Clink.
The hilt of the blade tapped lightly against the mouth of the sheath.
Mei slowly stood up. As she straightened her posture, both her Narukami Collapsed State and Godslayer Armor dissipated simultaneously.
Then…
Swoosh—
From within the gash that ran across her chest and abdomen, Honkai energy, laced with piercing lightning, erupted madly from the Herrscher of the Void's body like the liberated souls of the dead!
"Ahhh!!!"
A hoarse roar echoed from the depths of her throat.
Her perfectly detailed silver hair began to fade into a dull gray.
Fwoom!
A flickering flame ignited within her eyes, and a crimson-gold light outlined the shape of a torch between her brows.
And then…
Thud.
The sound of a body hitting metal was also the sound of a flame being extinguished.
Kiana collapsed to the ground. The moment her eyes closed, they reverted to the same azure blue they were when Mei had first met her in Nagazora City.
And beside the fallen Kiana lay the completely bare, pufferfish-like figure of Sirin, wrapped in a towel of long, purple hair.
Mei had done it… but she had not achieved complete success.
The Gem of Pestilence, now transformed into a Herrscher Core interwoven with countless strands of golden thread, slowly emerged from Kiana's back.
This was Herrscher power that contained humanity, but it was not the target she had sought.
At best, it could be called the Herrscher of Flame. It was still missing a more crucial component to become the true Herrscher of Flamescion.
---o---
Tap.
Tap.
The soles of her shoes stepped onto the dilapidated deck.
Mei turned around and cupped the Herrscher Core as if plucking a flower, watching it dissolve into particles of light and vanish into the void of her palm.
"Th… Thank you."
A voice as faint as the buzzing of a mosquito came from in front of her.
The Raiden Mei of this world struggled to her feet, trying to thank this "familiar stranger."
"No."
Mei shook her head.
"I am unworthy of such thanks."
Himeko had already rushed over from behind, catching this world's Raiden Mei just as she was about to collapse from exhaustion.
"I didn't want to see another version of myself, another Kiana, endure such pain. But in doing so, I also robbed you of the possibility to grow stronger."
The flow of time changes with every moment, but its general direction remains unaltered.
Mei knew the "original" ending of this world, and she had come here precisely to change this "destined" conclusion.
"...Didn't want to see."
Himeko repeated Mei's last words under her breath.
"In the world you come from…"
"Did you also experience a scene like this?"
To seek change in one's own reality by searching for solutions in other worlds was not unheard of.
Schicksal had been observing parallel worlds for a very long time; it was hardly a secret. In fact, the reason Himeko asked this question was because this path had proven to be a dead end. Neither Su, who wandered aboard the Seed of Sumeru, nor Otto, who painstakingly gazed into the distance, had managed to find their answers this way.
"No."
However, Himeko once again received a negative answer.
"I have seen this scene, but I have never personally experienced it."
"!!"
The amount of information contained in that single sentence was immense.
Himeko's mind raced, but just as she was about to ask another question—
"Miss Mei."
Einstein's voice came through the communicator.
"Thank you very much for the information."
"...You're welcome."
Some things didn't need to be spelled out; a clever person could figure out the answer on their own.
"My other self."
Mei walked toward Raiden Mei. Though their faces and figures were identical, the aura and conviction they projected were completely different.
If one had to describe it…
It was like a throat-crushing powerhouse versus a noodle-slurping loser.
"?"
"This is for you."
Mei held out her hand.
A golden, diamond-shaped crystal slowly rotated in mid-air.
The casual act of opening an Imaginary Space, even having seen it once, did not diminish its shocking impact. A method of attack that the Herrscher of the Void took pride in had become the other's everyday fourth-dimensional pocket. The disparity felt utterly bizarre and surreal.
"..."
"Is that the thing that gave Sirin a body?"
This world's Raiden Mei was not in good shape.
But Himeko had witnessed the entire battle. While she didn't understand the principles behind it, the object was not entirely unfamiliar.
"That's right."
"Its official designation should be [Level-Two Intra-planetary Civilization Assessment-Specialized · Type-VIII Universal Herrscher Core]."
"..."
