Chapter 278

"The Herrscher of Constraint is indeed one of the most troublesome enemies,"

Kiana chimed in, "According to the records, almost all of the Fused Warrior perished in that battle, and only the thirteen remaining were known as the 'Thirteen Flame-Chasers Fused Warrior of the Flame Chaser'... Wait, did I say something wrong?"

Kiana thought this time the record wouldn't be too far off, but as the way everyone looked at her became increasingly strange, she slowly stopped describing.

It seems there's been a problem somewhere this time as well.

"That mission was dangerous, but no one died, right?"

Cosmo's eyes were filled with confusion and a hint of panic. "But, without Ai Yue, it's really hard to imagine how this would end..."

Even now, the situation of the Herrscher of Constraint remains quite unsolvable. However, the reason Kevin and his team felt it was unsolvable was because they were facing Ai Yue, who possessed Herrscher authority. But few people considered how Kevin and his team would have dealt with this Herrscher if Ai Yue hadn't managed to obtain the Herrscher of Constraint powers.

Kiana's words caused everyone to fall into deep thought. They then realized that if a Herrscher of Constraint suddenly appeared, even if the Herrscher was quickly destroyed after its appearance, everyone within the "Binding Barrier" would still die.

Considering the range of the Binding Barrier, its presence in any city would be a terrifying number.

However, what they didn't know was that without Ai Yue's existence, the Herrscher of Constraint at this time would not have been able to cause such exaggerated damage—because most cities in the world had been destroyed under the infiltration of Thousand Herrscher, so when the Herrscher of Constraint was born, there were no longer enough people in the world to gather that many.

Fortunately, thanks to Ai Yue's plan, none of this happened.

After a moment's thought, Dr. Mei finally sighed and said, "In comparison, the threat posed by the 'Herrscher of Aberration' is more serious."

"There's another Herrscher? According to the records, the next Herrscher to appear was the 'Herrscher of Erosion'?"

Kiana blinked, then looked a little embarrassed. "But, uh..."

As she spoke, Kiana subconsciously glanced at the fox-eared swordsman in the corner who had never spoken. Although she looked away afterward, he still noticed her.

Is there some unspeakable reason behind this?

Realizing something, Sakura slowly spoke, "Please speak, don't worry about my feelings."

"Well, to be honest, this is a bit difficult to talk about..."

Kiana looked somewhat embarrassed. "I don't know how you triggered the awakening of the 'Herrscher of Erosion' on your side, but according to the records we have, the 'Herrscher of Erosion' was awakened by humans on their own initiative."

She then described the process of Herrscher of Corruption as objectively as possible, including the detection of Herrscher reactions on Rin, Rin's subsequent imprisonment and supervision, her killing by fearful people driven by the Commandments, and the girl's transformation into Herrscher after her death to seek revenge on humanity. Finally, she was sealed in the Black Box by Sakura, Dr. Mei, and others.

As she described the scene, an awkward atmosphere immediately descended upon the room.

In the corner, Kalpas stared intently at Aponia not far away, while the nun closed her eyes tightly, her face showing shame. Sakura's long sword silently unsheathed itself, only to be slowly pressed back into its sheath by herself. Dr. Mei also wore a complicated expression, unsure of what to say.

The others were slightly better off, but they didn't know what to say either, after all, the story was just too tragic—and what was most undeniable was that they all realized that if Ai Yue hadn't been there, this would definitely have happened.

Even so, who can point out the real culprit?

Whether it was Aponia who set the rules, Dr. Mei was in charge of supervision, or the ordinary people who guarded the girls, they all had their own culpability, but in the context of the time, it was hard to say that they were the real culprits.

Fortunately, Elysia finally broke the silence. "Hey, everyone, smile! Things haven't gotten to that point. We should all be happy, right?"

Of all these people, if we were to ask who was the happiest, it would naturally be Elysia.

Because only now did she realize that the "Aberrant Herrscher" was born from her, which, although it caused extremely serious consequences, had at least indeed saved someone.

At this moment, she suddenly remembered that when Ai Yue comforted her, he said, "This is not entirely a bad thing." At the time, Elysia thought it was just a polite remark, but if she put it in the context of the current situation, then the words seemed to have a deeper meaning.

"You can probably guess what happened next. A civilization in this state cannot defeat the Herrscher of the End. Their final efforts only bought them a little breathing space."

Kiana seemed to want to skip the topic, so she continued, "Then you left behind the 'Project Fire Seed,' which was carried out by Ban... uh, Hua and Kevin, among others."

"Only then did our civilization come into being, and the future of defeating the Herrscher of the End."

"So here's the question,"

Seemingly to change the subject, Vill-V immediately looked at Kiana, "What exactly happened to you that made you need to travel through time and come back here to find us?"

Kiana pursed her lips, but still didn't answer the question.

"Don't ask, Vill-V,"

Dr. Mei shook her head to stop Vill-V's further questioning. "At present, this problem is definitely not something we can solve. Perhaps only when Ai Yue appears will Kiana be able to tell us the truth."

