Cocoon of Finality
Zhu Yufeng walked amidst a galaxy, beneath which lay an ocean reflecting the endless starry sky above. Each step he took stirred ripples. He glanced around, seeing only the unfathomable depths of the starry sky. Then he looked ahead, where a strange object, only half-spherical, appeared. Patterns radiating purple light formed a quadrilateral. The calm sea surface arched where this strange object appeared, shattering like crystals and flowing with a liquid-like purple light.
"Lilith, what are you doing again?" Zhu Yufeng asked.
There was no sound, no response.
The surroundings were eerily quiet.
Zhu Yufeng frowned and looked at the strange creation in front of him again. For some reason, he felt that the quadrilateral patterns on the surface of this thing looked like an eye, which was also looking at him.
Are you... satisfied with your life now?
A voice suddenly rang out from behind him. Zhu Yufeng turned around and found that it was another version of himself who walked out from behind him, stood in front of him, and looked at him.
Zhu Yufeng did not answer. He just stared silently at the other "self" in front of him. The "self" was wearing his old school uniform and his face was that of the self who had not yet completely lost his childishness.
"You were just an ordinary student who came to this not-so-beautiful world because of an accident." His past self walked around him, helping him remember. "You know that, don't you? You never liked this world from the beginning. You didn't want to stay in this world destined for destruction for even a second longer!"
Zhu Yufeng remained silent.
"You know better than anyone that this civilization is destined for destruction; it's destined to be nothing but a tragedy." The former self continued, "If you were given another chance, if you had a choice, why would you be here? The hopeful present civilization is where you'd rather be, isn't it?"
Zhu Yufeng crossed his arms, waiting for his former self to continue speaking in a still somewhat immature voice.
The younger version of herself from her student days stopped in her tracks, spread her hands, and said to him, "Look at you, how weak you are. Those Honkai Beast you used to look down on in the game, like mosquitoes, can easily take your life. And no one can protect you. You once fantasized about traveling to another world and making a name for yourself. But look at you, you have nothing. What can you do?"
Indeed, there was nothing that could be done. Zhu Yufeng recalled his previous life when he first joined the Fire Moth. He was rescued by Elysia from under the rubble. However, the subsequent training was conducted at the branch, while Elysia returned to the Fire Moth headquarters not long after completing the rescue mission. The next time the two met was after the Fourth Herrscher incident.
He underwent training he never imagined, just like a regular soldier, and eventually became a warrior.
"In this world, you are just one person. Even if those who trained with you cared about you, how much of it did you truly accept? Witnessing your fellow Fire Moth perish in the Honkai- Honkai mission, you experienced the terror of death firsthand." Your student self continued, "Yet you could do nothing. You were just a student, an ordinary student. When your comrades died, you understood once again deeply that in this doomed era, everyone was destined to die. And you, you were never meant to be in this world, living alone, without family or friends. At night, you would always wonder, why me? Why me?"
"Why am I here, struggling to survive while also facing the fear of being a prophet who knows the future?" Zhu Yufeng said calmly, looking at his past self. "In order to find a way to survive, to find the meaning of existence, I began to make reuniting with Elysia my goal. On the one hand, it was to directly feel the regret left in my heart and witness the flawless life that belonged to this girl. On the other hand, it was to survive... According to the game, only by finding Elysia could I possibly get the chance to advance to the next level and have any chance to survive."
"You never imagined you would actually fall in love with Elysia." Another voice, more mature and colder, rang out. "Your initial liking for a game character has transformed into liking for a real person. For her, you were even willing to risk your life, gambling on a surgery with zero chance of success, just to gain the ability to stand on the same level as her, just to get closer to her. You won the gamble. From then on, your soul was constantly burned by the fires of hell, and the distance between you and her gradually grew without you even realizing it."
