On the TV.
Kevin said calmly: "You really knew I was here, Hua."
Fu Hua explained: "Su told me by accident."
"It was already… more than two thousand years ago."
"When we were each carrying out our duties as forerunners… you once missed one of the meetings by chance."
"Su told me… every year on this day, no matter how important other matters were."
"No matter what burden the emergency use of the Second Divine Key would place on your body… you would come here alone on the Moon."
"You would stand here gazing at the remains of the Herrscher of Finality and spend the entire day."
Kevin's voice remained calm: "That is a promise I must keep."
"But… you didn't have to come. This is unnecessary."
"You saw it earlier too. During the Stigmata Plan, World Serpent specially prepared a resting place for you."
Fu Hua said with emotion: "It really is a Taixuan Mountain that is a few degrees more beautiful than the one in reality."
"But… you also know that I'm actually not that fond of living in seclusion."
"It's just a habit from the past, nothing more."
Kevin said: "In any case… if possible, I don't want to fight you."
Fu Hua asked: "Do you think I'm here to stop you?"
"Like… what Su did."
"…"
Kevin's ice-like breathing paused for a moment, but he gave no further response.
If the Fu Hua before him were not his former comrade-in-arms, he might have thought the other party was launching a psychological offensive.
But… the two people standing here were the only remaining warriors of the Previous Era in the current world.
Humans and forerunners who had crossed two eras, possessing the longest lifespans and the most distant memories.
Yet apart from the desolation before their eyes, they had retained nothing — at least in Kevin's eyes.
Unsure what he was thinking, Kevin suddenly spoke: "Hua, Elysian Realm no longer exists."
A trace of confusion appeared on Fu Hua's face as she said slowly: "It seems I have forgotten some things that were very important to our past."
Kevin shook his head lightly, seemingly not entirely certain about what he was about to say.
"It's fine. To the current you, it really isn't important anymore."
His calm tone was the same as always, making it impossible to discern what emotions it contained.
If it were anyone else, the audience would probably have complained about how a mouth at thirty-six degrees could speak such ice-cold words.
But unfortunately, not to mention Kevin's mouth, even his breath was below zero.
After another silence, Kevin continued: "…Look, this is the most ordinary scenery in the universe."
Fu Hua continued: "Barren and empty, like a tomb… right?"
Kevin answered with silence.
"So… although thinking this way is indeed too harsh…"
"But… Kevin, in your eyes, the people of this era."
"Even though they belong to the same species as us, they are not your kind, right?"
As she said this, Fu Hua thought of some creatures that had gradually gone extinct in the long river of time.
Like a strange and precious fish.
The world was indeed full of vitality, but nothing would ever understand its language again.
Loneliness had no way to be resolved, just like the eternal, unbreakable ice.
Kevin denied: "No, Hua. It's not difficult to regard them as the same kind…"
"What's truly difficult… is actually letting go and doing nothing."
Of course, Kevin himself knew very well that his comrade was not wrong.
This attitude of treating everything in the world as objective objects, just like MEI at work…
Indeed had nothing to do with any so-called sense of belonging.
"…"
Fu Hua exhaled a breath of turbid air and said seriously: "I understand this, which is why I came here."
Kevin asked: "…For them?"
Fu Hua rejected: "No. First of all… it's for you."
"At this moment — at least in my view, you need a kindred spirit who can understand your language."
"Even if we say nothing, even if we stand opposed, even if…"
Before she could finish, Kevin interrupted: "…Hua."
Fu Hua pursed her lips and responded: "Mm."
Kevin said calmly: "There's no need to continue."
Fu Hua couldn't help but ask: "You… are you still hating yourself like back then?"
Kevin was silent for a moment: "I don't know."
After fifty thousand years, Hua might no longer be the same person she once was.
—But Kevin, he was still the same Kevin.
His last comrade-in-arms had already integrated into the new era.
The evidence that the once-glorious civilization rooted in the earth had ever existed.
Now only this tombstone named Kevin remained.
Kevin and Fu Hua simultaneously looked toward the pitch-black sky.
Those names that had already passed away… whether she remembered them or not, whether he had forgotten them or not.
Nothing could be returned.
Nothing could ever be returned.
Many years later, when the girls have already passed away, the melodies I sang for girls will still exist.
But you can take away all my songs. I only need one living girl to walk toward me.
—A singer they once knew had, in the distant past, precisely defined the feelings the two of them were experiencing now.
Fu Hua took the initiative to break the silence: "Since seeing me will inevitably make you recall those who have passed."
"Then… let's talk about your final dream instead."
"You have indeed achieved it now — even if what stopped the end was another kind of end."
"But for you, at least through your own hands, humanity is about to defeat Honkai."
"…"
Kevin was silent for a moment before saying: "No, this matter…"
As he spoke, the man who was like a block of ice suddenly let out a scoff.
"…Never mind."
Kevin's sigh at this moment surprised Fu Hua somewhat.
It was as if at this moment, he was not Kevin, but their other friend… the one skilled with the harmonica.
Fu Hua proactively apologized: "Sorry… at a time like this, you actually don't have a more suitable person to talk to."
Kevin shook his head: "…This isn't your fault, so there's no need to apologize."
Fu Hua asked again: "Then, what about the future? What are your plans?"
Kevin said indifferently: "The future will be the same as the past."
Fu Hua asked: "As a hero?"
Kevin was silent for a long time.
If he were facing someone else, this silence would probably last forever.
But at this moment, Fu Hua was the only human left who could speak with him as an equal.
Kevin still spoke: "Hua, that title… it was never realized, and it is no longer possible."
Fu Hua countered: "Then, as a sinner?"
Kevin: "…"
This silence was not hesitation. It was perhaps more appropriate to interpret it as helplessness.
