I'll Always Love Cecilia

Sirin pinched Bella's chin, her pretty face drawing closer and closer.

Bella, who was watching the movie, silently blushed.

"Bella, your character model is pretty good-looking." Sirin casually patted Bella's smooth back. "You just don't seem very smart. You're nowhere near as good as me."

Hearing Sirin's praise, Bella's face turned even redder, steam rising from her ash-white hair.

"Alright, stop bullying Bella." Seeing Bella was about to faint from embarrassment, Cecilia held back a laugh and separated them. She had long seen that Sirin was deliberately teasing Bella.

Sirin made a face.

Cecilia rubbed Sirin's soft purple hair, unable to help feeling curious. Her younger brother rarely met Sirin—so why did he know all those little thoughts in Sirin and Bella's hearts?

Ziegfried shed manly tears. He wondered what sins he had committed in his past life to end up with three daughters, only for his family line to end with him...

"Queen..." The dazed Bella could not tell whether she was in reality or recording lines, and called out instinctively.

This time, it was Sirin's turn to blush. She hurriedly said, "Hey, Bella, don't call me that embarrassing name anymore! We're just good friends, not some weird master-and-servant play!"

Once Bella came to her senses, she completely fainted.

Cecilia held Bella in her arms, wearing an auntie-like smile.

Dr. Tesla put down her phone, her expression freezing. Welt immediately noticed that something was off about Tesla. After asking, he learned that Sirin had sent an electromagnetic signal to Earth ten minutes ago.

"Come see me on the moon, First Herrscher."

Sirin said threateningly, "If you don't come, I'll send four meteors to Earth every seventy-two hours. Don't keep me waiting too long~☆"

To protect the world, to protect humanity, even knowing that he would be killed by the Second Herrscher, Welt still decided to answer her summons on the moon. Before heading there, however, he wanted to speak with Otto.

On February 9, 2000, in the Bishop's reception room at the Tower of Babylon, forty-five years had passed since their parting in New York. Welt and Otto finally met again and had a "friendly and cordial" exchange.

Based on the meteor's structure detected by Einstein, Welt believed that the technology Anti-Entropy had sought for years—the technology capable of sealing Honkai energy—was located in the ruins on the far side of the moon. Therefore, he had to answer the summons.

Otto thought the plan was interesting but far too risky. However, he had no interest whatsoever in sealing Honkai energy. He was not worried about Welt's safety at all; if anything, he had always wanted him dead.

Welt glanced sideways at Otto, then said something no one could hear.

The atmosphere fell silent for a moment.

"Hahahaha." Otto's laughter broke the silence. His attitude abruptly changed, and he approved of Welt's plan, ordering Ziegfried to give Welt his full support.

Otto swirled the wineglass in his hand.

"I never expected you to go this far just to save the lives of those ants." Otto's tone was filled with contempt for human life, his emerald eyes brimming with amusement. "As expected, you are an opponent worthy of respect. I apologize for my earlier rudeness."

"Respected... Welt II."

"Otto."

Hearing Kallen's tone, Otto's heart skipped a beat.

"I don't like you like this, and I don't want you to become like you were in the movie."

Otto hurriedly pulled Kallen into his arms and began softly comforting her.

Otto successfully redirected Kallen's resentment away from his movie counterpart and onto Yaqing.

"Achoo!"

Forever Loving Cecilia

In the Tower of Babylon's training room, Ziegfried questioned whether he had made the right choice. If he had not chosen to save Theresa first, and had instead stayed behind to fight alongside Welt, would the Second Herrscher have failed to escape? Would those tens of millions of people not have died?

He had saved one person at the cost of tens of millions of lives. Ziegfried had dug himself into a dead end, placing the deaths of tens of millions entirely on his own shoulders. His mind was a mess, and he could only vent his frustration on a water jug.

Walter Yang entered the training room and informed Ziegfried that the meeting was over, then told him to prepare to go to the moon with him. Ziegfried declared excitedly, "I've already made up my mind. No matter the cost—"

"I'll stop her!"

