The collapse started when Kiana came to the door

After all, Alicia is not the original Herrscher of Corrosion. Her purpose from the beginning was not to corrode these heroes who are memories. Therefore, it is impossible for her to really learn from the Herrscher of Corrosion and forcibly delete her own data as memories.

Likewise, Alicia was well aware of Sakura's abilities. As she possessed the Mark of Moment and was on full alert, even if she obtained the power of Corrosion... she didn't think she could subdue these two people in an instant.

As for using the power of erosion on them? Alicia had not thought about this question.

The power of erosion is a virus, and also a vicious power that replaces other things with itself. If the power of erosion is used to erode these memories, then at that time, these memories will no longer be the Thirteen Heroes, but simply become Alicia.

Being able to clearly recognize this is the essential difference between Alicia and the true Ruler of Corrosion.

It is precisely because of this human-oriented way of cognition that even though Alicia's power is stronger than her original self, Sakura still noticed her at the first moment.

What should I do? Seeing [myself] and Sakura hugging each other because of Ling's matter, for some reason, Alicia, who was originally a little entangled, suddenly made up her mind.

No matter! Since there is no way to erode or delete it——

——Then use the power of [Consciousness] to transfer these two memories to Captain Yu Duchen as quickly as possible!

Just as Sakura and Alicia were talking about something that Sakura accidentally saw in the paradise... that was the moment before the [Last Banquet].

Suddenly, a pink feather flew into their field of vision.

The moment the feather came into view, Sakura, who had been alert all the time, narrowed her eyes.

Of course she recognized what the feather was. Although she had anticipated many possible events, even Sakura had never anticipated that the third party who had been secretly watching them in the dark would actually possess Yu Duchen.

Oh no! When Ying saw Yu Duchen, she immediately reacted.

My judgment was wrong.

She originally thought that if the person who was spying on them possessed the power to defeat them in an instant, then there was no need for that person to spy on them in the first place.

But...if it is Yu Duchen who is the key to consciousness.

They were deceived in their perception...no matter how long they fought with that person, perhaps only a few seconds had passed in the outside world.

Could it be... that the person spying on them is Hua?

But if that is the case, why?

No! After understanding the predicament she was in, and knowing that now was not the time to think about such things, Ying grasped her Seven Sin Purifying Thunders without any hesitation before Yu Duchen's ability took full effect.

The next millisecond, accompanied by a flash of dazzling white light, Sakurajian slashed out with a sharp knife called Wanxiang Wuming.

The space was frozen, and even the time within this part of the space fell into a brief but absolute [stagnation] under the influence of the instantaneous knife.

The scene in front of her was forced by Ying to freeze at the moment when she saw Yu Duchen enter her sight.

In this way, even if she saw Yu Duchen... she should have been able to gain a brief opportunity to act before her consciousness deceived her.

Although Ying would still fall into Yu Duchen's deception of consciousness after the instant sword was lifted, at least now, Ying successfully gained a brief breathing space for herself and Alicia.

Just as she was thinking this and turned around to try to cooperate with Alicia to fight the enemy, her pupils suddenly contracted.

nobody.

Alicia, who was supposed to be behind him, has now completely disappeared.

Could it be that I couldn't catch up? The extremely fast instantaneous sword... couldn't even match the speed at which Yu Duchen's consciousness deception took effect?

No, that's not right. As a fusion warrior whose perception ability was extremely amplified by Yasha's super-mutation factor, although Sakura cannot crack the power of consciousness... but at least, she can tell whether this place is an illusion or not.

Chapter 4: Alicia: How does it feel to be stabbed in the back? (k)

It was precisely because she understood that everything in front of her was not the environment, at least for the time being, that Sakura suddenly reacted.

With his instantaneous sword strike, the two of them had indeed seized a moment's advantage when Yu Duchen was about to attack. While freezing the time and space around them, he also successfully stopped Yu Duchen's time at the moment before the power of consciousness was activated.

Yes--

——The only one whose time and space were frozen was Yu Duchen who was exercising his conscious power.

