My Honkai Star Rail: Reversing All Phenomena Chapter 22

It was indiscriminate, ultimate destruction.

Run—run to the Safe Zone marked by the defense project, then pray that the Interastral Peace Corporation, which remained in contact with the Space Station, would discover what had happened and send reinforcements as quickly as possible.

At this moment, there was no difference between the higher-ups of the various departments and ordinary researchers. All were weaklings beneath the Legion's demonic claws. They began to flee, abandoning their projects and the Crystals of Wisdom still in the making.

"Hua Yi, why are you here? Don't just stand there! That's the Antimatter Legion, one of the most dangerous calamities in the universe! The Anti-gravity Shield raised by the Space Station won't hold them for long! Run! Get to the Safe Zone!!"

Gunn, the founder of the Department of Legal Affairs, seized Hua Yi's hand and dragged him toward the Safe Zone.

The Forge of War forged the Legion's soldiers and bestowed upon them the power of destruction. Antimatter filled out their mangled remains, while Negative Particles churned within their bodies.

Physical laws could not restrain the Antimatter Legion. Even the sturdy outer hull of the Space Station could scarcely halt destruction's advance. Through [Baryons] and [Antibaryons], they could open new paths and bypass the Space Station's outer defenses directly.

Too late—there was a chance it was already too late!

In an instant, the old man of the Space Station calculated that he might not be able to bring Hua Yi into the Safe Zone in time. He could not gamble.

What mattered was not whether he lived or died, but Hua Yi's safety. Herta Space Station could never accept the outcome of such a brilliant star falling during a Legion Attack.

The situation was urgent. There was no room for hesitation.

The old man made up his mind.

"This old man has lived long enough. Use the hidden weapons console nearby. It can buy you some time."

Boom!!

Voidrangers had already bypassed the Space Station's outer hull through Baryon teleportation. Researchers from the Defense Department operated the interception weapons, pouring artillery fire into the monsters in the air.

"I'm not the one who needs protecting. I want to protect all of you."

Facing the old man who wished to buy him time with his life, Hua Yi firmly squeezed that withered hand, then released it before Gunn could react.

"The Department of Legal Affairs still needs your leadership. No one should be sacrificed—I promise you, what will be destroyed today will not be wisdom and civilization."

Imaginary Energy became an oar, stirring waves upon the Path of [Memory]. Snowflakes and frost surged around him as a deep vortex appeared from nothing before Hua Yi.

He raised his hand and reached into the spiral, drawing from his memories a flawless Crimson Greatsword, countless times more intricate than the simulated data in No Heavens Left Unspoken!

Drawing the Sword

The crimson edge blazed with scorching light, its hum like an elegy.

Hua Yi held the sword in his right hand while his left brushed across the blade condensed from Imaginary Energy.

He had not forgotten the incident during his test of the Simulated Universe. Although he now stood outside the Path of [Memory], using Imaginary Energy as an oar to stir the river, if he raised too great a wave, he might attract an Aeon's attention.

According to the universally accepted system of power in the cosmos, there seemed to be only two choices left.

Either he became a ferryman upon a Path he already understood. Whether it was the Preservation firelight struck forth by Qlipoth's giant hammer or the ice of Memory that froze space and time together when Fu Li appeared, either would be enough to halt the Antimatter Legion's advance and stop them here.

The price was that this method of using a Path against its natural laws might draw an Aeon's gaze—a scrutiny unlike a mere "glance."

Or he could save himself during the Legion Attack and flee into the Safe Zone protected by the Herta Automatons. No matter how countless the invading enemies were, its superior weapons and defensive facilities would be enough to hold out until the Interastral Peace Corporation responded and sent reinforcements. The Astral Express was also an expected source of aid, and the story would inevitably turn to a new page.

The price would be the lives of countless innocent people aboard the Space Station.

When disaster struck, lives would always be lost. Before the powerful, who regarded human lives as worthless as grass, the weak were inherently fragile. They could only flee helplessly, praying that they might evade the fate of extinction beneath destruction's shadow.

