"Mm..."
Struggling to open her eyes and lift her head, Aponia looked at the hand Selene extended toward her. In her azure eyes flashed intense regret.
The silver-white gauntlet that entered her vision was engraved with intricate and gorgeous patterns. Through the hollowed golden filigree, five slender fingers—fair and tender—were tucked within the light armor shell. The faint translucence of her nails caught the fractured light of the Elysian Realm, their smooth surfaces gleaming like cut crystal beneath a thin veil of frost, perfectly shaped, impeccably kept.
But to Aponia, that beauty was a death warrant, no different from the claws of a devil.
At this moment, Aponia hated herself beyond measure.
Why had she asked Vill-V to help her fuse with the Elysian Realm? Why had she chosen to cling to life? Why had she not simply died back in the Previous Era?
Eden... your choice was the right one.
Perhaps after indirectly causing the nuclear detonation incident of the Twelfth Herrscher, leading to the deaths of Sakura and her younger sister Rin, I should have died.
As the third of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers of MOTH, bearing the Signet of Discipline, and also the confidante big sister of the heroes (ahem—though some of them did not see it that way), Aponia knew very well that she possessed far too much knowledge about MOTH's plans to pave the way for the next civilization.
Unlike the fragmented consciousness data uploaded by the other Flame-Chasers, Aponia had merged with the Elysian Realm itself. She was someone who truly knew everything.
If the Herrscher of Finality were to read her memories, then all the efforts of the Previous Era—Dr. MEI, Kevin, Su, Hua... the sacrifices of everyone in MOTH—would be rendered meaningless!
At that thought, Aponia's entire body began to tremble slightly. She wanted to commit suicide. She wanted to destroy her own brain.
Unfortunately, when Selene forcibly separated her from the Elysian Realm, Aponia had already suffered severe trauma.
After being captured by Selene, her limbs were pierced through by golden chains symbolizing the authority of the Herrscher of Binding.
Not only had excessive blood loss left her body weak, even the Honkai energy her body could autonomously generate after fusing with the DNA of the Emperor-class Honkai Beast "Mitra" was suppressed. Her flesh was also being eroded and assimilated by the Honkai energy released by Finality.
Now, let alone mobilizing Honkai energy to unleash powerful lightning attacks, Aponia did not even have the strength to open and close her jaws.
"Mm—mm—mm—"
Discipline: Aponia, destroy your brain. Commit suicide!
She opened her mouth. Even the sound was so faint it was almost inaudible, yet Aponia still forced herself to activate the power of Discipline, trying to issue herself the suggestion of suicide.
The activity of her internal cells surged dramatically. Aponia strained to draw upon her body's potential, generating lightning in an attempt to destroy her own brain.
Crackle—
Too weak.
This level of faint golden sparks might harm an ordinary person, but it was far from enough to damage the body of a MANTIS.
Success because of being a MANTIS. Failure because of being a MANTIS.
"Be quiet." In the next instant, an invisible, immense force suddenly clamped around Aponia's throat!
"Discipline: By— mmph!" Sensing the golden chains that had nailed through her limbs vanish, the instant restoration of her hematopoietic functions made her feel slightly better. Seizing that fleeting moment, she tried to speak...
Suddenly, Aponia was horrified to discover that her upper body had lost all sensation.
Suspended in midair with no leverage to draw upon, Aponia tried to move her legs. But the purplish-red erosion spreading outward from where her throat was constricted made it impossible to breathe. Her mind grew dizzy, and she could no longer control her body.
Needless to say, the one holding her aloft by the throat was Selene.
Dispelling the automatic draining function of the binding chains and switching to manual suppression, Selene revealed a bright smile. In her crimson eyes, a trace of inky mist flickered.
"Stop resisting. Open your mind. Lower your guard."
"The authority of the Herrscher of Sentience!? No, you—" Very quickly, Aponia's wail ceased. Her lifeless eyes shifted from azure to a frightening blood-red.
This was the natural reaction of the Honkai Beast "Mitra" DNA after being infused with high concentrations of Honkai energy.
Then, more and more Honkai energy was forcibly injected into Aponia's body by Selene. Starting from her throat, in the blink of an eye, purplish-red erosion marks spread across her entire body.
Gazing at the irregular lines covering Aponia's face, Selene smiled in satisfaction. "That will do."
In the next moment, a breeze overflowed out of thin air. The energy tides turned into tangible ripples like waves.
