Chapter 123: The Wind's Emergence
"Sometimes, it might just be a tiny difference that leads to a completely different fate."
Irene looked at Wendy, then turned to look at Kallen and the others.
Just as her talent stated, as long as there was still a possibility, the lifeline that should have been severed could be continued.
Cat survived because of her luck; the moment the spatial channel collapsed, it bounced her into the Sea of Quanta.
Kallen survived because Otto arrived a step early and stood in front of her.
Lixue survived because of the persistence and breath of resolve in her heart, completing her realization right before her death.
Little Corruption survived because she met Elysia first, and Klein because the two sisters were there. Many times, it was all just due to a tiny change.
So, although she still didn't know exactly how Wendy had bypassed her Destined Death, she could at least understand why Wendy would let out such a sigh.
"But my case might be a bit more dramatic." Wendy shook her head. "You guys here seem to share your respective stories, or rather, timelines, right?"
"You could say that." Irene nodded. "But it's mainly to know what would happen in another world line. As far as it seems right now..."
Irene turned to look at Cat. Cat was an exception, as she had fallen directly into the Sea of Quanta, so she didn't know what her world would be like afterward.
As for the others, according to their descriptions, Kallen's Bubble Universe collapsed, Lixue eventually encountered a super-developed Chiyou, and Little Corruption ultimately ran into an Adam that self-destructed.
As for Klein, there was nothing particularly special about her. She followed Mobius to fight Finality, and naturally, there was no need to say much about the final result.
Bypassing Destined Death might lead to encountering another possible death, and the ending might even be worse.
"How perfunctory." Wendy shook her head. The book also contained Irene's experiences. Although it was a bit fantastical, it was like reading the novels that Sister Bronya had shared with her.
But existence itself justified it. Besides, it wasn't like she didn't know about the so-called Sea of Quanta. When Sister Bronya went to save her younger sister Seele, it wasn't like she hadn't gotten involved.
Although she was nearly beaten half to death there by that guy named Kevin. As for Irene, perhaps she just came from a special Bubble Universe in the Sea of Quanta.
"Alright, at least the first half of the story is about the same as what you know." Wendy spread her hands, and the storm wings behind her that assisted her in standing gradually dissipated.
Subsequently, a whirlwind gathered beneath her, forming a cyan wheelchair condensed from the cyclone right in front of everyone.
"That's quite a trick." Little Corruption tilted her head to look at the wheelchair beneath Wendy. "Condensing wind into a shape, elegant... but why does it have to be a wheelchair?"
"Sigh, isn't it just out of habit?" Wendy spread her hands. She had been sitting in a wheelchair for over a decade and was long used to it. "Besides, even a wheelchair made of Soulium would inevitably get damaged on the battlefield."
"So I gave it a try and ended up creating this thing. I can't say much about the comfort level, but the good thing is it's on call whenever I need it."
Irene looked at Wendy. She was much more cheerful than in the original story. Presumably, she must have gone through a very long period of growth afterward.
"Wait, no, the topic went astray." Wendy cleared her throat twice, steering the conversation back. "But there is a tiny difference, and that is back then, I was harboring more of a mindset of seeking death."
"So I didn't use my Authority at all, nor did I want to deal a killer blow. The battle was just to force them to attack me, so I kept a little bit of Honkai energy in reserve."
"And then you overturned Bronya, including the Titans and everything else?" Hearing this, Irene roughly understood. To be honest, those Titans were only okay for fighting in low-end matches.
It was indeed a bit troublesome for a B-Rank Valkyrie to fight those things, but that was assuming there were five or more Titans surrounding them simultaneously. Otherwise, by kiting them, Titans would still be dismantled into pieces.
This was the disparity in movement speed. Otherwise, a properly trained B-Rank Valkyrie equipped with a weapon of acceptable quality would generally be able to crack a Titan open like a can.
Of course, if you tried to stack them with brute numbers... Titans also had high-end models, but their price would rise accordingly.
The one that appeared in the original story was merely a Quantum Titan capable of turning invisible. If it hadn't taken advantage of the fact that Wendy had fought a battle with the main trio and was depleted of energy, basically being at the end of her rope...
Then she was sneak-attacked, and it still took a group beatdown to finally bring Wendy down. Otherwise, if Wendy had been given even a tiny bit of time to recover, that group of Titans basically wouldn't have been enough for her to dismantle.
