Seven Thunders from Lynelle's hand, turned around, and immediately started tinkering away in her workshop.
"By the way, Sister Vill-V..." Lynelle watched her work, a question suddenly popping into her mind.
"Out of all the Divine Keys, roughly how many were fitted with virtual personality systems?"
"Uh..." Vill-V's hands stilled for a moment. She looked a bit sheepish. "About that... actually... most of the combat-capable ones have it."
"It's just that Mei wouldn't let me experiment with some of my more... inventive ideas on the Divine Keys, so I secretly installed the virtual personality systems on several of them... Oh, except for The Great Hibernation."
"It originally had one, but when I modified it for its most dangerous function, I removed that feature."
"So... things like Oath of Judah, Judgment of Shamash, and Abyss Flower...?"
"All of them." Vill-V nodded.
"But Shamash is about as talkative as Kevin. Abyss Flower... well, let's just say Elysia's antics eventually made it shut down entirely. Oath of Judah... honestly, almost no one in the Previous Era could wield it properly. I wonder how it's doing in the Current Era..."
"Well..." Lynelle thought of a certain 'Judah Launcher' famed for her 'wisdom', her S-rank Valkyrie status seemingly defined by the cross, and the two overworked Judah arms from the 'Schicksal's Imperative' skin post-Honkai.
Her cheek twitched. "Let's just say its existence is... undoubtedly very fulfilling."
"Oh? Sounds like there's a story there..."
As the two chatted idly, Vill-V quickly completed the modifications to Seven Thunders... For her, this task held little difficulty.
Instead, the act of modifying Seven Thunders itself brought back a flood of old memories. Judging by her expression, she seemed to thoroughly enjoy this nostalgic tinkering session.
"All done, modifications complete!"
Vill-V handed the bracelet, still faintly warm, back to Lynelle.
"You're in luck. The Grand Magician and the others haven't woken up yet, so this Seven Thunders hasn't been loaded with any flashy, superfluous functions—like setting off fireworks, for instance."
"That... that actually sounds kinda fun. Turning enemies into fireworks is a valid combat strategy."
Lynelle took the bracelet, curious. "So, can Seven Thunders turn into a bow now?"
"Of course. Considering you're not particularly picky about your weapons, I gave it the same modification process as Void Archives…"
"Now, whenever you want, Seven Thunders can freely transform into pretty much anything you can imagine."
"Of course, this function definitely can't replicate abilities like Void Archives. No matter what it turns into, it can only utilize the skills of the 3rd Divine Key."
"That's plenty good enough! Let me give it a try..."
Lynelle closed her eyes, beginning to communicate with Seven Thunders' consciousness.
A moment later, a bow with blue and purple hues materialized in her hands. Lynelle gently drew the string, and an arrow instantly condensed into existence upon it, radiating a sharp, piercing aura.
"Its power should be a bit stronger than the sniper rifle form, second only to the sword form which is purely for combat. After all, you know, in sniper rifle mode, Seven Thunders has an additional observation function that consumes part of its focus."
"Oh, right..." At this point, Vill-V seemed to remember something and smiled. "Since this weapon has been practically reborn, if you'd like, perhaps you could give it a new name?"
"..."
Lynelle immediately fell into deep silence.
If there was one thing she lacked talent in, above all else, it was naming things.
After a long moment, she tentatively asked, "Can I call it 'Custom Name 3'?"
Before Vill-V, with her now peculiar expression, could even respond, Seven Thunders itself began vibrating violently, adopting an attitude of 'Call me that and I'll just break down on the spot.'
"Putting that aside for a moment, I'm genuinely curious what 'Custom Name 1' and 'Custom Name 2' would have been..." Vill-V deadpanned.
"Then how about 'Flying Thunder's String Vibration'?"
"Sounds like the name of a weapon from some game... Are we sure there aren't any copyright issues?"
"Then let's just stick with Seven Thunders of Retribution." Lynelle slumped onto the table in defeat. "I'm a naming disaster…."
"Alrighty then, Lynelle."
Vill-V gently patted Lynelle's head, smiling. "You know, even though this Seven Thunders can transform into anything, you must promise not to use it for mischief, alright?"
"My intuition tells me the 'mischief' you're referring to isn't the conventional kind... And, the way you said it almost sounds like you're encouraging me to use it for mischief, Sister Vill-V. Your next line wouldn't be 'Even if you do get up to mischief, just make sure you don't use it on Mobius,' would it?"
"Heh heh... You tell me?"
Vill-V merely offered a sly, knowing smile and said nothing more.
--+--
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.