“It really is hard to find~” Elysia checked the map repeatedly, finally confirming that the small town nestled at the end of the country road was indeed her destination.
Let’s just say there was a reason Falco approved this place as a settlement for Kosma and the others; even with an exact address, Elysia almost got lost in the mountain ravines while following the navigation, and in the end, she had to rely on following the suspension lines of the Cocoon of Finality to find her way out.
Wherever there are people, there are suspension lines, and where the suspension lines are dense, that is naturally a settlement.
Humming a tune, Elysia walked into the small town.
It was no different from thousands of other small towns in the European Union: blue skies, fresh breezes, neatly arranged bungalows, and people strolling leisurely on the streets.
Because it was far enough from the hustle and bustle, the people here still maintained a relaxed pace of life.
In the future, with each Great Honkai, the Order here would also gradually collapse, and eventually, the entire town would be destroyed by a casual blow from the Fourth Herrscher.
The Flame-Chasers of [Daybreak], this was his starting point.
A few children ran toward her, playing and laughing.
Elysia gently called out to them and, as if performing a magic trick, produced many candies to share with them.
“If you take big sister’s candy, you have to answer big sister’s question, okay~” Elysia asked kindly, “Have you seen Kosma?” “Is that the big brother who wants to be a hero?
I know him.” The child pointed her in the right direction.
Elysia thanked them and left.
At a courtyard on the very edge of the town, she saw a figure from afar, swinging a sword with great effort.
Since he was a child, Kosma had wanted to be a hero.
Perhaps he had seen the legend of a hero in a storybook one day, or perhaps he had seen a Good Samaritan subduing a criminal on the street; he no longer remembered the origin of his ideal.
But he just wanted to be a hero.
In heroic epics, heroes always travel to various countries, defeating one strong enemy after another to grow, finally arriving at the most prosperous capital to take on the heavy responsibility of protecting the nation.
He didn’t have such grand ambitions, but he would at least try to protect this nameless frontier town.
His frail body clearly couldn’t realize his ideals, so from a young age, Kosma had spontaneously engaged in training, which he called hero training.
Today, he held a wooden sword he had whittled himself, swinging it forcefully at a wooden post over and over again, carving marks of varying depths.
Only when he was drenched in sweat did he stop, panting, and wipe his forehead.
Clap, clap, clap.
He heard applause.
Turning back, he saw a pink-haired girl sitting on the fence, watching him with a smile.
The sunlight outlined a halo around her, dreamlike and illusory.
“…” (What a beautiful girl.) He was stunned.
As everyone knows, Kosma has absolutely no resistance to children under twelve.
“Hello there~” Elysia greeted him with a bright smile, “Are you training?
You’re working very hard.” Kosma was startled by this sudden, enthusiastic greeting, and a slight blush appeared on his face.
He wasn’t very good at handling such direct praise.
“Nice to meet you, my name is Elysia, a traveler touring the world.” She swung her legs freely, full of smiles.
“…Kosma.” He answered in a low voice, hesitated for a moment, then raised his volume and repeated, “My name is Kosma.” [Daybreak] Kosma.
From a young age, he made a great vow to become a hero, and for the rest of his life, he practiced his belief at every moment.
During the Fourth Honkai, Kosma almost died from a casual blow by the Herrscher of Wind.
After being saved by Kevin, he joined the Fire MOTHS to fight against the Honkai, and later fused with Vishnu to become one of the first MANTIS.
Within the Fire MOTHS, both Mobius and Kevin were his guides, holding a very high position in his heart.
But during the Ninth Honkai, Kevin asked Huo to contain the Herrscher of Earth, which ultimately led to Huo’s sacrifice.
Kosma broke with Kevin over this.
In immense anger and helplessness, he underwent Metamorphosis, transformed into a beast, and left after leaving behind his badge.
Yet, he still silently hunted Honkai Beasts in the shadows to protect others and was brought back to the team by Mobius not long after.
He was not a leader, but he was undoubtedly a warrior worthy of respect.
He rejected the selection for the Ark Project and passed it on to Griseo, choosing to step onto the battlefield facing the finality, ultimately dying in battle.
“…
‘World’?
That’s a very nice name.” Elysia jumped off the fence with both hands, landing gracefully, “Seeing you practice swordplay has piqued my interest.
You might not believe it, but I’m actually a martial artist too.
Could you lend me the sword to swing for a moment?
Just for a moment~” “…Oh, oh.” He obediently handed over the sword.
Faced with a stranger, he shouldn’t have let his guard down so easily.
But facing her, he couldn’t help but choose to trust her.
The moment he took the wooden sword, Kosma felt a subtle change in Elysia’s temperament.
Although it was still gentle and warm, it now carried a sharpness that could not be ignored.
Elysia lightly brushed the blade with two fingers, then straightened her posture and swung it once.
The wind from the sword was sharp, cutting off a few fallen leaves, and the remaining force carved deep marks on the wooden post.
She couldn’t apply more force, or the sword would break.
Kosma stood there, stunned for a long time, but the brightening in his eyes revealed his thoughts.
“Are you going to ask me how I did it?” Elysia easily read his thoughts.
Kosma nodded imperceptibly.
“Diligent practice, plus a little bit of natural talent,” she gestured with her fingers, “You’ll be able to do it too in time~” This wasn’t an empty promise; some warriors with strong adaptability to Honkai Energy could have their physiques strengthened to an incredible degree under the Honkai.
For example, Kevin before the Third Honkai was at most a sunny boy who was good at basketball, but when fleeing Changkong City, he could knock over a Honkai Beast three stories high and weighing dozens of tons with a single strike.
Kosma, who could withstand the [Vishnu] factor, was naturally one of them.
