Come to think of it, this was the first time Shun had truly felt what death was like. Neither the sudden death before crossing over nor the one in Nagazora City had ever let him experience death in this way.
Now that he had truly felt it, it didn't feel bad. If he wasn't mistaken, dying here should have no effect on him ten-plus years later.
This was also one of the reasons Shun could act like a hero and use his own death to open a future for Sirin.
However, once his consciousness mapping ended and he returned to the original timeline, the traces left by the Herrscher of the Void core fragment on the Imaginary Tree would disappear. That meant there was only one chance.
He didn't know if the future had changed… Although Otto had said so, who knew if Otto was just bluffing him. In any case, Shun held a skeptical attitude toward Otto's words.
"?" Shun suddenly noticed a blind spot. Logically speaking, as someone who was about to die, his consciousness shouldn't be this clear, right?
But why did he feel like he had taken drugs and was becoming more and more energetic? Clearly, he had felt like he hadn't slept for several days and nights just moments ago.
Thinking of this, Shun suddenly opened his eyes and floated up from the not-very-deep water surface. He looked around at the environment—calm, boundless sea level and a starry night sky overhead.
"Where the hell did this take me? Is this still Siberia?"
However… this place looked really familiar. This starry sky—he had seen it before.
"Why am I here again?" After the initial daze, Shun recognized the place.
This was the place where he had previously met Elysia—the Elysian Realm. He hadn't expected that after dying, he would come to this place.
However, unlike the previous time he entered, this time there was not even Elysia, let alone that big pink manta ray. Was it because the way he entered was wrong?
Anyway, although he didn't know what had happened, he should first try to call Elysia out.
Shun gathered his emotions and shouted toward the star in the sky that emitted pink light and clearly wasn't a normal star.
"Respond to me! Elysia! …" The echo surged like a mighty wave, rapidly sweeping across the entire Elysian Realm with overwhelming force.
"Um-hum♪ No matter when or where, Elysia is here, responding to your expectations." The voice came from behind. Shun felt someone pat his back. When he turned around, he saw no one. When he turned his head back, he saw Elysia with a 108° smile on her face.
"Hi, how do you feel?♪"
"Not great, to be honest, Elysia. For you, how many times is this that you've seen me here?" As soon as Elysia appeared, Shun went straight to the point.
"Ehehe♪ Elysia doesn't know~" Elysia stuck out her tongue and chose to remain silent on the matter.
"Forget it, I won't make things difficult for you. But why is it that when I die during consciousness mapping, I come to you? Clearly when I cut the threads on Sirin's body, I didn't come here."
"Then let's go to a place where we can discuss things and sit down." Elysia waved the staff in her hand. With a flash of light, the two arrived at a classical-style courtyard.
"This is… the Golden Courtyard?" Shun touched the wall, feeling a sense of nostalgia.
"Yep. Come to think of it, this is still your property, Shun." At this moment, Elysia had changed into her combat outfit from the Fire Moth era—that is, the so-called "Miss Pink Elf♪" form.
"My property? The Golden Courtyard? Isn't it Eden's?" Shun remembered clearly that the Golden Courtyard should be Eden's house.
"Yes, but Eden was only the previous owner~" Elysia said as she walked to the pavilion in the courtyard and waved at Shun.
"Over here, over here."
Shun followed. To be honest, his body still hadn't returned to its original form. Following behind Elysia, he could only see that once oversized, clipping-through-models butt.
"Come to think of it, this is the first time I've seen you as a child. You really are as cute as the little Dr. Mobius."
Listening to Elysia's off-topic words, Shun felt a bit speechless. Weren't they supposed to talk about serious matters?
"Get to the point, Elysia."
"Shun, boys shouldn't be too impatient, okay? Give girls a little more patience, hm?"
"But since you said so, Elysia has no choice but to get to the main topic. Do you remember the mark from the Origin on your body? It was what brought the dying you to me."
"The mark from the Origin? That kiss from you had this effect too? When was I marked?" Shun couldn't possibly forget Elysia's "sneak attack" so easily.
"Kiss? …Cough, never mind. Anyway, since you've been marked by the Origin, it's natural that you can come to my side."
So something like that happened afterward? While fooling him, Elysia was calculating something in her heart.
"Then what does it do? Don't tell me you can even heal my body?" Sirin had already been sent off her destined track. No matter what happened in the future, it was no longer something he could interfere with.
Elysia simply looked at Shun with a mischievous smile and said nothing.
"Could it really be…?" Just as Shun was overjoyed, Elysia's shaking head dashed his expectations.
"No can do. Even Elysia can't revive a person who has already died in reality."
"…Then what's the point of saying all this? To summarize my failure?"
"Shun, do you regret it? Regret not saving that girl?" Elysia leaned closer and asked Shun.
"I clearly already saved Sirin… She can go anywhere in the world from Moscow—to Switzerland, to Shenzhou, anywhere."
Although Shun also knew that Sirin had been targeted by Schicksal. Even though he had sacrificed himself to buy precious time for Sirin, without him by her side and with Aunt Dalia's whereabouts unknown, the possibility of Sirin hiding herself from being found by Schicksal was almost zero.
Everyone knew how strong Nazi Germany's technology for finding Jews was, but Schicksal's technology for finding people was definitely much stronger.
"But… the Second Eruption will definitely happen." Elysia gently spoke the cruel words.
"So in the end, I still didn't change anything?" The Second Eruption would still happen, and Sirin would still be treated as an experimental subject…
"That's not right. We still have one more chance. Please believe in Elysia to your heart's content."
Elysia took Shun's hand, wrapped it up, and when she opened it again, a Herrscher of the Void core fragment wrapped in pink crystal roses appeared in Shun's hand.
"Although I can't let you start over, it's never too late to mend the fold after the sheep is lost." Elysia smiled. Everything was understood without words.
"Is this real?" Shun looked at the scene before him, still finding it somewhat hard to believe.
"It's a miracle."
"It's a miracle that belongs to Elysia."