A Way to Find the Missionary

Iceland, Lake Tōning.

The surrounding area was cordoned off with yellow tape by mechanical soldiers. The corpses floating on the lake were swept away by the salvage boats, but the water birds that used to like to live and play here no longer appeared on this once clear, jewel-like lake.

Today, Lake Tōning appears empty and desolate.

Since this incident, most of the surviving residents in the vicinity have chosen to stay away.

The government understood that the missionaries were most likely no longer near Lake Tōning, or even had long since left Iceland, but this offered no solace to the unsuspecting residents. The inexplicable Honkai Energy vortex and the large number of corpses floating on the lake for unknown reasons were enough to instill a profound sense of dread.

Even knowing that the place has returned to safety, the gloom in one's heart is like a thick fog, difficult to dispel because of this environment that was once adjacent to death.

Choosing to leave is naturally the choice most people would make.

The boy stood silently there. After acquiring the ability to be immune to Honkai, the only role of Udu-dust was to serve as an extension of the [Stigmata] and an external Honkai Energy reserve.

As for the rest, the normal mode and the mode of using Udu-dust are no different.

Su Qing'an's journey from Australia to Iceland was very short, so short that it didn't even allow the intense, fiery passion within her to cool down in the slightest.

The message Mei sent was somewhat unexpected; he had never imagined that the Honkai Consciousness would deliberately use such despicable means in the process of selecting Herrscher body.

The fact that anyone chosen by the Honkai will inevitably become Herrscher is an unspoken reality that everyone understands.

To date, no one has been able to interrupt the process of being transformed into Herrscher. The best outcome a chosen one can achieve is to acquire the power of the Herrscher, disobey the Honkai's commands, and gain freedom.

This seemingly perfect outcome, where one gains power while maintaining their individuality, still carries the risk of being forcibly linked and having everything taken away at any time.

His desire to refuse to become an Apostle of Honkai from the very beginning, to reject any connection with authority in any sense, and thus to successfully prevent the Herrscherization, is a case that has never existed before in the long history of humankind.

But Himeko could have done that, or at the very least, had room to resist and not become a complete pawn of the Honkai.

But the missionaries failed to give her any hope of resistance. A trap was being set up against her silently, and by the time she realized it, everything... had already been settled.

The boy recalled the data he had retrieved from Prometheus, which contained information about Himeko's messages that had been interfered with and never sent.

He thought of it.

There is a kind of regret in this world called... something you could have done instinctively.

If Su Qing'an had gone to see Himeko during the days when she was suffering from this nightmare, he, with his ability to observe souls, would never have let her end up like this.

Su Qing'an could have saved Himeko's life, but in reality, during that long month, apart from numbly using the Black Abyss White Flower in conjunction with experiments and practicing with Kevin on how to assist in combat, he was simply lost in that gloomy flowerbed, watching the sunset of the past, unable to extricate himself.

Even with Fu Hua, during that period he would unconsciously overlook many things that he wouldn't have overlooked before.

The boy numbed his already collapsing self by reminiscing about the past and spacing out, but in doing so, he was unable to hold onto the remaining warmth around him.

No one will blame him.

Because everyone knows that he has already done enough.

But the one who can blame you the most is often not someone else, but yourself.

The boy, steeped in gentleness, could not forgive himself for being oblivious to it and only able to escape from it.

Perhaps everyone has moments like this, when you utterly loathe your own lack of resilience, strength, and knowledge, feeling regret and sorrow for that weakness and cowardice, yet still powerless to change it.

Some efforts and changes against the prevailing trend are meaningless, yet some people are unwilling to give up even knowing this.

Even if they receive no pity or luck in the end, they will not regret the despair and sorrow they experienced during the struggle itself.

Su Qing'an never regrets his choice to struggle until now; he only regrets that he could have done better and protected more of what he cherished.

Therefore... regarding the missionaries who caused this outcome.

