Making Honkai Impact lll In A World Where Kallen Exists [Continuation]

Luo Mo felt unjustly accused.

All he did was faithfully present the story in its entirety, why was everyone acting like it was life or death?

Still, he knew these were just his adorable coworkers acting out their emotional outbursts.

After all, someone like the Flame-Chasers, who had lived for 50,000 years, must have endured a lot…

"Hey, lab rat, I'd love to see you cry too. Look, Elysia cried, the kitty cried, Mei cried, even the bug cried…"

Before Luo Mo knew it, Mobius had floated behind him, poking his side as she grinned sinisterly.

"All that's left is you."

Her intentions were crystal clear.

(TL/C: oh he will cry. I promise.)

"Cough, cough. I think Mei and I were mismatched in that scene. Since we're all using animal nicknames, how about adding a 'snake' into the mix?"

Luo Mo coughed twice, his gaze evasive, deftly avoiding Mobius' predatory glare.

Since when did Mobius and Pardofelis get along so well?

"Tch. If I'm honest, I'm not a fan of this future scenario. Death isn't scary, but this time… Pardofelis, wasn't it too melodramatic?"

Hearing this, Mobius shot a glare at Luo Mo but didn't respond.

Making her cry? Didn't they know snakes were cold-blooded creatures?

She… she wouldn't cry.

(TL: I don't know about that~)

"Melodrama is clearly the devs' specialty. Indeed, from the audience's perspective, compared to Kevin, Elysia, or Kalpas, all of whom died with purpose, only Pardofelis seems to have been caught in the crossfire."

"At the same time… making the Flame-Chasers who feared death the most confront the pain of dying—it's exactly the kind of thing you'd do!"

Vill-V couldn't help but applaud enthusiastically. Even though she played a major role in this scene, she admitted she had felt reluctant. Yes, yes, it was all Extreme Evil's fault, it went too far!

But what did Extreme Evil's actions have to do with her, the magician?

"Still… Pardofelis' performance was incredible. The way her final words came out, one by one, really gave the impression of her impending death."

"And earlier… wasn't she supposed to be the luckiest one, rarely encountering danger?"

Elysia's voice was still choked with sobs. Her chest heaved as she struggled to calm her emotions.

What pained her wasn't just Pardofelis' death, but the sheer emotional impact of those lines. And… the looming future she would face if she stayed in the Elysian Realm.

Pardofelis was gone. Who would be next?

"Tch—seriously, why couldn't she just hide properly?"

Kalpas waved his hand irritably, frustrated by her self-destruction.

"Pardofelis was a good kid, but… sigh, in the chaos of the Elysian Realm, it was hard for her to protect herself."

Aponia's gaze darkened, her hands intertwined as she lowered her head in sorrow.

She had instinctively wanted to peer into the future but forgot that her ability to do so was gone. The futures she once glimpsed were nothing but an unending chain of tragedies. Yet she couldn't help but wonder about them again.

"Pardofelis…"

Even little Griseo was saddened. She hadn't expected the Elysian Realm she looked forward to would fail to provide a happy ending for all the Flame-Chasers .

Or perhaps, as Mobius and Vill-V had said, it was nothing more than a requiem for the departed.

A monument standing tall after millennia, engraved with the spirit and will of the Previous Era. Its vast history would be inherited by those who came after.

-----------

In the hall, faint sobs echoed. Many had reddened eyes.

Compared to the shock of other deaths in battle, Pardofelis' final lingering breaths left a deeper impression of her as a living, breathing person.

Even memory constructs didn't desire death.

Death marked the end of everything.

She said, "Sister Mei, I don't want to die."

Just like the time before, when she said, "Kiana, keep moving forward."

The death of one person always changes something. It brings something, too.

But those changes are left to the living.

Just like now, it was up to Mei to decide what Pardofelis' death meant.

On the main screen, Pardofelis' fragments shattered. The earlier speculation about the battle rankings was crossed out. Suddenly, it shifted to the weakest, most fragile bottom position.

What would philosophers, ancient or modern, say in response to such a scene?

Mei didn't know how much time had passed before she began to regain her composure from the cold reality before her.

If she had a companion with her now, perhaps they would gently pat her back, but they wouldn't say a word.

The only thing that could soothe such an experience… was time. Words were meaningless.

A single gold coin lay quietly on the ground where Pardofelis had vanished, shimmering with a golden glow. It made no sound, only flashing its brilliant light, so dazzling that it forced Mei to recall the girl who loved shiny things.

She couldn't remember when the coin had fallen.

Perhaps it was before Pardofelis disappeared, or maybe earlier, at the very moment she collapsed. Or it could be the last relic she left behind.

