"You're back?"
An inexplicable formula was neatly written on the paper with the flick of Mobius's wrist.
Miss Rin, who had just returned, felt her head spin just looking at these formulas that she recognized, but didn't understand a single one of. Her intelligence had been crushed beyond imagination.
Indeed, the world of a genius was not something ordinary mortals like them could comprehend.
A formula she casually wrote down would take a lifetime of study for Rin.
The saying that a lifetime of an ordinary person's effort is to save a genius an afternoon's time was no joke.
"You failed?"
Mobius stopped her work and immediately questioned Rin.
Her expression showed no dissatisfaction, only a certainty that surpassed the girl's imagination.
Rin was a little puzzled: "Mobius, what exactly is your goal?"
"That's why you can never comprehend my wisdom."
Full of the arrogance of a genius, these words made Rin exceptionally displeased.
Before Rin could respond, the bewitching girl took out a piece of paper with the name of every participant written on it, and added new information.
"Whether you failed or not is unimportant. What's important is how you failed, and at whose hands you failed."
Success or failure, both were within Mobius's calculations.
This was an intellectual contest between her and Elysia.
Having this little one assume an identity, then testing Elysia's reaction through the action of 'eliminating Elysia from the game,' thereby confirming Elysia's identity.
Mobius stared at the Herrscher girl before her: "Judging by your expression, Elysia's identity shouldn't be the same as ours."
Rin: "..."
She felt like she had been played again.
"Don't mind whether I used you as cannon fodder or not. This was just a verification of probabilities."
The power of the Herrscher of Corruption had some effect in this dreamscape, but the Herrscher of Corruption in front of her was not only a little cripple but also not a specialist in the domain of consciousness. Mobius never expected her to be of much use from the beginning.
There were several purposes for sending Rin to contact Elysia, one of which was to determine her identity.
And that ability she might possess.
"The identities of the others are being revealed one by one. It's not difficult to analyze the possible combinations, at least it's much simpler than predicting the occurrence of a Great Honkai Eruption."
"Leave the analysis to me, and leave the other possibilities to probability."
In Mobius's analysis, the possibilities surrounding Elysia were concentrated.
The most troublesome among them were the 'Elf' and the 'Witch', who could eliminate them.
And now, Elysia's identity had been confirmed.
"In that case..."
The pen tip slid, leaving an ink mark on the text representing Elysia.
"After obtaining all the pieces of the puzzle, we can pave our own path to victory."
But Rin was still full of confusion: "Will this even work?"
"This game isn't just a competition of intellect. If that woman is unwilling, we won't even be able to get close to her."
At the end of the day, this place was still about Honkai.
Unless one could launch a sneak attack while Elysia was distracted, as Mobius did before, it would be very difficult to eliminate her.
There was almost no difference between one hit and zero hits.
Mobius sneered contemptuously: "Rin, who do you think I am? Do not use your shallow wisdom to measure the mind of a genius!"
In a seemingly fair casino, even with a vast fortune, you can't win against the house.
Because besides them, the gamblers, the referee, the dealer, and the audience are all in cahoots.
To win this game, one needs to work from outside the gambling table.
And very unfortunately for them...
"In the field of 'Imaginary Renormalization,' I happen to have a little bit of experience."
Imaginary Renormalization, this was a technology that their three geniuses had developed back then to deal with the Honkai.
It could even interfere with the existence of Herrschers and the manifestation of Honkai, so using it to interfere with this dream world was naturally a piece of cake.
The dream is a domain of [Consciousness], and [Imaginary] can interfere with [Consciousness].
Furthermore, the scale of this dream world was not very large; the technical difficulty was simply insignificant compared to the great achievements of the past.
Mobius smiled bewitchingly, already picturing the scene of Elysia being eliminated just like Eden.
The reason for eliminating Eden first was that she had already confirmed Eden's identity through various means, as one of the two most troublesome possibilities.
Moreover, this woman had always unconditionally stood with Elysia, making her a greater threat to Mobius than Elysia in a certain sense.
Now that one was eliminated and the other confirmed, all the advantages were in her grasp.
With a casual flick of her slender arm, the pen and paper in Mobius's hand seemed to gain a magical power.
She was about to use the power of 'Imaginary Renormalization' to add a rule to this game that was favorable to her.
The genius scientist was about to claim the MVP!
