Pardofelis: "Understood, Sister Elysia!"
With someone pointing out the clear path, Pardo hurriedly jumped up and did a flip, using her tail like a cat to keep her balance as she landed steadily on the ground.
Of course, her tail was pointing upward.
Pardofelis: "Up means Su. I choose A!"
...Correct answer.
Pardofelis: "Wow, I survived! I finally survived! Thank you, Sister Elysia."
Raiden Mei: "No way, she guessed that right? Elysia, you did that on purpose, didn't you?"
Elysia: "Nope. I merely gave the answer I thought was most likely. There was no absolute information. Whether it was Su or Pardo's tail pointing upward, they were only the most likely possibilities."
Pardofelis: "Who cares? I got it right! Let me see the reward already. Reward, reward!"
Congratulations to Pardofelis for obtaining the item: Invisibility Cloak.
Description: Enter stealth mode after use. It can even deceive the perceptions of others to a certain extent. Truly an essential tool for going out, staying home, and traveling.
Pardofelis: "An Invisibility Cloak? It's practically tailor-made for me! I love you to death!"
Kiana: "Looks like Pardo has opened the door to a whole new world."
Raiden Mei: "It's fine. She can't get over to our side anyway. Otherwise, I'd have a huge headache if the ingredients in the fridge disappeared tomorrow."
Theresa: "If you leave the refrigerator door open, cats do indeed like rummaging through it."
Pardofelis: "Hehe, Canned Food, I'm taking you to pull off something big. Forget Amo—even Sister Apponia..."
Well, Apponia seemed a bit more difficult. She might predict her moves in advance, considering she could see the future.
Not someone she could afford to provoke. Definitely not.
While Pardofelis fiddled with her new toy, the two people on the screen drew everyone's attention.
On the screen, a silver-haired man was sorting through data when his old friend suddenly barged in.
"Su, why are you here? You should be carrying out the Hengsha Project," Kevin asked.
"Kevin, I need to speak with you. I saw that the villagers in the shelter village had all turned into zombies, and I found CYP-630 in the well water."
Su held up a test tube containing the solution capable of turning humans into monsters.
It was also the true culprit behind the villagers becoming Honkai Beasts.
"Yes. That village was one of the designated sites for carrying out the Stigmata Project. Anyone unable to control the power of the stigmata would turn into a zombie."
"According to my calculations, fewer than one in a thousand people have a chance of awakening to the first stage. Unfortunately, they will develop rejection reactions with the stigmata."
Kevin displayed his recent research data without any intention of concealing it.
It showed that after a rejection reaction occurred, the subject would enter the second stage. Yet even now, Kevin had not found a single Stigmata Awakener.
"You're saying you released CYP-630 across the entire island?"
Cold sweat slid down Su's cheek as he felt unfamiliarity toward the Kevin before him for the first time.
"Yes. In order to obtain experimental results, it was necessary." Kevin nodded. "By the way, did you find any Stigmata Awakeners? They are important test subjects and should undergo a series of changes."
"..."
Su recalled the tragedies he had witnessed in the village over the past few days. He clenched his fists, then silently loosened them again.
"No. It was a village of fewer than a hundred people. Everyone there became zombies."
"I came to you because I observed a very interesting Parallel World. I think it holds great reference value for us, and I hope you'll take a look as well."
These were all lies. He only wanted to create an opportunity to have a proper talk with Kevin.
"I understand. Go back first. I'll come find you later."
Without a second thought, Kevin accepted Su's invitation, then lowered his head and returned to the experimental data in his hands.
Kiana: "That bastard! He used an entire island of people for experiments. How could he possibly bring himself to do that?!"
Hua: "What Kevin has done is even worse than I expected. Right now, all he can think about is killing Honkai. Even if it means humanity perishes alongside it, he does not care."
Himeko Murata: "But even if Honkai is defeated this way, what difference is there between the price humanity pays and extinction?"
When Welt and the Herrscher of Reason had stopped Kevin from leaving before, they still did not fully understand the price of the Stigmata Project.
But now that they had seen Kevin willing to use everyone on an island as experimental subjects merely to screen for Stigmata Awakeners who might not even exist, Kiana and the others could no longer suppress their anger.
An entire island of people, all to select a single Stigmata Awakener—or perhaps not even one—while everyone else was treated as disposable material.
That man had completely lost his mind!
Four Divine Keys
Pardofelis: "Wow, Sister Elysia, Kevin is so terrifying now. He's kind of unlike himself. He never would have done something like this before."
Elysia: "Sigh. Those who have witnessed despair, those who have witnessed the destruction of the world, will spare no cost in their journey to seek hope. Kevin's obsession runs too deep."
Raiden Mei: "But no matter how you look at it, the price of the Stigmata Project is far too outrageous, isn't it?"
They even felt that the Stigmata Project was crueler than Honkai itself.
At least Honkai gave people a chance to fight, a chance to fight for all the beauty left in the world. But the Stigmata Project did not.
Those who could adapt to the stigmata survived and became bargaining chips against Honkai, while those who could not adapt died on the spot. There was no other choice.
The person who proposed this plan must have gone somewhat insane.
Hua: "We Thirteen Flame-Chasers can all, to some extent, understand the despair Kevin bears. But the Stigmata Project is simply too inhumane. I... cannot accept it. If I encounter Kevin again, I will definitely stop him."
Pardofelis: "But Sister Hua, you can't beat Kevin, can you?"
Hua: "Pardo, whose side are you even on?"
Pardofelis: "Amo, you misunderstand. I'm only telling the truth, that's all. After all, fighting Kevin is something I wouldn't even dare dream about."
Theresa: "Hua, if you include me, Kiana, and the others, what are our chances of winning if we take on Kevin together?"
