"Lord Ji Lin, the victory you have looked forward to at the very end has arrived."
Lixue gazed at the Xuanyuan Sword in her hand, whispering softly before returning control of the body to Irene.
[Thank you for your hard work, Miss Lixue.] Irene nodded to Lixue, who had returned to the Palace of Consciousness, and reassumed control of her physical form.
Irene looked down at the incredibly dim Xuanyuan Sword in her hand. Just as she was preparing to infuse it with some Honkai energy, the sword began to emit a bright light on its own.
Amidst the radiance, Ji Lin appeared before everyone's eyes. Her lower body was nearly transparent, and while her upper body remained relatively intact, it too presented a translucent state.
"Senior."
Irene looked at the emerging Ji Lin, observing her fragmented soul. This would be her final appearance. As for the option of keeping Ji Lin in her mind to nurture her soul...
Irene hesitated. She wasn't sure if every soul would gradually recover during rest, and she wondered if she should even do such a thing.
Ji Lin had completed her mission. She was just a young girl, a girl who wanted to protect her tribe. Her family and friends had long since dissipated within the span of five thousand years.
The tribe of the past had been wiped away by the tides of time without a trace remaining. Ji Lin had waited alone inside the Xuanyuan Sword for five thousand years. In truth, she was only waiting for this one victory.
Now that victory was achieved, was it really necessary for Irene to drag Ji Lin into continuing to exist in this world?
Ji Lin looked at Irene and smiled. She transmitted a brief message to Irene through the Xuanyuan Sword, as if she understood what Irene's flickering gaze was pondering.
[Irene, you have done enough for me. I have waited for this victory for far, far too long.]
Irene looked up at Ji Lin. In Ji Lin's eyes, there was only relief. She floated toward the damaged breach in Chiyou's body and looked up at the sea outside.
She gazed at the azure surface under the sunlight, looking up at the sun she hadn't seen for five thousand years. The sunlight appeared somewhat blinding on the sea surface.
But Ji Lin, having lost her physical body, had no eyes to be dazzled by the harsh sunlight. Nor could she feel the warmth the sun should have conveyed to her. Yet, she still smiled.
Five thousand years. Five thousand years... She had won. She saw the death of this monster. She had protected the village she once guarded. She had not let down the Celestial.
It was just a pity that she could only see an expanse of sea here. If there were still time, she actually wanted to see the Shenzhou she had been away from for five thousand years.
Five thousand years of time... What did Shenzhou look like now?
Ji Lin raised her hand, watching her already nearly transparent upper body become even more void-like. Even the outlines were becoming impossible to see. Her time had come.
Ji Lin sensed her current state with incomparable clarity. She was no MANTIS, nor was she a Stigmata Awakened who had awakened powerful Stigmata.
She did not possess enough strength to let herself span these five thousand years; not even with the assistance of the Xuanyuan Sword. What had supported her through this long span of five thousand years was merely a wisp of obsession.
She wanted to see this earth-devouring monster die with her own eyes. Before it died, she would continue to wait. And now that her obsession was fulfilled, Ji Lin, having lost that final breath of resolve, had no heart to remain here any longer.
Ji Lin turned around, intending to say a final farewell to these heroes who had helped her fulfill her last wish. But then, she saw the strange puppet on the back of the grey-haired girl spreading its hands. A layer of blue light unfolded, and on it, things she could not comprehend began to appear.
Towering high-rises that seemed to stand shoulder to shoulder with the clouds. Strange boxes with people talking and laughing inside them. People holding food she didn't recognize on grey-black stone surfaces.
She saw that even though the sky was night, those strange buildings emitted a radiance that rivaled the starlight.
Yes, this wasn't anything special. The light screen displayed by Project Bunny was simply flashing through photographs one by one.
They were photos taken while they were exploring and searching for Jiuyou earlier. Of course, most of the time it was Kiana who felt like taking pictures. Since it didn't delay their operations, they treated it as keeping souvenirs.
And now, these commemorative photos that should have been lying dormant in a phone or album were being recorded, one by one, into the mind of this guardian who was about to dissipate after spanning five thousand years.
Although she couldn't recognize them, this was definitely her homeland from which she had been parted for five thousand years.