Walter neither agreed nor disagreed. Ignoring him entirely, he turned and left.

The scene shifted to Anti-Entropy's Yellowstone Base. A purple-haired young man saluted Walter. After returning the salute, Walter led Ziegfried into the base first, while Ziegfried and the purple-haired young man exchanged a glance.

"Tch, Ziegfried from Schicksal. I heard he's a good-for-nothing slacker. I really don't know why the Sovereign thinks so highly of him."

"Was that a glare just now? He looks like a stiff, rule-abiding type... Have I offended him before?"

Walter led Ziegfried into the base. Seeing the familiar giant humanoid mech, the General-Purpose Mech Arahata, Ziegfried's jaw dropped. It was the dream of his childhood. Excited, he recited the famous line from the final episode to Walter, who only smiled faintly.

"Ryoma?!" Mei froze. Wasn't that her dad's name? When she first saw that purple-haired woman holding a little girl, she had been wondering why the child looked so much like her when she was young.

Kiana was still engrossed in the movie.

Bronya gave Raiden Mei a meaningful glance.

"So Arahata really exists!" Kevin was somewhat surprised. As a tokusatsu work that had transcended generations, nearly everyone their age had grown up watching it, especially that line: "Tyrant of the heavens, witness the stars shatter!" It was practically known by heart.

"Piloting a mech truly is every man's romance!" Su was even more excited than Kevin, a rare sight. Studying medicine was only his hobby; mechs were his dream.

A man's... romance?

After thinking for a while, the daring Kitty actually asked Kalpas. "Brother Kalpas, do you like mechs too?"

"Hmph!" Kalpas turned his face aside. "You already know the answer."

"Wouldn't this be copyright infringement?" Mei asked.

"Not at all. This movie is a collaboration between Schicksal and Anti-Entropy." Yaqing smiled. "You could call this a special crossover between Honkai and Arahata. After all, there isn't a man alive who wouldn't be interested in mechs, right?"

"That's right, that's right!" Kevin nodded emphatically.

"Yes, yes!" Su nodded excitedly.

"..." Kosma looked as though he had said nothing, yet somehow said everything.

"Hmph, it's alright." Kalpas grudgingly agreed.

The women looked at the men, who seemed as though they had been injected with stimulants, in confusion.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Walter interrupted Ziegfried's excitement and explained the upcoming lunar plan to him:

After arriving on the moon, they would first hide Arahata. Then Walter would draw the Second Herrscher's attention while Ziegfried took the chance to collect Honkai Steel samples. After that, he would pilot Arahata and rendezvous with Walter.

Walter Yang was not certain whether he, Ziegfried, and Arahata together could defeat the Second Herrscher. They had only one chance, so he had also prepared a Plan B.

The screen suddenly went black, making Pardo's heart leap into her throat. When the image quickly returned, Ziegfried slammed a fist into the wall so hard that even the metal surface caved in.

"Tch, so this is your Plan B?"

"Which plan you choose is your freedom."

Walter left leaning on his cane. There were six hours until launch and fifty-seven hours and fifty minutes until the meteor struck.

On the bridge, Walter Yang silently leaned against the railing, watching Tesla conduct the final tests on Arahata. For a moment, neither spoke. When he called out to Dr. Tesla, Tesla's heart trembled. She knew that Walter would surely die if he went to the moon, yet she could not stop him.

"Do you remember how, when we were children, you said you'd dance with me once after we grew up?"

Tesla's smile was strained.

There were now four hours and fifty minutes until launch.

Walter arrived in an empty room. Warm sunlight shone over him. Looking at the old-fashioned piano before him, he seemed to see his younger self standing in front of it and playing.

"The piano... How long has it been since I touched one...? I remember that I loved it as a child and kept begging Einstein to teach me..."

