Chat Group: Starting by Swapping Bodies with Elysia?

The drinking session with Eden was incredibly enjoyable – this was the famous superstar Eden! Of course, the most important thing was that she was truly gorgeous!

Being able to get along so well with such a beautiful girl, the [fat lady] holding her wine glass felt utterly ecstatic at this moment.

Even though this was just a virtual space, and the wine she drank was merely a memory of the past, a fusion of ones and zeros, the unbelievably real sensation still made Elysia quite intoxicated.

Her alcohol tolerance was notoriously bad, and after just one glass, she felt her consciousness spinning, the Eden in front of her seemingly multiplying into two.

"I didn't expect her to go down after just one cup."

In her daze, perhaps because her drinking manners were a bit off, or perhaps because Eden took the initiative, Elysia, cloaked in the [Jiang Qiao] guise, rested her head on something soft and smooth. It felt incredibly comfortable, and in her hazy consciousness, she vaguely heard Eden's doting and amused, lazy voice.

And then, it seemed another person had arrived on the scene.

Of course, the drunk Elysia was completely oblivious to this.

Seating herself casually on the floor – under normal circumstances, this was definitely not something the elegant [Gold] Flame-Chaser would do, but at this moment, she displayed this unrefined side, letting [Jiang Qiao] rest on her incredibly smooth black silk-clad legs.

Then, she turned her golden eyes towards the newcomer – a pure white veil concealed her beautiful brown hair. Even in a 'milk cap' style, it couldn't hide even a sliver, instead making her proud, ample figure seem even more conspicuous.

Beneath her open-fronted cross-shaped ceremonial robe, her smooth thighs sparked the imagination. Her slender hands were lightly clasped, radiating an aura of utter holiness.

In her usual languid tone, Eden greeted the newcomer with a soft chuckle:

"For someone of your disposition, appearing anywhere other than the deepest depths is truly a rare sight, Aponia."

The third of the Flame-Chasers, the [Discipline] – Aponia.

This Flame-Chaser's sphere of activity was usually confined to her domain, the deepest depths.

It had been this way since the inception of the Elysian Realm. Even through the long expanse of fifty thousand years, Aponia had never stepped out of the deepest depths.

— She was atoning for the sins of the past.

Aponia was also one of the few Flame-Chasers – practically the only one – that outsiders were unlikely to ever encounter.

For millennia, the Signet of Discipline had never been inherited.

The one being teased, Aponia, replied with an exceptionally gentle voice, neither confirming nor denying the statement. Instead, she looked at the [Jiang Qiao] sleeping soundly on Eden's lap with an undeniably tender gaze, her voice touched with emotion:

"Indeed, but… how could her appearance not compel me to step out of my self-imposed cage?"

"If the domains of the others weren't already occupied by guests, it's likely I wouldn't be the only one here."

As a 'trial' facility, the Elysian Realm possessed the characteristic of matching visitors based on their specific qualities.

For suitable individuals, the corresponding Flame-Chaser would actively meet them and initiate the 'trial' or 'inheritance'.

And this meant that the moment Kiana and the others entered the Elysian Realm, almost all the Flame-Chasers had noticed this batch of rather 'problematic' visitors.

Leaving aside the several Herrscher host bodies, there was Elysia, cloaked in the guise of 'Jiang Qiao'.

— Jiang Qiao seemed to have forgotten to tell the 'fat lady': even if the appearance of their consciousness was similar, there was one thing that would never change.

That was their intrinsic essence.

Take the Herrscher of Corruption, for example. Even if she didn't stand before the Flame-Chasers as the [Fade], but deliberately took on the form of [Elysia], as long as she lacked the intrinsic essence, the Flame-Chasers could recognize her as a fake at a glance.

Although due to the distinction between consciousness and memory bodies, not all the Flame-Chasers possessed such keen discernment.

But…

What if you added the condition that the owner of the consciousness had lived with the memory bodies for nearly fifty thousand years?

At least, for Eden, who was incredibly familiar with Ellie, Elysia's previous actions looked like – Ellie wearing a full-body mascot costume and saying: I'm Jiang Qiao! That's the kind of impression it gave.

And the one with an even clearer understanding of the [fat lady] was undoubtedly Aponia.

Having integrated herself with the Elysian Realm, she could be considered the Elysian Realm itself. It was difficult for almost anything to escape her notice.

