Elysian Realm, the deepest part of the deepest part.
Two figures were observing the visitor to the Elysian Realm.
One was a graceful woman with distinctly contrasting brownish-yellow and deep green hair, and pupils that were a gradient of pink and white. Gazing at the figures of Ren Amamiya and Higokumaru displayed on the screen, a look of keen interest appeared on her exquisite and dignified face.
"A visitor possessing the Key of Erosion, Jizo Mitama. What an unexpected guest... I like such surprises!"
Vill-V, the great engineer of the Elysian Realm, cheerfully stated her opinion. Then, her pink and white gradient pupils swept over the Jizo Mitama tachi held in Ren Amamiya's hand, and a somewhat disappointed expression appeared on her pretty face.
"It's truly regrettable. Due to time constraints in the Previous Era, I wasn't able to fully forge Jizo Mitama, resulting in it becoming an uninteresting tachi without any little surprise functions. I hope this successor won't be disappointed or displeased by this."
In the Previous Era, the consciousness of the Herrscher of Erosion had been struggling violently in the soul steel box without succumbing.
With the crisis of world annihilation pressing closer step by step, Vill-V simply didn't have enough time to fully forge the Key of Erosion, not even having the leeway to design some ingenious little gimmicks for Jizo Mitama.
"Aponia, you look even more melancholic today than usual. Is it because of this visitor, personally recommended by Kevin to enter the Elysian Realm, or is it... because of the [Rin] floating beside him, who has already transformed into an existence akin to a [weapon spirit]?"
As soon as Ren Amamiya approached the Elysian Realm, Vill-V had received the information Kevin had inscribed on the Salvation Stigma Key. Subsequently, she was pulled into the deepest area by Aponia, who had also received Kevin's message.
After Vill-V sighed and expressed her thoughts to herself, she curiously turned her head to the side, looking at Aponia beside her. Aponia wore a light black and white nun's habit. Beneath her white wimple were beautiful long brown hair and azure pupils. Her flawless face carried an air of sorrow, and she held her fair hands between her ample bosom, as if in prayer and repentance.
"I remember back then, to encourage the survivors in the base, you issued precepts like [Never give up fighting against the Honkai, never give up the hope of living]. As a result, under the effect of the precepts, the soldiers in those bases, in order to fight against the Honkai and eliminate the threat of the Herrscher, proactively attacked and killed Sakura's imprisoned younger sister, Rin. Subsequently, they were killed in turn by Rin, who became the Herrscher of Erosion after her death... Are you repenting for this matter?"
Vill-V crossed her arms over her chest. Her figure was also extremely outstanding, but compared to Aponia's magnificent nunly bosom, which seemed to have transgressed taboos by its very existence, even Vill-V's exceptionally good figure among ordinary people was overshadowed.
As Vill-V recounted that dark history, Higokumaru on the virtual screen also happened to be telling Ren Amamiya about her own tragic past. Aponia's beautiful blue eyes couldn't help but droop even lower, and a heartbreaking expression of self-blame and sorrow appeared on her flawless face.
Due to her excessively chaotic thoughts, Aponia's covert observation even attracted the attention of Ren Amamiya, who was still walking in the prison of the deepest part, causing him to subconsciously look up and meet Aponia's eyes through the virtual screen.
"Such keen intuition, he has already discovered our observation... The past is past, and there's no way to undo it. Aponia, it's better for you to look on the bright side—if it were before today, I would have advised you so."
Vill-V turned her gaze back to the virtual screen. However, this time, her eyes didn't focus on the Key of Erosion, Jizo Mitama, in Ren Amamiya's hand, but stared intently at Ren Amamiya himself, the visitor to the Elysian Realm.
"But now we have witnessed the birth of a miracle with our own eyes! Look—Rin has regained her human consciousness, freed from the curse of civilization planted on Herrschers by the Honkai. What a great miracle this is! If word got out, it could shake the entire world!"
