An emerald figure slowly stepped out of the hibernation pod.
Although her body was that of a loli, her graceful and alluring posture carried a seductive charm that countless mature women could never match.
Mobius' turquoise snake-like pupils resembled two dazzling yet dangerous gemstones, filled with the pressure and nobility of a king serpent. She had nothing to do with "cuteness"—instead, she radiated cunning and madness.
Anyone could tell at a glance that Mobius was an evil woman.
And yet… the charm of this wicked woman was so overwhelming that people would willingly lie down on her operating table.
"Hi~ Mobius. Miss me?"
Elias greeted her with a bright smile.
Mobius' lips curled upward, though she clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"My adorable little test subject. We've finally met again after so long, and the first thing you do is greet me in the tone of that pink fat woman."
"Come here. Let me teach you…"
"What a proper greeting looks like."
Mobius' arm slithered over Elias' body like a slender white snake, sliding from his shoulder to his chest before reaching his chin and lifting it slightly.
Then—
Chomp!
"Mm?!"
Like a green venomous serpent capturing prey, Mobius suddenly bit down on the white pigeon before her.
Elias was startled for only a moment before enthusiastically returning Mobius' "greeting."
"Ahem! That's enough!"
Doing this right in front of her? Were they seriously ignoring her existence?
The corner of Elysia's eye twitched violently. Perhaps it was because Mobius' memory domain was so overwhelmingly green, but she now felt as though even her own body—especially the top of her head—had turned green.
After more than fifty thousand years, Miss Pink Elf seemed destined to become Miss Green Elf again.
"Oh my, isn't this Elysia? You're still here? Hehe~ So how does it feel, failing your little attempt to sneak ahead of everyone else?"
"What? Mobius, how did you—"
Elysia stared at her in shock. She hadn't told Mobius about any of that, yet the snake woman spoke as if she already knew everything.
"Surprised? As for how I know, the answer is actually very simple."
Mobius sat down directly on Elias' lap without the slightest hesitation, draping herself around him like a serpent. Her arms hooked around his neck while her head rested affectionately on his shoulder.
She stared at Elysia with blatant provocation.
"I have no evidence. I don't know the process either."
"I simply thought—if it were me, I would have done exactly the same thing."
Mobius proudly puffed out her modest chest.
"..."
"..."
Elias and Elysia both fell silent.
"Actually, unless it were Hua, anyone who got awakened first by Elias would absolutely try to sneak ahead. But judging from the situation, Elysia… it seems your little head start has already failed~"
Mobius' eyes were full of mockery, as though she had thrown the word "pathetic" straight at Elysia's face.
Elias looked helplessly at the snake lady in his arms, then at the pink elf nearby.
Their relationship truly hadn't changed at all.
The moment they met, they started arguing.
But if he let this continue, things would definitely become dangerous.
So Elias immediately began taking action.
At the same time, Mobius examined his body with great interest. Her snake pupils grew brighter and brighter, like an artist admiring the greatest masterpiece of her life.
"Excellent, excellent~ You've evolved wonderfully. You've completely surpassed the Vipralopa-class threshold."
"A Panet-class Chimera MANTIS, an ultimate awakened stigmata bearer, combined with so many Herrscher authorities… and this power of a false god."
"My little test subject, you truly are perfection."
"Thanks for the praise, Mobius." Elias glanced downward. "But why are you unbuttoning my shirt?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to examine you thoroughly and conduct some research."
Mobius smiled wickedly.
"But you should prepare yourself mentally. A snake's stamina can last an entire day."
"...That doesn't sound like very proper research."
"Oh, right." Mobius suddenly added, "Let me show you something I've accomplished recently. You'll definitely be pleasantly surprised."
She pulled out a syringe from somewhere and injected it into herself.
A moment later—
Rip—
Her clothes tore apart as her small body rapidly matured. In the blink of an eye, Mobius transformed into a fully grown woman with a perfect, seductive figure.