"Without a doubt, this is the real Elysia."

Looking at the [young man]s' sleeping posture, which was practically a confession in itself, and the 99% overlap in intrinsic data with [Elysia], Aponia approached and gently sat down, her delicate, jade-like hand caressing [Jiang Qiao's] cheek.

— This should have been absolutely impossible.

Both Eden and she were attendees of that banquet, those who had bid farewell as Elysia departed.

That flawless maiden had indeed passed away.

But their senses wouldn't deceive them, their intrinsic understanding wouldn't deceive them. They had indeed, after a long fifty thousand years, once again met that dear friend within this Elysian Realm of the past.

Not a memory body that had remained with them, but a truly, genuinely existing living will.

However, if it was Elysia, perhaps they wouldn't find anything strange, no matter what happened?

After all, she was always so good at creating miracles – or rather, Elysia's existence itself was a one-in-a-million miracle.

"Hmm… so we should call her Jiang Qiao now?"

Although she didn't understand the reason behind it, Eden could tell – Ellie seemed especially happy when addressed by this name.

Like a parent indulging their beloved child, having noticed this, she didn't mind going along with Ellie's wishes, playing this 'name change' game with her.

"Alright."

Having already seen the information about Elysia and Eden's interactions through the Elysian Realm's records, Aponia nodded with a smile.

As Elysia's close friend and confidante, she didn't mind indulging in this little game along with Eden – making Elysia happy was the goal.

However, the progression of this game seemed to become somewhat prolonged as Elysia slept soundly.

In reality, being intoxicated by Eden's wine would probably mean a long sleep, right?

As the administrator of the Elysian Realm, Aponia had the ability to end this slumber prematurely, but even though Eden didn't say anything, Aponia didn't take the initiative to do so.

They simply sat quietly, watching with smiles as [Jiang Qiao] slept peacefully on Eden's lap, muttering in her dreams, "Bad Jiang Qiao~ I'll get you for bullying me! Hehehe…"

"Looks like she's having a sweet dream."

The fact that one could dream in the consciousness layer seemed somewhat peculiar in a large virtual simulation facility like the Elysian Realm, but it wasn't entirely strange – after all, to prevent the Flame-Chasers' memory bodies from becoming too monotonous, the environment of the Elysian Realm was almost indistinguishable from reality.

Listening to Elysia's sleep-talking, Aponia chuckled, also quite curious about this 'Jiang Qiao' that Elysia kept mentioning, the one she was so preoccupied with.

And so, she used her administrator privileges, along with Eden, to 'peek' into Elysia's dream.

— And then, they saw the various scenarios of humiliation towards Jiang someone that the 'fat lady' was imagining in her dream.

Uh… how peculiar.

Both Eden and Aponia wore strange expressions.

>-~-~-~-~-~-~-<

— Compared to Elysia, who bumped into two of her close friends as soon as she entered the Elysian Realm, just as Aponia had said, Kiana and the others also encountered the Flame-Chasers who matched their qualities under the Elysian Realm's matching mechanism.

Take Kiana, for example.

She bumped into a white-haired, seemingly aloof middle-aged man—

"I am Kevin, the Flame-Chaser who wields the Signet of [Deliverance]."

Although at the consciousness level, there shouldn't be any connection to bloodlines, the Kaslana bloodline was special—apart from the physical aspect, due to the influence of the Kaslana Stigmata, Kevin had sensed her status as his descendant the moment Kiana entered the Elysian Realm.

Furthermore, although the current Kiana was still weak in experience and lacked a clear understanding, the principles Siegfried had instilled in her since childhood made the white-haired dumpling the most compatible type with the Signet of [Deliverance].

Of course, the white-haired dumpling had no idea about any of this, simply looking at Kevin, scratching her head, and casually finding a topic to start a conversation:

"Uncle, you and I look quite alike, huh? Could it be that you're also from the Kaslana family?"

"…"

Kevin fell silent.

Although, with his personality, he wouldn't care about such titles.

But…

Uncle… it was still impossible to not care, after all.

— Did he really look that old?

And this junior… seemed like a very troublesome type.

If it were a stranger, Kevin would probably maintain his concise and aloof demeanor, but in front of a girl who was likely his descendant, Kevin… well, he was still aloof, but this time, his aloofness stemmed more from not knowing how to communicate properly.

However, he couldn't just ignore her.

