Bab 194: Chapter 194: Truth
"Are you saying... that if we just walk in, I can understand the [truth] of the world, Elysia?"
Mei Raiden looked at the deep and dark cave entrance, frowned, and asked with a little vigilance.
"That's right~ If you walk in, you will know the truth of the world~ But it might scare you, okay?"
Although there was no one else around Mei Raiden, a cheerful and cute female voice jumped into her ears.
"Besides, I've helped you so much, Mei, can't you trust me a little more?"
"I can't confirm whether the existence that only I can see and hear is just an illusion, and..."
Mei Raiden touched the crystal on her neck and felt a slight tingling and discomfort, making her frown.
"You suddenly appeared after I showed obvious signs of 'Originium Disease'. It's hard not to make me suspicious... You know, according to records, people who show signs of this 'Originium Disease' will have obvious hallucinations and auditory hallucinations..."
"So it's hard for me not to doubt whether you are just a figment of my imagination..."
"Fantasy... Oh my~ Mei, how can you say that? I've appeared in front of you before? And I've helped you several times~"
Elysia's voice was slightly amused.
"...That was just a coincidental Originium disaster, right?"
"Well... let's just treat it as a coincidence~"
Elysia skipped the topic.
"What do you mean by sudden appearance... I've been following you, Mei, for a long time. I am your... Guardian Angel? Hmm... it's a pity that it's not exclusive~?"
"Not exclusive... what do you mean?"
"That means I'm also keeping an eye on the other Herrschers, including that guy called... Welt? And your friends Kiana and Bronya and that little girl's name? I think it's... Seele?"
Elysia's tone was light.
"There's also Ana Schariac, and a cute boy named Chen Tianwu. I'm following them all right?"
"No... Aren't these all the Herrschers who have appeared?"
Mei Raiden complained subconsciously.
"And... Seele? She's not a Herrscher, right? Why are you paying attention to her? And how did you... Wait, could it be that they got infected with 'Originium Disease' because of you?!"
"How could that be? You've seen the medical report, right? As long as you live in this world, as long as you breathe, Originium will accumulate in your body, right? It's just a matter of the rate at which cells and Originium combine."
At the end of her speech, Elysia changed the subject again.
"But I do have a small problem in this regard... But that's also for their protection. I just marked them so that it would be easier for me to find them, right? Otherwise, it would be troublesome..."
"...Will there be a worse scenario than the Great Eruption mixed with the Originium Disaster?"
"Well... that's not the way to say it. Anyway, just go forward. Once you go in, you will know the truth~"
"...I hope you didn't lie to me."
"I am a beautiful girl like a flying flower. I won't lie to you, okay~"
"Beautiful girl? If you haven't seen her in person, you'll think she's a liar."
"Mei is so mean... But you will be able to see me soon~"
"...Um?"
Mei Raiden, who was walking forward, raised her eyebrows, wondering why Elysia said that.
"Well... anyway, you'll find out soon~ Just keep going~"
Elysia seemed reluctant to say more but still urged Raiden Mei to keep moving forward.
...
"Elysia, haven't we arrived yet? And... is this some kind of Originium mine? There's a lot of Originium dust, and even the concentration of Honkai energy is..."
As they walked deeper, Mei Raiden felt unwell, especially since the crystals on her neck had spread a little more due to the environment... This made Mei Raiden even more worried.
"…Elysia?"
However, there was no voice responding to her at this moment, which made Mei Raiden more and more suspicious of Elysia, thinking that she might really be just an illusion she created.
"Hi~ Mei~"
Just when Mei Raiden was doubting herself and was about to turn around and leave, a light figure echoed around her. At the same time, in her perception, a figure was gradually outlined in front of her.
Yes, it is [outlined].
The Honkai energy flowing around seemed to be guided by something, and the "Originium" dust that filled the surroundings was also attracted and finally outlined the shape of a human bit by bit. The whole process looked somewhat strange, and against the backdrop of darkness, it added a bit of weirdness.
Coupled with Elysia's sudden greeting, the already vigilant Raiden Mei subconsciously drew her sword.
But fortunately, she stopped in the end.
"Oh~ I know that the first meeting will be very exciting, but isn't Mei a little too enthusiastic?"
"…Elysia?"
"Hmm~ That's right, it's Elysia~ a beautiful girl as beautiful as flying flowers~"
Elysia stretched out her hand, and a gorgeous pink crystal flower slowly bloomed from the palm of her hand, emitting a faint and soft light, dispelling the darkness around them and illuminating the faces of the two people.
