Elysia and [Elysia]

Talking about other things was fine, but when Kevin's words – "Descendant of the Kaslanas, will you continue to shrink back?" – reached the white-haired dumpling's ears, the way she looked at Kevin changed.

The phrase "descendant of the Kaslanas" kept echoing in her mind.

This is tolerable, but that is intolerable!

Did he even know that you don't mess with the surname when talking to a Kaslana?

Even in death, they absolutely wouldn't want to disgrace the name they carried. It might seem really stupid, but this was indeed a lifelong principle upheld by those of the Kaslana lineage.

On this point, even Kiana, who usually seemed quite laid-back, was no exception.

"Who's shrinking back?!"

The white-haired dumpling got agitated instantly, popping out from behind Elysia, her neck flushed red as she huffed, "The children of the Kaslanas don't run from a fight!"

Faced with this provocation that touched upon her honor, she even considered asking Kevin to switch back to the Judgment of Shamash. Although it was really painful, at least she wouldn't actually die.

However, the trauma from before made Kiana shrink her neck back, shooting a glance at the baseball bat – it wasn't that she was afraid, okay? It's just that this thing was definitely more acceptable than that scary flaming great sword from before.

The usually indifferent Kevin rarely showed a hint of a smile, but he quickly suppressed it, raising the baseball bat in his hand and pointing it directly at her.

"Having a conviction you're willing to uphold is indeed admirable, but you also need the strength to put that conviction into practice."

"Tch, talking a bunch of nonsense..."

"But hey, Uncle Kevin, when it comes to baseball bat skills, I won't lose to you!"

—Unfortunately, the result didn't seem ideal.

Although Kiana did indeed have extensive experience using the baseball bat as a weapon, her opponent was the pinnacle of the Fusion Soldiers – Kevin.

Even though his experience using a baseball bat was limited to the time of the Third Honkai Eruption in Nagazora City, this man, whose combat talent even surpassed Elysia's, could only be described with two words when facing the current Kiana, regardless of the weapon he used – utter domination.

Looking at the result, using the Judgment of Shamash directly might have been more merciful.

At least, if Kiana had been killed by Kevin wielding Shamash before, she would have only felt a moment of pain – but now, with the baseball bat, even as an energy construct, Kiana could feel the immense pain of the bat hitting her, and it was truly unbearable.

However, this time, no matter how painful it was, Kiana didn't let out any painful cries. Instead, she clenched her teeth tightly, enduring the agony and attempting to counterattack with the baseball bat in her hand.

Elysia, seeing this, left with a sigh of boredom.

After all, in this situation, there was no point in her staying here.

However, after seeing Kiana, the Fat woman became curious about the situation of the other companions who had entered the Elysian Realm with her.

Leaving the trial area of the Elysian Realm, Elysia explored the place as before, occasionally letting out exclamations of surprise. Suddenly, she felt a dark shadow flash before her eyes.

She instinctively reached out to catch it and felt a weight in her arms – looking down, she saw a rather chubby cat with brown fur all over and a bell tied around its neck.

"Eh, the Elysian Realm actually has such cute little animals~"

After clearly seeing the cat, Elysia, being the type who loved small animals, her eyes lit up, feeling surprised and a little astonished.

When they arrived, Raven had said that there was nothing in the Elysian Realm except the Flame-Chasers and visitors. She hadn't encountered any living creatures during her aimless wanderings – maybe only the trial areas had enemies formed from past memories.

But the cat in front of her was clearly an exception. It was impossible for one of the Flame-Chasers to be a cat, right?

Elysia happily reached out to pet the chubby cat in her arms. The cat seemed to enjoy the petting, letting out a "mew~", which made the Fat woman's heart flutter with joy.

But the next moment, a figure came running from the distance – a brown-haired girl wearing quite revealing clothing, with small cat ears on her head and a nimble cat tail behind her.

"Hey, Can-ned, don't run around!"

