"Dr. Tesla, I never expected you'd manage to do it to this extent—coming here was definitely the right call."
After passing through a spatial rift opened by three armed automata, the group arrived at their final destination: the Floating Island of Skaland, the lair of the Demon King.
This so-called Floating Island was once the hallmark of the World Bubble—a breathtaking city of beauty—but ever since the Demon King descended, all that splendor was utterly ruined.
Einstein's eyes lit up as she examined the portable instruments at hand, and Tesla, too, exchanged an excited, knowing glance with her. Both were visibly thrilled by the discovery.
Inside the ancient ruins, the group wasted little time convincing the trio of armed automata known as the Red Kite Wings. Initially, the automata had suspected that Daniel's group might be allied with the Demon King, but thanks to the persuasive explanations from Major Ji, the Spring Spirit, and others, their doubts were soon laid to rest.
Originally, the group had planned to spend some time training within these ruins—after all, the site was designed for nurturing heroes. But once Delta had sliced through the obstacle with a single strike, everything fell into place.
After a brief exchange with the Red Kite Wings, the group dispersed. With Hiser deeply worried about Bronya's safety, she and a few others hurried toward the Floating Island.
"Dr. Einstein, Dr. Tesla—what's happening?" Major Ji asked, her tone laced with curiosity as she observed the anxious expressions on the two doctors' faces.
"There's an enormous concentration of Honkai energy here, whereas in the previous location, there was barely any," Einstein explained, lifting her Honkai energy detector and smiling as she described her findings.
"What do you mean?" Major Ji's eyes widened in sudden comprehension—as if a missing piece of the puzzle had finally fallen into place.
"Exactly. They've managed to isolate the Honkai energy here. If we can learn how they did it, perhaps we can replicate it in our own place." Tesla's eagerness was palpable; he almost longed to dash back immediately to confer with the Terminal Core of Alice.
Even if isolation doesn't completely eliminate Honkai energy, it would at least prevent it from erupting in our cities—a measure that could greatly reduce casualties.
"Dr. Tesla, are you sure this is achievable?" The attention of Kiana, Mei, Bronya, and others was now firmly on Tesla's words.
"Unless we try, how will we know? Since we're here, let's first deal with the Demon King. I'm very curious to see what form this Demon King takes—could it be a Regulator?"
Just then, as the group had barely moved a short distance, a familiar figure suddenly appeared ahead—a flash of flaming red hair. It was none other than the Daniel from the Wu Liang Tower.
"Who are you?" Both Daniel and the Wu Liang Tower Daniel stared at one another in astonishment. After a brief pause, the latter stepped forward and explained the situation to the World Bubble's version of Daniel.
"From another world," she replied. Though hard to believe at first, when one sees another version of oneself, even a World Bubble Daniel cannot help but accept it. She then led the group to the Heroes' Camp.
In the camp, among the Spring Spirit, the Forest Spirit, and others, one might have expected that all heroes who failed to return would be dead. In reality, quite a few heroes were still alive on the Floating Island—perhaps several dozen in all.
"I never imagined there would be heroes from other worlds here. Our supplies are a bit lacking—please, try this juice brewed from the island's specialty, the 'Kongkong Fruit'," someone announced.
Within the camp, the group reunited with many familiar faces—Fu Hua, Major Ji, Shiyu Qiluo, and others—with Rita, as always, dressed in her maid uniform.
"Excuse me, noble heroes—has anyone seen Sister Bronya?" Hiser, overjoyed at the prospect of meeting Bronya, scoured the camp in search of her. Alas, she could not find Bronya anywhere.
"Sister Bronya?" At the very mention of her name, the assembled heroes fell silent. Then Rita smiled and said, "About Sister Bronya, we'll explain in a little while. For now, please, rest well, travelers."
"There's no need for that—just tell us where the Demon King is," Delta insisted impatiently.
"Don't worry. Our strength here is formidable enough to handle the Demon King. Any other issues can be dealt with after we've defeated him," Delta declared, eager to move on, a sentiment shared by Daniel.
"Alright then. In fact, the current Demon King is… Bronya." After a brief, somber look among Fu Hua, Rita, and Major Ji, Fu Hua sighed softly as she detailed Bronya's situation.
