Honkai Energy Fission Bomb

February 10, 15:45

With the Herrscher of Ice's complete death, the ice fog over the entire Lake Baikal vanished without a trace within a minute, but the sky remained overcast as blue storm clouds spread outward at terrifying speed.

At that moment, Einstein piloted the Moonlight Throne Mech to the scene. As she had predicted, by the time she arrived, the battle was already over. She watched the dispersing storm clouds, her expression grave.

"This Herrscher's death throes released far more energy than an ordinary Herrscher. At this rate, once the rain falls, the entire Lake Baikal water system—the Irtysh River, Heilongjiang River, Ussuri River, even the Yellow River and the Ural River—will all be affected to varying degrees. In the worst case, because the rainwater's Honkai energy content severely exceeds safe levels, the soil along these waterways will become barren. People relying on these water sources will either contract Honkai Sickness or die outright."

Einstein's words might have been cursed, because no sooner had she finished speaking than scattered light rain began to fall over Lake Baikal, where the clouds were thickest. Cheng Lixue raised her right hand to catch a few drops and immediately understood that Einstein's warning was no exaggeration. For those like them with extremely high Honkai resistance, it was harmless, but for ordinary people—even being splashed, let alone drinking it—would spell disaster.

"Leader, I think we could try using the Moonlight Throne to—" Einstein didn't finish before Cecilia cut her off.

"Doctor, no need for such trouble. I have a way to resolve this, but... but I need everyone to keep their distance. Please, Mr. Welt and Doctor, make sure Siegfried and Lixue are taken to safety."

"Take care, madam." Welt didn't know what method she had in mind, but the past few days of fighting side by side had shown him that Cecilia was both powerful and deeply responsible. On such a serious matter, there was no reason for her to deceive them.

Cheng Lixue caught a flicker of sorrow on Cecilia's face and found it strange, but as a cripple, she could do nothing useful here. She picked up her severed left arm and prepared to leave with the Anti-Entropy personnel.

"Hey, where's Kira?" She looked around. On the empty expanse of Lake Baikal, aside from the few of them, only Nicholas's relatively intact body and her weapon, Crimson Whisper, remained.

"Leader, and the Schicksal members—when the Herrscher fired that beam of light into the sky, Miss Shigure Kira suddenly exhibited strange reactions. According to calculations... her current location is not within the Eigenworld," Tesla said, puzzled.

Not within the Eigenworld—that meant she was either in Imaginary Space or the Sea of Quanta. They could only investigate further once everything was over.

Seeing Cheng Lixue's troubled expression, Welt constructed a robot to pick up Siegfried, Nicholas's body, and Crimson Whisper. Cheng Lixue bowed and followed the Anti-Entropy personnel away.

A few minutes later, after confirming they were far enough, Cecilia looked at the dense clouds and took a deep breath.

"Theresa, from now on, Kiana and Siegfried will be your responsibility. Leaving the duty of raising children to others—I really am an unworthy mother."

"Sirin, I'm sorry. I still lied to you. What Schicksal did to you is its sin. I have no right to forgive on your behalf. But please believe me—not everyone in Schicksal is evil. At least the Valkyries who fought for the beauty of this world, unaware of the experiments, are definitely not bad people."

"I hope you find someone who truly loves you like a mother. Ich liebe dich."

Cecilia hesitated no longer. She raised Black Abyss White Flower and slashed her wrist. Blood flowed slowly, gradually enveloping the lance.

"Sacred Blood Liberation."

Cecilia lifted Black Abyss White Flower high and shot her blood into the storm clouds. As the Sania's Sacred Blood merged, the clouds gradually dispersed, and warm sunlight once again spilled down over Lake Baikal.

In a small town in Siberia, after a rain, every resident collapsed to the ground, their skin petrified like stone.

"Natasha... run..."

On the grass, a golden-haired little boy used his last strength to shout to his younger sister.

Little Natasha watched her brother's agonized expression, tears streaming down her face.

From the sky, countless Cecilia flowers stained with Sania's Sacred Blood drifted down slowly. One landed on his shoulder.

The abnormal symptoms on his body receded like a tide. The Honkai energy inside him vanished. He stared at his own hands over and over, his eyes full of disbelief.

Though the sky had cleared, Cecilia's expression was grim. Because in the sky, several Honkai Energy Fission Bombs were hurtling toward her at high speed, their target unmistakably herself. She knew very well that few people could do this.

If it were the Herrscher of Corruption, wanting to eliminate her, there would be no need for such an elaborate scheme—just standing by during the battle with the Herrscher of Ice would have sufficed.

So the only one with both the capability and the motive was Otto himself.

"If the Lord Bishop wanted me dead, he could have just waited for my blood to run dry. Why fire fission bombs at my position... With this many, his target is...?!"

Just as the fission bombs were a hundred meters from Cecilia, a figure with purple hair and golden eyes appeared before her.

Without a word, Sirin threw both her and Black Abyss White Flower into a portal.

"Get her to safety—no matter what!"

Having just recovered and with nearly all her focus on protecting Cecilia, Sirin couldn't teleport all the Honkai Energy Fission Bombs into Imaginary Space in time.

Of course, she had another option: ignore Cecilia and teleport all the bombs away. But her past experience had taught her that her Honkai energy was limited. She didn't know if whoever wanted Cecilia dead would launch a second wave of missiles. Sending Cecilia away was the safest choice.

"Boom!" With the explosion of the Honkai Energy Fission Bombs, the ice on Lake Baikal cracked, and Sirin fell into the freezing water.

"So cold... Am I... about to leave this world...?"

Loneliness and despair engulfed her. She felt herself sinking into an endless abyss, and in her haze, she even seemed to see her mother's figure.

"Queen, no!"

"In my home from now on, there will be a room for you."

Sirin felt as if two hands were pulling at her, trying to drag her back from the abyss.

In the icy lake water, Sirin seemed to regain warmth. She opened her eyes.

"Yes... Mom is still waiting for me. I can't fall here!"

"Besides... if I fall here... Bella, she would be so sad..."

With that thought, Sirin felt strength return to her. She struggled with all her might, swimming upward.

February 10, 16:15

Barely alive, Sirin crawled out of the freezing lake water. At that moment, she failed to notice the yellow-haired, blue-eyed man beside her, nor the feather that landed on her head.

"Heh, truly worthy of a Herrscher with four cores—surviving dozens of Honkai Energy Fission Bombs at point-blank range unscathed. But that's exactly what makes you worth studying."

In the distance, thunder and lightning clashed violently.

"Oh, her familiar has arrived. Since the Anti-Entropy folks are so enthusiastic, I'll leave the Judgment-class Honkai Beast to you. You just left, and her Queen was attacked at that very spot, then vanished without a trace. Quite a self-consistent story, isn't it? Hehe."

"Amber, send a team immediately to retrieve the Herrscher of Ice's remains."

Ending the communication, Otto pulled Sirin, trapped in an illusion by the simulated Feather Dust, and quietly slipped away from the battlefield.