"Huuh—"
Exhaling deeply, Nagami in Sirin's form and C.C. both curved their lips into faint smiles.
In C.C.'s hand, the orange-gold Herrscher Core radiated a gentle light.
"With this, everything is finally complete. All that's left now is to make a glamorous exit—and we'll have the perfect ending!"
C.C. gently shook the woman sleeping in her arms.
"Mother-in-law, mother-in-law!"
A soft murmur—enough to nearly make C.C.'s brain explode—escaped Cecilia's lips as she slowly opened her eyes, as though waking from a deep dream.
Her consciousness was still hazy, her gaze blurred.
She blinked hard, and at last, the face of the green-haired girl before her came into focus.
"… is it… over? Has the dream ended?"
Cecilia shook her head lightly, her mind clearing as she recalled her last memory—falling asleep while holding Sirin in her arms.
"Yes, it's over. I'm sure Sirin has already felt what's in our hearts."
As Nagami's chest glowed with the iconic blue circle of the Void's extraction, C.C. stretched out her pale hand.
The orange-gold Herrscher Core traced a perfect arc through the air before sinking into that circle.
"All that's left is to wait for our reunion in the future, Mother-in-law."
"Mhm."
A radiant smile blossomed across Cecilia's face.
Sunlight spilled over her snow-pale cheeks, like flowers blooming in full spring.
Her gaze toward C.C. grew warmer, more tender, overflowing with maternal affection.
For this "daughter-in-law," she truly couldn't be more satisfied!
Even if both Kiana and Sirin loved her, it didn't matter.
She had crossed time itself, defying fate just to help bring back family, to lighten their burdens of sin.
If such a thing happened to any girl, who wouldn't be moved to entrust their entire being in gratitude?
Even Cecilia herself wasn't immune to such feelings.
For a girl, this was the ultimate, irresistible strike.
And besides—in Schicksal, where lilies bloomed across every corridor—such complicated relationships weren't even unusual.
Cecilia had seen far messier bonds before.
As for Nagami.… he could only silently pray that when Cecilia eventually learned of the other girls, she'd spare him at least two swings of Abyss Flower.
Dying wasn't the issue, but getting stabbed a few times by a Divine Key hurt.
And it was nowhere near as fun as being stabbed by… cough, cough!
"So, what should we do next?"
Not knowing how else to show her gratitude, Cecilia embraced C.C. the way she had embraced Sirin, her tone soft as silk.
"Uh—"
C.C. could feel it—every inch of the softness and elasticity pressing against her.
For a moment, her mind went completely blank.
Thankfully, she currently had a female body.
Had it been her male form, she might have made a fool of herself.
But in truth, she didn't overthink it.
She was a hopeless pervert, sure, but she had her own principles.
There were lines she'd never cross.
And all of this—she insisted—was truly from the heart! (sobbing noises)
"Let me think…"
Pulling back slightly, C.C. rubbed her delicate chin with a fingertip and tilted her head in thought.
"Mother-in-law, from here you're free to act on your own. As for me, I'll be fighting Siegfried—and in the end, I'll 'die' at his hands."
For Cecilia, her role in this tale had reached its end.
C.C.'s only remaining task was to ensure Siegfried used the Hypervariable Factor Activator, awakening the Pavanti Emperor-class Honkai Beast gene within the Kaslana bloodline.
That way, his injuries would match those of the original worldline.
When C.C. spoke of Siegfried, Cecilia's expression stiffened.
Her head lowered, shadow falling across her face so no one could read what she was thinking.
"…"
"Don't worry, Mother-in-law. I understand."
C.C. gave her a reassuring smile, sweet enough to calm any heart.
"He's still your husband, still Kiana and Sirin's father. I know my limits."
With Cecilia's gentle and forgiving nature, unless Siegfried truly did something utterly unforgivable—something beyond redemption she would always grant him another chance.
Because, as C.C. said, only with father, mother, and daughters together could there be a complete family.
"Then… until we meet again, Mother-in-law~"
With a carefree wave, C.C. turned and stepped through the newly opened gate to the Imaginary Space.
Nagami in from of Sirin gave Cecilia one last nod before following her inside.
"…Thank you."