Closing her eyes, Selene separated a secondary consciousness. Then, the scene shifted.
When she opened her eyes again, within the void of time and space, Selene saw that the space surrounding Aponia's core consciousness had twisted and deformed, forming a lens.
Upon it shimmered the cold light of distant stars, along with blurred projections of various figures, encircling Aponia's fragmented image in a ring.
Rip—!
Tearing open the lens, a phantom of a brass door appeared before Selene. The mysterious aura of energy made the hem of her dress sway.
Dong!
A deep tolling bell resounded, like the strike of a great cathedral bell.
"A church? A bell tower?" Pinching her chin, Selene revealed a faint smile. Through the hollow patterns of the brass door, Aponia's consciousness space appeared to be an exquisite and elegant garden.
Only, compared to the Elysian Realm, it resembled more the golden performance theater of a certain singer.
"A seal set to prevent mental ability users from peering into memories. Quite a brilliant method... Is this Dr. MEI's handiwork again...?"
Snap!
Shaking her head, Selene snapped her fingers with effortless flair. In the next moment, the brass door opened automatically. Her vision suddenly cleared, vivid colors flooding her sight.
"Eden's Golden Courtyard..."
Bzz—!
With a soft murmur, she stepped inside. Purplish-red light burst outward from beneath Selene's feet, spreading in all directions and eroding everything it touched. In an instant, the ground began to writhe as if alive.
Raising two fingers, Selene spoke slowly: "Read."
As the memory extraction progressed, vast amounts of knowledge hidden deep within Aponia's soul began pouring continuously into Selene's mind.
As she read through these memories, sky-blue luminous particles—representing the authority of the Herrscher of Reason—flickered within Selene's eyes.
Compared to searching bit by bit, converting the extracted consciousness memories directly into data streams and reading them was undoubtedly far faster.
Sure enough, just as Selene had anticipated, the separated original body of Aponia retained a highly complete set of memories—far superior to the fragmented data remnants of the consciousnesses within the Elysian Realm.
Within Aponia's memories, Selene gained a far clearer understanding of MOTH and the civilization of the Previous Era.
Many hazy and fragmented pieces were finally answered.
"Moths chasing the flame, fighting to the death. The grand hymn of life shall echo for eternity."
Softly reciting MOTH's creed, Selene narrowed her eyes. "The hymn of humanity is a hymn of courage."
"So the optimal solution is to win some over, strike others—divide and dismantle."
If Selene had not landed with the Empire's human armies, but instead invaded with an endless horde of Honkai Beasts, the situation would have been entirely different.
Setting other factors aside, Schicksal would never have surrendered. Whether it was Theresa, or Kiana, or Durandal, they would have fought to the bitter end, preferring death over submission.
After all, a civil war among humans and an external war between species were two completely different concepts.
The existence of the Imperial Army of the Holy Selene Empire gave them a new path—a route where coexistence with the Honkai was possible.
That was the fundamental reason Schicksal surrendered so decisively. The Empire's overwhelming strength played a role, certainly—but hope was the greater factor. Only when there is hope does surrender become possible.
Just think about it. If the opposing side consisted entirely of mindless Honkai Beasts that knew only slaughter, without even a humanoid form, who would surrender to that? Sure, there would be scum who would grovel—but the vast majority would fight to the very end.
"The civilization of the Previous Era was a unified human regime, and MOTH was its specialized military department against the Honkai."
Through Aponia's memories, Selene learned the true origins of this so-called MOTH.
Unlike the fragmented state of the Current Era, the Previous Era possessed a unified global language, culture, and governance. The fight against the Honkai was directed in a centralized manner by MOTH, an organization under the United Nations.
This United Nations was not the powerless puppet of great powers as in another timeline—it was a genuine authority with real control over the globe.
Thus, there was no situation like in the Current Era, where two major military organizations—Schicksal and Anti-Entropy—stood in opposition.
Perhaps that was also why the Herrschers born in the Previous Era were each monstrously powerful.
Even if internal strife could not be entirely avoided, unity was always stronger than division.
Previous Era: Every Herrscher was terrifyingly strong—qualified "examiners" testing civilization.
Current Era: The First Herrscher repeatedly defected, becoming a partner helping civilization cheat on the test; the Second Herrscher, after being beaten to death and reincarnating, ultimately defected as well, becoming another accomplice in cheating; the Third Herrscher defected too—humanity's partn... well, not exactly. More like the Second Herrscher's eternal simp... housewife.