Mei felt an indescribable sadness. The girl who always called her "Sister Mei," the one who lazily stretched while wagging her tail, the one who smiled cheerfully while petting a cat, had just peacefully fallen into eternal slumber right before her.

But time didn't give her any chance to dwell in her grief.

"So… it was you?"

Her heart brimming with anger and sorrow, Mei turned to look behind her, to the place where Pardofelis had gazed in terror before her death.

The interlocking shadows of gears appeared in Pardofelis' blue eyes, now gone.

The one who had orchestrated everything and watched silently stepped forward from the darkness, smiling as they nodded in acknowledgment.

"Yes, it was me."

"At this point, there's no use denying it. How could I even argue otherwise?"

Vill-V stood before Mei, face to face.

"But why Pardofelis?"

Mei's eyes burned with anger. She had suspected Vill-V, despite having little concrete evidence, her wariness had never waned.

"Pardofelis… she couldn't possibly interfere with your schemes. All she wanted was to survive."

Besides, Mei had assumed Vill-V's first target would be her.

Under no circumstances could she imagine the harmless Pardofelis being the one to suffer.

That shouldn't have happened.

The course of events shouldn't have gone this way.

And yet, the scales of fate tipped toward the outcome Mei feared most.

"Oh, that's beyond my control. You could consider it… an accident?"

Vill-V's dismissive explanation seemed to brush aside Mei's fiery grief and the memory of the girl who had once affectionately called her "sister Vill-V."

She remained as cold as ever. Though not physically cold like Kevin, Vill-V appeared to genuinely regard no one with warmth.

Naturally, she had no attachments to others.

Mei felt a chill in her heart. Was this the malice Vill-V had tried so hard to seal away?

Looking back now, Mei realized that, compared to the memories of Hua and Pardofelis, Vill-V's memories followed a singular thread. The further they went, the more they involved captivity and pain, subtly and gradually wearing down Mei's strength.

If not for Pardofelis' final reminder…

---

Vill-V laughed freely, her light chuckles filling the air. The traitor, having achieved her goals, finally stepped into the spotlight, no longer suppressing her laughter or hiding her usual arrogance.

"The real performance… is just beginning. How should I introduce myself to you? With a long time no see?"

"Or perhaps… nice to meet you for the first time?"

Her lips curled into a smile as she looked at Mei, who now lay within her grasp. Her grin was faint yet deliberate.

-------------

In the Golden Courtyard,

"Suddenly, it feels like Vill-V is the perfect choice for a villain," Elysia sighed, rubbing her reddened eyes. She glanced helplessly at Luo Mo, feeling defeated once again in this clash.

She simply didn't want to hold back her emotions anymore. And… that final scene with Pardofelis had undeniably left a deep impression on her.

"Turns out cats don't just meow, they also cry like this: 'Sister Mei, I don't want to die.'"

She hoped that in this future, Pardofelis could remain safe and sound.

"True, she really does look like a villain," Mobius, for once, agreed, nodding.

"Hey, hey, hey! I'm still here! When did I become a villain? I've been wholeheartedly fighting against Honkai, okay?" Vill-V protested indignantly.

Otherwise, how could she have become one of the Flame-Chasers ? Clearly, her contributions were significant enough!

Vill-V successfully convinced herself.

"But the version of you in the game… doesn't exactly help your case," Kiana quipped.

"Oh, her? Hmm, how should I put this? You know the saying seeing isn't always believing? Just because she called herself Malicious Vill-V or Extreme Evil doesn't mean she truly embodies those titles."

"In my heart, I've never considered her entirely evil. Good and evil themselves are flawed distinctions. But in that era, brimming with despair… calling her 'Malice' isn't entirely wrong, is it?"

Vill-V's response was a bit convoluted. Torn between breaking her promise and revealing the truth, she opted for ambiguity.

Her approach relied on one simple premise: those who understood would understand, and those who didn't… shouldn't bother asking.

"That makes sense to me. Betrayal… no wonder people hate traitors," Mobius remarked, her eyes glinting as she squinted thoughtfully at Vill-V.

She mused over why Vill-V hadn't erased that thing earlier.

---

"Uh… I don't get it at all. But sister Vill-V, you're not going to hurt me, are you? Everything earlier was just scripted dialogue, right?" Pardofelis scratched her head and gave Vill-V an awkward smile.

"And also, why did I drop a gold coin?!" she exclaimed in frustration.

Was she really that greedy?

Everyone else dropped things like crystal flowers, black crowns, or fragments of legendary swords. But for her? The tone completely changed, it was a gold coin!

What was she? A low-level mob?!

"Hmm—no, not anymore, little Pardo. After all… I've already made an agreement with her."

