Are Leo Ash's words worthy of trust?
This was a question worth pondering.
In truth, from various perspectives, all of Leo Ash's actions up to this point were explained after he had successfully rooted out the Herrscher of Corruption.
He was in a genuine hurry, and Elysia and the others, who had approached him with vigilance, were, in hindsight, truly getting in his way.
When they got in his way, Leo Ash merely injured them and took no further action.
Of those who had been beaten, apart from Kalpas, who was still fuming, the other four actually felt that Leo Ash had been polite enough.
However, this didn't mean his words deserved their complete trust.
Ultimately, although Leo Ash's actions were indeed to capture the Herrscher of Corruption, what he was doing, besides capturing a Herrscher, was essentially a display of brute force.
For some of the Elysian Realm Flame-Chasers, the idea of 'trusting him just because he's strong' was pretty absurd in itself.
If they were supposed to believe whatever was strong, then everyone present probably would have long since believed Elysia's discovery that 'the Honkai came to embrace humanity, its methods were just a bit too extreme'.
"So, we're just going to stand here, frozen?"
Sensing the uncomfortable atmosphere, Kalpas tried hard to avoid looking at Aponia as he spoke coldly to the others.
"Leaving everything to those two and then just waiting for the results—that's not my style!"
Although Kalpas didn't want to look at Aponia, Aponia, who had recovered her breath, spoke softly to the man she had known for so long.
"Kalpas, calm down."
"The situation is chaotic. Everyone needs time to think..."
"Alright now, Aponia, you're thinking a bit too much."
Elysia, gently hugging Aponia from behind, immediately cut her off and spoke to the group, including Kalpas.
"And everyone else, too."
"In any case, when I fought Leo Ash, I didn't sense much malice from him."
"And from what I've observed, Rin's resentment has also lessened considerably."
"At least in my opinion, the fact that Rin didn't land that final blow speaks volumes."
"Although they corrupted the Elysian Realm, they didn't actually cause us any outrageous harm."
"So, in that case... there's no harm in trusting them just a little bit, is there?"
"..."
Hearing Elysia's words, Kevin immediately looked at Su.
In that instant, he saw the exact same thought in the eyes of his close friend, with whom he always had a tacit understanding.
It wasn't just Su; no one else present refuted what Elysia said.
Even Kalpas said nothing more in this atmosphere.
His furious words hadn't contained much suspicion toward Leo Ash and Rin.
After all, generally speaking, aside from his explosive temper, Kalpas's actions and thoughts were sometimes normal.
Although Leo Ash had targeted him the most aggressively, Kalpas had to admit afterward that his frantic struggling had indeed warranted such treatment.
He didn't want to just stand here now, simply because he believed that as Flame-Chasers of the Elysian Realm, they couldn't just watch as outsiders did the catching for them.
In Kalpas's eyes, waiting for 'outsiders' to handle everything for them was just too embarrassing.
"Kalpas."
Sensing Kalpas's restless agitation, Su, as the group's psychologist, could only say to him resignedly,
"I can roughly understand how you feel, but regardless of whether we agree to Leo Ash's proposal, we shouldn't go and join their operation right now."
"For the Herrscher of Binding and the Herrscher of Corruption, the new-generation Herrscher of Corruption, which has already lost some of its power, is clearly not their match."
"But within the Elysian Realm, 'Corruption' can't deal with them, but it *can* deal with us."
"Our condition isn't good right now. If we follow, I think there's a high probability we'll just become stumbling blocks in their hunt for 'Corruption'."
"...Tch."
Seeing Kalpas just grunt in dissatisfaction, without saying or doing anything more, Kevin realized that Kalpas had probably truly 'accepted' the situation.
As for the others...
Although this group of Flame-Chaser memories had diverse personalities due to their originals, the Flame-Chasers gathered here had almost no particular objections to Leo Ash and Rin.
Although he still had some doubts, he had to admit that Leo Ash's proposal had likely already won everyone's approval.
It was just that, if everything Leo Ash said was true, and in the outside world, all the Herrschers had become high-end combat assets for humanity...
Sigh. No matter how many times I think about it, the whole thing is just too ridiculous.
And speaking of which, the reason I'm so suspicious of Leo Ash is ultimately because the 'facts' he stated are just too absurd.
Even though this Era has the data, technology, and equipment left by our Previous Era, as well as our original selves, for humanity to actually make *all* the Herrschers submit...
Is such a dream-like sight truly something we are allowed to witness?
.......
Meanwhile, in another part of the Elysian Realm
After catching up to Leo Ash, Rin said to him irritably,
"Why'd you run off so fast? Afraid I couldn't catch up?"
"Now, now."
Leo Ash said to Rin behind him, all while still running,
"You're stronger now than when we first met. Back then, you could turn into a giant fox. If you couldn't catch up just now, you could have just used your power to make a new giant fox and ride it straight over."
"Why don't you whip one up right now? It'll save us the jog."
"Instead of that..."
Facing Leo Ash's half-serious teasing, Rin irritably stuck out her right hand, concentrating her power to create something.
Leo Ash stopped in his tracks. Seeing what Rin had materialized, he suddenly felt a wave of nostalgia.
"This thing..."
After materializing a cool-looking motorcycle, Rin said to Leo Ash blankly,
"A combat bike. This is something I corrupted back when I was infiltrating the Previous Era's base, so I can materialize it from data here in the Elysian Realm."
"It's a vehicle some Fire Moth members liked to use for solo travel. I have to say, for a modern person, wanting to ride a fox instead of a bike is a little weird."
