In the moments that followed, the group stared at each other at the entrance to the Elysian Realm, a bizarre atmosphere settling between them.
Although Leo Ash had indeed attacked them, after hanging them on crucifixes, he hadn't subjected them to any further torment.
Furthermore, judging by Leo Ash's expression and demeanor, he might genuinely hold no malice toward them.
Aside from Kalpas, who was still struggling and had been bound by Leo Ash with numerous energy chains, Kevin, Elysia, Su, and Kosma were also strung up, but... perhaps the situation wasn't as bad as they had imagined?
With the power and Authority Leo Ash and Rin currently possessed, they could have easily obliterated all the memories before them.
Yet, right now, no one could sense even the slightest trace of ill intent from the two.
This strange experience even made Kevin begin to wonder.
Could it be that what this man said was true? That 'I' allowed him to bring Rin in?
In the outside world, 'my' relationship with him might be surprisingly good, which is why I would make such a seemingly reckless decision?
Although Kevin disliked entrusting his and his comrades' fates to an enemy, now that he realized he truly couldn't defeat them, he was forced to consider just how much of what they had said was true.
But Kevin quickly realized he couldn't deduce much of anything.
He had only actually met the other party a few minutes ago. With incomplete information, what he could infer was extremely limited.
On the other hand, Su, who had long since given up on the idea of fighting, had managed to glean more information from his longer conversation with Leo Ash and had formed some rough ideas.
He had already analyzed the possibilities of how they could have entered the Elysian Realm.
Either the Flame-Chasers from the outside world, who should still be alive, were defeated and controlled by them, allowing them to learn of this place.
Or, the Flame-Chasers outside judged that the two were indeed qualified to enter the Elysian Realm, and thus guided them to its entrance.
And based on Su's observations, although Rin had lived for a very long time, her personality had only become a bit more extreme than it was back then.
Unless she had evolved into a master actress over that long expanse of time, judging by how she had just inadvertently blurted out that 'Hua is Leo Ash's wife', she probably wasn't the scheming type.
The young woman... well, to Su, Rin was naturally still a young woman.
Rin, who still very much felt like a girl, had spoken those words so naturally that Su felt they had a high degree of credibility.
Therefore, reasoning from the basis that 'what Rin says is true in her eyes', the probability that those 'slides' Leo Ash showed were the truth was even higher.
After all, while Leo Ash was playing those 'slides', Su had secretly observed the expression on Rin's face.
Rin's expression at the time was natural, with nothing out of place, which was enough to show that in her perception, Leo Ash really had done all those ridiculous things.
Thinking of this, Su actually felt a sense of relief in his heart.
Their Era had failed, but the next Era had actually produced a Herrscher who stood on humanity's side.
Moreover, this Herrscher was the 'Herrscher of Binding'—the most difficult one for Honkai Energy warriors to deal with. This Herrscher joining the human side not only added a powerful fighter to their ranks but also directly removed a heavy hitter from the Honkai's.
Su, who knew the immense damage each Eruption caused, felt truly comforted at the thought that these Herrscher-level catastrophes in the later era had resulted in so few casualties.
Even after joining Fire Moth, Su was, at heart, still a compassionate doctor.
Knowing that humanity in the future had a high probability of avoiding these disasters... if Su's control over his expression wasn't so strong, he might have already burst out laughing.
He knew it was bizarre to be feeling this way right now.
But, even if he was currently hanging on a crucifix.
Even if his life and death depended on their whims.
Even if the other party was still continuously corrupting the Elysian Realm.
But...
Sigh, if what they said was true, then were these really such big problems?
The Herrscher of Corruption. This Herrscher's direct combat capabilities weren't strong, but it possessed immense destructive power in electronic warfare.
Although he didn't know why it had come to the Elysian Realm, if they could root it out here, it was indeed much better than letting it run free outside.
Rin had already escaped the black box Dr. Mei had imprisoned her in, which meant the methods Dr. Mei used to trap the 'Herrscher of Corruption' might not be able to seal it permanently.
And although the humans of the next Era should theoretically have inherited their Era's technological level, even if they had a way to temporarily seal the Herrscher of Corruption, that method was useless if they couldn't first confine it to a specific area.
But, if the enemy had truly come to the Elysian Realm of its own accord, and Rin, who also possessed the power of Corruption, had chased it here...
At this moment, Su felt that the Herrscher of Corruption, whom he had never met, seemed to be digging its own grave.
Setting aside the fact that five of them were hanging on crucifixes, in the current situation, the seven Flame-Chasers present were powerless to change anything.
In that case, Su could only pray that things wouldn't get any worse.
Especially since Rin's mental state seemed relatively stable for the time being.
Under these circumstances...
—Aponia, I hope you don't come here voluntarily.
However, Su, who had temporarily become 'inhuman' due to the power of Binding, had no idea that Aponia had already been cautiously approaching the battlefield ever since they first acted.
Su didn't know Aponia was about to arrive, but how could Rin, who was now halfway to being the master of the Elysian Realm, not know?
Aponia's movements were indeed extremely cautious, but just like Su, she had misjudged the speed of Rin's corruption of the Elysian Realm.
Rin, who was currently corrupting the Elysian Realm, showed no change in expression, but Sakura, who was beside her, suddenly felt a chill wash over her.
This chill wasn't directed at her, but precisely because of that, Sakura felt that something must be on Rin's mind. Otherwise, she would never reveal such a terrifying emotion.
