"When did we become a bunch of wastes who have to rely on the enemy's mood for our comrade's safety?"
When Kalpas said this, complicated expressions appeared on the faces of Kevin, Kosma, and Hua.
Kalpas may be short-tempered, but that doesn't mean he's brainless.
At least for the other three present, there was nothing wrong with Kalpas's words.
After experiencing so much, the warriors who had survived to this day had already lost far too much due to their naive actions in the past.
And now, the enemy had already taken down Elysia and begun to corrupt the Elysian Realm, yet Su still hoped to use Sakura to reform Rin, trying to resolve the conflict through such means?
This kind of thinking wouldn't be wrong in another era, but unfortunately, their era was not a friendly one.
In their era, this level of naivety could truly bring about disaster.
"Holding back—I'm not interested in that."
After dropping that line, Kalpas immediately quickened his pace, taking the lead and trying to charge straight in Elysia's direction.
But before he had taken more than a few steps, he suddenly looked down at his feet in a rage.
"Kevin—what the hell do you mean by pulling this shit at a time like this!"
Beneath Kalpas's feet, ice of extremely low temperature had already frozen his feet solid.
Although for Kalpas, who had easily defeated the Herrscher of Ice, this level of frost couldn't stop him.
But right now, Kalpas had to figure out what Kevin's attitude was.
If he was still being indecisive now...!
"My meaning is, don't rush in too fast."
Kevin, who hadn't yet completely turned into his later-era self, looked at the clearly murderous Kalpas and said calmly.
"We should all be very clear on just how difficult an opponent the Herrscher of Binding is."
"With your current strength, do you think you can defeat the Herrscher of Binding by charging in alone?"
He couldn't.
Even the "Mad King" himself made a self-denying judgment the moment Kevin raised the question.
If Kalpas could really take care of the Herrscher of Binding, then Fire Moth wouldn't have had to face the Binding tragedy.
And Kevin's question also made the killing intent on Kalpas's body retract a little.
Kevin posing this question showed that he hadn't given up on fighting either.
Since he recognized this man, after figuring out that their thoughts were aligned, Kalpas didn't mind staying put and listening to his plan for a moment.
Seeing that Kalpas had clearly calmed down a bit, Kevin continued speaking to the other companions beside him.
"In the end, the strength this Herrscher of Binding has shown so far has already far surpassed the previous Herrscher of Binding."
"But at the same time, while displaying his strength, he has also revealed a weakness that the other Herrscher of Binding never had."
"Weakness?"
The moment she thought about how the Herrscher of Binding, who originally could only rely on the Field of Binding and was pathetically weak himself, now possessed such a powerful main body in the next era, Hua felt an immense headache.
In her eyes, the Herrscher of Binding's greatest weakness was his weak body, and now, that weakness had vanished from the new Herrscher of Binding...
Looking at Hua's tightly furrowed brows, Kosma currently held a similar thought.
The impression that tragedy left on everyone was too deep, so much so that now, hearing Kevin say the word 'weakness', Kosma simply couldn't comprehend where the weakness of such a powerful enemy could be.
"His weakness is actually very simple—he's too strong. That is his greatest weakness."
?
??
???
Facing the gazes of his companions, which were mixed with various emotions, Kevin, who was already prepared, continued to speak.
"I'm not joking. I seriously think so."
"The new Herrscher of Binding, being outstandingly strong himself, has actually developed a mindset he shouldn't have."
"Unlike the Binding we defeated, this powerful Herrscher of Binding, despite his strength, has not kept the Field of Binding active—the fact that Su and Sakura could get close to him is the best proof."
"...You mean, he doesn't have the field active, so we must defeat him before he activates it?"
After glancing at the others around her, Hua asked thoughtfully.
"The four of us need to use our strongest explosive power simultaneously to take him down directly, is that what you mean?"
"No, the three of us."
Seeing the flash of surprise on Hua's face, Kevin immediately added.
"Hua, physical attacks aren't your specialty, but the key to winning this battle lies with you."
"We need you to use Fenghuang Down to forcibly suppress his consciousness. While he's in the illusion, he won't be able to activate the Field of Binding."
"And at that time, the three of us attacking a Herrscher of Binding controlled by Fenghuang Down... it shouldn't be impossible to defeat him."
After hearing Kevin's simple, clear, yet very reliable plan, Hua nodded slightly.
"I understand."
At this point, Kalpas, who was already impatient, confirmed Kevin had nothing else to say, shattered the ice at his feet with his strength, and charged out again.
Watching his comrades follow after Kalpas, the uneasiness in Kevin's heart showed no sign of dissipating.
His plan wasn't perfect, but it was at least the best method he could think of in a short time.
Moreover, that weakness wasn't just something Kevin made up to fool the others.
In Kevin's eyes, Leo not keeping the Field of Binding active, instead abandoning the power he used as the Herrscher of Binding to suppress all Honkai-powered warriors due to his own strength, this arrogance was definitely a huge weakness.
If they could exploit this weakness, the probability of the four of them taking him down in one wave after a surprise attack was actually very high...
It should have been very high.
So, what am I panicking about?
Was my judgment wrong, or is it...
—Besides those two, is there some other danger lurking in the shadows of the Elysian Realm?
....
