The Honkai Will.
Back before he'd transmigrated, before he'd even finished Honkai Impact 3rd's final chapter, Ling Ke genuinely thought the Honkai Will was some kind of transcendent, godlike entity.
Turned out the so-called Honkai Will was a bug-like construct cobbled together near the end of the Previous Civilization Era by Dr. Mei and a team of world-class scholars, with help from the last of the Fusion Warriors.
Prometheus 17.
This super-AI designed by Dr. Mei came online during the Final War over fifty thousand years ago, when Flame-Chaser Pardofelis sacrificed herself to rip open a door directly to the Cocoon of Finality, forging the chains that would become the Honkai Will.
Its existence was why the Herrscher types born in the Current Civilization Era, fifty thousand years later, mirrored those of the Previous Civilization Era so closely.
And on top of that, it was designed to slip humanity every possible advantage.
Which was why, during the Second Honkai Eruption, a Multi-Core Herrscher showed up out of nowhere with absolutely no clue how to use her own abilities.
It was also how Otto, in the original storyline, ascended to "False God" status. He'd benefited from the same bias.
After all, his Tree-Crashing Plan originated from hints the Honkai Will had fed him.
During the Second Honkai Eruption, it had even thoughtfully downloaded a pile of advanced knowledge straight into his brain.
Not that there were no upsides.
Otto's successful Tree-Crashing Plan let him glitch out the notoriously troublesome Herrscher of Binding entirely.
Anyway. Enough digressions.
Right now...
"Hello there, Fire Thief."
A pure white space.
Ling Ke was looking at another version of himself.
Statue-like. Just an outline, no color. Himself.
This was the so-called Honkai Will.
"You should already know what I'm planning," Ling Ke said, not waiting for the other to silently question him. "My real revenge plan. The Branch-Breaking Plan."
"Turn back time... more than fifty thousand years."
Yes. This was the main course Ling Ke had meticulously prepared for his enemies.
It was also the salvation strategy the World-Destroying Player would use to reap the greatest possible harvest, alongside Kevin.
This was the truth behind Kevin's sudden defection.
For him, defeating the Honkai was an obsession, a promise.
For him, the humans of this era weren't necessarily 'his own kind.'
For him, the Stigmata Project, which promised billions of ordinary people a beautiful dream, was the worst possible plan, and he would execute it without hesitation regardless.
For him...
If someone could surpass everything within the Final Trial he'd transformed himself into, he wouldn't mind becoming a stepping stone for the new generation.
But...
"I'll give the previous era a 'second chance.'"
"Or I'll erase the entire Earth from existence."
"Do you want to witness the breathtaking sight of shattered stars?"
"Or... abandon this era and reclaim everything you once lost?"
In that moment, Kevin felt a malice greater than anything in the world.
Or perhaps it could be described as... the most twisted form of 'good intentions.'
Ling Ke. A Herrscher born from humanity's evil.
A postnatal embodiment of contradictions.
He wanted to help Kevin 'save the world.'
But not to make the world a better place.
No. Out of pure vengeful spite, aimed at a specific group of people.
Because one thing was obvious.
Once his plan succeeded...
"If I successfully rewind time more than fifty thousand years, then when the Previous Civilization Era escapes its destruction, this Current Civilization Era will be like a branch snapped off the Imaginary Tree. It will simultaneously cease to exist."
"I'll make sure this timeline produces absolutely no branches."
"By then, the unique state of this era won't be a terrifying 'hell' or a deeper 'abyss.' It'll be complete and utter 'nothingness.'"
Saving the world was also destroying the world.
While destroying this world, he would be saving another.
The two were mutually cause and effect.
Only one side would win everything.
The other would have... nothing left.
And who profited and who suffered was Ling Ke's decision alone.
Because this was his revenge.
On that foundation...
"Just like Otto's Tree-Crashing Plan could bring the people of Klostern back five hundred years, I can bring my chosen individuals to the Previous Civilization Era, more than fifty thousand years in the past."
