A New Yandere Has Appeared

Zhu Yufeng followed Michael to a relatively quiet corner outside the ward. Before he could speak, Michael said, "It's been a long time, Feng, or rather, Mr. Lucifer?"

"Yes... it's been a long time, Michael." Zhu Yufeng felt uneasy under Michael's gaze. Michael's gaze used to be gentle and tender, much like Aponia's. But the Present, Michael's gaze seemed to carry a hint of danger.

The name Lucifer was originally a joke he made with Michael when they first met Michael. He just picked a cool-sounding name from his memory. Later... Michael joined the Fire Moth, and for other reasons, Lucifer got another name, although fewer people know about it.

"Indeed, it has been a long time," Michael said quietly. "Counting from the Honkai of Changkong City, that is, from the Third Herrscher to the Present Eighth Herrscher, it has been more than five years since we last met."

"Uh... how did you get the Fire Moth this time?"

"I wonder if we will meet again along the same path. After all, I'm not sure if I'm the only one with memories, nor can I find the Fire Moth hiding in the shadows," Michael said. "The Seventh Herrscher event, even though I wasn't a participant in it, was long past when I joined the Fire Moth. As a key event that facilitated the birth of Fusion Warrior, I still have some understanding of it. When I learned that three-thirds of Australia had been burned down, leaving one-third, I pretty much knew that someone like me had already begun to challenge fate."

Michael paused, then continued, "In order to find and join the Fire Moth, I went to various hospitals that housed patients with narcolepsy, under the guise of nuns' prayers, to comfort their families and try to find opportunities to come into contact with the Honkai. So, as you can see, instead of you coming to me, I came here myself."

The last few sentences were full of resentment!

Zhu Yufeng smirked, inwardly complaining.

Could it be... that Michael has changed so much because he hasn't looked for her for so long and she had to come to him herself, so he's angry?

No way... right?

"Never mind, anyway, after I came to the Fire Moth and learned about the situation, I realized there could be many other reasons why you didn't come to me." Michael started counting on his fingers, "Lilith, Elysia, Pardofelis, Mobius, Sakura, Vill-V, oh, and Seele, who can be considered my confidante... Heh, the Fire Moth's discussion about who's around you is even more interesting than before..."

Zhu Yufeng was silent for a while before saying, "I heard from Seele that, like Seele, you existed as the consciousness inside the Divine Key after that. I also have a question for you, Michael. In the last moment, that person was you, right?"

"It's more accurate to say that it has always been me, always has been," Michael replied.

Always? In other words, after Michael became the Herrscher of Binding, her own human consciousness always took the lead?

Zhu Yufeng frowned slightly and bluntly voiced his doubts. "However, although you are different from Elysia, you love humanity just as much. After the Tenth Herrscher incident, when the trust between humans collapsed, you, as a nun and logistics staff, worked tirelessly day and night, shuttling among the people, just to try to mend and repair the rift between humans."

Why would Michael, in the end, choose to become Herrscher? Why would she raise her sword against the very humanity she once tried so hard to protect?

"Do you know why I disagreed with Aponia?" Michael said. "She had witnessed the fate of countless people, so her attitude towards fate became passive, yet even so, she still chose to persevere. But I'm different. I've always thought things through. I've watched people grow numb as they become wary of each other, I've watched the remaining humans drift through each day in a daze, it's pathetic. In my eyes, humanity has long been utterly defeated, beyond redemption. Honkai is the judgment of the gods, Honkai Beast are beasts reflecting the sins within humanity's hearts, that's what I used to believe."

Zhu Yufeng listened quietly, and he seemed to understand why Michael had made that choice.

"The Fusion Warrior, born from the power of Honkai Beast, just as Kevin said, you used the power of the gods to drag them down from their thrones... In my eyes at that time, the Fusion Warrior were the embodiment of the sins within humanity. You and the other Fallen Angel, as executors of the Chimera Project, bore particularly heavy sins." Michael looked towards the ward and continued, "Of course I love humanity, so I don't want them to wait numbly for their final despair, so..."

"You've decided to personally deliver the verdict and personally cleanse all the Fusion Warrior of their sins?" Zhu Yufeng asked.

For ordinary people, entering the Divine Blessing Barrier would mean certain death within a second, without even a chance to feel the pain. However, for Fusion Warrior who could withstand the Divine Blessing Barrier with their own strength, staying inside for even a second longer would be excruciating. Of course, he was an exception. He always felt that someone was helping him shed the burden on his shoulders, and that his own power was also constantly flowing, which was indeed true.

"Yes, don't you think the burden you're carrying is too heavy?" Michael withdrew his gaze. "But then I realized that perhaps the one who was wrong was actually me... I noticed you the moment you entered the Divine Blessing Barrier."

In fact, apart from the final battle, Michael did not move an inch or take any measures. He simply stayed in the church, quietly waiting for the challenger to arrive.

"Speaking of the Divine Blessing Barrier, I've always found it strange. Everyone says that the feeling inside is very painful, but for me..."

"Because you are the one I'm taking special care of." Michael said, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. "I told you, I noticed you the moment you came in. I also know that you have been suffering from the side effects of the Fusion Warrior surgery. So, within the Divine Blessing Barrier, I have been trying to use the power of the barrier to forcibly remove the fused Hypervariable Factor from your body... But you are just that stubborn. Even though you could have let go of the burden that didn't belong to you, you still chose to hold on to them and bear everything."

Michael's choice was actually quite similar to Remiel's, wasn't it? The only difference was that Remiel merely mechanically completed the task of her own creation; when the meaning of her existence was denied, she chose suicide. Did she love humanity? Clearly, she didn't even understand humanity; she simply fulfilled their desires. Michael, on the other hand, undoubtedly loved humanity; it was simply that she chose to help humanity end its suffering.

