The moment tears fell from her cheeks, even breathing became painful. Mei felt neither anger nor sadness, only slowly closing her eyes, silently tucking the silver coin back into her inner clothing.
"Hehe, can you tell me how you feel right now? Pain? Regret? Or perhaps anger at being deceived by me?" Seeing her reaction, [Pure Evil] Vill-V became even more unrestrained. "Come on, tell me. I'll listen carefully to your woes. After all, this is the source of my pleasure."
[Pure Evil] was the amalgamation of the seven main personalities' negative emotions, born from despair and feeding on pain. Besides being inherently malicious, she could also draw strength from others' despair, enhancing her own power.
Meaning, the stronger Mei's emotions, the stronger [Pure Evil] would become. That's why, even knowing the Herrscher was dangerous, she continued to provoke her.
However, she soon discovered, to her astonishment, that no matter how she stimulated Mei, her own strength didn't change at all. The girl before her was like a pool of stagnant water, without the slightest ripple.
"This is impossible." [Pure Evil] began to doubt reality. She had clearly seen the change in Mei's expression, yet failed to sense even a speck of emotion. This was clearly abnormal.
"Haha, you're just putting up a brave front, aren't you? How pathetic."
"But it's understandable. After all, you're the mighty Herrscher of Thunder. How could you possibly expose your weakness?" Vill-V giggled, dancing gleefully on Mei's last nerve. "But it's truly pitiful, isn't it? Possessing all that power, yet unable to do anything, unable to protect anyone."
Finished speaking, she immediately looked into Mei's eyes, anticipating the fury hidden within.
Her provocation was indeed successful. Mei opened her eyes again. Within the deep violet irises, endless bolts of lightning seemed to flicker and clash.
Yet, even so, [Pure Evil] couldn't draw out any negative emotion. It was as if Mei's heart at this moment was merely a piece of decaying wood.
"Vill-V, let me tell you something." Mei's voice was calm, though slightly hoarse. "Negative emotions are also excellent fuel for Herrschers. Also, as a swordswoman, controlling one's emotions is the most basic skill."
The moment her words fell, time itself seemed to freeze. By the time Vill-V reacted, only a bright red line remained before her eyes.
Swish.
The sound of metal breaking, then the wind rushed again. Barely dodging with a backward somersault, [Pure Evil] reached up to touch her head, only finding half of her severed mechanical hat. If she had reacted even a fraction slower, she would already be a ghost under Mei's blade.
"Heh... hehe, looks like you really are angry." She tried to say more, but her pupils suddenly constricted, and she scrambled desperately towards the cannon turret.
Even so, the short distance of a dozen meters was fraught with peril. Compared to previous data, Raiden Mei's strength had increased severalfold.
Vill-V knew nothing about the trope of 'turning evil makes you ten times stronger'; she only knew she seemed to have provoked an existence she shouldn't have.
"Damn it! Just a mere Herrscher!"
As the Previous Era's top machinist, Vill-V had handled at least seven or eight Herrscher Cores, excluding the Herrscher of Sentience. Although [Pure Evil] herself wasn't the one who forged them, it didn't stop her from viewing Herrschers as mere crafting materials.
Especially since Mei was a Herrscher from the current era, who couldn't even beat the 8th floor of the training grounds when she first entered the Elysian Realm. Now trapped in her snare, shouldn't Mei be easy prey?
That was her initial thought, but the situation had clearly spiraled beyond her control.
Successfully mounting her exclusive armament, a translucent energy shield immediately deflected the thunderous assault. As [Pure Evil] breathed a sigh of relief, the thought of escape also sprouted in her mind.
"This is a consciousness domain. As long as I use the original personality's ability to segment the consciousness area..."
Despite her own ambition, she still had to rely on the main body's abilities in the end. [Pure Evil] didn't care about such details; she activated the mech fully, unleashing the armed vehicle's firepower upon Mei.
It had to be said, the specialized armament built by the Expert, Model Nine, was indeed powerful. Even though Mei's swordsmanship could easily kill Vill-V herself, she still couldn't breach the vehicle's defenses. Coupled with [Pure Evil]'s suppressive fire, victory wasn't easily attainable.
After all, a change in mindset didn't magically boost strength. The change [Pure Evil] sensed was merely Mei gaining further control over her Herrscher authority.
"The next act is called... Clamor!" Firing wildly, Vill-V laughed maniacally. Having decided to flee, she completely disregarded the vehicle's overheating, ejecting the saw blades at the front and charging towards Mei.
However, this level of attack couldn't even graze Mei's clothes. The reckless charge instead gave Mei an opportunity to counterattack.
"Hahaha! Useless! Useless!" Watching Mei's long sword being repeatedly blocked by the barrier, [Pure Evil] mocked her wildly.
The next second, the sound of the shield shattering abruptly rang out. The thunderous sword pierced into the war machine, grazing past her ear.
Sharp pain flared. A long, bleeding gash appeared on Vill-V's cheek. Her eyes widened; her strength unexpectedly surged slightly.
Clearly, this was her own fear of death.
Fear bred madness. Gritting her teeth, [Pure Evil] charged towards Mei in a suicidal ramming attack. Simultaneously, the Clamor armament's interior completely overheated, emitting urgent warning sirens.
"Meet your destruction!!"
Amidst frenzied shouts, the war machine erupted into a ball of fire, exploding practically right next to Mei. In an instant, the self-destruct, comparable to a small nuclear bomb, melted the surrounding structures, dragging everything into a sea of flames.
From the rising flames of the self-destruction, a battered Vill-V scrambled out of the inferno, not daring to even glance back at Mei.
"Next, I just need to segment the consciousness, and I can trap her completely!"
Having escaped, [Pure Evil] immediately invoked the original persona's ability, combining the eight empty personality areas into an endlessly looping staircase, using spatial cycles to construct an infinite maze prison.
"These Herrschers are just as disgusting as ever! Still not dead after that!" Using her god's-eye view, [Pure Evil] stealthily observed the explosion's aftermath. Unfortunately, apart from some minor injuries, Mei's combat capability remained unaffected.
"I need to use this time while she's trapped to quickly contact the Herrscher of Corruption..."
With the thought formed, [Pure Evil] prepared to exit the consciousness space. Since the other Flame-Chasers hadn't noticed yet, she might as well take them all out.
But after waiting for over ten seconds, she realized she was still standing in the same spot, unable to leave the consciousness space or establish a connection with her body.
Swish. [Pure Evil]'s expression turned deathly pale, then morphed into extreme fury.
"It was you! You again! Vill-V!"
The true master of this body – Vill-V the Genius.
[Pure Evil] thought she had built a prison for Mei, but this consciousness domain... wasn't it also the prison the original persona had prepared for her?