But after what Kevin had shown on Coral Island, power that surpassed even hers, who in their right mind would give him any advantage?
----------------------------------
"Fenghuang Down, second level output!"
"Complex Manifest."
With a sharp command, Fu Hua lunged forward. Her fierce strikes intertwined, borrowing the strength of Fenghuang Down and the Valkyrie armor's amplification as she clashed violently with Kevin!
Kevin met her assault head-on, unshaken. His defense was as solid as a mountain; Fu Hua's heavy, forceful blows could not move him in the slightest.
As the one who knew Kevin best, Fu Hua led the attack while the others supported from the sides.
After the battle at Coral Island, everyone had a basic understanding of Kevin's capabilities.
The two most skilled in martial combat, Fu Hua and Durandal, faced Kevin directly. The plan was simple, but far from easy to execute.
"Haa!" A blade descended with a sharp cry, but the keen edge was blocked by a blazing great sword, unable to advance an inch.
When her strike failed, Yae Sakura retreated in a blur, and Theresa stepped up, holding Oath of Judah high to block Kevin's pursuit.
"Fenghuang Down can't stop him," Fu Hua said grimly.
"I expected as much," Theresa replied, her face serious as she loosened her tight grip on Oath of Judah, eyes locked on Kevin's form.
Even knowing part of his power, Kevin's strength was still so overwhelming it crushed all hope.
Kevin didn't press the attack. His gaze settled calmly on Sakura, who was hanging back, waiting for her chance.
"Your sword," Kevin said evenly, "is not fast enough."
He still remembered Sakura's strike that once severed time and space, her sword speed surpassing all things.
Even fifty thousand years later, Kevin was confident he could block that strike, but he could never stop Sakura's fleeting, vanishing shadow.
Sakura couldn't quite grasp his meaning. She could tell Kevin wasn't mocking her. That meant, he had witnessed a sword that earned his recognition.
Taking a deep breath, Sakura calmed herself. She neither grew proud nor anxious.
Even five hundred years ago, she hadn't been the strongest swordswoman. Five hundred years later, that hadn't changed.
That only meant there was still a long road ahead of her, waiting to be explored. Today's setback was only a small stumble.
But right now, in this kind of battle, she could not afford even a small loss.
At that moment, thunder roared. Endless violet lightning filled the air, illuminating the entire battlefield.
Then, with a crackle of wrathful energy, bolts of thunder lashed out, casting every face in a flash of purple light.
"Give Kiana back to me!"
With Mei's furious cry, her figure appeared, wreathed in lightning. Boosted by her speed, the tip of her blade glowed with ferocious purple thunder as she struck down!
When the violet lightning met the burning edge of a great sword,
Clang!
Boom!
Metallic clash and explosion followed one after another, sudden and fierce.
But Mei wasn't finished. After the first strike, her figure merged again with the surrounding lightning.
In the blink of an eye, she flashed above and below, slashing from every direction!
Clang!
Boom!
Kevin stood unmoving, launching no counterattack, simply receiving the blows that came from all sides.
Seeing this, Durandal's eyes lit up. Gripping her lance, she charged forward at high speed!
At last, Kevin moved. The massive sword in his hand swung freely, light as if it were a thin sheet of steel, yet each swing carried deafening power that shook the air itself.
Hearing the ringing and explosions that filled the battlefield, one could easily lose oneself in the rhythm of the fight.
Sensing Durandal's charge, Kevin couldn't help feeling a trace of admiration.
Even in this era, humanity still had its saviors.
Though she was still young, people would always grow.
He was looking forward to the day Durandal would truly stand tall.
But until then,
"This road is closed."
...
While the battle raged at Schicksal HQ, Herta, holed up in her lab within Anti-Entropy, detected something unusual.
"As expected," she murmured, stopping her work.
"That guy really is a genius, to think of something like this."
Amused, Herta looked at the data on her screen. The wave patterns perfectly matched those coming from Schicksal HQ.
"To achieve the goal of restoring the past through this method… if this world weren't sealed off by some unknown Aeon's power, you'd probably have succeeded already," Herta mused.
This world was full of geniuses, as countless as the stars.
And those with unshakable will, beyond counting.
So many had fought with all they had to protect it.
Kevin's strength, accumulated over fifty thousand years, didn't surprise her.
The youngest Aeon ascended five thousand years ago, and Kevin had walked forward unwavering for fifty thousand years.
If he didn't possess that power by now, Herta might've suspected the universe of favoritism.
Still, reflection aside, there was work to do.
"Let's see what kinds of creations these geniuses of the previous civilization left behind."
Existing here only in dream form, Herta could more easily enter that branch of the imaginary tree.
...
The Imaginary Tree.
Godzilla's colossal vertical pupil rotated slightly, and Herta's figure appeared within it.
"Eh? Miss Herta, you're back!" Miss Memokeeper waved excitedly.
"Hello, I'm Sakura," the fox-eared woman greeted politely.
From her presence alone, Sakura could tell this Herta was a brilliant scholar, like Dr. Mei or Dr. Mobius, someone who could truly drive the progress of civilization.
"So there's a fox here too?" Herta muttered, scanning Sakura up and down.
Soon she reached her conclusion: this fox could fight even better than the one cutting people up at Schicksal HQ.
Before Sakura could reply, Herta waved her hand casually.
"If Godzilla brought you here, that's your luck. Just don't wander around too much."
Ever since Godzilla entered the Imaginary Tree, Herta had been here several times, enthusiastically researching its structure.
