Witness Humanity's Will!

"This is the star that overturns every law and rewrites the [world]-

Moonlight Throne, overload power, maximum output released, fire!"

The Moonlight Throne was constructed through the combined efforts of Welt Yang and the Void Archives, and charged and fired its main cannon by overloading their life force.

Welt Yang's voice rang out, loud and impassioned. He felt as though even an old man like him had caught fire.

Welt Yang had recaptured some of the feeling of his youth!

So...

"I... the First Herrscher, the Herrscher of Reason, challenge Finality as a human.

Herrscher of Finality, witness humanity's will!"

The Moonlight Throne struck the Herrscher of Finality.

The gentle voices of the two Ruan Meis monitoring the data from the rear rang out.

"The Moonlight Throne has successfully evaporated thirty percent of Finality's energy.

Next comes the head-on battle.

Be warned: in the worst case, Sera can only weaken three of Finality's systems. You must defeat him before Sera is pushed beyond what he can withstand.

Otherwise, everything done up to now will be undone by the immense power of time, and the Herrscher of Finality will descend at full strength."

"As a challenger? Heh... that's novel." Finality's die spun. That perspective was quite novel to him.

With that, Finality's figure appeared in several places at once.

"Got it, a high-difficulty, time-limited boss dungeon where you only get one life!" A confident smile spread across Silver Wolf's face. She had already beaten dungeons with the same restrictions several times in her life, and as a gamer, she was the strongest player!

"Hmph." Black Wolf's voice came from the cartridge.

"Don't lose."

"Don't worry." Silver Wolf held up the cartridge and transformed, wings of light unfurling behind her. Black Wolf's figure overlapped with Silver Wolf LV.999, and the two strongest players fought together!

"Harmony will support you." Robin's singing rang out, sharing the power of Harmony with everyone present.

"I'll suppress the scale of Finality's attacks as much as possible," the Grand Arbiter's voice called out.

Diamond said nothing. He had already put shields on everyone when the battle began.

Black Tomb had long since been firing light cannons from afar with her spear, while Herta attacked alongside her.

Acheron stepped forward, shielding the others behind her.

Cyrene linked her consciousness with Sera's. She didn't think they could defeat Finality, so she would help Sera regain control instead.

"The thirteen trials, first stage..."

A smile curled the Herrscher of Finality's lips.

"Authority of Reason."

Snap!

He snapped his fingers.

"Herrscher of Reason, just how much can you do?"

A dense array of cannon muzzles surrounded them.

"Hey, old man, aren't you a Herrscher of Reason too? We'll take care of these, so he's yours!"

Silver Wolf LV.999 swept her super-super-super greatsword through the floating cannons. The others cleared them away as well, all leaving the center stage to Welt.

Welt Yang stepped forward without hesitation.

A flickering black gleam appeared in his hand.

"Tyrant of the heavens! Behold the sight of a star shattering!

Star of Eden, Zero Rated Power, Pseudo Black Hole-release!"

"Tch... is that all?"

The Herrscher of Finality felt somewhat bored.

"Forget it. I'll let you pass."

The second stage, the Authority of the Void.

A Subspace Gate opened above them, and spears slowly emerged.

Diamond's heart clenched, and he raised a shield over everyone.

It was just as he had thought: if he hadn't reacted in time, they would have been skewered.

"I'll count this stage as your pass too."

Diamond looked at the barrier, which was about to crack, and let out a breath of relief.

"Going step by step is a little too boring. Consider this a reward."

A somewhat malicious smile appeared on the Herrscher of Finality's face.

"Let's go straight to... binding!"

Black Tomb, Silver Wolf LV.999, Cyrene in the distance, and Acheron, who was very close to Finality, were the exceptions.

Everyone else was instantly pinned to the ground, their life force gradually draining away.

The three besides Cyrene unleashed their strongest attacks almost simultaneously.

"I weep for the departed... the evening rain shall fall at last!"

[Burn the kingdom of gods, forsake the world!]

"Hey, how come you all have names for your ultimate moves?!"

Silver Wolf LV.999 complained, but her light cannon didn't stop.

Meanwhile, where Sera was.

"Ngh... cough, cough..." Sera forced his soul to stay upright rather than collapse to the ground and pass out.

"It really hurts..."

Sera felt that even dying wouldn't hurt this much.

Although he had prepared himself, he had to endure the whole of the Great Honkai without having fully embraced the Cocoon, causing Finality to tear at his soul. It really hurt...

Sera braced himself against the ground with both hands, the pain nearly knocking him unconscious, but he held on.

"What a sorry sight," Sera said with a bitter smile.

'Seraphis' appeared beside Sera and helped him up.

"Why are you pushing yourself? What does this galaxy have to do with you? If you're worried about Black Tomb, just take her away!"

"Now that I've seen it, I can't just ignore it. Besides... this is probably all my fault. Because of my existence, every timeline has lost its Savior.

You have my memories too. You should know that."

"Yes, I do know."

'Seraphis' sounded somewhat angry.

"But why do you still want to save worlds that will meet their end even with that gray-haired person around? Is your life less important than everyone else's?

Do you care so little about yourself?"

"I'm scared... I'm someone who's really afraid of pain too, someone who wants to lie around comfortably and play games every day.

But I'm even more afraid of losing my family.

I want to save them. I have to save them.

Besides... I can't just watch the world be destroyed with a clear conscience."

"Heh... didn't you used to hate the world? Weren't you someone who once wished for the end of the world and your own death?"

"Yes, that was me."

The pain on Sera's face gave way to calm.

"I won't deny who I used to be, but someone changed me.

She taught me to love, and taught me that there was gentleness in the world too.

I learned to love myself, and... to love her.

Cyrene... she's the one I love.

And I didn't just hate the world back then. There was also a seed in my heart that made me want to fight for all that is beautiful.

That seed was called 'Honkai Impact 3rd.' I'm the captain of the Hyperion and a Nameless of the Astral Express. I'm Seraphis."

'Seraphis' fell silent for a moment, then laughed.

"Well said."

"As it happens, you're here too."

Sera forced himself to sit up.

"Talk with me for a while. Otherwise, I'm afraid the pain will make me pass out."

"Sure."

'Seraphis' sat on the ground, propping up his face with one hand.

"Whatever you want to ask, ask it now."

"..." Sera fell silent.

"What? Weren't you the one who wanted me to talk with you? Why are you playing mute now?"

"You..."

"What about me? If you have something to say, say it. Don't drag your feet."

Sera was silent, but under 'Seraphis's' gaze, he finally spoke.