BANG!
BOOM!
Their fists crossed. With an outward thrust, Hua sent a jolt of pain through Michael's wrist. Before he could even react, she seized his arm in a reverse grip.
Then, from a spin to a back throw, the entire sequence was blindingly fast. The sound of Michael's body cracking the armor plating and the clash of their wrists rang out almost simultaneously, the latter completely drowning out the former.
A few breaths later, the dust settled. Michael lay in a shallow crater indented in the armor plating, his head tilted slightly up. Hua's fist was hovering just an inch from his forehead.
"Why not finish the punch?"
Michael's tone was so flat it betrayed no hint of a question. He even gave up any pretense of resistance, letting his head fall back and lying flat in the crater, looking for all the world like he was just waiting for someone to shovel dirt over him.
Hua held her punching stance, motionless. True, as things stood, she could have easily let her fist fall. Given the speed they had both just demonstrated, Michael wouldn't have had time to dodge.
Perhaps that one punch would be enough to make the man's head burst open, just like Otto's had not so long ago.
But that was all just "perhaps," just "as things stood." What they had engaged in was the most basic of hand-to-hand combat, not even a warm-up, and Hua knew that perfectly well.
Whether she threw this punch or not would make little difference.
"Heh. Back when we sparred at St. Freya, I thought you were deliberately holding back. I didn't expect... Michael, you've... gotten rusty."
Michael shook his head slightly. Hua was telling the honest truth.
"Well, I was never any good with fists or weapons anyway. Besides, there's no one left in this world who requires me to use these combat techniques to solve anything. But then again, you were the one who taught me most of them, weren't you?"
Hua's brow furrowed. She hated Michael's current tone—so placid and lifeless, utterly devoid of any discernible emotion.
The sorrow, the anger—all the emotions that should have been there—she couldn't tell if they were being suppressed or if they had never existed in the first place.
Of course, there was another explanation for this feeling of hatred. Hua was also keenly aware that at certain times, in certain places, and in the eyes of certain people, she appeared exactly the same. Perhaps what she hated wasn't the flatness itself, but the connection this identical emptiness forged between them.
Her mind wavered for a moment, her pupils trembling faintly. But then she saw the smile at the corner of Michael's lips.
"!"
The once-clear sky had, at some point, turned a grim gray. In her peripheral vision, Hua even caught sight of her own hair floating straight up...
In the next instant, a deluge of lightning rained down, connecting with the unextinguished flames on the sky port. Explosions erupted everywhere, and the fires seized the opportunity to spread once more.
"Don't misunderstand, Hua. I'm just buying Sirin some time to adapt to her body."
Michael dusted off non-existent dirt as he slowly rose to his feet. A hundred meters in front of him, Hua's long, dark hair had turned white as snow, leaving only insignificant traces of red at her fringe and tips.
"Michael, am I to understand that you've cast aside everything from the past? That you're going back to being a Herrscher, to your duty as the Finality? Or... have you been controlled by the Honkai?"
At this point, Hua could no longer comprehend Michael's actions. Or perhaps it was because she couldn't see her own memories clearly, couldn't find it in herself to trust and understand him again. She... didn't dare to fully trust him anymore... probably...
But even so, she still refused to believe that was the answer.
"No, you don't have to do this. I see now... your goal is still her... But Michael, if you actually succeed, do you think she could accept the mistakes you've committed just to bring her back to this world?"
Michael's brow twitched, and he tilted his head as if he'd heard something peculiar.
"What makes you think you know her better than I do?"
His chest rose and fell slowly.
"Did you see her tears before she died? Did you hear her choke out that she wanted to live? You didn't experience any of it, so you don't understand anything. Back then, we were both fighting for the chance to sacrifice ourselves for the world. We both wanted the other to live on, to carry our hopes with them and witness the world's future... And what was the result? When I returned to reality, I saw that her sacrifice had become a joke. Whether you admit it or not, when seven billion humans were reduced to the thirty thousand in the Fire Moths, our civilization had already ceased to exist..."
"So?"
After all these years, Hua thought Michael would never speak of the past again. Perhaps, just as he said, he was only trying to buy Sirin time to adapt to her new body. After all, if they were to fight seriously, how long could she last against him?
Fortunately, time was just as important for Hua, especially after Sirin had casually teleported the Hyperion out of the battlefield. Although they had contingency plans for such a situation, it was always better if she could stall for time through conventional means.
As for the explanation, it didn't seem to mean much to Hua anymore.
If this explanation had come five hundred years ago, back when she still remembered much of the past, she might have been able to offer some response.
But the Hua of today... couldn't.
She could only ask the one question that could express any and all of her doubts:
"So?"
"So? Isn't it obvious? She sacrificed everything for humanity, but humanity itself betrayed that sacrifice, rendering it meaningless. But if we ignore the outcome, since she once gave everything for humanity, shouldn't humanity be prepared to give everything of its own to bring her back?"
"You're insane!"
Michael's answer didn't surprise Hua, but that didn't mean she wasn't shocked, astonished, and... furious.
"You can't conflate the two! You can't force the problems of the previous era onto the people of this one!"
"Oh? And you're any different? If you truly didn't want the people of this era to bear the burdens of the last, then why implement the Stigmata Project? And don't you dare say Project Fire Seed was without its flaws. Spreading knowledge far beyond this civilization's reach prematurely turned the entire region of Shenzhou into the area with the highest Honkai intensity for an incredibly long time, even giving rise to a Pseudo-Herrscher. Wasn't that the masterpiece of Project Fire Seed?"
"I may despise the Stigmata Project, but at least its final outcome will allow humanity to defeat the Honkai. But what about what you're trying to do, Michael? You're just twisting logic."
"Ah."