"Sometimes, I imagine what I would have become if I weren't myself... Maybe a pianist, a teacher, or perhaps..."

"But ever since I took on the name Walter..."

"I lost my father, lost the hero who saved me, lost my original identity, lost my own life..."

"The Herrscher's power tore apart every cell in my body. Every night in my childhood, I was unable to sleep..."

"I never once resented it, because that was Walter's mission."

"And when I was in pain..."

Walter suddenly turned around. Tesla, dressed in formal attire, was walking toward him with her hands behind her back. He smiled from the bottom of his heart, dropped to one knee, and extended his left hand to her like a gentleman.

"Miss Tesla, may I have this dance?"

Sunlight spilled across the empty room. Tesla's smile dispelled the sorrow in Walter's heart, and she lightly lifted the hem of her skirt.

"Don't disappoint me, Mr. Joachim."

Hearing his given name for the first time in many years, Joachim Nokianvirtanen froze. Beneath their elegant dance steps, Walter recalled the past, as though he could see their former companions watching the two of them dance and smiling brightly.

"After becoming Walter, I lost so much..."

"But I never regretted it."

"Because you let me understand the beauty of humanity."

"Waaah, that's so sweet! Miss Elysia wants to find someone to dance with too!" Elysia's eyes sparkled as she scanned the room, her gaze ultimately stopping on Mobius.

"Professor Mobius..."

Before Elysia could finish, Mobius immediately cut her off. "Don't dream, Elysia. I can't dance, and even if I could, I wouldn't dance with you."

"Ah, what a pity." Elysia was not discouraged in the slightest. "Looks like I'll have to wait until Eden comes back. Eden, my dear Eden~?"

"Yaqing, you actually spent so much time describing the beauty before the battle. You've raised every death flag possible." Mei felt she could already foresee what would happen next.

"This is no different from saying, 'Wait for me. When I come back, we'll get married.'" Kevin also made a joke.

"He's definitely going to die." Kalpas said coldly.

"Don't teach the children bad things, Kalpas." Sakura chided.

"Hmph, he won't make it out alive." Kalpas changed to a more tactful phrasing.

"It is precisely because humanity has the courage to march forward and die in the face of disaster that humanity's strength can truly be shown," Yaqing said. "The anthem of humanity is an anthem of courage, and humanity's greatness is the greatness of courage."

The Otto in the story viewed humans as ants, yet he respected Walter because Walter possessed the courage and resolve to die for those ants. That was exactly the quality possessed by the Saintess he pursued.

Elsewhere, Ziegfried was video calling his wife and daughter. Adorable little Kiana told her father to come home early. Ziegfried did not know what he was thinking inside, but his face was full of smiles as he agreed, promising to bring back a moon rock as a gift for little Kiana.

Perhaps seeing through Ziegfried's concealment, Cecilia carried little Kiana away from the screen and told her to play by herself, leaving only Cecilia and Ziegfried facing each other.

Ziegfried reassured his wife that Anti-Entropy's Sovereign had arranged everything. Looking at his wife's worried face, he tried several times to speak, but no sound came out when he opened his mouth. In the end, he could only helplessly end the call.

Sitting on an equipment crate, Ziegfried seemed to be engulfed by darkness. Cecilia, wearing a white dress, walked up behind him like an angel.

"Darling... I can feel that you're facing a difficult choice."

Cecilia leaned against Ziegfried's back and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"All these years, we've known that not every problem has a perfect answer. To achieve certain goals, we always have to sacrifice something."

"That's why you, who want to protect everyone, are in so much pain."

"But I believe the choice you make will certainly be the right one."

Memories belonging to Ziegfried and Cecilia began flashing across the screen.

"Because I know that the justice in your heart has never changed, no matter which choice brings what kind of pain..."

Cecilia clasped Ziegfried's tightly clenched hand.

"I'll bear it with you."

The screen went completely black.

"Love, Cecilia."

There were fifty-one hours and fifty minutes until the meteor fell.