"How about it? After you actually see me, you will believe what I say, right? I am really beautiful~"
"…In a sense, you are not wrong."
"What do you mean by in a sense? I'm cute in every sense!"
"…So, what next?"
Mei Raiden rolled her eyes and chose not to continue discussing this topic with Elysia.
"You asked me to come here just to let me see you? Can you only show yourself here? Or is it something else? And... where is the [truth] you mentioned?"
"Mei is so impatient~ But even so, I like it, you know? This drive to find the truth... Okay, okay~ I won't tease you anymore."
Seeing Raiden Mei's obviously unhappy expression, Elysia took light steps, carrying the pink crystal flower that served as a lighting facility, and walked deeper into the cave.
"Come on, keep going, we'll be there soon~"
...
"…Elysia, this doesn't seem right."
"Hmm?"
"The distance we walked... isn't it a little too long?"
"Ah~ Did you finally find it?"
Elysia's voice was filled with joy and happiness.
"That's true~ Because it uses technology related to [space]~"
"Although I don't understand the details, the space here is actually much larger than you expected, right?"
"Okay, we're here, huh?"
Elysia smiled and lifted up the dark curtain-like thing in front of her and brought Raiden Mei into it.
"This is…"
But what Raiden Mei saw was a city with bright lights that stretched to the horizon.
This place is like a "Peach Blossom Spring," isolated from the outside world. There is a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere everywhere, which is completely different from the harsh environment of the outside world where people often have to fight against Honkai and "Originium disasters."
"Welcome to [Behind the Scenes], Mei. Here, you can get the answers you want, okay?"
"Behind the scenes?"
"Hmm~ Ah, by the way, in order for you to see more, I have to take you to see someone first... Come on, come on!"
Elysia dragged Raiden Mei and ran quickly toward the city center.
Along the way, Raiden Mei met a lot of very strange people... Some people were laughing and talking to the air; some people were chatting with others, and then they didn't know what they were talking about, and their figures would suddenly "break" and disappear; sometimes, a burst of Honkai energy would suddenly roll up around, and then the "Originium" dust would begin to gather, outlining a person out of thin air...
Raiden Mei was dazed along the way. The architectural style of this city and the technology contained in it, which far exceeded the outside world, gave her a strong shock.
But she also realized one thing—the people here should be in the same situation as Elysia.
And... I don't know if it's Raiden Mei's illusion, but she always feels that after entering this city, many people are looking at her... There aren't many people around, but she can feel a lot of gazes.
Then, when Elysia dragged her to a strange building in the city center that was labeled "Spiral Workshop" and looked like a magic hat, Elysia stopped and knocked on the door of the strange building.
"Vill-V! Vill-V! I've brought some people here. Open the door quickly! And is the 'doctor' here? Is there a child here who needs his help?"
"Okay, Elysia... You've been talking about this since before she came here, and you brought her here in such a high-profile manner... We have no choice but to ignore it."
"Oh? Are you the 'Expert' on duty today? But isn't the 'Magician' leading this time?"
"She had some new inspiration, so she left her work and went to prepare a new magic trick for [Brother]...Okay, come in, [Brother] is still here."
The "expert" looked at Raiden Mei behind Elysia, and then smiled rarely, as if she had anticipated something interesting.
"And... Miss Raiden Mei, I think that after you know some of the [truth] and meet some people, you will definitely show a very interesting expression. Well... It's a pity that the 'magician' is not here, otherwise, she will definitely record your expression."
"...What's the meaning?"
Raiden Mei felt very strange about the riddles they told.
"There is no actual evidence yet, and you haven't witnessed it with your own eyes, so you are naturally confused by our words, but... don't worry, you will witness everything soon."
The "expert" shrugged, seemingly not intending to say more... She just led the two people inside.
Then, Raiden Mei was shocked again... What was wrong with these people? They looked exactly the same?
'If I count carefully... there seem to be four? Including the "magician" they just mentioned... five? Quintuplets?'
"Actually there are eight"
"...ah?"
"But they are all Vill-V... just because of some, um... some weird reasons, they divided themselves into eight parts, and each of them has a different personality. But as long as you master the tricks, it will be easy to get along with them, right?"
"Uh...excuse me, who are you?"
