Memories of Black Abyss White Flower

Where... was this?

Amid a haze of confusion, she woke up. Her last memory was of that human hero pulling the trigger on her. That instant... had hurt quite a bit...

Of course. By the end, she had already given up on herself. Could a Herrscher coexist with humans? Could she? No, probably not. She couldn't even control her own urge to destroy everything, to trample everything.

So... was this the world after death?

There were no boundaries. She couldn't see anything, and even her thoughts had slowed...

She remembered releasing her power at the very end. She didn't know what happened afterward. She only knew that if humanity had taken no measures, everyone in that city should have died.

Why had she done that at the end? Anger, perhaps? Anger at this world. She had finally found a new place to settle down, only for it to leave her alone again overnight. She had finally met someone she could somewhat like, yet he could only spend a brief week with her. He hadn't even left behind a way to contact him...

If that were all, she might still have hoped that they would meet again someday. But then... she became a Herrscher. She could no longer suppress her desire for destruction, growing more and more irritable.

"Seele is Seele. The Sixth Herrscher is the Sixth Herrscher."

But... she was already the Herrscher he spoke of, wasn't she?

She had thought of killing herself while she could still retain her sanity, but the other power within her rapidly healed any wounds she inflicted upon herself. She had no way to kill herself.

Heh... She couldn't even feel the existence of her limbs. Only her thoughts continued to move sluggishly. Was this her punishment? Boring. Let whichever self-righteous god wanted it have it. It was just a pity... she hadn't gotten to see him one last time... Though perhaps that was for the best. If she had run into him then, a slap would not have been nearly enough.

Live well, you dead piece of wood.

Just as her consciousness grew muddled and seemed ready to dissipate, a pleasant voice appeared to pierce through this chaotic world and reach directly into her mind.

"Mm... Although Black Abyss White Flower really is an amazing Divine Key, well... you know, it just isn't cute enough for me. So I should give it to someone else~"

Black Abyss White Flower? Not cute enough?

What was that even supposed to mean?

"How about... giving it to Feng? He and the Sixth Herrscher do have quite a connection. A Divine Key made from the Sixth Herrscher's core might suit him quite well, don't you think?"

The Sixth Herrscher... should be her, right? Feng was that guy's name, too...

So Black Abyss White Flower was actually referring to her? Not... cute enough?! Was this woman only good for having a nice voice?! No, wait. She didn't care about being cute anyway!

Tch. What an annoying person...

She began getting angry on her own again, just as she had in the past. Her consciousness, which had just become a little clearer, gradually sank back into chaos.

How long had she... been unconscious? Damn it, in this space where there was nothing at all, she had no way of knowing how much time had passed... Even now, she still felt terribly sleepy...

"Black Abyss White Flower... has it been confirmed for transfer to me?"

That voice was... that dead piece of wood's?

"Mm... How should I put it? Kevin has Heavenfire now, Elysia returned Black Abyss White Flower because she thought it wasn't cute enough, and after much thought, we felt that you, someone once connected to the Sixth Herrscher, might be a suitable candidate."

Sure enough... Black Abyss White Flower referred to her now, right? So... that inexplicable woman really had been saying she wasn't cute enough?!

"Mm?"

"What is it, Feng? Huh?! Your hand?!"

"Black Abyss White Flower seems to be rejecting me..."

Who was rejecting you? She just didn't dislike you, that was all. Who was rejecting you?

Wait, could it be because she had gotten angry just now, so... she accidentally used the power she had as the Sixth Herrscher on him?

...Fine. Since it was probably her fault, she would reluctantly... fix it. Let her think. Feel how she had felt when she was angry earlier... Mm?

Like a beam of light suddenly piercing the eyes of someone who had long been trapped in darkness, her vision abruptly brightened. She could see, though everything was still somewhat blurry.

Once she saw clearly, it really was that guy... Black stuff seemed to be flowing over his hand. She could feel that it was her power, corroding his body.

Fine, fine. She would reluctantly save you.

Following her instincts, she used the power to restore his body, just as she had casually healed a wounded stray cat on the roadside that had been on the verge of death.