Zhu Yufeng crossed his arms and glanced at the person who spoke. It was himself who had undergone the Fusion Warrior surgery during the Seventh Herrscher Incident. Because of the side effects, he could only grit his teeth and endure it until Mobius's special drug was developed. At the same time, he could not spare the attention to care about other people's expressions or opinions, thus giving others a feeling of arrogance and indifference.
Zhu Yufeng remained silent. Was this the time to reflect on his actions in his previous life? Logically, shouldn't this kind of thing only happen when someone is about to die? Could it be that he himself is dead again?
Having just become Fusion Warrior, he seemed to realize his own thoughts and said with a hint of sarcasm, "Now you're in the mood to complain in your heart, aren't you? No, that's not right. After all, you and I are the same. No matter how cold we are on the outside, we still complain in our hearts when we need to."
Oh? It seems I can be mind-read in this godforsaken place... Lilith wouldn't do something like this, and there's no need for her to make such a fuss. Besides, Lilith has already told me that she couldn't avoid Elysia, who is also Origin Being, when creating dreams. So the reason for the current situation is still that strange creation.
Zhu Yufeng could sense the terrifying energy emanating from that sphere. In terms of physical perception, this energy seemed to be even stronger than the Herrscher of the Finality that he had faced before. The Honkai Energy of the Finality had become so strong that it was constantly overflowing, and the overflowing Honkai Energy was fatal to non- Fusion Warrior. In short, it could still be described as Honkai.
The thing in front of him, however, seemed more like the very essence of Honkai.
Wait, the Honkai itself? The Finality cocoon?
This is a concept proposed by May. She had discussed it with him before the Finality battle, and Mobius and Vill-V were also aware of it. In order to defeat the Finality battle in this life, they were also conducting more research on the concept proposed by May. According to the various data currently available, the cocoon of the Finality battle does exist, but its location has never been able to be determined.
In other words, the Finality Cocoon is like a black hole that humans have calculated may exist, but humans have no direct evidence to observe it.
So, is the thing I'm facing now the legendary Finality Cocoon?
"A good deduction." The self that had just become Fusion Warrior spoke up, "You can trust your judgment. What appears before you is the Cocoon of the Finality, the mastermind behind the destruction of civilization."
"So the current civilization's boss battle is Kevin and Kiana fighting the Finality cocoon together?" Zhu Yufeng knew her thoughts would be read, so she didn't bother pretending anymore. "No, knowing that lousy screenwriter's style, it's more likely that Kevin sacrifices himself to clear the way for Kiana and the others. And let me guess, is it Elysia, who returned to the Honkai origin, who comes out, or is it her remaining thoughts that give Kiana and the others an assist?"
"Who can say for sure about something like the future that even you haven't looked into?" the student said with a smile.
"At the beginning of the story, only Kevin and Hua survived among the Flame-Chasers." Zhu Yufeng looked at the eye-like patterns on the cocoon of the Finality and said, "I believe in Kevin. Even if he chose the Stigmata Project, a plan that forcibly selects only suitable people to survive, he will still fight the Honkai to the very last moment. Because he once made a promise that no matter what the cost, humanity will definitely defeat the Honkai."
The patterns on the cocoon of the Finality shimmered with light. At that moment, Zhu Yufeng felt as if the cocoon of the Finality was talking to him, as if it were saying, "Do you really think so?"
Zhu Yufeng paused for a moment before saying, "Okay, based on my rough impression after reading through all the dozen or so versions of the Stigmata Project, if it really happened at that time, for Kevin, what he would face was a battle he absolutely could not lose. For the sacrifice of his former comrades, for the grand ambition he once had, even if it was a plan like the Adam of Spirit, he would choose to use it."
"So?" Zhu Yufeng stared at the cocoon of the Finality and said, "As the origin of the Honkai, as the beginning of a calamity, what do you want to do with me by bringing me here?"
Do you really think you can win this time?
