Back to the story.
The first person "The Villain" tried to deceive was...
The first among the Flame-Chasers—Kevin, the one who bore the Signet of Deliverance.
In the plot—
"The Villain" approached Kevin and said to him, "Alright. Through this thin membrane... the Herrscher of Corruption can only hear garbled noise from our conversation."
In her heart, she added: I didn't lie. It's just that... it is right inside this membrane, watching us.
"This is my discovery."
Kevin crossed his arms and questioned, "But why you? Neither Aponia nor Su noticed anything."
"The Villain" then calmly began explaining to Kevin.
She was able to detect the Corruption because she was the constructor of the Elysian Realm.
She proceeded to show Kevin the signs of Corruption on her body, and explained how devastating its effects were on memory forms—comparable to Finality.
And if they, as memory constructs, wished to defeat the Corruption, Kevin would have to cooperate with her for a certain performance.
"Performance?"
"Mhm. I need you to die—right now."
Kevin: "..."
No joke, after hearing that whole sequence, even Kevin was stunned—and so were the players.
Good grief, one setup after another...
So Kevin was tricked by "The Villain"? Is that why he suddenly dropped dead?
Facing Kevin's silence—
"The Villain" added, "Oh... don't misunderstand. What I mean is, I must personally delete your data. Through that... Kevin Destruction Button."
Kevin asked, very skeptically: "You can actually do that?"
He had every reason to be suspicious.
And the players fully understood why Kevin was doubting her.
After all, no one knew better than Kevin how utterly useless most of Vill-V's "Kevin-focused armaments" really were.
Though, to be fair, there were still a few tools among them that were genuinely useful.
That was probably the only reason Kevin bothered to ask, instead of throwing Vill-V out on the spot.
"The Villain" nodded seriously. "I always could. But it never meant much."
"Because like all my inventions, it has a backdoor—destruction is destruction, yes, but recovery is also possible."
Here, "The Villain" revealed a crucial piece of information:
The memory constructs she deleted... can still be revived!
Seeing this, Elysia immediately paused the game.
"Hold on, hold on."
"You're saying Vill-V means the memory constructs she deleted... can be restored?"
Her mind began racing.
"Didn't Vill-V once say this? The highest form of lying is when every word you say is true, and yet you still deceive everyone in the end."
"So, even if she doesn't necessarily intend to revive the constructs she deletes, the possibility of revival must be real."
"Then... doesn't that mean it's possible that..."
"At the very least... we might not be sure about those deleted by the Herrscher of Corruption, but those deleted by Vill-V... like Pardofelis... at the very least, Pardofelis…"
Elysia actually figured it out.
[Miss Elf's analysis makes sense!]
[Can be restored? For real?]
[I hope it's true, but this is Honkai Impact 3rd we're talking about, so I'm not getting my hopes up.]
[Think positive—maybe the writers are planning to revive them just to stab us again. (distorted smile)]
["Think Positive"]
The chat entered another round of "I understand the writer best."
Having just laid out that sharp analysis, Elysia perked up again and kept watching the story unfold.
After hearing "The Villain's" explanation—
Kevin finally understood her intent.
"The Villain" wanted him to fake his death, to serve as a hidden trump card.
Before agreeing, Kevin asked one question:
"I understand. I'll give you an answer. But just one question…"
"Who are you?"
(This might have been Kevin genuinely asking, or it could've been Ego subtly guiding Mei, who was immersed in "The Villain's" memories.
After all, it's a common trick in hypnosis—using repeated mental suggestions to help the subject regain self-awareness.)
"Who... am I?"
That question caught "The Villain" off guard.
Then she recalled another memory.
Mobius's voice echoed through:
"Stop hiding, Vill-V. I know you're there—get out here."
(Alright then, Mobius... you're next.)
"The Villain" whispered internally, as she stepped out before Mobius.
Mmm!!
The moment Mobius laid eyes on her, she immediately became alert.
(As expected. With just a glance, she noticed the traces on me.)
"Look familiar?"
"...Herrscher of Corruption?" Mobius furrowed her brow.
"You think I'm the one who did this?"
"Well, didn't you conduct similar experiments before?" Vill-V replied. "—A virus modeled after the Herrscher of Corruption."
"I didn't expect... that even after I stopped you once, you still haven't given up? We had a huge fight back then."
"Shut it, Vill-V."
Mobius's tone suddenly grew urgent—further proof that the "sharpest tongue in the Realm" wasn't just a rumor.
"Listen to me, this isn't—"
But she didn't finish her sentence.
(Right. As someone who researched and even developed a prototype... Mobius, of course you realize that I'm now under some form of surveillance.)
(You'll begin questioning the meaning behind my every word, and through that process, you'll play along.)
Thus began the psychological chess match between Mobius and Vill-V.
And the results of this silent battle—
Had already been shown in earlier story segments.
Mobius, it seemed, "died" while plotting something of her own.
At this point, everything about what "The Villain" and the Corruption had done—deceiving Kevin, deceiving Mobius—was crystal clear.
No doubt about it, the entire sequence where "The Villain" infiltrated and manipulated Kevin and Mobius was masterfully executed.
A spy thriller within a spy thriller.
Everyone—"The Villain," Kevin, Mobius—was operating at full IQ.
Each had schemes within schemes.
Right up to the end, players couldn't say for sure if "The Villain" had succeeded with her plans, or if Kevin and Mobius had turned the tables.
Of course, if you're wondering if anyone in this multi-layered web of schemes was utterly confused...
There was.
The freshly-born Herrscher of Corruption probably didn't understand a thing.
This was, without doubt, high-level play.
Everyone seemed like they were carrying—like they had plans.
...Maybe we can drop the "seemed"?
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