Watching their silhouettes vanish, Cecilia steadied her emotions, then turned southward and continued on her way.
...
A thunderous roar split the heavens.
It was the Benares, an upper-level Judgment-class Honkai Beast.
The demonic dragon's colossal wings whipped up violent storms as it opened its jaws, unleashing a torrent of thunder and flame.
But this Benares was no ordinary one.
Bestowed with wisdom and power by 'Sirin', she stood several levels stronger than her counterpart in the original worldline.
Like a boss monster in a game, she possessed not just one—but three attributes: lightning, ice, and fire.
And that wasn't all.
In battle, she could even undergo a second transformation.
While still not at the level of the anomaly known as Chiyou, she had already far surpassed a typical Judgment-class Honkai Beast—even reaching the strength of a pseudo-Herrscher.
Deep inside her body pulsed a Herrscher Core of Thunder, crafted by himself using the Conquest Gem as its foundation.
Thanks to the Third Herrscher's core, which Nagami had studied for the longest time with his Alpha Stigma Eyes, he understood its powers more deeply than any other.
Even without the Conquest Gem, he could have forged a convincing imitation core.
With it, however, the replica was nearly indistinguishable from the real thing.
In other words—Benares, armed with her "Plus MAX Imitation Core of Thunder," wielded power on par with a true Herrscher of Thunder.
To prevent her from losing her "wisdom" once the core was implanted, Nagami had also reinforced her with a vast amount of the Void's power.
Her strength was the sum of both forces combined.
Originally, Benares's fate in the Second Honkai War was to fall at the hands of Schicksal's A-rank Valkyries of the Snow Wolf Squad.
But now? Defeating A-rank Valkyries would be child's play for her.
Even in her humanoid form, she could have crushed them with ease.
So if, in her true dragon form, she was still struggling—there was only one explanation.
Her opponents had also leveled up.
Instead of Shigure Kira and Shub-Niggurath, she now faced none other than Siegfried and Theresa.
The only reason Benares could hold out this long was because neither Siegfried nor Theresa had unleashed their true strength.
Siegfried was still weighed down by Cecilia's strange attitude toward him, his heart unsettled.
Theresa, meanwhile, was conserving her strength, using only Judah's base output against the Second Herrscher.
Benares roared again, raining down firepower.
Normally, the overload of fire and lightning should have caused the battlefield's temperature to spike.
Yet with her cry, the heat reversed—dropping into a deadly chill.
The storm twisted into a vortex of frost, a freezing blizzard that solidified into a colossal tornado of ice.
Benares remembered her master's instructions well: the tornado wasn't meant to kill, only to imprison, freezing those caught within.
But the golden chains of Judah tore through the void, intertwining and retracting in midair.
At the same time, the flames of Siegfried's greatsword ignited the heavens.
Against such power, the ice tornado shattered almost instantly.
"Theresa! We can't drag this out any longer. I'll finish her. You stay out of it and save your strength."
"Siegfried!" Theresa gripped her golden lance, her voice full of worry. "Your body—!"
"I'll be fine. I've still got plenty left!"
Honkai energy surged from his body in a flood.
Scorching heat wrapped around him, flames burning until nothing remained.
Yet even so, the chill freezing his very nerves refused to yield.
"Unleash—"
Snarling flames erupted outward in every direction.
"Might of Utu!"
The blazing blade roared to life, tearing the air apart with searing intensity.
The atmosphere itself quivered as though boiling.
A condensed slash of fire shot skyward, aiming straight for the dragon.
"Rrrghhh!"
'I won't let you disturb my master!'
Unable to speak in her dragon form, Benares glared at the incoming blaze, preparing to pour her full strength into resistance.
But then—
"You've done well, Bella."
A portal opened directly above the dragon's head.
From it stepped a figure draped in violet.
"Leave the rest to me☆~"
With casual grace, Nagami in from of Sirin extended her pale hand forward.
At once, an ideal fluid unfolded—ignoring viscosity, heat conduction, mass diffusion, and all physical constraints.
Against this flawless flow, even Siegfried's Fire attack, drawn and unleashed in full, could not spread its heat beyond Nagami's reach.
This was—the Ideal Fluid.
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