Collapse City, Starting with an Anime Version of Honkai

"Kevin, why are you just watching!" Su said with a smile.

"I'd like to know why I'm just watching!" Kevin said, between laughter and tears.

"Destiny is supposed to be an organization that fights against Honkai, so why would it so easily give up the lives of half of Asia?" Elysia couldn't understand. In her view, every life was a unique existence, and Otto's order to abandon half of Asia was incredibly cold.

"It's realistic. Even Kevin thinks the Herrscher core's rampage will engulf all of Asia. Otto only gave up half of Asia, which can be seen as saving the other half," Mei analyzed.

"But…"

["Cecilia…"

Under the treatment of Abyss Flower, Ziegfried gradually woke up. Because he was too worried about Cecilia, he told her to leave quickly, but she refused.

"Don't talk nonsense!"

"I won't abandon you!"

"And you absolutely can't give up!"

Just then, the rampaging energy of the Herrscher of the Void's core came crashing towards them. At this critical moment, Ahalato suddenly appeared and deployed a full-power shield. In that instant, Ziegfried seemed to see Welt Yang again.

Ziegfried and Welt met once more. Encouraged by Welt, Ziegfried struggled to his feet. Welt told him that there was one last chance: to use Judgement of Shamash to strike the Second Herrscher. But in this dense Honkai energy, it was impossible to pinpoint the Second Herrscher's location.

Cecilia pondered for a long time. Every moment they lingered, countless lives would be lost. So, she made up her mind to leave. She told Ziegfried to prepare to seize the moment and not to worry about her.

Suddenly, Cecilia's memories flashed back to a few years ago, to a conversation between Cecilia and Otto. Otto told her that she possessed Schariac holy blood in her body, and that in combination with Abyss Flower, it could instantly eliminate Honkai energy, and even kill Herrschers.

However, the price was extremely high. Cecilia, having lost a large amount of holy blood, would also reach the end of her life.]

"N-No way…" Pardo stammered, while looking at Yaqing. "Brother Yaqing, didn't you say the plot was a sunny and positive movie? Why would the protagonist die? Why…"

Yaqing remained silent.

[Sad accompaniment music began to play. Standing on a cliff, Cecilia looked at the dense Honkai energy in the distance, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry, Ziegfried, I lied to you…"

"This time, I can't go back with you."

"I'm sorry, Kiana, when you grow up, take good care of your father…"

Cecilia's hand, gripping Abyss Flower, was already stained with blood, dripping onto the cliff covered in white flowers. She raised the snow-white, giant lance high, like an angel descending upon the world.

"Abyss Flower—Holy Blood Release!"

The white flower was stained with blood, and the holy blood condensed into a blood-red spearhead, pointing directly at the space where the Void Herrscher's core was rampaging.

"For Ziegfried, pave the way forward!"

"Go!"]

"Mom…" When Kiana heard Cecilia mention her name, the maternal love in her tone made her unable to hold back any longer. Tears streamed down her face, and she sobbed uncontrollably.

Family affection is a knife of empathy, and maternal love will make this knife even sharper.

"Yaqing, you're really daring," Kevin couldn't help but exclaim. "You even killed off the protagonist. Is this the sunny plot you were talking about?"

"Yaqing!!!"

Yaqing flipped over and sat in the back row, next to Mobius.

Mobius smiled knowingly.

"It's unbelievable that Welt actually appeared again. Is he really unkillable?" Su wondered. As a doctor, he had never seen anyone with such tenacious vitality in reality.

"People are partners," Kevin interrupted Su's doubts with a single sentence.

[With the opportunity created by Cecilia, Ziegfried's eyes turned fierce as he injected the last dose of activator into his body, tightly gripping Welt's Herrscher core and Judgement of Shamash together.

"Welt…"

"Once more—"

"Fight alongside me!"

Detecting the energy of the Second Herrscher core, the limits of Judgement of Shamash were lifted. Ziegfried closed his eyes, and the gentle and lovely faces of his wife and daughter appeared in his mind.

