Kosma hesitated for a moment before quietly trying to mediate. "I think Elysia is a victim in this, too. Everyone should stop teasing her."
Elysia stared at Kosma in shock.
How had everyone just accepted that she was the victim here?
Sakura also recalled what had happened with Higokumaru. By all rights, Noldrei had indeed saved her sister from the Honkai.
Sakura mulled over whether she should also repay this debt of gratitude, but Noldrei clearly had no interest in her. Perhaps their aesthetic tastes simply differed.
"Elysia, don't overthink it," Sakura advised. "Isn't this a common trope? The plot where after someone saves you, you pledge yourself to them to repay the kindness. See? Aren't you just repaying the debt on our behalf?"
Elysia was beginning to think convening this meeting with the Flame-Chasers had been a mistake. Why was everyone making fun of her? Weren't they supposed to be discussing Kevin right now?
"Kevin!" Elysia turned to the Kevin simulation. "What's your take on Kevin? You're also Kevin, so you must be able to understand him, right?"
The Kevin sim gave a wry smile. "I've been stuck in the Elysian Realm for tens of thousands of years. His experiences out there are long past being anything like mine. What could I possibly understand?! That I have no real connection to MEI? Ely, have you considered helping me change my name? The constant confusion is really putting me in a difficult spot."
At this, Elysia completely gave up. She truly couldn't imagine what kind of choice Kevin would make.
Pardofelis had always felt that meetings like this had little to do with her.
Lately, she had been diligently studying Academy City's point system, believing it might be more suitable as a kind of financial medium than she'd initially thought.
Pardo was even pondering whether, if Elysia and Noldrei got a little closer, she might be able to pull some strings and get a backdoor look at how the Current Era's financial world made money.
Elysia was starting to realize that this group was trending toward selling her out to Noldrei.
"Enough about me. If Kevin ultimately chooses to resurrect MEI, then Su... what do you plan to do?"
Su had calmed down by now.
His brow furrowed tightly. "If he really resurrects MEI, knowing Noldrei's personality, he would most likely seize ownership of that world. He would then use the authority of Finality from the original world to take over the other world's Cocoon of Finality. If that happens..."
"He'll have three Cocoons of Finality?"
The thought alone was terrifying. Hearing this, the Previous Era's Flame-Chasers were instantly frozen in a bind.
They, as simulations, had only been given a new lease on life through genetic reconstruction thanks to Noldrei's help. Now they were supposed to 'negotiate' with their benefactor over something like this?
"Maybe we should just surrender. If Kevin really doesn't know what's good for him, we should just let him listen to Noldrei."
Pardofelis believed this conflict was far beyond their pay grade. She didn't even dare to interject, terrified that one wrong move would get her assigned to charge the Tree by Noldrei.
Who, at this moment, had the power to stop Noldrei from acquiring the Cocoon of Finality of a new world?
Everyone was well aware of Pardo's penchant for slacking off when things got tough.
Elysia didn't want to get into a conflict with Kevin over this. She was simply worried that Kevin would escape one difficult situation only to fall into another.
"I think..."
Elysia had already decided to try and dissuade Kevin from resurrecting MEI.
If Kevin emerged and truly chose to revive MEI, she would see if she could delay him, just to keep him from being so unlucky as to fall into another trap.
Noldrei was a bad guy. Even if he could be kind to certain individuals, when it came to political maneuvering, he was an exceptionally ruthless and effective ruler.
"You don't need to discuss it anymore."
Kevin emerged from the space where he'd shut himself away. He tossed the Might of An-Utu greatsword in his hands to Elysia.
Startled, Elysia hurriedly caught it, preventing the weapon from damaging the floor.
No one knew what Kevin had been thinking while he was secluded, nor did they know what kind of struggle he had gone through.
But now, a smile graced Kevin's face, as if he had returned to being the young man he was when he first met MEI.
"Kev... Kevin... Are you alright?"
Elysia was a little scared. She'd heard from Current Era researchers that people who suddenly shift from one personality to another might be contemplating taking their own life...
Taking their own life?
Oh, never mind. Kevin did indeed have such thoughts.
"I'm fine. Sorry for making everyone worry. I've figured things out now."
Kevin looked at the simulations of his comrades-in-arms. Among them were some who were not mere sims, like Aponia, Elysia, and Su...
"I've come to understand a lot of things from the past."
"It's just that I once thought I had let go, but in reality, it was always rooted within me."
"And now, Elysia..."
"Also, please thank Noldrei for me. I simply learned from him what it is I truly want."
Elysia nodded. She now understood Kevin's choice.
She just hadn't expected the battle between Noldrei and Kevin to end in such a way. The further things went, the more apparent it became that the power Noldrei wielded was continuously growing.
The layers of relationships binding Kevin were like shackles on his soul. Once these shackles were removed, Kevin also came to clearly realize the nature of Finality.
With his act of letting go, everything from the Previous Era finally, completely, dissipated like smoke.
This time, it was not just MEI, but the Thirteen Flame-Chasers as well.
As the conflict of the Honkai crisis faded, Schicksal fell, and Anti-Entropy was integrated.
So too should the Thirteen Flame-Chasers step out from the pages of history and walk toward their own respective endings.
It was just that these endings didn't seem so grand or glorious, but rather tinged with a bit of sorrow and resignation.
Kevin gazed silently at these 'comrades' in the Elysian Realm.
They might not be the real comrades from back then, but for tens of thousands of years, they had been quietly carrying out their duties, silently supporting the operations of the World Serpent.
Even if they weren't the comrades of the past, a new bond had been forged through their shared work.
After a long pause, Kevin finally spoke slowly. "Everyone, the Fire Moth is officially disbanded. The MOTHs you bear are no longer needed."
"For these tens of thousands of years, I was never truly able to move on."
"Thank you all for your help in allowing the World Serpent to come this far."
"Oh, right, and Raven and Gray Serpent. Although they didn't come to the meeting and are busy with their own things, I hope you can pass my words on to them."
"That includes you... Kevin..."
Kevin looked at the Kevin sim. Perhaps due to his long existence within the Elysian Realm, the sim seemed more like the purer version of himself from long ago.
The Kevin of today, however, was covered in scars, both in spirit and body.
"You are all the closest comrades-in-arms I have had in this life."
"I will not betray MEI, and I will not betray you. The matter of resurrecting MEI is no longer up for discussion. I will personally put an end to the final conflict of the Previous Era."
"The final mission of the Fire Moth... is over!"
"Go and do what you love..."
After speaking, Kevin ignored the astonished looks from the others and left the Elysian Realm alone.
He hadn't used the name of the World Serpent, but rather the name of the Fire Moth to bring about this final end.
And now, Kevin was going to complete the final handover of the authority of Finality.