Although the expression on Kevin's face didn't waver much, as Kevin's closest friend, Su could naturally tell that his old friend was genuinely enraged.
Elysia and Kevin had known each other for a long time. The sentimental Kevin, upon hearing news of his comrade being attacked and captured, would naturally be angered by such a thing.
After all...
—Among all the people who had come to the Elysian Realm, there was practically no one who could bully Elysia.
Under these circumstances, for someone to suddenly tell Kevin, 'Hey, your comrade got bullied,' it would be strange if he *wasn't* angry.
But it was precisely because of this that Su felt he had to stop Kevin first.
"Kevin, wait a minute."
Kevin, who had stopped in his tracks, turned to look at Su, waiting for what he had to say next.
Facing his friend's puzzled gaze, Su said helplessly to Kevin.
"I wasn't finished. The visitors this time are Sakura's sister, Rin, and the Herrscher of Binding from the next Era."
"And Rin... according to the data transmitted into the Elysian Realm, she has already become the Herrscher of Corruption."
The Herrscher of Corruption, a natural counter to the Elysian Realm.
The Herrscher of Binding, a natural counter to them, the MANTISes.
And now, this trump card combination had appeared inside the Elysian Realm.
Even someone with Kevin's personality, upon hearing this news, felt that it was a bit... hard to handle.
He now completely understood why his old friend had immediately stopped him from charging in.
If Su's warning had been even a little late, Kevin, who was preparing to rush to the entrance, would probably be hanging on a cross right next to Elysia by now.
But in this situation, not charging in wasn't an option either.
The Herrscher of Corruption was basically invincible in the Elysian Realm, and the Herrscher of Binding... Kevin really didn't want to recall that battle which had buried countless comrades.
This trump card duo had come to the Elysian Realm, and the most easy-going person, Elysia, had rushed over first only to be beaten. What did that mean?
It meant that Elysia must have discovered their objective, which was why they sneak-attacked her.
The probability of them being detrimental to the Elysian Realm was too high, and the Elysian Realm was too important to let others run wild inside it.
"So..."
After thinking for a second, Kevin asked Su.
"You want me to find the others first, and then we all go over together?"
"...No. If possible, I'd rather not resort to that."
Seeing that Kevin wanted to assemble troops and just charge in, Su immediately said to him.
"I've already contacted Sakura. Later, Sakura and I will go over and talk to them first."
"At the same time, I will use my psychic powers to create a clone to act with you. That way, you will all know any information I learn."
"If Sakura can persuade Rin to let her and her companion release Elysia, then you all won't have to make the atmosphere so tense."
"But if the negotiations fail..."
"I understand."
Although Su didn't finish his sentence, Kevin nodded slightly at his friend, his eyes growing colder.
"At that point, I don't think there will be any need for further discussion between us and them."
"The Elysian Realm cannot fall into the hands of others. Not even Sakura's sister has that right."
"I'll go meet up with the others now. If you fail over there..."
"—Don't forget to protect yourself, Su."
"Yes, I know."
After leaving a clone behind, Su quickly departed from Kevin's sight.
As for Kevin, he could only glance at the Su clone beside him before immediately starting his own actions.
Although Su wanted to talk things out, Kevin wasn't optimistic about Su and Sakura's chances.
The Elysian Realm held the memory data of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, and as one of those memories, Kevin knew very well that the relationship between the sisters Rin and Sakura was very good.
However, this didn't mean Su's plan was 'flawless'.
According to Su's description, Rin's hostility was definitely not as intense as when she was 'killed'.
However, Rin also had another Herrscher by her side.
Although there was no evidence, Kevin couldn't help but feel that even though Rin made the move, the mastermind behind this incident was likely the Herrscher of Binding from the next Era.
And Elysia, the person with the most affinity among them, was beaten immediately upon meeting them...
Sigh. Su bringing Sakura over... forget about persuading them.
Sakura aside, Su... could he even retreat in one piece?
The thought of his friend and the Elysian Realm being under threat made Kevin quicken his pace to find his other companions.
Everyone in the Elysian Realm had the right to know that Elysia had been attacked.
But as for rescuing Elysia, Kevin felt that not everyone was suited to participate.
As he formulated a rough plan in his mind, Kevin first excluded one companion.
Aponia, the Flame-Chaser bearing the Signet of [Discipline].
Kevin firmly believed Aponia was not a bad person, but it was undeniable that Aponia's actions were a major contributing factor to Rin's fate.
Although Kevin taking action meant completely tearing off all pretenses, he still didn't want to provoke Rin excessively if he could avoid it.
After excluding Aponia, Kevin immediately excluded Mobius and Griseo from the rescue team.
The reason was simple: compared to the combat-oriented Flame-Chasers, these two companions were simply not suited for such a dangerous battlefield.
As for Vill-V...
In fact, as he thought it through, Kevin realized that the only companions suitable for the rescue seemed to be Kalpas, Kosma, and Hua.
Although Eden also possessed considerable strength when paired with a Divine Key, to win against the Herrscher of Binding, they had to act before he could activate his barrier.
Compared to Stellar Harmony, which could easily cause friendly fire during ranged attacks, Kevin personally preferred to sneak nearby, have Hua forcefully use Fenghuang Down to interfere with the enemy's mind, and then have himself, Kalpas, and Kosma launch a strong assault to directly suppress the Herrscher of Binding.