It sounded exactly like a "mass-produced" model name. Not just Himeko, but even Tesla and Einstein on the other end of the communicator fell silent.
"It's a fully-charged, high-spec version."
"Don't worry. Its link to the Imaginary Space is guaranteed to last at least two thousand years, according to military-grade requirements."
"And it can be quickly connected…"
Mei didn't finish.
She, too, had noticed the silence, which couldn't quite be classified as "awkward."
The conversation just moments ago had touched upon profound topics like the existence of humanity and the survival of the world. Now, it had unconsciously shifted into a "sales pitch mode."
It was truly a bit…
"Kiana—she…"
"Is she a human or a Herrscher now?"
Raiden Mei broke the silence with the most direct question possible.
"You will become the same as her."
"...My other self."
It wasn't a direct reply.
Mei gave her the answer that, while not the most ideal, was the one Raiden Mei most wanted to hear.
"Thank you."
Raiden Mei took the crystal from her other self's hands.
Their paths were different, but the existence known as "Mei" was always inextricably linked to the girl named "Kiana." The Herrscher Core she had just obtained was, in essence, a Gem of Conquest, similar to the Gem of Pestilence. The current Raiden Mei was still far from being a true Herrscher of Thunder.
But…
For every bit of power she gained here…
The difficulty of the mission Kiana was undertaking alone should decrease by a corresponding amount.
"Hm?"
Just as Raiden Mei accepted the Herrscher Core, an azure meteor streaked across the sky at the distant intersection of sea and horizon, rapidly closing in on the Hyperion's crash site.
"Is that this world's President…?"
Back at St. Freya Academy, Mei, like most other students, usually referred to Bianka as "President." Kiana, who always shouted "Big Sis," had paid a painful price for it with her head.
"President?"
Himeko, who had accidentally overheard Mei, was still trying to figure out who "President" referred to. She would never dream that the full title Mei was thinking of was "St. Freya Academy Student Council President."
A new channel cut into the communicator:
"Himeko!"
"Grandpa called Durandal over! She's heading your way—!"
"Ah, ah, Principal Theresa."
"You should have told us sooner…"
Himeko watched the valiant and heroic figure descending from the sky.
"She's already standing right in front of us."
"..."
"Teacher Himeko, leave Big Sis Bianka to me."
Realizing that the term "President" was somewhat inappropriate here, Mei switched her form of address, though she clearly hadn't escaped her old habits. In any case, hearing "Big Sis" only made Himeko even more… unfazed.
In just ten-odd minutes, Himeko's resistance to shock had been drastically enhanced.
"That's Durandal."
"I know."
Mei did not enter her Collapsed State, nor did she activate her Godslayer Armor.
The upper limit of this world's Durandal should be more or less the same as her Big Sis Bianka's. Mei wanted to use this opportunity to test just how large the gap was between two Higher Primordial Species. (In truth, Mei was not clear on Bianka's actual level of strength.)
Of course, the more important reason was…
Time was running out.
Mei had completed her task quickly, but the time remaining in her singularity was short. The "mission contract" she carried with her (inscribed into her very soul) also served as a clock, allowing everyone to vaguely sense the passage of time.
Judging from the feedback from the contract, the missions at the other points in time were also reaching their final moments.
Her battle with Durandal…
There was probably less than three moves' worth of time left.
---o---
An Unknown Location.
Upon a silent coast lay a red desert littered with ruins.
"When a person truly wishes to change the world…"
A faint golden halo illuminated a dark silhouette, circling in the air like an omen-bearing crow.
"Only then does he discover how insignificant the power of one person is."
The crow was not a living creature, nor were the ruins traces of a civilization… Perhaps, just as the Sea reflects the shadow of the Tree, the Tree also projects the "nutrients" absorbed from the Sea—from the rotten, drowned fruits—onto a certain wilderness, isolated from the rest of the world.
"The Saint gave everything for her people."
Footsteps left no prints on the red sand.
Ripples spread out not far before dissipating, making the place look more like an undulating sea surface.
"But what she received in return were merciless shackles and a hangman's noose."
Time could not be felt here.
