Return to Reality

Enoshia walked over to Sirin and gently patted her back. With Enoshia comforting her, Sirin gradually calmed down. After hearing Enoshia's explanation of the illusion, she knew perfectly well that Cecilia had not lied to her.

Her wish had not been to see her mother. She knew perfectly well that the dead could not return to life, and that her mother's death was a fact. What she wished for most was to meet someone who would love her like her mother had. Coincidentally, after learning about Sirin's circumstances, Cecilia's greatest wish had been for Sirin to receive the kind of love a family could give. In this sense, the two of them had truly found each other.

"What is this place, and how are we supposed to get out?" Looking around at the darkness, Siegfried was eager to return to reality, but in this unfamiliar environment, he had no idea where to go.

"This place... is probably a gap between reality and dreams. Do you see those doors over there? The darkness inside means that the person has already broken through the illusion, while light inside means they're still trapped in one. Welt and I discovered that, in this space, we can wake people up by interfering with the illusion from outside. As for how to leave... I have no idea either."

There were still three doors glowing ahead of them. Enoshia guessed that the three people inside were probably Shigure Kira, Shub, and Cheng Lixue.

Theresa managing to leave before her did not surprise Enoshia at all. After all, Theresa had Vishnu's genes inside her and could swallow the dream directly. With Judah's child-safety mode to keep her from getting lost, she might already have returned to reality.

As for Bella... huh?

Just then, everyone noticed that the figures of Sirin, Cecilia, and Siegfried were becoming indistinct. The three exchanged glances before disappearing from the spot.

"So ordinary people can return to reality after completely escaping the illusion and staying here for a short while... That's rather considerate."

Just as Enoshia had guessed, after disappearing from that bizarre space, the three immediately returned to the snowy plains of Siberia. The area ahead of them was already completely shrouded in strange black mist.

"Your Majesty!" The experience in the dream had hit Sirin too hard, and she still had not fully recovered. When Bella saw her dazed appearance, she immediately supported her.

"Ah, Bella... Thank goodness. Bella, you're all right. That's wonderful." Sirin hugged Bella tightly, and tears began to fall again. The memories of the past flashed through her mind once more, especially Bella's despair-filled eyes. Although she knew that this Bella was not that Bella, Benares's human form had been recreated almost exactly from the appearance in Sirin's memories. To comfort herself, Sirin still chose to temporarily treat Benares as a substitute.

After crying for a while against Bella's chest, Sirin gradually recovered. Bella clearly sensed that when Sirin looked at her, the majesty in her eyes had returned. (At least, that was what Benares thought.)

"Bella, what's with that short Valkyrie?" Sirin was naturally referring to Theresa, who, like Bella, had returned to reality before the other three. Theresa had yet to recover from the aftereffects of the Divine Prayer Barrier. Even with Judah, she could not possibly defeat Sirin one-on-one, at least for now.

Hearing this, Bella immediately dropped to her knees. "Please forgive me, Your Majesty. That short Valkyrie was indeed no match for me, but the cross in her hands was too extraordinary. To rescue Your Majesty, I had no choice but to temporarily... cooperate with her." Bella pressed her head to the ground and quietly awaited Sirin's judgment.

Sirin pulled her to her feet. "What did you see in the illusion?"

Bella tried hard to recall, then shook her head.

"I... probably never entered the illusion at all. After Your Majesty was swallowed by that strange black mist, I tried to save you but couldn't make it in time, and ended up getting dragged in myself. After the mist enveloped me too... nothing happened. Then I flew out. When I tried to fly back in, I was pushed out by some kind of force."

"You're sure nothing happened?"

"Mm... I feel like my thoughts... seem clearer than usual?" Bella scratched her head. Only after carefully going over everything from beginning to end did she notice the change.

"Hmm... As long as you're all right, Bella." Sirin patted Bella's head again.

"Let's work together and deal with that troublesome woman first. Then we'll settle accounts with those people from Schicksal."

"Yes." Bella bowed to Sirin again with a standard knight's salute.

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

"Cecilia, Siegfried, I'm sorry I couldn't be of much help. I'm so glad you're both all right." Theresa spoke to the two of them with some guilt, dragging her weakened body along.

"To have held out until now while fighting alongside that Honkai Beast... You've worked hard. Although I don't know why the instruments couldn't detect anything from her, judging from how she defeated Cheng Lixue in a single move, she's probably a legendary Judgment-class."

Although she knew Cecilia was trying to comfort her, Theresa still gave a bitter smile.

"If saving Sirin hadn't been far more important to her than killing Schicksal's Valkyrie, I'd probably be in another world by now. From the moment I came out, she had no intention of fighting me. Instead, she kept asking what I had seen and whether I had seen Sirin. Although I couldn't help her at all, she didn't get angry. She just kept asking me how to enter that place and rescue people."

"A Honkai Beast that treats a Herrscher as its master completely willingly... That's something the Previous Civilization had never seen before." Cecilia gazed thoughtfully at Bella, who was kneeling before Sirin in the distance.

"By the way, Theresa, you came into direct contact with the body of the Herrscher of Frost using Judah earlier. Did you notice anything unusual?" In theory, the Divine Prayer Barrier could completely nullify Honkai Energy within one minute, yet it had collapsed after only about half a minute. No one would believe it without seeing it.

"Cecilia, I know what you want to ask. I can say with certainty that what this Herrscher used at the time was definitely not Honkai Energy. That's why the Divine Prayer Barrier could only weaken it rather than nullify it completely."

The three exchanged glances and sighed helplessly. Without a doubt, the Herrscher of Frost possessed superpowers beyond her authorities, and she relied on that mysterious energy to use them. Schicksal had dealt with the Honkai for hundreds of years, but now that they had suddenly encountered another kind of energy that was not Honkai Energy, no one knew how to handle it.

"Report the situation to headquarters, then rest here and wait for their good news." Cecilia's suggestion received everyone's approval. Sirin and Bella also remained on standby nearby. After all, until they found a way to break through its recovery ability, attacking rashly would only waste their strength for nothing.