For the first time, the boy understood hatred and anger in their truest sense. Unlike the emotions he had felt towards a void world and vast concepts before, this was a sorrow and frustration that could not be expressed to anything concrete, an emptiness and bewilderment that no amount of killing could cover up.

But this time the target was so precise and singular; the clearly visible enemy was right in front of him, and it seemed that as long as he eliminated it, he could hold a grand ceremony to Memorial Stele the deceased.

Even though that person's soul has vanished from the world, it can still offer some solace to the living.

Himeko's only family member had died before her eyes due to the missionary's scheming and her own negligence.

Therefore, he couldn't even take care of her family. Killing the enemy who murdered her and atoning for Himeko, who had become the Herrscher of Flames and destroyed Sydney, was one of the few things he could still do for her.

Killing the missionary would be a choice that simultaneously fulfills both of these goals.

Why come to Iceland?

There are, of course, reasons for this.

Su Qing'an was the first to guess that the missionaries would choose to come to Iceland. He couldn't possibly not understand that, given their cunning and personality, they would have already fled after committing several murders.

Finding each other in Iceland is impossible.

The enemy is bold and meticulous; even if they believe that humans cannot hold onto their shadows and clues to their crimes, they will immediately move to a new location after committing murder.

But the boy still yearned to find any clues in the areas where the other party had committed crimes.

Whether driven by an overwhelming surge of emotion or for other reasons, coming in person is the only option.

Missionaries are homeless, unattached, fearless, and ruthless thugs with no moral compass.

During the period when one is unable to control the other's pace, there will inevitably be other victims.

Because she understood the pain and sorrow of losing something important more deeply than anyone else, Su Qing'an was even more unwilling to let the missionaries take more lives.

The connections and destinies between people are so intertwined. The inseparable social relationships and mutual reliance of emotions determine that anyone killed by that monster, any one of the victims, will be an irreplaceable existence in someone's eyes.

Therefore, Su Qing'an could not tolerate the missionaries' actions.

He understood that at this stage, he was the only one who could recognize the missionary's presence.

The others, even those who have faced the other party directly, probably know nothing about this.

Lake Tōning, amidst the Honkai Energy from heaven and earth, was like plum wine boiling and churning in a pot of fire.

The creatures inside had already perished under the Honkai Energy vortex summoned by the missionaries, so this action of using the Void Sword Qi to sweep away the sand in a great wave only stirred up a large number of fish carcasses. Clear water droplets splashed up in the high sky, and the scattered light arcs formed a beautiful rainbow.

As the boy's eyes closed slightly, the Honkai Energy controlled by the Void Sword Qi was converted into a large amount of heat energy, evaporating all the filth and corpses into wisps of steam, restoring the lake to its original purity, but also making it even more desolate.

At the same time, the Honkai Energy left behind by the missionaries was forcibly extracted and slowly gathered in his palm, carried by the wind, and was forcibly condensed into a small piece of pitch-black crystal.

By borrowing the power of the Stigmata that Honkai immunity, Su Qing'an's current level of micro-management has far surpassed his original capabilities.

Honkai Energy may be indistinguishable to others, just a fog, but he can distinguish the different densities of water and oil, and perceive the subtle differences in the properties of Honkai Energy that anyone can control.

Su Qing'an's purpose in this trip was to traverse all the murder scenes the missionaries had visited, forcibly extracting the scattered fragments of Honkai Energy and gathering them into tools sufficient to serve as clues or even the opponent's fatal flaws.

This method has a time-sensitive operation.

Honkai Energy phenomena and Honkai Energy environments are things that interact and flow on their own. However, after a period of time, no matter how strong one's control over Honkai Energy is, it will be impossible to extract something that did not exist in the first place.

So when Mei gave him the message, Su Qing'an immediately traveled alone from Brisbane to distant Iceland.

In order to find out the other party's movements, every second counts.

The young man had to admit that his anger and loss of composure were key reasons for his swift and decisive actions.

