Sirin's Recollections

February 3, 2000

"How... could this be." Theresa stared at Patrick's corpse, her body trembling uncontrollably. She never imagined that just yesterday they had been carrying out a mission together, and today they were separated forever by life and death.

"Lady Theresa, the intelligence unit has already begun investigating the surrounding area, but it will take some time to find any leads. Headquarters has dispatched new reinforcements; they will arrive shortly. Lady Theresa, please wait a little longer."

Theresa listened to her words, then looked again at the wounds on Patrick's body. Her heart still could not find peace.

"Lady Theresa, this is bad! A large number of Honkai Beasts have suddenly appeared in the snowdrifts. Rough estimates put them at over five hundred. The defensive facilities at Babylon Tower alone won't be able to hold them off!"

Faced with this sudden crisis, Theresa knew this was no time for grief.

"Don't panic. Leave these Honkai Beasts to me..."

Suddenly, a familiar, hearty voice came through the communicator.

"No need, Theresa. Stay in the tower and command. We'll handle these guys."

On the snowy plains outside Babylon Tower, Siegfried stood before over five hundred Honkai Beasts, dual guns raised high, his face showing no fear. Behind him were two A-rank Valkyries: Salome Jokanan and Shub Nicholas.

"Weaklings like these, even gathered together, are still nothing!" Nicholas, with her red hair and cyan eyes, charged ahead, sweeping forward with Crimson Whisper. A single strike took down two Chariot-class Honkai Beasts. Under Theresa's command, the three fought with increasing ferocity, and the number of Honkai Beasts dwindled rapidly.

Not far from the battlefield, a certain Lobster-head Doctor watched the three and shook his head helplessly.

"These fools from Schicksal... aren't they completely tied up here? [She] should be absorbing the Honkai Energy inside the tower right about now."

Meanwhile, inside Babylon Tower.

"Haha, I can feel the power flowing into my body endlessly ☆!"

Sirin greedily absorbed the Honkai Energy within the tower, dancing excitedly. As one of the few Herrschers who understood how to absorb Honkai Energy to gradually develop, her actions brought great relief to Enoshia, who stood nearby.

"With such a good opportunity, aren't you going to absorb any?" Sirin turned her head to look at Enoshia, who stood beside her without making a move.

"It's not that I don't want to, it's that I can't. If I also absorbed a large amount of Honkai Energy, Schicksal would immediately detect two Herrscher reactions. It's not yet time for me to reveal myself... What's wrong?"

Sirin suddenly froze in place, then pointed in a direction.

"I can feel it. There's something over there waiting for me to come." After speaking, Sirin opened a portal. Enoshia seized the opportunity and followed her through.

Seventeen kilometers outside Babylon Tower.

"Huff... huff..." Sirin sat on the ground, gasping for breath. Having teleported such a long distance for the first time, she felt as if all her strength had drained away.

"It seems what's calling to you is this thing." Before the two of them lay what appeared to be a massive egg, its surface shimmering with a blue luster. Enoshia knew that in the original timeline, Sirin became the true Herrscher of Void right here. But in this time and space, where the Will of Honkai might not exist, could she still succeed?

After Sirin stepped inside the egg, Enoshia followed. What met her eyes was Sirin beside a hospital bed, watching in despair as her mother passed away, wailing alone beside her.

Then, Schicksal took her in. Inside Babylon Tower, a researcher told her to "help with a small favor." Without thinking much, Sirin raised her arm and let the syringe inject Honkai Energy into her body. Immediately, a piercing pain spread through her entire being.

"Ah... it hurts! It hurts!!!" Sirin collapsed to the ground, clutching her head, curling up as her body convulsed. The endless agony consumed all her consciousness, carving deep bloody scars into her memories. Tears kept streaming from her eyes, blurring her vision. Wave after wave of searing pain struck more violently, every cell in her body wailing, trembling, struggling for release. Faced with her suffering, the researcher only showed a cold expression and muttered in dissatisfaction.

"Tch, this experimental subject is useless too? What a waste." After sneering at Sirin, he strode away.

"It hurts!"

"It hurts."

"It hurts..."

Sirin's voice grew weaker, shifting from furious howls to despairing sobs.

"These bastards, they all deserve to die!!!" Having witnessed Sirin's firsthand experience, Enoshia could no longer feel any sympathy for Schicksal. Even if Schicksal were destroyed by her, it would be entirely their own fault.

The scene before her shifted. Sirin went from the cell to the snowy plains. The snow fell heavily, and she stood murmuring to herself before a snowdrift—the graves of her friends. Through countless days and nights of torment, these battered souls had only been able to find brief comfort by huddling together. Now, of those who once embraced, only Sirin remained.

The Siberian snowfields were bitterly cold. Sirin, thinly dressed, was at risk of freezing at any moment, but she still stood there, bidding a final farewell to the friends she had known for so short a time.

"Bella, Aurora, Agatha, rest well."

Yet even this final farewell was brutally interrupted by a researcher from behind.

"Hey, are those rejects taken care of? Hurry up and get back to the experiment. I don't want to waste any more time on this trash!"

Colder than the Siberian wind was the cold, heartless human spirit.

Forcibly dragged away, Sirin used all her strength to look back at the graves growing farther and farther away. The tears had barely left her eyes before they froze into ice in the biting wind. Frozen along with her tears was her heart. From that moment on, she held no hope for humanity. Revenge against Schicksal became the sole meaning of her remaining life.

"Drip." The sound of a droplet falling rang out. The entire space twisted, and in just a few seconds, the Sirin before Enoshia had changed.

X-shaped patterns appeared in her pupils. She wore a form-fitting dress shaped from Honkai Energy—a white dress, overlaid with a purple skirt, golden patterns within the hem. Barefoot, both legs wrapped in purple bandages, a purple polygonal anklet on her right ankle, and a feather ornament in her hair. The Herrscher of Void, Sirin, had fully awakened.

"I want revenge! Not a single one of those Schicksal bastards gets to live ☆!" Sirin had clearly also experienced the memories just now. Her eyes blazed with fury, as if they could spit fire.

Seeing her like this, and having just witnessed her memories, Enoshia felt only heartache. She stepped forward and embraced her.

Feeling the warmth radiating from her, Sirin froze.

"You... why..."

"Don't let hatred cloud your mind." After a few seconds of hesitation, Enoshia finally spoke these words.

"Are you trying to stop me from taking revenge?"

Enoshia gently shook her head.

"Not at all. A debt has its debtor. There's nothing wrong with you wanting revenge against Schicksal. But revenge shouldn't be your everything. Now that you have power, you can do other things you want to do."

"Things I want to do... Hm?" A mosquito-sized Honkai Beast interrupted Sirin's contemplation. It told her that several very powerful people were moving toward her at high speed.

Enoshia understood. Theresa must have used Judgement of Thunder to track them here. Perhaps because the Will of Honkai wasn't influencing things, Sirin's awakening had taken much less time than in the original timeline.

"Hmph, I'll think about it after I deal with these annoying pests first." Sirin gently pushed Enoshia away, then used the Herrscher of Void's power and vanished from the spot.

"To help Sirin, and to end the Second Honkai Outbreak sooner, I should take some real action too." Enoshia muttered to herself, then quickly left the area. Re-entering the network without any hesitation, she sped toward Schicksal HQ.