Chapter 35: Death Is Not Your End

"Truly... astounding." Otto Apocalypse watched the events unfold on the monitor. His usual smiling, carefree demeanor had vanished, replaced by a serious expression. The power unleashed by that young man had genuinely startled him. All of the Herrscher of Thunder's attacks had been ineffective. Merely by grabbing her head, the Herrscher consciousness inexplicably disappeared. Such an ability was too bizarre. Fortunately, the user seemed to have paid an immense price, apparently dying from the ability's effects, leaving not even a corpse behind. "However, the current situation isn't suitable for the girls to continue cultivating their feelings in that city. The Far East government should have noticed the problem in Nagazora by now. Inform those two doctors, let them understand what happened in Nagazora. One faction can pressure Cocolia. Also, have my dear granddaughter depart immediately to retrieve her good niece." After hearing Otto's arrangements, Amber, standing beside him, immediately left to carry out the orders. Within Nagazora City, Bronya placed the grayish-white cross around her neck. Perhaps the cross gave Bronya strength; she struggled to her feet and slowly walked outside. "Why... Why did it happen like this..." Bronya heard Kiana's low murmur. "Xin Yu lost everything today, in a single day. His only home is gone, his only place of refuge is gone. His disciple, in order to save those children, turned into a Honkai Beast and ultimately died by his hand." "He had nothing left, only his own life." "And his choice was to sacrifice that life, saving us, and bringing back the Raiden Mei in your arms." "Unbelievable! The Third Herrscher was defeated so easily! Quick! Deploy all remaining Titans from the battleship immediately! We must retrieve the Herrscher of Thunder!" "Bad news, Lady Cocolia! The Far East government has already discovered what happened in Nagazora City! They've started contacting various organizations! Because of this, Dr. Tesla and Dr. Einstein seem to have found out what we concealed. They're already calling!" "Report! The Far East Branch seems to have detected the massive destruction in Nagazora City as well! Their ship, the Hyperion, has deployed urgently! They should arrive here soon!" "Damn it! Why does everything have to happen at this exact moment?! Ignore that for now! Retrieving the Third Herrscher is the top priority!" "It's too late! Lady Cocolia! Those people fled into the sewers! We've lost surveillance on the target!" "Useless! We deployed so many surveillance devices, and now you tell me we lost the target!" "But! The previous battle was too intense! Those surveillance drones couldn't get close! We could only observe the situation remotely!" "Damn it! Damn it... Retreat! Evacuate Nagazora City immediately!" "Just wait, Third Herrscher. I won't give up so easily." In the end, Cocolia uttered a line reminiscent of a typical villain's "I'll be back" declaration and retreated from Nagazora City in disarray. Ultimately, just as the Hyperion arrived at Nagazora City, they happened upon Kiana's group being pursued by Honkai Beasts. Captain Murata Himeko swiftly intervened, rescued the group, and evacuated them from Nagazora City. During the medical examination, the accompanying physician discovered a chip implanted in Bronya's brain. If not for the intense electric shock damaging the chip, it might not have been detected. Upon learning about the chip in her brain, Bronya remained silent for a long while. Finally, she just touched the cross pendant around her neck. Without saying much more, she merely expressed hope that the chip could be surgically removed upon arrival at St. Freya Academy. As compensation, she offered to tell Schicksal the truth about the Third Honkai Eruption. Raiden Mei woke up shortly after boarding the battleship. After hearing the full story from Kiana and Bronya, her spirit became extremely listless, and she sat blankly on her bed alone. In fact, while her other self occupied her body, she had been aware of everything happening externally. Including, naturally, the words her other self had spoken. Kiana stood by the window, staring blankly at the sky outside. She couldn't help recalling how, when Xin Yu landed holding Raiden Mei, her first instinct had been to take Mei, completely ignoring the person right beside her. The person whose body had clearly undergone immense changes, the person she knew was about to die. And after hearing what Bronya said, the guilt in Kiana's heart threatened to drown her. She... what had she done...? Xin Yu opened his eyes. He felt bewildered. Logically, he should have been completely consumed by the mutated power within his body, leaving not even a corpse behind – no, not even a soul should have remained. But what was happening now? He looked around, finding himself standing in a hazy, gray space. In the distance, there was an extremely massive black hole. He looked down and discovered the ground was a gray, watery surface. He could see his own gray reflection within it. Xin Yu didn't immediately explore this unknown space. He simply lay down silently, relaxing his body, relaxing his mind. He was tired. He felt so incredibly tired. The cultivation technique he practiced – he thought it relied on Spiritual Power, but it turned out to be the extremely hazardous Honkai energy. He taught his disciple a technique that killed those who practiced it. The reason Nao turned into that... was because of me. I led him down the wrong path. ...It doesn't matter anymore. I have nothing left anyway. No home, no one to accompany me. Just let me rest for a while. I'm really so tired. Xin Yu closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep in this unknown space. After he completely fell asleep, Xin Yu's body slowly sank into the watery surface. Eventually, his entire being was submerged by the gray current, continuously falling towards the pitch-black abyss. During this process, his body became increasingly blurry, increasingly faint, eventually turning into a semi-transparent figure. Finally, just as even the translucent figure was about to disappear, Xin Yu abruptly evaporated into thin air. He had vanished once again.