The last matter, of course, was Kevin.
The Stigma Project had caused unimaginable troubles for the vast majority of humanity, yet it had indeed been one possible answer to the Cacoon of Finality.
That Project had blanketed the entire Earth, drawing away vast amounts of Honkai energy—reducing the danger for many places to an extremely safe level.
But in doing so, Earth had been damaged so badly it could no longer bear the presence of the Cacoon of Finality's Herrscher.
And so… at this moment, just after surviving the Honkai, there were still countless regions—on Earth, in the Imaginary realm, on the Moon, even within the Quantum Sea—that held more Honkai energy than necessary, needing to be dealt with.
Even Kiana herself still carried an enormous amount of it.
More importantly, in this moment, the world's rules were being redefined. The gates to a vaster world were beginning to open before them.
Based on Mobius's research, the barriers of the world would only grow stronger in the future, becoming impossible to shake. Climbing the Imaginary Tree in such a way would no longer be possible…
Yet even now, even with the Cacoon of Finality's control over time, and though fifty thousand years could be bridged, Kiana could not clearly see what kind of path would open for the other side.
The odds were overwhelmingly against them—almost certain death.
Especially now that she had gained new authority, understanding this world more deeply than ever before, she was sure of it.
The soul swimming upstream would search the endless desert for the one oasis, only to find darkness before the dawn.
If five hundred years had been this arduous, then crossing two civilizations was almost hopeless. Even as the so-called Goddess of Earth, she saw little chance.
"..."
Kiana looked at the white-haired, blue-eyed man before her, telling him everything she had brought back from the Cacoon of Finality.
The others stood quietly and listened.
At this, Kevin simply said calmly,
"I understand. Thank you. Let's begin."
He gripped his greatsword, affixing the Shamash true form to its blade, then glanced at Kiana and the others, nodding gently.
He had been preparing for this for a very, very long time.
Elysia seemed unwilling, yet she could no longer argue. She opened her mouth several times but stopped each time, unsure how to persuade him.
The memory-echo of Kevin crossed his arms, watching his counterpart's movements, a flash of deep envy in his eyes. Perhaps he too had been waiting for this moment.
But in the end, they were different—they each had their own destination, their own endpoint.
Beside them, Shamash activated, stimulating the spherical structure where the Herrschers had stood moments ago. Rings of light protruded from its surface, containing powers of various colors, all compressed within. The entire sphere now seemed ready to burst.
That same sphere—once mocked by Tesla as nothing more than a metal trash can—rotated into position, aiming its empty slot forward.
All the power gathered during the experiments, along with the full potential of hundreds of Stigmata's weapons, would erupt in a single instant.
Vill-V had called this the most noble, one-of-a-kind device ever made.
And it was worth it.
"Do I need to attack you directly? Using Imaginary number reformation?" Kevin asked calmly.
He looked toward the girl and asked his question, his gaze falling on the purple ceremonial robes not far away—robes belonging to the calm and composed Herrscher of Finality. The aura radiating from her was both familiar and foreign to him, yet there was no doubt she was a Goddess of Earth now.
"No," she replied, "there's no need for anything that troublesome. Under the authority of Finality, I don't need to go through those preliminary steps."
"But this matter itself… it runs counter to the ideals of Finality," Kiana explained. "That makes it hard for me to influence the state of the Imaginary Tree afterward."
She controlled all the powers of the Herrschers now, no longer needing to reshape the Imaginary with spatial manipulations. She had quicker methods—though that didn't make them any safer.
What Kevin faced was a branch of the Tree that had withered through countless eras of reincarnation. To reconnect it, to make it live again… she doubted it could succeed. It had nothing to do with personal will. Even if they succeeded, the future ahead would still be one where tragedy might be unavoidable.
Kevin opened his mouth, about to speak, when a sudden voice cut him off.
[…You've… passed the Finality? Does that mean… Griseo can finally return?]
[Kevin, you… what is this…?]
