Himeko sighed, "How exactly do you foresee all of this to work out?"
After pausing for a bit, she added, "And what happened to you, you never explained. You're working with Otto?"
I sighed, "Okay, look, I do have reasons for my actions, but I can't really explain them, especially if you are to eventually reunite with the others. Remember, I'm an alien, and I do have special abilities. I got some help."
"You refused to tell me more about that, the more I asked the more annoyed you got. Before you stopped replying altogether."
"I wanted to distance myself from you, from all of you. I won't be there for the ending, I will be gone long before then."
Himeko's eyes softened, "Dead?"
"No, just gone. I have to return home, but before I do, I want to ensure that everything is heading towards its destined ending."
"'Destined ending?'" Himeko seemed skeptical again.
"The Path of Finality, the destined end. Or perhaps, a new beginning. Terminus, the Aeon of Finality, the Shapeless Prince, travels back from the end of the universe to its beginning, its knowledge being shared with a select few. Though perhaps unwittingly."
"Finality, like the Cocoon of Finality you mentioned earlier?"
"They have little to do with each other, the Cocoon of Finality is simply a name that has been given to that conceptual device, because it marks the final trial of the Herrscher of the End."
"So you saw the future?" Himeko asked.
"No, however, the Pioneer from the Previous Era, Su, did foresee the future. They did not try to stop my plans, fully supporting my actions. Their only goal remaining after the destruction of the Previous Era is victory over the Honkai."
"No matter what the cost is?"
"No, that is not what Su believed, however, there are others who feel that way. Su is much more similar to Fu Hua, then to Kevin Kaslana."
"Fu Hua is a Pioneer? I knew she was special, but I never thought…"
"Yes, she is the oldest person alive on Earth. For now."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Kevin Kaslana, progenitor of the Kaslana family, is currently trapped in the Sea of Quanta."
"Tesla mentioned this, she said that you, Welt, and Siegfried rushed over to something called the Eye of the Deep, in an attempt to stop a Pioneer from returning to the real world. But something went wrong, Welt was transmitting to Tesla, but they lost contact after they entered the Sea of Quanta. You never contacted them back, and shortly afterwards, were removed from the list of Schicksal S-rank Valkyries."
"I needed to ensure that Welt and Siegfried didn't interfere, in addition, Welt Yang needs to give up on being the First Herscher."
"Why is that?"
"His core utilisation is less than worthless, he is only able to tap into a single digit fraction of the Herrscher of Reasons true potential."
"So what? You kill him and give his core to Kiana? Wherever she is? This isn't right." Himeko clenched her fist a little bit, after all, she did once have a crush on Welt when she was in college.
"Don't worry, Welt Yang is fine. Even if he dies his consciousness will transfer over to the Herrscher Gem. Siegfried is also fine, Kevin Kaslana will undoubtedly attempt to convert him to his cause. In addition, this provides several opportunities."
Himeko was silent now, so I continued.
"First of all, the candidate who I have in mind for the Herrscher of Reasons abilities isn't Kiana. That will come later. The person I have in mind is Bronya."
"So you want to lure Bronya to the Eye of the Deep and become the next Herrscher of reason? You want Bronya to go up against the progenitor of the Kaslana family, who even Welt and Siegfried couldn't beat?"
Himeko wasn't taking this as well as I had hoped, lucky she was still in the hospital bed, and I had a chance to explain.
"Bronya doesn't need to beat Kevin Kaslana. In addition, she has a very good reason for going into the Sea of Quanta. To rescue her sister, Seele, who was trapped by Cocolia in the Sea of Quanta."
"Cocolia. She caused the Third Eruption. Bronya's adoptive mother. Terrible person." Himeko clenched her fist again.
"So, in the end, Bronya will become the new Herrscher of Reason who fights for humanity, rescue her sister who has the Authority of Death, Welt gets saved because his consciousness resides in the Herrscher Gem, so Bronya can just recreate his original body, Siegfried gets rescued, and all is great."
"What a happy ending," Himeko said sarcastically, "You still haven't explained why they don't need to beat Kevin Kaslana."
"Because Kevin Kaslana will be let out of the Sea of Quanta regardless. No matter what happens, the World Serpent will ensure it, even if it means letting the Sea of Quanta wash over the real world, killing millions or even billions. This way, nobody will die."
"Until he enacts his plan, the one that kills ninety nine percent of all humans."
"He cannot enact the plan until every Herrscher before the Herrscher of the End is defeated, which won't be for quite some time. In addition, Kevin Kaslana will be the final trial that Kiana will have to overcome to become the Herrscher of Finality. She will be successful, that I assure you."
Himeko sighed, sitting up in the medical bed and lifting off of it, "Whoa…!"
"Be careful, we are currently on the Moon, there is one sixth gravity." I noted.
"Whoa, on the moon?" Himeko looked around, "There is a Schicksal base on the moon?"
"Yes. Your artificial stigmata no longer exists. Your time as a Valkyrie is over. You can no longer fight the Honkai in combat. However, you might now be able to achieve your once held dream."
Himeko seemed excited at the prospect, seeming in a much better mood than they had been moments ago.
"You will be forced to stay here for quite some time. With protective equipment, of course, you will be able to explore the lunar surface. Including the ruins and traces left here by the Previous Era, and even older ones."
She seemed to dim a little bit, "So basically I am stuck here on the moon, unable to go back to Earth?" however she soon brightened again, "This is still totally amazing, can I see outside?"
