The Pure Ms. Elysia Who Drools

The Previous Era civilization was already sufficiently powerful. In terms of pure combat strength, it had far surpassed its original historical trajectory.

If it were just dealing with destructive Herrschers, the Fire Moth could already handle them with ease.

Precisely because of this, MEI actually hoped to avoid relying on Jiang Qiao as much as possible. After all, if a civilization sought help every time it encountered trouble, it clearly wasn't qualified.

But... unfortunately, ever since Jiang Qiao got involved, the Honkai had started taking unconventional paths.

For example, the Herrscher of Dominance, a 'social phenomenon Herrscher' difficult to eliminate through force, or Herrschers specifically targeting humanity's extremely fragile 'psyche.'

The latter was manageable, but the former was clearly very difficult to resolve. Even with the Avalon Project now underway, this influence was only temporarily suppressed.

And now, this unknown disaster was clearly another challenge for the Previous Era civilization. It seemed to target the very 'science' upon which human civilization had developed and relied.

"Electromagnetism is weakening... No one understands this reality better than I, the Herrscher of Thunder. The failure of wireless communication, built upon electromagnetic waves, is its most obvious manifestation."

"If this weakening intensifies further... I fear even the bioelectric fields maintaining the human body will be affected in the near future..." Understanding the implications, she chose to seek help.

"The Herrscher of Binding?"

"Indeed. Actually, before you and Elysia arrived, I had already discussed this possibility with MEI and Mobius." Vill-V nodded. "This effect on 'force' does indeed closely resemble the description you gave us about the Herrscher of Binding..."

Within the domain deployed by the Herrscher of Binding, traditional mechanics and even Honkai energy would collectively fail. The Fire Moth's top three scientists couldn't possibly disregard such an anti-Honkai Herrscher built upon the Honkai system itself.

The original Previous Era devised a plan involving massive sacrifices to force the Herrscher to its limit, then eliminate it remotely with overwhelming power.

The Later Era was somewhat luckier; though brash, they could utilize the legacy left by their predecessors, 'Judah's Oath,' to obtain the Elysion Pedion Field capable of counteracting the Binding Field, thus achieving a relatively better outcome compared to the Previous Era.

Referencing the former's solution, they had already prepared an appropriate plan. But now... The Herrscher they needed to eliminate might not even exist. With the communication systems down, information couldn't be relayed. They couldn't even confirm what form this Herrscher took.

Its upper limit? Nonexistent. The original Herrscher of Binding had a defined range. But now... this thing seemed to affect the entire planet. How could you measure its upper limit?

Its upper limit was causing fundamental forces like electromagnetism and gravity to plummet towards zero... This wasn't an upper limit; it was purely a race to the bottom.

But clearly, humanity lacked the capital to compete in this race. Forget reaching zero. Even maintaining the current state, human society would likely regress to a primitive state before long.

If things declined further, everyone could just wait for their thoughts to cease, then turn to dust along with the stopped planet!

"...Is it that serious?" Hearing Vill-V's description, Elysia turned pale. She initially thought it wasn't a big deal. After all, it was just losing communication and electricity.

While inconvenient, Elysia felt life could still go on without those things. But now... even the not-so-bright pink fatty realized the gravity of the situation.

This was game over!

"Elysia, have you discovered anything on your end?" Jiang Qiao asked, snapping Elysia back to reality. She looked completely lost. Discover what?

"Such a large-scale adjustment, the Cocoon couldn't possibly remain inactive... Perhaps some answers can be found within the Origin Space."

Hearing this, Elysia, looking pure enough to drool, blinked. Abba abba. I-I dunno!

Although she had come to terms with certain things, even gradually accepting this innate power, clearly, some things were hard to change. For example, Ms. Elysia's mastery of the 'wish-fulfillment' style of power usage.

However, even in the realm of 'wishing,' Ms. 55kg's performance was enough to make the Origin authority, often subjected to 'wishes,' feel disdain. Even a ridiculously demanding client at least stated a requirement. At least there was a direction.

Seeing Elysia, whose style contrasted so sharply with everyone else present, the Fire Moth's top three scientists chuckled in resignation. That's just Elysia, understand.

"...Just give him your body directly." MEI sighed. "This kind of thing is better left to someone suitable..." Having known [Elysia] first, then watching [Elysia] become the current Elysia, the feeling was truly hard to describe. Fortunately, they were used to it.

Mobius also curled her lip, unable to resist chiding, "...This power landing in your hands is truly a waste of heaven's gifts."

"Indeed." Vill-V agreed. Though her personality didn't usually incline her to say such things, honestly, for high-intelligence individuals like them, the most painful sight was something like 'using a nuclear bomb as a hammer'—such extremely wasteful and foolish behavior.

Especially since it seemed only she, among those present, didn't have it, which made Ms. Vill-V feel even more conflicted. The have-nots envied the haves, while the haves... some clueless haves had no idea how to properly utilize the enviable thing.

"I never wanted it in the first place..." Elysia retorted, annoyed. Damn it, this isn't what I, Elysia, wanted! To be honest, she'd rather this thing stay far away from her. Being an ordinary beautiful girl fit her aspirations much better, she muttered, puffing her cheeks.

