The communicators of the group all received a message from Kika.
"Chiyou's movements have begun to stop."
Ryn felt a sense of pity for Ji Lin·Black, whose life force was rapidly fading. She should have been a great hero revered by thousands, but because of the Honkai, she was forced to merge and coexist with a Honkai Beast, ending up in this neither-black-nor-white state.
Fu Hua took off her hair ornament and quickly walked to Ji Lin·Black's side.
Seeing Fu Hua approach, Ji Lin·Black turned her head away, not wanting Fu Hua to see her in this state. But it was merely burying her head in the sand...
"I'm sorry, Ji Lin..."
"What's the use of being sorry? It was you who caused the premature birth of the Honkai Beasts. It was you who caused my entire clan to be slaughtered until I was the only one left. It was you who made me suffer thousands of years of solitude...
Azure Empyrea... I am so unwilling... If I hadn't stood up back then, would everything have been different?"
"I'm sorry... I don't know..."
"Heh, your personality hasn't changed much. Did you see Lianshan after you returned?"
"I did... He was always searching for you, but he couldn't find you, so he entrusted this to me to give to you..." As she spoke, Fu Hua placed the hair ornament Lianshan had given her into Ji Lin·Black's hand.
Ji Lin·Black caressed the hair ornament, as beautiful as an azure empyrea bird. For a moment, it was as if Ji Lin·Black saw Lianshan...
Lianshan embraced Ji Lin·Black, speaking to her with a voice full of tenderness and love.
"You're so cruel... making me search for you for thousands of years. But, finally, I've found you."
"So that's how it was... That's good, I wasn't alone..."
Tears unknowingly streamed from the corners of Ji Lin·Black's eyes. In front of her lover, Ji Lin·Black suddenly felt so wronged. How she wished she could tell Lianshan of her thousands of years of solitude, but in the end, Lianshan was just the lingering sentiment attached to the hair ornament...
A ray of light floated out from the Xuanyuan dual pistols in Kiana's hand and entered Ji Lin·Black's body. Ji Lin·Black's clothes gradually changed from a dark black hue back to a golden yellow... The Ji Lin within the Xuanyuan dual pistols was the personification of the good in humanity that the original Ji Lin had separated from herself...
The resentment and madness in her eyes gradually faded, replaced by a gentle and compassionate gaze. Ji Lin·Black... no, she was now Ji Lin.
"I never thought I would see you again after so long." Ji Lin reached out, wanting to touch Fu Hua's face, but unfortunately, her lower body had been destroyed, and she couldn't reach her. "I'm sorry, I woke up too late..."
Fu Hua knelt down and gently took Ji Lin's hand, placing it on her own cheek.
"You don't need to apologize. I should be the one apologizing."
Fu Hua and Ji Lin began to speak their final words. Seeing the two familiar figures, Ryn and the others felt it was inappropriate to disturb them.
"Speaking of which, Ji Lin keeps calling Class Monitor Fu Hua 'Azure Empyrea'! Did they know each other in the past?" Kiana asked, pulling Ryn and Mei closer.
"No way... Ji Lin lived several thousand years ago. Fu Hua can't be that old, can she..." Mei replied, finding it hard to believe.
"Let's ask Fu Hua later. Longevity doesn't seem to be that difficult under the influence of the Honkai... But why is it that when Fu Hua is talking, she seems to know something one moment and then is just spacing out the next?" Ryn asked, curiously observing Fu Hua and Ji Lin.
As the two of them talked, they would occasionally pause. Fu Hua would just stare blankly, while Ji Lin would quietly wait for her reply, and then Fu Hua would say, "I don't know..."
Fu Hua looked at Ji Lin with an apologetic expression and said, "I'm sorry... I can't remember much anymore. I followed Danzhu and the others' advice and separated my memories..."
"Is that so... Well then... crybaby little girl, I hope you don't secretly wipe away tears after you get your memories back~"
Ji Lin smiled and made a joke at Fu Hua's expense. Then, Ji Lin's hand, which was caressing Fu Hua, slowly fell...
With Ji Lin's death, her body aged rapidly as if on fast-forward... her skin withered... and finally, she dissipated into the air...
Fu Hua adjusted her glasses, not letting Ryn and the others see her eyes.
"I'm... very strong now..."
(Image: Fu Hua is still secretly crying)
————————
Ji Lin was dead, and Chiyou gradually turned back into a stone statue. The two had merged and coexisted with each other...
Ryn led the group to hover in the air, then activated his authority on Chiyou's body, releasing a pseudo black hole inside it.
Having lost its life force, Chiyou had nothing left but its enormous size and an immense amount of Honkai energy. In less than three seconds, it collapsed into a small ball the size of a pill.
Ryn waved his hand and collected it, playing with it in his palm.
Kiana and Mei unconsciously moved closer to Ryn, pressing against him. Bronya silently summoned Project Bunny 19C, activated her anti-gravity device, and then gave Ryn a disdainful look.
Fu Hua tried to move away from Ryn but found it difficult to do so. Watching Kiana and Mei happily clinging to Ryn, Fu Hua couldn't help but ask.
"Ryn, do you feel like you're emitting some kind of attractive force?"
"?"
Ryn looked at Fu Hua in confusion. He hadn't used his authority. "I didn't use my authority. By the way, Mei, I know you like me too, but you don't have to press so tightly... they're getting squished..."
Mei's face instantly turned bright red. She had thought Ryn was deliberately using his authority to pull her into his arms...
"No... there was a force pulling me over..."
Cortana hovered next to Ryn's ear and shouted, "You idiot, it's the little ball in your hand! You collapsed such a huge Chiyou into a tiny ball; it's practically a small gravitational singularity!"
"Haha... gravity doesn't affect me, so I forgot for a moment..." Ryn laughed awkwardly, then put the Chiyou pill into his Stigmata Space.
Although the abnormal gravitational field was gone, Kiana and Mei still clung tightly to Ryn. Kiana was used to it and simply linked her arm with Ryn's left. Mei also adjusted her position to clamp onto Ryn's right arm.
No one said anything, so Ryn didn't either. It was just that the stares from Bronya and Fu Hua behind him made him a little uncomfortable.
After dealing with Chiyou, the group prepared to pick up Kika and return to the Hyperion. But Kika, far away on the coastline, had already received the photo Bronya sent her of Ryn with a girl on each arm, and her blood pressure had already maxed out.
The group arrived next to Kika. Mei even provocatively puffed out her chest, which nearly made Kika faint from anger.
Kika looked at Mei through gritted teeth. "Damn you, Mei, I was here first..."
Mei glanced at Kiana, who nodded. So, Mei smiled and provoked Kika.
"Then why don't you come and join us~"