A faint, distant voice echoed through the void—it was Su, appearing at this moment.
"Su… well, I didn't expect you to show up now. That's good."
"Then I can say it—goodbye."
For once, the eternal frost on Kevin's face melted into a trace of warmth. His eyes showed a flicker of nostalgia—memories of the past. Now, he could only tell him in his heart to take care.
[…Alright, I understand. If you've resolved yourself, then as your friend, I can only wish you success.]
He hadn't expected that after the events of Finality, their next meeting would be a parting. His old friend was about to leave. The only thing he could give was one final gift of farewell—and then watch him go.
The Moon hung above, its desolate backdrop emphasizing the distance of the Earth on the horizon, glowing with a gentle blue light. That soft hue contrasted sharply with the Moon's cold loneliness. The metallic shell of the base reflected an icy gleam, and the air was thick with unspoken goodbyes in every corner.
"Do your best, guinea pig. Don't let our efforts go to waste~" Mobius crossed her arms, bidding farewell in the same tone she always used.
"Kevin, I'll miss you ♪~" Elysia waved lightly, her voice bright even in parting.
As everyone waved goodbye, Kiana slowly closed her eyes—then suddenly opened them. She drew a shape in the air with her finger toward a metallic sphere floating ahead. The turbulent Honkai energy around her flowed gently from the hole at its core, gathering freely at her side.
Bang—
She closed her left eye, raised her right hand in the shape of a pistol, and fired. The Honkai energy followed the direction of her aim, accelerating in an instant. A dazzling beam of light burst forth, carrying an unstoppable momentum. Like a comet tearing through the black of space, it swept away all obstacles before it. Even the walls of space and the laws of the world themselves bent to the authority of Finality.
Time slowed. In Kiana's eyes, the shape of a clock appeared, its hands turning backward.
"Haa—!" She couldn't help but let out a sharp cry, drawing in even more speed from the Honkai energy—adding to it the concentration from Earth's surface, as well as her own full might as the Herrscher of Finality.
The beam didn't stretch far into the void. Instead, it struck something—a "key point" in the world—where it clashed violently. Space rippled like disturbed water.
Boom— Boom—
Thunder-like sounds echoed without pause as Kiana, alone, fought against the rules of the world itself.
Suddenly, a gaze from a higher dimension fell upon the scene.
Kiana frowned and looked upward into empty space.
A green bodhi leaf appeared in midair, slowly drifting toward the exploding point of impact. It glowed faintly before dissolving into energy and flowing into the black rupture.
[…Even if I shouldn't… there's something I must do. Go, Kevin.]
Su's voice was heavy and frail. No one knew what price he paid for this.
Kevin took a deep breath, recalling a moment on the sports field when they had tapped fists in quiet camaraderie. That closeness now felt impossible to recover.
"Alright… now!" Kiana's eyes lit up. What Su had poured in wasn't just Honkai energy—it carried his spiritual mark, breaking down the final barrier in his own way.
Beside them, Vill-V's masterpiece had already grown dim, its Stigmata core drained dry and crumpled like waste paper. Yet repeated surges of Honkai energy had left it beyond repair. Kiana did not hold back her remaining power of Finality—she hurled it all into the black rupture.
Space rippled strangely, the disturbance spreading only a few meters. Then suddenly—silence. As though the air itself had been sealed off, Luo Mo and the others lost all sense of connection. Only Kiana's voice still reached clearly.
Without hesitation, Kevin stepped forward.
Step by step, his black tactical boots struck the ground with crisp echoes. He didn't pause or look back. It was as if invisible stairs led upward toward that dark rupture.
Just before his hand reached inside, he paused and glanced back at the group on the Moon. In them, he saw shadows of the comrades from fifty thousand years ago—memories of moments they had once shared.
Were those memories warm and beautiful? No… it wasn't that they couldn't compare—he simply… didn't remember anymore.
They had come from the past to this moment. And he… was going back to the past.
