Some say that the pinnacle of civilization is the pinnacle of the Herrscher of Reason. That is praise—but also a limitation. Creation unknown is creation that transcends reality, where humanity has yet to reach.
Under the pressure of the Hare and the Stigma Project, Bronya managed to take the key final step of transformation.
She accomplished what the two Herrschers of Reason before her could not—weaponizing truth itself, a testament to the Herrscher of Reason's glory.
As always—one person's power may not be strong enough. Three hundred thousand thoughts may not be enough. But at this moment, Bronya was the True Herrscher of Reason.
----
St. Freya – Anti Entropy Base
Tesla, stunned, ignored the armor she had been repairing; the tools in her hand fell to the floor with a metallic clang.
(T/C: long time no see)
That Bronya had defeated Hare was no great surprise—Tesla had expected as much. The point was—how she had done it!
She had transformed into the embodiment of Truth. And... wait—did the core still contain Joyce's consciousness?
"Hey, look, chicken-head!"
"I see it. Without personally wielding the Herrscher core, you really can't fully understand it. Who would have thought—the AE team's pride, the supposedly most stable core, would actually become an obstacle at the critical step."
"Bronya did well—that's what he wanted to see." Einstein said calmly.
"No, that's not what I mean. Even though Welt never got a step closer, it's embarrassing he didn't get as far as Bronya... But Joyce—hey, don't you think there's a chance that..."
Tesla grabbed Einstein's sleeve urgently. She always fussed over everything without weighing importance... but this time it really was something big.
Beside them, Walter felt as if he had just taken an arrow to the knee. Awkwardly pushing up his glasses, he kept his face composed.
No matter what was said, at least the Herrscher of Reason's core hadn't fallen into the wrong hands. That alone made him rather pleased — she had surpassed even her own teacher. That was comforting in its own way.
Einstein sighed, a trace of fatigue in her eyes. She rubbed her eyes and glanced around.
"It's no use. This is nothing more than recorded images from the Herrscher core… He never actually spoke a single word to Bronya from start to finish."
"Besides, you should trust the results from our tests and reports."
"..."
Tesla's raised hand slowly dropped back down.
She had just been caught up in the moment — seeing so many consciousnesses "resurrected" one after another had stirred a faint hope in her for that old friend.
Einstein, however, was different. The moment she saw the situation, she was already running through every possible scenario, starting from the worst-case outcome and considering all possibilities. That was her strength.
Her conclusion: impossible.
Welt said nothing, but he agreed. He had researched the Herrscher core no less than anyone else, but for various reasons, he hadn't been able to complete the great endeavor Bronya had.
---
Back in the recording studio.
"In the name of Truth, transcend all that came before!"
Kiana shouted the line, reenacting Herrscher of Truth's ultimate move dialogue.
Unfortunately, the script left far too few battle scenes for the Herrscher of Truth. There wasn't even a single conveniently timed boss to showcase her true power.
"You're right, but at this moment, Bronya is the real Herrscher of Reason!"
Next to her, the Herrscher of Sentience clenched a fist with fanatic passion, naturally picking up Kiana's words.
Bronya's face was full of silent anguish as she looked at the two idiots in front of her. The little runt and Kiana were bouncing Chuunibyou lines back and forth, making it impossible not to feel secondhand embarrassment.
"So that's it — so before this, Bronya was a fake Herrscher of Reason. That explains why she got her butt kicked. Alright then, seeing how miserable you look right now, I'll take back what I said earlier—"
"The Herrscher of Reason's gemstone isn't some cursed trinket, you just need to find the real part of it."
Senti teased with a smirk.
"You two… are just too much."
Bronya said angrily, trying to glare hard enough to express her frustration — but it only made her look like she'd run out of words entirely.
( ᗜ ˰ ᗜ )
"Oh, the duck's about to turn red with anger."
Nearby, Luo Mo, watching the show, couldn't resist fanning the flames.
Pfft~
Someone nearby stifled a laugh, clearly reminded of something amusing — perhaps the image of Bronya angrily smashing her computer this morning?