Instantaneous Sword: All Things Unknown is her unique skill. With Ying's familiarity with this move, she can certainly easily control things that have been frozen in time and space by this move.

Even though Yu Duchen's time and space and the surrounding areas were frozen by her, her time with Alicia still passed normally.

For these heroes who are memories, the consequences of having their perceptions deceived by Yu Duchen's power will not make the world like the real world. It is just that their consciousness enters the illusion, while their bodies remain intact in the outside world.

The Paradise of the Past was originally a virtual world composed of memories. Therefore, after Yu Duchen's power took effect, Alicia, who was a memory, would naturally disappear without a trace.

Although I bought myself a moment, but... it was only in such a short time. Did Yu Duchen's ability still work on Alicia? In the dim archive room where time and space were frozen, Ying's face looked a little gloomy, but at the same time, she felt a little fortunate.

The power of the Key of God has a lot to do with its holder, and she is very clear about Alicia's strength. Like Kevin, normally, if Hua Lai uses Yu Duchen, then the consciousness deception will not be effective on the two of them.

Therefore, it should not be Hua, the owner of the Feather Dust, who caused Alicia to disappear. If Hua had used the Feather Dust, the feather would not have appeared in this bright, eye-catching, dangerous and deadly pink color.

So, is it someone from Hua... who trapped Alicia in the illusion?

Reason told Ying that the most important thing she should do now was to find a way to contact any one of Hua, Su and Aponia, the three companions who could also control consciousness, before she entered the illusion. But... she looked at the time and space around her that had begun to stir and was expected to recover in about half a second, and she couldn't help but hold her breath for a moment.

As an assassin known for her speed even among all the heroes, it was not difficult for her to escape from this place and find other heroes before Yu Duchen could have any effect on her.

However, the seed of doubt quietly took root and sprouted deep in Sakura's heart...

Although Hua’s suspicion has been ruled out by her, but...what about the other heroes?

Yu Duchen is not the divine key that only Hua can use. If it is used by other heroes who are stronger than Hua, then it is still unknown whether its power of consciousness can be effective on Alicia.

No, I can’t notify other heroes for the time being.

Even if I go to look for Hua, who has been ruled out as a suspect by her due to her limited strength... I have no way of grasping her exact location now.

In the process of searching for Hua, there is not only the risk of being discovered by other heroes, but the situation Alicia is faced with may also be further deteriorated during this period of time.

Although letting Qianjie know about this might not be a good thing, but if neither herself nor Alicia could go back... Thinking of this, Ying sighed softly, and her eyes became firm.

Sakura, who had made up her mind, sent a distress signal specifically for the poison pupa to Qianjie. Then, she closed her eyes and gradually returned to the dim room where time flowed. With a pink light covering her body, she and Alicia disappeared completely.

"..."

In less than a blink of an eye, the dark vision was suddenly enveloped by a dazzling light.

It felt like suddenly walking from a pitch-black room into the sun with eyes closed.

The strong light penetrated her eyelids and reached her vision directly, making Sakura, who thought she had entered an illusion, feel a little uncomfortable.

Before her vision fully recovered, Sakura used her keen sense of aura to grasp how many people were nearby and their identities in the blink of an eye.

...Alicia is indeed here, and judging from her aura, she doesn't seem to be in any danger.

Before Sakura could breathe a sigh of relief that Alicia was safe, she suddenly froze.

In addition to Alicia, there are six other auras nearby.

The scent of three unknown people.

Kevin's breath.

There is another person who is a bit similar to Hua... but I always feel that there is a subtly different aura in some decisive places.

And... there is another aura of Alicia.

"Why does she keep her eyes closed?" Just when Ying was lost in confusion, a clear voice with doubt suddenly sounded.

"Maybe she's trying to escape reality." Another unfamiliar male voice answered the former's question in a tone that sounded like he was trying to hold back a laugh. "After all, even with her eyes closed, she should have been able to detect our identities with her keen sense of smell."