Unless someone stepped forward from the very beginning, turned the tide, and transformed the destined tragedy into something else.

From the moment he left Herta's Office, Hua Yi had already made his choice.

He was a ferryman upon the Paths. He would venture onto an uncertain battlefield for the sake of the weak.

The Antimatter Legion embodied [Destruction]. Compared to the fleeting splendor of a simulated Aeon, Voidrangers were insignificant, yet their very existence provided a safer reference example.

I don't need to pursue deeper power. I can still annihilate the enemy.

Flames rose from the greatsword, burning fiercely and illuminating the clouded old eyes of Gunn, founder of the Department of Legal Affairs.

This was not the firelight of [Preservation], but the flames of [Destruction], perfectly echoing the greatsword's true name.

Flames of destruction surged into the sky, wielded by someone other than the Antimatter Legion, and slashed toward the Voidrangers that had used Baryons to infiltrate the Space Station ahead of time.

Space warped beneath the firelight. A new radiance appeared within the pitch-black curtain that obscured the stars.

This sword strike was so dazzling, like a sun beneath the shadow of the Antimatter Legion. The thunderous artillery of the Defense Department fell silent, and the fleeing people's gazes were drawn toward it. They stared blankly at the flames brimming with destructive intent, yet striking at the monsters that had truly brought destruction.

So destruction could bring hope.

The Legion vanguard that had invaded the Space Station advanced slowly beneath artillery fire, filling the Defense Department researchers with dread. Yet such terrifying monsters could not withstand the slash infused with the Power of Destruction.

They were severed at the waist and vanished into nothingness.

Before pure destruction, even the Antimatter and Negative Particles that formed the Voidrangers' bodies turned to ash. There was not even a moment of stalemate.

So destruction could be this beautiful.

The lingering force of that strike did not diminish. Rather than landing on the Space Station's protective outer hull and helping the Antimatter Legion open a physical gateway, it crashed down upon the Baryon Channel, destroying everything in its path. Finally, it burst out from the Antibaryon end, igniting flames amid the dark mass beyond.

Once, when they had wandered across shattered planets in worlds where the sun sank into Yu Yuan, while those vicious Legions devoured the Chaos Energy spilling from the process of decay, had they ever imagined that one day they too would become targets of [Destruction]?

Now they knew.

Countless intelligent beings had wept beneath the Legion's claws, mourning dying lives and collapsing civilizations. Yet when monsters ignited by flame let out shrieks, when humanoid Voidrangers muttered mad ravings before the sword light, the Legion's other fiends chose to retreat. They did not offer even a moment of mourning for their erased comrades.

These vicious creations had never possessed the concept of comrades in the first place.

Flames and sword light destroyed the Baryon Channel and slaughtered countless Voidrangers, but the Legion did not retreat.

Followers of destruction stood on the absolute opposite side of civilization and life, determined to erase this museum-style starship from existence.

"Senior Gunn."

Hua Yi, who had cleared the Voidranger vanguard with a single strike, held the Crimson Greatsword in hand. His tone remained steady and reassuring, yet now it contained something different.

That was right. He was no longer merely a researcher seeking truth and probing mysteries. He was a warrior who drew his sword and marched against the tide, exterminating invading enemies.

A hero capable of carrying everyone's fate upon his shoulders.

"Please proceed to the Safe Zone. Don't rush—be careful not to fall. I'll buy enough time."

Snowflakes of [Memory] drifted behind Hua Yi, condensing into a pair of wings that did not possess the Crimson Greatsword's overwhelming majesty.

They flickered in and out of sight, carrying the lingering melody of a pastoral song, as though telling a story, as though singing of a world.

A light wind filled his body and stirred his hair.

Gunn's clouded eyes could not catch Hua Yi's speed as he departed. Only an afterimage remained, slowly fading away.

