Chapter 282

Beyond the celestial canopy lies a world far larger than Earth, a vast expanse of unmarked stars, to which Earth is but a grain of sand in the Ganges.

"But thinking about it, it makes sense. Honkai, Herrscher, the Finality —it's ultimately just a description of the current state of affairs by humanity. It's just speculation, not the essence of things."

"Don't say that, Mei. At least I've confirmed for you that the so-called will of God is nothing but people's imagination."

"The god who governs the Herrscher does not exist, at least not in me; the consciousness those believers speak of does not exist."

In the darkness, all Elysia sensed was chaos, like a cocoon waiting to be reborn.

The video ends here.

Bronya: "?!!"

Theresa: "?!!"

Raiden Mei: "Elysia, what do you mean by that?!"

I was kept in the dark and didn't know anything until I found out, and I was shocked!

Originally, everyone just wanted to watch the final moments of Elysia's life, pray for her unfortunate fate, and marvel at her great will.

But then suddenly another huge bombshell dropped!!!

Bronya: "That doesn't make sense. Elysia wouldn't lie. But we clearly saw it. The individual that Sister Mei touched before, wasn't she Honkai Consciousness?"

Raiden Mei: "Don't ask me, my mind is just blank right now."

This feeling is like when you get a math problem wrong, and you can't sleep at night, repeatedly going over the answer and trying to organize your thoughts, not sleeping for several days.

When you finally solve the problem, your scratch paper has filled an entire trash can, only to be told by your tutor that the standard answer was wrong from the start.

They didn't believe in the existence of Will of Honkai from the beginning, until the Herrscher's special abilities and the enormous effort humanity put in, finally revealed the truth behind it all.

It even confirms the existence of the Will of Honkai.

But now they believe it, that the Honkai Consciousness truly exists. Then, the Elysia tells them that the Honkai Consciousness doesn't exist at all.

Everyone felt that their hard-won worldview was starting to crumble again.

Welt: "That's unscientific. It doesn't make sense. If Honkai Consciousness doesn't exist, then what are the entities that Raiden Mei saw?"

Durandal: "The Previous Era did not have Will of Honkai, but it had Herrscher of Humanity; the Current Era did not have Herrscher of Humanity, but it had Honkai Consciousness... No!"

There is no cause and effect between these two things; the differences between the two eras were rejected by Durandal from the very beginning.

The Herrscher of the Current Era were able to regain their humanity only because of Elysia's sacrifice.

Therefore, the two civilizations are similar, even identical!

This forced denial of difference is nothing but self-deception; the truth behind it must be far more complex!

Kiana: "Wait! I suddenly remembered, didn't Elysia always try to stop us from uncovering the truth? She said it would reveal a series of horrific facts. Could this be the reason?"

Elysia: "Uh, well, how should I put it..."

Elysia felt a lot of pressure.

From the moment her identity as a born Herrscher was revealed, she knew that if she delved deeper, many things that could not be revealed would inevitably be exposed to the light of day.

Previously, they could swallow things whole and subtly divert everyone's attention to her.

Now that the truth that the Honkai Consciousness doesn't exist has been exposed, it's impossible for her to keep up the lie.

Raiden Mei: "Elysia, even now, you still won't tell us?"

Elysia: "Ahem, Mei, actually, I really wanted to tell you this, but you have to understand my predicament."

Elysia sighed, her mind reeling.

I can't say anything about the Will of Honkai; I really can't say anything about it!

Kevin: "It's no use. This is not something you should be aware of."

Chapter 359 What is the essence of Honkai?

Kevin spoke, his icy aura filling the entire Chat Group, carrying an astonishing, unyielding force that instantly brought the previously noisy atmosphere to a freezing point.

Raven: "Your Majesty is as terrifying as ever. Since you've spoken, I'll suppress my curiosity."

The Herrscher of Reason: "Tsk, it's so cold! What's going on? Wasn't Kevin in the Sea of Quanta?"

Bronya: "I feel cold too."

That's strange, they didn't turn on the air conditioning either.

A chill ran through her, Bronya would never admit that she was sweating from fear because of Kevin.

Kiana: "If you won't let us ask Elysia, can't we at least talk to our own people? Class monitor, can you tell us the truth?"

In an instant, everyone turned to look at Fu Hua, especially Kiana, whose eyes were practically sparkling with excitement.

This is a huge secret! It's not just a secret from the Previous Era; it also involves the Will of Honkai on their side!

Without saying a word, Elysia went straight to the class monitor, making Kiana think she was incredibly clever!

Fu Hua: "Uh, although I've regained most of my memories and remembered what happened before, there's something else I really don't know."

The Immortal Crimson Bird stated that she was just an ordinary A-rank Valkyrie and knew nothing else.

The Will of Honkai and the Stigmata Project Fenghuang Down!

Kevin: "Stop your curiosity. Knowing the truth comes at a price, and you're not yet able to bear it!"

Bronya: "Is it really that exaggerated?"

First of all, Bronya solemnly stated that she was absolutely not intimidated.

However, the scope of this matter seems to have gone way too far. The first thing to be dragged out is the Will of Honkai, and who knows what other monsters and demons might be involved later.

Gray Serpent: "Your Excellency is right. Even the will of Honkai, the so-called [god], is nothing but a false creation, a witch's veil, far inferior to the authority of the Imaginary."