"Please allow me to introduce myself... My name is Nozomi, I am Vill-V's [brother], and I am also the person that Elysia is looking for. Well... Of course, you can also call me 'Doctor' like everyone else."
Nozomi said with a smile, and at the same time reached out and tapped the center of the eyebrows of "Irine" beside him, pushing her away a little without leaving a trace, so as to prevent her from quietly squeezing Skadi away again. Then he reached out his hand and shook hands politely with Raiden Mei.
"As for the purpose of your coming... I already know it. After all, Elysia pays close attention to you. After convincing you to come here, she tells us about it every day."
"Hey~ Nozomi, please don't say it..."
"Elysia..."
Raiden Mei pinched her eyebrows with a headache...Forget it, let's not care about these things.
"To be honest, I have a lot of questions to ask, such as why do you call this place 'Behind the Scenes'? What is the so-called 'truth'? And...what about those people on the street?"
"Don't worry, you'll get the answers to all of these."
Nozomi stretched out his hand, and then... lightly tapped her forehead.
"Besides... there are a lot of people who want to meet you. I hope you won't be too surprised when you see them again."
Clack——
It is the sound of crystal growth.
Then, Raiden Mei's vision...changed slightly.
In her sight, the originally empty and quiet surroundings... suddenly became noisy.
Then, among the vague and somewhat subtle crowd, she met some people who made her feel even more subtle...such as Kiana's mother - Cecilia.
In addition, there is the legendary first generation [Herrscher of Reason] - Welt Joyce, Himeko who should have died, Ana and Chen Tianwu who were conquered, and... Otto?!
Um?!
When she saw that man, Raiden Mei almost subconsciously drew her sword and chopped him down.
But she suddenly discovered that the Otto in front of her... was very different from the one she had seen before.
If the Otto she had seen before was a calm, elegant, cunning man, like a madman with reason, he was a guy worthy of contempt but also worthy of respect.
So now Otto... is like a person who has seen through the world and is as hopeless in every... uh... thing.
He looked like a half-melted ice cream, slumped on the seat.
How should I describe it... It's like someone suddenly found the Chuunibyou signature from elementary school and junior high school that you should have deleted, and read it out loud in front of your favorite person, while also playing a video to show what stupid things you did for it... and you can only watch from the side.
What's worse is that the things you did and the words you left behind were actually exposed to the person you loved the most, and were also seen by many other people... The things you did, on the surface, were not known by many people, but in fact, they were broadcast live...
And you didn't know all this until this moment... That's about how it feels.
In short, Otto now has a kind of aesthetic feeling of "since things have come to this, I have no choice but to commit suicide to get rid of it."
"Are you surprised?"
Nozomi seemed to notice Raiden Mei's gaze and spoke softly.
"It's not hard to understand... If you knew that you acted like a stubborn yet rational lunatic in front of your favorite person, and gradually became the person she hated the most in front of her... and that everything you did was seen by her, and that you were 'socially dead' for nearly five hundred years... you would also be like him, and your brain would freeze for a while."
"Uh... so what do you mean?"
"Yes?"
The "expert"'s voice sounded with a hint of laughter.
"This guy named Otto performed for nearly five hundred years in front of his favorite person, his fiancée, Kallen, and the people he had directly and indirectly killed."
"And in the end, when he finally found a way to save his former fiancée and could use [his own death in exchange for Kallen's survival]... when he [die], he happened to know all this."
"Knowing that Kallen was not completely [dead], knowing that Kallen had been witnessing him and that he had become like this little by little, knowing that the people he had killed were all by Kallen's side, reading his plans, appreciating his [performance], and watching the show... just imagine, how did he feel?"
"To put it simply... he has been [socially dead] in front of other people for nearly five hundred years."
"Well...but I think he should still be very happy, right?"
Nozomi shrugged.
"After all...his favorite Kallen didn't [die], did she?"
"And the surprised expression on his face at the end was also very funny... I have to say that his performance, which lasted for five hundred years, was the most exciting one."
The "expert" said so.
"It's not in vain that we have arranged the [script] for the entire process... Oh, yes, there is one more."
The "expert" turned around and made a gesture to Raiden Mei at the moment. With a crisp "click" sound, it seemed that something took a picture of Raiden Mei at the moment.
"Ms. Mei, your surprised expression right now is also very good. It is worth the 'magician's' special instructions to me."
"...ah?"
Mei Raiden still seemed a little confused
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
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