Tears shimmered in the old man's eyes. It was not the flames from earlier that had scorched his aged vision. He was simply overjoyed, trembling at the sight of a scene from his dreams.

I still cannot stop the powerful who regard human life as worthless, nor can I save the weak who vanish in the wind.

But someone can!

This time, the old man no longer wished to die, because Hua Yi had saved this life of his. How could an epic written by a hero contain a discordant note?

He no longer hesitated and ran toward the Safe Zone.

Many people appeared along the way: department heads, famous experts, ordinary researchers. Positions and ranks, wisdom and achievements—none of them mattered any longer. They had become the weak amidst disaster, yet they were also the ones being protected.

The fear had not faded from their faces, and tear streaks remained clear, but the despairing cries and helpless sobbing from before had lessened.

Before and after, there had only been one destructive slash and one brilliant blaze.

An elderly man ran out of strength, and a young man carried him on his back. A girl had twisted her ankle, and another girl beside her, equally terrified, resolutely supported her as they evacuated, even though it slowed them down.

In the starry sky, the Antimatter Legion still watched hungrily, constantly attacking the shield and destroying partition walls. Yet within the Space Station, a fragile yet precious peace endured.

Beneath destruction's spearheads, order had not yet collapsed, and civilization's flame had not yet gone out.

Flames That Burned the Divine Court

Thud, thud! Thud!!

On the narrow path near the Space Station's protective hull, Trampler's Iron Hooves crushed the partition wall from outside, repeatedly producing vicious explosions that battered the eardrums. The half-human, half-beast Voidranger Elite unleashed its enormous strength. Every attack triggered a localized earthquake, making the researchers fleeing along this only route toward the Safe Zone tremble with fear.

That was a partition wall made from Superalloy Material. From the beginning of its construction, accidental disasters had been taken into account, consuming immense manpower and resources. Even a Level III Researcher would find the materials science knowledge contained within it difficult to grasp.

Yet such a wall, undoubtedly a Crystal of Wisdom, could not truly obstruct the Voidrangers' assault. It wailed beneath the iron hooves and deformed. Anyone could see that it was only a matter of time before the partition wall was breached by brute force.

Were the fruits of humanity's utmost wisdom only this much?

Only those who had truly ventured deep into unknown fields in search of truth, struggling painfully through the sea of knowledge, would understand just how difficult it was to knock upon knowledge's door.

Of the researchers who struggled so bitterly in their search, how many could reach the door of truth? And how many could push it open?

Even within Herta Space Station, fewer than one in ten could do so.

Countless ordinary people could only gaze at that door from afar, unable to approach it. They had cast envious looks toward it time and again. Yet now, wisdom's crystallization was being mercilessly trampled by the Antimatter Legion. All it could do was buy time. The fleeing researchers mechanically drove their legs onward, deep confusion filling their eyes.

Can the knowledge I possess truly be called wisdom?

Can [Wisdom] truly resist [Destruction]?

After the two small ion traps used by the Antimatter Legion for transportation—the Baryon and Antibaryon—had been completely cleared, a blaze suddenly ignited outside the Space Station, killing the Voidranger Trampler that had been recklessly unleashing its power.

An Imaginary Light Wind stirred the helpless people's hair. Hua Yi appeared before the researchers, looked at the warped partition wall, then at the people with utterly hollow eyes.

It was not that the threat to their lives had shattered their reason. Rather, after discovering that the work to which they had devoted themselves seemed utterly powerless before these fiends, they had fallen into self-doubt.

He understood how many gifted youths from countless planets had entered the Space Station with boundless hopes, only to discover that their talents were not outstanding here. They were merely part of the ordinary majority, struggling bitterly amid the gulf between ideals and reality, striving to absorb profound and difficult new knowledge as they staggered forward on the path of learning.

Seeing that even the Crystals of Wisdom developed by Scholars who had gone farther ahead could not truly stop the Antimatter Legion's conquest, those who had come later in search of knowledge would naturally suffer torment—perhaps even more agonizing than having their lives directly taken away.

