While the others were fighting fiercely, the two who had already been knocked out—Silas and Sakura—stood off to the side chatting casually.
"Silas, I've always been curious… why is it that in the previous life, you and Lilith never became, well… lovers?" Sakura asked.
Silas turned to look at her. "Why do you say that?"
Sakura thought for a moment before replying, "Lilith was… practically perfect. From what I know, there wasn't anything she couldn't do. And more than that—she really liked you."
"That's true. But you didn't see all of her." Silas thought for a bit before continuing. "Maybe it's because, after my confession to Elysia went unanswered, I didn't just put down my feelings for her—I gave up on the idea of love altogether."
More than that, he knew Lilith far too well, and Lilith understood him just as deeply. A romantic relationship between them would've been little more than a label. In their daily lives, they already cooperated seamlessly: one with a mind only for fighting Honkai, the other giving unwavering support…
Now that he thought about it, if in their previous life they had truly ended the Honkai, maybe he really would have considered developing something more with Lilith.
After all, he had already admitted to Elysia that, in the end, he did feel something for Lilith—something that could be called "love."
As for his current relationship with Elysia… it was somewhat similar to what he'd once had with Lilith. He understood her feelings; she understood his purpose. The two simply maintained their tacit understanding, neither mentioning anything about taking a further step.
And then there was Vil-V, who knew the inside story and nearly went all the way with him. His relationship with her… could probably be called a little closer.
All in all, he had somehow maxed out everyone's affection levels without even knowing what he did. Now he was stuck with the aftermath, and his solution was simple: wing it.
Just wing it.
He had already accepted the fact that he was a "harem king." If he could accept that, what couldn't he accept?
Some things really were simple once you thought them through. Leave the future to his future self—no one was forcing him to make a choice now, anyway…
Kevin…
Silas suddenly remembered that one particularly stubborn CP shipper and said, "Guess how badly Kevin's going to get beaten up by Elysia this time?"
Sakura hesitated before answering. "Elysia, huh… I only know that she's strong, but I've hardly ever seen her fight seriously."
Why did Silas suddenly change the subject? Could it be because he realized what she was about to ask—something about his current relationship with Elysia? Did it mean his bond with Elysia had already surpassed what he once had with Lilith?
Sakura truly didn't mind whether or not she could develop a relationship with Silas. But now that she had the chance to spend time with him, she couldn't help but overthink.
"Elysia and Lilith do have a lot in common… but if I had to point out one difference…" Sakura's eyes unconsciously drifted downward as she fell into thought.
So guys really did care about size down there, didn't they? Compared to Elysia, she was definitely smaller… Cough, cough—why was she even thinking about this?!
Noticing the odd shift in her gaze and expression, Silas followed Sakura's line of sight for a second before quickly looking away.
Had Sakura misunderstood something?
"Speaking of which, how's Rin doing lately?" Silas asked, determined to steer the conversation away—yes, now he was consciously changing the subject. That earlier remark about Kevin had just been a passing thought.
Sometimes his train of thought really was bizarrely erratic, which often made people think he was trying to change topics.
Sakura snapped out of her thoughts and answered, "Ah, she's been doing well at Fire Moth HQ lately. Well… aside from still being a little salty that you didn't bring her along to play games last time."
"Well, I'll bring her along to play this time, then." Silas shrugged.
"By the way, Silas," Sakura suddenly remembered something that had puzzled her for a while, "How did you first meet Rin? She once said that when she was being bullied by some kids at the Fire Moth base, you stepped in to protect her. But… you're not really the type to care about strangers, are you?"
Because she's your sister.
That was what Silas wanted to say, but in the end he held it back. Instead, he recalled some memories related to Rin and explained, "Actually, that was because of you. When I saw her hair and eyes, I remembered that you mentioned having a younger sister. Since I was already a bit familiar with you, I thought I might as well help out—it wasn't really any trouble."
"Because… of me?" Sakura was a little surprised. "But didn't we first officially meet during the 9th Herrscher incident?"
"Oh, for you, yes." Silas replied. "But do you remember Kevin's first birthday after becoming a MANTIS? At the time, he was still dealing with the depression brought on by the 7th Herrscher incident and hadn't fully recovered. Elysia sent invitations to all the MANTISes, wanting us to celebrate his birthday together. That's when I took notice of everyone there."
After a pause, he added, "Back then, I still had some lingering feelings for Elysia. So… most of the people she cared about or drew close to, I'd pay special attention to."
"I see…" Sakura murmured thoughtfully. She still remembered that birthday as well, but she had assumed that just as she hadn't really noticed Silas at the time, he hadn't noticed her either. After all, he had stood quietly at the edge, barely speaking—a presence hard to notice.
Then Sakura thought of the side effects of Silas's surgery. According to Mobius, ever since the operation, he had endured constant suffering, pain that only grew worse as he fused with more Honkai beasts.
Back then, he should have been the one receiving care and comfort. But he chose to hide it, to act like nothing was wrong.
She couldn't understand why—what drove him to keep pushing forward and pretending to be fine?
She didn't know about the others, but when Mobius exposed the truth, the one who broke down the most was Elysia.
In that moment, Elysia must have remembered the birthday party she had thrown for Kevin, hadn't she?
She encouraged her friend out of his darkness, yet failed to notice that the one she loved had been suffering in hell all along.
And to make things worse, that very friend was now going out of his way to make things harder for her.
Sakura almost felt that if Elysia didn't take this chance to beat Kevin black and blue today, she'd be doing herself a disservice.
"I think Rin's still studying inside Fire Moth's internal school, right? Do you want me to go with you to pick her up?" Silas asked. To him, it was just picking someone up. He was already winging it, so why care what anyone else thought?
"Ah, um… no, that's not necessary. Just come straight to the residential area when the time comes." Sakura replied. She was beginning to worry—if she spent much more time with Silas, she might start becoming dependent on him, clinging to him, afraid of losing him.
"Up to you." Silas said.
Meanwhile, on Kosma's side, the battle had also come to an end. Thanks to Silas's earlier reminder, Kosma hadn't let his guard down—though Silas himself had. Kosma kept himself locked in a deadlock with Hua. And when Pardofelis joined Hua, ready to strike from both sides, Kosma decisively repeated the choice he had once made during the 4th Herrscher incident.
Self-Destruct!
Dragging Hua and Pardofelis out with him in one blast.
As for Kevin… his situation was a bit miserable. Elysia was far more agile, and he had a hard time landing a hit on her, while she could easily strike him. The result: Kevin was thoroughly beaten up by Elysia and knocked out.
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