After hearing Lucius's words, the atmosphere fell into an eerie silence.
After a long while, Kevin pointed at her own face and said speechlessly, "Do you think I'm an idiot?"
Lucius carefully examined Kevin's current appearance.
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but after becoming a girl, he felt there was a certain foolishness in her expression. This was probably just Kiana-type's underlying design.
So he very honestly nodded his head.
"To be fair, you do seem a bit foolish right now, but that actually fits your character..."
Hearing Lucius's words, Kevin casually picked up the mirror beside her and threw it at his face. "Believing you're a regressor would be easier than believing I'm the savior!"
Lucius had already anticipated Kevin's reaction and caught the thrown mirror.
Thinking about it from her perspective, if someone came up to him saying they were a regressor, he'd probably just take them for a fool too.
But fortunately, Lucius had already thought of a way to convince her.
So he fumbled around in his pocket for a moment.
Then casually pulled out a mechanical helmet resembling a cat's head and, before Kevin could react, put it on her head.
"Wait... where did you pull that thing out from... mmph!!!"
The moment the helmet covered her head, Kevin struggled continuously.
But in the next moment, her struggling movements stopped, simply because the view before her eyes had changed.
The darkness caused by the helmet blocking her vision suddenly dispersed, replaced by a desolate and bleak pale land.
Before she could react, a fear that made her soul tremble echoed across the sky.
Kevin instinctively looked up and met a face that covered half the sky, along with continuously closing fingers that seemed about to sever the entire land, as massive as mountain ranges.
This face appeared to belong to a woman and gave her an extremely familiar feeling, as if she had seen it somewhere before.
Behind this face, a sphere covered in lava drifted alone in the void.
But Kevin could still make out that this sphere was Earth, the planet carrying human civilization. Thus, she realized where she was.
This pale land was Earth's satellite, the celestial body called the Moon.
And now this satellite, which had accompanied Earth for billions of years, was being held in the hands of an inconceivably massive woman!!!
"What in the world is..."
Kevin was so overwhelmed by the scene before her that she couldn't even organize her words.
At that moment, the sound of someone running desperately rang out behind her.
Just as Kevin was about to turn around, a figure brushed past her, rushing toward that god-like form at the edge of the land.
From that fleeting glimpse as they passed, Kevin saw the appearance of the person charging toward the edge of the land.
White hair, blue eyes, covered in scars, eyes seemingly pregnant with infinite sorrow—the empty despair left after rage had burned out.
He wielded a great sword burning with flames, like a small spark suddenly rising in the endless dark night, seeming as if it could be extinguished at any moment.
Kevin felt a sense of tragic heroism, but what concerned her more was the person's appearance.
This man's appearance was remarkably similar to hers!
One could even say they were completely the same person—her, but older and more mature.
"This is... me?"
Kevin voiced her question, and immediately a familiar voice provided an answer.
"That's right, it's you—the you from the future on the original timeline."
Kevin looked to the side and found it was Lucius. At this moment, he too was surveying the scene before them.
More precisely, he was surveying that woman, god-like, with ten fingers closing as if to cradle the entire moon in her hands.
Lucius's voice was extremely sorrowful, more like reciting a funeral elegy than making an introduction.
"Our current point in time is the not-so-distant future, just over a decade from now."
"Facing Honkai's relentless pressure, humanity endured twelve Great Eruptions under the leadership of an organization called Fire Moth."
"During this period, many heroic stories unfolded, giving birth to heroes worthy of shining in history."
"But in the end, they all died in catastrophe after catastrophe."
"As of this point in time, fewer than one hundred thousand humans remain from a global population of seven billion."
"The civilization called humanity can be declared extinct at this moment."
Lucius raised his head to look at that god holding the moon, his tone carrying indescribable regret.
"And the one who caused all this is the ultimate calamity born from the disaster called Honkai, an enemy as powerful as a god: Herrschers."
"The one before our eyes is the most powerful individual among them, whose name is—Herrscher of Finality."
The moment Lucius's voice fell, a torrent formed from blazing flames rose at the edge of the horizon.
Like a sharp sword rising up, swinging toward the god in the sky.
"BOOM!!!"
Fire as brilliant as a star's annihilation exploded in the cold void, erasing everything including Lucius and Kevin.
...
Still in Lucius's living room, Kevin yanked off the helmet on her head.
Her chest heaved violently as she greedily breathed in air, as if trying to suppress the fear in her heart.
Lucius pulled out two cartons of milk, inserted straws, and pushed one in front of Kevin.
"After seeing that scene just now, what are your thoughts?"
Kevin looked up and found Lucius's face quite calm, just sipping his milk while quietly staring at her.
"What we just saw... will that really happen in the future?"
Although Kevin's tone seemed still questioning, in her heart she had already believed it.