Gazing at Ren Amamiya's figure on the virtual screen, Vill-V's tone became increasingly fervent, and a conspicuous flush of excitement appeared on her fair cheeks.
"To be honest, during the Fire Moth era, I also tried to reawaken Rin's consciousness, to revive her as a Divine Key with self-awareness. But unfortunately, even though I am an expert in consciousness division, I was completely helpless against a Herrscher's consciousness captured by the Honkai... If I had forcibly forged the Key of Erosion, not to mention the negative effects on the user, the furious Kalpas would probably have rushed over and torn me to pieces immediately."
"But this successor, he did it! He accomplished what I completely failed to do in the past, something even Elysia was helpless against and could only gamble on the possibility in the next world—he completely finished the Key of Erosion and brought back Rin's consciousness as a human!!"
Speaking with excitement, Vill-V couldn't help but applaud vigorously towards Ren Amamiya on the virtual screen. Vill-V, the great magician, unreservedly praised Ren Amamiya, who had astounded the world.
"I really want to see Sakura's expression after she sees Rin again. That's the kind of surprised and moved expression I want to see~~~"
Vill-V, driven by her instinct to seek surprise from others, immediately thought of using this as content for a magic show after witnessing the existence of Ren Amamiya and Higokumaru, a way to make the usually cool and calm Sakura show an expression of surprise.
"...The Key of Erosion is too dangerous for the Elysian Realm and us, who exist as data. Before ascertaining this successor's character and beliefs, I can only temporarily imprison him in the deepest part. He must not meet the other Flame-Chasers in the Elysian Realm."
Facing Vill-V's dangerous remarks, Aponia, who had remained silent, finally spoke slowly, opposing Vill-V.
When she spoke of temporarily imprisoning Ren Amamiya in the deepest part, this prison specifically built for heinous criminals, Aponia's tone was filled with immense guilt and self-blame.
She didn't want to do such a cruel thing to someone she had just met, but the authority of the Key of Erosion was too dangerous. If Ren Amamiya harbored malicious intent, the entire Elysian Realm would be completely overturned because of him.
For the continued existence of the entire Elysian Realm, Aponia could only harden her heart and act this way.
The only thing that made Aponia feel somewhat relieved and puzzled was Ren Amamiya's calm composure towards the prison of the deepest part, and his claim that he had been in a cell in the deepest part before.
The deepest part was designed by the great engineer Vill-V beside her. Even Vill-V herself, a master of escape magic, couldn't leave this terrifying prison by normal means. If an ordinary person stayed in the deepest part for too long, they might even lose control due to excessive mental pressure.
But Ren Amamiya seemed to treat the dark pressure constantly emanating from the prison of the deepest part as nothing, his rock-solid spirit unshaken in the slightest, as if he had already grown accustomed to this high-pressure prison environment.
Even Aponia, the ruler of the deepest part, began to involuntarily wonder if Ren Amamiya had indeed been incarcerated in the prison of the deepest part before.
However, no matter how much Aponia tried to recall, she couldn't remember any information about Ren Amamiya from the Previous Era, as if this person had never been imprisoned in the deepest part.
To advance to the next era, the survivors of the Previous Era used the power of the Fifth Divine Key, the Key of Cessation, Dim Drains All, and slept for fifty thousand years, only awakening when the new civilization began to emerge.
Therefore, the appearance of survivors from the Previous Era in the current civilization was not entirely inconceivable.
However, even if survivors from the Previous Era successfully logged into the current civilization, thousands of years had now passed since the birth of civilization.
Aside from MANTISes like Kevin, Su, and Hua, according to a normal human lifespan, other survivors from the Previous Era should have long since died of old age.
Based on Aponia's observation of Ren Amamiya, she determined that Ren Amamiya was not an extraordinary MANTIS. He didn't possess the vast lifespan of a MANTIS; he was as young as he appeared to the naked eye.
