"So in the end, we can only blame ourselves?" Serval didn't know what to say.
Could they blame their ancestors? Probably not. Without them, Belobog would have been wiped out seven hundred years ago. But why hadn't they found a way to deal with the Stellaron afterward?
It was just a string of bad luck. Back then, the Antimatter Legion was an unknown threat. Now, the whole universe banded together against them, with the IPC leading the charge.
And as for sealing Stellarons... the Xianzhou could do it. The people of old Belobog had traveled the cosmos; couldn't they have found a way? Or was the price for sealing a Stellaron too high? Mo Wang didn't think so; the Express and the Stellaron Hunters seemed to handle it with relative ease.
"And then what?" Serval asked.
"Then... as you know, your little world has only survived this long because of the Geomarrow," Mo Wang explained. "But after seven hundred years of mining, you're running on fumes. You've got about two hundred days' worth of energy left, right?"
At this, even the fiery Seele fell silent. Svarog had told them as much. In two hundred days, Belobog would be finished.
"Your resources are depleted, and the Fragmentum is expanding," Mo Wang continued. "So your Guardian, in her desperation, abandoned the Path of Preservation and decided to gamble on the Stellaron, infusing it into her own body. That's why she was acting so erratically before we arrived. Understand now?"
Seele and the others finally understood why Cocolia, who had once been a respected leader, had suddenly sealed off the Underworld, seemingly abandoning them. The pressure had been too much; she had given in to despair.
Bronya, too, understood why her mother had always been so evasive, always talking about the hard choices a leader must make. It was never about abandoning the Underworld; it was about trying to save at least one part of their world from complete annihilation. It was a terrible choice, but one that was hard to condemn.
"But that's not all," Mo Wang said. "In her despair, she made another wish. And as we all know, the Stellaron doesn't grant wishes without a price. It whispered in her ear, trying to convince her to turn everyone into Fragmentum monsters. But then, I arrived! Mo Wang! Your savior! In your darkest hour, I sealed the Stellaron and saved you all!"
He held up the pulsating core, a triumphant look on his face. "Tell me, am I not your hero?"
The girls were speechless. Bronya and Serval covered their faces. It was true. As much as they hated to admit it, he had saved them.
Seele: "Mmph! Mmph!" She struggled against her gag, desperate to speak.
Mo Wang removed the bitter melon.
"Cough, cough! If you saved Belobog, then why are you still doing this?! What do you gain from destroying us?!"
"Destroy Belobog?" Mo Wang looked genuinely confused. "When did I ever say I was going to do that?"
"You didn't?" Seele looked at Natasha, then at Bronya and Serval. They all looked equally baffled.
"Then what...?"
"Look, let's recap," Mo Wang said. "We came here to help. Your Guardian went crazy and tried to arrest us. I was forced to defend myself. I haven't killed a single person, have I? I even healed your Guardian. All I did was spank the entire Overworld."
"That's all you did?!" The girls wanted to scream.
"If you're such a good guy, then what's the meaning of all this?" Seele asked, completely lost.
"Because it's fun!" he said, giving a thumbs-up.
"Huh?"
"So you are a good guy? Then why are you doing this to me?! Let me go!" she struggled again.
"Not so fast, little lady. The Belobog Salvation Plan is only half complete. And for the other half... I need your help," he said with the grin of a black-hearted boss.
Bronya and Serval knew what was coming.
"Save Belobog? What are you planning to do?" Seele asked, sensing a trap.
"My dear Seele-chan, to save Belobog, you must join the Honkai Girls Unit and make your grand debut as idols!"
"Huh?" Seele and Natasha stared at him, their minds blank. What did becoming an idol have to do with saving Belobog?
"Look," Mo Wang said, "the Fragmentum may be gone, but the blizzard isn't. Your resources are depleted. You have no future. So, I came up with a plan: become idols, save Belobog!" He launched into his grand, nonsensical, but surprisingly persuasive speech.
"You wouldn't want to see little Hook and the others shivering in the cold a few months from now, without even a piece of bread to eat, would you?" he said, his voice dripping with mock sympathy. "Oh, the poor children, cold and hungry every day. And what about the elderly?"
That hit a nerve. The thought of such a future was unbearable.
"Hook, don't die, Hook!"
"Auntie Natasha, Sister Seele... I want... to live."
"Hook! Hook!!!"
The imaginary scene was so heart-wrenching, even Mo Wang was getting a little choked up.
"Are you sure this will work?" Seele asked, her voice tight.
"Absolutely! No problem whatsoever! The salvation of Belobog is in your hands! Will you stand by and do nothing, or will you take a chance with me?"
They had no other choice. They agreed.
"Congratulations on making the right choice! Welcome to the Honkai Girls Unit!" Mo Wang applauded. He was the only one.
"Aren't you two going to welcome the new members?" he asked, turning to Bronya and Serval.
"W-Welcome! We're so happy to have you," they said, their smiles not reaching their eyes. They looked at the two new recruits with a mixture of pity and schadenfreude.
"Alright, I'm off to get your costumes. You two can fill them in on the details. Toodles~!" And he was gone.
"Congratulations," Serval said, patting Seele's shoulder. "You've fallen into the pit."
"You had a chance to escape," Bronya added. "Now you're doomed."
"What do you mean? Is being an idol that hard?" Seele asked.
"You'll see," they said in unison, a hint of dark pleasure in their voices. Misery loves company.
---||---
The Final Day—
As the first rays of dawn touched the Underworld, the gates opened, and the citizens of Belobog marched out, their faces filled with grim determination.
They headed for the administrative hall, where Mo Wang sat waiting for them on a white plastic chair, Jizo Mitama in hand, exuding an air of "I'm a villain, but I have taste."
"So you've finally arrived, challengers of Belobog."
At the head of the procession stood March 7th, Dan Heng, Cocolia, Svarog, and Gepard—an all-star lineup of Belobog's finest.
"Mo Wang! We're here, as promised!" Cocolia yelled. "Now give us back Bronya!"
"Hmph hmph, hahaha! A ragtag bunch of misfits, challenging me, the great Demon King? How amusing!"
"He's actually calling himself the Demon King now," March muttered to Dan Heng. "You think he's been watching too many movies?"
"And reading 'How to Be a Proper Villain' on the side," Dan Heng replied.
"We will not give up!" Cocolia declared, every bit the shonen protagonist.
"Is that so? Your will to protect is strong," Mo Wang said with a nod. "But to challenge me, you must first get through my Four Heavenly Queens!"
"Come forth, my Honkai Girls! Show them what you've got!"
The doors to the hall opened, and Bronya, Seele, Natasha, and Serval shuffled out, dressed in the most mortifyingly embarrassing idol costumes imaginable, and gave a half-hearted wave.
The jaws of the Belobogians dropped. Cocolia's eyes rolled back, and she nearly fainted again.