Honkai, I Alone Save Everything

Ruling Schicksal was merely a necessary step to achieve this goal.

Fighting Honkai was also just to ensure the Herrschers could be captured at the earliest opportunity.

"...So, that's how you spent five hundred years, eliminating everyone and everything that could possibly threaten Schicksal's rule."

Ming Yu said in a low voice.

The people of Anti-Entropy and Siegfried Kaslana were definitely not the only two examples.

During Otto's five hundred years of ruling Schicksal, the number of "threats" he personally strangled in the cradle was probably countless.

A complete and utter... dictator.

Ming Yu sighed and said:

"I really do hate you."

"I feel the same way."

Otto smiled and nodded, continuing:

"Through this observation, I've become certain that you are the type of person I cannot control."

He wasn't a demon king idly waiting in his castle for a hero to challenge him, so naturally, he would eliminate threats at their source.

The best option was to kill Ming Yu while he was still weak enough.

"I don't like things or people that are beyond my control, so... you're going to die here."

Otto reached out and tapped a few keys on a virtual panel beside him.

Instantly, countless lights appeared in the sky. These were multiple Honkai Fission Bombs, just like the missile they had just destroyed together.

After all, this was a virtual world constructed from a database. Here, Otto, with all the permissions, was an omnipotent god.

"You no longer have the ability to exit this virtual scenario, and as long as you die here... your spirit will be annihilated along with it."

Otto said with a low laugh.

Using his authority as the Bishop of Schicksal, he had completely sealed Ming Yu's ability to exit this virtual space.

And dying in a virtual space meant becoming a living vegetable.

Afterward, Theresa could just be placated with reasons like an accident.

He considered it a foolproof plan, one that would eliminate Ming Yu with 100% certainty, regardless of any abilities he had yet to reveal.

"As one of my few acts of mercy, I will specially allow you... to bid farewell to that false Herrscher before you die."

Chapter 43: A Blessing Beyond Time

As Otto's words fell, his figure gradually faded. Everything around them returned from a state of stillness, and time began to flow again.

Seemingly believing Ming Yu was doomed, the real Otto no longer paid attention to this data space that would soon be completely destroyed.

The destructive light from the sky was blindingly brilliant. While everyone had worked together to deal with one Honkai Fission Bomb earlier, now there were countless more filling the sky.

This quantity of Honkai Fission Bombs was enough to obliterate everything in this city dozens of times over.

However, the people on the shore seemed oblivious to this, still cheering for having overcome Otto's final trump card.

—Well, everyone except Joyce.

Ming Yu felt no fear towards his impending death. He walked over to Joyce's side.

"Joyce, you—"

He asked hesitantly.

"Mm, I know. Everything here is just an illusion. I... we are just pure data, aren't we?"

Joyce nodded, then smiled faintly.

"I don't even remember when I awakened. I've been reliving this same month over and over, repeating the journey with Einstein and Tesla to find the Star of Eden, repeating all of this..."

Like an actor in a play, he had to follow the role he was meant to play.

Of course, for him, it wasn't a bad thing. This month of living as a human was the most precious and important period in his short three-year life.

Every ending was more or less the same: Leanna would rush into the sky to die to destroy the Honkai Fission Bomb, he would sacrifice himself to deploy a shield to protect the entire city, and then he would pass the Herrscher core to his young child Joachim, ushering in a new cycle.

Only this time, an unexpected figure had appeared: Ming Yu.

Although there was no concrete evidence, Joyce guessed that everything around him was created by that man, Otto—only he, who knew the entire truth, could possibly create such a realistic virtual world.

Therefore, he hadn't shown any abnormality throughout their journey. Otherwise, it would be bad if that man, who might be observing from behind the scenes, discovered it.

Just like countless previous cycles, he would awaken at the appropriate time, engage Otto in battle at the appropriate time, and inevitably face death, only to start over.

It was just that this time, with Ming Yu's help, he had, in a sense, achieved an outcome that he couldn't in the past.

Now that the play was reaching its end, he no longer needed to hide anything.

"Ming Yu, you're from the future... right?"

The blue-haired youth asked with a low chuckle.

"From your perspective, that's correct. I'm from about fifty years in the future."

Ming Yu nodded.

The current year was 2014, but the day he was experiencing here with Joyce and the others was in 1955.

"Fifty years..."

Joyce sighed.

To him, it was a rather unfamiliar number. After all, he had only existed for three years, from his birth to his annihilation.

