Nightmare from the Past

This is a cemetery for the fallen warriors of the Fire Moth. The Fire Moth will remember every warrior who sacrificed their life in the battle against the Honkai. This is a kind of human gesture that even in the apocalypse, the high-ranking officials who still scheme against each other can be considered to have done together.

Hua placed a bouquet of flowers at Himiko's grave. Although Himiko eventually became Herrscher, it was undeniable that the Seventh Herrscher was Uriel. According to Mobius's explanation, Uriel had to choose Himiko had been fighting on the front lines against the Honkai for a long time, as the vessel for the Fire Herrscher Honkai, due to his own weakness, in order to fully unleash the power of the Fire Herrscher.

Therefore, Himiko was still recognized as a glorious warrior who Fire Moth in the end.

Unlike her previous life, she wasn't merely a record in the archives. After all, no matter how glorious her past achievements were, as Herrscher, she ultimately burned down the entire Australia continent, causing immense damage to the Fire Moth and all of humanity, forcing the higher-ups to take the risk of implementing the Fusion Warrior Project.

If there weren't no other choice, the higher-ups wouldn't have agreed to the Fusion Warrior Project, a plan whose probability of success was considered zero even by its proposers. During Kevin's surgery, the remaining warriors of the Fire Moth had no choice but to brave the fear of an unprecedentedly powerful enemy and rush to the location of the Seventh Herrscher, risking their lives to trap Seventh Herrscher in the area, just to buy that tiny, hopeless amount of time.

It wasn't Himiko's fault that she was a Herrscher, but the trauma and oppression that the Seventh Herrscher brought to humanity were too great. For a long time afterward, the surviving warriors subconsciously chose to avoid talking about anything related to the name Himiko. Not to mention that Kevin fell into severe depression because of this, which caused other warriors who regarded Kevin as Heroes to have negative feelings towards Himiko.

Although some warriors in the Fire Moth, including the depressed Kevin, believed that Himiko deserved a fair and reasonable evaluation, the feelings of the majority of warriors had to be considered in the end. Therefore, apart from a few warriors like Hua and Kevin, the other warriors kept quiet about it. Over time, apart from the description in the files, no one in the Fire Moth remembered her anymore. Even Pardo, who joined later, knew about Disaster, but did not know that Himiko existed.

This was an unavoidable situation. Mei had planned to wait until the turmoil surrounding the Seventh Herrscher incident subsided and people's emotions calmed down before presenting Himiko a fair and objective evaluation in the council. However, the subsequent Eighth Herrscher and Ninth Herrscher incidents plunged humanity into fear and hatred towards the Herrscher once again. The Tenth Herrscher brought trust between people to the brink of collapse, forcing Himiko's case to be delayed again and again. In the end, reality did not allow Himiko to receive a fair evaluation.

But this time, everyone knows that, at the very least, it really has nothing to do with Himiko. If anyone is to blame, it's Uriel for catching everyone off guard, and it's the councilors who were willing to believe in the Herrscher and directly caused this incident. Uriel and those councilors have become the ones ultimately responsible for this incident.

This time, people will still remember Himiko, remember that there was once a warrior who stood on the front line against the Honkai, fought against many Herrscher, and remember her contributions to humanity.

Her tombstone was no longer placed in a remote corner and neglected. Soldiers who missed her would often come here to offer a bouquet of flowers to her and the other fallen soldiers.

"I'm sorry, Captain... even if we could do it all over again, I would still only be able to watch you leave." Hua took out another bottle of wine and placed it in front of the tombstone. "This is the wine you've been talking about wanting to drink. Feng Nahamah to get it for you... Now that the Eighth Herrscher incident is over Kosma and Disaster, whom you've been concerned about, are both still alive and well... I... am also very sad."

"Hua..." Zhu Yufeng, standing beside Hua, lowered her eyes and sighed softly, "I... I'm also sorry, I still couldn't do anything..."

He saved SEELE and participated in changing the trajectory of Disaster's fate, but he didn't change anything in the Seventh Herrscher incident. Perhaps the fact that Australia wasn't completely burned down was a tragedy for humanity, but for Hua Himiko as a close friend and mentor, everything might not have made any difference in the end.

