[Just as in the previous cycles, the Tragedy of Binding descended, unavoidable.]
[To eliminate the Herrscher of Binding, you inevitably paid a painful price. Countless Fusion Soldiers perished in that battle.]
[Countless warriors shed their blood to help Kevin find an opportunity to strike it down with the Might of An-Utu.]
[But just as the Herrscher of Binding was held in place by the Eighth Divine Key, 'Fenghuang Down,' creating an opening for Kevin, and just as the Sky Fire was about to fall, you beat your wings with all your might, using a hurricane to send everyone still capable of moving—save for Elysia and Hua—out of the attack's range.]
[Because of your actions, the 23 Fusion Soldiers who should have been buried here along with the Herrscher of Binding survived.]
[And you, for once again tanking a blow from the Sky Fire, sustained considerable damage.]
When the Fusion Soldiers who had been saved from the Sky Fire by the gale returned, the scene that greeted them filled them with both sorrow and shock.
The Eleventh Herrscher was suspended on a cross of inscrutable meaning, now utterly silent.
Surrounding her, everywhere, were blocks of congealed, dark-red ice.
The battle had long since ended, but the unique chill radiating from Kevin still enveloped the battlefield.
The blood that had once flowed on this land was now steeped into the cold frost, resembling a vast, dark-red ocean wave.
And at the very center of it all, a faint purple glimmer flickered and died. The eternally blooming crystal rose had withered and shattered, fragmented by the tragedy that had unfolded.
Fu Li had indeed saved the remaining soldiers at the last second, but the casualties suffered in the relentless onslaught to create that final opening were unavoidable.
Elysia wrapped an arm around the waist of the now-unconscious Hua. She didn't look at Kevin, but instead at the young man standing silently to the side, half of his body already carbonized.
Besides herself, the only ones who could have survived a direct hit from the Sky Fire were probably Li and Kalpas. As for Hua, she would have never made it without Elysia's protection.
Silence, stares, confusion, and grief.
The surviving soldiers looked at the stone-faced Kevin, who deliberately averted his gaze, unwilling to meet their eyes.
To be fair, in that situation, it was the one and only chance he had to eliminate the Herrscher of Binding.
Even if it meant his comrades, who had risked everything and given their lives to buy him that single opportunity, were still within the blast zone.
Their pain was justified, but Kevin's actions were also correct. It was the most rational, and only, option.
"Sigh... Li, are you alright?"
Amidst the heavy silence, Elysia dug an unconscious Kalpas out from beneath the frozen earth. She looked at Fu Li, who hadn't said a word since the battle ended, and asked softly.
Honestly, if not for the steady strength of his breathing, even she might have suspected he had already passed out.
"I'm fine, Elysia. But... when is Seele getting here?"
The slight twitch of his lips pulled at his charred skin, and a jolt of intense pain made Fu Li suck in a sharp breath, not daring to move another muscle.
If not for the various Honkai Beast DNAs that numbed the pain, he wasn't sure he could have even spoken that sentence completely.
"...Seele will be here any moment. Just wait a little longer."
"Mn."
Elysia was never one to lie. Not even a few minutes later, the roaring engines of a helicopter echoed in their ears.
Before the aircraft had even landed, a young girl wielding a black and white lance leaped down without hesitation, kicking up a cloud of dust as she hit the ground.
The newcomer was none other than the former Herrscher of Death, Seele, holding the Sixth Divine Key, 'Abyss Flower.'
"...Everyone, move."
Seele's face was cold. She paid no mind to the astonished crowd around her, simply striding quickly toward Fu Li.
Due to her sensitive identity, someone subconsciously moved to block her path, but Elysia gently pulled them aside.
"Trust her. Li has always been a good judge of character."
"But, this..."
Ignoring the shocked and wary soldiers nearby, Seele bit her lower lip and rushed to Fu Li's side, hissing through gritted teeth:
"You idiot. You had more than enough time to get out of the blast range."
"Pfft... But I'm fine, aren't I...? Alright, save the complaints for later. Hurry up and heal us, I'm about to die from the pain."
"You... Seriously, it would serve you right if you did."
Seeing that Fu Li was still in the mood to joke around, the icy frost on Seele's face thawed slightly.
Although she was inwardly reluctant to heal anyone besides Fu Li, she knew this was a request he had made to help everyone accept her.
After all, there was an old saying: you don't bite the hand that feeds you. Even with her sensitive identity, once they had received her grace, they wouldn't have much more to say.
Of course, Seele herself couldn't care less about any of that, but since it was for Li, she decided to reluctantly lend the others a hand.
The pure white power of 'Creation' surged from the lance, carrying a warm, healing force that rapidly mended Fu Li's injured body.
By extension, the other squad members near her, who had suffered injuries ranging from light to severe, also began to feel their wounds slowly recover.
The healing lasted for a full three minutes. Only when the last piece of blackened scab on Fu Li's body was pushed off by newly grown flesh did Seele stop.
Had it been any other Valkyrie using the authority of Creation at such a high output, they would have been drained long ago. But for Seele, the original owner of the Core, accomplishing this was effortless.
"Hah, much better."
Though still extremely weak, Fu Li could now stand up straight without the hindrance of pain.
Kalpas, who had been unconscious, shot up at the first opportunity. He looked at Fu Li and offered a friendly greeting:
"Yo, you're not dead yet, huh."
"Heh, yeah. Same to you, Kalpas."
"Hmph."
Kalpas snorted coldly and said no more, his gaze silently falling to the ground beneath his feet, where many of the fallen still lay.
---o---
"Alright, Dr. Mobius has given orders for me to bring you back to the lab for a physical examination. Even if you won't listen to me, you have to listen to her."
"Besides, you need to explain the situation to Pardo properly. Otherwise, you'd be too irresponsible."
Perhaps disliking that Fu Li's attention was on another man, Seele placed her hands on his shoulders and began pushing him toward the now-landed helicopter, even using Mobius as leverage.
"Hey, I get it, don't push me."
Resigned, Fu Li let himself be docilely guided by Seele.
But as they passed by Kevin, Fu Li saw it—a fleeting glimpse of loneliness and sorrow deep within Kevin's eyes. And when Kevin looked at him, there was a faint hint of gratitude.
Fu Li's smile faded. He looked at the others who were already beginning to clear the battlefield, but in the end, he offered no words of comfort, only sighing inwardly.
None of them were in the wrong. The only thing to blame was the Honkai.
Author's Notes:
PS: The fragmented lore of the Previous Era is really messy. I spent half the day researching online analyses and the Remembrance Vessel just to get a basic understanding of the Tragedy of Binding.
The next update will be a little later, meow.
By the way, how did Otto manage to cheese the Herrscher of Binding again?