"No one told me something like this would happen?" Theresa felt that events had completely exceeded her expectations. As a MANTIS, after releasing the Divine Grace Barrier, a large number of her body's cells had died. She was now truly exhausted.
"Shun, you're simply being reckless!" The moment the Divine Grace Barrier broke, Sirin regained her mobility. She lunged forward at Shun, wanting to dig out the Cores he had just swallowed.
But Sirin's amateur skills had no chance of stopping Shun. Although Shun was not a genuine Herrscher right now and the principle of using the Herrscher Cores was similar to a Blank Key — after all, Herrscher Cores were not like Sharingan that could be used instantly — by borrowing the five Herrscher Cores, he could still use the Authorities of Herrschers to a certain extent.
If another major Honkai event occurred and granted him Imaginary Space residency, then Shun could replace Sirin and become a true Five-Core Herrscher.
"Sirin, trust me, okay? Just like before." Holding Sirin's wrist, Shun gazed into her magnificent golden eyes.
"..." Sirin glared at Shun for a long time before finally stopping her resistance. "I really can't do anything with you. Fine, I'll listen to you."
"An annoying guy once said that once a person's soul scatters, they cannot be brought back to life. The world allows consciousness to match a new container, but it does not allow the container to collect scattered consciousness. So, if I want to save you, I can only do it now…"
Shun gently pinched Sirin's cheek. His eyes were filled with reluctance, but there was no choice — he had to hurry.
"Kill you." The Authority of Death activated. A thick black mist, dark as ink and capable of eroding all things in the world, surged out from Sirin's side at astonishing speed. This black mist seemed to possess life as it rapidly wrapped around Sirin's petite body and completely swallowed it.
In the blink of an eye, the black mist coalesced into a black humanoid silhouette identical in shape to Sirin. It stood quietly in place, emanating a heart-palpitating aura of death.
"See you in the future, Sirin." The black mist dissipated. There was nothing left in front of Shun, only the burning Fenghuang Down feather in his hand.
Shun had killed Sirin. While Sirin's consciousness had not yet dissipated, through the use of his Stigmata Authority, Shun transferred Sirin's consciousness onto the Core of the Herrscher of the Void inside his body.
"From now on, I am Sirin." Pink feathers fell. A layer of cognitive interference was placed on Shun. From now on, if anyone else observed him, they would only see Sirin's appearance.
"As for you, Theresa, when you wake up, you will find that everything has changed. The world has become… wrong, the script has been messed up…" Under Fenghuang Down's hypnosis, Theresa — who was already at her limit — also fell into a deep sleep.
"Judah, send Theresa away." He patted the intelligent Divine Key and gave the order. Judah obediently bound Theresa and flew outward.
"Next, we just have to wait for when Siegfried will use Artificial Collapse to break the Infinite Corridor…" Earlier, when Sirin had locked Cecilia and Siegfried in the Infinite Corridor, Shun had seen it and naturally hadn't forgotten this part.
Later he would still have to take the beating for Sirin… and see if he could act convincingly enough.
At the same time, on the battlefield at the base of Babylon Tower, due to the loss and death of Sirin's Authorities, the four Authorities Sirin had granted to Bella also vanished into thin air. She reverted from the End-level Honkai beast Bella back to the Judgment-level Honkai beast Benares.
Having lost over a thousand Valkyrie troops and two A-rank Valkyries from the Snow Wolf Squad, both sides were already nearly exhausted.
When A-rank Valkyrie Nicholas jumped onto the dragon's back, found the wound left by Shigure Kira's Note Sword, and thrust the high-frequency cutting spear into Benares, everything came to an end.
Benares was heavily injured and on the verge of death, A-rank Valkyrie Nicholas died, and Shigure Kira was severely wounded… It was time for Shun to intervene.
A purple spatial gate opened. Shun arrived beside Benares. The dying creature tried to gently rub its head against Shun, but unfortunately Shun was not its Queen.
A strand of vitality was injected into Benares' body by Shun, stabilizing its injuries. Just like Bella in the original plot, it could lie on this snowy plain for more than ten years.
Then Shun looked at Shigure Kira, who had fallen to the ground and lost consciousness. Just as he wanted to use the power of the Silent Gem to treat her, a small black orb rushed out from Nicholas' corpse and landed on Shigure Kira's body.
The next moment, the gate to the Sea of Quanta opened. Shigure Kira fell into the Sea of Quanta. Shun did not stop it.
"The Shuhs race? I heard they also have the Outer Key and the dimension weapon Silver Key — such a heaven-defying weapon. One day I should check if I can find the Candy House and fleece them…"
As for this cruel battlefield littered with corpses and flowing with rivers of blood? To Shun, he was by no means the kind of saintly, compassionate person who felt pity for the world. If these people's lives could be exchanged for Sirin's survival, then in his eyes, it was undoubtedly a profitable deal with no loss. After all, to him, Sirin's life was far more important than these strangers. Perhaps to others this idea seemed cold and ruthless, but Shun had his own measure and decision in his heart.
"No wonder Otto said I was like him…" Shun murmured, then returned to the top of Babylon Tower and waited for Siegfried to break out of the Infinite Corridor.
He didn't know how long he waited. A flame broke through the Infinite Corridor box Shun had placed inside his body. While delivering a heavy blow to Shun, a man covered in Honkai beast shells, looking like a demon, appeared before Shun holding Judgment of Shamash.
This was Siegfried after activating Artificial Collapse. In the words of the villagers, Siegfried had "Kevin Manifested."
"All the actors are in position. Then let's begin… Round Two!"
...
After being struck by Siegfried's Earth-Splitting Sword, Shun lay exhausted on the snowy plain that had been turned into scorched earth.
"Tap tap tap…" The sound of high heels stepping on the ground came from the side. Shun turned his head, and his gaze met Cecilia's.
"So it was you…" At this time, Shun was no longer using Fenghuang Down to disguise himself, so he was naturally recognized by Cecilia.
As Cecilia approached, mountain lilies bloomed across this land that had been turned into scorched earth.
"I originally thought it was Sirin here…" What Cecilia had originally wanted was to properly accompany that poor child in the final moments of her life, but she hadn't expected that the one lying here was Shun.
"Are you disappointed?"
"How could I be?" Even though it wasn't the person she had imagined, Cecilia gently lifted Shun's body and held him in her arms.
"You little liar, you really tricked a lot of people." Cecilia couldn't help but sigh. Above their heads, the sharp whistle of the Honkai energy fission bomb had almost pierced their eardrums.
"Little Shun, this time even your big sister can't protect you from the Honkai energy fission bomb."
Suddenly, a dazzling white light streaked across the dark horizon like lightning, rushing toward them at astonishing speed. The white light grew brighter and brighter, as if it wanted to illuminate the entire world. A deafening explosion rang out, and a powerful energy shockwave instantly swept across the area.
A massive fireball rapidly expanded. Flames shot into the sky, thick smoke billowed, and the ground shook violently, as if the end of the world had arrived.
Seeming a little afraid, Cecilia's arms tightened around Shun slightly. It seemed that even she would feel fear before death.
"Don't worry, Cecilia. I won't let a kind person like you die…" However, in the deafening noise of the nuclear explosion, these words did not reach Cecilia's ears.
Pink roses appeared in Shun's hand. The blessing from the Origin would create a second miracle.
(Volume 5: Second Honkai Impact Arc — End.)