But now was not the time to laugh.
"You too, boss! This isn't funny."
Bronya was still trying to regain control of the situation. She didn't even understand how it had suddenly turned into this.
This was supposed to be a happy recording session. This was supposed to be her big moment in the spotlight. Two fun things were happening at once — so why wasn't she happy at all?
-----
In the game.
As the Herrscher of Truth, Bronya had successfully overcome the disaster known as the Valkyrie Bunny unit, single-handedly shaking the 7-billion-strong dreamscape of the Stigma Project.
The Valkyrie Bunny withdrew — simply retreated, nothing more.
"Bronya Zaychik, you have grown beyond everyone's expectations."
"…Including hers."
Misteln leaned against the dream-hued door, glancing one last time at Bronya. The corners of her lips lifted slightly, her expression nothing like that of a defeated person. With that, she stepped through the doorway.
Bronya didn't have time to ask who "her" referred to. The urgency of the Stigma Project left her no room to dwell on it.
A moment later, Fu Hua, the Herrscher of Sentience, and Seele emerged from the side. Unexpectedly, Kevin had done nothing to them.
And likewise — Kevin wasn't here.
As had been said from the beginning, the true battlefield of the Stigma Project was not on the moon.
"Isn't it obvious? He stopped here just to show us how much he's capable of."
The Herrscher of Sentience spoke with heavy resentment.
"…Uh, he's not the kind of person who'd waste time like that."
Mei thought back to the Kevin she knew. She felt the need to clarify: if it were simply to flaunt his strength, there would be no need.
"Oh? And you think you understand Kevin better than I do?"
That single line left Mei momentarily speechless. In terms of familiarity, she had to admit she couldn't match the other party.
But if you considered how much exaggeration or bias might be buried in those words, perhaps she herself could make a stronger case.
"Kevin… is looking for something from you all."
In the end, it was Fu Hua who stepped in to close the matter. At times like this, only she could rein in the little troublemaker Senti
"He fought with full strength, but also left us an opening — even going so far as to tell the Herrscher of Sentience how to return to Earth from here."
At that, the Herrscher of Sentience's anger only grew.
"Ha! Isn't that basically looking down on us? Not that I'd consider myself in the same group as you lot anyway."
"When I saw I couldn't beat him, I pretended to surrender — that guy probably thought it was the perfect chance to show off his so-called 'magnanimity,' all while dropping a few hints about things related to the moon."
She placed heavy emphasis on the word "pretended."
And then came her cutting conclusion—
"If he finds on you the thing he's been waiting for all this time… when that moment comes, he'll fight with everything he's got — to the death."
From start to finish, perhaps this was the only time the little Senti spoke her true feelings — and it showed that, setting aside the sentimentality, she genuinely wanted to understand Kevin better.
Kevin had never hidden in his heart the hope of fighting alongside Finality— instead, what filled him inside was despair.
It was precisely because of this that he placed all his hopes on Kiana and the others, using the "Project Stigma" plan to force both himself and the civilization into a desperate corner.
Speaking of which, that guy really did go through with it!
He actually beat the old stubborn Timer until he was half-conscious!
The group looked at each other.
No matter what Kevin's next step would be, at this moment they had only one choice — to press forward against all odds.
Using the space gate on the Moon — once built by Mobius and Vill-V to connect to Earth's Abyssal City — the Herrscher of Truth made her move. They successfully restored it to its original state, allowing them to travel quickly back and forth between the lunar surface and the Earth.
Even Seele, at the side, couldn't help but sigh:
"This time, Bronya-sis really didn't force herself."
That one stung a bit.
But remembering the last time they breached the Binding barrier during the creation of the Moonlight Throne, the Herrscher of Truth after her transformation was far stronger and more precise than before — not just by a little.
This time, Bronya finally didn't have to swallow the bitter fruit of dawn's light.
The group returned through the gate to Earth — the cradle of human civilization.
In an unnoticed corner of the Moon base, where they thought no one would disturb them, Prometheus and Misteln were talking.