Gray Serpent: "Then, isn't it obvious what kind of great truth, what terrifying truth, lies hidden behind the mask?"

Kiana: "..."

The atmosphere became tense and frozen.

Kiana considered herself very bold, even lawless, but just now, her heart skipped a beat.

I have a feeling that if I investigate any further, I might get into serious trouble, or even lose my life.

Himeko Murata: "It's unreasonable to reveal the truth about the Will of Honkai, a truth that requires the efforts and even sacrifices of countless people, just by asking them about it."

Bronya: "How about... we talk another day?"

Theresa: "Ahem, Bronya is absolutely right. Let's talk another day, another day."

Kiana: "Next time for sure, next time for sure."

At that moment, the crowd, who had been filled with curiosity just moments before, instantly reached a consensus.

Elysia: "It's so great that everyone understands."

Elysia breathed a sigh of relief.

Having a secret in your heart, and others asking out of curiosity, even though you could blurt it out, but having to keep it a secret for various reasons, that kind of experience is truly agonizing.

[Q&A begins.]

[Elysia once used her privileges to explore the truth of the Honkai for humanity. It was neither a judgment nor a trial. What, then, is the essence of the Honkai?]

[Quick Answer Question]

Elysia: "..."

Just as she was catching her breath and trying to calm herself down, Elysia suddenly felt a sinking feeling in her heart, and her good mood plummeted to rock bottom.

You can't play games like this!

Kiana: "Don't look at me, this has nothing to do with us. We've really put away our curiosity."

Theresa: "Yeah, yeah, we're really not curious at all!"

Himeko Murata: "Theresa, you'd better take off your smile before you say that."

Teacher Himeko rolled her eyes at Theresa, clearly annoyed.

Aren't you curious yet?

The expression on your face betrayed you long ago; that gleeful look was just short of popping open a bottle of champagne to celebrate and throwing a party with everyone from the St. Freya Academy!

Pardofelis: "Sister Elysia, why don't you just tell me? We actually want to know too."

Elysia: "Hmm... I looked at the question again carefully. It asks about the essence of Honkai, not Honkai Consciousness."

There's nothing wrong with saying this.

In any case, given the established facts, judgment, trials, and even embraces are merely human descriptions of the Honkai.

This answer won't make any difference.

Durandal: "The essence of Honkai and Honkai Consciousness? Miss Elysia, do you mean there's no connection between the two?"

Elysia's sudden change in attitude allowed the observant Valkyrie to immediately grasp the fleeting clue.

Honkai, the Will of Honkai, the Herrscher... these three should be interconnected and mutually supportive.

Judging from Elysia's tone, the existence of Honkai Consciousness is a secret that cannot be spoken, rather than the essence of Honkai.

Strange, Durandal found it very strange!

Elysia: "Uh... cough cough, everyone, please don't get excited. Let me reveal the true nature of the Honkai now, and put everything else aside for now."

Elysia: "The so-called Honkai is neither a trial nor a judgment, but simply an embrace."

[Correct answer.]

[Congratulations to Elysia for receiving the reward: Life Coin.]

Theresa: "?!!"

Durandal: "An embrace?!!"

If the system hadn't made the correct judgment, the Valkyrie might have even suspected that Elysia was lying to them.

The existence of Honkai has cost humanity dearly; the birth of each Herrscher is accompanied by the rampage of massive amounts of Honkai Energy.

Regardless of whether the Herrscher are willing to destroy humanity, the mere fact that humans have been corrupted by Honkai Energy and turned into Honkai zombie, as well as the Honkai Beast, are natural disasters for humanity.

After such a terrible disaster, Elysia actually said it was just a hug?!

Elysia: "Yes, I don't like that answer either. This little hug is just too painful for a human."

Elysia: "But so-called civilization, like the humans who constitute it, will eventually bid farewell to childhood, experience setbacks and growth. That is the price that a person and a civilization must pay."

Elysia: "The starry sky is so vast, Earth is but a grain of sand, or even smaller. Our proud civilization is nothing more than a firefly under the sun, unable to see a glimmer of light."

Elysia: "Even so, civilization must venture into the stars; only by knowing fear can we overcome it."

After saying all that, Elysia only wants to express one point.

The Honkai is merely a necessary obstacle to overcome in the process of human civilization's development and its journey towards the stars.

Chapter 460 The Endless Starry Sky is Humanity's Future

Elysia's words fell silent in the Chat Group as everyone pondered the plausibility of her statement and the true nature of the Honkai.

What does Honkai mean for humanity?

Durandal: "In conclusion, the Honkai are enemies of human civilization, but they do not exist to destroy humanity?"

Bronya: "Or even more audaciously, could the Honkai be a benevolent act from the macrocosm towards human civilization? Bronya was momentarily dazed."

This feeling is like all the knowledge I've gained over the past decade has been wasted.

Fortunately, recently, some incredibly shocking secrets have been revealed about Elysia, shattering their worldviews more than once.

You just get used to things.

Welt: "Wait! If that's the case, it also explains why Honkai Consciousness doesn't exist, since it's a natural phenomenon."

Welt: "Like the Ice Age and planetary collisions with Earth, which are based on realistic assumptions, Honkai, as a natural phenomenon, objectively exists here."

Welt: "Whether it's an ice age or a planetary collision, if humanity cannot overcome them before they arrive, the outcome will be the destruction of civilization, and everything will return to the beginning."