That thought crossed his mind briefly. His memories might be hazy, but his promise remained clear.
He had fulfilled MEI's request—fulfilled her dream. And now, for once, he wanted to make a choice for himself.
At first, his only wish had been to stand beside her. Whether at her side or behind her… in the end, it was never enough.
He would not accept such a future.
The gazes of Elysia and the others held longing, regret, and sorrow. They wanted to keep him here, but… what meaning would that have?
After the Honkai was defeated, the rest of his life would have been nothing but suffering. For him, death was the best release—especially dying on the path of pursuing hope. Wasn't that what the so-called Fire Moth was all about?
The thirteen Flame-Chasers all waved their farewells. Even memory Kevin and Mobius, who would face thousands of lifetimes together, moved their hands slightly in a subtle gesture. Kevin suddenly felt a faint smile tug at his lips. He didn't even know why, in the last moments of his life, he was focusing on such small actions between those two.
He saw all of them moving their lips, but it was too late to make out the words. He just knew—they were here.
"Farewell. Take care, everyone."
His lips moved, though his voice was silent in the stillness of the domain. He believed they could still hear him. Even if no one knew, it didn't matter. He didn't care. Just like he didn't care about his own death—at all.
A person's personality is their fate. Or perhaps it's the other way around: a person's fate stems from their personality.
The failed Icarus carried hope… and fell into the sea.
---
On the moon, the air gradually turned desolate. The lingering joy of victory was slowly washed away by the sorrow of parting.
Elysia felt a bit downhearted, gazing in the direction Kevin had gone, a faint sense of loss in her heart. It was the same for the others. Even though Kiana and her group hadn't met Kevin much in reality, it felt as if they had come to know him completely through the game.
Though he had been an enemy, standing on the opposite side, it was hard for her to dislike this man who could be called her "ancestor." For that reason, she was willing to pay a small price for him.
"Haaah—" Kiana straightened her back and let out a long breath. Clearly, what she had just done had been a heavy burden on her. The force she had borrowed from the Cocoon of Finality, she had nearly drained completely. The Crimson Erosion effect from the other Herrschers was also growing stronger. In a way, Mei was now like her "portable battery"… though so were some of the others.
Kiana thought this to herself quietly.
"Kiana, are you okay?" Mei was the first to rush over, taking her hand tightly and looking at her with worry.
She had no idea that in Kiana's mind, she had just been given an internet-slang nickname.
"Mm… my chest feels heavy. Weird," Kiana frowned, describing her condition. More than just her body feeling drained, there was this sudden sense of guilt in her heart, as if she'd done something wrong.
"That's not strange, my friend. The Cocoon of Finality doesn't like methods like that, nor does it welcome… 'guests sneaking across the river.' In a sense, you're its spokesperson, so you should be stopping that kind of behavior, not taking part in it."
Vill-V chuckled lightly as she explained.
She paused, then added, "Of course, 'spokesperson' might not be the right term. I still haven't found the proper word to describe the relationship between you two."
"Ah, that explains it…" Kiana rubbed her chest, clicking her tongue in annoyance. Weren't gods supposed to be able to do whatever they wanted? She thought she could act freely from now on—why should she care about the Cocoon's feelings? She had no intention of doing that!
(Meanwhile, the Cocoon, which had just been hugged: "??")
"Alright, let's analyze our current situation. We've basically completed all of our plans here." Mobius clapped her hands to draw everyone's attention.
Before, she hadn't needed to use such a method, but now that her form had become smaller and smaller, even coughing twice could make her disappear from sight. It was… frustrating.
"Everything went a bit too smoothly, so we didn't even need our backup plans… cough cough. As for Kevin, we couldn't help him. Whether he succeeded or not was easy to verify. What I'm about to say now is for you, Kiana." Mobius looked straight at her.
"Me?" Kiana tilted her head, confused.
Wasn't her next step just… staying on the moon for a few years? Eating instant noodles whenever she wanted, drinking Coca-Cola whenever she wanted, letting Tesla set up a signal receiver for her—no classes, no training, no voice-overs—just playing around with no one to boss her around? She was ready. She could endure it.