Fu Hua nodded: "…I understand."
"So that's why you are so… fragile, desolate, and yet…"
Fu Hua did not say the rest of the sentence. She simply took two steps forward.
She walked around the back that symbolized unmatched strength, lowered her head, and for the first time saw the man's expression clearly.
Fu Hua looked directly at Kevin and asked: "…Kevin, you are looking for your own burial ground, aren't you?"
...
The last time they met Kiana was actually just a few hours ago.
Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie.
At the same time, a girl — Durandal clearly remembered that the other party had just arrived at the training ground and was waving to greet her.
After that… came a world-spinning anomaly.
In the blink of an eye, she found herself on the Moon, alone.
Durandal could not activate her spatial treasure, Sumeru Seed. She could only rely on a weak signal.
To confirm that her adjutant, Rita, had not been swallowed by the anomaly.
Of course, the world inside Durandal's body was also intact.
But apart from that, everything else had become an unknown to her.
Precisely because of this, when the other party repaired that bridge across space and time.
Durandal immediately captured this signal that could not be missed and seized the opportunity to establish this miraculous connection with her.
…No, this was not a miracle.
After all, the other party was Durandal's little sister, even though at this moment, the two had no way of recognizing each other.
The memory flashed by. After the scene shifted, Durandal and Kiana appeared in a pure white space.
"…To summarize, we are currently trapped on the Moon, and Earth seems to be undergoing reorganization by the Stigmata Plan."
"World Serpent believes this is the only way to defeat Honkai."
Durandal asked: "Kiana, how is the situation for you in the Sea of Quanta?"
Kiana thought for a moment and said: "After experiencing some things, Mei, Bronya, the Herrscher of Sentience, and I."
"We encountered Dr. MEI from the Previous Era and the mechanical being Prometheus in a World Bubble similar to the Moon."
"Dr. MEI said that with our help, she can reconnect her World Bubble back to the terminals of the Imaginary Tree."
"That way we can also return to the Prime World."
Durandal crossed her arms: "And as part of that plan —"
"You just used the power of the Herrscher of the Void to repair a bridge in the World Bubble you are in, right?"
Kiana first nodded in acknowledgment, then asked in surprise: "…Huh? Can you observe the specific things we did?"
Durandal shook her head: "No, but the Authority that penetrated the Sea of Quanta miraculously repaired a bridge in an abnormal state for us earlier."
"Since this matter is indeed related to you, it can also prove in reverse."
"That in terms of spatial relationship, we are currently in a mutually overlapping dual state."
"That is to say — from the perspective of three-dimensional space, we must be in the same area of the Moon."
Kiana said half-understandingly: "Oh… then it seems Dr. MEI's plan should have a high success rate, right?"
"After all, no matter what, we are actually quite close in space."
Durandal countered: "…We still can't let our guard down."
"For the act of reconnecting a World Bubble back to the terminals of the Imaginary Tree, the real key lies in the stability of the anchor point itself."
"This is not entirely the same as spatial distance."
Kiana asked: "Anchor point? What is that?"
Durandal explained helplessly: "An anchor point is an inversion base point that allows a World Bubble to connect to other spaces."
"For example… the World Bubble inside me needs to be anchored to my own body."
"And your memory space is fixed on your Herrscher Core."
"Dr. MEI on that side must also need something from the real world to achieve this."
"…Could it be that bridge?"
Suddenly thinking of a possibility, Durandal rested her hand on her chin in thought.
Seeing this scene, a large question mark appeared on Kiana's face.
"The Doctor never mentioned this at all."
Kiana said: "We repaired the bridge just to make contact with Prometheus on the other side of the broken bridge."
"The next work is preparation for activating the Imaginary Tree God Remains."
"After that… we need to seize the connection between the Imaginary Tree God Remains and the so-called terminals, then use it to return to the real world."
"On the other hand, this World Bubble will naturally regain new life."
"—This is all based on the renormalization technology we have already achieved before."
Durandal frowned deeply: "This…"
Kiana asked: "What's wrong? Is there… something not right?"
Inside the Sumeru Mustard Seed space.
Schrödinger spoke: "—Because for the World Bubble itself, that is not natural at all."
Hearing Schrödinger's voice, Kiana said in surprise: "Huh? You are…"
Durandal explained: "This is a communication from Dr. Schrödinger. She is a friend of Dr. Einstein and Dr. Tesla."
Kiana quickly greeted: "Ah, hello, Doctor."
"But, what you just said about it not being natural… what exactly do you mean…"
Schrödinger said directly: "The method you described cannot guarantee that the World Bubble will regain new life."
"In fact, it will most likely cause the World Bubble itself to fall into destruction ahead of time."
Kiana said in shock: "What?"
Schrödinger explained: "The role of the anchor point is not only to provide a base point for spatial transformation."
"In other aspects, it can control the flow of energy within the World Bubble, allowing the World Bubble itself to maintain existence within the energy torrent on the Imaginary side."
"And the so-called renormalization is a behavior relative to Imaginary Space itself."
"To give an analogy… it is only a cableway for tightrope walking."
"…Can you expect a person to drive a herd of antelopes across a cliff using tightrope walking?"
Kiana said: "This…"
Durandal also spoke at this moment: "Perhaps you should ask that Dr. MEI and see if she is still hiding something from you."
"People from the Previous Era have their own positions after all…"
"We perhaps cannot simply assume that we have established a mutually trusting cooperative relationship with the other party."
"However, from another perspective — the other party does not necessarily harbor malice toward us."
"Perhaps they have some difficulties they don't want to tell us frankly."
"But in any case… for the sake of safety, you still need to ask the other party for the truth of the matter."
"In short, better safe than sorry."