A rather helpless voice came from the girl, but when she clearly saw the person holding Canned Tuna, she froze for a moment, stunned. "Eh..."

Similarly, Elysia's heart leaped with joy the moment she saw the girl's appearance.

Hoh hoh hoh, what had she discovered? A super cute beauty, and with cat ears and a cat tail! This, this, this is a catgirl from stories!!!

Having broad tastes – as long as it was a beautiful girl, the Pink fat woman would basically accept them all – Elysia lost all interest in petting Can, her eyes shining as she stared at the cat-eared girl.

"Eh—you are..."

Pardofelis, noticing [Jiang Qiao], paused for a moment. This reaction made Elysia, who had just unlocked another beauty in her mental collection, feel a thump in her heart. * Masaka, could it be that this cat-eared girl had also been targeted by that bad Jiang Qiao?*

Damn it, how many cute girls has that bad Jiang Qiao gotten involved with behind my back!

In her mind, Elysia had already transformed into an angry demon, stomping and punching a mental image of Jiang Qiao. On the surface, she could only maintain a friendly smile, not daring to act rashly.

She had no idea what kind of situation that bad Jiang Qiao was in. If she acted carelessly, she might give herself away. After several failed lessons, * I, Elysia, have learned from my mistakes and learned to plan carefully and adapt to the situation!*

"Oh... you're the visitor that Sister Elysia mentioned, right?"

Hearing this, Elysia instantly breathed a sigh of relief – thank goodness, the cat-eared girl in front of her didn't recognize her. That way, she wouldn't be exposed.

But…

Sister Elysia?

Hearing this address, Elysia felt her blood pressure spike.

—That bad Jiang Qiao had actually laid his hands on the cat-eared beauty in front of her!

He even made her call him "Sister Elysia"!

I am Elysia! It's me! 

I am your Sister Elysia! 

"Hehe, Pardofelis of [Reverie], the last of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers. But don't have too high expectations of me, compared to the others, I'm just an ordinary person."

"No need to be so formal, just call me Felis, or Pardo is fine too, whichever you find easier."

—There were indeed very few Flame-Chasers in the Elysian Realm who hadn't realized Elysia's true nature.

Pardofelis was one of them.

After all, being the weakest Flame-Chaser and lacking any special abilities, just like she said, she was an ordinary person. Felis didn't possess any "keen" observational skills.

Although Eden and SIM Elysia had informed the other Flame-Chasers about this "tease Elysia" game through Aponia's administrator privileges, perhaps they hadn't considered the existence of Flame-Chasers like Pardofelis, who had weaker observational skills, so Felis was completely clueless about this so-called "game."

But this didn't stop her from being enthusiastic about the visitor in front of her.

This attitude almost made Elysia burst out laughing.

This beautiful girl named Felis was clearly the type who was super easy to befriend!

If that was the case, wouldn't it be extremely easy for her to win her over? This was a catgirl, after all… hehe.

That bad Jiang Qiao actually knew such a cute and rare beauty behind her back – unforgivable! Watch me close the distance at lightning speed and then make her my cat! Hmph, bad Jiang Qiao, bringing me to this place called the Elysian Realm was a terrible move!

"Mm-hmm, since you said so, then I'll call you Felis."

"Nice to meet you, I'm—Jiang Qiao!" She enthusiastically introduced herself, especially happy after saying the name [Jiang Qiao], as if she was already imagining a bright future.

But the process didn't seem to go smoothly. Faced with her initiative, the catgirl looked confused and strange, making Miss Elysia, who had just launched an all-out offensive with full confidence, feel a thud in her heart, and she asked nervously,

"Eh, what's wrong? Is there something weird on my face?"

"It's nothing, but the way you talk is kind of similar to Sister Elysia's..." Pardofelis scratched her head, her tail wagging non-stop behind her, then shook her head.

—Because I am Elysia! That's my way of speaking!

