Of course Mobius wouldn't bother with someone like Kalpas.
"Speechless? Kalpas, do you really think I would ever be at a loss for words?"
Mobius smiled. "Haven't seen you in a while, and it seems your already useless part has gotten even stiffer."
"Mobius, are you panicking?" Kalpas returned to himself and let out something like a sneer.
"Heh~ I'm just pointing out that you're only seeing the surface."
"Is that so?"
"Then, since you think you're so clever, Kalpas…"
Mobius suddenly shifted her tone.
"Tell me—after all the curious things the new Herrscher has done in the story—what's their true goal?"
Kalpas: "..."
After a brief silence, Kalpas retorted disdainfully,
"You think I'd fall into your verbal traps?"
"Hmm?" Mobius let out a sound with deep implication.
The atmosphere gradually stiffened.
Elysia timely inserted herself between Mobius and Kalpas's exchange.
"Mobius, what do you think the new Herrscher's real goal is?"
"Maybe the new Herrscher just couldn't stand seeing Seele and Veliona being all lovey-dovey—so she popped up specifically to ruin it and break them up."
Mobius didn't answer seriously—instead, she cracked a joke.
"Eh? Mobius, don't joke around like that~~"
"A joke? Yes."
That line just now had been a joke—but it was also a genuine speculation.
She simply blended her theory into a joke.
Thanks to Mobius's "joke," the livestream chat became explosively active.
Watching from his usual post as a lurker in Elysia's stream, Hokuto had some thoughts.
Seeing the flood of comments sparked by Elysia, Kalpas, and Mobius…
He suddenly felt that the way players in this world experienced the Elysian Realm might go even deeper than it had in the previous one.
This world's players had interacted more with Elysia, Kalpas, Mobius… and the others.
Especially Elysia…
How many viewers had been watching Elysia stream for years?
Once the Herrscher of Corruption appears—people getting nosebleeds from emotional overload...
Going sleepless for days might be getting off easy.
Players might not be able to hold it together.
Perhaps every little bit of daily life right now was, in some way, laying the groundwork.
Elysia focused back on the game.
She opened the next stage and confirmed the animation resources needed to download it.
Scene shift.
Bronya stood on a street ablaze with flames, recalling her past experiences—when suddenly, a mysterious man appeared before her.
At the moment she saw the man, Bronya woke up from her dream.
It wasn't the first time she'd had this strange dream, but she still didn't understand what it meant.
Until today.
Under Welt's guidance, Bronya trained specifically to deal with the Herrscher of Reason's special ability—"once used, it will leave behind memories."
After training, she spoke to Welt about the dream and the mysterious man.
Through Welt's explanation, Bronya learned a great deal.
The man in her dream was actually the first Herrscher of Reason.
And the reason she was seeing him was because Herrscher cores retain the remnants of consciousness from previous users.
After thinking to herself for a bit, Bronya asked:
"So, anyone who has a Herrscher core inside them will have similar experiences?"
"Like Mei, the class rep, and… Kiana."
Welt confirmed:
"That's right. Especially Kiana—she has multiple cores."
...
"So that means Kiana must be dreaming about all sorts of bizarre things every night now?"
Elysia speculated about Kiana's current situation.
"She's got two Herrscher cores in her, after all."
"Cores retaining their users' consciousness…"
Mobius muttered to herself.
Wouldn't the writers use this setup to stir something up?
Like having someone who shouldn't appear show up for a final encounter?
With too little information now, she couldn't say for sure.
Maybe it was just a casual supplement the writers added, with no deeper intention.
While Mobius, as a textbook Honkai theorist, was thinking about the meaning behind the story—
Elysia was simply immersed in the plot, fully roleplaying like a devoted player.
She murmured, "Sometimes I just want to see Kiana and the others living normal lives."
"Not always being forced forward by one incident after another."
As she said that, she gently tapped the dialogue box.
The plot continued.
Two characters watching the scenery from an exhibition platform were drawn in by passersby discussing a monster statue exhibit, and they decided to go see it for themselves.
What they didn't expect was that the exhibition featured statues modeled after Honkai beasts.
Welt immediately sensed something wrong and advised the organizers to cancel the exhibit.
But the organizers dismissed Welt's warning and confidently declared:
"Don't worry, these statues definitely won't grow legs and bite people."
No sooner had he spoken than the statues sprang to life—scaring him into fleeing in terror.
A classic comedic reversal, but still incredibly effective.
Classic doesn't mean outdated—if used well, it achieves exactly what the writers intend.
Light banter before a mini battle like this? Totally fine.