"So… from beginning to end, you only calculated for the scenario where she would win?"
The mecha girl asked the woman beside her — a woman with no concern for fame or profit — in puzzlement. She didn't understand why so many twists and turns had been arranged. After all, her master had never given her any orders beyond the Stigma Project.
"Of course. No matter what, I wanted to give my past self an explanation."
"The curse she left behind… in the end, it became a kind of gift, didn't it?"
Misteln's blue eyes curved into a faint smile as she gazed far into the distance — at that deep blue planet, covered in twisting purple sigils and lines. She spoke calmly and gently.
She had seen with her own eyes the seeds embracing the future — and moreover, that future was now being extended into an even farther one in her hands.
Humanity… she felt she might understand them, just a little.
----
In the Company, recording room.
"Hm?~"
Bronya gave a soft nasal hum, looking at the Herrscher of Sentience just as she was about to speak.
The so-called "timing when heaven and earth work together" — it was nothing more than this.
She had been about to settle an old grudge, and now the opportunity had arrived.
"Sorry. Just now, I was wrong — I let my pride go to my head."
The little Senti apologized at light speed.
She hadn't expected retribution to come this fast. Fine, she really shouldn't have stared at Bronya just to mock her so hard.
She admitted she was wrong — but that didn't mean she'd change.
If there was a next time, she'd make sure to pick a situation with no one else present before mocking someone — that way, no one could talk back.
Senti thought this with bitter resentment, lowering her head and… glancing hard toward Luo Mo's side.
She felt she was being targeted — by the kind of behind-the-scenes manager who could "see the future" and was out to get her.
"..."
Bronya was momentarily speechless. She couldn't remember the other party ever so eagerly admitting fault before.
It made her words stick in her throat — she couldn't say them, but she also couldn't not say them.
Should she be magnanimous? Or petty?
"That was fast…"
Fu Hoa spoke instinctively.
So fast that it gave her a strange sense of déjà vu.
"Little Senti, you've grown up."
Luo Mo's eyes were hard to read, carrying a mix of sorrow for a childhood gone and joy that her "kid" had finally grown — a contradictory feeling.
The Herrscher of Sentience looked very uncomfortable.
"What? What's with you?!"
"You've learned to retreat in order to advance, blocking Bronya's words — I'm very happy."
"…What the hell's wrong with you?! Happy about what?"
Bronya fell into self-doubt. She looked at the little Senti, then at Luo Mo, and decided — this grudge, she'd settle it later.
----
In Cecilia's villa.
"The Herrscher of Sentience's assessment… fits the master's thinking very well. Maybe in the eyes of ordinary people, after discovering something they'd been hoping for in the other person, they would walk hand in hand with them.
But the master is different — he will ensure, with absolute certainty, that the other person can make him look forward to them even more."
"In peaceful moments, there's often a phrase connected to the master — he will place his own life… right at the muzzle of a gun."
Misteln nodded lightly in agreement.
"That's just bizarre," Theresa muttered.
She couldn't begin to understand this kind of strange mindset.
Why bother deciding a winner or loser?
"Because the master doesn't believe in ideals.
To surpass him, to make him give way, to prove you are more suited to save the world — that, to him, is the best answer."
Misteln replied with a smile, though deep down there was still one thing she didn't understand…
Precisely because she understood that man so well, she found it even harder to grasp why he had abandoned her.
No matter how she looked at it, it seemed impossible that he would choose to use the first version of the Stigma Project — the one that consumed massive amounts of Honkai energy.
That was a choice even more brutal and bloody than Adam's own resolve.
"As for that pathfinder's thoughts, I'll refrain from judging for now."
"I'm more curious about something else — at this moment, are you… the 'you' from the very beginning, or the 'you' after a new life?"
Cecilia looked intently at Mistlen's face, speaking slowly.
Right now, the woman before her resembled the Misteln from after the Stigma Project began — but clearly, the plan had not yet been carried out.
Truth be told, she didn't even know which version of her she hoped to see. The self who had shared memories with her… or the one who had lived them.
There was still a difference.
