Return to Reality

Enoshia walked over to Sirin and gently patted her on the back. Under her soothing touch, Sirin's emotions gradually calmed down. After hearing Enoshia's explanation of the illusion, she understood clearly in her heart that Cecilia had not deceived her.

Because her wish was not to see her mother—she knew deep down that the dead cannot return to life, and her mother's passing was already an established fact. The greatest wish in her heart was to meet someone who would love her like her mother did. Coincidentally, after Cecilia learned of Sirin's experiences, her own greatest wish was for Sirin to receive the kind of love a family would give. This time, the two were truly reaching out to each other.

"What is this place, and how do we get out?" Looking around at the pitch-black surroundings, Siegfried was eager to return to reality but had no idea which way to go in this unfamiliar environment.

"This... is probably the gap between reality and dreams. See those doors over there? The ones with dim light inside mean the illusion has been broken, while those still glowing mean the person is still trapped in the illusion. Mr. Welt and I discovered that in this space, we can wake people up by interfering with their illusions from the outside. As for how to get out... I don't know either."

Ahead of them, three doors were still shining with light. Enoshia guessed that the three people inside were Shigure Kira, Shub, and Cheng Lixue.

Enoshia wasn't surprised that Theresa had walked out before her—after all, she had Vishnu's genes in her body and could simply devour the dream. With Judah's anti-child-losing mode, she might have already returned to reality by now.

As for Bella... Hm?

Just then, everyone noticed that the figures of Sirin, Cecilia, and Siegfried were becoming hazy. The three exchanged glances and vanished from where they stood.

"After ordinary people completely break free from the illusion, they stay here briefly and then return to reality... Quite humane, actually."

Just as Enoshia had guessed, the three disappeared from that strange space and immediately returned to the snowy plains of Siberia. In the area ahead of them, everything was shrouded in eerie black fog.

"Queen!" Because the experience in the dream had hit Sirin too hard, she still hadn't fully come back to her senses. Seeing her dazed expression, Bella immediately supported her body.

"Ah, Bella... Thank goodness, Bella, you're okay. Thank goodness." Sirin hugged Bella tightly, tears streaming down her face again. Past memories flashed through Sirin's mind, especially Bella's eyes filled with despair. Although she knew this Bella was not that Bella, Benares's human form was almost a one-to-one replica of the image in Sirin's memory. To comfort herself, Sirin chose to temporarily treat Benares as a substitute.

After crying against Bella's chest for a while, Sirin gradually recovered. Bella could clearly feel that when Sirin looked at her, her eyes had regained their usual authority. (At least, that was what Benares thought.)

"Bella, what's the deal with that short Valkyrie?" Sirin was naturally referring to Theresa, who had returned to reality before the three of them, just like Bella. Theresa, still not recovered from the side effects of the Divine Prayer Barrier, even with Judah, was no match for her in a one-on-one fight at the moment.

Hearing this, Bella immediately knelt down: "Forgive me, Queen. That short Valkyrie is indeed no match for me, but the cross in her hands is too miraculous. To rescue you, Queen, I had to temporarily... cooperate with her." Bella pressed her head to the ground, quietly awaiting Sirin's judgment.

Sirin pulled her up in one motion: "What did you see in the illusion?"

Bella tried hard to recall, then shook her head:

"I... probably never entered the illusion at all. Back then, after you were swallowed by the strange black fog, Queen, I tried to save you but couldn't make it in time, and I got caught up too. When I was enveloped by the black fog... nothing happened. Then I flew out, and when I tried to fly back in, I was repelled by some force."

"Are you sure nothing happened?"

"Hm... I feel like my thinking... has become clearer than usual?" Bella scratched her head, carefully reviewing her memories from start to finish before noticing this change.

"Hmm... Bella, as long as you're okay, that's what matters." Sirin patted Bella's head again.

"Let's cooperate first to deal with that troublesome one, then settle the score with those Schicksal bastards."

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

Meanwhile, on the other side.

"Cecilia, Siegfried, I'm sorry I couldn't help much. I'm so glad you're both okay." Theresa, dragging her weakened body, spoke to them with some self-blame.

"To have held out this long against that Honkai Beast, you've worked hard. Although I don't know why the instruments can't detect anything from her, judging by how she defeated Cheng Lixue in one blow, she's probably a legendary Judgment-class."

Even though she knew Cecilia was trying to comfort her, Theresa still let out a bitter laugh:

"If it weren't that saving Sirin was far more important to her than killing a Schicksal Valkyrie, I'd probably be in another world by now. From the moment I came out, she never intended to fight me. Instead, she kept asking me what I saw, whether I had seen Sirin. Even though I couldn't help her at all, she didn't get angry—she just kept asking me how to get in there to rescue someone."

"A Honkai Beast that treats a Herrscher as its master completely—this has never happened in the Previous Civilization." Cecilia looked thoughtfully at Bella, who was kneeling before Sirin in the distance.

"By the way, Theresa, you had direct contact with the Herrscher of Frost's main body using Judah earlier. Was there anything unusual?" The Divine Prayer Barrier, which should theoretically completely nullify Honkai Energy within a minute, had collapsed after only about half a minute. No one would believe that was normal.

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

The three exchanged glances and sighed helplessly. There was no doubt that the Herrscher of Frost's extra abilities beyond her authority also came from that mysterious energy. Schicksal had dealt with the Honkai for centuries, and now suddenly encountering an energy that wasn't 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 proposal was accepted by everyone. Sirin and Bella also stood by on standby. After all, until they found a way to break through its regenerative ability, attacking recklessly would only waste their strength.