Finally, the photos stopped on a scene of the group eating dinner. A white-haired girl was holding up the only thing Ji Lin recognized, eating it with big bites.
"Water Chestnut Cake..." Ji Lin stood with her back to the sunlight, looking at that final photo. A nostalgic smile appeared on her face. "Truly... I miss it."
"Thank you, everyone."
Ji Lin, her heart's final wish satisfied, began to vanish. But she felt no fear; the smile remained on her face.
"May your future bring an end to all of this, to the source of tragedy. I sincerely wish for it."
"Goodbye, Miss Ji Lin."
The group bowed deeply in the direction where Ji Lin had disappeared, paying respect to this warrior who had watched silently in the darkness, waiting for five thousand years.
[Whir, whir, whir]
Above the sky, the sound of drone rotors broke the silent atmosphere. They had completed their mission, so it was time to go back.
However, today was destined not to be a time for pleasant rest. After all, theoretically speaking, Chiyou couldn't exactly be considered dead.
It was only unable to move because it lacked a sufficiently powerful Honkai Core. Waiting for it to dissipate would take a very, very long time. And the Honkai energy leaking out during this period was not something easily cleaned up.
But this had nothing to do with Irene and her group. This was a problem for others to worry about. Besides, Irene knew that later, Gray Serpent would come to take Chiyou's body away.
It would be used to replenish energy for a certain Kevin who had been hungry for a long time, so they didn't need to participate in this matter either.
Of course, Irene still had one thing she needed to do right now. For instance, instead of returning to her own dorm, she had Fu Hua come in with her.
"Sit wherever you like, A-Hua." Irene pulled out a chair and sat down. "Although there aren't really any good places to sit."
Fu Hua nodded silently and also pulled over a nearby chair to sit. "I came this time because I wanted to..."
"Mn, I know." Irene nodded. Subsequently, she extended her hand toward Fu Hua. "Come on. Although it's much earlier than I imagined, they have been waiting for a long time."
"They?" Fu Hua looked at Irene with some surprise, but Irene didn't seem inclined to offer any explanations, merely continuing to extend her hand toward Fu Hua.
"Who exactly is waiting for you? Won't you know if you take a look? Why ask me here?"
Looking at the smile on Irene's face, Fu Hua reached out her hand after a moment of silence. Bits of broken feathers were drifting from her hand.
When their hands clasped together, Irene took the opportunity to pull Fu Hua into her Palace of Consciousness. Feeling the pulling force from Irene, Fu Hua offered no resistance and allowed herself to be drawn in.
"Welcome to this place," Irene said, smiling at Fu Hua. "Palace of Consciousness, Spiritual Sanctuary, call it whatever you like. Someone is already waiting for you here."
Irene turned slightly to the side, and a yellow figure suddenly darted over, crashing directly into Fu Hua's embrace.
"A-Hua, A-Hua, you've suffered so much!"
Fu Hua was somewhat bewildered. She lowered her head to look at the catgirl rubbing against her in her arms. The moment she saw the other party, the ashes of Fu Hua's memories began to stir, but just like before, she found nothing.
Seeing Fu Hua stiffen in place, Pardofelis disengaged from Fu Hua's embrace.
"I know A-Hua must be very confused. It doesn't matter. The lost memories—we'll just find them back together."
"Let's start by getting to know me again." Pardo extended her hand toward Fu Hua. "My name is Pardofelis. You can also call me Pardo."
"Hua, long time no see. Or for you, perhaps it is nice to meet you."
"Pardo..." Fu Hua nodded, then looked toward Kallen, who was walking over next. Although she had no impression of knowing Kallen in her mind, this image was still very familiar.
They had met inside Chiyou's body for so long earlier; it wasn't as if she didn't recognize her.
"Miss Kallen, correct?"
"...Celestial, long time no see." Kallen nodded. She and the Fu Hua who was the Celestial back then didn't actually have a particularly deep friendship.
It could be counted as a nodding acquaintance, or perhaps 'friends made after a fight'. After all, in her world line, she had also been beaten up by Fu Hua and subsequently lectured, but that was about it.