Another voice belonging to him rang out. Zhu Yufeng looked in the direction of the voice and saw that he had truly become "Lucifer," having merged with the power of all Thirteen Fallen Angels. Ten pairs of wings spread behind him, and he wore black knight armor. In his hands, he held the Black Abyss White Flower and the Divine Grace Judgment, both of which had undergone a transformation.
That was me at my peak, the version of myself during the Finality battle.
Zhu Yufeng then looked at the other versions of himself, but they had all vanished without a trace.
"This seems ominous..." Zhu Yufeng thought to himself.
"Do you know the real reason why you perished during your final battle with the Finality?" Lucifer stared into Zhu Yufeng's eyes and said, "Because the Honkai Energy you absorbed was the true power of the Finality! Even the power of the Finality even the Lawrence could not fully withstand!"
"So you're saying I'm also half of the Finality?" Zhu Yufeng stared at "Lucifer" and said, "That's true, after all, the Finality indeed control the power of time according to speculation. But according to Mobius, my time ability seems to be more powerful than the Finality itself?"
Lucifer's face showed a sneer, and he said, "Yes, that's why you died, isn't it? The power from the karmic demon was far beyond your ability to withstand."
Karma Demon? I remember Kevin also had a Karma Demon form. How should I put it, my Karma Demon form seems to be stronger than the Karma Demon form when Kevin collapsed in my memory?
So it should be called Fallen Angel Form, not Karma Demon, which sounds awful.
"Hahahaha... While being vigilant, you're still joking in your heart?" A powerful energy reaction erupted from "Lucifer." "Yes, the current you is completely different from the me who was once you!"
Zhu Yufeng immediately entered a state of collapse as well, a golden spear formed from the convergence of Honkai Energy appeared in his hand, and he focused intently on all of Lucifer's movements.
"Lucifer" dragged the tip of Black Abyss White Flower's spear on the ground, step by step toward Zhu Yufeng: "I once came from beyond the mortal realm. To embark on the journey of dawn, to reverse the withering of my True Self, I set out on the road to the deepest hell!"
The golden spear collided with the Black Abyss White Flower in Lucifer's hand. Immediately, Zhu Yufeng felt a force even stronger than his current strength knock him away. Then, almost as if teleporting, Lucifer followed closely behind, the tip of the Black Abyss White Flower pointing directly at Zhu Yufeng's heart.
"My soul has been scorched day and night by the fires of hell, I have endured seven days of loneliness and thirteen days of divine sin. I no longer even dare to hope to see heaven. This is the fate I chose, the despair I had no other choice about!"
By accelerating his own time, Zhu Yufeng dodged Lucifer's attack. The next moment, the chain spear of Divine Grace Judgment came rushing towards him like the celestial chains that bound the god.
"Purgatory is my final destination, eternity is my destiny. I scoff at the Creator's arrangement, I scoff at humanity's folly, and I scoff at this boring world! I need no one's pity, for they are not worthy of it; I need no one's recognition, for I am the master of my own destiny."
Even though he dodged several chains of Divine Grace Judgment, he was still pierced through the abdomen by one of the chain spears in front of the divine key that was said to have the strongest sealing ability, even though he pushed his current time power to the limit.
The intense pain caused Zhu Yufeng's movements to pause slightly, and due to the constraints of the Divine Grace Judgment, the Honkai Energy within his body seemed to fall silent at this moment.
With a casual flick of his wrist, Lucifer sent Zhu Yufeng flying dozens of meters away, crashing onto the starry sea.
"I don't need anyone's understanding, I don't need anyone's praise, I despise their fears, I laugh at their foolishness. I am you. []!"
Zhu Yufeng reached out and grasped the Divine Grace Judgment embedded in his abdomen, then stood up from the sea. His pupils had turned silver, and his Artificial Collapse wings were now as white as the sun.
He pulled the chains of Divine Grace Judgment from his abdomen and broke them.
Even if we ultimately head towards the end, the dawn will surely come!