Michael responded with a soft hum.
"So you also agree that if the final outcome is a good one, the mistakes made along the way are acceptable, right?"
Hua's brows knitted together, wondering what kind of word game Michael was trying to play.
But Michael gave her no chance to elaborate—
"Ah, that's right. There's one thing you all probably still don't know, is there?"
"Hm? 'You all'?"
Michael slowly closed his eyes. "Yes, none of you know. Elysia... was a Herrscher from the very beginning. She never needed to sacrifice everything for you."
"?"
Seizing the moment Hua was stunned into silence, Michael took a step forward.
The sound of his footstep rippled quietly through the empty space. Then, a golden radiance tore through the dark clouds shrouding the sky port, ripping through every weak point in space until circular spatial rifts filled every inch of the sky Hua could see.
"So... what will you use to stop me, Hua?"
Michael slowly crossed his arms in front of his chest. As he spoke, familiar Lances of the Void emerged from the spatial rifts, yet they were different.
Golden chains were wrapped around the tail of each lance. Hua didn't have time to search through the convoluted memories of Fenghuang Down for the corresponding Authority, but the brilliant golden light alone gave her an ominous premonition.
"Whatever. Sirin should be done playing around by now. See you."
Michael turned around crisply. In an instant, the chains chimed, and tens of thousands of Lances of the Void fell, trailing golden wakes behind them. The sight was far more brilliant than a once-in-a-millennium meteor shower, but of the two people present, one was certainly in no mood to appreciate it, while the other seemed to be in a hurry to leave.
"One..."
"Two..."
"Three!"
The corners of Michael's lips curled up again. The moment the countdown ended, thousands of crimson feathers pierced his body but failed to inflict any damage. Just as he had predicted, Hua passed through the barrage of lances at an unbelievable speed and appeared behind him.
But in the very next second, his feet felt heavy, and a familiar pull tugged at his back. The triumphant smile on his face instantly melted into one of resignation.
"Hua, do you really think the same method that worked the first and second time would still work a third time?"
He wasn't surprised that Hua had gotten her hands on the 9th Divine Key. Since she was cooperating with Anti-Entropy, the only real help they could offer in a battle of this magnitude, besides a missing First Herrscher, was the 9th Divine Key itself.
A heavy sigh was Michael's only reply, accompanied by the faint rustle of hair and clothes.
"No. I never thought the 9th Divine Key could hold you. I understand that the first two times it trapped you were likely because you wanted to be trapped. After all, setting aside your Authority of Time, you at least possess the corresponding Authority of Rock. Breaking the influence of the 9th Divine Key's pseudo-black hole shouldn't take much effort for you."
"Well then, don't you think you're wasting your energy?"
"Not at all. It's just... in the past, we knew the Honkai was nearly impossible to defeat, yet we were still willing to fight for that almost non-existent hope. It's the same in this era. Even if there's only a tiny, insignificant chance—even if the road ahead is completely hopeless—I will use all my strength to walk it to the end. At the very least, I'll be able to end it all with the release of knowing I did my best."
"Like moths to a flame?"
Hua was visibly taken aback for a second before replying with resolve.
"Yes."
"How tragic, then. To hear someone who's forgotten the past lecture me about what 'we' used to be like..."
Michael turned around, the same smile on his face.
Hua's lips parted slightly. Even with her memories so lost and scattered, she saw a flicker of familiarity in that smile.
She watched as Michael raised his hand, and her body instinctively trembled. But his hand stopped halfway and fell silently to his side. When Hua looked at his smile again, it was indeed familiar, but somehow different from the shattered images in her memory.
"Alright, you win. If you want to stall for time, I'm happy to oblige. But before that, I need to spend a few minutes taking care of some things. Don't worry, a few minutes for me is only a few seconds here... Tch, if I don't go now, I'll be too late. Well then..."
His words broke off abruptly. Hua's hand shot forward against her will, but her five fingers closed on nothing but golden particles of light being drawn into the pseudo-black hole.
...
"Hah..."
Himeko stared at the vial of HSN-b46 serum in her hand, her amber eyes betraying no emotion.
There was less serum than before. Some had been used to verify its efficacy, and some had been kept as a sample. Speaking of which... that Dr. Tesla was insane. To prove the serum was real and effective, she had actually infected herself with Honkai sickness using a high-concentration Honkai energy crystal first.
But the remaining amount was enough. According to an offhand comment from Tesla, the dose in this one vial was enough to take down an entire Valkyrie squadron. Even a Herrscher, if hit with it, would have the Honkai energy in their core instantly purged by more than half.
Himeko's lips moved slightly, as if she wanted to say something to herself, or perhaps to the serum in her palm, but in the end, she committed it all to silence.
Perhaps she felt there was nothing left to say, or maybe there were no words left at all.
The sounds of gunfire, explosions, and shouts grew clearer in her ears, punctuated by the soft clicks of weapons being calibrated.
No words were needed. She knew she was heading back to the battlefield.
In truth, no matter how many times she went through it, her body would instinctively resist and fear the moments right before a battle. For instance, her hands trying with all their might but unable to form a fist. Her knees suddenly buckling without warning. The constant production of saliva, forcing her to swallow again and again. Or the suffocating illusion of oxygen deprivation no matter how deeply she breathed.
"Hah..."
Letting out another long breath, Himeko tightened her grip on the serum. She held it for a second, then prepared to place it in the item pouch integrated into her battlesuit.
Just then, a voice spoke right beside her ear.
"Why aren't you using what I gave you? Oh, right. You're saving it for Kiana, aren't you?"
Hearing the voice, Himeko first gasped, then quickly spun around and took two steps back, bringing her fiery greatsword up in a diagonal block.
"What are you doing here?!"