The headmaster looked around herself. They were all talents from St. Freya Academy!
Kiana was training intensively now, and with Hua's guidance, becoming an S-rank Valkyrie was just around the corner.
Bronya also had a Herrscher of Reason trial card. She could probably hold out against Kevin for 0.1 seconds like in the previous footage, so her combat power could be ignored.
Theresa figured that with such a powerful lineup on her side, they could at least put up a fight, right?
Hua: "Approximately zero."
Kiana: "No way! Haven't you recovered part of your strength, Class Monitor? Why is it still this hopeless?"
Hua: "I have not recovered my full strength. More importantly, I still need to burn Fenghuang Down to use Sword Heart, and you do not understand Kevin."
Pardofelis: "Exactly! It's not that I'm cowardly—though I am cowardly—but that's Kevin! Even if a hundred... no, a thousand of me charged at him, we'd just be throwing our lives away!"
Raiden Mei: "That exaggerated? Then can Su stop him?"
Hua: "By common reasoning, no."
Elysia: "I'm also very curious about how magnificent a fight between Su and Kevin would be. Hurry, hurry!"
Everyone immediately stopped chatting and turned their eyes to the screen, waiting to enjoy a world-shaking battle.
On the screen, Kevin arrived at the place Su had mentioned. It was completely silent inside, and Su had yet to appear.
It was as though the place had been tailor-made as a trap for Kevin.
"Su, I'm here. Come out."
Kevin called out, but received no response.
He continued forward. As he walked, a golden leaf suddenly drifted down. With a flash of light, the place where Kevin stood transformed completely, as if the stars and skies had shifted.
"This feeling... a World Bubble?" Kevin stared at the large tree beside him. That leaf must have fallen from it.
"That's right, Kevin. This is a World Bubble I created with the Second Divine Key—the Sumeru World-Bubble. It is isolated from the outside world. Without my help, you will never be able to leave."
Su slowly stepped forward and directly stated his purpose.
"The reason I brought you here is that I hope to speak with you and postpone the Stigmata Project. We both know that if this plan is carried out, only a small portion of humanity will survive."
"I know, Su. This is the worst possible plan."
Kevin was not surprised by Su's arrival. He had expected it all along.
"I also know that you oppose this plan. The innocent people who died have left your conscience uneasy."
"You tricked me here because you want to trap me. You want to do everything in your power to stop the Stigmata Project."
He had already anticipated Su's thoughts, Su's choice, and Su's purpose in deceiving him into coming here.
And so, Kevin still came.
He had come to give Su—and himself—a chance to correct this mistake.
A shining beam of light pierced through the World Bubble Su had created. Carrying blazing flames, it landed before Kevin.
"Fehu actually pierced through my Sumeru World-Bubble..."
Su was once again shocked by Kevin's strength. Perhaps Fifty Thousand Years of accumulation had made the already strongest Flame-Chaser even stronger.
"Su, I'll give you one chance. Use everything you have to stop me. Once you fail, you will realize that you cannot change any of this."
Kevin picked up Fehu and slowly walked toward his once closest friend.
"Even if only one in a thousand, one in ten thousand people can survive, that is still better than doing nothing and standing in place waiting for a miracle to descend."
"And I will bear all the sins of causing the deaths of the innocent and those who are about to die!"
Fehu ignited with flames. The scorching heat made even the air boil, burning the leaves within the World Bubble into ash.
"Kevin, I know the gap between us is enormous, but I will use all my strength to stop you. And I have Divine Keys that can harm you—Black Abyss White Flower and Star of Eden."
"This time, I will stop you with everything I have!"
The strongest Flame-Chaser held Fehu, while Su possessed three Divine Keys: Black Abyss White Flower, Star of Eden, and Thousand Worlds.
Their great battle began.
Kiana: "Holy shit, Su has three Divine Keys and he's fighting Kevin? This is a battle between gods!"
Theresa: "I was being arrogant. Four Divine Keys are beating each other up. One look tells you this is a high-level match. I can't play with these people. I really can't."
With just one Divine Key, Judas, Theresa had entered Schicksal's S-rank ranks, and she had not even fully unleashed Judas's power.
Who knew what kind of effects those four Divine Keys would have in the hands of Flame-Chasers?
She could not play with these people. She really could not.
Bronya: "Bronya thought one Divine Key per person was already a grand battle. She did not expect Su to have three. Are all Flame-Chaser fights this frightening?"
Pardofelis: "Hey, hey, hey, don't casually include everyone! Leave me out of it. I can't even handle one Divine Key!"
Elysia: "Three Divine Keys are really just that. What matters most is whose hands they fall into."
For example, Fehu in Kevin's hands.
That thing itself was not particularly outrageous. At least compared with Black Abyss White Flower and Thousand Worlds, Fehu was not the most exceptional.
But Fehu in Kevin's hands was no ordinary Fehu used for baking pizza.
Bronya: "So what you mean is that Su has no chance against Kevin at all?"
Theresa: "No way. He can't win even with three Divine Keys against one? And he also has Black Abyss White Flower, with the powers of creation and death. What kind of monster is Kevin?"
Hua: "Sigh. Although Su has three Divine Keys, the gap between him and Kevin is still immense. I do not even think Black Abyss White Flower can inflict effective damage on him."
Pardofelis: "Haha, well, it is Kevin. If anyone can really fight him, it would have to be Sister Elysia."
Kiana: "?!!"
Raiden Mei: "Elysia, you're that strong?"
All this time, everyone had been chatting with Elysia, and they had never seen her fighting on screen. They had thought she was merely a bad woman who wanted to touch Mei's horns.
They had not expected her to be so strong, to actually be on the same level as Kevin.
The Strength of the First Flame-Chaser
Before you continue