"They'll be immune to the Time Paradox. Transcending time, they'll continue to exist."
"But they'll be the only ones who do."
Someone once asked: what's crueler than everyone dying?
The answer: being the only one left.
Clearly, Ling Ke was orchestrating exactly that scenario.
"And when that happens..."
In the Theater of Domination, Ling Ke's expression twisted into madness. "First comes cause, then effect. If my enemies want to save their era, to make this rotten fruit change from 'nothing' back to 'something,' then they'll have to..."
"...make the Previous Civilization Era walk its predetermined path to destruction once again."
"So..."
Ling Ke rose from his throne. Nothing stood in front of him, but he grinned madly at the empty air all the same, sanity clearly cracked.
He sneered, the mask of 'elegance' long discarded.
"You hypocrites, always claiming to fight for all that is good in the world. Will you abandon your era and let it dissolve into true 'nothingness'? Or will you desperately try to save it, personally destroying someone else's 'second chance'?"
"Hahahaha!"
"Otto, Rita, Bronya, Raiden Mei..."
"Transcending time and unbound by the Time Paradox, you're sure to put on a magnificent show for me."
"I'll take the most comfortable seat in the audience and watch your pathetic struggle with my own eyes."
"With Otto in the mix, I won't even need to stoke the flames. You'll tear yourselves apart from the inside."
"Spend the rest of your lives in endless torment, struggling to the bitter end."
"That sight. It'll be glorious."
"This ultimate performance, staged on the world itself, wagered on the fates of two eras. It will absolutely fill the 'void' in my heart."
Ling Ke gently stroked his chest. "And at the end, it'll remake me completely."
"It'll grant me rebirth."
In Ling Ke's hometown, there was an old saying.
'One man's hero is another man's enemy.'
Right now, as the Herrscher destined to destroy all of humanity, Ling Ke stood on the opposite side of the world.
And what he was about to do was reverse their positions.
Of course, a villain like him couldn't care less about such things.
But his enemies...
Except for Otto, none of them could bear it.
Fighting for all the beauty in the world?
What if the beauty in your eyes had to be built on the suffering of others?
You people love to conveniently ignore those who get 'sacrificed,' don't you?
Then I'll drag everything into the light, so you can't selectively ignore it anymore.
Beliefs? Missions?
Without the Mandate of Heaven, who would fight the Honkai?
Sorry. To the Previous Civilization Era that's just been given a 'second chance,' you are the 'evil' ones.
Especially Raiden Mei.
She'd been to the Elysian Realm. She'd received the gifts of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers.
To her, Elysia, Eden, Vill-V, Sakura, Griseo... they were all her friends.
And once Ling Ke's Branch-Breaking Plan was complete...
How was she supposed to face them, standing on opposite sides?
So in the end, only two options remained.
Either abandon everything and live the rest of her life in regret.
Or persevere to the end, and live the rest of her life in regret all the same.
Whichever she chose, suffering would be her constant companion.
This was the worst-case scenario. Whatever she picked would be wrong. A dead end.
Of course, if Raiden Mei and the others could somehow obtain the raw power needed to reshape the timeline, they could always 'break the rules by force.'
But would Ling Ke, sitting in the audience, allow that to happen?
Obviously not.
He was like Emperor Nero, obsessively protective of his golden theater, twisted art and all.
Until the performance ended...
No one could leave.
No one could escape unscathed.
And so, today...
"Then the deal is struck."
In the pure white space, Ling Ke smiled, thoroughly satisfied.
The next moment, he was standing inside the Ruins of Finality on the moon.
Meanwhile, elsewhere...
The Domination Puppet Ling Ke had arrived at the Elysian Realm.
Kevin, true to his word, hadn't followed him in.
He had come alone.
To this borderland, connecting the past (the Previous Civilization Era) with the present (the Current Civilization Era).