Elysia had never seen anything like this before.
In the Previous Era, civilization had developed to an astonishing level of technology, but in terms of ideology, they were being utterly thrashed by the people of the Current Era.
Just as Noldrei had said, every scientific advancement in the Previous Era didn't alleviate human suffering or unite interests; every bit of it was spent on suppressing internal conflicts.
Therefore, the Previous Era was bound to fail in organizing its own people. Failure was inevitable.
Ely had so much she wanted to say to her friends, but she didn't know where to begin.
Her current appearance wasn't anything special in Academy City. Things like "Pink Elf" were just one of many "costume skins."
There were countless modifications related to elf skins in Academy City. Elysia, on the other hand, had become someone with rather "outdated" taste.
But she had no intention of changing her appearance. She still felt she was that beautiful Pink Elf.
It's all his fault. Otherwise, I wouldn't be agonizing over such a problem.
Mei told me that it's no big deal for her to go out shopping as a pony now.
Raiden Mei had chatted with Elysia about this. The "pony skin" was a limited edition, something exclusive to a few people within Academy City, not sold or modified for just anyone.
Elysia was all alone at the moment. Mobius had no intention of strolling around with her. Sometimes, she would still think about how to get to the back door of Finality, how to continue fighting the Honkai.
But then she would think that such worries were completely unfounded. If the sky fell, there were taller people to hold it up.
She was now free of all burdens and wanted to properly understand how the new humans lived together in this era.
The internal conflicts within the research institutes had already surpassed what outsiders could comprehend.
The people inside the institutes had fully adapted to the new laws of Academy City. They were all about a wild, uninhibited freedom, filled with all sorts of unrestrained joy and sorrow.
In the eyes of those in the institutes, the people living in Academy City were backward capitalist tumors, obsessed with making money and building companies—a bunch of ambitionless, thoughtless puppets of capital. As for the people outside Academy City, they were even worse, not even having transcended their basic physical forms, just a bunch of feudal remnants who had drawn a prison around themselves.
Thank goodness Noldrei was controlling the communication between the inside and outside, preventing the world from collapsing into one of mortals on one side and gods on the other.
"So boring! I really want to pull everyone else out of the Realm to see this place!"
Elysia rolled around on her bed in frustration. She thought for a long time but couldn't figure out how to persuade her friends inside to come out.
It was all thanks to that bastard Gray Serpent, who made the outside world sound like it was full of demons and monsters. He had no idea how exciting the outside world was now, scaring the people in the Elysian Realm so much that when they heard Elysia trying to persuade them to come out, they reacted as if they had seen the Herrscher of Finality.
"If Ely keeps this up, I'll really... sigh..."
"What was the point of me coming out? To flirt with pretty girls? To hand over the back door to the Cocoon of Finality? And to rescue Kevin on the side?"
Ely was very frustrated. She hadn't made any contribution to fighting the Honkai, nor had she developed the path of the Herrscher of Origin.
Instead, Noldrei had dragged the Herrschers on a mad dash down an indescribable path. Dr. Tesla could even turn herself into a giant, terrifying multi-limbed creature.
Her daily life was making Elysia feel like she was rusting all over.
She couldn't possibly go and have little tentacle monsters with Noldrei, could she?
That was just too messed up. How could she mate with her own body to have offspring?
"Ely, can a Herrscher descend without using a body like a human's? Like Benares. Could the Will of the Honkai create a Herrscher body itself and then have that body become the Herrscher of Finality?"
Noldrei thought of a rather important question. In the past, Herrschers had always descended using a Herrscher Core and a human body.
But after Otto pulled off a magnificent "telecom scam" on the Will of the Honkai, it was unlikely the Honkai would ever casually hand over a Core to a human again.
Elysia had never encountered such a problem. She had been bored, but suddenly Noldrei had pulled her in to do work.
Faced with such a thorny issue, Miss Pink Elf had never really considered this possibility.
After all, when the Herrscher of Finality appeared, it was like a puppet.
"I... I don't know either..."
Elysia blinked, feigning innocence. She was just an ordinary Previous Era Herrscher. How could she know such an important answer?
"Shouldn't you be asking Mobius? I don't know about these things. All I need to rely on is 'love,' right?"
She would never have dared to say such nonsensical things to Noldrei in the past. But now, Elysia was much more daring. After the oppressive weight of the Honkai was lifted, she felt it wasn't such a big deal after all.
"Love your head!"
Noldrei rolled his eyes at her and sank into his own thoughts.
In terms of ability, the Honkai side could definitely do it. It wasn't impossible for them to just release Finality and end Earth. It was thanks to the backdoor left by the Previous Era that the Cocoon of Finality had remained dormant until now.
"Elysia, interested in a trip to the moon with me? We can go there and see the remains of the former Herrscher of Finality."
"I'd rather not..." Elysia looked troubled. "How about this? You treat me to something nice to eat, and I'll go with you?"
Noldrei was used to serving these "young ladies" and had plenty of experience with it.
He thought for a moment and asked, "When the Herrscher of Finality attacked you in the Previous Era, why didn't it destroy the Fourth Divine Key on the satellite at the same time? If it had, the civilization of this era wouldn't have been born, right?"
What kind of question is that? How would I know something like that?
Elysia rolled her eyes. She wasn't the Honkai, so how could she know so many secrets? She had died long ago at that point. The current Ely was just a pitiful memory construct at the mercy of a tentacle monster.
"Looks like you don't know either..."
Noldrei was a little disappointed. He had intended to see just how capable the Will of the Honkai was.
In Otto's description, the Honkai seemed to possess a lot of advanced technology and know the true state of the world. Perhaps it could also answer Noldrei's questions.
So Noldrei wanted to give it a try, to see what the power behind the Cocoon of Finality really was.
But if he did that, he would have to leave his heir apparent alone on Earth.
Elysia seemed to sense Noldrei's thoughts and asked cautiously, "Are you... planning to leave?"
He admitted it frankly, "That's right. The humans of this world are currently walking the path I pointed out. They all have their own ideas now. There's no point in me staying any longer."
Noldrei felt that with normal development, it shouldn't take the humans of this era more than a few thousand years to catch up to the human civilization of his time.