The Decisive Battle Approaches

Zhu Yufeng came to Lionel's office again.

Upon seeing Zhu Yufeng enter, Lionel paused for a moment before asking, "Elysia... how is she doing?"

"Overall, the recovery is quite fast. After all, he is Fusion Warrior, and his physical fitness cannot be compared with that of ordinary people," Zhu Yufeng said.

"I see..." Lionel nodded, then asked, "So... how is Meiweis now?"

"Aside from being a little too quiet, she's actually no different from any other child." Zhu Yufeng replied, "Well... I mean, putting aside the fact that she was born Fusion Warrior."

"Is he really just a born Fusion Warrior?" Lionel sighed softly, looking at Zhu Yufeng with a complicated expression. He finally got to the point he had called Zhu Yufeng over today, "I've heard everything from Dr. Mei, Feng, you... you're Herrscher. The X Herrscher we were guessing, the one from Ugar, is that you?"

Zhu Yufeng lowered her eyes. "Yes."

Now, a month has passed since the War of Finality. Mei and Kevin have already gone to the moon to carry out the preliminary arrangements for the God-Slaying Plan, and to pave the way for the next Ming Dynasty in case of any unforeseen circumstances.

As the commander of the War of Finality, there are some things that Lionel must know and cannot avoid.

Take Zhu Yufeng's identity as Herrscher, for example.

There's no point in hiding this anymore. After observing Lionel for a long time, Zhu Yufeng and the others have confirmed that he is trustworthy. After finalizing the plan for the final battle against the Finality, everyone unanimously decided to select Lionel as one of the two commanders for the War of Finality.

Yes, both commanders.

The War of Finality has two battlefields. One is where Zhu Yufeng's side faces the upcoming Herrscher of Finality, while the other is where Mei is in command, using the connection between Elysia and Lilith, the two Origin, and the Cocoon of Finality to locate the Cocoon of Finality.

After all, the Cocoon of Finality is not located in the World of Extinction. Even though the Fire Moth spent a lot of manpower on calculations, it was difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the Cocoon of Finality. However, the fact that the two Origin's final destination was the Cocoon of Finality saved Mei and the others a lot of trouble.

The War of Finality... No matter which battlefield it is, it is an extremely risky challenge for all participants. Zhu Yufeng is facing the Finality. How much time Elysia and the others have to find the Cocoon of Finality, and whether humanity can pass this final test, all depend on how long Zhu Yufeng can fight against the Finality.

As for Elysia, she wanted to use her and Lilith's characteristics to locate the Cocoon of the Cocoon of Finality. Although it wouldn't trigger the condition of "Return of the Origin," there was a great risk in opening the door to the space where the Cocoon of Finality was located for them. In her previous life, Pardo almost sacrificed herself to open this "door," and only managed to send a "back door" in. This time, it wasn't just the two Origin that needed to be sent in, but also their assistants.

No one knows what the space where the Cocoon of Finality is located is like, but the enormous risks within it are obvious to the naked eye.

Zhu Yufeng was initially quite opposed to this plan, but... there was no other plan that could help them locate the Cocoon of Finality.

If the location of the Cocoon of Finality cannot be determined, then severing the connection between the Cocoon of Finality and the Finality is out of the question.

Moreover, in order to gain a more accurate understanding of the news from the front lines and to receive first-hand data from Elysia in a timely manner, Mei, as the commander on Elysia's side, will also personally conduct on-site command at the lunar base.

The moon is the main battlefield where Zhu Yufeng and the Finality have their final battle.

The dangers involved are self-evident.

Lionel's responsibility is to secure as many spare resources and opportunities as possible for both battlefields during the War of Finality. He will be in charge of the Heavenly Thunder, while Rovoc, Vill-V, and others have been transferred to execute the Cocoon of Finality positioning plan. In addition, he will also be responsible for commanding ground operations. According to Mei and others' speculation, the War of Finality, Honkai Beast in various locations around the world will riot, resulting in large-scale Honkai. Commanding other Fusion Warrior to deal with these rampaging Honkai Beast will be Lionel and Hen's responsibility.

Therefore, it is essential for Lionel, as the person directly in charge of this final battle, to be aware of certain things.

After a period of initial depression, Hen finally rallied. After all, this was the final battle that would determine the survival of humanity, and for the sake of his deceased wife, Hen had to pull himself together.

