[After Griseo and her two guardians walked away, Mei and Elysia chatted while walking toward the archives room. Arriving at the archives room, Mei began preparing to get down to business, viewing Elysia's memories through the typewriter.
In the memory, Elysia seriously taught Griseo to call her "Big Sister Elysia," planning to surprise others with this! Then she tricked the obedient Griseo into calling Mobius "grandma."
Of course, this was just a small interlude. The current time was before Kevin's MANTIS surgery, the beginning of Kevin's transformation. Elysia noticed Kevin's sorrow, so she bid farewell to Griseo and walked toward Kevin. "...Ah, so cold."
As soon as Elysia approached Kevin, she felt a chill. "Are you going for the [cold handsome guy] route, hmm? No wonder you're ignoring me. I thought you hated me, how sad."
Kevin's expression was silent and sorrowful. Elysia gently walked to Kevin's side: "I heard about it. [The MANTIS Project]. How mean, not even telling me."
Seeing such a wonderful Elysia, Kevin's mood seemed to improve slightly, but he still said: "...Thank you for your comfort. But... I want to be alone for a while."
"You've already said sorry twice. Those words don't suit you."
"...Mei said the same thing."
Kevin raised his hand, unable to stop trembling: "But whenever I close my eyes, I see Himeko... standing there, smiling and reaching out to me, as if we've returned to that night's dance... you were there, Mei was there too..."
"...You know? When I swung that sword, she had the same expression on her face..."
"...Just like the Sixth Herrscher."
Mentioning the Sixth Herrscher, Elysia also fell silent. She didn't know how to comfort Kevin, but she knew that right now Kevin needed some alone time, so she bid farewell: "Perhaps... you really need some time alone. I'll... stop bothering you?"]
[Hua]: "Captain..."
[March 7th]: "No way, this is Kevin's experience? Personally killing a teammate who became a Herrscher?!"
[Honkai Star Rail·Welt]: "No wonder Kevin became like this. After experiencing such cruel past events, it would be even more unbelievable if he remained as cheerful as before."
[Kiana]: "This... is truly cruel."
[Herrscher of Sentience]: "Look, this is the Honkai of the Previous Era. Kevin's experience would be equivalent to you, Kiana, personally killing Teacher Himeko."
[Kiana]: "Impossible!!"
[Kevin]: "But this is Honkai!"
[["...Yo, I never expected that this matter would be [you coming to find me]."
"A bit mean, Mobius. You clearly know I don't want to fall behind Kevin, and I don't want to fall behind you either."
"Hmm, there's no chance for the former anymore, so for the latter... I must strive for it no matter what."
Looking at such an Elysia, Mobius sneered: "Fine, then I'll let you cut in line. I'd certainly be happy... to personally choose a [way to die] for you."
"That won't do, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you."
"Before coming here, I was already prepared. Elysia's fusion factor... must be [unique], right?"...... Returning to reality, Mei stared blankly at the record before her. Elysia laughed: "...That's right, there are memories like that too. Times when you feel helpless and powerless."
Mei summarized: "Kevin never managed to escape that shadow. In the subsequent Seventh Honkai Eruption, he was forced to kill his former comrade again..."
"No wonder... he became a different person."
"Regarding your surgery, I remember Mobius always held a skeptical attitude."
Elysia explained with a smile: "Hmm, that's probably because she was always looking forward to what side effects the Honkai gene would bring me, but the result greatly disappointed her... or perhaps, envy? Dr. Mobius has girlish thoughts too."
At the same time, Elysia frankly admitted that Fire Moth had other plans too, such as creating giant robots, artificial life, etc. It's just that the MANTIS project succeeded first. Although Elysia didn't like this approach that blurred the line between humans and Honkai beasts, there was no choice at the time.]
[March 7th]: "What's suspicious about Elysia becoming a MANTIS? What are the side effects?"
[Elysia]: "Does never getting fat no matter how much you eat count? Being able to maintain a beautiful figure no matter what♪"
[Silver Wolf]: "You're telling me this is a side effect?"
[Theresa]: "The MANTIS project wasn't Fire Moth's only plan at the time, but it was the first successful one. What would have happened if other plans had succeeded?"
[Honkai Star Rail·Void Archives]: "If the giant robot project had succeeded, the Herrscher of Corruption would have been greatly strengthened."
[Vill-V]: "If the artificial life project had succeeded, maybe new Herrschers would appear in the future? Just like how the Herrscher of Binding was born specifically to counter MANTIS."
[Afterward, Elysia's fingertips lightly brushed the typewriter, which spat out a file - a photograph of various comrades celebrating Kevin's birthday. At that time, standing beside Mei, Kevin smiled so brightly, like an ordinary person who had never experienced disaster.
Elysia cheerfully told Mei about every little thing that happened at the birthday party back then, and Mei quietly listened beside her, as if time had returned to the past. "Even during those times, there were such happy memories."
"But after knowing the outcome, those past joys... would turn into [sadness], right?"
"Hmm, perhaps... there would be a faint sense of melancholy."
But Elysia remained quite optimistic in her response: "But I think it shouldn't be [pain], but rather a kind of [joy]."
"Being happy about having once possessed certain happiness, looking forward to miracles that will still appear in the future."
"After experiencing such things, Kevin could still remember... how a person should smile."
"But if this photo hadn't been taken back then, Mei might never have gotten to see this scene in the end."]
[March 7th]: "So beautiful, but the more beautiful it was back then, the more heartbreaking it feels when thinking about Kevin being all alone now."
[Sparkle]: "Beautiful scene in the photo? But ah... they're all dead now!!"
[Yunli]: "Hmph! Fool, no one would think you're mute if you didn't speak!"
[Sampo]: "Sister Sparkle, I wish you peace. Please don't get blood on me when you cause trouble."
[Stelle]: "You Masked Fools sure get along well with each other."