"Judgement of Shamash, release all your power. Even if it burns my body to ashes, it doesn't matter."

Ziegfried suddenly opened his eyes, filled with fighting spirit and killing intent. "To protect the ones I love most."

"I am willing to offer my life!"

Judgement of Shamash: Rupture showed its true form for the first time. Ziegfried swung his sword with all his might, and the massive blade of fire engulfed Sirin's location. Even in space, the dazzling fire on the Siberian Snowfield could be clearly seen.]

"Too hype!" Ziegfried was so excited he almost jumped up, especially the line about protecting the ones he loved most and being willing to offer his life, which resonated with him deeply.

"It's hype, but why is it aimed at me?!" Sirin pounded her thigh in anger.

Bella twitched in pain.

"How much did these special effects cost?" Dr. Tesla's mouth was wide open. Anti-Entropy could indeed produce such special effects, but the income and expenditure were not proportional. But Yaqing, that little Destiny director, didn't seem to have this problem, and just kept pouring money into it, seemingly without thinking about the later returns.

Welt Joyce watched with envy. He believed that his ideas were no less creative than Yaqing Schariac's, but Cocolia, who controlled the purse strings, was like a miser.

[Judgement of Shamash: Rupture has more than three times the energy intensity of Judgement of Shamash, and after the Honkai eruption, all Honkai energy reactions in Siberia disappeared.

Amber inquired with Otto, having found traces of Ziegfried and the Second Herrscher, while Cecilia's disappearance was unknown. She asked if Valkyrie squads should be dispatched for support.

"No, Amber, seal off all information."

Otto refused to send support to Ziegfried, and instead instructed Amber to launch a Honkai energy fission bomb in the direction of Ziegfried and the Second Herrscher, claiming to the public that Destiny had eliminated the Second Herrscher.

"Ziegfried, that power is too dangerous."

"Just die in Siberia for me."]

"That's infuriating!" Pardo scratched at the leather seat in anger. Otto's behavior was utterly detestable. It was one thing to be a hindrance early on, but now he was seizing the credit for Ziegfried and Cecilia's life-risking efforts.

"What do you think?" Mobius moved closer to Yaqing, a teasing smile on her face. "Are you really not planning to stay in Destiny? Writing your direct superior like this."

"Cough, President Otto won't care," Yaqing coughed a few times.

"A hero who saved the world dies in an uninhabited snowfield, while the clown behind the scenes stands on stage, enjoying the love of the world." Mei's emotions were complex. "What an ironic scene."

"That damned Otto!" Welt Yang clenched his fist forcefully. He had contributed to the final fight against Sirin, yet Otto directly changed everyone's contributions to Destiny's.

Ignoring Dr. Tesla, who was sending telegrams nearby, Einstein was pondering, what benefit did Yaqing gain from writing Otto like this?

"Otto..."

Before Otto could react, Kallen kicked him off the bed.

Chapter 49: The Curtain Falls

["I can't feel anything... Am I... dead?"

Ziegfried, who thought he was done for, opened his eyes and found himself lying on Cecilia's lap. Cecilia's tears were falling on his face, and he was stunned by Cecilia's sobbing voice.

"I'm sorry, Ziegfried... I lied to you. This time, I can't go back with you."

"You must take good care of Kiana and let her grow up healthy."

"I hope that by the time she grows up, Honkai will be over, and she can live freely..."

"There are so many more things I want to say to you, but unfortunately, I don't have much time left."

"I love you, Ziegfried."

Watching Cecilia about to leave, Ziegfried reached out to try and hold her back, but he didn't even have the strength to lift his hand. After Cecilia instructed Abyss Flower to protect Ziegfried, she went to complete one last thing.]

"Cecilia..." Hearing Cecilia's final confession in the story, Ziegfried couldn't hold back any longer. He hugged Cecilia, and the tough man shed tears.