"Hmm… What do you think?"
This time, Misteln tilted her head slightly, a smile blooming on her face — without giving a direct answer.
----
In the Game.
Abyssal City — in the quiet, underwater ruins of a pre-civilization "Miracle City," connected to another location via a space gate.
Their paths had once crossed there, before leaving after obtaining the Herrscher of Reason's core.
And now, because of the Stigma Project, they crossed paths again.
Fate always had a way of handing people surprises in unexpected moments.
After returning to Earth, Kiana's group quickly got in touch with the remaining Earth forces.
After a round of intelligence sharing and discussions, everyone's eyes turned toward one strange location — St. Freya Academy.
Under the influence of the Stigma Project now enveloping the entire Earth, acquiring coordinates from the void was extremely difficult — or rather, impossible.
From beginning to end, Tesla, Einstein, and the others only had the coordinates of their own current location — the Saltwater Lake base — and the Schicksal Island coordinates.
These were also the only places still resisting the Stigma Project.
From a certain point of view, this made them… not easy to attack directly.
...
At St. Freya Academy —
While Kiana was examining the virtual numbers in the space, a faintly blurry spot appeared from start to finish. This perfectly confirmed that it might be one of the original regions devoured by the Stigma Project, making it an ideal breakthrough point.
The group quickly confirmed their course of action.
The first stop — St. Freya Academy, the place where their dreams began, and also the starting point of their story.
Returning to the once-familiar academy, they now felt a strange unfamiliarity as they stepped inside again. The flowers, the grass — all of it made them reluctant to leave. The weathered teaching buildings bore the marks of time, the old courtyard walls held a special charm, and the dormitories had carried their laughter along the way...
What had changed was not the academy, but themselves.
After so many twists and turns, they had come back to the starting point — but now in a completely different state from before.
No one could have imagined that they would have to walk such a long road before finally returning here.
Following the tear in the space, they tracked the unusual coordinates in the virtual realm, which led them to St. Freya's hidden area — the Doctrine Wing. There, at the very end of the hallway, lay a small white-haired girl asleep.
"Headmistress? — Theresa!"
Kiana and the others hurried over in concern. None of them had expected to find the missing Overseer of Schicksal here.
It seemed that the strange phenomena in this realm were tied directly to this operation.
-----
Short Clip 1: Ai Hyperion Λ
In countless distant worlds, countless suns rose and fell again.
Humanity forgot the border between dream and reality, embracing a completely new life under the veil of the Saint Fountain's space.
Different souls, yet similar wishes.
Different faces, yet similar dreams.
Those who lived through war prayed for peace.
The lonely longed for rebirth.
The broken sought wholeness.
Ordinary people dreamed of greatness…
All the wishes they could never achieve in reality were easily fulfilled in this dream world, where everyone became the protagonist of their own story.
These simplest human desires intertwined, their memories merging into one — forming the complete spiritual entity known as Adam.
There, the eternal dream promised humanity an endless span of time.
The price was that humanity would sink into the long night known as the Stigma Project, becoming part of the planet's shrouded darkness.
And within one of the dreamscapes of the Stigma's space, in a small, warm room—
After ignoring Dr. Einstein's warnings and sneaking out of the Salt Lake Base, Rosalia and Lilia were captured and trapped in the Stigma's dream.
But… the two of them were actually enjoying themselves.
Rosalia excitedly described everything in the dream to Lilia, whose expression grew more and more puzzled.
As the deeply buried memories within her heart were gradually uncovered, that confusion turned into shock.
The dream could only replay each day from the past.
Although every day they could eat as many cherry cupcakes or blueberry gateaux as they wanted, and watch the evening sun dye the sea in golden orange, Lilia no longer had her usual scheduled naps.
They could play hide-and-seek on the beach until the moment the sun sank.
But still, they felt lonely — because it was just the two of them.
They had forgotten so much, until…
A voice came into the dream, reminding them of the absurdity of it all.
It was Big Ai, telling the two of them the truth.