"I actually, I really want to tell you,"

Kiana couldn't help but look up, but then a hint of disappointment appeared on her face. "But now it seems that perhaps the real problem lies with us."

Kiana isn't really stupid. Through the conversation just now, even the slowest person should have figured out the problem. That's why she's even more unable to express her predicament.

At least, there's no way to tell the people in front of me.

"Let me explain."

As the door opened, Ai Yue reappeared before everyone, and with just one sentence, Kiana's expression changed.

"Your future is crumbling, isn't it?"

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Kiana, remember this: the more beautiful a woman is, the more...

Is this Ai Yue?

Kiana stared blankly at the man who suddenly walked into the hall.

Because she really found it hard to connect this seemingly ordinary person with the god that Kevin and others had described as capable of changing the course of history.

After all, this person has no divine features whatsoever. Not to mention whether there is a halo behind his head, even his pupils are completely human-like. If you have to say something, he is probably outstanding in appearance—but among the people present, who is of ordinary appearance?

However, when the other person said those words, Kiana's eyes instantly changed from blank stare to astonishment.

She sat up abruptly from her chair, almost blurting out, "How did you know?"—but even though Kiana managed to control herself at the last moment, her reaction was enough to confirm that Ai Yue had hit the nail on the head.

If that alone wasn't enough to make Kiana give up the struggle, then Ai Yue's second sentence completely shattered Kiana's already wavering heart.

Under Kiana's astonished gaze, Ai Yue calmly asked, "After you came here, who anchored the world line for you?"

Kiana sat back down in silence, then gave a wry smile after a moment, "It's Raiden Yae Sakura. As the Herrscher of Origin, she can do something similar, but she can't sustain it for long, so I have to..."

"We need to resolve this quickly and then go back to prevent anything from happening to her, right?"

Ai Yue walked to the table and sat down, facing Kiana directly. "But now, how do you plan to solve this problem?"

"Wait, I haven't realized it yet!"

Before Kiana could respond, Elysia took over the conversation, "Ai Yue, could you explain this in more detail?"

"Even based solely on the information Kiana just provided, the truth is already quite obvious,"

Dr. Mei was the first to understand the situation, so she tried to analyze it, saying, "Obviously, if Ai Yue had not appeared, then in the original historical trajectory, our civilization would have ended completely after the arrival of the Herrscher of the End."

"But the Herrscher of the End will only clear the surface, thus giving us the opportunity to pass on the seeds of civilization, such as the 'Project Fire Seed'?"

Vill-V continued, "So, the origin of the next generation of civilization was actually supported by some of us, but if our civilization hadn't been destroyed..."

"Then naturally there will be no next civilization."

"At least, there won't be a new civilization that 'defeated the Cocoon of Finality's with the help of Pre-Civilization," Mobius said calmly.

"So, because we won, the future that Kiana and the others existed in has disappeared?"

Elysia blinked, seemingly understanding, "No, wait a minute. Although I don't really understand this kind of thing, if that's true, then Kiana and the others couldn't have been born, right?"

"The situation is complicated, and it's hard to say the specific reasons."

Dr. Mei gave Ai Yue a meaningful look. "However, since Ai Yue already knows about Kiana's situation, he should know more about it than we do."

If we compare the timeline to a long river, then changing history is like changing the course of the river. But even if the operation of changing the course is exactly the same, the situation will change differently depending on the "point in time" at which the operation is carried out.

If you change the direction of a river before it has fully formed a fixed course, it will form a completely new route, leaving no trace on the path it would have flowed through.

However, if a river is intercepted and diverted at a certain point after it has already formed, a dry riverbed will be revealed while a new route is created. The creatures living in this predetermined course will eke out a living in this dry riverbed due to the disappearance of the water, waiting for death.

However, this analogy cannot fully reflect the actual situation of changes in the timeline. After all, the concept of time is only a concept for understanding the development of the world from the perspective of human cognition. How it actually exists is obviously not something that can be determined from a human perspective.

Even so, Dr. Mei was able to realize a key point from what happened today: whether Kiana's civilization exists or not actually depends on Ai Yue.

If, before Kiana appeared, Dr. Mei only had doubts about Ai Yue's identity, then after this "historical reconciliation," she could be certain that Ai Yue was not a naturally born being in this world.

In other words, only Ai Yue could create such an accident that "should not exist".

Ai Yue only figured this out in the last few days.

When he finally confirmed that the abnormal tremors released by the Cocoon of Finality actually originated from the actions of another person who held the power of the Finality, Ai Yue realized that this matter might be far more outrageous than he had previously imagined.

If we exclude the civilization that created the Cocoon of Finality, then there is only one person left who holds the power over the Finality: Kiana in the future.

This statement may sound absolute, but it is indeed true—because Kiana's success is the only miracle among countless world lines, and the underlying rules of the Cocoon of Finality determine that the world lines will converge after she becomes the Herrscher of the End.