Hua stood up and said, "No... this is not your fault, Feng... if you think that way, then my responsibility is perhaps greater than yours."

Zhu Yufeng looked at Hua.

Hua gave a helpless, bitter smile, "Because I feel my abilities are too mediocre compared to yours. You can all do better than me, so I always numbly choose to obey, always leaving the choices to you to make, thinking that's enough... If I had been as persistent as Kosma was this time in trying to keep the captain in the Fire Moth, then the subsequent events wouldn't have happened... I've always been going with the flow like this, hoping that others can bring about some change..."

"Hua, you don't need to think like that," Zhu Yufeng said. "You've been trying to change things. In every battle we've fought so far, you've given it your all. No one can blame you for not doing anything. It's just that we all let our guard down because Uriel appeared as the Seventh Herrscher ..."

"Is that so..." Hua lowered her eyes, "However... after the initial sadness and self-doubt, looking at how she is now... perhaps things aren't so bad after all..."

Hua raised her head slightly to look at Zhu Yufeng and said, "In the previous life, besides me, only Hen, Kevin, Elysia, and you would occasionally come here. Back then, the captain's tombstone wasn't even like it is now, with praise for her and commendation for her life... It was just a tombstone with the captain's name on it, nothing more... As warriors standing on the front line against the Honkai, you and the Fallen Angel Squad spent 300 days a year on Honkai Beast extermination missions, so you didn't have much time to come... Me too... Every time I came, all I saw was desolation, nothing else."

Including Hen, there were very few warriors left who knew Himiko and understood her character after the Seventh Herrscher Incident... After all, her entire squad was wiped out in the Seventh Herrscher Incident, except for Hua, and most of the warriors who were Seventh Herrscher to her also died in the incident. Although some of them survived, because they had faced death directly and Himiko's humanity had been utterly eroded after becoming Herrscher, their feelings towards Himiko became quite complex. They didn't have negative emotions, but it was really difficult to give her a positive evaluation...

Originally, I could still take care of Hen, but then Hen died inside the Ninth Herrscher's Ritual...

Zhu Yufeng remained silent. In truth, he didn't know Himiko very well. He had only come here in his previous life because Kevin had dragged him along. Zhu Yufeng never cared about the opinions of the other members of the Fire Moth Himiko Himeko the future, so he still had feelings of respect for her. After coming to pay his respects with Kevin once, he also checked Himiko's past records and concluded that she was undoubtedly a respectable warrior.

So when he comes over later, he'll take care of things for him.

When he had a voice in the council, he considered changing something for Himiko. At the very least, a respectable warrior shouldn't be buried like this. However, Lilith rejected his idea as soon as he shared it with Lilith, deeming it inappropriate. Himiko was indeed a respectable warrior, but her subsequent status Herrscher and her "battle record," coupled with the blows dealt by the subsequent Herrscher... it was already a miracle that her tombstone remained in the cemetery, only to be deliberately forgotten by other warriors...

The individual Tenth Herrscher within the Fire Moth doesn't even have a tombstone. Of course, it's also because the events surrounding the Honkai's Honkai at that time have been made public to the world. Ordinary people don't care what they did before becoming Herrscher; all they see is "why commemorate the enemy who destroyed our civilization."

Therefore, even in the archives, the descriptions left of Himiko in the end are mostly brief. Whether it is the Void Archive or the other archives of the Fire Moth, or even the Elysian Realm of the Going Land, the most common memory left about Himiko is Hua.

Hua, outside of the Elysian Realm, had long forgotten Himiko. Only her body retained its instincts, causing her to unconsciously shed tears when she looked at Himeko, yet she didn't know why.

Zhu Yufeng looked at Himiko's tombstone. In this life, Hua did not join Himiko's team, but only maintained contact as a friend. Perhaps this part of the story also helped to lessen the sadness brought about by the separation again.

On the other hand, Kosma's situation was completely different. Starting over, his relationship with Disaster deepened further, and their bond became even stronger. This is probably why Kosma always unconsciously falls into an emo state after the Seventh Herrscher event.

