Endurance

Looking back, the feeling of unease was the Herrscher she was looking for, and she was flying rapidly towards them now.

Angela no longer cared if she had marked her target and turned to run, while gathering her strength and beginning to teleport with practiced ease.

However, just as the flames meant for teleportation had spread across her entire body and she was about to escape, the flames seemed to be blown away, detaching from Angela and falling to the ground, disappearing in an instant.

Angela felt the threat of death in terror, and her only means of escape was ineffective. She could only muster her courage, gather her strength again, and borrow the authority of the Herrscher of Rock, attempting to control her movements and conceal the energy of the Herrscher of Flame to try and launch a surprise attack.

The idea was beautiful, but reality was cruel. As the restraining Herrscher charged forward, the power Angela had gathered immediately dissipated. She could initially use some quick moves, but when she was only tens of meters away, she could no longer gather her strength.

"What! This is impossible..."

Angela frantically tried to gather her strength multiple times, but to no avail. At that moment, she felt a gust of wind and Angela immediately looked up. The Herrscher had appeared before her at some unknown time, and they were now locked in a gaze.

Before Angela's mind could even process what was happening, she felt a powerful impact strike her abdomen, followed by a terrifying shockwave that spread out from her as the center. Pebbles on the ground were thrown up, dust and sand flew everywhere, and Angela was directly slammed into the ruins.

As the dust settled, Angela lay bleeding in the ruins, her lower leg pierced by a steel bar that had come from nowhere. She had completely lost all strength.

The Herrscher approached Angela and directly reached out a hand, grabbing her by the neck and lifting her up.

Angela's eyes were half-open as she weakly struggled, but it was of no use. She could only feel herself gradually fading.

At this moment, Angela felt utter despair and could only close her eyes, waiting for death to claim her.

Snap. The screen went black.

Huang Hao punched the black barrier, panting heavily, his face flushed red.

"Honkai! You *******, you!"

In space, Huang Hao cursed loudly, unleashing his power, but there was only boundless silence and his own echoes... and himself?

When he turned his head, the "Huang Hao" who had been playing chess with him appeared.

"What are you doing here!"

"To persuade you."

"What's there to persuade about this crap? Seeing the thing you love most destroyed before your eyes, how can you be okay with that!"

"I can."

"You!"

These words hit Huang Hao like a blow to cotton, making him feel extremely uncomfortable, yet a strange power calmed him down. He could only slump onto the ground (in mid-air) and point at "Huang Hao," indicating for him to speak.

"Before all of this, my heart was merely a drifting speck. All of this isn't important, and not everything is important. I believe..."

"Get to the point!"

Seeing Huang Hao's impatience, the other person shook his head helplessly and continued, "You just saw it. It originally didn't contain this kind of power, but the closer you get to it, the less you can use it. Isn't that strange?"

Huang Hao nodded in silence, indicating he wanted to hear more.

But the other person turned and said, "Don't you think this kind of behavior, aiding the enemy, is disgusting?"

Huang Hao: "Who are you talking about?"

At this moment, that familiar voice reappeared, the voice of Honkai: "You've finally shown up."

He slowly emerged from the darkness, and Huang Hao realized it was another person who looked exactly like him.

Huang Hao: "What the hell is going on?"

The calm Huang Hao said, "A reflection of the deceased, a part of your own inner self. You are yourself."

The Huang Hao belonging to Honkai said, "You are very calm, good at reasoning, but it's all useless. Everything has become the past, and we are the past. We should be in a cycle, experiencing all of this."

"Wait, let me sort this out. You, you say you are my inner self?"

The person nodded.

"You, are the Honkai Will?"

The person smiled.

"What does that mean?"

Huang Hao was on the verge of a breakdown and pointed at both of them, yelling: "One says he's my inner self, yet he appears out of nowhere. One is the Honkai Will and looks exactly like me. So why can't I get out? An'er is still outside!"

He then attacked them frantically, but it had no effect; his attacks passed right through.

The calm person said, "Everything I said is true. However, he is the Honkai Consciousness, but not just that."

Hearing this, Huang Hao felt a strange sensation that calmed him down, making him stop attacking and listen quietly.

"He, perhaps, was awakened by the power of the Herrscher of Flame that time, or perhaps the Herrscher of Rock. But when he was awakened is not important. What's important is that he is not Honkai either, he just wants to use a mistake to atone for past sins."

After he finished speaking, the other person retorted, "Hmph, perhaps you can't distinguish me from the Honkai Consciousness, nor do you understand me. With that kind of power, we can plunge the entire world into a cycle. Destruction is merely a new beginning. Then, people will still be happy and won't feel any of this. Isn't that good?"

As Huang Hao racked his brain, the two suddenly looked at him and said in unison, "The question is, what do you think?"

Huang Hao listened and had completely calmed down. He said coldly, "I cannot understand, nor do I need to. Perhaps neither of them did anything wrong, perhaps neither is wrong. But I don't want to think about it anymore. Now, we need an ending."

At this moment, one person slowly began to disappear. Huang Hao's tone became increasingly calm. Clearly, the calmest person was the first to vanish.

"It seems you have made a choice," said the Huang Hao belonging to Honkai.

"Yes, perhaps I can know what you want to do now. Now, is absolute rationality."