A Path distinct from [Wisdom] and [Destruction] flickered into existence, proclaiming the fate of all things returning to nothingness.

The brand-new Path seemed within reach, yet Hua Yi ignored it. He patted the shoulder of the researcher nearest to him, his gaze passing over him and the lost lambs behind him.

"Listen to me. Breathe in, breathe out—steady your breathing."

"...Huff, huff."

"The partition wall was never designed to completely stop every disaster. It has already fulfilled its duty beyond expectations. Through ingenuity, humanity used all kinds of materials to slow destruction's advance. That is something to be proud of."

"Lord Hua Yi, I, I..."

"The sages of antiquity never imagined that one day humanity could embrace the stars. Before today, Scholars had no way to obtain detailed data on the Antimatter Legion. Scientific research is a process of understanding and creation. There is no need to lose your way because you have fallen, especially when you have not fallen yet, have you?"

It is not our own strength that has kept us standing. We are indeed nothing but weaklings, protected by the strong—by you.

Though they were young people of roughly the same age, when the researchers looked upon Hua Yi—already peerless in fame throughout the Space Station, and now stepping forward amid disaster to face destruction's spearheads—they felt as though they were looking up at a towering mountain.

How tall was it?

Very, very tall.

Damn it, damn it! I can't keep wandering in confusion! It is already dangerous enough for a hero to wield his sword against the Antimatter Legion. How can we make him waste his attention on such trivial matters?

The ordinary researchers fiercely wiped away their tears. Their hearts held no more hesitation or helplessness. If they had not known that they lacked combat ability and could not truly help, they would even have been willing to charge alongside the hero who illuminated the darkness and fight the Antimatter Legion, without regret even in death...

"Please come back safely, Lord Hua Yi."

"I will."

Hua Yi vanished once more. Scorching flames continuously erupted amid the Antimatter Legion, blasting apart the Voidrangers and ion traps transported from the unknowable land of stillness.

His understanding of [Destruction] continued to deepen. The oar formed from Imaginary Energy stirred the Path without raising any earth-shaking waves, yet the flames wrapped around the Crimson Greatsword burned ever fiercer. The essence of destruction contained within them was even more vigorous than the Legion's.

Imaginary Energy worked miracles in the hands of one who had not entered a Path. Without relying on Baryons or Antibaryons, it forcibly triggered an ion reaction and carved open a spatial passage. One end appeared before Hua Yi, swallowing the sword light he swung; the other emerged outside the Space Station, where the Antimatter Legion had gathered.

The invisible blade shattered the Voidranger formation. Blazing fire ignited dark armor. The black curtain surrounding the Space Station was violently torn open in countless places, allowing starlight to fall upon the Space Station once more and refract dreamlike colors through space warped by extreme heat.

Destruction slaughtered destruction itself. The utterly absurd scene left every witness entranced.

Those blazing flames, seemingly capable of burning down the Divine Court, were so beautiful—more beautiful than any masterpiece of art or treasure of civilization they had ever seen.

The researchers who were not needed for research no longer had to throw themselves into battle like moths to a flame, fighting the fiendish army that blocked out the stars and becoming tragic yet stirring lights of humanity beneath the apocalypse. Now, it was the Legion itself that charged one after another into Hellfire. Countless Voidrangers were annihilated. If reinforcements had not continuously been transported from across star systems, the Space Station's crisis would have ended long ago.

"All Defense Department researchers, immediately withdraw from the front line and enter the Safe Zone. This is Hua Yi. I do not want anyone to sacrifice themselves. Listen carefully: every sacrifice is unnecessary. Withdraw immediately."

Through the Space Station's internal local network communications, he issued orders to the Defense Department beyond the limits of his authority.

"Yes!"

Responses came through the earpieces. No one questioned whether Hua Yi was qualified to command during wartime. At this moment, no one possessed greater prestige than him.

The Forgotten One