After Elysia returned the sword to him, she walked to the wooden post: “However, if you have the right guidance, you can do it like me sooner~” Her expression became slightly more serious, and Kosma immediately stood at attention subconsciously.
“First, look at this mark,” Elysia pointed to the sword mark he had made earlier, “The surface of the cross-section is smooth, but the deep part is rough, which means the follow-through was insufficient.
It was clearly a horizontal cut, but the path of the cut went slightly downward, which means your posture for exerting force was wrong.
Similarly, the intersecting lines of the cut are too low, which is also because your movements were distorted when swinging.” With every sentence Elysia said, Kosma’s shoulders slumped a little, and by the end, he could barely hold the sword.
“But, the form is still quite good.
You can tell it’s the result of diligent practice.” Elysia offered a final comfort.
Kosma recovered a bit of color from his greyed-out state.
“Understanding these is to do better next time.
Swing the sword, remember the points I mentioned before, and go feel your own shortcomings.” She walked to the side, akimbo, and blinked, “I’ll be on the side to help correct you~” With guidance, Kosma felt his energy multiply and swinging the sword became much easier.
Elysia corrected his posture and movements from time to time, and he gradually found the hang of it, swinging the sword with increasing ease, slowly progressing from messy hacking to having some method to it.
When he came to his senses, it was already sunset.
Kosma was surprised to find that he had practiced for most of the day and still had energy left.
“Your previous force-exertion posture was wrong, so muscle fatigue was naturally severe.
You have to mobilize your whole body to swing, that way it will be easier.” Elysia explained, “Use your whole body as the hilt, not just a single arm.” “…Thank you.” Kosma said in a low voice.
Elysia looked at the sky.
“It’s getting late.
You’ve worked hard practicing all day,” she clapped her hands and asked with a smile, “You must have something supporting you to persist in such hard training, can you tell me about it?” Kosma was silent for a while, then took a deep breath and raised his head, meeting Elysia’s gaze for the first time, and said seriously: “I want to be a hero.” The heart of a young person, nothing more than this.
Elysia looked at his eyes and smiled slightly: “A very great ideal~” “Then, whose hero do you want to be?” “…The hero of everyone in this small town.” “I see…” Elysia paused for a while and continued, “Then, what if I could give you a chance to step into a bigger world and learn to protect more people?
Would you come with me?” “…I.” Kosma was at a loss.
Generally speaking, these words coming from someone he had just met less than a day ago would be absolutely malicious.
But deep in his heart, he strangely couldn’t muster a shred of doubt or guard.
He always believed that what she said was true; she really hoped he could step into a bigger world and become a greater hero.
Kosma turned back to look at the scenery of the town.
He had never stepped out of this place for even half a step; this was his everything.
The outside world was too unfamiliar to him, and he had no idea what he would encounter.
“I…” He stuttered, not knowing what to say.
He clenched his hands, and shamefully discovered that he was actually a bit afraid.
“In that case, I won’t force you~” Elysia offered an out at the right time, “It won’t be too late to set off when you’re ready in the future.” “…Oh, oh.” He felt as if he had been granted an amnesty.
“Don’t feel ashamed of your hesitation,” Elysia comforted him, “After all, it was too sudden on my part.
I’m sorry, will you forgive me~” She leaned closer to Kosma and blinked pleadingly.
“…It’s okay.” Kosma blushed and couldn’t help but look away.
He was still too young, Elysia thought.
She had the memories of her previous life of over twenty years, and Vill-V herself was a precocious genius, so she subconsciously ignored that most of the Flame-Chasers were still immature children.
What she was doing now was forcing him to take on responsibilities that didn’t belong to him while he was still immature.
This didn’t sound like Elysia at all…
She sighed.
“Then that’s it.
Remember what I taught you today, keep persisting, and sooner or later you will be able to become a hero~” Elysia walked to the side, looked up at the completely dissipated threads, and waved at him, “Goodbye.” Since that was the case, before they grew up, she would be the one to protect their world.
The afterglow of the setting sun hit Elysia’s back, gilding her with a soft halo, bright but not dazzling, just like her smile at this moment.
Kosma was stunned.
He only felt that the abstract, symbolic hero in stories finally had a realistic and perfect incarnation at this moment.
Is this, a true hero?
A yearning arose in Kosma’s heart.
The country breeze blew Elysia’s long pink hair.
She looked at the setting sun in the distance, recalling a conversation with Falco before leaving.
“I want to give you an investment.” Falco stood by the window with his hands behind his back, staring at the night skyline of Lang City.
The glow of the neon lights fell, reflecting in his eyes, while Elysia stood beside him, listening silently, “I can indeed have the final say in this city, but at the same time, this city is also my shackle.
My reach can’t go too far, and now, the gangs outside seem to be acting a bit out of line.” “So you want me to be that outpost and break their hands?” Elysia asked.
“Naturally,” he turned around and looked down at her, “If you agree, I will pass on all my experience to you.
You will know every detail of the dark side of the European Union, as well as the connections that the so-called big figures on the surface will never let others know.
You will learn how to get along with them, how to use them, and how to control them.
And I will endorse you, giving you a considerable amount of start-up capital.
So, what is your intention?” Half of Falco’s face was hidden in the shadows, his outline as tough as a cliff.
His eyes were sharp, like an eagle.
“May I ask, why me?” “Intuition.” Falco left it at that and did not offer any further explanation.
Elysia thought for a while, then met his gaze and nodded slightly.
And at this very moment, her life completely embarked on a different path.
“Sigh…” Thinking of this, Elysia sighed softly, her gaze looking into the distance.
She seemed to be able to see the endless cities nestled between mountains and plains, and beneath the steel jungle reflecting cold light, was a tangled web.
Countless people were bound by the web, drifting in the world.
“The real main event is next~” She smiled slightly.