"My Lady!!!" A mournful cry echoed in the golden-haired girl's mind, jolting her from her deep contemplation.
"Why the panic? Such disarray... Speak, my child, what troubles you?"
A flicker of displeasure in her voice quickly faded, replaced by weary affection.
"Um... it's about... well, you know..." Muninn's normally urgent tone suddenly wavered.
"So... which one are you referring to?" The girl's voice remained steady, unhurried.
"Er, the Second Herrscher Sirin, she..."
"Oh? What about her?" The golden-haired girl's tone carried genuine puzzlement. The very pawn least likely to become a variable seemed about to defy her expectations, according to Muninn's words.
"She, uh... has she seen through the illusion of the world and attained enlightenment?"
As Muninn spoke, a synchronized image flashed across the screen. The Second Herrscher Sirin, with her indifferent gaze and a smile that seemed to see through all things, appeared to have transcended the mortal world. This entirely new version of Sirin, one Snow had never seen before, made her eyebrows twitch.
"So, she doesn't want to do anything now, right?"
For good measure, the golden-haired girl double-checked Sirin's condition with her Apostle.
"Exactly... No matter how much we provoke her, the Second Herrscher Sirin maintains this enlightened demeanor..."
"No longer burdened by worldly desires.jpg"
Kiana's voice inexplicably chimed in.
"...Could it be we've kept her locked up too long? Did she achieve Longchang Enlightenment or something?"
The golden-haired girl scratched her smooth chin, lost in thought, before being interrupted again by Muninn and Kiana:
"My invincible Old Ancestor Snow, hurry and think of a solution! Otto is already wearing a puzzled expression, ready to increase the Honkai energy dosage again!"
"I know, I know. Keep harassing the Second Herrscher for now... Maybe if you annoy her enough, she'll suddenly feel like punching someone..."
Snow severed the connection to the two minds and sank into deep contemplation.
-
"...It seems 'I've' run into quite a bit of trouble?"
A detached, ethereal voice echoed once more in Snow's mind, asserting its presence.
"You're getting chattier by the day—when did you become such a chatterbox... hmm?" The golden-haired girl scoffed at the other version of herself, who had suddenly emerged to demand attention.
"A chatterbox? By human standards... shouldn't I be considered the silent, reserved type?" A hint of confusion colored the detached voice.
"Hmph! Compared to your usual silence... you've become quite the chatterbox recently—what, with your 'death' looming, you've decided to make your presence known and prove that 'I' was here?"
"Well, you've certainly accomplished that. And you've made quite the impression."
"Ah... I can't kill 'me,' the other me—don't you understand that yet...? Hmm... to me, you just seem like you want to run away from home..."
The voice sighed with remarkable humanity.
"I know, of course I know—unlike their claims of killing a God, all this preparation is really just about exiling 'me' back to the tree."
"If you want to play, go find your own Vessel... What's with barging into my body? Am I some kind of tourist cable car?"
"And to top it off, you've saddled me with a ton of super-amplified debuffs, you useless thing..."
By the end, the girl's voice was laced with clear annoyance, as if she had been enduring this personality, who had been playing deaf and mute from the start, for far too long. It carried the weight of, "I, the Holy Child, have suffered you, the Holy Spirit, for years, you haven't uttered a single word."
"Ah... so this is what humans call resentment... I take back what I said earlier... hmm, you truly are more human than I am."
"As for the debuffs... that's inevitable—it's the very essence of the Imaginary Tree: selection, ascension, elimination, and evolution."
"Even without me, you would have gradually been subjected to these influences. In fact, my presence has merely amplified them, forcing you to confront the transformative changes brought about by this essence..."
"The only difference is that, unlike the Honkai Will, I, with my Divine Aspect, will evaluate civilizations using gentler methods."
"Pruning branches and trimming leaves... It's less a mission and more the instinct of an Imaginary God. Think about the ending you've ordained for them—defeating 'me,' banishing a God, proving their right to exist."
"Regardless of the process or the means, we've always been merely testing them—"
"After all—even though you've entrusted humanity with the God-slaying spear, they still need concepts like courage and willpower to wield this formidable weapon."
"Isn't that itself a trial? You should understand... the sheer oppressive weight of our true, complete forms, stemming from the very essence of our existence as primordial beings, is overwhelming."
"Hmph, they'll manage it—"
"Oh?"
"After all, those who dare to raise their swords against the Gods... are never the wise or the brave, but The Fool."
The golden-haired girl spoke with unwavering conviction, her tone brimming with confidence in the people she had chosen.
"Ah... indeed—only hopelessly naive fools would have the audacity to draw their swords against beings like us—"
The indifferent voice murmured in agreement, then fell silent.
"So you've been blathering on at me for ages just to do what? Bored?"
"If you're so bored, go live-stream yourself biting lighters for kicks."
Snow continued her furious verbal assault on her counterpart, only to be silenced by a nonchalant remark:
"Huh? Biting lighters? If I were to bite something, wouldn't I use this body too? What's the difference between me biting it and you doing it?"
She seemed genuinely confused.
Cough, cough, cough! So what exactly did you come here for? Don't tell me you just wanted to watch?!
"Oh, that? Didn't I say it from the start?"
"Looks like you've run into some trouble..."
"So 'I' rushed here to mock me at the first opportunity?" Snow retorted sarcastically.
"No, no... I can help. Want this washed-up old geezer who barely utters a word all year to con that gullible kid? I guarantee I'll bamboozle her so badly she'll limp."
"..."
Snow finally understood what kind of creature her counterpart truly was—a pure-bred Mischief Maker, bored and looking for amusement.
"Aaaah, so... do you want help?"
The golden-haired girl could almost hear the faint excitement in her voice.
"Given the situation, what choice do I have? Fine, go ahead."