"A pretentious fraud!"
When the Spear of the Void pierced Sirin's heart, Theresa had also reached her limit. She no longer even had the strength to stand.
She had clearly gotten the spotlight moment she had always wanted, yet Theresa could not feel happy at all. She tried to open her mouth, but no sound came out. All she could do was take a huge gulp of bitter melon juice.
"Is this Aunt's big moment?" Kiana noticed Theresa's low spirits and deliberately said loudly, "Wasn't this Judah's big moment?"
Bronya understood what Kiana meant and chimed in, "Bronya thinks so too. Judah sealed Sirin's powers, and Judah also dealt Sirin the fatal blow. The principal was more like Judah's launcher."
"That's too much, Bronya! How can you call Heaven's S-Rank Valkyrie Judah like that?!"
Kiana and Bronya exchanged smiles.
Theresa, who had been feeling down just moments ago, immediately gritted her teeth in anger and pounced at them.
"That little shrimp!" Sirin fumed.
"Don't be so rude." Cecilia lightly tapped Sirin on the head, then pulled out a few tissues to wipe the cream from the corner of Sirin's mouth. "You should call Theresa Aunt."
"I don't want to!" Sirin protested. "She doesn't even look older than me! I'm already... two centimeters taller than her!"
Cecilia did not know whether to laugh or cry. If another woman were told she looked young, she would definitely be delighted. But this was Theresa, so Cecilia had no idea whether Sirin's words counted as praise or an insult.
"Bella, would you like a piece?"
"Okay~"
"As expected of my little Theresa. Even if she has to sacrifice her life, she still has something she wants to protect." Otto slapped his palm. "What a noble sentiment, isn't it? It is precisely thanks to my education that little Theresa has attained her current position and developed the desire to teach and nurture others."
Obsessed with his granddaughter to a sickening degree, Kallen thought irritably.
With the pounding of a heartbeat, Theresa, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, stared in shock at Sirin as she floated up. With the help of the Herrscher of Death core, Sirin repaired her own heart and looked coldly at Theresa lying on the ground.
"Now, it's your turn to face Judgement!"
Sirin raised the Spear of the Void at her side.
"Just as expected, the final boss wouldn't die so easily at the hands of a supporting character. Now it depends on Director Cecilia and that scumbag." In the Far East Branch group chat, Shub typed.
Theresa flew into a rage. "Hey, hey, hey, what do you mean by that, Shub?! The principal is clearly someone who appears throughout the entire story! I'm supposed to be a protagonist!"
Patrick: "Theresa, it's fine if you fool the girls, but don't fool yourself."
Theresa: "Y-You guys!"
Shigure Kira: "Honk honk honk honk honk honk honk."
Far away in Northern Europe, Shigure Kira put down her phone and muttered to herself, "The Far East is still more fun. I really want to be assigned there as soon as possible."
The camera shifted to Siegfried. He seemed to be trapped in a maze. Worried about Cecilia and Theresa's safety, he was about to use the twin guns of Judgement of Shamash to create an exit when a crimson bullet grazed his cheek.
Siegfried could not possibly mistake it. It was a bullet from Judgement of Shamash. Behind him, the white-haired, blue-eyed young man appeared once more—the very one he had seen in Honkai Steel's memories.
The mysterious young man began explaining the current situation to Siegfried, but never revealed his identity. Only after Siegfried pressed him did he explain that his true body was not here; he was merely the consciousness within the Kaslana Stigmata genes.
After implanting a psychological suggestion in Siegfried, the armored young man vanished.
"Farewell, my inheritor."
After the young man disappeared, Siegfried looked at the serum in his hand. The young man had warned him that only the greatsword form of Judgement of Shamash could break this maze, but he hesitated, afraid that he would completely become a Honkai Beast.
"No. I can't hesitate here!"
Something seemed to come back to Siegfried, and he suddenly stopped hesitating. He clenched the serum tightly and injected it into his body.
In reality, Sirin, who had been about to deal Theresa a fatal blow, suddenly twisted in pain. A spark lit up in her chest, followed by violent flames. Unable to endure the burning agony, Sirin could only pull the square Infinite Corridor out from her chest.
"What exactly did that man do?"
Even the shell of the Infinite Corridor had cracked.
"Fine, fine, fine, so that's how we're playing it? Another cheat? How is the boss supposed to win like this?!!" It was fortunate that Sirin had no table in front of her, or she would definitely have flipped it over.
"I can't believe it..." Ling opened her mouth wide. "One day, even Kevin would become one of those cryptic riddle-speakers."