Besides Himeko's death, the fact that Fu Hua, who had also visited the orphanage, had met with the missionary was also a major reason for the surge in anti-Assassination sentiment.

A rational analysis can reveal why the missionaries did not take action against Fu Hua or even Carole.

Su Qing'an, who once killed all of Yakarta's pieces in one fell swoop, must have already attracted the attention of the other side.

The missionary likely realized at that time that he possessed the ability to observe him, and therefore deliberately refrained from harming those close to him.

This was to avoid attracting Su Qing'an's attention prematurely, which could cause the plan to fail.

Indeed, even though Su Qing'an was in a very poor mental state, he still met with Fu Hua frequently. In fact, in this situation, their daily life was the only solace, and he had no reason to avoid them.

Therefore, once the missionaries tampered with it, it was impossible for him not to discover this fact.

But this also means that if it so desires, the girl's will may have already been distorted, turning her into a Honkai puppet.

Su Qing'an could not ignore this possibility. He glanced at the rice-grain-sized Honkai Crystal in his hand, his eyes dull and lifeless.

The best way to prevent danger from happening is to nip the crisis in the bud.

Whether it was to avenge Himeko and prevent further innocent victims, or to ensure Fu Hua's safety, the boy was determined to take matters into his own hands, forcibly overcoming his inner constraints to kill the missionary.

As for the price that needs to be paid, perhaps most of it has been dissolved in the flames of rage.

Su Qing'an had a vague idea in his mind that if the opponent he was going to fight was a missionary, the psychological pressure he would face would be far less than that of a normal opponent.

Hatred and anger are always the best antidote, enough to give even the most timid person extraordinary courage and drive.

Even when imprisoned, Su Qing'an still had the confidence that her emotions were enough to overcome her own flaws.

But that's all.

If psychological problems could be solved with such a reason, then Kevin wouldn't have been the only one to deal with the Herrscher of Flames in the first place.

Perhaps this opportunity will allow him to emerge from this predicament and resolve some of the lingering gloom.

The risks are great, and the road ahead is fraught with danger.

This is the reason why Su Qing'an chose to sever the Soul Link with Su Muxi.

For the young man, Udu-dust was an extremely important figure.

Once the other party develops self-awareness, its significance becomes entirely different.

This indirectly led to his inability to perceive his emotional breakdowns and low points as freely as before.

Whether he didn't want to cause worry or felt awkward, whether this gentleness was superfluous or not doesn't affect the choice he made.

Once Udu-dust fully develops self-awareness, it becomes impossible for him to regard it as an appendage or tool of himself.

However, the fact that the Little Feather had become a spirit was still not a bad thing for Su Qing'an.

Aside from having an additional person who was almost like family, the Soul Materialization itself also gave Su Qing'an a lot of inspiration.

Before the other party was born, Su Qing'an, who had been listening to the changes in the little girl's Mind Lake, understood many subtle and novel changes in the soul and micro-manipulation.

While it's not yet possible to develop new abilities and skills from this, it at least allows them to understand a completely new direction and future trends.

If one's abilities and skills in the realm of the soul were to advance further, perhaps by simply seizing the missionary's henchmen, one could use that soul fluctuation and aura of authority to hold onto the other's figure.

But now...

Su Qing'an walked through the interior of Hargreaves Cathedral, completely absorbing the remaining Honkai Energy. He gazed at the location of the last case, his eyes dark.

This soon-to-be-formed Honkai Energy Crystal is enough to pinpoint the opponent's precise location within a certain range.

After that, as long as the decoy operation is successfully carried out together with Mei, the missionary will no longer be able to escape as easily as before.

The enemy is cunning, highly vigilant, and possesses a strong ability to learn; they must be defeated in another battle.

Otherwise...

It's not surprising that missionaries who understand their own weaknesses might completely distort and suppress their desires, thus disappearing without a trace.