"Ugar ... if it's your Companion Honkai Beast, then it's not really surprising." Lionel smiled helplessly. "After all, in all the current records, apart from destroying a city when it first appeared, it hasn't shown any hostility towards humans. On the contrary, we... have spent a lot of effort trying to find a way to deal with this strongest Honkai Beast, only to find that it's all been for nothing..."

Speaking of this, he couldn't help but think of his destroyed homeland. Back when the Mu Continent still existed, research on Ugar was always of paramount importance. After all, Ugar's special abilities involved changes in space and time. If it could be successfully analyzed and utilized, it would definitely be a huge leap forward for human technology.

When Beifengge first told him about Zhu Yufeng's Herrscher identity, Lionel was surprised, but he accepted it after a short while. He thought that if he thought about it this way, some of the mysteries surrounding Zhu Yufeng would be explained reasonably. For example, his almost completely blank past. Before the Third Herrscher incident, there was almost no trace of Zhu Yufeng's existence. When Mu Continent was still around, all the traces were fabricated by Mobius and Vill-V.

If Zhu Yufeng is a born Herrscher, then this is easy to explain. The only thing that makes Lionel feel a little uneasy is that Mobius and the others obviously already knew about this. Otherwise, Zhu Yufeng's blank past could not have been kept secret for long if someone wanted to investigate.

Regarding this matter, some people tried to investigate Zhu Yufeng back in my previous life, but by then it was already after the Ninth Herrscher incident. The Fallen Angel had already been established, and they had covered up everything that needed to be covered up. Before that, Kevin was the focus of everyone's attention.

In short, Lionel was only surprised for a short while before accepting it, and then went to ask Beifengge what he thought when he found out.

Beifengge's answer was that he already knew about it back when the Tragedy of Binding occurred. He was like an observer on the battlefield alongside Su. The moment Zhu Yufeng released her Herrscher Authority to force Lu Lie to expose his existence, it was impossible for her to escape Beifengge's perception. However, Beifengge chose to remain silent and pretend that the matter did not exist.

On this matter, Lionel and Beifengge still share the same opinion: if Zhu Yufeng were a Herrscher, killing Ming would be too easy. He had fought his way up from an ordinary soldier to become the strongest of the current Fire Moth, and had also been targeted by several Herrscher starting with the Seventh Herrscher.

If Zhu Yufeng wanted to destroy Yeming, he had countless opportunities to do so, but every single time he stood up to protect Yeming.

Therefore, there's no need to doubt his stance. Lionel understands why he's only revealing such an important matter so late; he knows why he knows these things—because he's seen things very clearly from the beginning. If it were anyone else...

The consequences were unimaginable.

A Herrscher occupies the highest level of human power and possesses immense strength comparable to the Finality. In the eyes of the other high-ranking members, he is an existence that cannot be tolerated. They will do everything in their power to completely eliminate Zhu Yufeng's "harm" and eradicate all threats to their status and power through any means.

When the Fusion Warrior Project was first proposed, many high-ranking officials opposed it, and even the King of the Mu Continent chose to halt it after persisting for a period of time. A large part of the reason was that the power of the Fusion Warrior could directly threaten the power of ordinary people like them.

Furthermore, Beifengge also said at the time that even if none of the previous events had happened, he would still believe in Maple's position. When Lionel asked him why he thought that way, Beifengge replied, "Why do you think I chose the Fire Moth in the first place?"

Lionel found this reason utterly absurd. He and the King had racked their brains trying to figure out why Beifengge had so decisively betrayed Mu Continent and fled without looking back. In terms of treatment, the King had treated Beifengge quite well, even though the King's motives weren't exactly malicious...

He thought that Beifengge had run away because he didn't want to be a court jester and take the blame for the king.

"Do you think I would care about those things?" Beifengge said, looking at Lionel with a half-smile. "While your guesses can indeed be considered as one of the reasons, what influenced my final decision was Feng."

It's Feng...

Speaking of which, the Heroes who saved the world seem to have appeared around him. Elysia, Lilith, Kevin... all their stories are intertwined with him. Although he is Herrscher, he transformed himself into the Flame Chaser King in order to protect humanity.

This is also why Lionel trusts Zhu Yufeng. He is usually a picky person, but Zhu Yufeng is the only person he can't find fault with—except for the fact that he secretly had a child with Elysia.

These two people are really...