With Kevin's perception, he could easily sense Kiana's abnormality.

To help her grow, even the pufferfish girl with the Herrscher core had been returned to Kiana by Jiang Qiao.

And this meant that the threat of the Herrscher of the Void loomed over Kiana once more.

Whether it was to reduce a threat in the new era or to make her happy, he seemed to have a responsibility to act.

Therefore, Kevin put in a hundred and ten times the effort when it came to guiding Kiana.

— Raiden Mei, on the other hand, hadn't separated from Miss Dodo, but together, they saw a face that made their expressions subtly change amidst the gathering of the Flame-Chasers.

"Hi~"

Like a fairy in a fairytale, a girl with pink hair and blue eyes sat on a sofa in the gathering area, raising her hand in greeting with a familiar smile, her sweet and lively voice ringing in their ears.

"Nice to meet you, want to guess…"

Just as the Elysian Realm's Elysia was about to inject some romantic charm into their first encounter with beautiful girls, Miss Dodo widened her eyes, quite surprised, and exclaimed:

"Pink Pervert?!"

"Eh…?"

The Elysian Realm's Elysia, who was about to greet them, froze, her beautiful smile stiffening upon hearing this nickname.

Pink… pervert?

Wait, wait, wait! I am definitely pink, but what do you mean by pervert?!

Slightly furrowing her brow, the Elysian Realm's Elysia said with a hint of displeasure:

"Pink, I can understand, but calling a beautiful girl you just met a 'pervert' is too much!"

"Quit playing coy. You had the guts to do it, don't you have the guts to admit it? And 'nice to meet you'… didn't we say you already left? How did you end up in the Elysian Realm?"

Miss Dodo didn't hold back at all, retorting rather irritably.

Just because we're on good terms doesn't mean I've forgotten all the things you did before!

This casual, almost like chatting with an acquaintance, made the Elysian Realm's Elysia feel completely bewildered.

Wait, what did I do?

I, Ellie, have always been one to own up to my actions – you can ask Eden!

And this familiarity…

"Looks like the real me did some things outside that I have absolutely no idea about."

Although she was somewhat clueless, she had at least spent fifty thousand years working as a handyman in the Elysian Realm. As another discoverer of 'Jiang Qiao', the Elysian Realm's Elysia instantly understood what was going on, sighing.

"The real you? … Could it be that you're a fake?"

The Elysian Realm's Elysia felt a little awkward when Mei asked this question, clearing her throat twice before saying:

"Uh… it's not quite like that."

"Let me introduce myself first."

"Nice to meet you, or at least, you really are meeting me for the first time – as you can see, like a fleeting flower, I am Elysia, the second of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers."

"…"

This time, it was Miss Dodo's turn to be bewildered.

…Elysia?

"You're saying you're Elysia?"

Raven was filled with disbelief.

Although she had never met Elysia, as a World Serpent operative, she had seen this name in the World Serpent's archives.

But Miss Dodo had never connected this name with the pink pervert she had encountered.

After all—

According to the archives, 'Elysia' should be someone who passed away before reaching the new era.

She knew the issues between [Jiang Qiao] and the pink pervert were significant, but she hadn't expected the problem to be this huge.

All the previous teasing and speculation were instantly answered at this moment.

The Lord's illegitimate daughter? Pui! This was clearly one of the bosses!

"So, I've been playing with the boss this whole time."

Raven was a little dumbfounded, and also found it a bit funny.

Damn it, no wonder Grey Serpent, that old geezer, issued such stupid orders, no wonder the Overseer was so accommodating, so that's how it was.

This appearance in the Elysian Realm's Elysia's eyes made her prop her cheek up with her hand, revealing a hint of interest:

"Oh my, it seems I have a few more things to learn from the original."

Being able to make such cute girls show such expressions, it seemed the original had indeed done many interesting things outside.

But the original goofing off outside while my memory body in the Elysian Realm almost took the blame for the original – even if it's the original, that's too much!

In the next moment, sensing something, the Elysian Realm's Elysia's eyebrows furrowed. With Raven's experience, she naturally noticed her abnormality, asking with some confusion, "Did something happen?"

She wasn't sure what Elysia's personality was like, but if the pink pervert was anything to go by, for her to show such an expression, something bad must have happened.

"…One of your companions has entered Kalpas's domain."

