Half an hour after the Herrscher of Stars was successfully defeated…
At the Newborn World Serpent's lunar base…
"Aponia, what did you find?"
Inside one of the laboratories, MEI stood beside a certain nun.
Before them, the remains of the Herrscher of Stars lay upon a laboratory table.
Or, to be more precise, the body of Dr. Einstein.
The day's battle had ended with astonishing ease.
There had been no unexpected reversal.
The Herrscher of Thunder had not suddenly interfered, nor had any of the Herrscher of Blood's "Spawn" appeared to harass them.
Even the Herrscher of Stars had been killed in a single blow by the Grace Field, a power so unfair that it might as well have been a game-breaking mechanic.
Kevin and the others had expended very little energy during the operation. Consequently, they were able to return to the Moon with their "spoils" soon afterward.
Yet despite their triumphant return, none of them showed the slightest excitement.
Even Elysia, who had made the greatest contribution to the battle, was no exception.
By now, Kevin and the others had already withdrawn to their respective rooms.
Each of them claimed that they simply wanted some time alone.
MEI did not stop them.
She merely asked Aponia to screen everyone and confirm that no Alien Monsters had infiltrated the base. Once that was done, she dismissed them and let them spend the time as they pleased.
MEI then brought Aponia to this laboratory.
Her expression remained unreadable.
She had asked the nun beside her to search for whatever information remained within the dead woman's brain.
As long as the brain itself had not been damaged, a MANTIS specializing in psychic perception could recover certain fragments of the deceased's memories.
What MEI wanted most was the master access key to the "ELF" network, the central command system of the entire ELF Unit.
Unfortunately…
"I'm sorry. I failed."
Aponia shook her head.
"I was able to locate the key within Dr. Einstein's brain, but…"
The nun turned toward the purple-haired girl beside her.
"She had already abolished the highest level of command authority within the 'ELF' network. In doing so, she granted every ELF a gift from their creator."
"That gift was called… 'freedom.'"
After hearing Aponia's explanation…
"So that's what happened."
MEI nodded helplessly.
She now understood the entire sequence of events.
After Dr. Einstein became the Herrscher of Stars, her human consciousness had been completely suppressed. Even so, the newly born Herrscher consciousness had retained an inexplicable affection for the creations of her host body.
Therefore, the first thing she had done was use the ELF network's highest authority to remove every restriction imposed upon the ELFs.
In other words, obtaining the network's master key now would accomplish nothing.
The ELFs had each been granted the right to choose how they wished to live.
Moreover…
Every last one of them was now hostile toward "humanity."
Faced with that reality…
"If the ELF Unit has already become our enemy, then we'll find a way to deal with it later."
MEI delivered her conclusion without hesitation.
She then dismissed Aponia and prepared to extract the Herrscher Core corresponding to the Authority over Gravity from the Herrscher of Stars' remains.
There was no question about it.
Following electromagnetism, if MEI could use the Key of Blankness to wield gravity, another of the universe's four fundamental forces, then…
"The new Project ARK will have an even greater chance of succeeding."
After all…
"I can begin researching 'time.'"
Even as she spoke those words, MEI's expression did not change in the slightest.
At that moment, she seemed to have…
Truly become an "absolutely rational" being.
Meanwhile, inside Elysia's private lounge…
The original Elysia, Sim Elysia, and Sim Eden had gathered for a quiet conversation.
Sim Elysia had noticed something wrong with her other self long ago.
Once everyone returned to the base, Sim Eden quickly sensed it as well.
Fortunately, Elysia was not the kind of person who would keep her troubles bottled up until they erupted without warning.
She trusted her other self.
She also trusted Sim Eden.
And so, during their small gathering, she told them what she had experienced that day.
"…The parents and older relatives of those children apparently all worked at The Moths Who Chase the Flames Headquarters."
"And today, they died by my hand."
"They were caught inside the Grace Field I directed at the Herrscher of Stars. They lost their lives along with her."
Elysia understood perfectly well that, because of her actions, countless families had been torn apart that day.
Faced with such an outcome, she truly could not call the successful subjugation a "victory."
"That… will be very difficult to live with."
Sim Elysia and Sim Eden exchanged a glance, neither knowing how they could possibly comfort her.
Both of them had lived through far too many tragedies like this.
But as mentioned before, most of those deaths had not been caused by their own hands.
Especially not under circumstances where they had knowingly chosen to attack despite innocent people remaining within range.
"I know the Herrscher of Stars had to be eliminated as quickly as possible if we wanted to preserve the final Kindling of humanity in this era."
Elysia forced a faint smile.
"I thought I had already prepared myself for that."
"But when I saw those children… the way they looked at me… as though they were looking at a monster…"
"…That hatred…"
It was often said that hearing about something secondhand could never compare with witnessing it through one's own eyes.
Elysia felt that she would probably carry everything she had witnessed that day for the rest of her life.
Those images had been seared into her memory.
Seeing her like this, Sim Elysia and Sim Eden could do little except remain by her side and help ease the darkness weighing upon her heart.
At the very least…
At least they still had dear friends who could remain by their side.
But what about those who had already lost everything?
From the so-called "Superhuman Unrest," to the global Cold Wave, and now this…
"How ironic."
At that same moment, aboard the Astral Express…
Ling Ke observed the information flowing back to him through Omniscience and sighed inwardly.
The entire Newborn World Serpent had now holed up on the Moon, several hundred thousand kilometers away from Earth. For the time being, they were relatively safe and secure.
Earth, however, had already descended into endless turmoil.
Under such relentless pressure, the probability of new Herrschers being born was rising almost exponentially.
Ling Ke remembered it clearly.
In the completely vanished Old Days, the era once known as the Current Era, only a little over a year had passed between the Fourth Honkai Eruption and the War of Finality.
At the absurdly efficient pace events were progressing now…
"During the three years remaining, perhaps there really is the slightest chance…"
A mocking expression surfaced on Ling Ke's face.
"Kiana Kaslana might actually become the 'God of Earth.'"
"However…"
For some reason, he suddenly recalled a film called Don't Look Up.
In that story, the group that had tried to save all of humanity died on Earth.
Meanwhile, the people who had devoted themselves to concealing the truth became the final beneficiaries, reaching a new habitable planet many years later.
One had to ask…
"Could this be considered another kind of… Death's End?"