Though displeased at being looked down upon in a certain aspect, knowing the priorities, she grabbed someone's hand and dragged him into a small corner.

"Alright, although some time has passed, it still feels familiar~" Gently brushing aside hair near her ear, pink strands fluttered lightly. Azure eyes reflected shimmering light.

A familiar sweet voice filled the air. For work purposes, [Elysia] made a limited-time return.

"Hmph hmph~ Clearly just an internal exchange, yet it feels completely different."

"Indeed, I still miss this 'Elysia'," Mobius chuckled, her sweet voice full of teasing and a hint of nostalgia, leaning close to the former, tracing the pretty face with a slender index finger.

"Indeed." MEI and Vill-V agreed.

"You three...!" Ms. Pink Fatty turned slightly red, puffing her cheeks. What do you mean, miss 'this' Elysia? Is there any difference between me, Elysia, and that bad guy Jiang Qiao? If anything, I'm more real! The genuine article! Genuine!

"Honestly, stop teasing Elysia. Saying such things will hurt 'my' feelings, you know~"

"...Can't you just speak in your own way?" Elysia rolled her eyes, complaining resentfully.

"It's not impossible~ But as 'Elysia,' this feels more natural. After all, I must also consider 'her' feelings" Like stroking green onions, pale white index fingers gently caressed the girl's ample curves. Jiang Qiao savored [Elysia], feeling the joyous 'heart' beating within the chest. "See, 'Elysia' says so"

"...You're just looking for excuses to do weird things..." Though not particularly bothered, seeing someone touch strange places in front of so many people still made Elysia puff her cheeks indignantly. Honestly... if you want to touch... do it in private...!

Jiang Qiao smiled and shook his head.

The relationship between body and consciousness was never that simple or shallow. Although the 'swap' he possessed was extremely special, the principle remained. Just as a person doesn't die even when losing consciousness or the ability to think, the body persists.

This wasn't limited to neural thought; it resided in the heart, in every fiber of this body. Their true owner was Elysia. Similarly, Elysia was them. It was just difficult for normal humans to delve deep.

The swap took Elysia away, but couldn't take Elysia's body. And how to use this Elysian body depended on how one interacted with [Elysia].

Accommodating each other, fulfilling each other, influencing each other, letting each become the other.

Precisely because of this, in past interactions with others, he used this name without much hesitation. Because it also contained parts belonging to [Elysia].

Mobius smiled, somewhat curious. "Hehe, speaking of which... don't you have the power of Origin yourself? Why specifically use that idiot's body?"

"If it's just connecting to the Origin Space, then my own is sufficient."

"But if we need to go further... using this body is easier, simpler~" A captivating pink hue bloomed within the pink-haired girl's azure eyes. A faint divinity threatened to emerge.

"Besides, my body isn't quite suitable for this kind of thing," he said softly, a hint of helplessness in his voice.

Actually, compared to other bodies, [Jiang Qiao] always had some imperfections. Even when Jiang Qiao used it, fully utilizing the 'copied' Herrscher authorities, the essence of [Jiang Qiao] remained fundamentally human.

While not critically important, it did affect performance somewhat.

Thus, Jiang Qiao developed the bad habit of 'playing better with others' bodies than his own.' Anyway, excellent Gundam pilots are all like that, aren't they?

"Mm hmm... I see... Alright... I understand..." Like flipping through pages, [Elysia] skillfully poked the Cocoon's metaphorical rear, searching for what he wanted.

Now, he was even more brazen than before.

If the previous Jiang Qiao merely used the reputation of [Elysia], the Herrscher big sister, to peek through the door crack and steal, now he was practically robbing them in broad daylight.

After all, he now possessed not only Honkai-based 'Herrscher abilities' but also Path powers from the other side. Although drawing upon them in this body wasn't convenient, Elysia's 'favored daughter' status compensated for this drawback.

Unfortunately, this still wasn't quite enough to deal with the Cocoon. Jiang Qiao found this old fogey, who appeared out of nowhere, had quite thick defenses. Even using the power of Harmony to follow the threads directly to the source was useless.

"Alright, I know what this is about now." Returning to azure eyes, [Elysia] understood. Under the expectant gazes of those present, he explained. This thing was the Herrscher of Binding fused with the Herrscher of Rock.

Logically, combining two Herrschers should make them stronger. But due to limits, the fused Herrscher underwent an unexpected 'mutation,' becoming the current 'mechanics killer.'

Furthermore, this Herrscher wasn't the type that could be defeated through simple elimination... Its foundation was...

"The Herrscher of Dominance?!" Hearing this answer, the Fire Moth's top three scientists frowned.

According to the Cocoon's design, the 'Herrscher of Dominance,' which had now spread to almost all of humanity, was the source of this Binding field.

This 'social Herrscher,' evolving alongside Abundance, transformed from the original 'social dilemma' into something 'anti-nature,' 'anti-science.'

From human versus human conflict, it further shifted into humanity versus the world conflict.

The Cocoon was curious. When humans became the enemy of this planet, the land they relied upon for survival... how would the humans of this planet solve this problem?