She'd made some progress too, but before she could push further, a new clash erupted between the Imaginary Tree and the Quantum Sea.
Though she wanted to study it during the chaos, Herta knew it wasn't something she could simply meddle with.
To die for truth was one thing, but being shredded to bits before even starting was another.
Her only puppet body was fragile. Her time, precious.
So, believing the conflict would eventually calm, she put the research on hold.
"Miss Herta, are you going to visit the previous civilization?" Miss Memokeeper asked curiously.
Herta nodded slightly, then looked at Sakura.
"Anything you want me to bring back for you?" she asked, good-humored.
Sakura shook her head. "Thank you, but I have nothing important left behind."
"Fair enough." Herta shrugged. That was just small talk, after all.
Floating up to Godzilla's massive face, Herta put her hands on her hips.
"I'm going in to take a look, alright?" Godzilla blinked once.
Then,
Crack!
Thunderous sound, wind like a whip. Herta saw only a black blur flash before her eyes, and the next instant her view spun wildly out of control.
Whoosh!
"Damn it!" Launched straight into the current branch, Herta's furious shout echoed.
Sakura blinked, dumbfounded.
"Um… is she going to be okay?" she asked quietly.
"Don't worry," Miss Memokeeper said cheerfully. "Miss Herta's puppet bodies are very durable. And besides, Godzilla didn't even use any force."
Always have faith in Herta's engineering.
...
Fifty thousand years ago.
A rustling grass patch.
Thud!
A hand shot out of the ground, scattering dirt and roots, followed by a disheveled head and upper body.
Before brushing herself off, Herta immediately raised her hand toward the sky, pointing at the closing portal.
"Damn it! I asked if the passage was stable, not for you to launch me!"
After venting, she brushed the dust off her coat, clearly annoyed.
"Ugh, where the hell am I?" Looking around, Herta took in her surroundings.
A bustling city. That was her first impression.
She hadn't landed in the era of collapse she'd expected, but sometime earlier.
...
"The Flame-Chasers have been getting bolder lately."
"It's natural. Once people get a little power, they start to rebel. There's no need to pay them much mind."
"Hmph, they dress up that 'Honkai' nonsense to sound so noble, but all they really want is more funding. Yet every beast or outbreak still falls under our control. If you ask me, they just want to grab more influence."
The voices faded into the distance, two officials discussing the Fire MOTH's movements.
When they were gone, a graceful figure stepped out of a nearby room, eyes cold and disdainful.
"Heh, no matter the era, politicians always care more about their pitiful power than anything else." Herta had seen too many fools who risked everything just to cling to authority.
If they did it for some unavoidable reason, she could respect that.
But most of them fought for power even in the face of extinction, never caring about the cost.
To them, failure? That was only the excuse of the weak.
"Let me lead," they'd say, "and there will be no failure, only success."
Naturally, Herta had seen plenty of such people meet their end.
"Well, thanks to them, I've at least figured out roughly when I've landed."
Humming to herself, she headed toward the location she'd found herself, the base of the Flame-Chasers.
...
"Mobius, what you're doing is too dangerous," Kevin said coldly, staring at the woman before him, who only smiled unconcerned.
"Oh? And which part do you mean?" she asked lazily, glancing over herself, then chuckled softly. "I'm fine. No need to fuss."
Mobius's smile was as enchanting as ever, like a golden apple that tempted others. She was exactly that kind of person, brilliant, alluring, dangerous.
Her ideas were too far ahead of their time, making her both the most feared and least liked genius in the Fire MOTH.
But Mobius didn't care.
Still, there were always people who found ways to spite her, like now.
"Regarding funding," someone announced, "after deliberation, the council has decided to redirect resources toward Dr. Mei."
Kevin sighed inwardly.
He knew he couldn't persuade Mobius, just as she could never persuade him.
At that, Mobius's bright mood dimmed instantly, her smile freezing like winter frost.
"Heh."
Kevin couldn't guess what she was thinking. He wasn't a genius, and the funding wasn't his call anyway.
Watching her first completed creation leave the lab, Mobius clicked her tongue in irritation.
Those useless bureaucrats, good for nothing but dragging everyone down.
If not for her lack of time, and the fact that she really didn't want to waste her brain cells outsmarting fools, she would have already beaten them half to death and turned them into living ATMs.
She had just finished a flawless experiment, and they'd rushed in to pour cold water on her.
Of course Mobius knew why. Because she'd performed a live subject evolution test without approval, among other… "lectures" she'd given them before.
But that wasn't the real reason. The truth was, her ideas were simply too far beyond what these timid, power-hungry people could handle.
If they didn't need her brilliance, they would've kicked her out, or worse, long ago.
"Tch. Let them fund Mei. I'll find another way," she muttered, though even she didn't quite believe it.
Mobius was undeniably a genius. The fusion warrior project was one of humanity's last hopes against the Honkai.
But financially… her lab was perpetually broke. At least she didn't have to worry about starving soon, instant noodles could last a while.
And when funds ran out, she could always mooch off other labs for food.
Though most feared her eccentricity, her assistant Klein, kind, diligent, endlessly patient, was an exception.
Her calm nature was the perfect counterbalance to Mobius's chaos.
"Doctor," Klein sighed, "before you say that, please take a serious look at our budget."
"At our current pace, we can maintain normal operations until the next quarter's funding arrives."
That was the normal pace.
"So please, Doctor, pause some of your… unusual projects for now. I know they're valuable, but the noodles stockpile can only take us so far."
Klein's tone was calm, but her meaning clear. If Mobius didn't restrain herself, their near future would look grim indeed.