["You're not the first to notice something. On the night Sakura disappeared... I had already received a signal from the exclusive channel of the Moth."
"What was the message?"
"Help."
Kalpas mocked, "As always, right? Whether it's her sister or herself... You always suspect someone... who needs others to save her."
"So noble, so noble. Looking at you, I'd rather be a beast."
"So, you believe Sakura was also one of those attacked?"
Su pressed further, "What happened after that? During the time when your data also showed anomalies, what occurred?"
"I went to the location indicated by the signal."
"But aside from this mask, there was nothing there."
Kalpas took out the mask and demanded Su examine whose blood was on it. After Su's investigation, he gave an unbelievable answer: "...It's Elysia's."]
[Theresa]: "How is that possible?!"
[March 7th]: "Th-this... The Herrscher of Corruption can even frame people? Could Sakura really be wrestling with the Corruption right now?"
[Su]: "If we weren't observing from a god's perspective, we might have truly been deceived by her."
[Stelle]: "Such a despicable Corruption!"
[Scott]: "Isn't this just standard procedure? What's wrong with what the Corruption did?"
[Qingque]: "...Every time I start to respect you a little, Scott, you open your mouth."
[Kalpas naturally didn't believe this result. He'd sooner believe Su had lost his mind than accept that Sakura was a traitor.
The more Kalpas thought about it, the angrier he became. He instantly launched an attack, just as Su had predicted, assaulting them without hesitation.
In such a situation, even if Su and Hua fought with all their might, they were no match for Kalpas and were quickly defeated. To eliminate them completely, Kalpas decided to use the move originally intended to fight the Finality—his full-power strike—
"Use all your strength and try to withstand it! If you can... then come lecture me!"
Facing this unprecedented attack, Su also exerted his full power to counter it.
He opened his eyes.
But what none of them expected was that Kalpas's strike didn't target them—instead, it hit the ground, directly striking the Elysian Realm itself.
Right before their eyes, flames rained down, and the earth was torn open by a terrifying scar, taking the form of an abyss that separated Kalpas from them.
After that, Kalpas simply left.
It was only then that Su realized Kalpas's goal had never been to kill them—but to destroy everything except the Flame-Chasers!]
[Pardofelis]: "This was really a plan Brother Kalpas came up with? That's just too shocking!"
[Fu Hua]: "Whether it's the traitor or the intruder, as long as the Elysian Realm itself is destroyed, she will definitely appear. Kalpas's plan is really simple and brutal..."
[Silver Wolf]: "Makes perfect sense. It's like the most effective way in a hacker battle is to unplug the network cable—just smash the Elysian Realm, problem solved."
[Stelle]: "I can see it now—you Flame-Chasers, every one of you is full of unique skills!"
[Raven]: "Didn't we already know that? If you don't have some special talent, how can you be a Flame-Chaser?"
[Herrscher of Sentience]: "Exactly, exactly!"
[Long afterward, everything began with a [fall].
And ended with a [fall].
In the boundless darkness, a man awoke.
The man lowered his head, examining his own body, unable to comprehend the situation before him.
Kalpas knew what he had encountered in the darkness, but he didn't understand why he had appeared in this completely unfamiliar place.
And before him, something even more [incomprehensible] awaited.
As if reflected in a mirror, another version of himself appeared before Kalpas.
"Oh, this is... those broken Tenth Divine Keys you shattered before undergoing the MANTIS surgery?"
He examined the broken swords, his expression as if he were looking at corpses.
The figure standing before Kalpas seemed to genuinely be helping him examine himself, continuously commenting on Kalpas's own memories.
As if evaluating an object.
"Oh? Is this what happened at that sanatorium?"
Kalpas's rage grew, but this 'Kalpas' showed no intention of stopping: "What's wrong? Can't bear to look back?"
For a moment, the man was too slow to react—not because he had been struck by the other's words, but because he was struggling to free himself from the memories rapidly flashing before his eyes.
Most of those scenes belonged to the dead.
In his faded homeland, in the newfound place he called home, on the battlefield promised by others...
He always ended up as the only, the final survivor. Walking away amidst a field of corpses.
"...What else is there to ask?" Kalpas's cold tone seemed eager to tear him apart.
"The current situation is very special. We are both [Kalpas]... and yet, an [observer]."
"Therefore, my perspective on certain matters may not align with yours. For example..."
"This weapon left here as a symbol."
'Kalpas' looked meaningfully at the blue greatsword plunged into the ground:
"If my memory hasn't been distorted by madness, Sakura destroyed your second [home] as part of a mission, correct?"
"Of course, that was also a turning point. If the process of the MOTHs discovering you hadn't been so... brutal, you might have ended up dying as an ordinary person, right?"
Kalpas suppressed his anger with great effort: "Enough. You have no right to judge Sakura either."
"Sakura?" As if hearing something amusing, 'Kalpas' laughed heartily:
"About her, there is indeed something I don't understand."
"I have every reason to hate her to the bone, but you don't."
"Damaging the space of the Elysian Realm... You were even willing to go that far for her. Why?"
"I don't need a reason to do something."]
[Sunday]: "The Herrscher of Corruption has truly appeared. It seems Kalpas's somewhat brutal plan actually worked."
[Stelle]: "Damn! If the Corruption can mimic Kalpas, there's nothing stopping it from mimicking other Flame-Chasers to create chaos!"
[Kalpas]: "Good, very good, Herrscher... You truly deserve to die!!!"
[Guinaifen]: "His home destroyed, his comrades dead... I never thought someone as fierce as Kalpas would have experienced such things."
[Hua]: "Kalpas..."
[Kalpas]: "Hmph, I don't need your pity!"
[Sparkle]: "Kalpas is also filled with regret, regretting that he couldn't save more people~~"
.........
Only one chapter today because of my early class, but don't worry—at midnight tonight, I'll drop five chapters straight!
It's inhumane to take a break at the next plot point, and I'm kind-hearted—no cliffhangers from me~~