During all these years, she hadn't simply slept through the Great Hibernation.
Or rather, she had been hibernating like a true serpent.
Mobius had already developed a drug capable of negating the resurrection cost of Shesha.
Now she could instantly restore her body from a small child to her peak adult form.
At that moment, her full chest pressed firmly against Elias' torso as she leaned closer and closer.
Her lips parted slightly.
Just as the serpent's mouth was about to bite down again—
"An examination experiment? Sorry, Mobius, but today Eli is supposed to be on a date with me."
Elysia grabbed Elias by the shoulders and pulled him backward.
Elias suddenly felt something incredibly soft cushioning the back of his head. He couldn't help wondering if this was the legendary "boob pillow."
Mobius snorted coldly and showed no intention of backing down.
"Elysia, don't think you can still behave like you did in the Previous Era. Times have changed. An outdated pink fat woman like you should just crawl back into the hibernation pod and sleep forever."
"Try it if you can." Elysia smiled sweetly. "But I'll also stuff you back into the Great Hibernation. This time you can sleep until the end of the world~"
Elysia waved the Staff of Origin in her hand.
It looked less like she intended to cast elf magic and more like she intended to use physical magic—knocking Mobius unconscious and stuffing her back into the pod.
Although Mobius talked big, she was not careless at all.
Dark green venom surged beneath her feet. The moment she sank into it—
In the next instant, she transformed into a colossal serpentine Honkai beast.
The Infinite Ouroboros.
Mobius: "This… is the moment of ascension to godhood!"
Elias: "Holy—you're using your ultimate move right away?!"
Elysia: "..."
Even Elysia could no longer remain relaxed when facing Mobius in her Artificial Cascade form.
Mobius was one of the most dangerous figures among the Fifteen Flame-Chasers, often considered a contender for the top position. Although she constantly claimed to be merely a scientist with no combat ability, everyone knew the truth.
She was like the serpent from the Garden of Eden in myth—the one that tempted Adam and Eve to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.
People all knew that the two were expelled from Eden because of it.
But no one knew what became of the serpent.
Perhaps, somewhere in the shadows of the story, the serpent had also stolen a bite of the fruit and become an immortal snake.
Now the gods were gradually declining, while the serpent had awakened once more.
At this moment, the serpent of Eden sought to ascend the throne of divinity and become the new master of this paradise.
However…
Even if the era—or the meta—had changed, Elysia remained forever Tier 0.
Pink light flashed across her body, and in the next instant the form of the Herrscher of Origin appeared.
Mobius: "So what if you're the Herrscher of Origin? Let's see how an immortal serpent brings you crashing down."
Elysia: "Dream on, dear Mobius. Go back to saying those things in your dreams. And I'll kindly help you fall asleep right now."
To Elias, it looked as if a pink manta ray and a green snake were confronting each other, ready to bite the other to death at any moment. Alarmed, he immediately tried to stop the conflict.
"Ely! Mobius! Don't start fighting the moment you wake up! Can't you sit down and talk this out?"
However—
"Little test subject, there's no need to worry about me."
"As if! He's obviously worried about me!"
Neither woman had the slightest intention of stopping.
(Yeah… these two are hopeless…)
This was not a fight he could stop.
Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Elias realized that he himself was the source of their conflict—and the "reward" awaiting the victor after the battle.
In that case, trying to persuade them would only make things worse.
Even if he forcibly stopped them, it would merely delay the explosion and leave a hidden fuse for later.
Better to detonate it now and at least keep the damage light.
Still, Elias had not given up.
What they needed right now was a third party mediator—someone other than him.
And the reinforcements had arrived.
Kalpas: "Honestly. I wake up and the first thing I see is two crazy women arguing. They're even more violent than me."
Su: "No wonder Elias hurried to wake us."
MEI: "It's still far earlier than the scheduled time. Did the future version of him travel through time again?"
