Chapter 85
Sakura: "As expected, I still can't forgive, I still can't bear it."
Sakura silently looked at the knife in her hand. When she saw Rin lying in a pool of blood, the torment Rin suffered before her death would flash through her mind.
She knew Kevin was right, and she understood that Rin's fate was sealed the moment she was chosen as the Herrscher, but those who hurt Rin must pay the price for their atrocities!
Chakravartin: "Heh~, Sakura, it seems you really haven't cut anything in a long time. But unfortunately, I've already killed all the damned people. You're too late."
Sakura: "What do you mean?"
Chakravartin: "It means exactly what it says. Of course, if you want to cut something else, I'd be happy to oblige."
Sakura: "No, Chakravartin, you are not the enemy. I'm looking for the murderer who killed Rin."
Sakura's hand remained frozen on the hilt of the sword for a long while before she finally sighed helplessly and silently put it down.
The perpetrator of that accident could implicate a large number of people, including some high-ranking members of the Fire Moth. Although it is unknown how many people Chakravartin killed, it seems that what he wanted to do has already been done by Chakravartin.
All that's left is to go back and find Ling, and do what a responsible older sister should do.
Theresa: "You people from the Previous Era are too ruthless! And isn't Sakura one of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers? Doesn't she even have the right to protect her own sister?"
Cherry. "..."
Pardofelis: "The Thirteen Flame-Chasers, while they still have considerable privileges, certainly have no right to interfere in matters concerning the Herrscher. Otherwise, Sister Sakura wouldn't have been judged a [traitor]."
She broke through the base imprisoning the Herrscher and rescued the Twelfth Herrscher. Although the Herrscher was her sister, Sakura was still labeled a traitor.
Chakravartin: "Traitor? Hahaha... If Sakura is a traitor, then what about those who brutally murder their own people, those innocent little girls?! Do they even deserve to be called human?!"
Himeko Murata: "Indeed, she doesn't deserve it. What makes humans human is the existence of humanity and kindness."
But the things that the Previous Era did were things that normal people really couldn't do.
Although there are a small number of extremists among humans, everyone in the base viewed Bell as a threat, and no one stopped them until they were brutally tortured to death.
In the end, Sakura, who saved her sister, was labeled a traitor.
These disgusting actions are truly unacceptable.
Wendy: "I... I can understand being imprisoned in a lab like a monster, enduring inhuman stares every day."
Bronya: "Wendy, don't be afraid. From now on, no one can restrain you, and no one can imprison you."
You do not say.
With the Authority of Wind, Gem of Desire, and the transplanted Stigmata of the wind god, Wendy is now the most [free] person.
Wendy: "I understand, Sister Bronya, that's all in the past."
Bronya: "Yes, once Bronya finds Seele, she'll introduce Seele to Wendy. You'll definitely like her too."
Seele in the picture is still so frail. Bronya knows that she may be a little weak, but she is determined to enter the Sea of Quanta as soon as possible.
After all, what awaits Seele is Kevin and the World Serpent. Although Sakura is protecting her, Bronya is still worried.
She's just a pink-eared Fusion Warrior; how could she possibly compare to the bond between me and Seele?!
Wendy: "Seele, is that the girl next to Sakura in the picture? Wendy will help Sister Bronya!"
Chapter 139 On the Burnt-Out Earth, Kevin Makes a Promise
Theresa: "... Wendy, your actions right now are not convincing at all."
The headmaster ignored Wendy, who was making grand pronouncements about going to the Sea of Quanta to help Bronya rescue people, while she lay on the sofa, playing her piano all day long.
Although it sounds beautiful, her lack of interest in learning about Valkyrie and her refusal to train in the training grounds, along with her idleness all day long, is a major headache for Theresa.
St. Freya Academy's former ace, a rising star poised to become one of the S-rank Valkyrie, how did she end up like this?!
Wendy: "Hey! Do you call it slacking off when it comes to the Herrscher of Wind?"
The Herrscher of Wind chuckled, and seeing Theresa and Teacher Himeko's expressions gradually darken, she activated her Authority of Wind and ran off.
Doing something productive?
Impossible! Who's in charge? She'll never do anything worthwhile in her life!
[In the scene, Dr. Mei sends a message to Kevin, saying that the Twelfth Herrscher has awakened and her attack is not over yet.]
"Rin, are you still alive?"
Sakura, who had overheard their conversation, suddenly turned her head and stared blankly at Kevin.
"Sakura, what do you want to do?"
I want to go see her.
"Are you crazy? She's not Rin anymore!"
Kevin shouted, "The moment Rin became the Twelfth Herrscher, the outcome was already decided. Sending Sakura there alone now is just suicide."
"It's precisely because it's dangerous that I'm going. You won't stop me, right? Ling must be very lonely right now. She's a child who's afraid of being alone, and she needs me."
"..."
Seele and Kevin both fell silent.
The roar of cannon fodder and the sirens mingled endlessly, making it clear that leaving Sakura here would be a one-way trip.
"Don't joke around, Rin is dead!"
Kevin stood in front of Sakura, and suddenly time stopped, consciousness scattered, and everything became still.
For those brief few seconds, only Sakura was able to walk within this area.
She brushed past Seele, leaving behind her final words.
I hope you can reunite with your sister.
A few seconds after Sakura left, time resumed its flow, and Kevin and Seele could no longer see the person who had just been in front of them.
Kevin clenched his fists, staring intently in the direction Sakura had left.
He can catch up; he was the first of the Fire Moth, and he should be fighting alongside Sakura to kill the Twelfth Herrscher.