As for Pardofelis, Kevin found it really difficult to include her in the rescue team list.
The reason was simple: in Kevin's opinion, this task was just too much for her.
However, after completing the plan, even Kevin couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.
He knew that the ones who actually controlled the Elysian Realm were the survivors among the real bodies of these memories.
Considering Griseo had to carry out the [Ark Project], the ones who ultimately held access rights to the Elysian Realm should be the three Flame-Chasers: Kevin, Su, and Hua.
Kevin was now wondering which one of them had thrown these two Herrschers into the Elysian Realm.
They definitely knew the importance of the Elysian Realm, but the problem was...
—Knowing its importance and still not vetting the visitors, whose bright idea was this!
Of course, there was another possibility Kevin hadn't overlooked.
If it was just because one of the three made a mistake and let these two scourges in, that would be one thing.
It would be a big problem, but not a desperate one.
What truly troubled Kevin was the possibility that these two had forcefully broken through the external blockade to reach the Elysian Realm. That would be a true disaster.
If they really got in that way, it meant the Flame-Chaser guarding the Elysian Realm outside had already been defeated by them.
If things were really that bad, then at that point...
Even if we stake everything against the Herrschers of Corruption and Binding...
We can win!
Realizing that a trace of wavering had actually appeared in his mind, Kevin immediately shook the extraneous thoughts from his head.
How can I win if my conviction isn't firm, if I'm afraid before the battle even starts!
No matter what their true intentions are, they have already done something we cannot tolerate.
Only by defeating them can the Elysian Realm return to peace.
......
Elysian Realm. The Deep End.
In the Deep End, Aponia slowly opened her eyes and let out a sigh.
Aponia, who had not participated in the final battle back then, chose to completely merge her consciousness with the Elysian Realm in the final moments before human civilization vanished.
Therefore, the Aponia here was different from the other Flame-Chaser memories.
The Aponia here was, without a doubt, Aponia herself.
The nun, having opened her eyes, felt that she had seen a future that was truly unsettling.
This overly fantastical future even made her wonder if, perhaps because she had existed for too long and was truly tired, she was experiencing these 'hallucinations' that shouldn't exist.
The chance to win against Finality actually lay with this intruder...
For what reason did I have such an unrealistic thought?
For Aponia, who could see the future to some extent, the future she was seeing now could very well be something that would happen.
But, no matter how much Aponia tried to convince herself, she still felt that the young man named Leo Ash resolving the Cocoon of Finality by himself was simply too fantastical.
Even in a dream, Aponia felt this dream was too ridiculous.
However, the 'threads' entangled around Leo Ash were constantly telling Aponia—this man was, from beginning to end, an incredibly absurd existence.
Once Aponia realized this, she suddenly felt that the other future she had foreseen was perhaps not so ridiculous after all.
In that other future, Aponia saw the images of her four companions—Kevin, Su, Kalpas, and Kosma—being strung up on crosses by that intruder.
Normally, the futures Aponia glimpsed wouldn't necessarily provide such a clear picture.
But it was precisely because of this that Aponia felt she probably couldn't just sit here any longer.
After confirming a few things, Aponia had actually already lowered her guard against Leo Ash.
Although Leo Ash had indeed beaten her friend Elysia, and would very likely beat up her other friends in the future, Aponia, who had been tricked by fate her entire life, still chose to trust fate's guidance.
Whether it was to warn her companions not to go and get themselves killed, or to meet this 'Child of Destiny' she saw, she had to take action.
However, at the same time, Aponia had not forgotten the severe consequences her own [Discipline] had once brought about.
*That child's heart must still hold resentment towards me.*
*Now is really not a good time to provoke her again... I can only use my psychic power to guide Mr. Leo Ash to meet me.*
*But right now, Kevin, Su, Kalpas, and Kosma are moving too fast.*
*Can I really stop this unnecessary fight before they are defeated by Mr. Leo Ash?*
......
Elysian Realm. Entrance.
At the entrance to the Elysian Realm, Rin, whose expression had been relatively normal, suddenly began to contort with a savage look.
Leo Ash, who had a rough idea of what was happening, watched Rin, waiting for her to speak her mind.
As the Herrscher of Corruption, although Rin couldn't use her full power to corrupt the Elysian Realm as she did 50,000 years ago for various reasons, this would, at most, only slow down her corruption speed.
For the Herrscher of Corruption, after corrupting an object, she could access the data within it.
Using Theresa as an example, the Rin in the original story saw the resentment Theresa held towards Otto after corrupting her.
And now, Rin, who was corrupting the Elysian Realm, had naturally discovered...
—that the very Aponia who had caused her to be killed by those soldiers back then was actually inside the Elysian Realm.
Although Aponia's physical body was dead, for a psychic MANTIS like her, physical death did not mean the end of life.
At this moment, even knowing that Aponia's original intention was not to kill her, Rin's heart was still uncontrollably filled with a single thought.
"Hey, Leo."
Noticing Leo's gaze, Rin suddenly revealed a malicious smile.
"That woman, Aponia, is completely useless now. So..."
"—Even if I kill her, it shouldn't affect your plan, right, Mr. Avenger?"
....