To be precise, the concept of time did not exist at all. If time was the thread connecting cause and effect, then this place only had two extremes: "birth" and "demise."
"The world is so chaotic."
The crisp, white formal suit worn by a certain man seemed to make any damage or stains nonexistent.
"It is neither fair nor just."
However, no matter what, the clothes could not conceal the anomaly on his body—an arm as black as ink, and a golden liquid that pulsed upon it like fresh blood.
"It persecutes heroes and nurtures villains."
The man's steps took him deeper and deeper into the desert.
He walked until he saw a tree canopy that blotted out the sky, and surrounding it like a dome were countless fallen leaves and rocks.
No…
Those were the stars of the cosmos, some shining brightly, others already dim, and… the cosmos itself.
"Ugliness is rampant, and beauty is nowhere to be found."
Here, in this place where "meaning" could hardly be described by "meaning," thoughts and ideas were no different from reality.
Without a doubt, what the man was seeing was the source and origin of countless universes—
The Imaginary Tree.
"—"
The ripples from his footsteps stirred countless responses across the desert.
Crimson sand rustled and fell in sheets as dark shadows surged forth in the space between the man and the Imaginary Tree.
Golden runes lit up one by one from their chests, connecting into lines and activating these "humanoid" existences, whose origins and age were unknown.
If a civilization that had ventured into the sea of stars were to see them, they might be "pleasantly surprised" to find that their forms were over ninety-nine percent similar to the Havoc Vanguards.
And…
They possessed the exact same "Star-busting" level of combat power.
The only difference was that the Havoc Vanguards were rare elite forces of the Antimatter Legion, whereas these "humanoid" creatures that had just swarmed forth…
A hundred million? A billion? Ten trillion?
They were simply innumerable.
If the Monarch had appeared here, he might have been able to use Root Regression to identify these beings:
[Imaginary Husk · Nihilism]
"Hmph."
An inscrutable laugh escaped the man's lips.
The corner of his mouth curled up to reveal eight not-so-"standard" teeth. In the next moment, the golden "blood" rapidly converged in the palm of his hand.
Its lines outlined a golden greatsword.
"The world's malice…"
He raised his hand and swung it lightly—
"Shall be severed by a villain."
VMMMM!!!!
A resplendent wave swept across the endless desert.
The mighty horde of Imaginary Husks didn't even have a chance to charge the man before they were reduced to a golden mist and returned to the desert.
After that single strike, the presence of the Imaginary Tree became clearer in the man's eyes; the distance between them seemed to have been rapidly closed by the power of that one sword.
However…
Hidden within the stagnant time was a space that was difficult to measure.
"This is the distance between her and tomorrow."
The dissipation of the Imaginary Husks was only the beginning. The particles of light that had merged with the desert shot skyward in the man's vision the very next second!
The brilliance of one hundred thousand pillars of light blotted out everything!
"This is the world's merciless counterattack against her."
From within, "Stellar-class" lifeforms stepped out onto the red sand. They were no longer humanoid, nor did they resemble any known beast from the sea of stars.
[Imaginary Spirit Skeleton · Existentialism]
But, perhaps, maybe…
It wasn't quite enough.
Tch.
The man raised his arm.
One hundred thousand longswords materialized in the void above his head.
"But her conviction—"
Swish!
He formed a blade with his hand and sliced through the void; ten thousand sword lights swept across the firmament.
BOOOOM!!!!!
The towering and ferocious Imaginary Spirit Skeletons were all instantly pierced through the head without even letting out a roar… returning to flowing sand once more.
"—will never give up because of this!"
"ROOOAR!!!"
It wasn't over.
A roar that made the entire desert tremble cracked the light-saturated void. From beneath the golden-covered red sand, twelve indescribable "creatures" slowly revealed themselves. If the Imaginary Spirit Skeletons at least had discernible "beast-like" features, then the twelve beings appearing now…
Language and logic would seem chaotic and disordered before them.
[Imaginary Divine Skeleton · Mysticism]
The power they displayed was—
Galaxy-class.
That was right. The beings standing between the man and the Imaginary Tree could almost be considered…
Twelve Grand Monarchs.