Pardofelis: "Boss Elias! I missed you so much!"
Eden: "So what exactly happened here?"
The pink elf and the green snake confronting each other were both startled when they saw everyone suddenly appear.
Except for Kevin—who was currently wandering somewhere in the Sea of Quanta—and Hua, who was out in the outside world following her script, all fifteen Flame-Chasers were now present.
And naturally, this was Elias' doing.
The moment he sensed the atmosphere turning wrong, he had already dispatched a thousand clones into the various memory domains of the Flame-Chasers, entering the passwords for the Great Hibernation and waking everyone up to mediate the situation.
After all, the only people in this world capable of stopping the Flame-Chasers… were the Flame-Chasers themselves.
"It's been a long time, everyone. But let's catch up later. First, we need to stop these two," Elias said.
"No one stop me! Today I, Mobius, will crush Elysia and take my little test subject—Elias—for myself!"
Mobius' voice roared from within the Infinite Ouroboros.
She had endured long enough.
Mobius absolutely refused to believe that the longing she had accumulated over all these years was even slightly inferior to Elysia's.
For a scientist, calm rationality was usually a basic requirement.
But this was Mobius.
A madwoman who pursued eternal life and infinite evolution.
As for rationality… Mobius claimed she had thrown that away fifty thousand years ago.
Today she was going to turn the tables.
She would knock Elysia to the ground, then make her watch as Mobius rode atop Elias and shouted that she could do nothing to stop it.
As for where Mobius' confidence came from—
Perhaps it came from the fact that, after enlarging her body, her chest had successfully surpassed Elysia's.
"I see. Although we still haven't fully understood the cause and effect, the most important thing is already clear," MEI said, pushing up her glowing glasses.
"Indeed. No more words are necessary," Sakura added, drawing the ice blade at her waist.
"In that case, we might as well join in," Aponia said, clasping her hands together.
"???"
Elias' eyes widened.
Something felt very wrong about the atmosphere.
He had called everyone here to put out the fire—but the smell of gunpowder in the air seemed to be growing stronger.
Had they misunderstood something incredibly serious?
Su: "Ahem… Elias. I suggest you leave quickly."
Kalpas: "These crazy women are about to start fighting."
Kosma: "The Elysian Realm… is about to become a battlefield…"
The female Flame-Chasers all shared the same thought.
(In simple terms, the Nth Elias Battle Royale has begun, right? Whoever is left standing at the end gets him! If that's the case, we can't just let the two of you fight alone!)
Mediation?
Forget that.
They had come to join the battle.
"...Holy hell," Elias muttered.
Looking at the women drawing their weapons with blazing eyes, he sucked in a sharp breath.
It felt like the end of the world had arrived.
Elias had overlooked one extremely important detail.
Because he had come from the future and had already reunited with most of the Flame-Chasers, much of the longing in his heart had already been filled.
But for the women of this era, things were different.
For them, this was their first reunion after fifty thousand years.
Naturally their emotions were surging and their heads were running hot.
And then they heard Mobius shouting about defeating Elysia and taking Elias away…
At that point, staying calm would have been a miracle.
Even MEI had already removed the Herrscher Core of Ice from the hibernation pod and mounted it onto the Key of Blankness, preparing for battle.
"Let's settle everything today," someone declared.
"The one still standing at the end gets Elias tonight!"
"No objections! But first we eliminate that pink elf who cheated by sneaking ahead!"
"Elysia… have you prepared yourself?"
"..."
Facing the aggressive group of women, Elysia expressionlessly floated before Elias.
Then, as if provoking them—or declaring ownership—she spread her arms and tightly embraced him.
"Ely, you're pouring oil on the fire right now?!"
"Eli, leave for a while," Elysia said gently.
"Huh?"
"Go follow the date itinerary I planned. Don't worry…"
Her eyes burned with blazing determination.
"I'll defeat everyone and catch up with you soon!"
—
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