Was he seeing things? Shun looked again with some uncertainty and discovered that Elysia was not showing the smug expression he had previously thought she had.
Although there was a smile on her face, it gave off a sense of detachment and distance, as if keeping people a thousand miles away.
"It was you who called for the Origin, wasn't it? Human of the new era, Shun? Fate has linked you and me, leading straight to this land of endings."
"Elysia..." Shun lowered his head somewhat dejectedly.
Elysia was like an emotionless AI program. It felt as if that vivid opening line was nothing more than a joke played by fate.
The scene before his eyes seemed programmed, constantly reminding Shun at every moment: "Elysia is already dead!"
Even the Herrscher of Origin appearing before him was merely an empty shell with her appearance.
"What's wrong, human of the new era?" Elysia quickly adjusted her slightly unnatural expression while Shun had his head lowered, then continued speaking.
"So... that's how it is..." Sure enough, no matter what, it was impossible to see the real her? That made sense. After all, the real Elysia had already died fifty thousand years ago.
"What's wrong? Your expression looks very sad." Elysia floated in the air, drawing a graceful arc as she brought her sparkling pink eyes close to Shun to take a look.
Her lips curved up somewhat unnaturally, but at this moment, Shun had no mind to notice it.
"No... I'm fine." The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. He had originally thought he could meet the real Elysia, but now he had only encountered a program wearing the name "Elysia." How could this possibly make Shun happy?
The air at the scene stagnated for a moment.
"...Pfft, hahahahahaha—" Elysia's expression management finally failed. She covered her mouth while sitting on her pink staff and laughed unrestrainedly.
"?"
"Ara, Ara, I've always wanted to try this! ♪ How was it, Shun? Were you startled?"
Elysia revealed a sly smile, just like a little fox whose scheme had succeeded. Those magnificent pink eyes were full of teasing toward Shun.
"So? Are you the real Elysia?" Shun didn't take being tricked by Elysia to heart. If being pranked once could bring Elysia back, then he would rather be pranked every day.
"Well, you could say that. After all, no matter where, there is only one 'Elysia' in this world! ♪"
"Then the question arises: why do you know me? Miss Herrscher of Origin from the Previous Era?"
Shun turned passive into active, instantly making Elysia's originally joyful expression stiffen.
"Hmm?" Shun continued applying pressure, unaware that the current Elysia was already sweating profusely.
This is bad. She seemed to have gotten a bit too cocky and forgot that Shun was not Kevin—it was hard to fool him.
Shun felt that he really had too many old acquaintances. First there was Gray Serpent who inexplicably recognized him as his godfather, then Miss Misteln who claimed to have seen him, then the somewhat off Herrscher of the Void, and now this Elysia who seemed very familiar with him.
"What's wrong? Can't answer? Miss Herrscher of Origin, did you sleep for too long and your brain crashed? I can wait for you to think slowly."
"Well, Miss Pink Elf♪ doesn't lie. ♪ So, hehe! ♪" Seeing Elysia remain silent, Shun knew that asking would be pointless.
However, he was not Kiana. After so many cases, he had roughly guessed some truths, so he did not dwell on this question.
"Forget it. If you don't want to tell me, then forget it."
"Mhm, I knew Shun was the best! ♪" Elysia happily waved her little fists when she heard that Shun did not intend to pursue it to the end.
"Leaving other things aside, you should understand my purpose for coming here, right?" Ending the non-existent reminiscence, Shun asked Elysia.
"Mhm, it's to help the Herrschers of the new era awaken their humanity. Only we can accomplish something like this. ♪" Elysia clapped her hands and said proudly.
Heh, another point different from the original plot. Shun remembered that in the plot, Elysia awakened the humanity of all subsequent Herrschers at the cost of sacrificing herself.
But now, Shun still needed to enter the Elysian Star Sea to find Elysia and awaken them together with her. What kind of story had happened in between?
"Is that so? Then how exactly should it be done?"
Elysia smiled. Her body turned into petals that filled the sky, then converged into a human form on the water surface at the same level as Shun. It was the appearance of the true self, the Herrscher of Human: Ego, wearing a wedding dress.
"Follow me♪" Accompanied by this heavenly, pleasant voice, Elysia slowly extended her slender jade hand, tightly wrapped in white-as-snow, soft and smooth silk gloves. Her movements were elegant and light, like a dancing butterfly fluttering its wings in the air—beautiful and captivating.
When that hand wearing the white silk glove gently grasped Shun's left hand, Shun instantly felt a gentle yet firm power transmitted from her fingertips. He slightly raised his head, and his gaze met Elysia's gem-like, brilliant and bright eyes. At this moment, time seemed to stop flowing, and the entire world was left with only the two of them gazing at each other.
Shun was pulled by Elysia as they ran across this boundless star sea. Immediately after, a large pink manta ray quickly approached them, lifting Elysia and Shun up into the sky.
"Fly toward the distant heavens! ♪" As Elysia's voice rang beside his ear, the large manta ray carried them and shattered the star-filled sky like glass. Then, Shun saw Him high above in the heavens.
"This is..." Although he had not seen this thing before, Shun knew what it was the moment he laid eyes on it.
"That's right. The Cocoon of Finality, the source of Honkai. ♪"
What? I'm supposed to fight the Cocoon of Finality? For real? I was almost taken out by an incomplete Thunder Herrscher.
This feeling was even harder to accept than asking Kusanagi to fight Sukuna. Elysia, are you trying to get me killed?
"Well, how could I possibly let you face the big boss right now? What we need to do is merely tamper with the threads of fate hanging down from Him. ♪"
Elysia brought her mouth close to Shun's ear and explained softly, as if afraid the giant eye suspended in the universe would hear.
"How do we do it?" Although Elysia had explained it clearly, what exactly were the threads of fate, and how was he supposed to cut them?
"Hmm~! ♪" Elysia brought her face very close to Shun's. Looking at the incredibly beautiful person before him, Shun couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
"Don't move. Let me use your eyes as a mirror..." Hearing Elysia's words that sounded like the bridge announcement voice, Shun relaxed a little.
Afterward, he understood what was meant by Miss Pink Elf♪'s thousand-layer routine.
A warm and moist sensation enveloped his lips. Shun couldn't help but widen his eyes and look into Elysia's triumphant eyes.