"You can see all you want, with your Stigmata gone, and all the damage caused by it and the Honkai, your life expectancy has returned to normal. Your dream of exploring the stars is no longer so far away from you. In addition, you will be able to return to Earth eventually, in a little more than a year, reuniting with Kiana and the others."
Himeko suddenly calmed down, like a bucket of water was thrown over her, "I am still not sure how I feel about this."
Hopefully, she would think about it some more and realise that it really was the best way.
"Take all the time you need. In addition, you should take the opportunity to rest. While all your physical injuries might be gone, your mental state is bound to still be a mess. You have a lot to think about."
Quickly standing up, I exited before Himeko could say anything, I left the room. The two Valkyries were waiting outside, discussing something.
"I healed her burns, she is also awake. However, her mental state is currently unknown. She might need some help."
The two Valkyries looked at each other, then back at me, "Yes, Sir." and saluted.
Walking down the hall, I received a call from Otto.
"Miss Himeko seems energetic about exploring the stars, but she does not seem to appreciate your plan."
Of course Otto was watching, "It matters little, there is nothing she can do about it. Even if she thinks about it and doesn't agree, she is stuck here with no way to help, and no way to return to Earth."
Otto was silent.
I asked a question, "How are things with the Hyperion, Theresa and the others."
"They are returning to St. Freya, there is little they can do, for now."
"We still need to finalise how to lure them to the Eye of the Deep."
"Telsa will undoubtedly take care of that for us. We just need to leak some information. For instance, that Welt Yang is still alive, trapped in the Sea of Quanta, along with Siegfried and an unknown third little girl, Seele."
"Hopefully everything goes as expected."
"You talked much about the destined end, and the concept of fate to Miss Himeko, now you suddenly don't believe it yourself?"
"I know how it will all end, hopefully. The process from here to there is unknown, Su could always be lying about me achieving my goal, me believing that might improve the odds of defeating the Honkai."
"So now you believe that Su might have lied?"
"Not really. I just feel anxious, I can't really help it."
I reached the door to my small apartment on the Lunar Outpost, which resembled my apartment back on Earth, that I could no longer visit due to being 'dead', but much more compressed, with no separate office space, second bedroom, kitchen, or training room. Both of the latter were shared among the select few Valkyries stationed at the Lunar Outpost, only around 14.
The Image of Otto appeared on the wall monitor as I entered my apartment, interrupting Shamash who was playing with a tablet while sitting cross legged on a pillow on the couch.
"You can always start taking anxiety medication." Otto suggested.
"Ha." I replied.
"That was a serious suggestion."
"No." I said with finality.
Otto smiled, "Of course, my friend."
I just stared, sometimes he took me completely seriously, and at other times he treated me like a petulant child. I had a mental age of 21 now dammit! I wasn't some kid.
I sighed, "When do you think the best plan is for the Eye of the Deep."
"First, I will leak information that the so called 'Authority of Corruption' defence system, is nothing more than a scare tactic, I will bait Tesla with the information that Welt is still alive, and I will bait Therese with the information about Siegfried, Seele, and your potential death."
"Whats the timeline?"
"I would like to get the Beacon Authority and begin experiments as soon as possible, but it would be suspicious if it's too early, and I still need to prepare. The plan is for around three months from now."
"So April?"
That was the same as the original timeline.
"That is indeed four months from now."
Sometimes Otto could be extremely annoying.
"Haha, I am sorry, but your reactions are quite amusing sometimes, my friend."
My expressions weren't that visible, where they? That would be bad.
Moving on quickly, "What about Fu Hua's body?"
"Heh, Fu Hua becoming the Herrscher of Sentience. Quite ironic isn't it. According to you, the order is fixed, so it needs to happen after the Herrscher of Ice. According to you, the birth of the Herrscher of Ice will occur in May."
"Correction, it's not Fu Hua becoming the Herrscher of Sentience, it's the Herrscher of Sentience becoming Fu Hua."
Otto just smiled again. Really annoying.
"The Herrscher of Ice, the Herrscher of Sentience, and The Herrscher of Rock will occur in quick succession, within only a few days of each other. Sometime during that, Kevin Kaslana should invite Mei to the World Serpent, where the final piece of the puzzle of Finality will be found."
"Then the Herrscher of Dominance, the final piece we need." Otto noted.
"Yes, after it is defeated by Kiana, we can finally begin our little play at Kolosten. Around June, only six months away."
"With the death of the Herrscher of Binding, with Corruption soon following." Otto was practically glowing.
"Yes. After that, there are only a few months left before the end. Only two possibilities will occur, Project Stigmata is successful, or Kiana successfully becomes the Herrscher of Finality. There is no third outcome. However, we both won't be around to see it."
"Both are technically victories with the rules you set out. Though, of course, the latter is vastly more preferable."
"Who knows, maybe at the Wedge of the World you can see into the future and see which ending occurred, it is outside of time after all."
"What do you plan on doing throughout these six months? I have reviewed the updated plans for Kolosten, and construction has secretly begun. Although it is slightly extravagant preparations. Everything you wanted costs almost as much as a new Kallen Fantasy game."
"I have saved you at least that much. You can afford to spend it. As for me, I will be sitting back and watching the show unfold. I have discovered all I have needed here, and with my death I am effectively on vacation. You can't assign me any tasks. At least, not until you get the beacon."