"..."
Rin just watched without a word.
This battlefield was too high-level, leaving her no way to intervene.
It was a complete battle of gods!
[New Rule Added: During the night, all succubi can cast one anonymous vote. The person who receives the most votes will enter the Evil Corruption state.]
Victory could be decided from a thousand miles away without leaving her room.
Coupled with the rule that buildings in this mansion cannot be destroyed, she only needed to secure two extra votes and wait for two nights to completely eliminate that dog couple!
The most threatening existence was not Elysia, and the most likely biggest threat had already been eliminated.
Next, she just had to wait for the night to arrive, and then she could gradually achieve victory through voting.
Herself, Sakura, Bronya...
Three against two, the advantage is mine!
...
"The game rules have changed?"
Elysia's expression suddenly changed. She hadn't expected something like this to happen.
They had agreed to compete with Mobius for victory within the rules of the game, with the winner being able to do whatever they wanted to the loser.
But unexpectedly, Mobius didn't play by the book at all, directly using her wisdom and abilities to adjust the game rules, adding one that was advantageous to herself.
Although her brain wasn't the sharpest, Elysia could still figure it out...
"Since Mobius dared to add such a rule, it means she has at least gained the support of two other people."
The situation was now very clear. Mobius, who had changed the game rules, had the support of the majority of the remaining forces, while their side had already lost a teammate.
With this shift in power, even Elysia felt that disaster was imminent.
But the man beside her was not panicking: "Eli, don't worry, this is just a small matter."
As the master of this dream world, he could perceive more deep-level information.
"Mobius can't alter the original rules of this game either, she only added new clauses to the original foundation."
The original rules were still in place, they had just been twisted into a new interpretation.
Moreover...
"Why do you think Mobius is certain to win?"
Young Brian smirked, having already thought of a solution.
That sinister smile sent a chill down one's spine, yet it only filled Elysia with excitement.
Watching the little snake who didn't play by the rules get her comeuppance... was very interesting!
The beautiful girl nudged the man beside her and asked coquettishly, "Stop keeping me in suspense, tell me how we can make our little snake suffer a bit."
Brian: "First, go and block Mobius's door."
Elysia's eyes grew brighter and brighter as she listened, as if she could already see the detestable little snake suffering a heavy blow at her moment of greatest triumph, until her mouth was stretched into an 'O' shape and her belly was bulging.
"Leave this to me~~"
My dear little snake, are you ready to accept the passion from a pure and flawless maiden?
This surprise is going to be a big one!
...
"Seele, we can rest easy this time."
The change in the game rules made Bronya's eyes light up.
Mobius was indeed a reliable teammate. While she and her sister were still in shock, this genius scientist had already found a way to break the deadlock by taking an unconventional path.
If the game rules were against them, then change the game rules to a state that favored them.
They just had to wait for the night to vote, and they could eliminate their threats one by one, securing their final victory.
At this moment, Bronya was incredibly glad that she had found a reliable teammate.
Seele didn't comment on the matter, but instead looked at her other self.
Although neither of them spoke, Seele could already see very complex emotions in 'Seele's' eyes.
—Who cares if that guy lives or dies!
My other self is as tsundere as ever.
The cute little Seele chuckled to herself, finding her other self's attitude a bit amusing, but she didn't expose her.
However...
With the tables suddenly turned against them, the kind-hearted girl couldn't help but worry a little for her beloved big brother.
So she asked, "Sister Bronya, have you already made an agreement with Sister Mobius?"
The silver-haired girl's certainty was tinged with a hint of hesitation: "Barely, I suppose."
If Mobius could accept being eliminated herself, then everything was negotiable.
Bronya had already prepared herself to be eliminated in order to protect her sister.
In her heart, the priority order for elimination was Brian, the other succubi, and finally herself. Being able to protect her two sisters was her greatest wish.
But given the pride of this genius scientist, it would be difficult for her to accept such an outcome.
Bronya had already made her decision. After eliminating the Inner World Protagonist, she would feign cooperation with Mobius, find a way to eliminate this very dangerous genius, and then let her two sisters win.
A slightly worse outcome would be the three of them sharing the same fate, eliminated together by that Mobius.
Upon hearing the answer, Seele thought hard, trying to come up with a solution that would make everyone happy.