If it happened during the final showdown, then it'd be a problem.
Know when to be serious, and when to joke.
That's one of the reasons why players love Honkai Impact 3rd.
[I love this kind of story, more please!]
[Lately, because of Honkai, I've been reading game plots more seriously. But other games just don't hit the same—their writers don't get me like miHoYo's do.]
[Of course. If they didn't understand you, how would they help you 'balance work and rest'? Slice you up for a bit, then let you recover so you don't go numb.]
[???]
...
"Pfft~~ hearing you all talk like this, maybe miHoYo's writers really are kind of evil,"
Elysia giggled.
But Hokuto's actually a pretty nice guy—otherwise he wouldn't have gotten along so well with Kiana and the others… even Mobius.
Hmm… although this script for Honkai Impact 3rd really has made even Elysia want to bring him to justice.
She calmed herself slightly.
Seeing the chat spamming "Isn't he?"
Elysia didn't pursue the topic.
She focused on controlling Bronya in battle.
It was a simple fight.
Bronya quickly defeated the animated statue without causing a major commotion.
But the fact that the statue had come to life left her and Welt uneasy.
They contacted Anti-Entropy's Einstein and Tesla to investigate and successfully traced the statues' origin.
But then Einstein brought up another issue.
In one of the dolls Seele had handed in, she found what looked like a Herrscher core crystal.
At this point in the story, the protagonists finally realized that this incident might involve a Herrscher—possibly a new Honkai crisis.
To fully investigate, Bronya and Seele volunteered to raid the statue production workshop.
As they prepared to storm the facility, an unexpected event occurred—
Seele was suddenly sucked alone into a mysterious space.
It startled her, but Veliona immediately appeared to calm her down.
Their interaction was still as before—Seele wanting to prove herself, Veliona wanting to protect her.
Conflicting opinions led to a bit of a falling out.
To players, this development felt... concerning.
[I mean, yeah, but… are we about to get knifed with Seele again?]
[They gave us candy, now comes the pain? Sounds exactly like what miHoYo's writers would do.]
[Don't jump to conclusions at the first sign of trouble. Let's have a little faith that they've reformed.]
...
Players felt that they could still give miHoYo's writers a little trust.
Elysia sighed softly.
She knew that Veliona and Seele just needed one honest conversation.
"It's okay. Seele will definitely overcome this little hurdle! I believe in them!"
Elysia quickly perked up again—she was willing to believe in Seele's potential!
Meanwhile, the Seele watching the stream peeked over at "Seele," who was suddenly looking a little antsy.
She took the initiative to say:
"I was being too stubborn here. I should've noticed how the other me felt sooner."
"…Tch, what are you even saying."
"Seele" fell silent for a moment, then raised her head to stare at the ceiling like it held some great secret.
"She can try working hard on her own for once. It's the other Seele who spoils her too much."
"Mm."
Seele pressed her lips together and replied softly.
Back in-game.
Elysia guided Seele forward, reaching the end of the road where a silhouette appeared.
She rushed ahead—only for the figure to vanish, leaving behind a strange passageway.
To bring back more intel for Dr. Einstein,
Seele entered the passage.
A white flash, and the air filled with laughter.
Male and female, young and old—cackling in all directions.
As Seele's vision cleared, she saw what lay ahead.
A doll was smiling eerily, arms raised as it shouted:
"Welcome to the Theater of Domination!"
"You're… the same doll from before?"
The doll was identical to the broken one Seele had found earlier.
Veliona instantly sensed danger and yelled:
"Get back, Seele! This thing is extremely dangerous—run!"
The chat, which had been chatting away, went silent—everyone drawn into the scene.
Especially that line just now—
"Welcome to the Theater of Domination."
Something about it was hypnotic—it seized everyone's attention in an instant.
On screen, Seele had disappeared.
Only Veliona remained.
Ominous music played.
The whole game was now steeped in horror.
The doll's mocking, unsettling voice echoed:
"Heehee… Give up, give up. She doesn't need you anymore."
"She's long wanted to get rid of you. Haven't you noticed?"
"You know it deep down—you just won't admit it."
The doll's voice was incredibly seductive, tempting.
Veliona gritted her teeth and shouted:
"Shut up!!"
She attacked—but as soon as one doll vanished, two more appeared.
They jabbered endlessly, escalating further.
It made Veliona increasingly furious.
And honestly, players were getting furious too.
There was something uncannily familiar about the doll's tone—
As if they'd met someone like that in real life before.
Made you want to reach through the screen and punch that doll in the face.
...