Crack

Humanity might have invented a time machine long ago, but it only worked in two situations.

One was when someone thought, "I'll get up after five more minutes of sleep," and the other was during a vacation.

Happy times were always short, weren't they?

Father Time had stolen the peaceful days that belonged to Yoshikage Kira. Four and a half years seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye.

"Attention, everyone. An abnormal Honkai Energy reaction has been detected. Prepare for battle."

Is it here, the Herrscher of Rock? Yoshikage Kira thought as he headed to reinforce Mu Continent with the squad.

"Mu Continent's scientific research capabilities are very strong. It won't be overrun so quickly. Don't worry, Elysia." Noticing that Elysia looked unwell, Elysia comforted her.

"Mm, thank you, Aili, but I have a bad feeling about this." Hearing Aili's reassurance, Elysia forced a smile.

"Apponia, Yoshikage Kira, Mu Continent will be all right, won't it?" Aili asked the two expectantly, only to be met with silence.

No one spoke along the way, but halfway there, they received an order to retreat.

Before anyone could ask why, a video was sent to them.

In the video, Mu Continent's armed forces were attacking the Herrscher, while many Fusion Warriors worked together to weaken her defenses.

Seeing that the Herrscher was only defending herself, everyone thought victory was assured.

But in truth, the Herrscher had merely been charging up a powerful attack.

The Herrscher stretched out her hand, and a black hole fell from it.

As it descended, it grew larger and larger, devouring everything around it.

Whether structures or living creatures, nothing remained.

But the video had not ended. As the black hole struck the ground and burrowed underground, something even more terrifying happened.

After a violent tremor, the ground began to collapse and break apart. In the end, seawater flooded in, completely burying all traces of humanity's existence.

After watching the video, the already silent atmosphere among them became even more oppressive.

"Then... let's head back and discuss how to deal with this first. There'll always be a way." Even Aili did not know what to say, so she could only try to reassure everyone.

The others silently nodded and looked toward Elysia, who had come from Mu Continent.

They could all empathize with the feeling of having one's homeland destroyed.

What Elysia needed right now was not comfort, but enough space and time.

"Mr. Yoshikage Kira, you knew Mu Continent's fate, didn't you? Why didn't you do as you had the previous two times and, before the Herrscher appeared..."

"What, are you going to accuse me? Accuse me of doing nothing?"

"Do you take me for a saint, expecting me to be responsible for those lives that were lost?"

"Yoshikage Kira, say no more." Aili tried to interrupt Yoshikage Kira.

But Yoshikage Kira had no intention of stopping.

"I only know the Herrschers' abilities, along with the approximate locations and times of their appearances. I know nothing else. Apponia can do that much too by peering into a corner of fate, can't she?"

"Then if you told us in advance, we could at least take precautions against the Herrschers, couldn't we?"

"Changing fate too much is not a good thing, Elysia."

"And I don't care. Just as I did not warn Australia Continent before Himiko became the Herrscher of Flames, I don't care whether those people live or die."

"Do you have to put it so harshly, Yoshikage Kira?" Aili's expression also became uncharacteristically serious as she looked at him.

"Only to prevent you from having unrealistic expectations of me."

"I was never a good person, nor have I ever wanted to save the world."

Calm. His tone was as calm as ever as Yoshikage Kira calmly stated the facts.

Unlike the others, Yoshikage Kira truly could treat human lives as worthless and disregard whether others lived or died. As they watched him, they saw for the first time the nature hidden beneath his calm exterior.

"Hmph, meaningless arguing. If the purpose of this squad is to make me sit here and listen to you engage in meaningless debates, then I quit."

Listening to everyone's argument, Chiyou spoke with disdain.

"At least this guy is honest, isn't he? Unlike certain people, whose hypocrisy is nauseating."

After that, until they returned to base, no one said another word.

The harmonious relationship within the squad seemed to have developed a crack.

"It shouldn't have been like this. There was clearly a better way to resolve this, so why..."

"There is no why, Aili."

"This is simply my nature."