For Lilia, the real shock wasn't whether the dream was real or not, but rather…
"Even though everything here is strange, the strangest thing is — Rosalia actually made a reasonable deduction."
From Ai's words, she quickly understood their current situation. A dream was still a dream — before being exposed, one could overlook its oddities. But as the cracks grew, the lies would eventually shatter.
Watching her sister grow more and more agitated, clearly wanting to run out and face Bronya and Seele right away, Lilia sighed and asked from the depths of her soul—
"Hey, dummy Rosalia… do you actually know how to get out of here?"
Rosalia furrowed her brow, thinking hard for any past methods she could reference. Then, with a pained expression, she slowly raised her head.
"Uh… how about this — you just hit me really hard, don't hold back!"
–Bang
Rosalia held her forehead, tears welling up, and looked around quickly.
— Of course, nothing changed.
Then, deep in the giant beast of consciousness and memory, a faint noise echoed.
Like a ripple on the surface of the sea, or the flap of a butterfly's wings in the wind, it was instantly drowned out by countless human souls, leaving no trace behind.
Few could predict whether it might someday stir up a great tidal wave in the sea of thought.
----
In the Recording Room.
"Ah, Rosalia and Lilia… I don't know why, but I feel suspicious of everything they do."
Kiana complained.
"Well, if it's Rosalia, everything makes sense — you get that feeling too, right?"
Luo Mo laughed. He still respected the orphanage's "Sword Saint," especially at the moment when she willingly offered her head to be hit… But honestly, with her iron skull, wouldn't Lilia be the one in pain?
"Exactly. Those two… they just never stop causing trouble, do they? Can't they behave for once?"
Bronya sighed, already feeling a headache. Just hearing that they had snuck out of Salt Lake Base was enough to make her worry about heart failure.
She wished she could just throw them both out, but clearly, there was no such opportunity.
As the eldest sister figure, no matter the situation, she had to take responsibility for the girls of the orphanage.
----
In the Darkness
An energetic voice rang out, barely hiding its excitement—
"Wow, there's a dream like this?!"
"I really want to try it — endless sweets, no homework, a beach vacation, and no annoying shorty… Heh heh, right, Lilia?"
Rosalia's small face was lit by the glow of the screen in the darkness. She turned excitedly to her sleepy, blue-haired sister.
"But… didn't you decide to leave in the end?"
"That's different!"
She bared her small fangs, raised her fist, and stressed her point—
"We only decided to leave after a few days, right? Dreams just give us the best things we can imagine — but what if reality has something even better we've never seen before?"
"Dreams are made of what we imagine, but reality can have the unimaginable!"
She finished, looking very pleased with herself.
"…I can't believe it. My dummy sister actually said something smart. Anyway, I want to sleep now, dummy."
"Alright, alright, I get it — but don't lie down here, Lilia!"
Rosalia hurriedly caught her, helping her lean back toward the bed.
[And so, the dreamer lies within their dream, while the one in the dream is dreamt of by the waking.]
[In the limited dream, the infinite soul is slowly drained, unable to nourish any wish.]
[Thus, the dreamer steps through the dried husk of the dream, faintly sensing the sound and form of the universe.]
----
"Ah."
A gentle young woman with long green hair, two pouch-shaped ornaments atop her head, smiled softly. She was Ai. Her tone was relaxed as she said, "——If my story could end here, I suppose there's nothing better than that."
"The rest… will depend on your own efforts. Whether it's breaking free from the chains of the dreamscape or escaping a future that has already been set in stone."
"... Please, show me a surprise, you who write history and the future."
She had never directly joined in any of the operations against the Project Stigma.
But perhaps it was thanks to this time-traveling participant's unseen help that the forces opposing Destiny could so quickly regain their footing after the initial chaos.
Now, with the ability to resist the new humanity, they had found the direction for launching a counterattack against World Serpent. Ai returned to the side of the weakest ordinary humans, beginning to shake the Stigma Project in the most direct way possible.
Yet, the moment she truly began trying to save those imprisoned by the dreamscape, obstacles started appearing one after another.
