The database had recorded it long ago: people from Shenzhou were most deeply affected by extreme betrayals—when the person closest to them turned out to be the one who wanted them dead.
Like a son who discovered his mother was cheating on his father.
Afraid her son would tell, the mother and her lover decided to kill him. However, the boy was surprisingly strong, and the lover couldn't pin him down, so he called the mother to help.
How much strength could an older woman really have?
But the moment the boy saw his own mother holding him down, he suddenly stopped his violent struggling.
It was like the myth of Nezha returning his flesh and bones to his parents.
This was exactly the situation Raiden Mei had faced. When she learned that her own father was the source of her suffering, she gave up asking for help, gave up struggling, and gave up all hope of living.
"Why else? Anti-Entropy can't beat Schicksal; we aren't even fit to carry their shoes. A Herrscher we exhaust our resources to cultivate will eventually fall into Schicksal's hands and be used as a strategic weapon. They'll have no personal freedom—they'll be exploited, hypnotized, enslaved, and modified... Herrschers have no human rights. The moment they become a Herrscher, every organization will try to squeeze every last drop of value out of them."
"In truth, most Herrschers can be controlled. But from a Herrscher's perspective, everyone is an enemy, and there are only two paths laid out before them—"
"Path one: Voluntarily become a test subject, be drained of all value until the Herrscher Core is extracted, and die a meaningless, undignified death."
"Path two: Fight to the bitter end against the strongest organization in the world until finally being killed. And during this time, all the destruction and casualties—whether caused by the Herrscher or Schicksal's Honkai weapons—will be blamed entirely on the 'Great Eruption' brought about by the Herrscher. It will be recorded in textbooks, and they, along with their family and friends, will be cursed by countless future generations."
"The more attachments a Herrscher has, the more likely they are to choose the first path, at least so the people around them won't get hurt."
Arga frowned, as if genuinely feeling the injustice of a Herrscher's tragic fate.
"Someone leaked the fact that Raiden Mei became a Herrscher. So, before she meets that kind of end, dying now is the best possible outcome for her."
"Raiden Ryoma said it himself—transplanting the Gem of Conquest into his daughter to spare her the pain of her natural stigmata was the biggest mistake of his life. If he could turn back time, he would rather watch her curl up in a hospital bed and die in agony than put the Gem of Conquest inside her."
"But Raiden Mei didn't understand the political struggles behind the scenes. When she vaguely sensed the truth—when she realized her biological father was the main driving force behind those who bullied her—she lost the will to live."
"If it weren't for you, Raiden Mei would have died long ago in some forgotten corner, free from sorrow and pain..."
"It's tragic, but death is true release."
Arga delivered his final assessment and shook his head, unable to hide the disappointment and sorrow in his eyes.
When the naked truth was presented, its ugliness, cruelty, and absurdity were enough to blot out the sun. The world was left with nothing but gloom and coldness, filling every corner of the heart.
Li Wu stood frozen. The wind and dust brushed past his ears, carrying both noise and silence.
He felt like a scarecrow in a field, standing aimlessly among the crops. People gave it the purpose of scaring away birds alongside them, and it accepted that role, weathering the wind and rain—until it realized it was only a scarecrow, kept in the dark and deceived.
And still, utterly powerless.
"Are you kidding me...? You're saying that even a Herrscher who causes no harm only has two choices: become a test subject stripped of human rights, or be forcibly stripped of their human rights, killed, and then slandered?"
"What else?" Arga stepped forward and patted Li Wu's shoulder. "Perhaps in their eyes, a Herrscher isn't much different from livestock."
Li Wu swayed slightly on his feet. For some reason, certain memories from the past suddenly surged forward.
Beautiful memories turned bloody.
No wonder Raiden Mei was always so self-destructive. It wasn't that she wanted to destroy herself—it was that she had no other choice.
Li Wu remembered how the Main Quest had changed the night before last, right after he accepted Raiden Mei's black card.
System. Open the Quest Panel.
Li Wu called out in his mind.
[Act I: "The Hidden Side of the Girls"]
[Main Quest: "Save Her, or Kill Her"]
[Location: Nagazora City]
[Target: Raiden Mei]
[Objective 1: Help Raiden Mei's human persona overcome the Herrscher persona, and survive the Third Honkai Eruption.]
[Objective 2: Raiden Mei dies.]
[Note: Raiden Mei is now permitted to die. Her death will no longer trigger "Return by Death." Completing either objective will clear Act I and unlock Act II.]
Save her, or kill her.
They seemed like two different choices, but in reality, there was no difference at all. Because—
To kill her was to save her. And the only way to save her was to kill her.
She was "permitted to die" not because the system was glitching, but because the current save file was almost guaranteed to lead to a dead end.
He had personally designed the plot of the manga. He always left a path to clear the game; there was never a "dead file" that was impossible to beat.
But this time, the quest had changed because, based on the current situation, no matter what he did, Raiden Mei would ultimately be "saved" or "killed."
Objective 1 confirmed this theory.
Li Wu clearly remembered the original objective: Prevent Raiden Mei's death and help her find the meaning of her existence.
The current Objective 1 was: Help her overcome the Herrscher persona and survive the Third Honkai Eruption.
And after that?
And after that?
What would happen after that?
Does her survival not matter anymore because she's destined to die anyway?
Seeing Li Wu's expression grow increasingly despairing, Arga sighed and offered some well-meaning advice. "There are plenty of fish in the sea. Why hang yourself on this one tree? You're strong, and you know so much. You have Raiden Mei's black card, right? With money and power, there are girls lining the streets waiting for you to pick them. Why fixate on a Herrscher who's destined to die?"
"There are plenty of beautiful women out there..."
"A B-Rank Valkyrie's strength is impressive, but only compared to someone like me. Compared to A-Ranks and S-Ranks, it's nothing. And S-Ranks... conservatively speaking, Schicksal has at least double digits. Do you know what that means? Entities comparable to Herrschers, people who could destroy a mid-sized country single-handedly—Schicksal has a full twenty of them... Your B-Rank strength could blow up a street at best; you couldn't even level a city. Before Schicksal shifts its attention from Anti-Entropy to you, leave Raiden Mei while you still can."