But Mobius's out-of-game move came too suddenly, leaving her completely at a loss.
Just then...
Click—!
The door was unlocked from the outside. The three girls, who hadn't locked the door, watched in astonishment as a man entered the room and, with the same sound, locked the door from the inside!
His tall and slender figure cast a long shadow under the light, sprawling menacingly across the floor like a demon.
"Bronya, you don't want your sister to be harmed by me any further, do you?"
Seele blinked.
The door she had specifically left open earlier seemed to have... helped her Sister Bronya once again.
The silver-haired girl couldn't figure out how this guy had gotten in, nor did she have time to think about it.
Her slender arm rose, trembling as she pointed at the man's nose: "You're shameless!"
...
"Mobius, are you there?"
"Your most adorable friend, Elysia, has come to see you~"
The beautiful and lovely maiden Elysia knocked lightly on the door, her smile like a blooming flower.
Elysia was holding a tray with several servings of coffee and tea snacks.
Mobius's previous out-of-game move seemed to have had no effect on the beautiful girl, not causing Elysia the slightest bit of anger.
It seemed that in the beautiful girl's heart, her friendship with Mobius was far more important than the outcome of this game.
Inside the room, the genius scientist, who was furiously writing down formulas, paused at the sound coming from under the door, nearly losing her train of thought.
Mobius's eyebrows were furrowed into a deep frown, wanting to go out and teach that clueless woman Elysia a lesson.
"Forget it, let her bounce around for one more night."
She was just a dead woman walking anyway. She would soon be able to be lovey-dovey with this woman in the Elysian Realm's laboratory, there was no need to be so hasty.
The other girl in the room glanced at Mobius, who was smiling unconsciously, then looked towards the door.
She pouted: "Mobius, you really are a duplicitous person!"
←_←
"Rin, what does a little thing like you know? The world of adults is not as simple as you imagine."
"Elysia, that stupid woman, is annoying enough on her own, but with that man wreaking havoc in my Elysian Realm, it's even more disgusting."
As she spoke, Mobius threw the pen in her hand onto the floor, as if expressing the anger in her heart.
She was furious!
"Yes, yes, you hate Elysia so much that even if the world ended, you would never say with your own mouth those words—I will always love Elysia!"
"As long as you know!"
Mobius showed a satisfied smile, seemingly pleased that she had temporarily taught this little Herrscher to be the way she needed.
Speaking of which, this pair of sisters was interesting.
The older sister wanted to protect the younger, and the younger wanted to protect the older.
This mutual care was indeed very moving, but in reality, without revealing their thoughts to each other, it often led to many misunderstandings, and they would end up on a path that hurt them both.
By keeping this little Herrscher in her hands, she effectively had a hold on Sakura, securing one vote for tonight.
Adding Bronya Zaychik, who was desperate to protect her younger sister, victory was almost guaranteed.
As for the remaining two votes... it didn't matter if she didn't get them!
Perhaps sensing the undisguised malice from Mobius, Rin felt a chill run down her spine: "Mobius, what are you plotting against me again?"
"Nothing, I just find it incredible how fate brought you and your sister together again after fifty-five thousand years."
Rin: "So you're commenting on the ill-fated relationship between you and Elysia?"
"You little brat, you really are annoying!"
The two beautiful girls with different styles stared at each other in the room, almost making the lesbian from the Elysian Realm outside drool.
"Mobius, I brought you some snacks I made myself. Don't you want to try them?"
"They're really delicious ♪"
Mobius didn't want to bother with Elysia and turned back to her research.
Although the conditions were limited, this place, which seemed full of lewdness, was also a veritable treasure trove for a genius scientist like her.
One can learn from the stones of other mountains.
No matter when, one should never stop pursuing [Infinity].
At this moment, in the scientist's mind, the task of research had taken absolute priority. Victory, which was already in her grasp, no longer required her attention.
But ignorance is not an obstacle to survival, arrogance is!
...
On the other side...
"Should I say it's been a long time?"
"I think I should reply to you with... it's best we never met?"
The girl's demeanor was full of elegance, the beauty mark by the corner of her eye, paired with her wine-red pupils, gave her a unique charm.
Rita Rossweisse could be polite to anyone, except for this man who had made her get wet three times. She just couldn't maintain her usual composure around him.
"That won't do. I've come to you on official business this time."
...