He then asked with concern, "How are Einstein and Tesla in reality? I remember they were affected by the Abyss Flower, so their lifespans should have increased significantly."

"...After you sacrificed yourself, they, along with the entire North American Branch, defected from Schicksal and formed an organization called Anti-Entropy. They are still active in the world."

Ming Yu told the man before him everything he knew.

Thanks to the blessing of the Abyss Flower, the bodies of those two scientists had transcended ordinary people, becoming eternally youthful.

Of course, there was also the evolution and growth of Anti-Entropy, and the story of the second Herrscher of Reason, Welt Yang.

Overall, although there were scuttling insects like Cocolia, Anti-Entropy as a whole was still active in accordance with Joyce's dream.

"Is that so? That's good..."

Upon hearing this news, Joyce, for the first time in a long while, showed a smile.

Knowing that his friends were still active and had not been killed by Schicksal brought him some relief.

Then, he looked up at the sky again, watching the approaching Honkai Fission Bombs, and said, "Even though death is imminent, you don't seem afraid."

As mere data, he had no reason to fear or shrink from the impending death. However, the young man beside him was different.

He didn't belong here... and he shouldn't die here.

"...I do have a way to reverse all of this."

Ming Yu nodded and said.

By using rewind, he could erase this future that Otto had noticed and eliminated, returning to before he entered Schicksal's database and avoiding this fatal future.

In this way, it wouldn't be difficult to avoid being noticed by Otto right now.

Of course, if he did this, the experiences he had shared with these veterans of Anti-Entropy would become memories that only he remembered.

"Then let's do that. After all, compared to us, who have no hope left, you still have to keep moving forward."

Joyce said honestly, "Although I told Dr. Schrödinger that I would go on to realize several better possibilities in the future, I actually knew in my heart that both the real me in history and this current false me had no future left."

As mere data, he could no longer fulfill the words he had once spoken.

"...But you still have hope to do something, so go on with my blessing."

Joyce patted Ming Yu on the shoulder.

"I will."

Ming Yu nodded.

He had been acting towards this goal all along.

The multiple Honkai Fission Bombs were already very close. Joyce took a couple of steps back, raised his hand, and made a goodbye gesture to Ming Yu.

Ming Yu took one last deep look at the man with deep blue hair before him and finally said to him, "...Goodbye, Welt Joyce."

Time, rewind.

After entering St. Freya Academy, he activated this ability once again to avoid death, something he hadn't done in a long time.

Everything he had experienced from entering Schicksal's database until now would become a mere, non-existent memory.

However, some things could transcend time.

As everything around him rewound and dissipated, a warm current flowed into his body.

"..."

He understood that this was a blessing from Welt Joyce.

"This is..."

Just like his ability to control electromagnetism, the power brought by the gift from this Herrscher of Reason was clearly displayed in his mind –

[Projection Magic].

Chapter 44: Projection Magic

The so-called [Projection Magic]...

A special power originating from a certain "hero for justice," it was a magic that materialized mirror images or imitation substances of objects that existed or had existed in reality.

In a way, it was remarkably similar to the Herrscher of Reason's ability to construct things from nothing.

Because it was formed from energy, it couldn't be materialized for an extended period and could only be used immediately after projection, which was a slight disadvantage.

Of course, both the power required to control electromagnetism and the energy for these projected illusions could be converted from Honkai energy to cover the necessary consumption.

Well, perhaps this was what they called "Honkai energy can do anything."

This gift from Joyce was indeed an unexpected one for Ming Yu, but since he had received it, he would make good use of it from now on.

—He had known for a long time that helping Joyce and the others in that virtual world carried certain risks. As expected, Otto, who had been observing, made a move to completely erase him.

However, with the ability to rewind, the Schicksal Bishop's plan was bound to fail, leaving him with nothing.

If anything, it allowed him to obtain some very important intelligence—that Schicksal Bishop was overly cautious about any unexpected factors that might interfere with his plan to revive Kallen.

Welt Joyce from fifty years ago, Siegfried Kaslana from fourteen years ago…

He would eliminate anything and anyone he couldn't control.

Of course, even with Schicksal's authority and power, there were still things this Schicksal Bishop couldn't accomplish. The future wouldn't always unfold as he expected.

He was indeed very intelligent and skilled at scheming, but he wasn't omnipotent.

Whether it was the establishment and growth of Anti-Entropy, or Mr. Siegfried, he couldn't eliminate these unstable factors as he had hoped.

Well, this time, he counted himself among them.