"Ugh... nothing beats the misery of having no air purifier around."
Inside Babylon Labs, Lynelle's eyes snapped open.
"But... this is Babylon Labs?"
Seeing the familiar metallic walls around her and the iron door before her, Lynelle nearly sighed in relief right then and there.
She'd been worried that if she returned only to wake up directly under Schicksal or Anti-Entropy, and then got told several years had passed... well, that would've been a real mess.
Even though, after the Second Eruption ended, skipping ahead a decade or so wouldn't necessarily mean missing the main storyline, doing so would have robbed her of any chance to save her little angel, Sirin.
"If I'm waking up in Babylon Labs, it at least means the Second Eruption isn't over. Looking on the bright side, maybe only a day or two has passed... But where's Sirin? And this smell..."
Sniffing the air laced with a faint, sickly-sweet metallic scent, Lynelle frowned, a sense of foreboding rising in her chest.
"Lynelle!"
But before she could take another look at her surroundings, a petite figure suddenly materialized mid-air and instantly threw herself into Lynelle's arms.
The unexpected impact sent the unprepared girl stumbling back several steps, nearly landing on the floor.
"Si-Sirin?"
"Waaah... Lynelle, you're really okay! You scared me so much earlier...!"
Though her vision was slightly blurred by the strands of purple hair in her face, from the familiar feel of Sirin, Lynelle instantly recognized who it was.
"Don't worry, I told you I'd win my comeback match..."
"What comeback match! You totally crashed and burned! Your body wasn't healing at all, it didn't even react when I injected Honkai energy... I thought you were..."
"But I'm back now, aren't I?"
Almost instinctively, Lynelle began soothing Sirin with practiced ease. After all, compared to the tearful, pitiable state Sirin was in after her first resurrection, the current Sirin was being relatively calm.
However, once Sirin's ragged breathing eased a little, Lynelle gradually noticed something was off.
More specifically, it was the graduated purple patterns on Sirin's skin, and her completely different attire and clothing.
"Wait, Sirin, your body..."
Lynelle's gaze sharpened. "You've become a Herrscher?"
"A Herrscher...? What's that?"
Sirin rubbed her tear-streaked face against Lynelle's clothes. "Does Lynelle mean... becoming God's messenger?"
"That's right. Just when you hadn't come back yet, a voice suddenly appeared in my head. It told me that if I accepted its gift, I could gain the power to destroy the world... I agreed."
'Did I still end up too late...?'
Lynelle's heart sank instantly.
In a way, Sirin becoming a Herrscher was almost inevitable. But becoming one in despair like in the original story, versus becoming one while by her side, were two entirely different things.
Even if Lynelle couldn't help Sirin much, just being there for her could ensure Sirin's mindset stayed slightly more positive.
During this period, Sirin was still quite malleable. With Lynelle around, at the very least, she wouldn't pull that move from the original story—transferring her hatred for Schicksal onto all of humanity.
But judging by the current situation... had it already been a week since her last death? Was this the point where Sirin had finished slaughtering everyone in Babylon Labs?
"Sirin."
"W-why so serious all of a sudden..."
Seeing Lynelle's suddenly stern expression, Sirin instinctively shrank back. After all, she had just accomplished the feat of 'laying waste to Babylon Tower' single-handedly.
Even though Lynelle never said it out loud, Sirin knew very well that Lynelle was actually a soft-hearted person who disliked all this killing. Could it be that Lynelle had found out about all the people she'd killed, and was angry...
"Can you still hear that so-called 'God's' voice in your head? What is it saying to you?"
"I didn't mean to kill... Huh? Wait, God...?"
Sirin, who had been about to apologize to Lynelle, abruptly cut herself off. It never crossed her mind that Lynelle's focus would be on that.
But immediately after, Sirin also realized something was wrong.
"R-right..."
Sirin closed her eyes slightly, then opened them again with a puzzled look. "That's strange. Why has God stopped talking to me? Just a moment ago, they were still saying something in my head..."
"They're not talking to you? The Will of Honkai went silent?"
Lynelle's expression instantly morphed into an O.O face. "No, wait, you mean even before, they weren't tempting or commanding you, but actually communicating with you?"
"Yeah."
Sirin nodded. "That voice first appeared a few hours ago, back when I thought you couldn't come back... At first, I couldn't make out what they were saying, but later, I gradually could."
"They proposed a deal to me, saying that becoming God's messenger could grant me the power to destroy this place..."
Then, under Lynelle's widening eyes, Sirin cautiously recounted the events that had transpired.
"So... that 'God' didn't demand you destroy the world, but instead hoped you would follow your own heart? And you could hear God's voice before, but after I came back, you can't hear it anymore?"
Lynelle pointed at herself with a bizarre expression. "Am I... some kind of signal jammer?"
"Mmm... I don't know."
Sirin shook her head, her now-longer hair—lengthened due to her Herrscher transformation—gently swishing against Lynelle with the motion. "But being near Lynelle does feel different compared to when I'm alone."
"It's like... a really comfortable feeling. Those feelings of despair and anger fade away a bit on their own. If Lynelle had come back just a little earlier, maybe I would have gone easier on those researchers?"
"Kinda sounds like post-clarity..."
Sirin's description left Lynelle scratching her head, before shrugging.
"But don't worry, even if you showed mercy, I'd help you finish the job."
"Huh?"
Sirin blinked her eyes in a daze. "Lynelle... you don't blame me? You're not afraid of me, even after I killed so many people?"
"Of course I hope you can be a good kid. But first, you need to be clear about what exactly deserves your kindness."
Lynelle patted Sirin's little head. "Towards creatures that clearly don't qualify as human, hesitating for even a second would be disrespectful to all the suffering you've endured before."
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.