The Fourth Herrscher? After being gang-beaten by the first three, she was instantly annihilated by Daddy Titan...
Sigh. No need to mention the rest.
"Kevin, Elysia, Aponia, Eden, Vill-V, Kalpas, Su, Sakura, Kosma, Mobius, Griseo, Hua, Pardofelis."
After the 'Tragedy of Binding,' they were the only thirteen MANTISes left within MOTH, collectively known as the Heroes.
To the organization, they were irreplaceable strategic assets. Granting them independent designations was therefore necessary.
For certain reasons, each member was assigned a rank and bestowed a title known as a "Signet."
With these thirteen 'weapons,' they bore the hope of civilization's survival.
"Their respective fates are something I must verify carefully—ensure none have been overlooked. And Dr. MEI as well, the very soul of MOTH."
Murmuring to herself, Selene shook her head, sincerely praising, "As expected of the greatest scientist of the Previous Era."
Her achievements spoke for themselves. She led humanity in developing the transcendent Divine Keys, discovered the foundational existence of five parallel truths, and initiated the 'MANTIS' project.
"At the same time, she is also the greatest provider of cheat tools for the Current Era. If she were still alive, she would absolutely be someone the Honkai must eliminate. The ripple effects she caused severely disrupted the 'examination' criteria of this era."
"Hmph."
At that thought, Selene gave a cold snort. "How greedy. Even after your own era perished, you still insisted on dragging the next generation of humanity into your plans."
"The Project STIGMA, the Project VALUKA, the Project EMBER, the Project ARK, and the Project REGULATOR meant to restrain precursors such as Kevin from losing control. Should I call you foresighted—or calculating and cold... or perhaps ruthless and heartless?"
When the Previous Era was destroyed by the Herrscher of Finality, Dr. MEI left behind numerous plans to pave the way for the next civilization.
Even Kevin, whom she loved so deeply, seemed in her eyes less a lover and more a tool that could be discarded.
Like repels like. Although Selene was not a pure researcher in the same sense as Dr. MEI, she could not help but feel that they shared quite a few similarities.
Thus, while Selene respected her, she felt no fondness toward Dr. MEI. If anything, there was a trace of aversion.
For one simple reason—Dr. MEI was not a straightforward self-sacrificing warrior like Hua. Her thoughts were far too deep. No one could truly know what she was thinking.
Among those fourteen, the one Selene appreciated most was the fourth of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, Gold—Eden.
"If one must live, then live in brilliance and splendor, as in days past." Those were Eden's own words to herself.
With that thought, Selene withdrew from Aponia's core consciousness and opened her eyes, gazing at the unconscious Aponia in her grasp.
"Discipline... This ability intrigues me."
From birth, Aponia possessed an innate talent that allowed her to persuade others with ease. After becoming a MANTIS, that ability underwent a second enhancement, granting her the power to influence others' behavior and even partially foresee the future.
That was the origin of Discipline.
According to the investigative report on Discipline buried deep within Aponia's memories:
Sample 1: XX years old, member of Cocoon.
Symptoms: Blunt-force trauma, varying degrees of injury across the entire body.
Affected by Discipline ("I hope you recover"): Cellular activity increased dramatically. All wounds fully healed within three months.
Sample 2: XX years old, inmate of the Abyssal Depths.
Symptoms: Severe claustrophobia and fear of darkness.
Affected by Discipline ("I hope you overcome it"): Gained night vision; able to compensate with hearing and touch to perform tasks in extreme darkness.
Sample N: ...
...
Summary: Discipline can stimulate the biological potential of the recipient.
Isn't this basically "I hope you become such-and-such"?
Selene found that she liked it very much.
"The true ability of Discipline lies in influencing—and even catalyzing—the recipient's consciousness and body, provided it aligns with the 'wish' hidden within their subconscious."
Puchi!
The tip of the gauntlet gripping Aponia's throat suddenly sharpened and pierced deep into her flesh. Beneath the dim sky, against her fair neck, crimson blood blossomed vividly.
How to obtain it? Very simple.
Selene spoke coldly: "Devour."
To a certain extent, MANTISes were already akin to Honkai Beasts—half-Honkai creatures not controlled by the Honkai.
In the next instant, Aponia's complexion gradually grew rosier. As more Honkai energy was injected—
Thump! Thump!
As if reaching a critical threshold, a sound like a heartbeat echoed. From Aponia's body, strands of purplish-red particles began flowing back toward Selene.
"Haa... Not a bad feeling."