Different Paths, Same Destination

"The surrounding Honkai Beast have all been cleared out," Kosma said, walking a short distance behind Kevin.

Kevin's gaze was fixed on Uriel ahead, and he did not answer.

"... Kevin," Kosma said hesitantly, "Do you think... Uriel is trustworthy?"

Kevin was silent for a moment, then said, "Even if she isn't, she can't cause any trouble."

Kosma thought about it and the Present. There were so many people here watching Uriel, yet Uriel was still injured by Black Abyss White Flower. Only White Blade could eliminate the damage caused by Black Abyss. Even if the Law could use Honkai Energy repair his own body, he still wouldn't be able to completely eliminate the damage caused by Black Abyss.

Even if Uriel wanted to retaliate like before, they were confident they could kill him before his state expanded. However... Kosma was also surprised that Uriel possessed the ability to think, because the previous Seventh Law Himiko didn't have much of a mental capacity; she was more like a killing machine.

At that time, Kosma himself did not believe that Uriel could stand on the side of humans like Elysia and the others, and Uriel had already considered Uriel 'Kosma strategy of seeking peace, even without discussing it with Mobius others.

"We must wait until the situation gets serious..." Kosma lowered his eyes, then tried to raise the weapon in his hand when the others weren't paying attention.

(Even if I am held accountable later, exiled, or imprisoned deep in some the Deepest Place, I must kill Uriel here... I cannot let Australia be burned down again!)

Kosma thought of Atlantis, Atlantis had sunk and was now helplessly sinking. The memory lingered in his mind. He recalled something Feng had once told him: Feng had fought against fate, knowing everyone's destiny and constantly battling against it, but in the end...

Everything still happened as fate would have it.

Even though fate took a turn for the worse, it always came full circle. The changes that Feng could make to fate were far too insignificant.

Feng had said at the time that this might be because he was fighting alone, the Present everyone is fighting together, the final outcome is still unknown.

Kosma is worried about is the Eighth Law... and that day is not far the Present. He wants to try to see if waiting here can change everything.

The Sixth Law destroyed humanity's trust in the Law, a fact Kosma understood. This Law disappeared along with the removal of the Seele Law's core. However, the Seventh Law, Uriel's attempt to negotiate with humanity, caused a unique shock within Kosma.

Fate is stubborn; it will reappear in a different form.

Just like the Present...

(I... don't want to watch Disaster leave me again. I must... defy fate!)

Just then, Kosma raised his hand, but Disaster pressed it down. Then Disaster's low voice rang out. "Amo, what do you think you're doing?! This is an important peace negotiation, the first law that might fight alongside us..."

"Law is absolutely not a human's friend!" Kosma said almost instinctively and decisively.

"Amo?" Pado was startled and looked at Kosmo with some suspicion. She wanted to say, "Amo, aren't you being a little thoughtless this time? Brother Yufeng, Sister Ai Li, and Sister Lilith are all lawyers, and they've always fought alongside us."

In fact, in Kosma's heart, Zhu Yufeng and the others were not considered Lawbringers at all. The Lawbringers he recognized were Apostles driven by Honkai. Zhu Yufeng and the others were always human and were his unquestionable comrades-in-arms.

That's why he said those things.

Kevin glanced at Kosma slightly. Actually, as reborn individuals, they didn't share information completely. Just like Mobius only told them some things and asked them to keep them a secret from Zhu Yufeng, Kevin didn't know whether Vill-V and Mobius had discussed anything else with Zhu Yufeng.

Before the peace talks began, May contacted him in advance, telling him to be careful about his safety and not to act rashly.

Kevin didn't ask any further questions. He understood what Mei meant. Mei wanted him to sit back and watch the final outcome happen. Kevin had a pretty good idea of why Mei wanted to do this. Mei probably thought that if what Uriel said was true, then humanity would not lose out. If it was false, some of the resistance inside the Fire Moth would disappear, and she would not lose out either.

And Himiko...

Kevin glanced at Himiko not far away again. This time, the Seventh Ritual Sutra has been born. Himiko can't possibly become Ritual Sutra again, right?

Sakura kept her hand on the hilt of her sword. Although she hadn't received any instructions, she had a rough idea of what Mobius and the others wanted to do, and she also guessed that Zhu Yufeng tacitly approved of it, but...

She glanced again at Elysia, whose expression was somewhat complicated, and at Lilith, whose position next to Elysia was rather intriguing. Was Lilith in that position... wary of Elysia?

"... Disaster, don't stop me," Kosma whispered. "The Present is the best opportunity!"

"I can't possibly agree to you doing this, Amo!" Disaster tightened her grip on Kosma's hand. "You know, our war against the Honkai can't go on like this forever. If we could coexist with the Honkai, or rather, if we could get Ryusei to fight alongside us... humanity could suffer far fewer casualties, wouldn't we?"