It seemed that after hearing the conversation between the two, she felt a little bit unbearable to watch. In Ying's perception, a helpless sigh came from Kevin's direction, followed by Kevin's voice that she was quite familiar with: "... Ying, you can open your eyes now."

"..." Following Kevin's instructions, Ying opened her eyes silently. She looked around, first at the three strange figures, and after confirming that they had no hostility at all, she looked at the figure that looked like Yu Hua.

...No, rather than saying they are similar, the figure looking at a light curtain, no matter how you look at it, should be Hua himself.

"Huh?" As if she was aware of her gaze, Hua turned around and gave Ying a brilliant and exaggerated smile. She raised her arm and waved at her: "Hi! Ying! It's been so long, why do you still look like Kevin?"

Just one sentence made Ying understand that the person who looked no different from Hua was definitely not Hua.

At least... it's definitely not the Hua I know.

Out of politeness, she nodded to "Hua", then turned her eyes to Kevin, whose name "Hua" used as an adjective, and asked bluntly: "Kevin, what's going on?"

"..." Kevin was silent for a moment, and then said in a flat tone without any ups and downs, "Just as you can see."

"...I'm not Raiden Mei." Sakura raised her eyebrows, once again sympathizing with Raiden Mei's experience in the paradise from the bottom of her heart, "You shouldn't use such vague statements to fool me. What I want to know is the current detailed situation."

"Your perception has deteriorated, Ying." Kevin glanced in the direction of the two Alicias, "If it were you in the past, you would have immediately understood that the me standing here is not the memory of the paradise in the past life."

"...But as far as I know, this should be impossible." She turned her stiff neck and shifted her gaze in the direction of the two Alicias. Her eyes, which had always been cold and calm, were filled with a wavering look. "Alisa, it should have been..."

"Sorry! Sakura!" Suddenly, Alicia bowed slightly towards Sakura and clasped her hands together.

That was Alicia, the memory body. She smiled awkwardly, revealing an embarrassed and awkward expression for the first time: "Although it's very sudden and hard for you to believe, to be honest... I also feel a little unreal, but as expected... the real me seems, maybe, possibly, probably, still alive?"

"Is it necessary to use so many uncertain words? Why don't I remember that the memory I left behind is of a person who is so unsure of himself?" The other Alicia pouted. She put her hands on her hips and glared at her own memory with an embarrassed face. Then she turned her head and looked in Sakura's direction with a look full of dissatisfaction. "And Sakura too, is it something so unacceptable that Miss Fairy is still alive? Humph~ I'm going to be angry."

"..." Sakura didn't say anything, but silently looked at Alicia, who was also a memory like her and was grabbing her face in embarrassment.

Why do I find it incredible that you are still alive...you ask me this?

Just a minute ago, your memory confirmed to me that the scenes I saw were facts that had happened, and I also used my perception ability to receive your [End] in the paradise of the past.

The Paradise of the Past is a space made up of the memories of the Thirteen Heroes. In other words, everyone believes that you have entered your own end.

And now... you suddenly tell me that you're back?

Although it felt extremely absurd, Sakura suddenly had a strange feeling when she saw the expression of embarrassment, helplessness and guilt in Alicia's memory.

It seems... if it is the real Alicia, it doesn't seem so strange that she appeared in a way that even her own memory could not have expected.

This unexpected and free-spirited style of doing things is, it must be said, very much like Alicia.

"Okay, okay, Miss Fairy is not an unreasonable person. I know that in your perception, Alicia ended her colorful life after attending the last banquet in her best clothes." Alicia spread her hands and put on an expression of unbearable pain. "I can't deny it. This is indeed a fact that happened."

"Then how did you survive?" Alicia, the memory, asked curiously with sparkling eyes, "If I had known earlier that I would still live so beautifully after that, Kevin and the others wouldn't have to feel sad and heartbroken about my affairs. Well, now that I think about it, I really feel a little sorry for them."

"You want to know?" Alicia suddenly laughed.

