No way, Elysia, you're a fifty-thousand-year-old veteran coming to trick and ambush a twenty-year-old youngster like me.
Is this okay? It's not okay. However, Elysia only moved her lips away after a moment, leaving one feeling a bit regretful.
"This is the kiss of the Herrscher of Origin, the flawless one, the Hero of Ego, Miss Pink Elf, Elysia! ♪"
"I've never been kissed by so many people."
"Pfft, hahahahaha, you're really humorous. Really now, this is Elysia's first kiss, so you must treasure it properly. ♪"
"Although saying this sounds like showing off after gaining an advantage, what is the purpose of this kiss?"
"Ara, saying that makes me sad. And... is it really useless? Go look at other places. Your eyes are already full of Elysia, so how could you possibly see the threads of fate? ♪"
After hearing Elysia's words, Shun belatedly looked at other parts of this star sea and saw countless dense threads occupying his field of vision.
"These are all the so-called threads of fate?" Shun reached out to touch a thread beside him, only to find his hand passing straight through it.
"See? All the threads are hanging down from there." Shun followed the direction Elysia pointed and saw the source of all the threads.
Among them, some threads had particularly eye-catching colors. For example, not far from Shun was a purple thread.
"Is this the medium through which the Cocoon controls the Thunder Herrscher? But I can't touch these threads, so how am I supposed to cut it?"
Shun realized that at times like this, he had to rely on Elysia again. Compared to him who was currently completely clueless, Elysia undoubtedly knew far more.
"Ara, don't look at me with those eyes. Shun, your gaze is a bit too sharp! ♪"
"Sorry." Shun withdrew his gaze and then asked Elysia again: "How should I cut the connection between Mei and the Cocoon?"
"Mei is the name of that Thunder Herrscher? It sounds like a very beautiful girl. Unfortunately, Elysia has no way to meet her. So curious, so curious! ♪"
Her yuri radar was activated like this. However, Elysia was only a bit off sometimes and could still clearly distinguish what needed to be done now.
"Under normal circumstances, your energy level would need to reach one-tenth of the Cocoon of Finality's to be able to manipulate and weave the threads of fate. But you are different—your Stigmata can bypass this limit."
Shun couldn't help but touch the Stigmata on his back. Was this thing really that powerful?
"What exactly are the abilities of this thing... Imaginary manipulation, touching the origin, and what else hasn't been developed?" Shun became increasingly interested in the origin of this thing.
"Elysia doesn't know either. This is your own power—you need to develop it yourself! ♪"
"In short, can I touch this thread now and then cut its connection with Mei?" Shun activated the Stigmata on his body, and his form became illusory again.
"Not you—it's us! ♪" Elysia's hand gently covered the back of Shun's hand. Originally, no one could touch Shun in his Imaginary form, but Elysia managed it effortlessly.
"Alright, alright. It's not good for boys to be too inquisitive. Just treat this as Miss Pink Elf's magic!"
It was another vague explanation again. However, Shun trusted Elysia 100%. He would let her keep hiding it. One day, he would know all the answers.
Shun and Elysia's hands moved forward together and finally grasped that purple thread, which was significantly thicker than the others.
"Are you ready? ♪" Elysia's pink eyes were full of encouragement as she looked at Shun and spoke slowly.
"I... am ready." Shun said. Then, he slowly applied force with his palm.
The purple thread visibly thinned, approached disappearance, and finally snapped. At the same time, a pink light flew out from Elysia's body and headed toward the other end of the thread.
"Is it over just like that?" Even as the two began to descend and returned to the Elysian Star Sea, Shun still found it somewhat hard to believe.
He had actually cut the connection between the Thunder Herrscher and the Cocoon of Finality so easily? And without paying any price.
"Elysia, what's wrong with you?" Shun's anxious voice suddenly sounded. When he looked back at Elysia, he found that she had become much more illusory compared to before.
"It's nothing. I just consumed a bit too much. I'll be fine after resting. Don't worry about me. ♪" Elysia patted her ample chest and smiled slightly.
"So the price was paid by you?" Shun thought of the Authority of the Herrscher of Origin—"Equivalent Exchange." A more romantic way to put it would be "Wish Fulfillment."
"It's fine, really. You've already taken the first ninety-nine steps, so Elysia only paid one percent of the price. It's really okay. ♪"
Shun saw that Elysia didn't seem to be lying, so he felt relieved. But then he thought again: hadn't Elysia already been dead for fifty thousand years?
Why was he worrying about a dead person? Could she possibly come back to life? Come back alive... Wait, Shun suddenly realized a problem.
In the original plot, Elysia's cause of death was sacrificing her life to awaken the humanity of the new-era Herrschers. But now, it didn't seem that way for him.
The battle with the Thunder Herrscher proved that Elysia had not awakened the Herrschers' humanity. The Herrschers were still controlled by the Will of Honkai. So, did that mean Elysia had not paid the price of death?
"Oi, Elysia, you..." Shun was about to ask.
"Ara, looks like the magic time is about to end! ♪" Elysia's body was already approaching transparency. It seemed she really couldn't hold on any longer.
"Ara, Shun, what question did you want to ask Miss Pink Elf? Unfortunately, Elysia has no time left. Let's meet again next time, hehe! ♪"
Elysia disappeared, leaving only Shun and that pink manta ray in this space. However, there was still good news.
At the very least, he had completed the mission and cut the connection between the Thunder Herrscher and the Cocoon of Finality. Moreover, he learned that Elysia had not died.
Win. Total win! Unfortunately, this space that had lost its owner did not allow Shun to stay long. Shun, who had still been sitting on the large manta ray, suddenly blacked out. His originally fictional body disappeared from this space.
"Ara, that was such a comfortable sleep!" Elysia stretched lazily and climbed up from the table. Her collagen-filled, peerlessly beautiful face still had red marks on it.
"Looks like Big Sister Elysia isn't very suited for reading." On the opposite side of Elysia, a white-haired figure flipping through a thick book said.
"After all, a beautiful girl like Elysia who is like a flower can't be confined indoors. Flowers should bloom in the wild to be the most beautiful!" Elysia quickly found an excuse for not liking to read, while also concealing the deeper reason why she had fallen asleep.
"Good little sister, let's go play outside the library. Staying indoors reading every day will really make mushrooms grow on you." Elysia came behind her, picked up the girl who was like a porcelain doll, and walked outside.
The white-haired girl held by Elysia did not resist and said helplessly:
"Big Sister Elysia, what's so nice to look at about the sky covered by my Divine Grace Barrier?"
The girl with silver hair cascading like a waterfall down her shoulders slightly raised her head, her beautiful eyes gazing toward the sky above.
The sky that should have been clear blue with white clouds drifting leisurely in people's impressions was now completely covered by countless golden gears. Those gears were densely interwoven, like an endless golden giant net firmly enveloping the entire sky.
The gears rotated slowly, emitting a low and rhythmic "clack clack" sound, as if narrating some ancient and mysterious story. Sunlight filtered through the gaps between the gears, forming mottled light and shadows, making the sky look both fantastical and eerie.
This was a failed world. Nothing more.