"Eek!"
At a certain moment, as Kiana curiously looked around the golden hall, a sudden chill ran through her, goosebumps erupting wildly across her body. This sensation quickly spread to Shiraki, who was holding her hand.
"W-What's happening?" Her graceful, slender figure tensed, Kiana adopting a defensive stance.
"Hi♪ Cute visitors, hello… ahem, hellooo♪!"
A sweet voice brimming with youthful energy rang out, and the pink fairy lady appeared.jpg
So fast that even Kiana, who wielded spatial authority, couldn't react, a dazzling smile brighter than peach blossoms appeared before her.
Soft, pink hair flowed down to her waist, with bangs perfectly framing her adorable face. The rounded ears beneath her locks twitched occasionally, matching her quirky, elf-like personality.
Black mini-shorts accentuated her exaggerated hip curves while revealing long, fair thighs, forming an eye-catching absolute territory with knee-high boots.
A black garter ring cinched her plump thigh, angled deliberately, blending cuteness with a hint of allure.
Her tube top was just right, her snow-white upper curves gleaming like milk.
One hundred points? One thousand points!
"So pretty!"
With their fingers interlocked, Kiana and Shiraki's minds were linked, and it wasn't clear whose heart first felt the awe. Kiana murmured softly.
It wasn't just her appearance—Kiana's own beauty rivaled Elysea's—but she could clearly sense the overflowing warmth and friendliness emanating from the girl.
It was a pure, radiant aura.
Like spring sunlight, summer breezes, autumn skies, and winter snow.
"Wow♪ Saying such things right off the bat, even I'd get shy♪!"
A smile as dazzling as scattered flowers, a faint blush adding credibility to her words, Elysea's blue-pink eyes shone with uncontainable eagerness.
Her lake-like gaze scanned the white-haired girl before her like a radar, as if not even a single strand of hair would escape her scrutiny.
The near-tangible stare made Kiana and Shiraki's expressions turn odd instantly. Elysea, true to her name, was beautiful, cute, sincere, flawless!
But her sincerity was so intense that Kiana felt the fiery passion in Elysia's enthusiasm toward her.
[Elysia, she's not really that kind of girl, is she?] Kiana instinctively took half a step back.
[What? You don't like it?]
[I like her, sure. I mean, Elysea's the one I'd like the most out of all the 'like one, love one' types! Besides Mei, of course. But… that gaze is just too intense.]
[Fair point…] Shiraki nodded, also feeling as if he were about to be devoured whole.
Kiana's instinctive half-step retreat left Elysea standing as if struck by lightning, seamlessly transitioning to a dejected, grayed-out state, her entire being dimmed, even her background turning monochrome.
Such a small step back, yet the damage was so immense!
Seeing Elysia's exaggeratedly sad face, her heartbroken expression, Kiana scratched her head awkwardly, flustered. "Haha, Elysia, nice to meet you!"
Shiraki was slightly better at socializing than the average otaku, but he was no match for a social terrorist who'd maxed out her charisma stat, even if that person was the flawless Elysia!
"Huh? Little Kiana knows me?"
Dropping her theatrical act, Elysia blinked. She hadn't introduced herself, yet Kiana called her by name.
Information about the Flame-Chasers in the Elysian Realm was a closely guarded secret for senior cadres who'd entered it, and the overseer, Gray Serpent, would never reveal their existence to others.
Considering Kiana was a Kaslana descendant, a simple guess formed in Elysea's mind.
"Did Kevin tell you?"
"Nope, it was…" Kiana drew out her voice, squinting slightly in thought. "My boyfriend told me about you, the Previous Era, and the stories of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers."
"Ehh~! Boyfriend?" Elysea covered her mouth, stepping back slightly, her wide eyes filled with disbelief.
Only then did she notice that Kiana and Shiraki had been holding hands the entire time, their fingers intimately intertwined.
"Oh? So that's how it is? You two have that kind of relationship♪"
Her slender finger lightly tapped her lips, Elysea nodded thoughtfully, tilting her head to size up Shiraki, flashing a cheerful yet slightly surprised smile.
Her soft pink hair tips fell to one side, revealing her pointed, elf-like ears.
Her enthusiasm for Kiana didn't wane just because she had a lover♪
If he was her lover, Shiraki must like Kiana, right?
She liked Kiana too!
She and Shiraki were on the same team!
As for Kiana's words, Shiraki seemed to know a lot about the Previous Era, even the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, which piqued Elysia's curiosity!
"Elysia, hello." Shiraki greeted politely.
He knew why Kiana said that.