If humanity is destined to perish, then rather than let them perish in despair in their most unattractive and wretched state, it would be better to freeze time at this moment while they still hold onto hope for the future, so that they will not feel pain and simply drift off to sleep.

It was precisely because Michael loved humans so much that she didn't want them to perish in endless, desperate struggles...

To reiterate, both she and Elysia love humanity, but their ways of loving differ. Elysia admires the human condition, the courage of humanity to rise up against fate even in despair, and the beautiful will of humanity that shines like stars. Therefore, she chooses to walk alongside humanity. Michael, on the other hand, seems to indulge humanity. She doesn't want humanity to continue suffering, so she asks "He" for power, solely to grant humanity relief from pain.

Zhu Yufeng sighed softly. Michael was also a friend of his, which made it even harder for him to accept that Michael had always acted according to his own will during the Tragedy of Restraint. The trauma inflicted on him by the Tragedy of Restraint was too deep, the biggest barrier between him and Elysia, and the most painful nightmare he didn't want to recall.

And the one who started all of this, the Eleventh Herrscher, the Herrscher of Binding, was Michael, his friend.

"Man is born with original sin, and only by washing away that sin can the soul reach heaven." Michael's gaze became distant. "I grew up in the church, and both priests and nuns told me this, and I have always believed it. Perhaps it's because I wasn't a combatant that I only saw the sacrifices and suffering humans endured, but not the will and courage that shone within them. So, in the end, I chose to return fate to you."

Zhu Yufeng the Present silent. His feelings towards Michael were incredibly complex. He couldn't forgive Michael's actions, nor could he bring himself to do so. However, from God's perspective, even without Michael, that tragic event would still have occurred in another way, wouldn't it? Just like the Eighth Herrscher incident...

"However, in the end, I can finally truly embrace you." Michael lowered his eyes. "I've always wanted to hug you because I felt you were so tired... In that battle, I was actually waiting for humanity to make its own choice. I knew I might ultimately lose, but if humanity's will truly continues to fight, then I will choose to respect your choice, provided, of course, that you overcome me."

"The choice you've given is truly appalling." Zhu Yufeng took a deep breath to calm himself down and said, "Whether it's using the lives of ordinary people to fill the barrier's upper limit, or using the lives of Fusion Warrior to fill it... in the end, the result is tantamount to the annihilation of human civilization."

Fusion Warrior are the last remaining warriors, and civilians are the last remaining roots of humanity.

Can a civilization without people still be called a civilization? Can a civilization without defensive measures survive natural disasters?

"If even I cannot defeat her, how will you possibly defeat the Final Judge?" Michael retorted. "When she was chosen by that power, I saw... the destruction of countless old eras and the emergence of new ones. I saw Her— the Herrscher of Finality's invincible might. I saw Her power to restart the world. You also know that the Herrscher of Binding is an anti- Herrscher. She not only possesses special attacks against Fusion Warrior, but also against Herrscher. That's why, even I felt powerless when facing the Phantom of the Finality..."

If we cannot overcome constraints, how can we talk about overcoming the Finality?

That's what Michael thought.

She is willing to be this test, to give humanity a trial before the Finality.

If humanity cannot overcome these constraints, then it is better to "wash away sins" within the Divine Blessing Barrier, begin the cycle of reincarnation, and await the beginning of the next civilization.

"So, this time you still..."

"No, I will never do that again." Michael looked into Zhu Yufeng's eyes and said, "When the Black Abyss White Flower pierced my body, and you absorbed all the Fallen Angel and bore even greater pain, I no longer believed in the so-called divine judgment. Only when I fought alongside you as the Divine Key did I truly understand that perhaps humans are indeed born to suffer, but the courage to rise from despair is the most precious thing for humanity. It is precisely because of this that humanity was able to create a glorious civilization. Even if civilization eventually comes to an end, your final battle will be the final roar of civilization, an enduring and undying will that even the Finality cannot erase."

That's why I said the nuns I know are all incredibly absurd. Esmodius is a crazy nun, Aponia isn't exactly normal either, Michael is completely one-track-minded, even a fire demon...

"Humans, hoping to bind the gods..." Michael smiled, "Very good lines, I like them very much, no, rather, I really... like you very much. I hope you can no longer stand in the darkness, I want you to bask in the light, but as long as Lilith and the others are by your side, you are embracing their darkness, you will no longer stand in the sunlight that belongs to you. You are the Fallen Angel of dawn, but because you are Fallen Angel, you brought dawn, yet you cannot stand under the dawn. So, that battle, too, had a little bit of my selfishness in it."

Zhu Yufeng's pupils contracted. Holy crap, that smile, those words, this rhythm... could it be...?

"After giving up my so-called identity as an apostle of the gods, those thoughts that were always considered heretical just keep popping up..." Michael's smile became somewhat enigmatic. "But that doesn't matter. I will still be watching over you this time, and I will definitely bring you back to the world of light. However, it seems that Elysia has already done what I wanted to do—no wonder you haven't thought of coming to find me... Elysia ... how come I never noticed before that she had this thought..."

"Michael, have you ever thought about your future...?"

"It'll be fine in a few years," Michael shrugged indifferently. "I don't condone Lilith's methods, but I have to admit they are very effective. So, it's not a big deal for me to learn from them, is it?"

Zhu Yufeng: "..."

Why does it give me this feeling of "What kind of well-behaved nun am I? I'm not going to be a nun anymore, I'm going to go crazy even if I'm a nun"?

So why did Michael suddenly become a yandere?