In a way, the Stigma Project was also a kind of infinity — stretching out endlessly, hiding countless timelines within its dreamscapes.
But it was also a twisted cage that imprisoned the essence of humanity.
And this was something Ai Hyperion Λ, who had begun to slowly understand humanity, could never accept.
"Even if you conquer Herrschers, you still can't break these chains?..."
She stirred up more and more ripples in the dreams, using nothing more than the power of an ordinary person to try and save everything her eyes could see, until... she spotted a sphere of crimson light — Raiden Mei's dream.
A trace of helplessness and sorrow surfaced in her eyes. She hadn't expected the Stigma Project to be able to ensnare even Herrschers.
Just as she was about to act, a voice cut through her thoughts.
"You should know — whatever someone does, there is always a corresponding price to pay... my dear intruder."
The voice was as cold and rigid as before. He no longer held a black umbrella, and his appearance had changed — or perhaps more accurately, this was a special variant within the rank of the "Grey Serpents," born specifically as an enforcer for the Stigma Project.
His body was sheathed in a metallic golden sheen. Red light glowed in his eyes as he fixed his gaze on Ai— an outsider to the Stigma Project.
For a moment, the air between these two beings, neither of whom were human, seemed to hang under a faint, ghostly tension.
Ai tilted her head, her eyes scanning the Grey Serpent's frame, as if guessing why he had appeared here — though from his earlier reaction, he didn't seem interested in exchanging pleasantries with her.
"This is our first meeting, isn't it… Grey Serpent?"
"It is indeed our first meeting. But even before this, I have long known of your name."
The Grey Serpent spoke calmly, as though he had been tracking her all along, his account unnervingly detailed.
"The day the Project Stigma was activated, the battleship Hyperion mysteriously vanished — as if it had hidden at some undetectable coordinate;"
"The following night, fragments from a world that had been temporarily used to contain a Herrscher somehow triggered a miracle, linking it to the world requisitioned by the Project;"
"Almost at the same time, both Schicksal and Anti-Entropy detected the unusual data caught up in the virtual intrusion, which allowed them to keep their island battlefront intact;"
"And besides that, there's also..."
He knew fragments of what she had done — but when it came to her true origins… there was no clear thread at all.
"Enough."
Ai cut him off sharply, her eyes narrowing. She had thought she had left few traces — clearly, she'd been wrong.
"Ah, I really don't get it. Why is it that the more unique the lifeform, the less they can understand the Master's intentions? Whether it's troublesome existences like you, or those accomplished Herrschers and the newly awakened post-humans."
"In contrast, the ordinary human — the cog in the Stigma Project's machine — is not exceptional at all."
His icy words stirred a faint revulsion in her heart.
Both abnormal beings, yet their views on humanity were worlds apart.
To her, dreams were not proof of humanity's weakness or escapism. Quite the opposite — humans dream at night precisely to bid farewell to who they were yesterday, and welcome the new day to come.
She tried to persuade him with her own understanding of humanity — but it was obvious this was hopeless.
To the Grey Serpent, the Project Stigma had become a kind of faith. His duty was never to understand humanity, but to safeguard the Plan.
"My, my… neither reasonable nor sentimental. Truly troublesome."
Ai sighed, rubbing her forehead, then extended both hands to seize the circle of light, intending to hold him here and buy the true protagonists some time.
But the tug-of-war she imagined never came — instead, there was a sharp bang.
The Grey Serpent pressed some kind of button. Light flickered in his eyes, dimming and brightening, with a rare trace of regret.
"You truly do understand humans well."
"But you seem not to understand imitation."
Seeing her confusion, he 'kindly' explained:
"The Project Stigma space gathers every fragment of human consciousness and perception. Which means that no matter who you are, no matter how strange you may be——"
"——As long as you possess consciousness resembling that of a human, the Project Stigma will capture you."
"So… you were just stalling me so I could be caught?"
Ai found herself unable to move. The sensation was familiar — the way humans entered dreams — but this time, it was happening to her.
"That's right. While you were exhausting yourself giving that speech, every word you spoke became the condition the Project needed to lock you as prey."