When a girl gets curious about a guy, it's often the start of some kind of feeling. Kiana was helping him build an air of mystery.
However, Shiraki found it hard to truly open up to anyone who wasn't 'himself,' even someone like Elysia.
Kiana understood 'his' mindset—she was just acting on a whim, conveniently shifting Elysea's attention off herself.
"Shiraki… Shi… raki…" Elysia murmured softly, her expression as if recalling something.
"You're probably not a pioneer who hibernated from the Previous Era to the current one, right?" Elysia playfully flicked her angled bangs.
Though just a memory construct, at the last memory sync, humanity's numbers were so few that Elysea could recall everyone's names.
"And…" Elysea's eyes widened. She hadn't paid attention to Shiraki before, but now, observing closely, she realized, "You're not human?"
This came from the Elysian Realm's foundational cognition.
Not human, not a Herrscher, not a fusion warrior with Honkai beast genes—a completely unprecedented new lifeform!
"Exactly. I'm not a pioneer, and I'm not even from this world." Shiraki answered sincerely. "As for human… I'd say I'm half-human, and the other half is a holy war angel."
The moment his words fell, Shiraki sensed the previously subtle gazes intensify to near-tangible levels, one particularly fiery.
Glancing toward the depths of the golden hall, Shiraki said casually, "Dr. Mobius, you can come out and look directly. And everyone else, too."
"That's right, that's right~!" Clapping her soft, white hands, Kiana looked eagerly into the depths, eyes unblinking. "And hurry up and bring cute little Griseo so I can pat-pat her!"
If Shiraki tried kissing, hugging, or lifting Griseo, he'd undoubtedly face a Flame-Chaser beatdown and end up in the slammer, or worse, the Abyss.
But if it was her, no problem at all!
Answering Kiana's words was a surge of violent, blazing flames, roaring with invisible heat waves.
"Heh, hahahaHAHAHA~ Herrscher! Are you provoking me?"
An explosively irritable tone, a sunny, cheerful boy appeared amid the fire waves.
"Ooh, isn't this Master Sen~! Hiii, Master Sen!" Facing the enthusiastic Kalpas, Kiana waved her soft, white hand just as enthusiastically.
Crimson light and searing flame bursts erupted before Kiana, clashing with the all-consuming fiery glow.
The current Kiana was far stronger than the game's Flame Herrscher. Not only was she fully united with Sirin, but compared to the Flame Herrscher, she also had the Gems of Conquest and Serenity.
Scorching winds roared, stirring up steam-like white smoke in the hall.
"Hah! Worthy of a Herrscher with four cores. You're worth killing!" As the dust settled, a white-haired man wreathed in flames, wearing a black-and-white mask, appeared.
"Successor, you're qualified to receive my Signet."
"Signet?" Kiana paused, sticking out her tongue and retracting her soft hand. "Uncle, you misunderstood. I'm not interested in Signets."
The growth of the strong never relies on external things. Kiana could pat her chest and say, I got strong all on my own!
As for the Thirteen Flame-Chasers' Signets, she'd leave them for Mei to claim later as the Herrscher of Thunder~!
The youthful, vibrant girl's voice silenced the hall abruptly.
Behind Kalpas stood Kevin, Sakura, Vill-V, Hua, Su, Mobius, Eden… all the Flame-Chasers except Aponia, who sealed herself in the Abyss, were present.
Notably, after hearing Kiana's earlier remark, Kosma briefly hesitated before leaving with Griseo.
And a certain super-cowardly kitty hid at the very back.
All eyes focused on the white-haired girl, their expressions odd.
A Kaslana descendant had become a Herrscher—not an ordinary one, but an unprecedented Herrscher with four cores!
No Flame-Chaser could stay calm at this news, not even memory-construct Kevin!
Despite his eternally icy face, his heart was subtly stirred.
The reason the Flame-Chasers fell silent, though, was…
"Kalpas, Uncle, pfft!"
The only one who could openly laugh at Kalpas was a certain pink fairy lady, and the Flame-Chasers' expressions turned somewhat eerie.
"Elysia!!" A voice brimming with rage roared as Kalpas clenched his fists, glaring fiercely at Kiana, flames surging behind him.
"Huh?" Kiana scratched her head, confused. "What's wrong with my nickname? Uncle's already a pretty young term, isn't it?"
"Everyone's been in the Elysian Realm for tens of thousands of years. With ages in the tens of thousands… am I supposed to call you Grandpa or Grandma?"
At that, the female Flame-Chasers' gazes sharpened like blades.
Kiana hurriedly hid behind Shiraki. "I-I was kidding!"