For that kind of life, she was even willing to become the so-called "Goddess of Earth." That was her resolve.
"The good news is… you don't have to stay on the moon alone."
"Huh?" Kiana's fantasy shattered, and she couldn't help voicing her surprise. But thinking about it carefully, the Cocoon had never actually said she'd have to stay on the moon this time.
"But you do need to pay close attention to the Honkai energy on Earth, the Herrschers' powers, and the Cocoon's force inside you. If you don't plan to take the path of Honkai energy, you could just drain it all away."
"Already thinking about the future? Isn't that a little too soon?" Kiana muttered.
She still had a long way to go before she'd finish absorbing all that Honkai energy. And what about sealing the Honkai energy on the moon after the Honkai —was no one going to consider that?
"…Actually, I'm more curious about the form of the Cocoon's power in your body. If I remember right, when the powers merged at the end, something… changed, didn't it?"
"Uh… yeah, but I can't really explain it clearly. It's like this…" Kiana began discussing with her the two similar yet different forms of the Cocoon's power.
---
On the way back to Earth.
Luo Mo carefully asked Mobius in thought, "Tell me, does this still follow the law of conservation of energy? …Don't look at me like that. I may not be an expert in science, but I do understand the basics."
"…Heh." Mobius shifted her gaze and didn't question his point. It was true—this man had no intention of pursuing further academic study.
Mobius shifted her gaze, but she wasn't suspicious of him either. On the academic side, he indeed had no plans to expand on the idea.
"I'm not trying to discard the basic law behind this," she said.
"But you must understand—inside a single box, there's no way to preserve that concept. If you think it can't be preserved, then there's only one reason: the range isn't large enough. Within the range encompassed by the Imaginary Tree, energy is still conserved."
"Next, as long as Kiana can control and guide it properly, the Honkai energy of Earth will follow her intent, reaching a concentration suitable for humanity—something they can gradually adapt to."
Her voice was calm. Her gaze pierced through the crystal hull of the ship, looking toward Earth—teeming with life, yet different from the one five thousand years ago. It wasn't the same planet anymore.
Mobius didn't understand how someone like her could still be sentimental. Clearly, she wasn't supposed to be. Not like that Elysia, who even after so long still hadn't awakened.
Honestly… Hmph.
What were Aponia and Eden always hanging around her for anyway? Utterly boring. Boring to death.
"Hey, hey! Come quick, look at this! The device is reacting!" Vill-V's loud cry drew everyone's attention aboard the ship. They turned to look at her excited face, not quite understanding yet.
The monitor displayed the readings of the instrument—it had just, in the last instant, spiked to an unprecedented level. A reading so high that even the birth of a Herrscher couldn't compare to this max value!
Vill-V was certain—Prometheus's simulations had never recorded something on this scale.
The jagged data curve shot straight up like it would never end, continuing forward without any sign of dropping. In their eyes, it was beautiful—breathtaking even.
"So… Kevin, he… did he succeed?" Elysia's voice trembled. She closed her eyes, trying with all her might to sense something, but failed.
"Could be. At least he didn't die before reaching the Tree." Vill-V answered excitedly.
(T/C: I knew It! Son of Lady wants to do like Otto!)
That was all this special device could detect. Whatever happened after, she couldn't know. But she believed—believed in that figure who had stood before them, the Deliverance Kevin. Believed he could prove that the will of one person truly could change the world.
She didn't know if he succeeded, but she refused to believe he would fail. After all… her research into Kevin's combat form had never stopped.
Far away in the starry sky, they could clearly see a star flicker, and then at its brightest moment, gradually dim and fade. Yet its light still shone far into the distance. Its radiance had never truly gone out.
(T/C: Why always (Male Kaslana) has the sad ending? GGG Kevin, Kebin, Archone's Kevin (HSR) and Phainon)