"Clang!"
The monster collapsed instantly. Mei watched the substance, which dissolved like ink, disappear, her face fluctuating between anger and worry. After sheathed her sword, she looked at Pardo, who was hiding nearby, trembling and on the verge of digging a hole to bury her head.
"So you really can't fight at all?"
"I-I told you already... Lin-ge, Kalpas-ge, and Sister Sakura were always at the front before. As for me, I'm not very useful." Pardo finally breathed a sigh of relief after the monster was completely eliminated. She scratched the back of her head and laughed sheepishly, without any trace of embarrassment. "Everyone says Lin-ge protected me too well, but I really can't fight Honkai Beasts..."
"Were you in the same squad as Lin before?"
Mei knew the previous civilization's Fire Moth adopted a squad system, just like Schicksal. Logically, Lin was in a frontline squad. How could a member like Pardo, who couldn't fight at all, be in Lin squad?
"Hehe, this is the method of Being lazy I'm most proud of."
"...Being lazy?"
Just then, Kosma walked out from the anchor point again. He said calmly, "Switching between multiple squads with different work natures is Pardo's way of Being lazy."
"Uh, Kosma, how did you know that..."
"You told me yourself, back when you, Sakura, and I were assigned to the same squad."
"…"
Mei wasn't here to listen to them reminisce. She gripped her sword hilt defensively, looking at the young man whose presence was extraordinary: "What did you mean just now?"
"Have you met Kalpas yet?" Kosma didn't answer her directly, but instead asked a question.
"...What does this have to do with Kalpas?"
"You've already experienced Kalpas's way of communicating, so there's no need to be surprised when other MANTIS show similar behavior, is there?"
That was actually true. After witnessing Kalpas's extraordinary initial appearance, this level seemed acceptable.
But Mei still wanted to ask: can't you people appear as calmly as Elysia and Lin?
"Just consider this having passed my trial. I will bestow the Signet of Daybreak upon you. So, go back now," Kosma still wore the same lifeless expression as Kevin and Lin.
"Didn't you hear me? I'm not here for you or your Signet..."
"You're the one who isn't listening. Didn't I already tell you?" Kosma's tone suddenly dropped. "The Deepest Abyss is not a place for you to go. You claim you're here for Lin, but you cannot provide any evidence."
"Kevin can testify for me."
"Kevin?"
Kosma paused for a few seconds, seemingly calculating something.
"Where is Kevin now?" He quickly asked another question.
"...He is in the Elysian Realm, but he separated from us and went to investigate on his own."
"...No, your words are not credible at all."
"You—"
"However, Lin entrusted me with something."
Kosma abruptly interrupted Mei. He said coldly, "If a visitor strongly desires to enter the Deepest Abyss, I was told to give this to the visitor."
Mei took the object from Kosma's hand in a daze.
A cross?
It was a small cross pendant, looking like a cheap handicraft that could be bought from any street vendor.
"I advise you, that was a gift from Aponia to Lin, and I am merely safeguarding it for now. You had better not lose that cross."
Kosma's seemingly unintentional sentence once again brought up the name "Aponia."
"Don't worry, even if it gets lost, I'll find it!" Pardo rubbed her hands, smiling broadly. "Familiar friends get an 80% discount on finding services, Sister Mei."
This girl truly never forgot to conduct business.
Mei shook her head. She had more important matters to attend to: "Kosma, Aponia..."
"No comment."
"…"
Having hit a solid wall, Mei temporarily left the strange space with Pardo and returned to the lounge.
"Speaking of which, Pardo, you don't seem as worried about Lin as you were before." Mei was curious about Pardo's seemingly nonchalant attitude toward Lin matter. After all, Pardo had gone from anxious to indifferent in a short time.
"Because I think Kosma... might be right." Pardo waved her hand. "Hey! Sister Mei, I'm not saying you're lying, but Kosma is right. Lin-ge is basically untouchable here. Even Sister Snake is kept in check by him, and he often does weird stuff. Suddenly disappearing is not uncommon, so you might just have been... played by Lin-ge."
Mei didn't believe the situation at the time was fabricated by Lin just to tease her, but without evidence, it was hard to explain clearly. She decided not to bother and instead looked at the pendant in her hand.
Upon closer inspection, the pendant was still ordinary. She couldn't see anything special about it that would make Lin specifically entrust Kosma to give it to a visiting applicant.
"Pardo, do you know what this is?" Pardo, being well-informed and fond of collecting, should know this.
"This? Sister Aponia gave it to Lin-ge. I don't understand exactly what it's meant to convey, but Lin-ge and Sister Aponia seemed to have done something at the time, and Sister Aponia gave the pendant she always wore around her neck to Lin-ge."
A token of love?
The first word that popped into Mei's mind made her involuntarily clutch her forehead.
That shouldn't be likely... Lin never seemed to mention Aponia.
Wait a moment, she seemed to have forgotten something.
Since she couldn't ask Kosma about Aponia, asking Pardo and the others should be the same, right?
"Pardo, who exactly is Aponia? Why did Lin want me to find her?"
"Sister Aponia? I remember she was ranked third."
Third?
Only lower than Kevin and Elysia?
Mei knew that while the ranking of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers wasn't directly correlated with power, it certainly had some connection. For this person named Aponia to rank higher than Eden, Kalpas, and Mobius, there must be a reason.
"I..."
Just as Mei was about to ask another question, a dizzy spell came over her. With little resistance, amidst Pardo's frantic cries of "Sister Mei, what's wrong," her consciousness fell into darkness.
...
Drip-drop.
A distant sound of dripping liquid startled Mei awake.
She climbed up from the floor and saw a path lined with iron cells on both sides, like an infinitely spreading prison.
Drip-drop.
"Mei, 'please' come over."
At the end of the path, an ethereal voice robbed her of the rest of her consciousness.
"You came for Lin, didn't you?"