Lionel sighed, looking at Zhu Yufeng with a headache, and said, "Actually, the reason I called you here is to know one thing: why did you decide to protect humanity?"

He still somewhat believed it was for Elysia's sake. After all, when he found out about what happened between Zhu Yufeng and Elysia, he questioned Zhu Yufeng, who said he was a very selfish person who only wanted Elysia to live a good life.

However, he felt that this reason seemed too idealistic and somewhat untenable...

After all, he's never been in a relationship. The only woman he's ever had any feelings for was the Ninth Herrscher, who even blew up the Mu Continent. Aside from that, maybe he also has some feelings for the late Dr. Einstein? I just don't know if that could be considered love, or perhaps just the camaraderie they've built up over the years?

However, to say that Zhu Yufeng is so noble is that he decided to fight for humanity because he likes humans. At the same time, he is not very enthusiastic towards others and is not proactive in social situations. He relies entirely on Elysia to lead the way. Judging from Zhu Yufeng's attitude, you can tell that he doesn't really like humans that much.

"This is all I have to do to protect the people I care about," Zhu Yufeng replied with a shrug.

"That's all? Just for this?" Lionel's eye twitched. He didn't understand. He really didn't understand. He still hadn't repaired his relationship with his younger sister, so don't expect this person to have high emotional intelligence.

Zhu Yufeng smiled and said, "That's all."

Lionel remained silent for a while before Zhu Yufeng added, "To me, Elysia and the others are the meaning of this world."

Therefore, when the Cocoon of Finality said that he himself did not approve of this Aura, he was speechless. He had never liked this Aura from beginning to end, whether in the previous life or this life. What he valued were the Thirteen Heroes of Fire Moth who existed in this Aura, and the Thirteen Fallen Angels who fought alongside him.

For him, it was because of their existence that this place had meaning.

Perhaps this is the tragedy of him as a time traveler. He was not born into this world, and he never recognized this world. The only ones he recognized were the heroes who created the journey of chasing fire, and the Fallen Angel Flame-Chasers who, along with him, rejected the world or were rejected by the world.

"If the Honkai is the will of God, then the Herrscher are God's apostles, and it wouldn't be wrong to call them angels," Lionel said, as if talking to himself. "However, as an angel, you possessed selfish emotions, choosing to rebel against God because you fell in love with someone..."

"I've never been an angel," Zhu Yufeng said, shrugging. "Don't think too highly of me."

"In my opinion, sometimes, some things are judged by actions, not intentions," Lionel said, shaking his head. "Regardless of your motives, you have undeniably saved humanity and embarked on this journey to seek fire. So... you are Heroes, an undisputed Heroes."

Zhu Yufeng looked at Lionel, paused for a moment, and then smiled bitterly, "But not everyone thinks like you, or rather, you are the odd one out."

"Humans who are blinded by Yang Yi cannot see things beyond Yang Yi's control..." Lionel sighed deeply, recalling his own experience when Mu Continent was still around.

After a while, Lionel seemed to remember something and said, "If you're the one fighting the Herrscher of Finality, you don't need to keep the key to the Heavenly Thunder with me, right? I'll keep it..."

"I told you, if necessary, you might need to direct all of the Heavenly Thunder's firepower at me," Zhu Yufeng said. "I think only you can do that."

Lionel wanted to ask why, but before he could speak, Zhu Yufeng continued, "Even I would hesitate when the end is near, but a moment's hesitation on the battlefield could lead to an irreversible end, so I think I can only ask you for help."

Lionel remained silent.

"Meiweis and Lilim are still young, and Elysia and I have agreed to welcome them together." Zhu Yufeng lowered his eyes. "Even if my decision wavers, I can't rule out the possibility that at the most crucial moment, I will hesitate because of the women I love..."

He actually... couldn't bear to part with everyone, couldn't bear to part with Meiweis and Lilim, couldn't bear to part with Elysia and Lilith.

But sometimes, there are things that he can't change just because he's reluctant to let go.

[The Last Banquet] You, Alicia's inner hesitations and entanglements, I have probably experienced the same now... right?

"Then you must live well, fight this battle, and come back with everyone," Lionel said. "Having created so many miracles along the way, you can surely create miracles again, right?"

A miracle...?

If I had created a miracle, how could Seele and Michael have left? How could things have ended up like this?

Zhu Yufeng smiled bitterly to himself, but on the surface, he remained noncommittal about Lionel's words.