So the question is, why does Kiana still exist?

From his perspective, since the Pre-Civilization had successfully passed the test of the Finality and would continue to prosper under his leadership, the so-called "current civilization" could not possibly be born again.

Although not seeing those familiar faces would make Ai Yue feel somewhat regretful, the thought that they had not disappeared but were living happier lives with different identities and appearances made Ai Yue feel much more at ease.

After all, compared to his own selfish desires, he hoped that Kiana and the others could live a life that wasn't so tumultuous, but was still happy enough.

However, the unusual movement of the Cocoon of Finality made him realize that the laws of spacetime did not seem to operate in this way.

Or perhaps, Ai Yue underestimated the impact he, as a "transcendent being," would have on the world.

After all, Ai Yue had not forgotten the girl Seele he had met in the Sea of Quantum —although he always thought that she might be Seele from a branch world line, now that Kiana, now the Herrscher of the End, had appeared in front of him, it seemed that things were not as simple as he had imagined.

However, there's no need for others to know these things. Although it seems there's no longer any need for Ai Yue to hide them, considering the potential risks in the future, Ai Yue decided to keep this secret to himself.

"Unfortunately, I don't really know how this situation came about,"

So Ai Yue chose to evade the question with ambiguous words, then looked at the silent girl opposite him, "But I think you should also realize that your original plan cannot succeed, right, Kiana?"

Kiana looked at the man in front of her who seemed to know everything, opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.

"Don't worry, although your plan failed, it doesn't mean there's no hope."

Ai Yue seemed to sense the other person's panic and then said, "But before that, I need to know what exactly happened in your timeline, is that alright?"

To appease her, Ai Yue thoughtfully pushed the bowl of instant noodles in front of Kiana: "Since things have come to this, why don't you eat something first?"

"Uh, thank you?"

Kiana subconsciously placed her hand on the bowl, her attention drawn to the aroma wafting towards her. However, she then felt everyone's eyes on her and awkwardly let go of the bowl. "Um, let's get down to business first."

With so many people watching, even if Kiana really had an appetite, she probably wouldn't be able to eat anything.

"Don't be nervous, relax."

Ai Yue realized that the pressure on the scene seemed a bit high, so he simply snapped his fingers and said, "Ai Yi, one bowl for each of you!"

"Understood."

Instant noodles are quick and easy to prepare, and within minutes, everyone had a steaming bowl in front of them. Ai thoughtfully replaced Kiana's slightly cold bowl of instant noodles with another one, and then sat down herself—yes, she prepared a bowl for herself as well.

"Uh, you're eating too?"

Seeing the android make a feeding motion, even Sakura looked surprised, but then she realized, "That's not what I meant. I meant, won't eating affect the... parts inside your body?"

"I have designed a special feeding system that can convert the food I eat into energy. Although the efficiency is very low, it doesn't matter."

Ai opened her mouth slightly, showing the inside of her oral cavity, which was almost indistinguishable from that of a normal person. "In addition, I also have a sense of smell and taste, so I can also appreciate food."

"I understand the reasoning."

Ai Yue, standing to the side, wore a subtle expression. "But why are you saying that to me?"

Then he noticed that everyone was looking at him, so he waved his hand and said, "Well, don't be shy, let's eat and talk."

Kiana looked at the scene before her and suddenly couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"I'm sorry, I was just thinking about what Yae Sakura told me."

Seeing the surprised looks on everyone's faces, Kiana quickly explained, "She told me that sometimes the Fused Warrior's team-building activities involved eating instant noodles together. I didn't believe it at first, but..."

"Huh, is that so?"

Elysia was stunned for a moment, then looked at Kevin. "It must have been Kevin who did it!"

It has to be said that Elysia's intuition is quite sharp, but it's not hard to understand. After all, the only ones who are truly capable of forming a team with the Fused Warrior of a prestigious organization are her and Kevin, and Elysia's team-building activities certainly wouldn't be so boring, so there's only one answer.

"How could I!"

Kevin immediately retorted, then paused before continuing, "No matter what, you can't just eat instant noodles all the time, can you?"

"Yes, **usually with sausage and eggs."

Knowing her lover's character well, Dr. Mei smiled and teased, then looked at Kiana, "Speaking of which, I've been curious about this Raiden Yae Sakura you mentioned. Who exactly is she? And why is she so familiar with things from our time?"

As the name Kiana mentioned most frequently, Dr. Mei noticed that many details that should not have been recorded in history were told to Kiana by this person named Raiden Yae Sakura. Therefore, the other party was either a historian with in-depth research or had other special experiences that allowed her to come into contact with these things.

Based on her woman's intuition, Dr. Mei leaned towards the latter. After all, judging from Kiana's reaction, Raiden Yae Sakura had a deep friendship with her, so the two should be the same age. If they were the same age, it would be difficult for them to have such advanced historical research at this age.