Moreover, if Amo does this, Fire Moth will absolutely not allow him to make such a mistake; she cannot just watch Amo make a mistake!

"I can't trust anyone!" Kosma's heart gradually filled with anxiety. He the Present somewhat understood Zhu Yufeng's unspeakable suffering and helplessness back then. He clearly knew what would happen next, or rather, what might happen, but he couldn't say it.

If he made any big moves and attracted the attention of others, he wouldn't be able to succeed. But the Present, Disaster was determined not to let him move, and he really had no choice...

Kosma shifted his gaze to Kevin, Kevin never turned around. He then looked at Sakura, Elysia, Lilith, and the others, who remained silent.

(Why... why did they do this even though they knew what was going to happen?)

Elysia noticed Kosma's gaze, sighed softly, and then looked at Lilith, saying, "You also think that I will choose to stop all of this, just like I did during the Restriction Tragedy, right?"

"No, I'm just doing this as a precaution." Lilith chuckled. "We all know that the Fusion Warrior Project must be proposed, otherwise, without the Stigmata, humanity won't even be able to face the Finality. But if the Honkai of Honkai to humanity isn't enough to make humanity lower its bottom line, it will only make our subsequent struggle more and more difficult, and make any slight advantage we've gained before vanish."

Elysia lowered her eyes.

Why did she do this when the tragedy of the Divine Grace Barrier occurred? The number of people needed to temporarily disable the Divine Blessing Barrier was far too large, and considering the slow expansion of the Divine Blessing Barrier, this number was constantly changing. If the number of humans needed to fill the Divine Blessing Barrier disappeared, how would she explain this to the surviving humans? It would only bring them even greater despair.

In addition, they couldn't afford to gamble on the probability of the plan proposed by Vill-V succeeding.

This is only a theoretically possible solution; if it fails, the consequences would be far more unbearable for humanity.

They can't afford to gamble.

That's what she thought, and that's what Mei, who always thought rationally, thought too. All the Fusion Warrior who participated in the battle were prepared to die. Many of them actually strongly opposed the Vill-V plan. They would rather die themselves than let the innocent humans they were desperately protecting lose their lives.

This is what she had no choice but to accept.

The Present she understands Zhu Yufeng's predicament and that he made his choice out of helplessness. But back then, everyone made their choices out of helplessness, and the tragedy was inevitable. It was in the past, it is the Present, and it may still be a barrier between her and Feng in the future.

The choice now presented is completely different from the one that constrains tragedy.

Although Elysia was initially conflicted about her attitude towards this, she ultimately chose to acquiesce.

No matter what, she is the second-ranked Fire Moths faction, and has been fighting against the Honkai for more than ten years. How could she not be psychologically prepared for the consequences?

She would feel guilty, but she wouldn't ruin Mobius and the others' plans. What she was more concerned about now was whether Zhu Yufeng was completely oblivious. After Ugar's appearance led to Vincent's sacrifice—something he had only met briefly— Zhu Yufeng wavered and entered a brief period of confusion, but...

After that, he did come to terms with it, but he realized that there might be something wrong with his thinking.

Well, like Maple, Kevin is another one...

As for Phyllis and Hua... they probably don't need to understand these things.

At least this time, I hope that the senior whom Hua admires Himiko, is safe and sound.

Kosma observed everyone's reactions to this, and combined with the council members' previous decision to execute Xila, after thinking for a while, he understood their thoughts. There must be sacrifices that would make humanity lower their bottom line in order for the Fusion Warrior Project to be successfully proposed, and only then... would they be qualified to face the Finality.

Otherwise... at that time, did you expect to rely on the three Herrscher, Maple, Elysia, and Lilith, to fight against the Finality, while the rest of them just stood there watching helplessly?

Or, to put it another way, in the late stages of the Honkai 3rd expansion, Honkai Beast are everywhere. Without launching the Fusion Warrior Project, how can we deal with that many Honkai Beasts?

(Is there... nothing I can do...?)

Kosma finally gave up on his plan to kill Uriel. He had figured out the key to the matter and what else he could do but give up.

Fate had stubbornly circled back to him, and he couldn't stop it...

(But at least, Himiko will be alright...)

Kosma shouldn't be like this, but the Eighth Herrscher Incident is drawing ever closer, and his vague feelings for Disaster from his previous life are now confirmed. He doesn't want to lose Disaster, so he cares even more about the so-called destiny. He knows Zhu Yufeng changed Sakura's fate, he knows he saved him and others in the War of Finality, but...

(Our own destiny is closely intertwined with that of others, and even they cannot change it...)

Himiko is to Hua, Disaster is to herself, Hen is to Griseo, Klein is to Mobius, Rin is to Sakura...