"Ah, he's starting to talk to us... Lord God? Haha, that's quite a long-lost title, isn't it, Aponia?"
Facing Vill-V's mischievous teasing, Aponia merely lowered her eyelids silently on the surface, but in reality, even more complex thoughts and emotions surged within her heart.
Although she always wore a nun's habit, Aponia, due to her innate ability to make others believe in her, had been worshipped as a god back in Twilight Street.
After undergoing the MANTIS modification surgery and obtaining the power of [Mitra], Aponia's ability to manipulate people's hearts was further enhanced, and she even gained the authority to foresee the future.
Therefore, during the Fire Moth era, there were not a few soldier believers who regarded Aponia as a "Lord God."
When Ren Amamiya addressed Aponia as [Lord God] through the virtual screen, Aponia's heart was once again shaken violently, and she questioned Ren Amamiya's true identity anew.
To be personally recommended by Kevin to be assessed in the Elysian Realm, merely possessing the Key of Jizo Mitama was not enough qualification.
This visitor's identity was definitely not ordinary. Could it be that he really was some unexpectedly surviving member of the Previous Era?
"Hare, so he's Hare's friend... Coincidentally, I've already finished crafting all the items Hare commissioned, and I've also realized all those fantastic ideas she told me about. Let this visitor appreciate the great new inventions developed by the great magician Vill-V!!"
After listening to Ren Amamiya's words to them, Vill-V's pretty face first showed a look of sudden realization, then an extremely excited, fervent expression.
Manipulating the auxiliary machines floating around her like black and gold gears, she, at the fastest speed, one-click packaged and teleported the brand-new inventions developed under Hare's fantastic ideas to Ren Amamiya.
Ren Amamiya wanted to rely on those items and equipment to gain stronger power, to upgrade what he called [Personas], which were essentially the power of Stigmata and Honkai beasts.
And Vill-V was also eager to publicize her new inventions, to appreciate others' heartfelt shock and surprise at her inventions. She and Ren Amamiya had a completely mutually beneficial friendly relationship.
After a loud rumble, having teleported all her recently completed new inventions to Ren Amamiya's coordinates in the deepest part, Vill-V's pink and white eyes widened with great interest, greedily wanting to capture all of Ren Amamiya's reactions.
[Am I supposed to use these execution tools myself... Although I have no experience using them personally, it should be fine, right?]
On the virtual screen, watched silently by Vill-V and Aponia, Ren Amamiya slowly walked forward. He reached out and touched the guillotine, which glinted with a cold, eerie light, a look of hesitation on his face.
Execution tools should be special items used with Caroline and Justine as assistants. But Philemon, in order to hide from the evil god's eyes and ears, clearly had no intention of summoning the twin attendants.
Not to mention teleporting Caroline and Justine over, even the guillotine and electric chair Philemon had thrown in front of Ren Amamiya were subtly different from the execution tools Ren Amamiya remembered existing in the Velvet Room.
These should be different execution tools, not a direct copy of the set from the evil god's room.
In the game, Ren Amamiya had once used the guillotine to execute Caroline and Justine, thereby fusing the twin attendants into one and allowing Lavenza to return.
However, Ren Amamiya couldn't be sure if Lavenza had secretly and actively contributed to that.
But since Philemon had thrown the execution tools in front of him and hadn't even equipped him with any wild Velvet Room attendants.
That should be a hint that even if he was alone, he could successfully use these execution tools to complete Persona upgrades.
The actions of the god of unconsciousness were, of course, reliable.
Ren Amamiya relaxed. Just as he finished inspecting the guillotine and turned his gaze to the blue electric chair beside it.
Resting quietly on the seat of the electric chair, a ring flashing with a blue-purple eerie glow instantly caught his attention.
The blue-purple gemstone embedded in the center of the silver ring, no matter how he looked at it, resembled the Treasure he had previously collected from Raiden Mei's Palace!