Bella, unable to endure Sirin's vigorous leg-patting, ran off, pulled out a few tissues, and handed them to Ziegfried and Cecilia. She then pulled out a few more, preparing to hand them to Sirin, who was about to cry.

[Falling endlessly into darkness, Sirin, at the end of her life, murmured "Mama," as if the heavens responded to her call. Cecilia hugged her from behind, and that gentle embrace smoothed her furrowed brow.

"Sirin, my poor child."

In a white sea of flowers, Cecilia gently comforted Sirin. Under the firelight of the Honkai energy fission bomb, Sirin opened her eyes. At the end of her life, the two disappeared together in the light.

"Ich liebe dich."]

"Mama!" Sirin hadn't expected that Cecilia would be by her side at the end of her life, even though in the story, she was a Herrscher who wanted to destroy human civilization.

Sirin snuggled into Cecilia's arms, trying to squeeze Ziegfried away.

"Yaqing, this story is really too much..." Cecilia said insincerely, wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"It's finally coming to a close. I didn't expect this story to be so well-written, with both angst and tenderness, passion and emotion." Sakura wiped away her tears, her impression of Yaqing still stuck on Saintess's Redemption.

"Speaking of which, you wrote it so angsty, aren't you afraid someone will send you blades in private?" Kevin asked, puzzled.

"A mountain man has his own clever plans," Yaqing smiled confidently.

Kevin scratched his head. "What does that mean?"

"Idiot." Mei tapped Kevin's head. "Yaqing means he has a way to deal with the blade-sending you mentioned. I think it's probably going to be using a pseudonym."

"Will he..."

[Amber's narration appeared again: "The Second Herrscher's Honkai energy once spread beyond the Siberian Snowfield, and more than 100,000 civilians were exposed to Honkai energy radiation.

They could only helplessly await the arrival of death, but a blood-colored petal that fell from the sky saved them. The Honkai energy in the bodies of those who came into contact with the petals disappeared, and the final death toll was less than 3,000."

The Second Honkai War came to an end.]

"The movie is finally about to end," Sakura said. "This is the first time I've seen a three-and-a-half-hour movie. It's really long."

"But it was really good," Ling said.

"Speaking of which, today is the movie's premiere. As the director and screenwriter, is it really okay for you not to be at the premiere?" Sakura asked Yaqing.

"It's fine. Anyway, I don't want to go even if they do. I don't want to argue with those reporters." Yaqing could already imagine the reporters' questions, like those about Saintess's Redemption back then. He really regretted taking the blame for Otto.

"Mobius, after the movie, do you want to go shopping with me?" Elysia deliberately didn't look at Yaqing as she asked.

"No, that's a complete waste of time. I'd rather go back and do some experiments with that time," Mobius said, not looking at Elysia.

After the Second Honkai War drew to a close, Otto sat by Theresa's bedside, peeling an apple with his eyes closed, listening to Amber's report. The report exaggerated Destiny's role, and when he heard that Cecilia had requested the launch of the Honkai energy fission bomb, Theresa couldn't hold back any longer.

"Enough, Grandpa. Is what Amber said true?"

Faced with Theresa's question, Otto calmly stated that people only believe the truth they want to believe, using Feather of the Wind to hypnotize Theresa, making her believe that truth.

Meanwhile, Ziegfried, who had returned Welt's Herrscher core to Anti-Entropy, learned from Einstein that Welt's consciousness had not disappeared but was residing within the Herrscher core.

At the same time, Einstein extended an invitation to Ziegfried to join Anti-Entropy, but Ziegfried refused, because his daughter was still waiting for him at Destiny.

At this time, out of fear of Ziegfried's power, Otto extracted Kiana's DNA, but no matter how he studied it, he couldn't find that power.

Just then, Amber reported to Otto that they had recovered the Second Herrscher's remains and four Herrscher cores. However, Fu Hua had already left Destiny headquarters.

Otto wasn't worried at all, because he knew, "She has nowhere left to return to."