Vill-V smiled mysteriously and shrugged.

"Gold coins? Gold coins are great. Hey, old timer, why don't you drop one too?" The Herrscher of Sentience casually placed a hand on Fu Hua's shoulder and made an irreverent remark with a cheeky grin.

What a display of a "loving mother and dutiful daughter."

Fu Hua raised an eyebrow and looked at her without saying a word.

-------------

Vill-V—or rather, the Malicious (Evil) Vill-V.

Outside, time was divided into day and night by celestial cycles.

But in her world, time was split into endless hatred and pitch-black solitude.

The Elysian Realm was different from reality. Here, there was no malice, no soil for her to grow.

It was a prison sentence with no visible end.

At least, it had lasted 50,000 years without conclusion.

But she didn't despair. Because she was evil. And because she was also… Vill-V.

When she first discovered the existence of Herrscher (Mei), she was ecstatic, only to be disappointed by how conventional and uninspiring this Herrscher turned out to be.

When that Herrscher left, she hadn't even caught Vill-V's attention.

But the second time they came, they brought something different with them…

"Of course, Vill-V noticed it. Out of her genius pride, she mistook it for the residue of another experiment. Soon enough, she paid the price for her arrogance."

"She had her methods. Just like dealing with Discipline, she could simply push someone forward as a scapegoat, divide the issue, and everything would be fine."

"But she didn't expect… that when she pushed me toward death, she became the villain herself."

"In that moment, my choice became simple, didn't it? Betrayal? Should I have just died the moment I saw the world?"

"You're curious why I've been talking so much, aren't you?"

Vill-V smiled slyly as she looked at Mei. From her, Mei sensed something entirely different from the Vill-V she knew: malevolence, madness, and arrogance, as if there was nothing she couldn't do.

Was it because Vill-V's performance was so compelling?

Or had Mei always failed to notice her abnormalities?

"Because… I'm going to treat you the same way she treated me. I'll confine you in this space. Time… will be eternal."

She snapped her fingers, a dangerous look flashing across her face.

"..."

"But none of this matters to me anymore. There's only one thing on my mind!"

Mei shook her head, her gaze burning with anger as she stared at Vill-V.

Even after 50,000 years of isolation, Vill-V's speech revealed no vulnerabilities. After all, characters who recklessly expose their weaknesses only appear in pulp novels. Vill-V wasn't foolish.

Mei closed her eyes slowly, piecing together the faint, fragmented syllables in her memory. Memories of the times she spent with Pardo.

"It's simple… I just wanted to be friends with Sister Mei."

That was their very first conversation. And yet… it seemed Mei had never given her an answer.

Now, it was too late.

"And you… let my friend sacrifice herself for such an absurd reason… Have you prepared yourself to pay the price?!"

Lightning flashed as Mei unleashed the full power of the Herrscher of Thunder.

In the blinding brilliance of lightning, she transformed into the complete form of the Herrscher of Thunder, her blade raised, her cold eyes meeting Vill-V's.

But in this realm of consciousness, defeating its master was no easy feat. Veliona avoided direct confrontation entirely, instead partitioning the space to trap Mei permanently, forcing her to experience the torment she had endured for 50,000 years.

And the nature of this space? As Vill-V had mentioned earlier,

Being malicious, she required an environment filled with malice to thrive. While such a setting didn't exist in the Elysian Realm, there happened to be remnants of a future Herrscher composed entirely of malice within Mei's memories.

Thus, the space manifested in the form of the Theater of Domination.

---

Mei pressed forward silently, quickening her pace. The confrontation just now had revealed the inherent danger of Vill-V's domain, resisting her mastery over consciousness was nearly impossible.

So, Mei decided to gamble on one thing.

Vill-V had mentioned dividing the space into eight regions, stopping short of further segmentation. The reason? To continue splitting would compromise her so-called "genius" standard.

Consciousness wasn't something that could be divided freely; it came at a cost.

And that cost was steep.

"Before lightning reaches you… will you first fall from genius to fool?"

Mei sneered as she accelerated further, avoiding entanglement and heading straight for the next region before the division was complete.

Now, it was Vill-V's turn to feel the pressure.

But… only for a moment. After all, with her brilliance, Vill-V always had a solution.

---

[Herrscher of Thunder? ✘ Herrscher of Reason? ✓]

[What did Mei bring with her that instantly defeated the original Vill-V?]

[It now seems clear… The mastermind wasn't any of the Flame-Chasers. The true betrayer was a hidden personality within Vill-V. ]

[Mei may have become the greatest accomplice to the mastermind, bringing it into the Elysian Realm and personally nurturing the Malicious Vill-V. ]