Mei, who wasn't aware of the situation with the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, didn't realize the seriousness of the situation, but Miss Dodo's expression subtly changed the moment she heard these words.

Crap, just what she feared would happen.

Entering the Elysian Realm, her biggest fear was someone provoking that killing star.

"Who is it?"

"It seems to be a silver-haired girl."

"Bronya!"

Raven and Raiden Mei spoke the name in unison.

— The Elysian Realm was divided into many areas, each Flame-Chaser having their own fixed domain. As heroes of the past, even if one mistakenly entered their areas, even Mobius's area, the worst that could happen was waking up to find themselves strapped to a surgical table.

But there was one area that was an exception to these 'safe zones'.

The name of the master there was – Kalpas.

The sixth of the Flame-Chasers, the Mad King who wielded the Signet of [Decimation], a notorious and shunned existence during the Fire Moth era fifty thousand years ago, and this hadn't changed in this recollection of the past left behind by the previous civilization.

Many visitors in the past had entered Kalpas's domain, but those who came out of it were terrified by their experiences.

No one had ever truly cleared it!

"Herrscher, get out of my territory."

Arrogant, violent, a voice that didn't sound like a human's, but like the roar of some prehistoric beast. This chilling mockery and rage emanated from the tall figure engulfed in flames.

The high-temperature resistant mask made of special steel seemed to depict some kind of ferocious beast. The only discernible features were the pale hair and—the eyes filled with rage that could be vaguely seen through the cracks in the mask.

"…"

Bronya's expression instantly turned displeased.

Logically speaking, if he was the owner of this place and she had trespassed, she was indeed in the wrong. If he said a few words, she, Bronya, might have obediently left.

But this attitude, wasn't it a bit too impolite?

Unfortunately, he didn't seem to care about her feelings at all, merely coldly rebuking:

"Leave, or die."

— Kalpas was always like this.

He rarely had a good attitude towards any visitors, let alone the fact that the one currently in his domain was a… Herrscher.

In the past, this man's attitude towards Herrschers would have been – even uttering an extra word was a luxury, die! A merciless, kill-on-sight attitude.

To be able to just drive Bronya away with such an icy tone and hostile attitude was actually him showing leniency because of her young age.

— Bronya, not understanding this, only felt stifled.

I'm already a Herrscher, okay? Don't I deserve some respect?

After being taken down by that idiot goose, Bronya had been holding onto a grudge.

Being highly competitive, she kept thinking about the day she could get back the face she had lost.

And now, when I'm in a bad mood, I run into such an impolite guy…

Fine, fine, so you want to fight!

Others might be afraid of you, but I, Bronya, am not!

That Saintly Idiot Goose, I admit I can't beat her, but that just means—I was unlucky enough to run into someone I couldn't beat.

But surely my luck can't be that bad every time, right?

Bronya was quite confident in her own strength.

After being defeated by that goose, having lost the Core of the Void, her control over the Core of Reason had increased by several percentage points. The current Bronya felt at least three times stronger than before.

I can't beat the idiot goose, but I can't beat you, masked man?

But Bronya, who was already in the wrong, didn't make a move, merely putting on an indifferent expression – I'll just stay here, what can you do about it?

Undoubtedly, this was a response to Kalpas's warning—

And it instantly made him laugh, covering his mask, a sinister, ferocious laugh echoing throughout the domain.

"You're courting death."

"Hahahaha, Herrscher! Go ahead and struggle! At least prove to me—that you're worth killing!"

The chilling laughter was accompanied by a rapid increase in the air temperature. The unsettling heat made Bronya, who was already on guard, feel a tightness in her chest.

Crap, this guy seems pretty strong!

But don't panic, I, Bronya, am also very strong, but this level is completely incomparable to that shining big goose from before!

"Who will win isn't certain yet!"

Perhaps not wanting to show any weakness, Bronya retorted, sticking out her neck at Kalpas's rage-filled mockery, while clenching her fists.

The power of the Herrscher of Reason began to circulate.

Although she still felt pain, perhaps because the Elysian Realm was a consciousness simulation device, the pain from the core's backlash was reduced by several times compared to reality.

At the same time, her control over the core had also improved to some extent. From a pitiful single-digit, it had barely reached double digits.

— The current me is stronger than in reality!

Having noticed this, a slight curve appeared on Bronya's lips, even ignoring the still-rising temperature around her.

Here I come again!