After seeing that version of herself on the moon, charging alone toward the Herrscher of Finality, she had already believed.
"To be precise, it's what will inevitably happen in the original history."
Lucius explained while sipping his milk.
"This world is far from as simple as what you see on the surface. Beneath the peaceful daily life, a supernatural disaster called Honkai has always been lurking like a shadow."
"Throughout the past millennia, it has always accompanied humanity, but limited by the scale of human civilization and technological level, it remained relatively harmless."
"But with the Industrial Revolution, as human technology exploded, it finally began to bare its fangs."
"Starting from now, over the next few years, Honkai disasters will intensify. In less than twenty years, humanity's population will plummet from seven billion to fewer than one hundred thousand."
Hearing Lucius's introduction of this so-called Honkai, Kevin felt her scalp tingle.
However, compared to the tragic ending that might come in the future, she cared more about something else.
"You said that everything I love and everyone who loves me will completely perish. So my parents, relatives, and friends..."
To this question from Kevin, Lucius gave a cruel answer.
"Yes, all dead."
Kevin's face suddenly turned pale, as if all her blood had been drained.
Not only did Lucius not offer comfort, he even gave Kevin's already rock-bottom heart another push.
"You'll be one of the few survivors of that battle and, as one of the Pioneers, will lead the remaining humans to hibernate for tens of thousands of years as seeds, arriving at the next era."
"For the sake of a promise to completely defeat Honkai, you'll become the savior, shouldering the future of all humanity."
"So Kevin, can you accept such an ending?"
Kevin fell silent.
Lucius didn't disturb her, just quietly sipping his milk.
Until a certain moment, Kevin said in a hoarse voice, "If everything I care about is gone, what meaning is there in living..."
After hearing Kevin's answer, Lucius put down his empty milk carton and looked at Kevin with blazing eyes.
"Exactly. If everything we're familiar with and care about is gone, what meaning does the continuation of civilization have?"
"In the predetermined history, I, you, Su, and many other pioneers traveled to the next era through hibernation, continuing human civilization and planning to help the next generation completely overcome Honkai."
"This plan spanning fifty thousand years ultimately succeeded. The human civilization fifty thousand years later survived and has a bright future."
"But what does that have to do with us? Everything we care about is in this current era."
"For this reason, in that era fifty thousand years later, I paid an enormous price to return to this point in time, preparing to rewrite everything and allow this era to continue."
Lucius clenched his fists tightly, as if wanting to grasp everything before him in his hands.
"Compared to the powerless me from the original history, the current me possesses memories from the future, possesses a resilient mind and wisdom forged through countless trials."
"Now, I can do anything!"
After hearing Lucius's words, Kevin looked up and found his gaze unprecedentedly fervent.
But Kevin did agree with Lucius's words—everything she cared about was in this current era. If it was destroyed, she would have no meaning to continue living.
Kevin sighed and said, "I believe you traveled back from the future to the present... probably. So, what do you plan to do?"
Hearing Kevin's response, Lucius reached out and pointed at the sky.
"Before that, Kevin, I think you need to know where this disaster called Honkai comes from and why it wants to destroy humanity."
"A god, a literal god. Let's call it the Cocoon for now."
"It lowers its threads to weave fate, repeatedly staging the drama called civilization on Earth's stage, all just to find a civilization that can withstand its embrace."
"Although for civilization, its embrace equals destruction."
"And the so-called Honkai is the manner of its embrace."
After hearing Lucius's explanation, Kevin couldn't help but comment, "This Cocoon destroys the world just so someone can embrace it? It must be seriously lacking in affection."
Hearing Kevin's words, Lucius couldn't help but laugh.
"With our current strength, destroying the Cocoon of Finality is impossible. The only way to allow civilization to continue is to accept its embrace while taking the dominant position."
"And you, Kevin—in this drama, you are the one qualified to receive its embrace."
"So, Lucius, the method you're talking about for saving the world couldn't possibly be?"
"Exactly!" Lucius stood up and looked at the dumbfounded Kevin. "Good brother, to save all of humanity, please become the Great Sage Equaling Heaven... wait, no—please become Earth's God!"
Lucius's tone was impassioned, and Kevin was almost moved.
But suddenly, her suppressed intelligence broke free from its restraints and reclaimed the high ground.
Kevin realized the BUG in this.
"Wait! You almost had me fooled there!"
Kevin looked at her current appearance and asked Lucius through gritted teeth.
"What connection is there between saving the world and turning me into a girl?"
"Don't tell me this so-called Cocoon of Finality also practices gender discrimination?"
But Kevin found that after she voiced her question, Lucius seriously nodded his head.
"You know what, the Cocoon of Finality really does practice gender discrimination."
"Moreover, it's a lesbian."
"...Huh?"