"What? That can't be! How could Sister Bronya become the Demon King?" Hiser cried out loudly.
"Ah, so it appears that Bronya has become the Demon King—no, it can't be," the twin sisters protested in unison.
"Can someone explain exactly what happened? I can't believe our Bronya would turn into the Demon King," someone demanded. Even Bronya herself couldn't believe that her World Bubble counterpart had become the Demon King—and neither could Bronny on the other side.
"I wish I didn't have to believe it. In truth, Bronya has always been our dear friend. Since arriving here, she has tirelessly fought against the creatures under the Demon King's command. We once formed an assault team to challenge the Demon King. At the final moment, Bronya struck down the Demon King. But before we could celebrate, the slain Demon King suddenly unleashed an overwhelming surge of power and enveloped Bronya. We tried to rescue her, but more monsters appeared, forcing us to retreat.
Later, when we returned to confirm Bronya's status by infiltrating the Demon King's hall again, we discovered that the one sitting on the Demon King's throne was indeed Bronya—and she had even begun attacking us."
"No, Sister Bronya could never be the Demon King! You're lying to me, aren't you?" Hiser covered her ears and shook her head vigorously.
"I'm sorry, but it's all true."
"Do dragon slayers really end up becoming dragons?" Delta murmured with a weary sigh.
"So you can't be absolutely sure she's the Demon King, can you?" After comforting Hiser a bit, Bronya asked in a gentle tone.
"Yes. We, too, would like to confirm Bronya's true condition. If possible, we want to rescue her. But for now, the monsters surrounding the Demon King's hall are too numerous; we haven't had a chance to approach. I'm sorry," Fu Hua added quietly to Hiser.
"Then we must go and check it out," Bronya said firmly.
"Alright, I'll assemble a team immediately."
"This Floating Island is where the Demon King resides—and it is the only Floating Island here. We'll divert the monsters around it to create an opening for you."
"There's no need—you leave it to me," Daniel declared as he surveyed the densely packed quantum shadows covering the ground and sky. With a swift motion of his right hand, countless blue Keys of Truth materialized in the air.
Though World Bubble's Fu Hua—while not adept at constructing modern weapons like Walter Young—had developed her own formidable Keys of Truth (essentially the signature weapon of the upgraded Little Rabbit mech), their power was by no means trivial.
As streams of brilliant blue light streaked across the sky and a series of controlled explosions thundered overhead, a single coordinated salvo swept away all the quantum shadows.
"Leave all the forces outside to me. You handle what's above," Daniel ordered. With that, he activated his ability as the Reason Regulator to create an S-shaped corridor—a passage directly up to the Floating Island where the Demon King resided.
Though Fu Hua, Delta, and even Kiana possessed enough strength to reach the island, Daniel was determined to utilize this opportunity to experiment with his ability.
In a display reminiscent of riding a motorcycle through the Sea of Quantum—much like how Aozhi once rode a bicycle across the ocean—Bronya used her power to create her own path.
"Don't worry, Sister Bronya. Hiser will definitely save you," Hiser cried as she charged toward the corridor. Close behind her, Delta trailed determinedly, her heart set on protecting the one she cared about most. Delta truly understood that feeling.
"Impressive," remarked Daniel, his display of power leaving Rita and Major Ji momentarily speechless. Rita quickly regained her composure and began organizing the heroes to intercept the quantum shadows surging from below.
"Now, at last, we can truly showcase the power of the Reason Regulator!"
Facing the onslaught of quantum shadows, Daniel unleashed his abilities without restraint. The Keys of Truth were only the beginning.
Soon, various modern weapons began to manifest under the influence of his powers.
"Modern weaponry really is at a disadvantage against these quantum shadows," someone observed after an experiment. Although they managed to eliminate the vast majority of the low-level shadows, the high-level ones still proved resistant—their power diminished significantly against modern arms.
"Is that the Water-Element Spear of the Underworld?" As a few quantum shadows managed to slip through, the heroes—and even the Spring Spirit—launched counterattacks. In true fashion reminiscent of Kiana's style, although employing water magic, their combat methods were strikingly similar.
"Finally, it's over. Has the Demon King appeared?"
After Daniel's relentless barrage, the number of quantum shadows on the ground dwindled to a few isolated fragments. Yet, at that moment, a powerful surge of Honkai energy began emanating from the Floating Island.