But he didn't do that.
Pardofelis: "Boss Kevin, he looks so sad, and he didn't even try to stop Sister Sakura."
Chakravartin: "Heh~, he just felt guilty after becoming an accomplice. If he hadn't stopped Sakura, at least you could have seen each other one last time."
Sakura: "Chakravartin, as a companion, your words to Kevin were too extreme."
Kevin did nothing wrong; he just wanted to stop himself from falling into the abyss, but he was powerless to do so.
They wanted to stop Sakura from committing suicide, but they couldn't stop her from saving her sister, nor could they change the fact that Rin had become Herrscher.
Kevin is fortunate that he's still mentally sharp, since Fu Hua doesn't have the ability to erase memories with her Fenghuang Down.
In the scene, Kevin leads Seele deeper into the base, where Sakura meets her sister and, as she wished, accompanies her to the end.
The warrior lay fallen amidst the endless metal ruins, like a lone flower in the ruins; her most cherished pendant had withered away along with her figure.
"Kevin, I know you're right."
There was no sadness, no crying for the loss of her sister; Sakura simply lay on the ground, her last breaths proclaiming the truth.
"Mei has sealed away the Herrscher. She said that at the last moment, the Herrscher's activities became inexplicably disordered, and she didn't let that opportunity pass."
That's good.
Sakura lowered her head, her pale smile making her look so haggard.
"I stayed with Rin until the very end... Even at the very end, she was still my sister... I upheld my pride as her older sister."
"You never regretted it in the end, and that's enough."
Kevin looked down at her comrades who had fought alongside her, and felt a pang of sadness.
Sakura's eyes gradually dimmed, but a hint of a smile flickered at the corner of her eye.
"Kevin, I have one last request."
Sakura looked at the girl beside her. "Seele... take her back to our hometown. I promised her I would take her to the square where the cherry blossoms are in full bloom."
"I will do my best." Kevin nodded.
"Sister Sakura..."
Seele wiped away her tears with her sleeve, her pathetic appearance revealing the grief in her heart.
"Seele, don't be sad. There are some things, some regrets... that we can't change, but you still have people you want to protect."
Sakura revealed a stunning smile.
"When you stand with her under the cherry blossom tree, you will find that the world is still beautiful, and you will find that there is still hope in your world."
As Sakura's voice faded, the last glimmer of light in her eyes vanished, and she and her sister reached the end.
Meanwhile, the World Bubble where Seele was located gradually dissipated.
"Sister Sakura, Sister Sakura..."
The people and the World Bubble had all vanished into nothingness, yet Seele continued to call out Sakura's name, even though their time together had been extremely brief.
The girl's sobs faded into the darkness, leaving only silence.
Hector knew the kingdom would fall, and Achilles understood he was heading towards death, but they both joined the battle without hesitation.
The World Bubble shattered, and a man's voice pulled Seele from her grief.
"In this story, which was destined to be a tragedy from the very beginning, no one wavered—not they, and not us!"
"What? Who's speaking?"
Seele looked toward the source of the sound, where there was only a white-haired warrior. Kevin was standing under a tree, his strong body looking particularly forlorn.
"I brought her body back to my hometown, but when I arrived there, the Herrscher manipulated the launch silos and used nuclear weapons to completely destroy the three remaining human cities."
"I stood in the square, now a ruin, and... not a single cherry blossom could be seen."
"On the burnt-out earth, I made a promise to her, and to everyone."
"No matter the cost, humanity will surely defeat the Honkai!"
Kevin stood under the tree, glancing back. His icy gaze sent chills down one's spine, and the scene ended there.
This time, everyone learned about Kevin's past, his despair, and his unwavering belief in fighting to destroy the Honkai, which shocked everyone.
Sakura's tragedy, Elysia's death, the despair brought about by the Honkai...
Just how much pressure has Kevin been under all this time?
In those eyes was a determination to Honkai at all costs, taking the tragedy of the Previous Era and the regrets of everyone on his own shoulders.
Even those at the St. Freya Academy who had always said Kevin was crazy and insane to carry out the Stigmata Project couldn't find any words to defend him.
If I were to experience what Kevin went through, being defeated by the Honkai again and again, and never seeing any hope in the end, I might become even more obsessed than him.
Chapter 140 The higher-ups were actually myself
The Herrscher of Reason: "Making a promise on the Scorched Earth of the earth... Kevin just likes to do meaningless things."
Chakravartin: "Oh? You think so too? It really is meaningless; it's just a foolish play staged by losers."
Sakura: "Chakravartin, Kevin is my companion."
Chakravartin: "I know, of course I know. The [companions] of the Fire Moth, in the end, compared to the Fire Moth Honkai, how much better are they? Or is it that after the Honkai ends, shouldn't those who deserved to die go to hell?!"
If the Honkai truly ends, the first people Chakravartin will eliminate are those from the Fire Moth.
They only reluctantly joined forces with each other from a human perspective; the evil deeds committed by the Fire Moth were no different from the destruction brought about by the Honkai.
Kiana: "I used to think Kevin was a bit unreasonable, but now it seems he's completely Honkai by the Honkai!"
Raiden Mei: "She's probably possessed."
Pardofelis: "Hehe, I knew Boss Kevin was actually easy to talk to. Let me tell you a secret, being around Boss Kevin is the most comfortable thing, like having a portable refrigerator."
The first of the Flame-Chaser, Fusion Warrior with explosive combat power, is being used as an air conditioner?
Pardo, you truly live up to your reputation!
The Herrscher of Reason: "Huh? So Kevin has this use too? I'll try it next time."