Now, after Aponia said this, almost all the Flame-Chasers present responded with silence.
The only exception was Kalpas. After Aponia arrived, Kalpas, who should have been suppressed by Leo Ash, suddenly burst out with astonishing power, struggling far more violently than before.
"Hey, Leo Ash."
Before making her move, Rin glanced at Kalpas on his crucifix and asked Leo Ash with a sneer,
"This masked man is close to Aponia, isn't he?"
"He seems to have gotten even louder after noticing I'm about to deal with this damned, busty witch. Can you make him shut up?"
"You know..."
Leo Ash looked at the murderous Rin with a strange expression.
"You're really leaving most of the work to me, aren't you? Just handling the corruption, but not bothering to read the Elysian Realm's data afterward."
It wasn't that Rin was as lazy as Leo Ash claimed—she had looked at some of the Elysian Realm's data. But at this moment, she suddenly felt she must have missed something.
As a result, after Leo Ash's reminder, Rin's gaze toward Kalpas suddenly became a little strange.
That's odd. I feel like the killing intent bursting from this man isn't directed at me...
Could it be that he has other enemies in the Elysian Realm?
At this moment, Leo Ash really wanted to tell Rin that the target of Kalpas's killing intent probably wasn't her, but Aponia, who stood right in front of her.
Kalpas called Aponia a friend, but his attitude toward her because of certain events...
In the original story, Mei was scared stiff. She was only relieved after Kalpas said some creepy things and she confirmed that 'Raiden Mei was not Kalpas's friend'.
And now, Leo Ash figured that if he let Kalpas down, Kalpas would probably rush Aponia first, rather than becoming Rin's enemy as she predicted.
But right now, he had no intention of letting Kalpas down.
In Leo Ash's eyes, Aponia still had her uses. If possible, he preferred she didn't perish just yet.
At the same time, although Rin's attitude toward him was a bit strange right now, she was much more obedient than when they first met.
And in any case, even if Aponia herself didn't intend it when she laid down her Discipline, the fact that she had screwed over Rin was indisputable.
His companion now had the power and the desire for revenge, and Leo Ash didn't want to stop her from this cathartic strike because of his own personal plans.
"...Are you really not going to do anything?"
Rin, busy corrupting the Elysian Realm, ignored the approaching Aponia and focused her attention entirely on Leo Ash.
"I'm going to cut her down. This... really won't mess up your plans?"
"...It might a little, but it's not a big problem."
Leo Ash, noticing Aponia's hesitant expression, said to Rin with utmost seriousness,
"I don't think she's an evil person, but she ultimately has to take responsibility for her actions."
"You were a victim, but you also caused harm. Right now, you have both the right and the reason to take revenge. So what are you hesitating for?"
Hearing Leo Ash's sudden sharp rebuke, Rin clicked her tongue in frustration and muttered under her breath,
"Tch. I learned it from you."
"But whatever. You said it was fine, so now..."
Ignoring Elysia's complicated gaze, Rin showed a hint of apology to Sakura, who was watching her.
Then, an expression even more terrifying than before erupted on the girl's face.
"From the moment I learned the truth until now, I've waited for this moment for a long time."
"Aponia, I don't care why you laid down that bullshit Discipline. Now..."
"—I can finally cut you down!!!!"
"Sigh, so it still comes to this..."
Facing the purple giant before her, a wave of energy suddenly erupted from Aponia.
It was normal for her not to submit meekly. But setting aside Rin, whose killing intent was at its peak and who had completely snapped, and Elysia, who was still acting like a 'Bai Ciman', Leo Ash, as a spectator, suddenly noticed something.
The energy erupting from 'Aponia' wasn't just one type. And one of those types...
Was actually Herrscher energy???
Well, well. I was just wondering how to catch this 'Corruption' that's playing hide-and-seek, and it turns out it brain-farted, possessed Aponia, and is now serving itself up on a platter?
No, it's a trap!
"Rin, wait!"
"I can't wait! Today, this strike..."
"I will land it!"
In that instant, Rin had the purple giant slash down unreservedly at the enemy, who was bursting with powerful energy.
But as the purple giant completed the motion, the blade passed through Aponia's body, yet seemed to cause no substantial harm.
Aponia, having been struck by the tachi, suddenly fell to her knees, gasping for air.
Although her face was pale, she clearly didn't look injured. Instead, she looked as if she had been freed from some restraint.
As for the 'Jizō Mitama' that had delivered the strike, it raised its tachi, revealing the 'person' impaled on its tip for all to see.
"You... how did you find me!"
The Herrscher of Corruption, which had long been lurking in the Elysian Realm, glared at Rin with hatred.
"I should have been hidden perfectly!!!!"
"...No. You're overthinking it."
Looking at the Herrscher of Corruption, who was clearly having a breakdown, Rin, who was also a Herrscher of Corruption, said blankly,
"Why would you think I 'found' you?"
"...What do you mean?"
The Herrscher of Corruption suddenly felt it had misunderstood something.
Long before today, in the two months since Otto's death, the newly born Herrscher of Corruption had been scheming in the shadows.
By attaching itself to a certain Gray Serpent, the Herrscher of Corruption used the Gray Serpent network to transfer itself to the Administrator Gray Serpent.
Because of its nature, the Administrator Gray Serpent, which had been communicating with Kevin primarily through data screens during this time, was not seen through by him.
Today, it piggybacked on the Administrator Gray Serpent as it prepared to enter the Elysian Realm. Everything was going according to plan.
