"Did something happen?"
A soft, yet decisive, girl's voice rang out, making the cat-eared girl, who was hiding by the wall, shiver. She abruptly turned her head around and said tremblingly:
"You scared me, Sakura nee-san! Don't sneak up behind people without saying anything!"
The last of the thirteen Flame-Chasers, [Empty Dreams]—Pardofelis.
"Sorry, it's a habit."
An apologetic look appeared on the beautiful face of the donkey-eared girl with cherry blossom-colored hair. Then, she asked curiously, "What are you doing here, Pardofelis?"
Mobius' domain, although it couldn't be described as particularly deserted, definitely didn't have a lot of visitors.
Pardofelis wasn't the type to come here often.
"Well, I was planning to sneak into Mobius nee-san's place to see if there were any new products to take, and guess what? That person who came from outside the Elysian Realm, I actually heard the words '13th Herrscher' from her!"
Pardofelis waved her hands and tail, putting on an extremely exaggerated expression, as if it was something incredible.
Of course, for those who knew, it was indeed something incredible.
However—
The one before her was one of the few people in the Elysian Realm who didn't know.
[Setsuna]—Sakura.
"13th Herrscher?"
Hearing this term, Sakura's expression was filled with confusion.
"Is there something wrong with that?"
"That's… ah, I forgot that Sakura nee-san doesn't know! Sorry, sorry!"
Pardofelis instantly realized what she had done.
As one of the two Flame-Chasers who left before the arrival of the Finality, Sakura nee-san was the only one in the Elysian Realm who didn't know about that incident.
"Sorry, I can't say anymore."
Although she was the weakest among the Flame-Chasers, Pardofelis clearly understood the gravity of some matters. She shook her head apologetically.
"It's okay, if it's something that I shouldn't know, then there's no need to tell me."
Sakura's understanding was undoubtedly one of the best, even among the thirteen Flame-Chasers.
Normally, she wouldn't force others.
Sakura, who could tell that the cat was having a hard time, simply smiled.
Subconsciously, she looked into the distance—
For some reason, she suddenly thought of the most important person in her life.
"Rin..."
…
Near Nagazora City North Station Underground, Raven, who was draped in raven feathers, was observing the situation at the station through the additional functions of the Seven Thunders of Retribution. Fortunately, this thing was in a good mood today, and didn't cause any trouble.
Looking at the detection data of that Donkey Ears, who was surrounded by black fog, on her portable visor, even the experienced Raven couldn't help but be amazed:
"A pseudo-Herrscher has actually appeared. Where did this thing come from?"
Unlike normal Herrschers, although pseudo-Herrschers were far less rare than Herrschers, and their strength was also often lacking, but this kind of thing was undeniably very uncommon.
At least, it was more likely for them to be born during a Honkai Eruption.
But Nagazora City was currently at peace. There was no environment for that Donkey Ears to be born.
"From so far away, I can't see what that Donkey Ears is capable of."
Raven couldn't help but complain.
The powers of pseudo-Herrschers were strange and unpredictable, and dealing with them wasn't much easier than Herrschers. If they weren't treated with caution, even S-rank Valkyries could be defeated by them—yes, that was directed at you!
Raven, as a seasoned mercenary, subconsciously wanted to observe what kind of power Donkey Ears had through a long-range method.
Unfortunately, besides the black fog, she couldn't see anything else.
"Should I help…?"
Looking at the man named Jiang Qiao who was confronting Donkey Ears, Raven couldn't help but hesitate.
She didn't think that this man could be a match for a pseudo-Herrscher, not to mention that there was a strange battlesuit by her side.
Logically speaking, her mission was only to observe their situation, but she had already received an order from [Serpent]. After confirming that there weren't any problems, she was supposed to invite them to join World Serpent.
In other words, she couldn't just let that man die…
As expected, all the superiors had to do was to speak, and then the subordinates would have to do all the legwork.
There was nothing they could do. What could subordinates like them do about an order from their lord?
Raven sighed:
"Such a pain. I never heard that there was a pseudo-Herrscher in this mission. Remember to pay my overtime."
She slowly crouched down. A blue-violet light radiated from the Divine Key in her hand.
Through the light, her vision layered at that moment. The entire city was like a Rubik's cube. It unfolded before her in a higher dimension.
Raven's field of vision was no longer limited by the physical realm. With her vision surpassing the third dimension, everything was visible. She could easily lock on to that Donkey Ears—
The Key of Sanction, Seven Thunders of Retribution.
Designed by Vill-V, a Divine Key that was characteristic of her.
Any target hit by it would directly decompose into their most basic elements. If you only considered its attack power, this Divine Key wasn't inferior to the Key of Destruction, Might of An-Utu.
Just when Raven was about to pull the trigger, she suddenly froze—
Looking at the third party who had appeared out of nowhere in her vision, Raven was stunned.
"Where did this person come from?"
As she thought this, looking at that pink, beautiful figure, Raven felt a strange sense of incongruity.
She vaguely felt an absurd feeling.
It was as if—
The other person was looking at her.
What a joke!
She was observing through the third Divine Key's observation function. The distance to that place was at least two kilometers away.
Could the other person see her? Did they have clairvoyance?
It was probably because she had been traveling for too long that she was dizzy and seeing things, right?
Raven explained this strange feeling to herself, but as she shifted the third Divine Key's main observation target to the pink girl, who had appeared out of nowhere, to take a closer look,
The other person's actions made Raven widen her eyes.
The vibrant, flower-like pink girl was waving at her with a smile. Based on the shape of her mouth, Raven, with her years of experience, could tell with a glance,
That the other person was saying:
"Hi~"
There was a distance of two kilometers between them, with who knew how many layers of ground, earth, and buildings in between.
And at this distance, she noticed her observation and even smiled and waved at her?
All this swirled in Raven's mind. Her head started to ring.
Only one thought remained—
She seemed to have really encountered a supernatural event.