"Shigure Kira — would you give that murderous voice of yours a rest!" Lucius stared at the string of critical warnings flashing across the control panel and felt completely speechless.
"Lucius — didn't you say no one would get hurt?" Kiana looked at him suspiciously from beside him.
"No one will get hurt."
Lucius smiled with confidence, and ran his finger through the air as though dragging a progress bar.
The crashing aircraft quickly rose back up from the earth. The entire world rewound like a video being played in reverse, and very quickly the falling aircraft returned to the moment before the crash.
However, this time — to prevent the actors he had prepared from being knocked out by Shigure Kira's singing before even encountering Sirin — he applied a small intervention.
Shortly after, inside the airborne transport, Shigure Kira snapped awake with a start.
After a brief moment of contemplation, she suddenly blurted out: "Good grief — how is Siegfried such a terrible person!"
At that moment, an announcement from the command center crackled through the cabin.
"Snow Wolf Squad, attention — you have entered the danger zone. For your safety, all personnel are to maintain complete silence. Repeat — all personnel are to maintain complete silence!"
Upon hearing the announcement, everyone including Shigure Kira exhaled in relief.
But very shortly, after processing the memory fragments in her mind, Shigure Kira felt something like a feather gently tickling the inside of her heart.
Thinking about her identity as Schicksal's most dazzling songstress, she felt an irresistible urge to share that with her friends.
But constrained by the command center's orders, she had no choice but to bottle it up inside, which was rather uncomfortable.
"Oh well — I'll let them enjoy my singing voice after we arrive~"
On the ground below, feeling the transport aircraft pass overhead at ten thousand meters, Lucius dismissed the control panel in front of him.
Then he looked toward Kiana beside him. "See, good friend — I told you nothing would go wrong. Even if people die I can drag the progress bar back."
"That's so impressive!" Kiana's eyes lit up, delivering her admiration with perfect timing.
But very quickly she asked: "Lucius — the script doesn't seem to have anything for us to do right now. What are we here for?"
"Preparing an important actor." Lucius answered concisely.
The next moment, a spatial rift tore open before the two of them, and Sirin stepped out, standing quietly before them.
Kiana walked up to her, reached out a hand and pressed it to Sirin's face, squishing it into a peculiar shape.
"Is this really a Herrscher capable of destroying the world?" Kiana murmured.
"Of course — she's only being hard-controlled by the Feather of Dust and Erosion. Otherwise you'd see her true ferocity."
As Lucius's words fell, Kiana watched Sirin raise one hand and press it against her forehead.
Then flick it lightly.
Kiana felt an enormous force land on her body — the sheer momentum sending her flying backward like a shooting star.
"WAHHHH——!!!"
Just as she shot skyward, a suddenly opening spatial rift pulled her back and set her firmly on the ground again, as though nothing had happened.
"Spatial abilities are truly incredible!"
"You'll have them one day too — but before that, we need to advance the plot." Lucius glanced at Sirin beside him and said: "Right now we're at the first act of the Second Honkai War — Sirin awakens inside the Babylon Tower laboratory."
"Babylon Tower? Where's the tower?" Kiana asked.
Lucius snapped his fingers lightly. In the next instant, a colossal tower rose from the snowfield, piercing straight through the clouds.
Looking up at the magnificent Babylon Tower laboratory, Kiana couldn't help but gasp: "That's incredible."
But Lucius said: "I'm going to set the scene inside — but I'd suggest you wait out here."
Kiana turned to him in puzzlement: "Why?"
"What's inside will have a negative effect on your psychological wellbeing."
Hearing Lucius's explanation, Kiana was entirely unconvinced. She puffed up her chest with great confidence: "I've seen Emperor-class Honkai Beasts. What could possibly be in there that would scare me?"
"Since you put it that way — come along then." Good words can't save a stubborn fool. Lucius sighed and led Kiana inside the Babylon Tower laboratory.
Some time later, Kiana came bursting out of the entrance.
She braced herself against the tall outer wall, bending over and retching into the snow beside her.
At the same time, her face was sheet white, her body shaking uncontrollably — barely contained fury.
"These people — what do they think life is worth?!"
Having witnessed the experiments inside the Babylon Tower, Kiana came face to face with the darkness of humanity for the first time. She felt only pity and sorrow — the most basic empathy one human could feel for another.
Beyond that — fury. Boundless, unrelenting fury.
At that moment, Lucius walked out as well.
Sirin appeared before the two of them. She tore open a spatial rift and retrieved two cups of water from a distant camp, handing one to Kiana.
"I did say it wasn't recommended for you to go in." Lucius sighed. "For absolute accuracy, I recreated the Babylon Tower laboratory's interior in a one-to-one reconstruction."
Kiana took the water and rinsed her mouth, then asked with some confusion: "How did you recreate it?"
"Oh — every living person inside is me."
"..."
Kiana looked at Lucius with a complicated expression. "Lucius... that must have been really hard on you..."
Crack!
The sound of shattering glass drew both of them around. Lucius and Kiana turned to find that the one who had made the noise was Sirin.
She had crushed her cup.
But neither of them looked at the water and glass fragments remaining in her hand. They were both staring at her face.
Her expression was still the same dead stillness of a puppet — like a lifeless doll. And yet, in spite of that, her eyes were fixed on the Babylon Tower laboratory in a way she couldn't seem to control.
Snap! Lucius clicked his fingers. Time froze around them.
He then looked toward Sirin, and his expression grew peculiar.
Lucius saw that reflected in Sirin's golden pupils was a vast, boundless golden sea — the Herrscher of the Void's consciousness, utterly devoid of humanity.
Without the slightest hesitation, Lucius reached his hand toward Sirin's golden eyes and drew out from within them a single wisp of black flame, quietly studying it.
Kiana sidled up beside Lucius and asked curiously: "Lucius — what is that?"
"Hatred. The Herrscher of the Void's boundless hatred of humanity." Lucius answered.
Kiana looked at the black flame in Lucius's hand, then looked at Sirin, then finally looked at the Babylon Tower laboratory.
"She hates what's inside the Tower too?"
Lucius said: "This Sirin's fate shares some similarities with the Sirin fifty thousand years from now. After being infected with Honkai disease, she was sold by her own family to the Fire Moth for 500 zenny. What followed... was similar to what happened fifty thousand years later."
Kiana came to an understanding. "I see — in that case, this makes complete sense. This makes complete sense..."
"No — this is very strange." Lucius said.
"Hm?"
Lucius stared at the black flame in his hand, lost in thought: "Kiana — I've mentioned this before: in this era, Herrschers have no humanity. They are simply machines deployed by the Cocoon to destroy humanity."
"In the instant of becoming a Herrscher, their humanity is erased. All that remains is the Herrscher consciousness operating according to its program of destruction..."
"Lucius — could you be a little more plain about it?" Kiana's eyes were beginning to spiral. "I can't really follow what you're saying!"
Lucius was somewhat at a loss for words. He thought for a moment and then asked: "Kiana — do you think a gun would feel hatred toward its intended target?"
Kiana blinked, and immediately grasped what Lucius meant. She looked at the black flame in his hand. "You're saying this gun developed a self?"
"Good friend — you're actually quite intelligent. You should try thinking more often." Lucius offered Kiana a rare compliment on her intellect, then looked at the flame in his hand with great gravity. "Only a person can generate hatred. Hatred is a part of humanity."
"Compared to the proportion of Herrscher consciousness, this wisp of humanity born from hatred is only a ripple, a tiny flame. Without intervention, it would be swallowed by the Herrscher consciousness in the next instant, and nothing would change."
Still — even as the smallest spark, in Lucius's eyes it was something extraordinarily remarkable.
One could even say it was virtually impossible — something that could rightly be called a miracle.
Before Elysia had "simmered herself into broth," all Herrschers lacked humanity. They were simply autonomous weapons operating according to programs set by the Cocoon.
Though to say there were no exceptions was not entirely accurate. Lucius did recall one similar existence — the Herrscher of Erosion, Rin, who had seen the previous civilization to its end in the original timeline.
However one looked at it, Rin's situation absolutely qualified as a miracle — perhaps the only instance of its kind across the hundreds of millions of years the Cocoon had tormented Earth.
But now, it seemed he had inadvertently captured another miracle.
Looking at the black flame in his hand, Lucius turned to Kiana: "Kiana — I have a bold idea."
"You want to keep her, don't you?" Kiana easily guessed his intention, but still expressed her concern: "But you said this wisp of humanity came from her hatred — could it be harmful to the world?"
"Yes. Though it's a newly born consciousness, it was born from the Herrscher of the Void's boundless hatred for this world. It came into existence as a sheet of paper already painted black."
"Whether it would be harmful to the world — that depends on how we handle it."
After hearing Lucius's words, Kiana thought for a moment, then said: "I think we should keep her too."
Lucius said: "But she'll be a naturally evil pufferfish. In the literal sense."
