Elysia: You Can't Do That, You Idiot!

After the collapse of human hearts, the Cocoon presented a new trial: the 'Anti-Nature Herrscher.'

Unlike all previous Herrschers, this one's purpose wasn't to limit humanity through overwhelming destructive power. Learning from past experiences, it took the opposite approach.

It turned humanity itself into an 'oppressor' of the environment.

Just as humans cause environmental collapse and planetary ecological imbalance through excessive resource exploitation, leading to self-destruction, this catalyst for human demise was amplified, truly turning humanity into the enemy of the very place it inhabited.

"...H-How do we deal with this?" As some of the Previous Era's most knowledgeable Herrschers, they easily grasped the significance of this Herrscher. Vill-V, among them, frowned deeply, arms crossed, complaining uneasily, "There's simply no way to tackle this, is there?"

"...Uh... Is it very difficult? Since this situation arises because everyone gathers together... wouldn't separating, becoming individuals, solve it?" Elysia, unaware of how terrifying this truly was, offered her own whimsical idea, a method she believed could effectively solve the problem.

Hmph... You all underestimated me, I'm pretty smart too, okay! she thought smugly.

However, she didn't receive looks of 'shock' but rather the same 'subtle,' deeply offending gazes as before. "...Why are you all looking at me like that? Is there a problem..."

"Elysia... do you know what the foundation of human society and human civilization is?" MEI sighed, asking this question.

"Ah... What do you mean?" Ms. Pink Fatty was clearly baffled. Evidently, she had never considered such things.

Given Elysia's personality, she only thought about what she needed to think about. As for unnecessary things... Worries should all just fly away! After all, she wasn't the type to understand overly complex matters, especially topics related to 'philosophy.'

"It's the collective," Mobius stated, unsurprised, curling her lip. "The intersection of people meeting forms social relations. The interweaving, recording, and evolution of these social relations ultimately become what we understand today as 'civilization.'"

"And if this collectivity is dismantled..."

"Elysia, can you imagine how it would feel if everyone disappeared, leaving only you alone?"

"...I... I'm not sure, but... it feels like it would be somewhat scary..." Asked this question, Elysia's expression turned strange, her face paling slightly. A tense warmth spread from her palm.

Turning her head, she saw [Elysia] smiling and holding her hand, her eyes seeming to say, 'Don't worry.' A deep sense of security flowed from the warmth in her palm, making the former grip tighter, as if terrified of the scenario Mobius described.

MEI took over, stating calmly, "...In short, if we were to avoid this by taking that approach, human civilization would effectively cease to exist."

"So... this is likely the greatest challenge we have faced thus far."

"Thank you, El... Jiang Qiao. Next, we need to figure out how to solve this problem... But I fear, for the time being, we won't be able to come up with a suitable answer." Her voice held a hint of a wry smile; the most brilliant genius of the Previous Era sounded subdued. "If possible, we still hope you can buy us some time. If things decline like this, it's somewhat urgent..."

The pink-haired girl shook her head. This made MEI's eyes dim, sighing softly, "...Even you can't do it? I see..."

"So be it. Don't push yourself too hard. For the time being, you can go hang out with Elysia. We'll handle things here." She forced a smile, arranging Jiang Qiao and Elysia's upcoming itinerary.

After all, in MEI's view, providing such help meant Jiang Qiao had already done his best. If not for him, they might have remained unaware until the situation was irreversible. Asking for more would be greedy.

However, Elysia was clearly not happy with MEI's arrangement. Going around with Bad Jiang Qiao wasn't the issue... she was actually quite happy about that. But... being so dejected, did MEI mean for them to 'eat well, drink well, leave no regrets'?

Yet, at this moment, even Elysia couldn't think of how to break this deadlock.

A sweet voice, tinged with amusement, spoke: "Actually, it doesn't have to be this troublesome."

Everyone present, whether thinking or worrying, saw only that pretty smiling face, seemingly untouched by any shadow of gloom. Like a rainbow after the rain.

"Could it be..." Vill-V's face lit up with surprise, while Mobius hummed with a knowing smile. "Hmph hmph, I knew it."

"Do you have another way, Jiang Qiao?" MEI's eyes, too, rarely showed such a flicker of joy.

Honestly, for the strong-willed, incredibly proud MEI, she always preferred solving things herself, achieving things herself. The so-called sense of security, in her view, was a sign of lack of confidence. Thus, she never cared for it, rarely displaying such emotions.

But... even the strong-willed MEI had to admit, having [Elysia] around... felt really wonderful. As if a great burden had been lifted. And if he weren't there? MEI would probably have to rack her brains figuring out how to overcome the difficulty.

"Of course. Leave the rest to me," he declared, azure eyes brimming with confidence. "However, this will require borrowing some of your strength as well."

"What do you intend to do?"

"First, take me to the core of the Avalon Project."

"...There? I understand." MEI nodded. "Follow me."

The Avalon Project—a system designed to suppress the societal collapse caused by the spread of the Herrscher of Dominance core. Its core network was located in a space station suspended in near-Earth orbit above the Fire Moth headquarters.

Along with it were three hundred and sixty-five linked node satellites built by Vill-V, floating in various orbital regions in outer space.

"Ooh, you're here~" When MEI brought the group to the space station via a special transport method, a childish, sweet voice filled with surprise echoed.

It was none other than Ms. Fairy Elysia, who seemed to have 'disappeared' not long ago. Holding a fairy wand, she complained, "This big thing seems to have some problem, Femirin can't even talk to me anymore! It's so boring! I was thinking if no one talked to me soon, I'd just fly down myself!"