"That doesn't feel like Kevin at all." Su shook his head and asked, "Yaqing, didn't you write him out of character?"
"Hey, hey, hey, do you all have some kind of issue with me?" Kevin was dumbfounded. So in their eyes, he could never become a composed senior figure?
"It does feel a little out of place," Mei suddenly said.
Kevin stared in shock at his girlfriend's betrayal.
"Don't say that. Kevin has gone through at least tens of thousands of years of growth in the story. If he still couldn't mature after that, he really would be worse than Brainless Idiot." Yaqing smiled.
"Exactly, exactly—wait?" Kevin suddenly realized that this guy seemed to be insulting him.
The Final Battle, Part One
The square Infinite Corridor was blown apart by flames shooting into the sky. Sirin stared in astonishment at the man holding a flaming greatsword before her. He looked neither human nor like a Honkai Beast. Under the voice urging him to kill the Honkai, Siegfried's right arm had turned into a black claw streaked with purple patterns, while a thick tail had grown from his shoulder blades.
"Hmph, you're still nothing but an ant..."
Sirin waved her hand disdainfully. Before the Spear of the Void could even fire, Siegfried had already leaped high into the air and pounced at her like a savage beast, pressing her pretty face to the ground beneath his sharp claws.
"Get the hell... away from me!"
Enraged beyond measure, Sirin used the authority of the Herrscher of Flame. Amid the vortex of fire, Siegfried raised Judgement of Shamash and split the blazing sea of flames with a single strike. Fortunately, Sirin took flight in time and pulled away, or she could easily have been cut in half.
Watching Sirin try to widen the distance, Siegfried, brimming with fighting spirit, roared at the sky and launched himself upward like a meteor. Even the floor collapsed beneath the force of his jump, and Sirin was so frightened that she hurriedly flew even faster.
With no foothold to support him, Siegfried plummeted toward the ground. He forcefully dug his Honkai Beast-like claws into the outer wall of the Tower of Babylon, gathered flames on Judgement of Shamash, and swung with all his might. The fire became a vortex that swallowed Sirin whole.
"What exactly... happened?" Theresa stood at the foot of the Tower of Babylon, staring at everything in bewilderment. Einstein came out from behind her and helped her up.
From their conversation, it became clear that Walter Yang had not died after all. His consciousness remained within the core and had fused with Ahalato.
"So cool!" Kevin's eyes lit up. No man could refuse beastification, a flaming greatsword, and such stylish special-effects combat.
"The effects are amazing, but it still doesn't feel as impressive as Hua." Pardo said. Siegfried's effects were spectacular, but they did not give the audience the same shock as Fu Hua's Tai Xu Sword God.
"Sirin is getting beaten up so badly." Kiana was puzzled. Was this Theresa's big moment? This was obviously Siegfried's big moment—he had the world-ending Herrscher running around in panic.
"Aaaah, Siegfried!!!" Seeing her spotlight stolen yet again, Theresa let out an unwilling wail, waking Himeko.
"Mm... what happened?"
Bronya watched in confusion. She did not understand why Walter Yang simply could not be written out. Was this the privilege of being a collaborator?
Little Knowledge patted Fu Hua and said, "Old antique, let me tell you..."
The camera returned to Heaven's command center. Having received reports of six Judgement of Shamash reactions, Amber was somewhat panicked. Otto's appearance finally steadied her nerves as they watched Siegfried on the screen.
"Rather than a savior who rescues the world, he is—more like a devil seeking revenge against the Honkai."
As Siegfried relentlessly pursued Sirin, a voice kept echoing in his mind: "Kill the Honkai. Kill the Honkai." After drawing Judgement of Shamash six times in succession, the greatsword no longer had enough energy. Even the core gem on its hilt had gone dark.
"Have you finally exhausted yourself?!" Sirin panted heavily, ash staining her fair face. She snapped her fingers, and countless Honkai Beasts teleported out of the void. They had only one target. "Take him down for me!!!"
But in the next second, the once-arrogant Sirin froze. Siegfried was actually restoring his energy by eating Honkai Beasts. His posture was no different from a wild beast's. Sirin was terrified silly, then hurriedly flung out several Spears of the Void after recovering her senses.
Siegfried leaped high into the air. The greatsword of Judgement of Shamash in his hand was unexpectedly knocked away by the Spears of the Void, so he wrapped his tail around the blade, lunged forward, and severed Sirin's arm. While Sirin cried out in pain, he smashed her into the ground with another strike from behind.
