"She said she'd come with me… but then she disappeared in a flash."
With a slash of her blade, the entire space trembled, and the monster before her was torn into pieces.
Mei put away her sword, watching the corpse gradually disappear. Two anchor points appeared in the distance.
This was the path Elysia had told her to take. At first, there were no issues along the way, but halfway through, the types of monsters increased and became increasingly bizarre. Many monsters that weren't Honkai products also started to appear, and Mei had never seen similar ones.
Compared to Honkai Beasts and zombies, these monsters seemed more like mechanical constructs. Their movement patterns and attack methods were different from other enemies.
Is this also due to Lin's influence...
Based on the convergence of information, Lin, who seems to be an outsider to the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, might actually have a closer connection to the Elysian Realm. Furthermore, the suspicious points about him are numerous enough for Mei to list an entire checklist to study slowly.
The other Lin within the Realm, that memory space resembling a miniature Elysian Realm, the "Betrayer of Humanity"...
One more thing: the appearance of the other Lin is also worth scrutinizing. He is likely the user of the Abyss Flower from the Previous Era, and the power of that suit of armor is quite similar to something Mei remembers.
"Lin... did you change after that?" Mei thought of young Lin standing alone in the darkness, saying that he would save more people in the future, yet he became the "Betrayer."
Mei needs to explore both the truth of the Elysian Realm and the truth about Lin—one is her mission, and the other is her deepest desire.
"Is it just up ahead?"
Mei gazed at the anchor points, gripping her sword firmly as she walked forward.
…
"Is this alright, Lin?"
Elysia sat on a tall building, swinging her legs and humming a song, asking Lin beside her.
Lin checked the weapon in his hand and countered lightly, "What are you referring to?"
"Mei wants to know what happened back then~ Do you really plan to tell her?" Elysia sighed. "Speaking of which, another girl is interested in you. Lin, you truly are a man burdened with sin."
"...Don't talk nonsense." Lin cocked his pistol with a click and slid it back into its holster. He sat down next to Elysia, looking at the anchor points that were still motionless. "She already has someone she likes."
"Eh? I was just joking! Did you really take it seriously?"
"I was just joking too."
"...Lin, your jokes are even more unsettling than Kevin's cold humor."
Elysia said this, but still couldn't help but chuckle. "But Lin, you're already quite good at sensing other people's emotions. You've made significant progress, you know."
"It's not emotion." Lin felt for the connection point on his helmet and gently tapped it, undoing the helmet. He took it off in front of Elysia. "I just found that she's very similar to someone."
The true face beneath the helmet was authentically reproduced in this false space.
His lips moved slightly: "The era we live in is an environment where human sensibility is compressed to the extreme. Once the situation arises where sensibility outweighs rationality, we are condemned to lose to fate as if by divine punishment."
"Therefore, most of the survivors, especially those in the upper echelons, have already discarded their sensibility and become machines that execute orders. What happened with Kalpas is an exception."
"Me too, me too!" Elysia raised her hand proudly.
"...I was talking about people purely driven by sensibility."
"Ah, then Kalpas is probably in a league of his own."
"If one doesn't make the right choices regarding less versus more, the comparison of importance, and the priority of decisions, civilization cannot move forward. Rationality must exist within humanity." Lin ran his finger lightly over the helmet, as if caressing old scars. "But Mei and Raven are different. Their sensibility takes priority over rationality. I think this is the difference between the Current Era and the Previous Era."
The word 'emotion' might only differ from 'stupidity' in pronunciation in the Previous Era.
Elysia was thoughtful: "So, even though Mei thinks her way of communicating is similar to ours, you can still easily see through her thoughts?"
"...I told you, I can't see through them."
"Haha, but that's what your explanation means."
Lin shook his head. Since the first day he met Elysia, he had never won an argument with her.
He stood up, put on his helmet as he watched the anchor points ripple, signaling it was time to get down to business.
"So, Lin, do you think the path Mei and the others are taking is the correct one?"
"..."
Lin looked at the long-horned girl walking out of the anchor point and said indifferently, "All of us have already given me the answer."
"The so-called correct path is to be absolutely certain of oneself."
He leaped down.
…
Mei watched Lin descend from the high-rise steel jungle, while Elysia waved at her from the rooftop before retreating and disappearing.
She focused her attention on the fully armed helmeted figure before her. His attire was different from usual again.
Pistols, rifles, daggers, long swords... various weapons were strapped to his body, yet he didn't look cumbersome. Perhaps it was because Lin, just by standing there, exuded a sense of oppression as if every part of his body was ready to fire at once.
It seemed this was Lin's usual combat appearance.
Then, a battle was inevitable.
Lin did not immediately make a move. He stood straight and said to Mei, "A visitor can obtain recognition and a gift from any Flame-Chaser, and then leave after achieving their purpose of the visit. But you alone cannot take anything from me."
"The sole purpose of my appearance before a visitor is to assess whether they pose a threat to the Elysian Realm."
In other words, the Sovereign Kevin outside the Elysian Realm serves as the first checkpoint for assessment, while Lin takes on this role within the Elysian Realm.
"Yet you still provided help to the visitor, instead of simply assessing them and then ignoring them." Mei did not immediately draw her sword either. She looked straight at Lin. That perpetually unchanged helmet seemed to have become his symbol, but Mei knew that was definitely not Lin's true face. "Lin, I once met you when you were little, and I learned about you as an adult from Raven. I believe that neither version of you would become the 'Betrayer of Humanity.'"
"So, can you tell me the answer I need?"
Everything about you, everything about the Elysian Realm...
"I stand here only to assess you."
But Lin gave his usual response.
"Raiden Mei... no, Herrscher of Thunder, challenge me. Fight against a human of the Previous Era in your identity as a Herrscher."
"Standing here in the name of humanity is merely the lingering shadow of a past human."
"Simply the [Nameless]."