"Of course I do. Just tell me." Although it was the same person, Alicia's memory didn't seem to have any resistance to being spoiled by her. She grabbed Alicia's hand and shook it, "Okay~"

"Hmm, it's really me. I'm really cute when I act like a spoiled child." Alicia smiled brightly. She narrowed her eyes, raised the other hand that was not caught by her memory, raised a finger and shook it, her pleasant voice full of regret, "But I'm very sorry, it's precisely because you are as cute as me and very popular with boys that I can't let you know about this. You should understand me, right?"

"Hey~~ You are too cunning, eating alone." Alicia's memory made a tone that sounded quite dissatisfied, "We are obviously the same person, so we should share interesting things and memories together. I will also tell you the interesting things that happened in the paradise, okay? Okay?"

"No~No~" Alicia scratched the nose of her memory, blinked her clear eyes, and said meaningfully, "Even if it's another me, there are some things about personal privacy that cannot be shared."

"Hmm..." Alicia, who was a memory body, uttered a dissatisfied nasal sound. She rolled her eyes and suddenly turned her gaze to Kevin.

"Sorry." As a result, before Alicia, the memory, could ask a question, Kevin said two very simple and easy-to-understand words, and then turned his gaze away very casually, as if he didn't realize that Alicia's memory was staring at him.

He didn't want to... and didn't have the ability to get involved in the dispute between Ai Lishia and him.

"Okay, okay, since you are so determined not to tell me, I won't ask." Alicia's memory seemed to be defeated, and she sighed deeply, but in the next moment, her face suddenly covered with a beautiful, moving and happy smile again.

She trotted all the way to the Herrscher of Knowledge, circled around her a few times in Xiao Shi's confused gaze, then nodded as if she suddenly understood something strange, and then ran away to the sides of Kiana and Yulandel, touching her chin and carefully looking at the sisters.

The moment Alicia was satisfied with the memory that Li Shubai was not aware of his reaction because he was a man, she nodded calmly.

To everyone's surprise, the memory of Alicia, who was still circling around Yulandel and Kiana the previous second, came to Li Shubai's side at lightning speed, then grabbed his palm and glanced at her own body inconspicuously.

After seeing the expression on her original body's face at that moment, Alicia's memory knew... that she had guessed correctly.

"I wonder if I could get to know this handsome young man who once saved me?" Her face, as beautiful as flying flowers, showed a bright and moving happy smile. "My name is Alicia. As you can see, I am a beautiful girl who lives up to my name."

Alicia: "..."

Chapter 4 Ying: Is it too late for me to pretend I know nothing now? (k)

Although his hands were held by Alicia's memory and she was close enough to let them feel each other's breath, Li Shubai did not show any shyness or panic.

He raised his eyebrows, first glanced at his own Alicia with a gloomy face, then looked at the memory of the smiling Alicia with interest, and asked curiously: "How do you know that I rescued your original body?"

"Hehe. After getting the answer from her, Alicia's memory playfully stuck out her pink tongue, "You asked a girl's secret so bluntly when you first met her? Although you look like an honest boy, you seem to be bolder than I thought."

"As far as boldness is concerned, I'm definitely not as good as you." Li Shubai glanced at the hand that was tightly held by Alicia's memory and refused to let go. A strange light flashed through his mind, "If you hold the hands of the opposite sex you meet for the first time without hesitation, if the gender is reversed, if others see it, they will probably think you are teasing me, um...how does that sentence go?"

"Really? Are you teasing me on purpose? How can you do this to a boy you just met?" Li Shubai laughed, "You have a cute face, but your mind is unexpectedly naughty - is that the feeling?"

Hearing these familiar words, Alicia, as a memory, was moved.

These words——are what he once said to Mei Raiden, who had just entered the paradise.

"After all, cute girls always have some willful privileges." She maintained the posture of holding Li Shubai's palm, raised her arm, and her flawless and beautiful face bloomed with a bright and warm smile like a rose. "Could it be that you feel uncomfortable holding my hand?"