The Vixen's Gambit: Tonight We Hunt

"Little Lihua, come on, come on!"

Elysia gleefully pulled Lihua towards a small door on the side of the hall, the same path Raiden Mei took every time she entered the Elysian Realm.

"Taking you to a fun place! Everyone inside might react a bit strangely when they see you, but they're not bad people, okay?"

Elysia's words might have fooled Raiden Mei, but they couldn't fool Lihua.

Entering the Elysian Realm didn't actually require going to any specific location or machine, because that thing was hanging right around Elysia's neck!

If the other party's resistance wasn't strong, Elysia could pull anyone's consciousness into the Elysian Realm at any time—the ritualistic approach was probably to make the entrants less resistant to this mental attack-like activation method.

But one thing Lihua was curious about now was—could her phone still connect to the internet inside the Elysian Realm?

Although this thing could be considered made by Unit 03, even Unit 03 itself wouldn't know the answer...

Beyond the small door was a dimly lit, deep tunnel. Lihua and Elysia walked along, the environment enough to blur the boundary between the Elysian Realm and reality to the greatest extent.

However, even knowing these arrangements and methods, Lihua's pitiful strength still couldn't detect when she had fallen victim to the Elysian Realm's trick until they walked out of the tunnel and into the brightly lit Elysian Realm.

Lihua recognized this hall. Lee often visited Eden's Golden Courtyard, and this was clearly a replica of her manor.

But when the two arrived, waiting for them wasn't Eden, but a purple-haired woman with glasses and a somewhat tired expression.

"This must be Dr. MEI, the chief scientist of the Previous Era. I've seen you quite a few times in related books." Lihua politely extended her hand to MEI. "My name is Lihua, it's an honor to meet you."

"…Pleased to meet you."

After a moment of silence, MEI slowly took Lihua's hand.

It was a strange feeling. Clearly, the person in front of her wasn't Lee, nor did she know her, but seeing the other party's polite yet distant attitude, MEI still couldn't help but feel a sense of—loss.

Although she had seen a lot from Elysia's perspective, Lee had never treated her with this attitude.

"Dr. MEI?"

The call in front of her brought MEI back to her senses, and Lihua's smile in front of her was somewhat helpless. "Um, is there something wrong with my hand?"

It was then that MEI realized she had been too lost in thought, still holding Lihua's hand.

Elysia on the side was smiling like a cat that had successfully played a prank, while MEI just silently let go of her hand and said calmly, "It's nothing, you look a bit like an old friend of mine."

What was she thinking? When Lee was around, she never cared about her. Now that she was gone, she was feeling sentimental… How ridiculous.

"Is it Miss Lee you're talking about? I've heard that name many times." Lihua nodded to show understanding. "She must have been a very good person, that's why everyone remembers her."

"…Yeah, she was a very good person."

It's just a pity that many of the people around her weren't very good.

Without revealing her inner emotions, MEI turned her gaze to Elysia. "I won't stay here… It's going to get chaotic again when they gather. Remember to protect her."

"Don't worry, Elysia in the Elysian Realm is invincible~" Elysia chuckled. "If you don't believe me, look at who this place is named after?"

With the gift Lee gave her, Elysia could do anything—even with the help of her authority, it wouldn't be difficult to copy Lihua's phone into the Elysian Realm and connect it to the outside network.

Just like now, Elysia just waved her hand and sent MEI to her own space, so she wouldn't have to participate in the events that followed.

Then, a sharp glint flashed in her smiling eyes. "Now, everyone, come over here!"

Elysia clapped her hands together sharply. The next moment, more than a dozen figures appeared in the hall at the same time, and then—

BOOM!!

"Oh dear, Kalpas, don't be so violent~"

Raising her hand to stop the explosion and flames that swept over, Elysia smiled at the figure who launched a indiscriminate attack as soon as he appeared. "We have a new friend today, don't scare her!"

"Another fool looking for death? Very good!"

Kalpas knew that in this Elysian Realm, his attacks posed no threat to Elysia, but that didn't stop him from venting his anger.

It wouldn't matter if he burned or injured a few people to death, anyway, they could revive in the Elysian Realm no matter what, even if they were torn to pieces and crushed to ashes, they could still be reborn at the safe points set by Elysia—the Herrscher who looked like MEI should know this better than him.

The guy he wanted to kill was standing beside him, but after all, thousands of years had passed. Even Kalpas, with his most violent temper, had become slightly more normal after trying so many times to no avail. At least he wouldn't immediately start killing the moment he saw them.

"Where's the suicidal idiot? I'll give her a—"

Kalpas's voice stuck in his throat.

In this moment, he suddenly understood why those guys who would always argue and curse at each other every time Elysia gathered them were so quiet this time.

Lihua, who had been protected behind Elysia the moment the explosion occurred, cautiously poked her head out, waving at him with an awkward smile. "Yo-You hello? Actually, I'm just here to take a look, I didn't mean to participate in any suicide activities…"

"…"

Exactly the same.

Those eyebrows, that voice, that long hair… Not to mention just 50,000 years, even after 500,000 years, Kalpas would not forget a single detail.

To be honest, Kalpas sometimes dreamed, dreaming of Lee smiling and walking towards him in that sunny sanatorium.

But dreams could only ever be dreams, because…

Lee was dead.

She had completely disappeared from this world, and could never appear before his eyes again, no matter what.

So what was the situation with the person in front of him?

Was it a homunculus created by Elysia using Lee's biological information? Or a robot she made to imitate Lee's appearance? Or even, had she found a look-alike of Lee in reality… a substitute?

But no matter which possibility it was, Kalpas had only one answer.

"ELYYYYYYSIAAAAAA! You deserve to die!!!"