"Rin, what's wrong?"
Sakura, having sensed the abnormality, gently asked her sister.
"If there's something upsetting you or something you need to discuss, I..."
"I'm fine, Sister."
Just because she spoke nonchalantly didn't mean the current Rin had truly moved on.
After learning who was responsible for the tragedy all those years ago, Rin felt the resentment in her heart, which had been gradually fading, instantly become even stronger than before.
Even if she knew the other person hadn't done it intentionally, it was an indisputable fact that she had lost her life because of it, and her sister had also died protecting her.
If Rin had only been exuding a chill before, without a strong killing intent erupting in her heart, then this greeting from the Elysian Realm's Sakura had instead stimulated her negative emotions.
A sister's desire to care for her younger sister was, of course, not wrong. But looking at the sister before her, Rin didn't feel comforted by her words; she could only think of her real-world sister, who had been reduced to a corpse because of that woman.
"Rin."
Noticing the intense fluctuation in Rin's emotions, Leo Ash said to her,
"If you want to do it, just do it. You have the right."
"But as you do it, you must control your mind. Don't let the Honkai take advantage of you."
"...Hah."
After exhaling sharply, Rin no longer hid her feelings, snorting coldly at Leo Ash with a vicious expression.
"You don't need to be the one to tell me that!"
Kevin, who had been somewhat optimistic, and Su, who had been very optimistic, both felt they had been far too naive upon seeing Rin's sudden change in demeanor.
As someone who had witnessed Rin's emotional outbursts before, Elysia merely sighed softly and said nothing more.
The perceptive Miss Pink Elf♪ had naturally seen the shift in Rin's emotions right after Sakura spoke.
Her sister's concerned words had instead become a sharp knife piercing the girl's chest.
This knife tore open her chest, wounding her deeply and forcing Rin to recall the cruel reality she had tried to forget.
In this situation, any words Elysia wanted to say in Aponia's defense would only provoke Rin's anger and resentment, just as Sakura's concerned words had.
In her eyes, keeping quiet was the best choice right now.
But not everyone present who sensed trouble shared Elysia's thoughts.
For instance, Hua, who hadn't known what to say or do this whole time, hesitated for a second or two after sensing the change in Rin, but then decisively took a step forward.
But the moment she did, Rin glared right at her.
While Hua wasn't exactly a battle-hardened veteran, after experiencing so many disasters, she could be considered an outstanding warrior.
Yet, at this moment, facing Rin's eyes, which were filled with malice and killing intent, Hua was shocked to find...
—She had been completely intimidated by her.
"Hua, I have no interest in your actions, but I want you to understand one thing."
Rin stared at the woman before her and said to Hua with absolute calm,
"Out of respect for Leo Ash, I won't attack you. But that's on one condition—don't interfere with my actions."
The moment she said this, Leo Ash saw a massive energy form appear behind Rin, one he had seen before.
This massive energy form was the 'giant' he had once summoned in the Sea of Quanta after connecting Jizō Mitama and the Blank Key.
As the true master of this core, it was only normal that Rin could use this power.
The Herrscher of Corruption indeed wasn't a Herrscher skilled in direct combat, but materializing Honkai Energy was a basic Herrscher ability.
As Rin, who was gradually regaining her former power, summoned her 'Jizō Mitama', Leo Ash was finally reminded of a problem he had been aware of but hadn't tried to solve.
In the original story, Rin, facing a Theresa who held resentment for Otto, had intended to take Otto's form to lure out the darkness in Theresa's heart.
Unfortunately, although Theresa resented Otto, she still chose to forgive some of her grandfather's actions at that time.
It was precisely because her act of abandoning her grudge was so magnanimous that Rin, in response to Theresa's actions, let go of her fifty-thousand-year-old resentment.
But Leo Ash was not like Theresa.
Even though he had split his personality in two and operated primarily with the relatively less extreme new personality, he was certain that the new personality (which had regained its memories) and the Avenger personality were the same in one respect.
Both the new personality and the Avenger personality actually craved revenge; the only difference was the degree of extremism between them.
By staying with an Avenger, although Rin had seen many good people and things, she had still been successfully led astray by Leo Ash.
The fundamental reason Hua was intimidated was that she was facing Rin, a victim who harbored deep resentment and had endured fifty thousand years of solitude.
Fifty thousand years of hatred, erupting completely at the moment her enemy approached—let alone Hua, even the constantly struggling Kalpas momentarily froze in his actions.
"I'll say this upfront. Just like with Hua, I have no interest in any of you, but..."
At that moment, the 'Jizō Mitama' behind Rin drew its tachi, pointing the weapon in Aponia's direction.
"—If anyone tries to stop me, I'll get rid of the nuisance first."
"Aponia, I know you can hear me."
"Since you're already here, stop hiding."
"Get over here. Right now!"
"Sigh..."
Aponia, who had already reached the vicinity of the battlefield, heard Rin's murderous words. After a sigh, she naturally chose not to remain hidden.
She had wanted to use her telepathy to have a good talk with Leo Ash, but now, it seemed she wouldn't get the chance.
"Please, don't be like this, Miss Rin."
Aponia revealed herself, looking at the distant, murderous Rin, and said,
"If you would, please release my companions."
"And, I ask everyone, no matter what happens in a moment, please do not interfere."
"After all..."
"—There are some things, much like an inescapable fate, that I must face myself."
....