While Kosma was lost in thought, Zhu Yufeng was also negotiating with Uriel.

Uriel designated Zhu Yufeng to heal him, and Zhu Yufeng immediately brought Xila with him, giving him a look that said, "Let's see what you're up to."

"I feel like we really can't talk to each other." Uriel said, watching the black light on his hand being dispelled by the Black Abyss White Flower. "After all, you have too much prejudice against Herrscher. In future negotiations, I would still prefer to talk to Captain Himiko."

Zhu Yufeng frowned, feeling that Uriel's obsession with Himiko was a bit too high. She had previously mentioned wanting to find Himiko, and also said that she was having some difficulty dealing with Elysia, etc...

"Impossible. As long as you behave yourself and do nothing, it's the same whether I talk to you or not. Besides, the main party in this negotiation is the council behind me. It wouldn't matter if it were someone else or not," Zhu Yufeng said coldly.

He finally began to understand why Uriel was so obsessed with Himiko —she wanted to Himiko into the Seventh Herrscher! But how could she do that? If that was how she did it in her previous life, how did the Herrscher Core enter Himiko's body?

"Agree to her request." The council's instructions came through the earpiece. "Maple, you and Hathaway keep watch around the perimeter. Himiko in to negotiate."

"I don't think there's any need to give in to her here," Zhu Yufeng tried to stop.

"You think it's unnecessary?" The voice on the other end of the earpiece became somewhat impatient. "Feng, you must remember, you are Fire Moth warrior. No matter how outstanding you are, you are still Fire Moth warrior now. You have no right to make decisions in this matter. Since the other party wants to negotiate with us and has shown her sincerity, we must also show our sincerity. Cooperation is a win-win situation."

"I have already had Hei Black Abyss White Flower treat her..."

"You have overstepped your bounds, Maple! In the name of the council, I order you to step down immediately, hand over the headset to Captain Himiko, and let Captain Himiko take over the negotiation team."

Zhu Yufeng lowered his eyes, asking him to remember which councilor the voice belonged to...

The urging voices kept ringing in his ears, and he also took in Uriel's provocative smile. After a moment of silence, Zhu Yufeng took off his headphones and handed them to Himiko.

He stood beside Xila and whispered, "Keep a close eye on Uriel. If she makes any unusual moves, ignore everything else and kill her immediately!"

After that, the negotiations went smoothly. Uriel expressed her willingness to accept the jurisdiction of the Fire Moth Council and to temporarily remain in place under the guard of the Fire Moth, until the Fire Moth developed a drug that could suppress the Herrscher Authority based on the blood sample she provided, as a way to restrain her.

Just when everyone thought the matter was over, Uriel suddenly looked at Zhu Yufeng and said with a smile, "Feng, we'll be comrades fighting side by side from now on. Aren't you going to shake my hand?"

Zhu Yufeng's gaze was cold and deep. He tightened his grip on the Black Abyss White Flower Sword, then stepped forward and grasped Uriel's hand. Suddenly, in that instant, a strange change occurred. Uriel suddenly lunged forward, but Zhu Yufeng reacted even faster and pierced through Uriel with the Black Abyss White Flower.

"What is he doing! What has this idiot done!" a councilor who had been staring at the video footage roared. The next second, before he could say anything more, he opened his mouth wide and stared blankly at what was happening on the video.

Uriel gripped the tip of the Black Abyss White Flower spear, a smile appearing on her pale face. The next moment, the power of the Fire Herrscher erupted completely, and a massive flame engulfed herself and Zhu Yufeng, rapidly spreading around them.

"Maple!"

Without a second thought, Elysia used Honkai Energy to create a crystal shield to help the people behind her block the impact of the flames. Then, she and Lilith rushed into the central area of the flames and caught Zhu Yufeng, who was blasted out.

Zhu Yufeng's arm, which was gripping Black Abyss White Flower's, was covered in carbonized material. Half of his body was severely burned, and flames were scorching his body, causing his skin to cycle between destruction and repair.

The flames dissipated, and Uriel disappeared from everyone's sight.

As for Uriel's self-destruction, because he was weakened by being pierced by the Black Abyss White Flower, and Elysia also helped Kevin and the others block most of the impact, Kevin and the others were not in big danger. As for Zhu Yufeng, who was directly hit by the blast at the center of the explosion, and the others who were not blocked...

The situation is not very good.

If it weren't for the Honkai Energy protecting him, along with his own powers and the actions of the Black Abyss White Flower, he would have been in even worse shape. Even though he is now Herrscher, he couldn't possibly take the direct hit of another Herrscher's sudden self-destruction, even if she was at her last gasp.

"Wait, Captain Himiko?"

When Uriel self-destructed, Himiko was also very close to Uriel, but at this moment, she was completely unharmed.

The flames reignited the next second.