White light appeared over his hand and swallowed the flowing black glow. Both he and the other person wore rather strange expressions.

"...Did you just use Black Abyss White Flower to heal yourself?"

"No..."

The other man suddenly looked amused. Patting that dead piece of wood on the shoulder, he said, "Don't you think Black Abyss White Flower is acting just like it did when you investigated the Sixth Herrscher? I wasn't there at the time, but I heard about it from the others. Is it sulking with you?"

"...Did Vill-V add some strange function to the Divine Key again? The Third Divine Key has its own temper. It even turns into a crossbow when it is unhappy. Sakura was troubled by that too, wasn't she?"

"Geniuses always have ideas that differ from ordinary people... Besides, isn't Sakura working quite well with the Third Divine Key now? There haven't been any problems."

Who was sulking with you?! She had only used her power reluctantly to make up for a mistake she had made by accident. And it hadn't even been aimed at him in the first place.

Her vision began blurring again. It seemed that actively using her power this time had already been her limit. Sleepiness surged over her like a tide, and she fell asleep once more.

She floated in the air. She could see her surroundings, yet she could not touch that guy. More accurately, she could not touch anything. After all, she was probably in a soul-like state now? She looked at her true body in that guy's hand. Even if she was a soul, she could not stray too far from the Black Abyss White Flower that should have been her true body.

Tch. Boring.

She looked again at the woman standing opposite that guy, whose hair split from the middle into one dark and one light color. No matter how many times she saw her, that woman's clothes still looked incredibly strange...

And she didn't like this woman either.

As for why...

"Vill-V, could you remove the function that makes Black Abyss White Flower bloom a little flower during battle?" That dead piece of wood was as direct as ever, but she felt he was right. What kind of design was blooming? Could anyone imagine how it felt to suddenly have a flower bloom from their body?!

Was having grass grow from your head supposed to be fun? Why didn't you give yourself a function like that?

"Huh? I think it's quite good. It's my favorite design feature for this Divine Key." The woman had no intention of changing it at all.

? What did she mean, it was her favorite design feature for this Divine Key? She was the Divine Key herself! Could she say she wasn't satisfied with it?

But she knew she could only think those words. Even if she spoke, no sound would come out. At most, when the woman called Vill-V touched her, she could make a few small movements to show her protest. But now, her true body was still in that dead piece of wood's hand...

"I don't deny your ideas. As an unparalleled genius, while your thoughts may not be understood by the public, you have your own reasons for them. It is understandable for a genius to have unique ways of thinking about her creations."

What did he mean, understandable? Deny her already! When your weapon suddenly bloomed while you were fighting those huge monsters, had you forgotten your expression that quickly?! What did he mean, understandable? It was completely impossible to understand what use blooming had!

That woman seemed very satisfied with his answer. She said, "I knew it. Yu Feng, you do have good taste."

"But could you at least stop it from blooming during battle? Or perhaps change it so it blooms after the battle ends?"

She recommended doing what he had said at first and simply deleting that pointless function. What meaning did that function even have? Using her own power to make a flower bloom on herself? What kind of person could come up with a function like that?

She had been with that dead piece of wood for a while now and had more or less figured out her powers. Destruction and restoration, that was all. That ability of hers, which he said could restore someone with only a breath left to their peak condition—she used it to make flowers bloom?

She was not some shameless Divine Key like Seven Thunders of Purification. That thing was actually quite satisfied with its lipstick form?!

Speaking of Divine Keys, aside from herself, the only Divine Key that seemed to possess a mind was Seven Thunders of Purification. But rather than saying it had a mind... it was more like a one-year-old child...

Was the Third Herrscher a one-year-old child?

And then there was Heavenfire in Kevin's hand. She clearly couldn't sense anything inside it, but... when that dead piece of wood occasionally acted alongside Kevin and Kevin swung Heavenfire, she could sense a fighting will emanating from it... There was no one's consciousness in there, of that she was certain. Yet that will... did indeed seem like something someone had left behind...