However... Irene's gaze toward Wendy became a little strange. Was it because of her mindset of seeking death that she ended up surviving instead? This could be considered a trick of fate.
Wendy also noticed Irene's gaze and spread her hands. "So yeah, I also find it very bizarre. Seeking death, but surviving instead. But after that, I ended up joining St. Freya Academy."
Wendy briefly recounted the process of her studying as a student at St. Freya Academy. Because of the concealment by Theresa, Himeko, and the main trio, Wendy didn't encounter any strange looks.
Because of her leg condition, she was taken care of by everyone. It was completely different from the treatment she had received in New Zealand. In that kind of warm environment, she gradually became more cheerful.
And the place she lived... sigh, was also Himeko's villa. After all, no matter what, she was still a Herrscher, even if the gem in her leg had become nearly stable—in fact, according to examinations, it seemed to be integrated even more tightly than before.
Originally, Theresa and Himeko had wanted to take it out. After all, Wendy had already sacrificed far too much time for this gem. But because it was integrated more tightly, the attempt failed.
Wendy also accepted her fate. Since she had already been chosen by the gem to become the Herrscher of Wind, then she could also become a power that protected humanity, just like that person in Anti-Entropy.
Harboring such thoughts, she began to actively explore how to utilize the Herrscher's abilities, and her integration with the gem became increasingly tighter during this process.
At the same time, she was also enjoying the warm and friendly environment of St. Freya Academy. But before she could enjoy it for long, an accident occurred. To put it simply, she was just eating hotpot and singing a song at the time.
And then she was sneak-attacked. The attacker was Rita, who injected a tube of red liquid into her body. The originally active Honkai energy instantly became unresponsive.
Listening to Wendy's description, Irene raised an eyebrow. From the sounds of this description, it was either Holy Blood or the Godsbane Spear! Was Otto really this gen—oh wait, no, Otto being so generous with it must be because...
And indeed, it was exactly as Irene expected. Yes. The reason Rita came naturally couldn't just be to drug Wendy; it was even more so to kidnap Kiana.
Evidently, Otto probably couldn't wait any longer and even seemed a bit anxious, directly sending someone to drug Wendy while simultaneously kidnapping Kiana.
After that was the same old routine: the Herrscher of the Void descended. However, Wendy actually did one extra thing. The Honkai energy tide caused by the Herrscher of the Void, which would have wreaked massive havoc in the original timeline, was intercepted by Wendy.
"I utilized the ability of fluid manipulation, treating that Honkai energy as a fluid, and drew all the air containing Honkai into my own body."
Wendy looked at everyone, her hand resting on her chest. "I knew the immense harm that Honkai energy would cause if it were allowed to spread rampantly. I was the only Herrscher at the time who could still fight and withstand a massive amount of Honkai energy, so I had to do it."
"So you underwent emergence at that time, right?" Irene looked at Wendy. A massive amount of Honkai energy, a certain level of Adaptability, a long period of synchronization, and sufficient resolve.
The conditions were basically met. If Wendy hadn't been in a state of emergence from the very beginning, then it should have been at this moment.
"I don't know what an emergence state is. I only know... it was really agonizing back then." Wendy's voice was filled with a lingering sense of dread.
"My entire body was flooded with Honkai energy, as if I was being torn apart, yet I could hardly slip into a coma. The Honkai energy was tearing my body apart while simultaneously healing me. That process was truly excruciating."
"But after that, my control over Honkai energy and my understanding of my Authority reached an entirely new level. And then... there shouldn't be much else to say about that. Next up is that Herrscher of Ice."
"Explain this matter in detail." To the side, Little Corruption molded a microphone out of the Corruption virus and handed it to Wendy's lips, only to be pushed away by Wendy.
After clearing her throat, Wendy continued speaking. "It wasn't anything special. By the time I arrived, that guy had already merged with the Herrscher of Rock, becoming a Dual-Core Herrscher."
"Prior to that, this guy had already been wreaking havoc for quite some time. The entire city was frozen in ice, and the surrounding climatic conditions directly paralleled an ice age."
Irene nodded, but immediately felt a bit puzzled. "That sounds about the same as what I know, but how could they possibly beat you?"
"It's very simple. I arrived very late. This guy had already begun affecting the surrounding climatic conditions, and the temperature was colder than both the South and North Poles. It had already started affecting places very far away."