Right now... Kosma has just woken up and is currently inseparable from Disaster. Pardo, who usually visits Disaster, only glanced at them and silently closed the door. In Pardo's words, "I just feel like there are pink bubbles floating around, and no one else should be here except for the two of them..."

Furthermore... although the Eighth Herrscher incident, thanks to Kosma's efforts, almost achieved a perfect, zero-damage conclusion, except for those who prematurely fell into the dream and succumbed to their fate beyond saving, however...

The new way the Eighth Herrscher was born still made Zhu Yufeng a little worried. Don't tell me that the Ninth Herrscher is going to pull some kind of crazy stunt this time.

As the main scapegoat for the Eighth Herrscher incident, Admiralty would have been beaten up long ago if he weren't currently in Europe and I didn't have time to go there yet.

Admiralty deserved to be beaten, but that was all. There's no need to dwell on it too much. The matter is over, and in the end, it didn't create any irreparable mess. It even elevated the relationship between Kosma and Disaster by a few levels.

Finally, there's the matter of the Eighth Law's core still not being found. Mobius even suspected that he might have unconsciously absorbed the Eighth Law's power and then conducted several checks on him. After all, he had been fighting the Eighth Law head-on, and Seele, who was also fighting the Eighth Law head-on, had also been checked, but the result was still nothing.

That night, Zhu Yufeng slowly opened his eyes in his dream and found himself standing in a quiet city, a city so quiet that there was no sound.

"Here it is...!"

Zhu Yufeng's pupils contracted; his emotions were in turmoil. This scene was all too familiar to him...

The Eleventh Law Incident: The Tragedy of Binding.

Even in his dreams, even though it wasn't the first time he had dreamt of this scene, its recurring appearance still caused a storm of emotions within him.

For Kosma, the departure of Disaster in the Eighth Law incident was a haunting nightmare, and the Tragedy of Binding was similar for Zhu Yufeng...

Only...

He looked down at his hands, clenched them, and realized it was the first time he'd had such a vivid dream...

Unlike when he had this dream before, he didn't unconsciously follow the path he had taken; he simply stayed where he was.

Moreover, he hadn't had this dream in a long time... Why...?

After hesitating for a moment, Zhu Yufeng still strode towards the final spot where this tragedy would come to an end.

A church.

The city was eerily quiet; apart from the sound of my own footsteps, I could hear almost nothing at all...

Ahead appeared three broken stone statues of people; they were the three Fallen Angel who had first attacked...

"Beifengge, Rovoc, Admiralty..."

Zhu Yufeng read out their names. He reached out his hand with trembling hands, but it was as if something was blocking him, making it impossible for him to reach. After standing there for a while, he once again stepped onto the road that he would never forget.

Along the way, he also saw other Fallen Angel who appeared as broken stone statues.

Without exception, he couldn't touch them.

Finally, he arrived at the ruins of the church, where the sacred statue of the Holy Law appeared in stone. Her gaze was filled with pity, and she reached out her hand as if she still wanted to give him a hug.

"Michael ..." Zhu Yufeng suddenly felt a chill. He looked up and saw that the gloomy sky had begun to drizzle.

"Oh right... Lilith!" Zhu Yufeng looked around and saw Lilith leaning against the broken wall. Unlike the others, she was not a stone statue.

He stepped forward and helped Lilith up. She looked up, and a gentle smile appeared on Cang's face, "Feng... this time, have you changed anything?"

Did I... change anything...?

"I..." His voice was hoarse, and he didn't know what to say.

"I'm not worried, and I don't blame myself." Lilith reached out and gently stroked his face. "I still love you. I will always love you and always be by your side... until the end of the world, we will never be apart."

"Lilith, I..."

"Take me back the way I came..."

"...good."

He picked up the girl, and she closed her eyes in his arms. Just like before, in the drizzling rain, he carried the girl back the way they had come.

Unbeknownst to everyone, there was still one person present at the scene.

"!"

Elysia jolted awake, sitting up in bed, her breathing rapid. She had just dreamt of...