Kevin knew that Noldrei now held all the power of the new world in his hands.
Unfortunately, the people of the Current Era didn't think what Noldrei had done was all that terrible.
In fact, the new world of the Current Era had already become inseparable from the superstructure Noldrei had constructed.
Kevin had the idea of saving the world, and the ideal of doing so, but the world itself did not crave to be saved. That made him, the "Savior" of the Previous Era, seem so redundant.
When he arrived at the Elysian Realm, he had expected to face another serious meeting.
But the reality was completely different from what he had imagined.
Waiting for him was a victory banquet. At the feast, there was only celebration. There was no discussion of the future or any of its troublesome options.
His long-departed comrades-in-arms were all here, waiting for his return.
Even if they were only memory constructs.
"Kevin, come, sit. Everyone here has been waiting for you."
Su guided Kevin to the seat of honor, just as he had led the group in slurping noodles here all those years ago.
Kevin glanced left and right, but ultimately listened to Su and sat down.
He asked with confusion, "You all... what are you doing?"
Eden poured everyone a glass of wine and said with a smile, "As you can see, we are celebrating. And we are congratulating you for finally fulfilling Dr. MEI's wish. Our historical mission... is finally over."
'Historical mission... finally... over?'
Kevin looked down at the freshly poured red wine. In the reflection in his cup, he saw his current self.
By usurping the authority of Finality, he had indeed completed the plan to finally destroy Finality.
He gradually remembered what his original purpose had been.
"You're right. My historical mission... is indeed over."
Even as Kevin acknowledged Eden's words, his face remained as cold and deadpan as ever. Everyone was used to him being this way and went about their own business.
"Is there anything to be unhappy about?"
Su didn't consider whether Kevin would decide to continue shouldering Finality's future position.
The new position of the authority of Finality was to bear the various traces left by humanity's past, and to find, within that past, a sliver of a crack to break through Noldrei's new civilization.
But this troublesome crack was not for Kevin to bear.
"I know what you're all thinking. I have no desire to covet or monopolize the authority of Finality. I am merely waiting for the next Herrscher of Finality to come and challenge me."
"Before this, I had thought Noldrei might step in and take this responsibility. But after I obtained it, I never expected it to be... such a 'difficult' situation."
Kevin rarely showed an attitude of submission. He truly felt pained by this conflict of contradictions.
"If it's painful, then let it go. What are you hesitating for? It's not like the Current Era doesn't have people who can handle this job." Pardofelis thought Kevin's worries were completely unnecessary. This situation was like pondering when human civilization would go extinct.
It was an endless mental entanglement with an invisible entity.
It wasn't that Kevin didn't know; it was because he knew all too well that he was being so cautious about the next Herrscher of Finality.
Kevin explained softly, "Although I don't know what hopes or thoughts Noldrei has for human civilization, according to the researchers of the Current Era, both the space outside the Imaginary Domain and the Sea of Quanta can become the Director's experimental grounds. The Cocoon of Finality has always been a substitute for his ideals. What I'm more worried about is that he will become the infinite creator of Cocoons of Finality."
"He forced the Will of the Honkai within the Cocoon to develop the idea of self-reproduction, and even made it personally create the authority to replicate the Cocoon of Finality. An existence like that... I wouldn't have even dared to imagine it in the past."
"He cleverly used our hands to complete his own plan, and even wants us to be grateful to him for eliminating the Honkai crisis."
Kevin's words cast a layer of silence over the once-joyful banquet.
Elysia patted Kevin's shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't worry. Besides... I've already given up my power of Origin. In the past, didn't we also place our hopes in future generations, hoping someone would inherit our ideals, defeat the Honkai, and protect the beautiful parts of humanity?"
As she said this, an embarrassed look crossed her face. Elysia's tampering with the Honkai Cores was, in effect, also a form of "trusting in the wisdom of future generations." She was merely extending the characteristics of her own special Herrscher nature, allowing more Herrschers of the Current Era to become like her—rational and more flexible in their stances.
Elysia would never dare to admit that her actions were, in fact, creating her own kind in the Current Era.
Just like the proliferationalism Noldrei spoke of, Elysia had also borrowed from the future of humanity.
Before she knew about the ideology of proliferationalism, Elysia could still say it was because of love and various emotions. After knowing, Elysia's heart was like a clear mirror.
She had accepted that she and humanity were of the same kind, and wanted to create more of her own kind in the future. Only then would there be a chance to defeat the Cocoon of Finality.
Elysia was the Previous Era's native Noldrei. It was just that her origin was a Herrscher, and she lacked the organizational power to complete the process of victory.
Ellie's happiness was different from before. In her heart, there was now a guilt she had never felt.
Noldrei had completed this process using only the power of the Previous and Current Eras. If only she had thought a little more back then, if only she had seen humanity and the Honkai a little more clearly when she acted...
Then her comrades from the Previous Era wouldn't have fallen on the eve of the dawn.
If the people of the Previous Era taught Elysia how to love people, then the people of the Current Era taught Elysia why humans feel love.
She was a memory construct, she was Elysia, and she was the Herrscher of Origin.
The same thing had succeeded in someone else's hands but failed in her own. The impact Noldrei had on Elysia was greater than she had imagined.
Elysia deeply felt what the most unbearable guilt was.
Therefore, Elysia knew that Kevin's wisdom could not bear the responsibility and power of Finality.
Because Kevin lacked the ability to create companions. The number of people fighting alongside him was dwindling. After losing MEI, Kevin had been in a constant state of depletion.
The current Kevin had already completely run out of fuel. No matter how he persisted, he could not outlast Noldrei.
Noldrei was the ultimate lifeform who could forever maintain himself in a youthful state of mind. His forgetting of human suffering had reached the highest point of life.
The purpose of Elysia holding this banquet was not just to celebrate the end of the Previous Era.
More than that, she wanted Kevin to let out that final breath, to completely let go of the heavy burden of civilization.
To go find the youth he once was.
And also, MEI, who was waiting for him on the road ahead.