The Current Era's Herrscher of Corruption, having corrupted a Gray Serpent, already knew how its senior from fifty thousand years ago had been caught.
Unlike normal Herrschers, from its birth until now, it had never felt it should fulfill any 'Apostle' duties.
It had only one goal: to survive. It absolutely had to survive.
If it really started causing trouble, just as the Previous Era had quickly captured its predecessor, the people of this Era would quickly capture it.
Attaching to the Administrator Gray Serpent wasn't a long-term solution. After all, the Administrator would sooner or later have to meet face-to-face with that terrifying man, Kevin Kaslana.
It couldn't guarantee that it could maintain its cover and safety in front of that man.
Therefore, it had to hide in a 'location' where almost no one ever went and that was suitable for it to stay.
And that location was the Elysian Realm, which World Serpent cadres rarely visited.
Of course, when Leo Ash summoned Rin in front of the Administrator Gray Serpent, the Herrscher of Corruption was stunned for a few seconds before immediately changing its plan.
It didn't know when its predecessor had defected to the humans, but if the other party also planned to corrupt the Elysian Realm, it couldn't fight her directly.
Setting aside the difference in their power, 'Corruption' had done its research using the data stored in World Serpent's computers before invading the Elysian Realm.
Its predecessor was family or an acquaintance to some of the Flame-Chasers, and among them was a 'sinner' who felt guilty toward that predecessor.
If these Flame-Chaser memories had to choose... well, no normal person would side with it.
If the two of them really fought, the Herrscher of Corruption would definitely be jumped by the other Flame-Chasers before it could suppress its predecessor.
Moreover, it hadn't forgotten—Leo Ash, a man even 'It' feared, had also entered the Elysian Realm.
After entering the Elysian Realm, the Herrscher of Corruption, attached to Aponia (the Flame-Chaser who was one with the Elysian Realm), began its machinations after some thought.
It first made a difficult decision, then began to secretly use its power to slowly corrupt Aponia herself.
But it got off to a bad start. Aponia herself was not so easy to corrupt, causing the Herrscher of Corruption's plan to run into problems from the very first step.
What was worse, its predecessor was corrupting the Elysian Realm way too fast. She didn't seem like an old-timer who'd been cooped up for fifty thousand years; she was just incredibly swift.
Of course, that wasn't the main point.
The main point was, after learning certain things, Aponia actually started moving *towards* Leo Ash and Rin on her own initiative.
The Herrscher of Corruption, which had fled into the Elysian Realm precisely because it didn't want to face Kevin, now discovered with sorrow...
—It could avoid Kevin, but it couldn't avoid Leo Ash.
Along the way, the Herrscher of Corruption had been as cautious as possible, using all its strength to corrupt Aponia, trying to control her mind and make her stay away from that terrifying Herrscher-killer.
But...
—There wasn't enough time.
From Elysia being beaten up to Su being strung up, to Kevin, Kalpas, and Kosma being strung up, hardly any time had passed at all.
The Herrscher of Corruption, having failed to corrupt Aponia, finally made a decision when it saw Rin's killing intent toward Aponia reach its peak...
—It had a backup plan anyway. So, this wave, regardless of exposure, it would just make Aponia explode on the enemy.
If Aponia died and the energy backlash was strong, it might have a chance to escape.
If Aponia didn't die...
No, that killing intent was by no means fake.
Facing its predecessor, who had already corrupted half the Elysian Realm, Aponia had no chance of winning.
She's dead for sure. As long as I burst out with enough power to create the illusion of 'Aponia fighting to the death', I'll have a chance to escape!
And then, it was stabbed right out of Aponia's body by Rin's blade.
Precisely because of this, the Herrscher of Corruption concluded that the intense killing intent Rin had shown from the start was directed at it.
But now, hearing Rin's words, the Herrscher of Corruption asked in a trembling, disbelieving voice,
"Don't tell me... you didn't discover me at all?"
"Sodayo."
"Then your killing intent... it was aimed at that busty nun from the very beginning?"
"Sodayo."
"And I... just had bad luck and got caught in the crossfire?"
"Sodayo."
Looking at its 'junior' hanging from the giant tachi like a piece of dried meat, which now wore an expression of utter devastation, Rin snorted and said with a sneer,
"Since I'm already here, your luck is terrible!"
After saying this, Rin immediately channeled her power and 'tore' her 'junior' apart on the spot.
At this point, the Herrscher of Corruption had been vanquished...
—If he really thought that, Leo Ash felt he must be 100% senile.
On the surface, it was undoubtedly true that the Herrscher of Corruption had been forced into a desperate situation by Rin.
But after Rin apparently killed 'Corruption', Leo Ash didn't see the item that should have dropped—the Corruption Core.
If Rin had one, then this Herrscher of Corruption should have one too.
Considering it died so ridiculously and suddenly, and didn't drop any loot, Leo Ash felt this matter was 100% not over.
Moreover, after 'Corruption' disappeared from before Rin, her gaze shifted back to Aponia, who was now clearly much weaker.
Sensing that her gaze was still filled with malice, Aponia said nothing more, choosing to stand up and continue facing the destiny she was meant to face.
To be honest, Aponia was a bit surprised.
Rin had not retracted the killing intent erupting from her body after destroying the Herrscher of Corruption.
But Aponia could still see a future for herself...
—This prerequisite alone proved one thing.
Facing a Rin who was full of killing intent, she... somehow still had a future.
In other words, in the future...
—Miss Rin... doesn't plan to kill me?
..