"Coupled with the Herrscher of Rock's gravity manipulation... can you imagine, can you imagine the feeling of a small island flying up and starting to affect the surrounding atmospheric conditions?"
"As long as I wanted to, no physical damage could hit me. But as luck would have it, both the Herrscher of Ice and the Herrscher of Rock didn't deal physical damage. The surrounding temperature was freezing to the point where you couldn't even stretch out your hand."
"Both the air and oxygen were condensing into ice. Even a simple air current had no way of flowing in that kind of environment. It was too cold."
It could be said that Wendy was at an almost absolute disadvantage back then; she also had to be responsible for stabilizing the surrounding climatic conditions.
Otherwise, even if she could eventually deal with the Herrscher of Ice, the climatic conditions would be thrown into chaos, which would result in large areas suffering from collateral disasters. She had no choice but to protect the others.
A hostile environment, split attention, fighting a two-front battle—all sorts of debuff affixes were stacked onto Wendy. On top of that, the Herrscher of Ice's temperature attacks and the Herrscher of Rock's gravity attacks just so happened to be things Wendy couldn't counter.
There was naturally no need to say more about the final result.
"I roughly understand now." Irene scratched her head. It was a lack of prerequisites again. And from Wendy's story, in the Sea of Quanta, combining the power of two Herrschers...
Kevin hadn't been able to come out of there. Because Kevin didn't come out, World Serpent's role at that time was extremely minimal. Originally, logically speaking, Kevin's Judgment of Shamash would have been an absolute counter to the Herrscher of Ice.
But the problem was that Kevin wasn't there. In Wendy's world, Kevin was squatting in the Sea of Quanta and hadn't found an opportunity to come out.
"Why do I feel like Wendy is from your world line?" Irene looked at Little Corruption. Although there was no evidence, the fact that Kevin failed to come out of the Sea of Quanta—or rather, failed to arrive in the Proper World—was truly exactly the same.
"I'm not clear on that." Little Corruption shook her head. When she came out of the Realm, the Herrscher of Ice was long dead. "But I don't think so. I never heard Mei talk about Wendy."
"I'm just saying." Irene pinched the bridge of her nose. Fate and the world were truly rigorous things. Missing even a single link could very well lead to a massive collapse later on.
Setting everything else aside, just the stories of Little Corruption and Wendy proved that Kevin definitely had to return to the Proper World to take charge of the overall situation, or at the very least, to keep the trouble-making Gray Serpent in check.
Otherwise, the Spiritual Adam would drag all of humanity to hell. Moreover, although Kevin would become the final mastermind boss behind the scenes, when encountering the Honkai, Kevin would definitely exert his strength as well.
Kevin's combat prowess resolved quite a few Honkai disasters.
After briefly organizing the existing intelligence, Irene nodded, then looked at Wendy. "Originally, I hadn't figured out how to deal with the matter regarding the 'you' currently in this world line."
"But since you're here now, I might just have an idea."
"The current me? What time period is it right now?" Wendy nodded. As long as she knew roughly what time period it was, she would be able to figure out her current state.
"I don't know how to tell you this, but the Herrscher of Wind hasn't appeared yet. It's roughly around this time period."
"The period when my mood was at its absolute lowest, huh." Wendy rubbed her chin, eventually shaking her head. "I don't know if you have any ideas, Irene, but to be honest, the effects probably won't be significant."
"If it's me from that period, my mental state has constantly been in a completely depressed slump. You could say that the slightest issue might cause me to just instantly blow up. Of course, if you have any good ideas, I'll raise both hands in agreement."
One knows oneself best. Wendy was well aware of exactly what kind of rock-bottom state she was in at this point in time.
She had lain in that wheelchair for far too long. The girl who had originally been full of confidence when accepting the Herrscher experiment had been an invalid for far, far too long.
Moreover, the atmosphere over there was genuinely not too good either. So the 'her' at that time was actually solely relying on a tiny shred of hope in her heart to hold on.
Any possible change or a bit of extra stimulation could potentially cause her to instantly explode on the spot. To be honest, even Wendy herself didn't know how to help the 'her' from that time step out of the gloom.
The only thing she could think of was to use her own sense of guilt to temporarily keep herself grounded after becoming the Herrscher of Wind, and then have herself brought to St. Freya, using the atmosphere here to soothe her heart.
"Don't be anxious just yet, we can give it a try." Irene looked at Wendy. "Speaking of which, Wendy, do you have any acting skills?"
"Huh? What?"
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