No, no, I just really didn't expect you to be able to whip one of these up from scratch.
Thinking about it, Rin not only remembers a fifty-thousand-year-old grudge, she even remembers the data for a fifty-thousand-year-old motorcycle...
Sigh, the Honkai enhancement is truly terrifying.
Good thing she's obedient now, or this 'Naruto' would really have a headache.
"...Are you thinking something rude?"
"No, absolutely not."
Flatly denying Rin's correct guess, Leo Ash got on the bike, only to feel Rin's arms suddenly wrap around his waist from behind.
"I can't ride. Be steady, don't crash."
"Ah, got it."
As he started the bike and instantly accelerated, Leo Ash suddenly felt like he was remembering something from months ago.
Months ago, Leo Ash, who thought he had just transmigrated, was racing a motorcycle through Nagazora City.
Back then, he never could have imagined he'd end up like this.
Thinking back, if he hadn't rushed off to fight the Herrscher of Thunder, it probably wouldn't have changed much.
And now...
Those thoughts that popped into my head back then... perhaps they were the result of my subconscious desire to kill the Honkai.
"Hey, Leo Ash."
Rin, still behind him, suddenly asked,
"Do you really have a way to deal with the Herrscher of Finality?"
"If we don't take care of the Herrscher of Finality, then even if we deal with this Herrscher of Corruption, we still have no future."
"Or are you planning to be like those people from my Era, preserve some strength, and see if you can beat the Honkai in the next Era?"
"Tch. I'd never do that."
Hearing Rin's words, Leo Ash snorted coldly.
"Our Era has the equipment, we have heavy hitters leading the way, we have the technology, and we even have Elysia 'paving the path'. If Otto hadn't spent five hundred years killing off talent and solving problems for the Honkai, we should be in an even better position."
"We have such a huge advantage, and in the end, we still get wiped out by Finality? How could I ever accept that!"
"Oh. Well said."
"But meaningless. You don't really think I failed to notice that you didn't seriously answer my question about 'how to handle Finality', do you?"
Tch. Her brain's been enhanced to a ridiculous degree.
How in the original story did Theresa manage to reform her into that Higyokumaru? As far as I know, Theresa doesn't have Fenghuang Down, much less Kotoamatsukami.
"Don't overthink it. I have a way, and that's that."
Leo Ash didn't elaborate, just offering Rin a statement she clearly didn't believe.
"I've stressed this many times and no one believes me, but I really am scared of dying."
"If I didn't have a way to deal with Finality, I would have had people start prepping a new shelter project long ago. Why would I still be focused on killing?"
"...I hope so."
Leo Ash didn't respond to Rin's meaningful words.
And although Rin could sense the sincerity in Leo Ash's words, the problem was that Rin, who was gradually regaining her memories and powers, was no longer that easy-to-fool giant fox.
She could sense his sincerity, but what damn good was sincerity?
You don't judge a person's true intentions by what they say or how sincere they sound. You judge them by their actions.
A guy who charges headfirst into everything says he's scared of dying? No matter how sincere he sounds, she wouldn't believe a single word.
But right now, Leo Ash didn't want to talk, and Rin couldn't force him.
What Rin didn't know, however, was that Leo Ash's 'I have a way' was not an empty boast.
Ever since he began to master the Sphere [The Wavering Scales], he had a rough plan.
Although Leo Ash, whose plan centered on the Sphere, was still a few steps away from enacting it, as long as he dealt with the Herrscher of Corruption, he just needed to find Aponia and have her tailor a Discipline for him. Then, handling the subsequent steps would be much simpler.
As long as his plan was completed, then before the great war, he could either deal with Finality directly or at least ensure the Cocoon wouldn't have the power to harm humanity, at least not for a while.
Coupled with what Gray Serpent mentioned in the original story—that World Serpent had the ability to 'delay the arrival of Finality'—if this plan was executed, Leo Ash was certain he could win a future for everyone.
But right now, if he didn't eliminate this Herrscher of Corruption, which refused to surrender and was extremely harmful to humanity, all other plans were just empty talk.
The Herrscher of Corruption could attach itself to Aponia, so it could naturally attach itself to others.
Among the Flame-Chasers Leo Ash hadn't met yet, Mobius and Eden had combat capabilities, but compared to the unlucky ones who had charged in first and been strung up, their combat power...
Honestly, wasn't much to look at.
As for Griseo and Vill-V, setting aside the former, the latter—the Flame-Chaser memory who controlled the [Anti-Kevin-Armament Type 666]—was, in a sense, the only one who had a chance to counter Rin.
[Anti-Kevin-Armament Type 666]—that thing could one-shot delete the Elysian Realm.
Although it required Elysia's own will to activate, it would be no small disaster if that switch fell into 'Corruption's' hands.
Leo Ash's invitation to the Flame-Chasers was serious.
Otto had misused his authority over the decades to create far too many Soulium bodies. Even after Schicksal gave some to Shenzhou and some to Anti-Entropy, and processed some for itself, the number of leftover Soulium bodies was still ridiculous.
And for this group of Elysian Realm Flame-Chasers, setting aside the distasteful details, Otto's Soulium bodies—which had already been adjusted and could take on other appearances at any time—were perhaps the most suitable vessels for them.
If the Thirteen from the Elysian Realm could fight their way out and reach the real world...
Whether it was before the arrival of Finality or after the final battle, humanity would gain a great many new allies.
..