"Less than two hours have passed since the Elysian Realm collapsed, and we've already lost one of our strongest Flame-Chasers. Perhaps the enemy is far more powerful than we imagined." On the way back, Vill-V explained the current situation.
She looked at Mei, her tone laced with worry. "Yet, even now, we still know nothing about the enemy. Under these circumstances, everyone has even started suspecting their own comrades."
"But you should also understand, it's precisely at times like these that everyone needs to unite and share information as much as possible. You explored alone for so long earlier; did you find any clues?"
"Clues..." Information about the Corruption flashed through Mei's mind. She hesitated; for some reason, she felt she shouldn't reveal what she knew so easily. But Vill-V was right; now wasn't the time for secrecy.
"The enemy should be the Herrscher of Corruption." After careful consideration, she briefly stated her conclusion, omitting the details about the Typewriter and Fairy Ely.
"Corruption, huh? Indeed, a very troublesome enemy, especially within the Elysian Realm." Vill-V's expression turned grave. As one of the builders of the Elysian Realm, she understood the threat of a virus better than anyone. But as a memory construct herself, she couldn't directly modify the realm's settings.
"Currently, the only way is to lure it out and eliminate it through data deletion. Unfortunately, the Expert personality is still dormant. Otherwise, with her expertise, she might have found a simpler method."
"Expert? Aren't you all Vill-V? Even with different personalities, shouldn't permissions be shared?"
Vill-V shook her head. "No. Whether it's me or the other personalities, we are essentially products of the original personality's dormancy. Theoretically, the true master of this body is only the original personality. It's just that the Expert, being the civilization's top engineer, understands the Elysian Realm far better than the others."
Speaking of which, she seemed to remember something. Patting the armored vehicle beneath her, she retrieved a small, floating robot.
"This is the card-playing robot the Expert personality built using the materials you collected. It's essentially the Lecturer personality's materialized program. Through it, you can master the power of the Helix Signets faster, and perhaps also find information left by the Expert."
"Card-playing..." Mei felt a strange sense of bewilderment. At a time like this, how could she possibly be in the mood to play cards?
But since it was something left by the Expert, she still accepted it.
Touching the top lightly, along with the faint sound of flowing energy, a pair of cute emoticon eyes slowly lit up.
"Hello, Miss Mei. I am the Lecturer." The moment the robot activated, a serious and mature voice emanated from it. Mei knew this must be another of Vill-V's personalities.
"But if it's information left by the Expert, wouldn't it be more convenient for you yourself to investigate?" She looked towards Conductor Vill-V.
"This is because the goals of different personalities might conflict, and some might even harbor malicious thoughts. That's why the personalities are independently compartmentalized and cannot interfere with each other." Before the Conductor could speak, the robot answered first.
The Conductor shrugged, stating calmly, "That's how it is. For example, as the Conductor, in extreme situations, I might sacrifice other personalities, which obviously wouldn't be fair to them."
Through this conversation, Mei learned much more about Vill-V. Upon returning to the garden, the Flame-Chasers were already waiting.
"Heh, thought you ran off," Kalpas, ever the sharpest tongued, glanced at Mei before silently retreating to his corner.
Mei ignored him, scanning the gathered Flame-Chasers. Seeing most were present brought her some relief. But counting them, something felt off.
"Speaking of which, besides the few who disappeared, there's one of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers I've never seen."
It wasn't just her; even when the Flame-Chasers gathered, one figure was always missing.
"If you're referring to Hua, we aren't too sure either. She doesn't talk much, and the only one she was usually close to was Elysia," Su explained.
Mei had read the Flame-Chasers' files and knew Hua was Fu Hua's name in the Previous Era. Unfortunately, she still hadn't managed to meet her.
"Come to think of it, Hua once underwent Mobius's Herrscher of Corruption experiment. Maybe she was secretly assigned to investigate the intrusion?" This was, of course, just baseless speculation. Setting aside whether Hua could even fight the Corruption, even if she could, how could Elysia have possibly predicted that this enemy would be the Herrscher of Corruption?
After this brief interlude, Mei tentatively agreed to cooperate with the Flame-Chasers, and they discussed some plans to deal with the Corruption.
The first priority was naturally finding clues left by Kevin. As the strongest warrior, he wouldn't disappear without reason. Even if defeated by the Corruption, he would definitely leave important clues, perhaps even the key to defeating the Herrscher.
Second was Mei's card-playing robot. The Lecturer and Expert were connected; perhaps the Lecturer knew about backdoor programs left during the Elysian Realm's initial construction.
Only then came proactive measures from the Flame-Chasers. Kosma's Devour plan was ranked last, only to be used as a final resort.
Fortunately, the Corruption seemed aware that tackling the united Flame-Chasers would be difficult and chose not to attack directly. With the Typewriter destroyed, removing a major threat, it was only a matter of time before it replicated enough to eliminate everyone.
Using this precious respite, Mei felt like she was back in her student days, tirelessly receiving the Lecturer's guidance. While improving her strength, she also gained a deeper understanding of the Elysian Realm itself. Most importantly, upon successfully 'graduating', the Lecturer finally revealed a crucial piece of information.
"When the Expert created the Elysian Realm, she did indeed leave an extreme failsafe program – Anti-Kevin Armor Model 666. It's an ultimate program capable of deleting the entire Elysian Realm with one command. Both viruses and memory constructs would be completely erased."
"Doesn't that mean all of you would disappear along with the Elysian Realm?"
"Correct. Therefore, to prevent the enemy from exploiting it, the original persona entrusted the program's unique key to Elysia. Only she herself can activate the destruction sequence."
But Elysia is already dead...
"Miss Mei, you are different from us. You possess a physical body. Perhaps you can create 'miracles' that the Flame-Chasers cannot achieve. Please, always believe in yourself, and please, always believe in Elysia."
With the final lesson concluded, the card-playing robot completely depleted its energy, signifying the disappearance of the Lecturer personality.
Compared to the other personalities, Mei hadn't spent much time with the Lecturer, and the robot's instruction had mostly been dry explanations. Yet, as the robot's light faded and it fell from the air, she felt a long-forgotten pang of sadness, reminiscent of leaving St. Freya High.
It was from that moment that she first truly felt the conviction passed down, the 'legacy' from the Previous Era.