Sirin crashed to the ground and was just about to struggle back up when Siegfried viciously stomped on her pretty face. He drove his sharp claws into her chest and, amid Sirin's agonized screams, forcibly ripped out the Herrscher of Death core.
"The Honkai... must be eradicated!"
"Stupid Dad!" Sirin puffed out her cheeks and glared at Siegfried.
Siegfried whistled, not daring to meet Sirin's eyes. The entire film had told of Cecilia's motherly love for Sirin, but as her father, he seemed never to have made Sirin feel any fatherly affection.
"Mom, look at him!" Sirin turned to complain to Cecilia. "And that stupid uncle too!"
Cecilia irritably patted Siegfried, then said to Sirin, "Sirin, you need to take that up with Yaqing. He's the screenwriter. He wrote the whole plot."
"Stupid uncle..." Sirin sulked by herself.
"I guarantee Sirin is crying and making a scene right now." Kiana snickered like a cat that had stolen cream.
"Uh... what kind of grudge is this?" Raiden Mei did not know whether to laugh or cry.
"I never expected Siegfried's big moment to be achieved by beating up his own daughter." Theresa wore a strange expression.
Sirin also seemed to be a student of St. Freya Academy. Although she had been on leave all this time, if Theresa beat Sirin up like this in the film's story, Theresa really would not know how to face her.
Kevin's simulated projection appeared behind Siegfried and continuously implanted psychological suggestions into him, only to discover that Siegfried's brainwaves had become chaotic. What was affecting him was the Infinite Corridor box in his hand.
Cecilia, still within the Infinite Corridor, worried about Siegfried across the boundaries of space. Her concern made Siegfried stop moving and regain a little clarity. Kevin, whose consciousness was connected to Siegfried's, also felt his heart pound violently under those inexplicable emotions, making him unable to stop recalling someone.
"Forget it. Just protect what you consider important."
Kevin gave up on continuing to implant suggestions in Siegfried. In any case, the Herrscher of Death core was already in hand, and Sirin could no longer revive herself.
At death's door, Sirin was still thinking of her god. She asked everyone, but no one answered her. It was as though she were in a dark ocean, slowly sinking deeper.
The Herrscher of the Void's powers began to spiral out of control, and the Infinite Corridor was about to collapse.
"I never thought the final boss would finally be written out... at that scumbag's hands. I thought it would be Director Cecilia." Shigure Kira had not guessed where the plot was going. She had thought this would be Cecilia's final spotlight moment.
"Kira, if you go to the Far East..."
Sitting beside Shigure Kira was a girl who looked around the same age as her. She had long ash-gray hair in the same tones as Yaqing's, gentle eyes like Cecilia's, and a pendant hanging from her chest.
"The finale is almost here..." Pardo suddenly had a bad feeling. At this rate, the ending could not possibly be bright, positive, and uplifting.
"Sirin is so pitiful. At the end of her life, she sought help from her god, her mother, and her companions, but not one of them remained in this world to answer her call. She could only fall alone into that pitch-black sea," Sakura thought.
"So even after fifty thousand years, I still won't forget her." Kevin tightly held Mei's hand.
The Final Battle, Part Two
The camera shifted to Heaven's command center. Otto sat at the head of the table, listening to Amber's report. Honkai energy on the Siberian Snowfield was continuously increasing and spreading. It was estimated that the entirety of Siberia would be contaminated within two hours. Otto ordered the Valkyrie forces to retreat, preparing to abandon half of Asia.
At that moment, the camera specifically showed a village not far from Siberia. A young brother and sister were infected by Honkai energy, letting out agonized cries before both collapsing.
Because the Herrscher of the Void's authority had gone out of control, Cecilia, who had emerged from the Infinite Corridor, could see that Siegfried's injuries were extremely serious. She hurriedly prepared to use Abyss Flower to heal him.
"I never expected to encounter a wielder of Abyss Flower here..." Kevin's projection spoke to himself. Because the Second Herrscher's core was going berserk, it would continue spreading until it devoured all of Asia. They had no ability to stop it, so the Siegfried couple would both die.
"Farewell, my successor."
Kevin's projection dissipated.
"H-He, he, he... he just ran away like that?!" Kiana was so furious that even the hand pointing at the screen trembled.
"That's infuriating! He actually left Cecilia with this mess!" Theresa puffed up her cheeks in anger as well.
"It can't be helped. That was only a projection, a consciousness that could appear only through quantum entanglement. The only person he could influence was Siegfried, and Siegfried is now seriously injured and unconscious." Bronya analyzed rationally.
Before you continue