The Pink Fat Woman miss roared and complained in her heart as a demon.

Damn it, she almost forgot that bad Jiang Qiao had been impersonating [Elysia]!

Elysia realized this thanks to the catgirl and felt a pang of annoyance. Luckily, she was reminded, otherwise, wouldn't it be easy to arouse suspicion and get exposed?

No way, absolutely not! If that happened, her plan to use [Jiang Qiao's] appearance to get revenge on the bad Jiang Qiao's [Elysia] and completely defeat him would be a massive failure!

Having no other choice, she could only come up with an excuse on the spot.

"Ahaha, that's probably because I have a really good friend who's very similar to her, so I got influenced."

"Oh, I see."

Thankfully, it was the catgirl. After hearing this reason, she didn't doubt it at all, just looking like she understood.

—She passed.

Elysia let out a sigh of relief.

"Jiang Qiao... then I'll call you Boss Qiao!"

"Boss…"

Hearing this address, Elysia felt strange and a little annoyed – you call the bad Jiang Qiao "Sister Elysia," but you call me "Boss"? Okay, I get it… Alright, Elysia could probably understand that the bad Jiang Qiao definitely had a closer relationship with Felis than she did.

Thinking of this, the Pink Fat Woman decided that she would make the cat-eared girl call her… um, since it was the bad Jiang Qiao's body, should it be "Brother"?

Although she wasn't used to this address, Elysia, unwilling to lose to the bad Jiang Qiao, still planned to work towards this goal.

"Hehe, I've opened some small shops in the Elysian Realm, doing some small business. Because there are so few people in the Elysian Realm, business has been pretty average… but I've finally waited for Boss Qiao and the others to come!"

Pardofelis was a little excited – although she hadn't realized the identities of the visitors, due to the matching mechanism, she at least knew that many guests had come to the Elysian Realm. This was great news for the catgirl who loved doing business.

She had a feeling that her sales would definitely skyrocket in the near future… hehe.

"Although my little shop doesn't look big, it has a lot of useful things inside. Maybe there will be something you like? Even if there isn't anything you fancy, it's okay. To be honest, although I'm not very good at fighting, I'm a master at sourcing and collecting information."

"People or things, as long as the reward is enough, I can definitely get them for you! Don't worry about the quality, my goods are guaranteed. Sister Elysia checked them and said they were good, genuine products, honest prices, no cheating the young or old. Fake goods will be compensated tenfold, no returns or exchanges!"

"Oh?"

Elysia, who wasn't very interested initially, suddenly became intrigued after hearing this.

"Do you know where the others like me are… um, what you call visitors?"

"Oh… about that, I do know a bit. There's one with grey hair and red claws, one little girl with double ringlets, and one with blackish-purple hair at Sister Sakura's place—Sister Hua seems to have gone there too."

"And there's someone named Wendy… hehe, she's at my stall right now. I get along pretty well with her."

"As for the others, I'm not sure."

"Since it's the first business deal, I won't charge you for good luck~ To be honest, the moment I saw you, Boss Qiao, I felt an inexplicable closeness, just like seeing Sister Elysia."

"Uh… haha."

Elysia chuckled awkwardly. Although she had a good impression of Pardofelis, hearing the address "Sister Elysia" made her cheeks ache – it was always about the bad Jiang Qiao… damn bad Jiang Qiao! Don't let me catch you, or you'll definitely regret it!

However, the good news was that she had learned about the movements of her other companions through this opportunity.

Kiana was sparring with that man named Kevin, the one with grey hair… that should be Raven and the others, and lastly, Wendy was at Pardofelis's stall.

"So, Boss Qiao, do you want to come to my stall and make some money?"

Looking at the eager Pardofelis wagging her tail happily, Elysia, who was already planning how to get closer, nodded.

All of this was being watched by SIM Elysia and the others through a small window opened by the administrator Miss Aponia to observe "their original's" movements.

They watched "Elysia's" activities in the Elysian Realm with great interest.