Meanwhile. Elysian Realm Entrance
At the entrance to the Elysian Realm, Elysia, who was still hanging on the cross, looked at the harmonious scene with the faint smile she always wore.
In front of her, the two sisters, Sakura and Rin, had finished crying and were now chatting about all sorts of things.
The things Elysia and Su had worried about hadn't happened at all.
For the current Rin, even though the Sakura inside the Elysian Realm was just a memory of the original Sakura, she still believed this was her sister.
To be able to meet and talk with her dead sister again, this was enough to dissipate much of the resentment in Rin's heart.
On the other side, although Leo and Su's energy clone maintained a certain distance, their conversation was going relatively smoothly.
At least for now, Elysia didn't sense any tension in the harmonious atmosphere between the two.
She could tell at a glance that the Su in front of her was an energy clone.
But setting the energy clone aside, Su, with his kind and gentle demeanor, was like a true gentleman, making it hard for anyone to dislike him.
While he wasn't as charismatic as Elysia, very few people in the organization disliked Su.
Mhm, everything is proceeding just as I'd hoped.
As long as everyone maintains this harmonious and friendly atmosphere, then... many problems should be resolvable, right...
Sigh, am I being a little too naive?
Nothing's even set in stone yet.
At a time like this, blind optimism isn't a good thing.
"Well then, Mr. Ash..."
Having heard the purpose and plan Leo stated, Su gradually understood why Leo and Rin had immediately started corrupting the Elysian Realm upon entering.
"You mean, the Herrscher of Corruption from your era is very likely to corrupt the Elysian Realm."
"And you and Rin took these extreme measures against the Elysian Realm because you had no choice but to hunt it down, correct?"
"Yeah. I can't be bothered to lie to you. In any case, you all from your era know better than I do how much of a pain the Herrscher of Corruption is."
"...That's true."
At this moment, both of them tacitly avoided continuing this awkward topic.
After all, even though Rin's attention was on Sakura right now, for the two sisters, the tragedy caused by the [Herrscher of Corruption] was undoubtedly a deep wound in their hearts.
For the two of them to keep blabbing on about this topic and picking at the sisters' scabs right when they'd reunited—that would be pretty inhuman.
"To be honest, Mr. Ash, I can sense the sincerity in your tone, and I am personally willing to believe you've come with good intentions."
Forcing himself to forget about Elysia, who was still hanging on the cross, Su said helplessly to Leo.
"But... the act of corrupting the Elysian Realm is very likely to provoke my comrades."
"If you wish to hunt the Herrscher of Corruption from your era, then I am personally willing to guarantee that my comrades will stop attacking you, and we will assist you in the hunt."
"After all... the Elysian Realm is very important to us. Even if you've come with good intentions, we still don't want the Elysian Realm to be further corrupted by the power of the Honkai."
"Ah, about that..."
Glancing at the exasperated Su, Leo tilted his head and retorted.
"Do you think you 'memories' in the Elysian Realm can defeat the Herrscher of Corruption?"
"You talk about 'assisting' us, but the problem is, you'll be easily wiped out if you face it."
"Even though Rin and I... one of us beat up your comrade, and the other seized your territory... we really are here to help you."
"If you don't believe us, well... nothing we can do about that."
"Please wait a moment!"
Sensing the aura around Leo suddenly begin to skyrocket, Su felt himself breaking out in a cold sweat.
Su, of course, had heard the entire tactical discussion between Kevin, Kalpas, Hua, and Kosma with his energy clone.
And because of that, Su knew the four of them were already on their way.
The negotiations had reached this point. Although Su and Leo hadn't fully seen eye-to-eye, at least the atmosphere wasn't terrible.
But if Kevin and the others were to come now...
After you guys screw this up, you'll all just end up hanging on crosses!!!!
Su, already dripping with sweat, frantically tried to persuade Kevin and the others in his mind to hold off on their attack, while desperately thinking of a solution acceptable to both sides.
However, before he could speak, Leo suddenly made a very strange gesture.
"Mr. Su, I am truly sorry."
"...Mr. Ash?"
Watching the young man before him press his palms together, Su instinctively maneuvered his energy clone to take a few steps back.
"What... are you preparing to..."
"Ah, but even though I apologized, I really don't think I did anything wrong."
"For one, if I don't drag out Corruption, a lot of problems later will become much more serious."
"I didn't intend to make a move against any of you, but now... sorry, this is a necessary sacrifice."
"On the other hand, I can understand you being on guard against an 'invader' like me. But because of that, I also hope you can understand, Mr. Su..."
"—this attitude of yours, hiding your real body somewhere else while you talk to me, is just too insincere."
"I'm being sincere with you, but you're playing games with me. Sorry—I'm angry!"
"Binding—Endless Jizō Blade."
Leo, who had long since transferred power into the ground beneath his feet with Precision Control, now used the energy circulation technique from the Jizō Blade to unleash that power at one location.
Su's real body, not far away in the Elysian Realm, suddenly discovered...
—Gilded chains had shot out from the ground at some unknown time, bound his body, and dragged him right in front of Leo.
After completing this action, the chains, as if sentient, wrapped around each other to form an energy cross.
In that instant, following Elysia...
—the second victim among the Elysian Realm's Flame-Chasers followed in Elysia's footsteps. Without any time to resist, his power was stripped by the power of Binding, and he was hung on the cross Leo had created.
......