Abzu's will was like a cold cosmic ray, easily penetrating "Shu's" remaining consciousness.
The opponent showed not a shred of malice or hatred, merely expressing the inevitable crushing brought about by its existence itself.
"Shu's" broken body trembled slightly in the void.
He opened his mouth but couldn't make any "sound." He could only try to replicate the thought pattern from when his mental activity was "read" earlier.
[Rule... Whose rule?]
Abzu "heard" it, and its "voice" was branded into the spatial rules again, responding quickly and calmly.
"My rule.
"It is the underlying logic established at the beginning of my... 'formation': 'If an anomaly capable of harming oneself is encountered, eliminate it.'
"Logic Priority: High.
"Execution Status: In progress."
Abzu's attitude in answering questions could even be described as very good. It didn't engage in any vague riddle-guessing games but laid out the answer plainly.
Even regarding the point of "harming oneself," Abzu appeared indifferent.
It had noticed that wound, but it was irrelevant; it merely triggered a preset response protocol.
[Then why... don't you act directly now?]
Shu's mental fluctuations carried the weakness of impending death and a trace of confusion.
Abzu's "gaze" seemed to linger for a moment on his battered body and dim scepter.
"Elimination protocol is still in execution.
"But based on your current rate of existential dissipation, approximately '423 seconds' as broadly defined on the planet behind you, you will naturally disintegrate."
"Shu's" eyelashes trembled slightly. Subconsciously, he wanted to look back at his own planet.
Why would the opponent... Oh... He understood.
This Honkai Beast... It probably already "learned" the "common sense" of Earth... just by lingering in Earth's near-Earth orbit for a while.
Intelligence...
Abzu's "voice" remained steady, continuing to answer the previous question: "During this period, I detected that you can perform basic information interaction.
"Based on another underlying logic: 'In non-conflict periods, attempt limited communication with limited intelligence entities to alleviate information entropy silence over long durations.'
"Logic Priority: Low.
"Execution Status: Attempting."
"Information entropy silence... Boredom?" "Shu" caught that seemingly emotional term, although Abzu's tone was waveless.
"It can be analogized as such." Abzu admitted.
"Since the last time I executed a large-scale 'field synchronization,' a long interval has passed, difficult to measure in time units you can understand.
"During this period, I have not found any anomaly points worth 'noting' or 'triggering high-level protocols.'
"Routine interstellar material flows, normal stellar life cycles, the evolution of lower biospheres on certain planets... Information patterns repeat, entropy tends toward fixed values.
"Very... 'boring'."
For the first time, a nearly anthropomorphic description appeared in its words, but this could not mask the absolute indifference of overlooking the rise and fall of the sea of stars.
[You... have seen many civilizations?]
"Shu" asked.
His consciousness became increasingly erratic, merely continuing this conversation by instinct, buying time for some purpose he himself didn't understand.
Or...
He just wanted to understand a little more about this "existence" that was about to swallow everything before he dissipated.
"Many.
"You are not alone. Intelligent existence outside this galaxy takes various forms, has different energy utilization methods, and varying complexity of social structures.
"But in the end, they all return to 'field synchronization,' becoming a part of the information ripples at the base of my existence.
"And they... some resisted, some did not.
"Some tried to understand, some were left with only fear.
"Processes varied slightly, results tended to be identical."
It paused, probably retrieving some record ancient beyond description from its "information entropy."
"There were also civilizations, like you at this moment, attempting to explore the possibilities of 'coexistence,' 'understanding,' and 'avoidance.' They proposed many theories for this and paid many prices."
[And then?] Shu's mental fluctuation flickered weakly. [You destroyed them?]
"I cooperated with them... I accepted their proposal to accept me...
"Then, they proved the reciprocity of 'Honkai'."
[Recipro... city?]
"The contention and erosion of energy, matter, order... and even 'existence,' are not unidirectional."
Abzu continued its dutiful explanation, as natural as stating basic common sense to an eager student.
"When you try to avoid one kind of 'Honkai,' it often catalyzes another form, perhaps a 'Honkai' from another direction.
"When you think you have found the equilibrium point of 'coexistence,' that equilibrium itself may be incubating the next larger-scale imbalance.
"Even when two civilizations, two individuals, have wills that infinitely converge and goals that are completely identical, when observed over a sufficiently long time scale, the probability of divergence and confrontation also approaches one hundred percent.
"This is the chaos intrinsic to the system, the inevitable price of information interaction."
"Shu" fell silent.
He wanted to refute, but it seemed... he was precisely the one unqualified to do so.
Because... even if both parties were essentially the same person, such divergence would still appear.
Abzu's "gaze" swept over Shu, and incidentally over Earth protected behind him.
"You encountered me; this is your 'Honkai.'
"And I, at this moment, encountered you who can cause recordable damage to me. This, too, can be regarded as a minor 'Honkai' for me... Hmm, I like this term created by your civilization.
"Regardless of will, this is merely the inevitable probability product of 'existence' interaction.
"The only difference lies in that the scale of my 'existence' manifests your 'Honkai' as destruction, while my 'Honkai' seems to manifest only as a piece of 'abnormal data' needing elimination, and this current segment of... low-priority communication."
Honkai is not evil, not divine punishment, not even targeting.
It is like gravity, like entropy increase, like all fundamental forces in the universe tending toward diffusion, homogeneity, and annihilation of differences—omnipresent, pervasive, mutually stimulating, and ceaseless.
[So... there is no way out?]
"None."
Abzu gave an answer cold to the extreme.
"This does not affect the execution of the elimination protocol.
"Your natural disintegration process has entered the countdown of the last one hundred cycles. Our communication protocol is about to terminate due to the existential decay of the interaction object."
Its massive body adjusted slightly at an angle, seemingly preparing to end this conversation that "alleviated boredom" and return to that eternal tranquility and "boredom."
And "Shu," holding that dim scepter he could almost no longer feel, sank slowly toward the final darkness within the despairing cosmic picture revealed by Abzu with his remaining consciousness.
Meaningless.
Everything seems meaningless...
...Is it?