And discussed them from time to time.

But at a certain moment, the Elysian Realm trio and Mobius all froze.

The Elysian Realm… had welcomed another new visitor.

SIM Elysia, noticing this, said softly,

"Aponia, Eden, and Mobius, could you give me some private space for a while?"

…

Even stretching the timeline to the current era, more than four thousand five hundred years later, the visits to the Elysian Realm probably hadn't been as frequent as they were now.

If the fact that a bunch of Herrschers had been sent into the Elysian Realm in quick succession before was already difficult for Klein to understand, then the figure appearing before her now made even someone as rational as Klein widen her eyes in disbelief.

"…Ely…sia?!"

She rubbed her eyes to confirm the identity of the pink-haired girl smiling at her not far away. As a battle android meticulously designed by Mobius, although not heavily equipped for combat, Mobius had incorporated the most advanced instruments from the Previous Era into Klein's design for auxiliary work – this of course included scanning devices.

"Appearance, demeanor… iris… exactly the same as Elysia in the archives, except for the ears… but there's no doubt you are indeed the real Elysia."

Even Klein's listless voice couldn't hide the shock in the heart of this remnant of the Previous Era.

Not the "memory body" left behind by the former Elysia in the Elysian Realm, but the living, breathing Elysia herself.

"But… this shouldn't be possible. According to the Previous Era's archives… Elysia herself should have definitely passed away."

Even those who had received news of [Elysia's] appearance still held some doubts about it – let alone Klein, who knew nothing about this information.

"Her" arrival hadn't been notified by Gray Serpent – which was natural, as Jiang Qiao, having learned the location of the Elysian Realm from Gray Serpent and possessing something to guide her, no longer needed to find a "guide."

Therefore, due to the nature of this "surprise attack," the protocol that should have been followed by a World Serpent executive to inform Klein, the maintainer of the Elysian Realm and its gatekeeper, wasn't executed at all.

"No need for doubt – your records are indeed correct, but [Elysia's] situation is a bit special." The smiling pink-haired girl approached Klein, actively bending down – and after the latter had a bad feeling, she was directly "played with."

Just like Elysia always did, kneading "dough."

"Mmhmm~ Just like a real person, the feel is great?"

Of course, upon closer inspection, she was slightly different compared to the one dug out from Mount Taixu… well, it wasn't surprising. Jiang Qiao remembered that Klein's body parts were basically all top-of-the-line goods custom-made by Mobius from Vill-V.

While the one from Mount Taixu was just hastily made by survivors of the Previous Era using available materials. In terms of quality, they were not on the same level at all.

"Ugh…"

Klein, with her face being rubbed, mumbled helplessly.

Fortunately, she had already gotten used to being squished by the fairy miss in the Elysian Realm.

Putting Klein down, [Elysia] smiled, her fingers interlaced.

"Alright, I guess I should enter the Elysian Realm. I bet that fairy miss in the Elysian Realm must be quite curious about me right now?"

—Indeed, that was the case.

The moment Jiang Qiao entered the Elysian Realm, before she could properly admire the scenery, she saw the pink-haired girl sitting on the sofa, looking just like she did when she first met Raiden Mei – the memory body of Elysia.

The other two of the Elysian Realm trio and Miss Snake had all cooperated and left – this was of course not out of precaution. Elysia, who regarded the Flame-Chasers as her important companions, would never be wary of them.

But the one she was about to meet was clearly a bit special, so leaving them with "ample" space to communicate seemed more appropriate.

"As you said, I am indeed extraordinarily curious about you… um, should I call you Jiang Qiao?"

Gently holding the armrest of the sofa, SIM Elysia's blue eyes reflected the [Elysia] who was almost identical to her – except for the unique pointy fairy ears – her tone tinged with uncertainty.

"Call me whatever you like. Although I have used this name quite a few times, it feels a bit awkward to do so when facing the owner of the name."