"That's it. I'll leave the rest to you—I'm going up to investigate," Daniel announced, a spark of curiosity in his eyes, as he flew toward the island.
"Is this the Demon King? But it's only a quantum shadow—nothing like what Kevin summoned in the Sea of Quantum last time…"
Upon reaching the Demon King's hall atop the island, Daniel immediately saw a massive black figure exuding a formidable aura of Honkai energy—it was unmistakably the Demon King.
"This is the Demon King? Liliya, let's go defeat him!"
At Rosalia's and Liliya's rallying cry, Fu Hua, Delta, Bronya, and the others all struck simultaneously. The poor Demon King, having just been freed from its seal, didn't even have time to retaliate before being shattered into fragments—fragments so thoroughly dispersed that they couldn't even be reassembled.
Overall, the Demon King's strength wasn't overwhelmingly powerful. In a one-on-one encounter, World Bubble's Fu Hua or the Forest Spirit could have taken him down—but he had the advantage of countless underlings.
"Sister Bronya!"
After the Demon King was defeated, Hiser immediately leapt into the arms of a recently reawakened Bronya from the World Bubble.
It turned out that Bronya hadn't truly become the Demon King, as Fu Hua had earlier mistakenly believed. Instead, she had temporarily sealed away the Demon King. Fu Hua's earlier report of Bronya's aggression was merely the manifestation of her own will—intended to prevent others from disturbing the Demon King's seal.
After returning to the Heroes' Camp and explaining the truth to Rita and the others, the camp erupted in celebration—a feast was thrown to honor the defeat of the Demon King and to welcome the heroes home. Their long, arduous mission was finally complete.
"Cheers!"
The two versions of Major Ji shared a mutual love of drink. Although the Heroes' Camp had little in the way of alcoholic beverages, everyone had a spatial ring, and Major Ji had stocked plenty of liquor inside hers.
"The Demon King is down—this is wonderful!"
After the banquet, Rita promptly opened a return portal, and the group made their way back to the ruins. There, they met with the three Great Sages. The armed automata known as the Red Kite Wings and the other two eagerly celebrated the news that the Demon King had been defeated—marking the end of a long era of responsibility.
"You're leaving already? Aren't you going to say goodbye to them?"
While the others gathered at the ruins, Delta quietly slipped away toward the Emerald Forest during a lull in conversation between the twins and Xiaoyue's Requiem. The twins failed to notice, but Daniel did.
"There's no need," Delta replied curtly.
"Why not come visit our world sometime?" Daniel invited Delta.
"There's really no need," Delta echoed evenly.
"It's rare to meet in the same World Bubble—this is fate. If you have time, come see Bronya and Hiser. If anything comes up, I'll contact you through them. Don't you want to know what their future holds?"
Daniel knew well of Delta's struggles and secretly wished he could help her—if only he had the means. But for now, speaking of it would only add to the burdens.
"I understand," Delta said with a nod before heading off.
"Make sure you take care of those two idiots for me—don't let them get into trouble," Daniel called after Delta as her figure vanished into the forest.
"I will!" Daniel roared back.
"Ah, so it was an Ether Anchor, huh."
In the underground base of the ruins, Einstein and Tesla were deep in discussion with Alice about the barriers to block Honkai energy. They soon realized that what could be done in the World Bubble might not necessarily be replicable in their own world.
Even so, the two doctors had learned quite a bit, though they both lamented the loss of the Great Sage. If the Great Sage were still alive, perhaps she could be invited to the Honkai-ruined world to conduct related research.
"Observing the stars… no, that's not it—it's another counterpart of Theresa," someone mused, as they recognized from the portrait—an exact likeness to Theresa, but dressed in an astronomer's outfit, looking much wiser than Theresa herself.
After everything had concluded, the group didn't immediately return. Instead, they lingered at the ruins for a while longer. Although the Demon King was defeated, quantum shadows still persisted. In the short term, Fu Hua, Major Ji, and Bronya needed to remain to handle them—and to attempt restoring the terrain of the Floating Island.
"I'll come visit when I have time," someone called out.
Three days later, amidst heartfelt farewells, Daniel led the group back. However, Einstein and Tesla stayed behind to continue researching the devices left behind by the Great Sage.
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