"Some rather troublesome things came up, sorry."

"It's okay, it's okay~ Hmm... This is the clumsy me, this is the reliable me!" Fairy Elysia blinked, identifying them in an instant. Naturally, the 'clumsy me' shot back an angry glare, but was tragically ignored.

"Currently, Fairy Elysia serves as the administrator of the Avalon space station."

"Hmph hmph, that's right! This whole big space station, it's all managed by me! How about that, impressive, right~"

"Then, do you perhaps need to introduce this space station?"

"In... introduce... Wait wait wait... Let me find it..." Hearing the word spoken with a smile by [Elysia], Fairy Elysia instantly panicked, fumbling around before finally pulling out a small booklet.

"Phew, found it, found Kiana! Hmph hmph, of course, no problem! As the space station administrator, I'm familiar with everything about it!" She held up the thick booklet, the words 'Avalon Space Station Introduction Compendium' clearly visible.

"..." Seeing Fairy Elysia like this, Elysia's expression turned somewhat unnatural.

MEI chuckled, half amused, half helpless. "Alright... stop teasing her. Now isn't the time for sightseeing." The station's builders and designers were right here; what need was there for this half-baked little fairy's introduction?

She directly led the group to the station's central hub, where they met the central AI, Femirin. "Femirin, what is Avalon's current operational status?"

"Hm? Dr. MEI!... Regrettably, the status doesn't seem very good~" Accompanied by a screen flash, a game-like interface instantly vanished.

The blonde girl—an AI cultivated by the Mu Continent faction, with the core intelligence 'Femirin'—reported nonchalantly, "Due to unknown interference, Avalon is almost semi-paralyzed. It's completely unable to observe human activity on the surface. The only system barely operational is the delayed Edict System..."

"So that's how it is... What do you plan to do?" MEI asked [Elysia] after Fimiris finished, shrugging, genuinely curious.

The latter pondered for a moment, then spoke, "Shut down the Edict System, Femirin."

"...? I do not understand." Femirin replied. "Although I dislike this system, without its constraints, given the current state of humanity, they might fall into extremely dangerous circumstances... This is a solemn warning based on calculations."

"Just do it."

"Authorization verified. Permission granted. Process loaded. Detected Avalon user offline. Intervention adjustment process error."

"This, I leave to you, MEI," [Elysia] stated.

"Alright." Having apparently discussed this beforehand, MEI knew Jiang Qiao's meaning from his eyes, nodded, and slowly removed her glasses. Then... the Herrscher of Thunder core stored safely within the Fire Moth headquarters slowly cracked and vanished. Immediately following was a soul-stirring flash of lightning.

"Femirin, switch to hidden contingency plan."

[Hidden contingency condition detected. Condition met.]

[Verifying authority. Passed.]

[Hidden Contingency Plan: Thunder's Hour, loaded.]

From its inception, the Avalon Project had actually factored in various scenarios. MEI just never thought such emergency plans would ever be needed. Until this day.

"MEI, I need you to link the electromagnetic fields of the entire planet in a short time."

And so, MEI did just that. Undertaking something never done before. Thunder's Hour, Forced Linkage.

Even with MEI's talent, this was an extremely fantastical act. According to specifications, the Herrscher of Thunder authority, merely a reflection of the Final Herrscher, simply didn't possess this level of output.

And even if it did, this action was normally meaningless.

But, under the parallel auxiliary computation of the Thousand Stars system, she achieved it.

"Then, it's my turn." Mobius revealed a faint smile. Then... the authority over Death and Life began to exert its power, building a 'bridge.'

Witnessing all this unfold. Witnessing its conclusion. [Elysia]'s beautiful eyes lowered slightly. A faint aura emanated from her body, rippling outwards.

"...Let us fight side-by-side one last time." Gazing at her pale white palm, feeling the surging emotions.

Draping this noble body in a white veil. Manifesting the posture belonging to a Herrscher.

"Crack" Space shattered. A massive figure resembling a manta ray emerged from the starry expanse. Through the shattered void, a glimpse of a profound realm could be seen.

"The Origin Space?!" Elysia recognized it instantly. Originally clueless, she froze, her heart tightening. "Bad Jiang Qiao, what are you planning to do?"

"...He wants to... rearrange the stars." The childish voice held a hint of astonishment. Its source was the accompanying Fairy Elysia. She stared blankly at the scene, witnessing something she shouldn't be able to comprehend.

...This was a memory not belonging to ER Elysia, because it was a story written by the true Elysia, something she had done.

At the end of her life, Elysia finally understood the power of Origin, using this final strength to pave the way forward for her companions.

[Elysia] didn't say anything, merely chanting softly, "Now, the time of return has come."

"...Wait, you're not planning to do something stupid, are you?" Hearing words that sounded suspiciously like a farewell, Elysia suddenly felt something was very wrong. Could that bad guy be planning to self-destruct or something?

You can't do that, you idiot! Even if someone has to explode, it should be me, Elysia!

"Now, the time of turning has come."

"Following the wish of the 'True Self (EGO).'"

"Hereby, break the boundary between the beginning and the end."

Like shattering glass, the pitch-black canvas of the universe was replaced by myriad starlight. Shattering along with it was the figure, brilliant as a crystal flower. And the sweet, poetic echo lingering in the wind...

...May time stand still at this moment, may civilization shine brightly like starlight.

On Earth, people gazed at the incredibly brilliant starry sky, utterly amazed.

And the Cocoon... Looking at the empty void where the stars used to be, successfully reported an error.

The reason for the error was simple, just one: Where's my planet?