Compared to Elysia's surprise, Yuno had a much more impactful experience.
Her first time crossing the doorway and entering the true Elysian Realm wasn't pleasant. The changes in space, the intertwining of dimensions, and the sensory chaos combined, causing her consciousness to fall into temporary disarray. The feeling was like being tossed into a washing machine and spun around, dizzy and disoriented...
When she came to, she was surprised to find herself standing in a strange world. Unfamiliar, bizarre buildings stood in the distance, some intact, some in ruins. Dreamlike, magnificent colors painted the sky, and several tall trees stood on both sides of the road.
After a moment of daze, Yuno regained her senses and cautiously examined this unfamiliar place.
"This is the Elysian Realm?"
Yuno felt that the scene in front of her was strange, like a picture randomly assembled from elements of different styles. At first glance, it was quite bizarre, but there was an indescribable sense of harmony, as if it should have been this way...
She didn't know what to do next, so she prepared to walk around and look for clues.
But before she could take her first step, she suddenly felt a tightness in her chest, her scalp tingling, as if some danger had suddenly appeared. Following her instincts, she abruptly dodged to the side.
"Whoosh!"
A vine, like a spear, tore through the air, piercing the spot where Yuno had just been standing. It slammed into a tree trunk with a loud thud, almost tearing it apart. Countless wood chips and leaves rained down like snow or hail.
"Die!"
The sudden attack enraged Yuno. The moment she dodged, she turned sharply, preparing to launch a thunderous counterattack.
The next moment, Yuno saw the enemy's true face, and she froze.
"That's...?"
Yuno was stunned, but the enemy wasn't. It wasn't disappointed that its attack missed, but silently retracted the vine, then grinned and shot out hundreds of vines, launching another fierce all-out attack on Yuno from all directions!
The momentarily stunned Yuno couldn't react in time and was quickly knocked to the ground, her hands and feet bound by several vines. She was lifted upside down and carried back to "report" triumphantly.
"Ugh..."
The sudden, torrential vine attack severely injured Yuno. She could only be carried like prey to the enemy's main body.
What she saw was a face that looked exactly like hers. But it was upside down in her vision, looking at her with a playful smile, as if it had succeeded in its scheme.
"Hee hee, hahahaha..."
The laughter was strange and unpleasant, as if its throat was being choked.
Yuno was in a sorry state, but she felt inexplicably relaxed, even calmly examining the enemy that had successfully ambushed her. She couldn't help but sneer,
"Heh, what an ugly thing."
It had the same face as her, there was no doubt about that.
But other than that, it had no body—or rather, its body was a cluster of countless vines intertwined, knotted, and compressed together, with no human characteristics at all—except for the beautiful face, identical to that of a human girl...
This cluster was over ten meters tall, countless vines squeezing and rubbing against each other, making creaking sounds. Countless such sounds converged with the strange laughter, mixing into a creepy cacophony,
"Hee hee, hahahaha..."
It chuckled, looking at its prey excitedly. Then, the beautiful face, identical to Yuno's, opened its mouth, revealing a mouthful of ugly fangs, as if wanting to swallow Yuno whole.
"Heh... Hahahaha..."
Yuno had been calmly "appreciating" all this, letting out a low, yet slightly excited laugh,
"It's you, isn't it?"
"The monster inside me!"
"Rip!"
As soon as her voice fell, several vines identical to the monster in front of her shot out from Yuno's waist, tearing apart the "ropes" that bound her.
Then, more vines shot out, intertwining and knotting together, piercing the monster's face like spears and blades, then exploding, tearing the face that was identical to hers to shreds.
"Agh!"
The monster howled in pain, its entire body exploding as if unable to bear the strain, then reforming. The face, identical to Yuno's, returned to normal, glaring angrily at the tiny girl in front of it.
"Heh... Hahahaha... I finally found you!"
Yuno let out a hysterical, maniacal laugh,
"Do you know how much I want to kill you?!"
Laughing and shouting, Yuno went all out, fiercely fighting the monster. Countless vines were shredded, regenerated, and then shredded again.
Pain, excruciating pain, but Yuno didn't care. She just wanted to completely tear apart the thing in front of her, just like it wanted to devour her...
Yes, Yuno recognized it the moment she saw it—it was the culprit that made her body grow "vines," turning her into the monster she was now.
Being parasitized by a Honkai beast, becoming neither human nor ghost, Yuno hated this side of herself.
Because of this, for a long time, she had a very strong self-destructive tendency, using training as an excuse to indulge in violent outbursts, even enjoying the pleasure of pain.
For a while, she even thought she had gone mad. If not for those few people who either urged, encouraged, or accompanied her, perhaps she would have already collapsed mentally, completely becoming a puppet of the Honkai…
And now, the nightmare that had been haunting her suddenly appeared in front of her in such a concrete form. How could Yuno not be excited?
"Kill it! Kill it!"
Yuno's heart yearned and cried out, so she fought frantically, wanting to completely tear apart her deepest nightmare.
Perhaps, as long as she killed this thing, she could return to her former self?
