Elysia turned away, her expression growing increasingly solemn.
Something was wrong—very wrong.
She had combed through her memories with meticulous care and found no missing pieces, no forgotten eras.
Yet, these recurring subconscious flashes were a persistent reminder that her mind was playing tricks on her.
There was that nagging sense of absence; the reflexive thought that Kevin should have been Kevyn the moment he introduced himself; and even the way she viewed the budding, awkward romance between Kevin and Mei through the lens of someone who had seen it all before...
What on earth was happening?
Was it possible the Third Honkai Eruption could cause actual memory damage?
But before they deployed, Fire Moth had already analyzed the situation via satellite.
The data suggested the Third Herrscher's abilities were tied to electromagnetic force, not mental manipulation.
Regardless, Elysia had a feeling that if she wanted answers, she had to find the Third Herrscher.
True to her word, it wasn't long before Elysia safely escorted Kevin and Mei back to the Fire Moth base. She immediately summoned a field medic to tend to Mei's injuries.
Shortly after she brought them in, Ato arrived on the scene.
Noticing the peculiar look on his face, Elysia tilted her head curiously. "I thought you were coming here to give me a piece of your mind for running off," she said.
Ato shook his head. "That was the original plan. However, after the higher-ups at Fire Moth HQ saw the two people you rescued via the satellite feed... specifically, after they saw that purple-haired girl, they told me to come and commend you instead. As for the actual reward, someone will handle that once we're back at headquarters."
"The higher-ups?" Elysia looked at Ato, thinking of his wife's former connections. "You mean Dr. Mobius?"
Ato hesitated for a second before nodding. "Yes, Dr. Mobius herself. She said the girl is a junior she has high hopes for. They met once at an academic conference in Mu, and Mobius even tried to recruit her."
"The girl hadn't given an answer before the Honkai broke out in Nagazora City. Mobius assumed she was dead—she never expected you'd be the one to save her."
"Is she that important?" Elysia asked.
Ato nodded firmly. "Mobius didn't say it outright, but it's obvious. For a high school student to attend an academic exchange in Mu and catch the personal attention of someone as socially detached as Mobius... someone like that has to be a big deal."
"Important is good," Elysia murmured. A playful smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she giggled. "I wonder if I can use this to finally get Mobius into that pink dress in her closet~?"
Ato: "..."
Dr. Mobius? In a pink dress?
Ato gave Elysia a skeptical side-eye. He found it much easier to believe that this girl had secretly stuffed a pink dress into the doctor's wardrobe than to believe Mobius had some hidden, character-breaking hobby.
After all, the story of how Elysia joined Fire Moth was still legendary.
Poor Dr. Mobius. First, she got swindled out of her badge, and now she was being swindled into wearing pink?
Ato felt a wave of relief that Blanca had already resigned from Mobius's lab to take care of young Griseo.
Otherwise, there was no telling how much of the doctor's redirected wrath his wife would have had to endure.
After her usual bit of mischief, Elysia felt a strange sensation—this situation wasn't quite as "fun" as she had anticipated. Or rather, it wasn't as important as the task she felt driven to complete.
She let her smile fade and turned to Ato with a serious gaze. "I scouted the perimeter earlier. The density of Honkai beasts and Zombies on the outskirts of Nagazora is surprisingly low."
"You can send the soldiers in to rescue as many survivors as possible. But warn them: do not approach the city center. I suspect the reason the outskirts are so clear is because they've all swarmed toward the heart of the city."
Ato nodded gravely. "Understo—"
He cut himself off as the realization hit him. His face paled instantly. "Wait, you're already back! Why are you handing command over to me?"
Elysia gave him a look as if the answer were the most obvious thing in the world. "Since Nagazora is acting strange, then as the strongest person on this mission, I naturally need to head back in and investigate. Once I'm gone, the burden of command falls to you, my dear Vice Commander.
"And don't even think about reporting this to the brass. You know perfectly well that even if you did, their orders would just be for me to go in and scout anyway. The only difference is whether I go alone or drag a small squad of elites into a death trap with me."
"Then I'll get some elites ready for you," Ato sighed, turning to organize the men.
Elysia didn't stop him.
However, the moment Ato's back was turned, she vanished from the camp.
By the time the report reached Ato that Elysia had left, he hadn't even finished assembling the squad.
Looking at the empty path, Ato could only let out a long, weary sigh and let her go.
He knew the score: if Elysia couldn't handle whatever was inside Nagazora, a few elites wouldn't make a difference; and if she could handle it, they'd only be in her way.
All he could do now was pray that whatever was waiting in the heart of the city wasn't beyond her power to fix.
As Elysia sped back toward the city center, Durandal stood at the very heart of Nagazora, her lance leveled directly at the Third Herrscher.
The Herrscher's face was a mask of pure fury and confusion.
This human had found her hours ago.
Feeling the immense pressure radiating from the girl, the Third Herrscher had prepared for a cataclysmic battle. Yet, the human had simply ignored her, treating her like she was nothing more than thin air.
Wary of such power, the Herrscher's first instinct had been to retreat.
The moment she moved, the human moved. When she stopped, the human stopped.
The Third Herrscher was reaching her boiling point.
She wasn't sure she could win a head-on collision, so she used her authority to command every Honkai beast and Zombie in the city to swarm their location.
Her plan was simple: let the minions bog the human down while she slipped away to erase human civilization.
But the "minions" were useless.
With a single thrust of that lance, the human didn't just take out one enemy—she wiped out entire swaths of them at once.
Eventually, the rate at which new Honkai beasts were born from the eruption couldn't even keep pace with the speed at which this human was slaughtering them.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL