February 17, 2000, Winter, Siberia Plain.
War always leaves many scars on the world, and wars caused by Honkai are even more so.
Due to continuous warfare, this plain had completely lost its former vitality; the animals that lived on the plain had either fled or died in the war.
Creak...
Unlike the distant sound of explosions, Takatsuki's current location was silent, even the sound of his footsteps on the snow was so distinct.
"Such dense Honkai Energy, and, is this how Throne of Heroes teleports?"
With a hand across his forehead, Takatsuki looked at the distant explosion.
"Looks like they're still fighting. Let's turn on Do Not Disturb mode first."
Without Takatsuki seeming to do anything, his body, which had been standing on the plain, flickered. Although there seemed to be no obvious change, a closer look revealed that he seemed to not exist in this world.
Takatsuki called this function "Do Not Disturb mode."
It made him immune to any influence and unable to influence anything other than visually.
Its essence was still due to Takatsuki not being a person of this world; Throne of Heroes's Transmigration did not allow influencing past events, and even added a percentage display in the upper right corner of his vision after he traveled for this reason.
A wild goose leaves its mark, the wind leaves its sound.
How could anything that exists have no influence whatsoever?
And this percentage served as a baseline digitized display for him. When he was about to do something, this percentage would change, showing how much change his intended action would cause.
As long as the final percentage did not exceed 10%, it was fine.
But if it exceeded that, the consequence would be that he could not return; the future world would be separated from him, forming a parallel world, then destroyed, and a new development would begin in this world as the new baseline.
Takatsuki didn't want this to happen.
He came here to find Cecilia, to have her sign the Heroic Spirit contract and take her back, not to destroy the world.
Although the system placed him in a bad location, he didn't need to specifically search; he could see the huge Honkai Energy sphere in the distance.
"I remember that should be Sirin."
Takatsuki thought about it. He hadn't read the manga for the Second Eruption, but he had seen others mention this history online.
Sirin eventually went berserk, and Honkai Energy radiated across all of Asia. Then, Cecilia sacrificed herself to purify it. However, to purify this Honkai Energy, she exhausted all her blood, meaning her life was almost over.
Subsequently, Otto dropped a Honkai Energy fission bomb, attempting to kill Siegfried, but Cecilia saved him. Cecilia then embraced Sirin and faced death under the fission bomb.
If he remembered correctly, that's how it should have been.
"It seems the end is near. I need to hurry. I hope I don't miss it."
Takatsuki moved his feet, the rabbit's speed allowing him to rapidly approach the incident site. The massive explosion was the best guide.
Just as he ran for a while, a huge flame suddenly erupted in front of him.
"The fission bomb has arrived!?"
No, it wasn't.
This conjecture was immediately dismissed. At least, a Honkai Energy fission bomb wouldn't produce such a towering pillar of fire.
This was more like what he had seen in the game when Kevin used the Divine Key of the Sky.
And at this moment, the Divine Key of the Sky was also in that place, which meant this was Siegfried's attack?
Takatsuki wasn't sure, but that didn't stop him from accelerating again.
Meanwhile, on the other side…
"...I can't feel anything...Am I...dead?"
After unleashing a powerful attack in his Oblivion form by liberating Welt's Herrscher Core, Siegfried collapsed to the ground.
The ongoing battle and the erosion of the Stigmata within him had completely overdrawn his vitality. His ability to hold on until now was due to Cecilia treating him with the Black Abyss White Flower.
In a hazy darkness, Siegfried seemed to see a blurred figure, but his eyes could no longer focus, completely unable to distinguish the person's identity, and he couldn't even make a sound.
"Cecilia...is that you?"
"Siegfried...I'm sorry..."
Siegfried felt something warm and liquid fall onto his face, followed by his wife's voice.
"I lied to you."
"This time, I can't go back with you."
"You must take good care of Kiana and let her grow up healthy and strong."
"I hope when she grows up, the Honkai will have ended, and she can live freely."
Cecilia, what are you saying...
Siegfried couldn't understand. Having completely lost all other perception of the outside world, only his wife's voice remained in his ears.
He forced his throat to move, emitting a hoarse sound.
"Wait...Cecilia..."
But his plea had no effect whatsoever.
"There are so many more things I want to tell you, but unfortunately, I don't have much time left."
Cecilia placed Siegfried on the vines generated by the Black Abyss White Flower.
"I love you, Siegfried."
"Black Abyss White Flower, please protect Siegfried..."
The white-haired Saintess covered her arm, on which there was a wound cut to draw her blood.
But now, almost no blood was flowing out.
Because her blood had already been drained by the Black Abyss White Flower just now.
"There's hardly any blood left in my body; my time is running out."
Cecilia looked at the sky. The recent battle had even shattered the clouds above.
And in that cloudless sky, several missile-like objects were falling straight down.
As a Valkyrie of Schicksal, she naturally knew what they were.
But...
"There's one last...thing..."
Giving up the last moments with her husband, Cecilia caught the purple-haired girl falling from the sky in the white flower field, which had been nurtured by her blood.
"Sirin, you poor child."
"In the illusion, I saw your loneliness and pain. At that time, I truly wanted to be your mother, to compensate you for what you lost."
"Unfortunately, at that time, I couldn't change anything. At least, at the end of your life..."
"Let you feel warmth."
As the Honkai fission bomb fell, a violent explosion occurred before the two of them.
The explosion's shockwave would have been enough to engulf them in less than 0.1 seconds.
But this brief moment was infinitely stretched out.
Cecilia stared blankly at the shockwave almost upon them, and at the boy in front of her who had exhaled in relief.
"Finally made it..."