Yuno hoped so, so she fought even more fiercely, desperately trying to tear the monster apart, just like it had been trying to devour her all this time…
"Alright, that's enough, stop messing around!"
A clear, silver bell-like voice suddenly rang out. The girl's voice was familiar, ringing in her ears and seeming to transmit directly into her heart, making Yuno shudder slightly.
Then, with the twang of a bowstring, a pink stream of light shot up from the distance, instantly transforming into a pink crystal dome, enveloping the entire land. Then, countless light spots rained down from the dome…
When everything dispersed, the world became quiet. Two giant crystals stood on the ground, sealing Yuno and the other monster within, immobilizing them.
After a moment, Elysia appeared quietly from the side, walking briskly between the two giant crystals. Without even glancing at the monster on the other side, she carefully examined the crystal sealing Yuno, then raised her hand and tapped it lightly. The crystal shattered.
"Ugh..."
"Alright, there was just a small accident, don't worry about it."
Before Yuno could react, Elysia chuckled and said with some regret,
"However, your Elysian Realm adventure will have to be postponed~"
As her voice fell, a doorway appeared out of thin air behind Yuno. Elysia gently pushed her, and Yuno fell into it, disappearing.
As the doorway closed, the giant monster in the other crystal behind Elysia also vanished silently, and the crystal shattered. But no matter how loud the sound, it couldn't attract Elysia's attention.
After Yuno entered the Elysian Realm, Elysia kept her eyes on her.
Due to the special nature of the Elysian Realm as a "space constructed from memories," it would materialize a character from the visitor's memory as an extension of themselves. Whether it was to assist them in exploration or to serve as a specific opponent, it was up to the visitor to decide. The memory spaces wouldn't interfere.
So although Elysia was a little surprised that Yuno started fighting herself as soon as she entered, she didn't intend to interfere at first, as this could be considered part of the "Elysian Realm experience."
But when she saw that Yuno had become truly enraged, even losing her mind and becoming somewhat frenzied, she intervened without hesitation before things got completely out of control, decisively stopping everything.
"Sigh, that Lin Wei, he really knows how to cause trouble..."
Elysia muttered to herself with a troubled expression, then the corners of her lips curled slightly, and she looked in a certain direction, smiling,
"I didn't expect you to arrive so soon, lovely and beautiful Miss Yae Sakura. Hee hee, I'm so glad to see you!"
Yae Sakura had just arrived and, seeing Elysia standing amidst the mess, understood, and responded with a smile,
"Long time no see, Miss Elysia. It's a pleasure to see you again."
As a pure Stigmata consciousness, Yae Sakura was a special existence between a "memory space" and a "human." Without the burden of a physical body, with Pandora's assistance, she could freely enter and exit the Elysian Realm anytime, anywhere, without the need for any equipment.
So, while the exhausted Lin Wei was sent to rest, the always proactive Yae Sakura didn't want to waste any time. With her special advantage of being able to move freely in this special space, she immediately entered the depths of the Elysian Realm, once again finding the Flame-Chaser who was quite similar to herself, wanting to further hone her martial skills.
But just as her training began, she noticed an earth-shattering commotion from a certain direction several zones away. After Sakura, the Flame-Chaser, said that it wasn't where Kalpas was, she pondered for a moment and decided to investigate.
After all, besides Lin Wei and herself, who else could be visiting the Elysian Realm? If necessary, Yae Sakura felt that she could take care of that little girl for Lin Wei.
Then, when she hurriedly arrived, she found that Elysia had already taken care of everything.
Although she had returned empty-handed, Yae Sakura wasn't disappointed.
"Just now, here..."
Yae Sakura carefully chose her words, wanting to understand what had happened. After all, the broken wood, fallen leaves, and crystal fragments on the ground clearly indicated that something had happened...
"It's nothing major. That girl named Yuno just couldn't adapt to the special environment of the Elysian Realm for a while and was a little startled, that's all."
Elysia chuckled,
"It's just that the cleaning and restoration work in this area will take a little more effort!"
Yae Sakura naturally understood what she meant and couldn't help but feel speechless, thinking that maintaining the Elysian Realm was really hard work...
After a brief and pleasant conversation, the two pink-haired girls waved goodbye—although in the Elysian Realm, "reuniting" was just a matter of minutes, a sense of ritual was still necessary.
Meanwhile, after another dizzying spin, Yuno opened her eyes and found herself back in the magnificent golden hall.
Looking around, the monster was gone. Yuno was actually a little disappointed. She looked back at the deep, starry doorway, lost in thought.
"Hi, what are you thinking about?"
Elysia walked up to her with crisp steps and asked curiously,
"Can you tell me?"
She knew that when interacting with the emotionally sensitive Yuno, it was better to make more noise. Those ghostly pranks and whimsical ideas should be left to Lin Wei~
"..."
Yuno looked at the approachable, harmless, and cute girl with some apprehension, finding it hard to believe that she had so easily suppressed her just now.
"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Elysia looked down at herself with feigned surprise and asked nervously,
"Is there something dirty on me? Oh dear, what should I do?"
"...No, nothing."
Yuno curled her lip and looked away.
I must have been hallucinating just now!