"Since she's a newly born consciousness, she hasn't done anything wrong yet — it's still a life. As for being naturally evil..." Kiana clenched her fist, met Lucius's gaze squarely, and a smile curved her lips. "If she has humanity, she can feel pain. If she really tries to do something bad — we beat her up."
Watching Kiana waving her fist, Lucius smiled. "Actually — there's no need to be quite that extreme. I have an idea that can solve the problem of her being naturally evil and also test the possibility of a Herrscher breaking free from the Cocoon's constraints."
"Now I'm a little curious — but you're not going to get into some strange plan again, are you?" Though she had confidence in Lucius's abilities, given his occasionally bizarre flashes of world-shaking brilliance, Kiana reserved judgment.
But seeing Kiana's skepticism, Lucius felt that his reputation was being genuinely underestimated.
"Good friend — this time it really will be a healthy, wholesome story. I intend to use 'love' to reform this naturally evil little pufferfish."
Looking at Lucius's supremely confident expression, Kiana asked suspiciously: "Reform with love? Lucius — you're not about to lecture me about 'friendship,' 'bonds,' and 'conviction,' are you?"
"Good friend — you really do understand me!"
Kiana rolled her eyes. "Lucius — I think you've hit the age where you should be graduating from chuunibyou. This is the real world — you can't shout a few stirring lines and suddenly gain tremendous power."
Hearing Kiana's skepticism, Lucius smiled. "You can, friend. You really can."
"Huh?" Kiana tilted her head and looked at him blankly.
"Kiana — do you remember when I told you about this world's foundational rules?" Lucius asked.
"You mean Honkai energy can do anything?"
"Honkai energy can indeed do anything — but in this world, there is one thing with an even higher priority than it."
"What thing?" Kiana asked curiously.
Lucius opened his mouth slowly, and said a single word.
"——Love."
"...Lucius, you're not messing with me, are you?" Kiana felt Lucius had probably gone a little insane.
Lucius had anticipated Kiana's reaction. "Love can create miracles. Hatred born from love... also carries equal power to love."
"So our world also has these idealistic forces?" Kiana couldn't help but complain.
Still, though she had plenty of reservations, she chose to believe him — after all, Lucius was her best friend! Would he actually lie to her?
If what he said conflicted with her worldview, the world was probably wrong.
"Lucius — you're not planning to reform her with your own love, are you?"
"Reform with love, yes — but not me." Lucius looked at the black flame in his hand. "If it were someone else, I could try it. But this little pufferfish... won't work with me."
Lucius looked toward Kiana and said seriously: "Good friend — I need to borrow your mom."
"..."
Kiana went silent for a moment, then suddenly lunged at Lucius, her face full of barely contained indignation.
"Lucius — I treated you as a brother, and this is how you repay me! I'm going to disintegrate you!"
The corner of Lucius's mouth curved into an arrogant grin. "Ha! Kiana — I am no longer the same as I once was. The days when you could casually beat me into the ground are over. No matter what — your mom is mine!"
A few breaths later, Lucius had been seized by Kiana's four limbs and was pinned to the ground, completely unable to move.
Crack! Crack!!!
Feeling the anguished protests of his entire skeleton, Lucius's face wore a rare expression of complete disbelief. "How can this be? This shouldn't be happening! I have a Herrscher-level constitution — how am I still losing to you?!"
A smug smile spread across Kiana's face. "Heh... you don't think that after nearly two years since getting my Stigma I've just been sitting around, do you? I train every single day!"
"..."
Lucius suddenly realized — two years was enough time for a certain unkillable big goose to dominate an entire era, and that big goose's innate talent could ultimately be traced back to his good friend here.
"I was wrong, good friend. I was too arrogant."
But it was evident that Kiana had no intention of letting Lucius off. She glared at him furiously, grinding her teeth: "Lucius — I treated you as my best friend, and you're plotting to make a move on my mom. As I always suspected... you reckless fool should just go die!"
CRACK!!!
"W-wait — I can explain!"
As his words fell, Lucius felt the force pressing down on him ease slightly.
"What do you have to say?" Kiana asked with furrowed brows.
"Good friend — you might not believe this, but there is a rule in this world: the character named Cecilia will have a very high affinity bonus when facing the character called Sirin."
"If there is one person in this world who can transform Sirin's hatred into love — it can only be Cecilia."
Lucius looked at Kiana seriously and said: "So, good friend — for the future of this world — could you share your mom with Miss Sirin for a little while?"
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