Forget it. It wasn't important. Right now, she only wanted that blooming function removed.

"Mm..." Vill-V seemed to be seriously considering that dead piece of wood's words. "Since you put it that way... blooming during battle might indeed not be very good for you. Then I'll set it to bloom after the battle ends..."

? Dead piece of wood, hold your ground already!

"Let's do that."

Dead piece of wood!!!

Vill-V looked toward that dead piece of wood's hand. "Yu Feng, is Black Abyss White Flower still rejecting you now?"

None of your business! That dead piece of wood himself didn't mind!

For some reason, she suddenly felt that Vill-V's gaze at her true body had become rather unfriendly.

"It's fine. Maybe it's... sulking again? Speaking of which, I've always wanted to ask you: when you made Black Abyss White Flower, did you use Seven Thunders of Purification as a reference? I feel like Black Abyss White Flower has its own temper, just like Seven Thunders of Purification."

Could you not lump her together with that one-year-old?

"I had no part in Seven Thunders of Purification's design. It was mainly handled by Expert and Conductor. I did participate in Black Abyss White Flower's creation. The blooming function was the result of discussions among all of us Vill-Vs. I'll ask Expert and Conductor about it later... A Divine Key with its own temper..."

Vill-V's gaze as she examined her true body became meaningful.

"That really is interesting..."

Dead piece of wood! Something is wrong with this woman!

Suddenly, another familiar wave of dizziness struck her...

Damn it, why did it have to happen now...

Before losing consciousness again, the last thing she saw was Vill-V reaching out and taking her true body from that dead piece of wood's hand.

She coldly watched the nun before her and snorted. "I never thought you would also have a consciousness within a Divine Key..."

What did that dead piece of wood need so many Divine Keys for?! Was she not strong enough on her own? Even Kevin, with Heavenfire in hand, had been defeated by him while he carried her. Why did he need so many Divine Keys?!

And this nun...

"So, you are the Sixth Herrscher, aren't you?" the nun asked calmly. "While Feng held Black Abyss White Flower, you had been watching over him all this time too, hadn't you?"

"So what if I have?" She slightly raised her head. "Within Fire Moth, mention Kevin and people think of Heavenfire. Mention that dead piece of wood, and naturally they think of me."

She had partnered with that dead piece of wood for a long time. Only that shameless silver-haired woman named Lilith had barely been with him longer than she had. The time that woman drugged him and planned to cause trouble, she had happened to awaken. Yet she had been helpless and could only watch. In the end, it was Vill-V's surveillance cameras that did something.

She could reluctantly think a little better of Vill-V now.

"He never uses your Authority of Life," the nun said.

"He doesn't need that kind of thing." She frowned. "For those who oppose him, tearing them all apart is the ending they deserve!"

The nun did not answer. She merely looked toward the silver-haired young man and said, "I know. He does not love the world, and the world... has no right to bestow honors upon him. He shall crown himself, needing no recognition from the world. He is the Morning Star of the Dawn."

That was why she disliked nuns. Whether it was Aponia, who annoyed her every time she saw her, or Michael, who nagged that dead piece of wood every time they met, they both spoke so mysteriously...

She turned her head away, too lazy to look at Michael again. She looked toward the young man silently holding Divine Grace Judgment. She had initially wanted to lose her temper, but then she remembered that she was truly the only one left by that dead piece of wood's side who had walked the whole way with him. So she reluctantly held herself back... What was that woman named Elysia doing? And that Divine Blessing Barrier—she had only been inside it for a short time before being forcibly put to sleep. When she woke, that dead piece of wood's hair had become like this.

Lilith and the others... had all left...

That nagging nun was still saying something, but she no longer cared. Anyway, she was the strongest Divine Key, and her wielder was the strongest warrior. It was only the Eleventh Divine Key...

She watched the young man for a long while before softly sighing. Just how long would this battle against Honkai continue...? He had now lost everything too, just as she once had...

Still, at the very least, she would certainly continue onward with him. Though she had no way to convey what she wanted to say to him, companionship was the only thing she could do.