Beneath the withered cherry blossom tree, petals drifted down one by one. The woman, long dead, remained in a gentle embrace, arms curved around nothing, as if afraid to disturb the dreams of the girl she once held.
But the cherry blossoms had long since withered, and the one she embraced was gone. All that remained was her pink hair, soaked in blood, blooming like a macabre flower upon the wasteland of her homeland.
"For a blank slate, colors themselves hold no right or wrong. Only the choices encountered during the painting process determine the final outcome of the artwork. And for a Herrscher, it's evidently much easier to be stained black."
"Is this the fate of a Herrscher? No matter what choices are made, they ultimately tend towards destruction?" [Kiana] looked at Sakura's body and couldn't help but sigh. Though she didn't know Sakura, she had fought against the First Herrscher, Welt, in a bubble universe and witnessed his obsession and madness. Seeing Sakura like this evoked a strange sense of empathy.
"She simply didn't meet the right person."
Ren remained noncommittal. As the Herrscher of Sentience, bearing the despair of countless individuals, he knew well that people often fall into despair not solely through their own fault, but more often due to the collective malice of others. The Herrscher of Corruption was the same; whether it was betrayal or deception, she learned it from the Flame-Chasers themselves.
If Mobius hadn't betrayed Mei, if Aponia hadn't used her Discipline, if Corruption had encountered Ren himself first, perhaps the outcome would have been entirely different. Of course, he wasn't saying the Flame-Chasers were entirely at fault, just that among the thirteen in the Elysian Realm, aside from her, none were qualified teachers.
Shaking his head slightly, Ren crouched down in front of Sakura. He gently brushed aside her bangs, gazing into her eyes. The light had already faded from them, yet a faint glimmer remained. Despite being pierced through, the expression on her face wasn't pain, but unspeakable remorse.
"Perhaps, from the very beginning, she knew it wasn't her sister."
With a soft sigh, Ren gently plucked a cherry blossom from a branch overhead and tucked it behind Sakura's ear like a hairpin. Then, he stood up and turned away without a backward glance.
"Let's go. With the Herrscher of Corruption now active, this Elysian Realm might get lively soon. Now that I've lost my guide, I need to pick up the pace."
The spatial corruption around them was reaching its final stage; it wouldn't be long before it collapsed entirely. This was the painted world, Griseo's domain. With such a major incident occurring, Griseo should have already noticed. If things went as expected, the Flame-Chasers would soon learn about the anomaly in the Elysian Realm.
Ren turned to leave. [Kiana] noticed he seemed to have left something near Sakura, but when she looked back, she couldn't see anything.
By the time they disappeared, the space had completely collapsed. The vibrant cherry blossom tree gradually faded, dissolving into particles of light along with Sakura's body.
Yet, where Sakura had vanished, a single black and white cherry blossom cluster floated silently.
...
"But Raiden Mei is the last clue..."
Consciousness felt like a thick fog, blurring all perception. Dimly, faint voices drifted through the mist. Noisy, argumentative... Mei instinctively moved towards the sound, until she passed through the fog, and the conversation became clearer.
"What does it have to do with her? Wasn't it Mobius's own trap?"
The man's voice was irritated, laced with obvious sarcasm. If Mei wasn't mistaken, it was Kalpas speaking. She was puzzled. She knew Kalpas and Mobius had friction, but wasn't he usually a loner? Why was he here?
Separated by a door, the conversation was somewhat muffled. Mei tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through her entire body, forcing a grunt. Only then did she remember she had nearly died at Mobius's hands.
Enduring the pain, she managed to sit up, finding herself in a clean infirmary bed. Thankfully, this time it wasn't a cold laboratory, but a proper medical room. Judging by the uniquely designed medical kit on the bedside table, Su had likely treated her.
Feeling slightly relieved, Mei's attention returned to the voices outside. Kalpas seemed to be arguing with someone, and apparently, more than one person was involved.
"It doesn't matter whose fault it is. Such a clear anomaly has appeared in the Elysian Realm. If we don't investigate quickly, everyone could be in danger." The speaker was female, her voice tinged with exhaustion, unfamiliar to Mei.
"If you ask me, she brought it on herself. It'd be better if she really died. The only pity is she didn't die by my hand."
Are they talking about Mobius? The thought of the serpent-like girl made Mei shiver involuntarily. Although she knew the Flame-Chasers were dangerous, she hadn't truly expected Mobius to try and possess her body. If Sakura hadn't arrived in time...
"Kalpas, now is not the time for conflict."
"Alright, alright, let's not argue for now. Mobius is our comrade. Now that she's missing, what we should do is find the culprit as soon as possible." The highly recognizable voice was clearly Elysia's. Hearing that familiar sound brought Mei an unexpected sense of calm.
"Hmph, investigate all you want. Playing detective isn't my forte." Kalpas snorted and fell silent.
"Klein, are you certain the Doctor's signal has completely vanished?" Elysia asked.
"Over the past 24 hours, I have continuously scanned the entire Elysian Realm's signal network and found no trace of the Doctor. Even the stored backup records have been searched multiple times, still yielding nothing."
"This situation leaves only two possibilities: either the Doctor has already left the Elysian Realm, or the Doctor's memory simulation has been completely erased."
For a memory simulation, data erasure meant only one thing: death.
"Mobius is really dead?" Mei couldn't help frowning. Although Sakura had saved her in the end, the Flame-Chasers were still comrades; surely they wouldn't actually kill each other?
She wanted to listen further but accidentally knocked over a water glass by the bed. As the glass shattered, the discussion outside fell silent.
"It seems Mei is awake. Guessing won't help anyway; let's just ask the person involved directly." Elysia sighed and pushed the door open, entering the room.
"Elysia, what were you just talking about?" Mei looked towards the doorway and saw Eden and Pardofelis. Kalpas and the others had presumably chosen to stay outside.
"Mei, you heard, didn't you? Mobius is dead."
"You mean...?"
Elysia explained, "Her data has vanished from the Elysian Realm. We can't even detect her signal."
"But isn't the Elysian Realm a large database? Shouldn't the Flame-Chasers, as memory simulations, have backups?" Mei didn't know much about computers, but as Bronya's friend, she understood basics like data backups.
"That's precisely the problem," Elysia said, her expression serious, her eyes filled with worry. "Normally, yes. There are dangers in the Elysian Realm, and it's inevitable that Flame-Chasers might perish. Usually, if a Flame-Chaser unfortunately dies, their backup is activated, restoring them to the point the backup was made. The cost is losing all memories acquired since then."
"But now, Mobius's backup has mysteriously disappeared, as if forcibly erased by some power. This means... she might truly be dead."
Mei's pupils constricted. The Thirteen Flame-Chasers had lived in the Elysian Realm for fifty thousand years, yet there had never been word of any truly dying. Now, shortly after her own arrival, one of the thirteen was gone.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Mei didn't hold back. She told Elysia everything she had experienced, omitting only the involvement of The Obsidian Concord—including Mobius's plan and motives, and Sakura saving her at the last moment.
"If we can find Sakura, perhaps we can learn Mobius's whereabouts."
"Sakura?" Elysia nodded, preparing to leave immediately to investigate. But before she could reach the door, it was suddenly pushed open again.
"Elysia, just moments ago, Miss Sakura's signal also disappeared." The speaker was a small girl with green hair, holding a tablet. Her gaze fell upon Mei.
"I checked her records before she vanished. Her last signal transmission seems to be related to Miss Raiden Mei."