Hello everyone, this is Mushroom, who has finally succeeded in wriggling forward with all my might.
Volume 5 features Fina's long-awaited return and "iFina TV," which is a plotline and development I had already planned out while writing Volume 1.
Seeing everyone's reactions after writing it, I feel the reception has been quite good. Let me take a moment to praise myself first.
I'm so awesome! ︿(￣︶￣)︿
Now, let me answer a few questions that everyone is very curious about.
Regarding Ela and Fina's win rate.
Personally, I still don't agree with the view that Ela is guaranteed to win. First of all, the dust hasn't settled on the plot yet, and Fina's current performance has stabilized. I think it's too premature to declare Ela's victory right now.
However, I can understand why everyone feels this way.
The root cause is that I went a bit too hard in Volume 4.
My original plan for Volume 4 was for Xiao Ai and Ela to explore the darkness of the Church together, then have Xiao Ai deeply analyze Ela's psychology after joining the Church. Once they resolved her emotional knot, they would fight the boss together, increasing their affection and progressing their relationship.
The original boss was supposed to be Cecilia.
However, this concept was shattered while I was writing Volume 2.
The conversation where the two established their bond didn't achieve the exact effect I wanted, but it did give me a very special feeling.
For Ela, who hadn't known love or care since childhood, what truly made her who she is today wasn't just the Church, but also the village where she grew up.
Naturally, I wondered if I could start with the village.
And then... it turned out like this.
Xiao Ai entered Ela's memories to create beautiful moments for her, while leaving behind enough anchor points through two deaths. The scene where she faced Beatrice head-on got my blood pumping. A small story of hope fighting against despair isn't something easily matched.
In terms of the final effect and my writing experience at the time, I am highly satisfied.
The Hero riding the evil beast, galloping atop the Black Tide. Facing the falling blazing sun, charging toward the arrogant Saintess.
It was incredibly cool... I got so hyped up writing it...
But here came the problem.
Ela developed way too damn well in Volume 4!
A single event simultaneously resolved her emotional knot, deepened their bond, created shared memories, and gave them the experience of life-and-death parting.
More importantly, their feelings can no longer conflict.
Ela has clearly realized she likes Esper, and Esper has decided to shoulder Ela's life.
The relationship loop is just too perfect.
To the point that when I reviewed it, I found it incredibly hard to keep a straight face.
Rafina was inadvertently completely outclassed by the Saintess in just one major volume...
Alas...
That being said, I still don't think Fina is bound to lose.
Even though Ela's development got a tiny bit out of my control, it doesn't mean Fina is doomed to defeat.
Have faith that our Demon King can still keep rising...
Next, about the Abyss Expedition.
I've actually seriously considered the fact that I write a massive amount of battles in a girls' love novel.
I've seen a lot of comments in the review section complaining about how much I write battles... I am deeply, deeply sorry for that...
Because of this, I actually cut an entire volume's worth of plot.
It was about Noelle.
Cirian (the Abomination Herder from Volume 2) and Vivian were originally planned to appear in that volume, and I wanted to add some battle gimmicks that I personally thought were really cool.
But in the end, I just cut it entirely and moved some of it to be handled during the Abyss Expedition.
And now, the Abyss Expedition has arrived.
I have seriously reflected on the battle scenes.
An Abyss Expedition must have an expedition...
Sigh, that's not actually the point.
The Abyss Expedition is an important period for resolving loose ends. The foreshadowing laid down earlier, as well as various side pairings and side routes, will be wrapped up here.
I have to write about the Sword Saint and Yulia, Noelle and Vivian, other factions, and all sorts of other things...
So, battles are unavoidable. I can only convey this to everyone with regret.
However, I will try my best to focus the spotlight on the main cast. You don't have to worry about a whole volume where Xiao Ai and the others have less screen time than the side characters.
Just believe. Believing doesn't need a reason...
Rate on N.U.