The Grey Serpent spoke evenly, already certain of victory.
Whether his earlier words were sincere or simply a ploy to avoid becoming prey himself was hard to say — but regardless, the situation was set.
"An alien anomaly? So what? Under the Stigma Project, nothing can defy the Master's will."
"Not you, not the Honkai … not even the Master himself."
There was a fervor and confidence in his tone, and he didn't notice the change in Ai's expression.
"So what you mean is… I can daydream too?"
"?"
He had to admit — it was a question he hadn't anticipated. It was as if, in a moment of life or death, all she cared about was how bright the sky was.
The Grey Serpent fell silent.
No one would have expected that when the world was being rebuilt, when humanity brushed against nothingness, there would be an observer unlike any human — striving to narrow the gap between herself and humanity to nothing.
"... In that case, I can rest easy."
Ai gently patted her chest, as though a weight had been lifted.
"I can observe both the past and the future of this world."
"Since the day I was born, I've always tried to present humanity with new possibilities — to bring them a better future."
"But I was never sure what a 'better future' truly meant to them."
"Was my help really meaningful? Or was it just my one-sided wish?"
"But now, the Stigma Project has included me in its design. Even if it stops me from helping them any further… it also means humanity's will has accepted me."
"At last, I have confirmation that it wasn't just my wish alone — and isn't that something to be happy about?"
She wasn't saddened by the loss — what she treasured more was the moment she was recognized as human.
"For something with the ability to manipulate time and space at will, your short-sightedness surprises me."
For the first time, the Grey Serpent looked at her with genuine incomprehension.
That a unique anomaly would abandon everything just for the desire to become human… was beyond his understanding.
Truly… insane.
(T/C: that's what I love about being a Human)
In his heart, he came to a conclusion.
"Farewell, intruder."
The Grey Serpent watched in the direction she disappeared, a faint sense of disappointment in his gaze.
Originally, the two of them could have spoken much more — after all… there were few like them left in the world.
In that dream, she once again became aware of her own life… only to sink back into the chaos of the dreamscape.
----
[A desire to become human? — We've detected the factor. Our civilization also has its own Elysia!]
[With a bow on the head? No way! Our Elysia wants glitter!]
[Even if it's a trap, to her, it's a grand certainty.]
[I wonder… if it were Elysia, would the Stigma Project manage to catch her and pull her into a dream?]
----
In a Golden Courtyard
"If it were Elysia-sis, she'd probably get caught by this too, right? A consciousness so close to that of a human… no one's more fitting than Elysia-sis!"
Pardo's eyes sparkled brightly. Of course, this wasn't flattery — she was just stating the facts.
"But, but… I do dream, you know."
Elysia smiled helplessly, patting Pardo's head.
Unlike Ai, she didn't long for ordinary, mundane dreams. "Still, if I really were caught by the Stigma Project… well, that'd count as a form of recognition and approval, wouldn't it? ♪~"
"Hmph. Forget it. Having our approval isn't the same as being useful to that Stigma Project."
Mobius crossed her arms, her voice sharp and sarcastic.
"Mmm… but having the great and famous biologist Mobius's approval is rather reassuring," Elysia replied with a light nod and a smile.
Mobius let out a cold snort.
"But tell me… why is it that even the great Kevin can't disobey the supreme will behind the Stigma Project?"
Pardo raised her hand curiously. "Don't tell me… the Grey Serpent betrayed Kevin?"
But from the look on their faces, that clearly wasn't what they meant.
"It's simple, little Pardo. When a train is set in motion, even the one who started it can't stop the people in front of it — it would smash him to pieces too."
Vill-V imitated the sound of colliding trains, smiling with a teacher-like air as she looked at Pardo.
"At this point, for Kevin, stopping the Stigma Project is no easier than defeating Honkai. But precisely because of that, anyone who can oppose the Stigma Project probably has the power to defeat Honkai as well."
"Think of it as an exam given by the Honkai to the world. All we've managed to do is secretly get one answer that guarantees a passing grade — that's all."