"But I'm not the main point. The Celestial should say hello properly to this child." Kallen stepped aside slightly, revealing Lixue, who had been standing behind her all along, seemingly pondering how to speak to her other Master.
Fu Hua looked up, gazing at the girl who possessed facial features extremely similar to her own. "You... are..."
"...Master." Lixue looked at Fu Hua and bowed in salute. "Long time no see. Or for you, this should count as our first meeting, right?"
"..." Fu Hua watched the other's movements and opened her mouth. A name finally flashed through Fu Hua's mind like a thunderbolt from within the chaotic, churning ashes of memory.
"Li... Xue?"
As this memory and name flashed through Fu Hua's mind, the memory fragments that had flashed past inside Chiyou's body earlier became even more distinct.
In that snowy plain, she finally saw clearly who it was that had been pierced. Was it not the girl before her eyes? That long spear piercing the body... was it not the Lance of the Void?
With the memory becoming clearer, the speech also became clear. She saw that the girl seemed to have said something to her, but she still couldn't recall it. What exactly had the girl said?
"Master, it is truly wonderful that you still remember me." Lixue looked at Fu Hua, a smile rising on her face. "It's really great that Master hasn't completely forgotten me."
"Lixue..." Fu Hua opened her mouth. The figure being pierced in her memory had not dissipated, which made Fu Hua realize one thing: the Lixue in her memories should have died.
Then what was going on with this girl before her eyes?
Fu Hua was not someone good at hiding her emotions, nor was she someone who would keep questions bottled up in her heart. Thus, Fu Hua spoke directly: "I remember you should have..."
"Died in the Second Eruption? Yes, that is my fate in this world." Lixue nodded. She had already learned of this matter from Irene's book when she came here.
"But it is not my fate."
"What do you mean?" Fu Hua felt a bit confused hearing this. "Lixue, are you not a person of this world... Sea of Quanta?"
"Yes." Lixue nodded. "I am sorry, Master. I am not the Lixue you know."
"But how is this possible?" Although Fu Hua understood that Lixue might come from another world line, she still didn't understand. What exactly had happened?
"Alright, next it's my turn." Irene clapped her hands. "To be honest, I didn't want to expose this so early at the start."
"But it doesn't matter, I suppose. Mn, if I have to say it, I am not a person of this world either."
Hearing this, Fu Hua subconsciously asked, "Irene, are you also from the Sea of Quanta?"
"Mn-hm~ Well, you could say that." Irene shrugged. She neither admitted nor denied it, and finally continued.
"As you can see, whether it is Pardo, Kallen, or Lixue, they are all somewhat different from what you know. In the Sea of Quanta, anything is possible. No matter the situation, it is possible to encounter it."
"People eventually die. When they need to die, they will die. This is Destined Death."
"But is it possible to cross it?" Fu Hua looked at Irene, feeling as if she had caught up with Irene's rhythm. Finally, she turned to look at the other three. "And this is..."
"Yes." Irene nodded. "They are all forms displayed after crossing Destined Death. But as you can see, right now these are merely worlds within the Sea of Quanta."
"Finality?"
"Or even earlier than that." Irene nodded. "I—we—want to do something very simple. We want to achieve the things we once failed to do."
"We want to help you better cross Finality and save the people who couldn't be saved."
"..." Fu Hua looked at Irene. After a moment of silence, she asked, "So Irene, have you already faced Finality?"
"I suppose so." Irene smiled. Mn, she had indeed fought Finality—in the game, that is—so she wasn't exactly lying.
"Of course, there are other things. Or rather, I am already doing them." Irene pointed to the side.
Fu Hua followed Irene's gaze and saw several nearly transparent phantoms lying on hospital beds.
"Actually, floating would be fine too, but I felt letting them be more comfortable might be a bit better."
"Danzhu... Cangxuan." Fu Hua's gaze swept over the girls with closed eyes on the two nearest beds. Fu Hua wasn't surprised that these two were here; after all, she was the one who had guided and placed them inside Irene's body.
Fu Hua's gaze only swept past them hurriedly before noticing the girl lying on the other bed beside them. Looking at the girl's features, Fu Hua asked:
"She is..."
"Rin."
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