A.N. Midterm Exam tommorow, haven't gone to a single class. I did decent on the first one and lowest one gets dropped so it doesn't matter.
The deep-sea pressure meters began to fluctuate, small red indicators flashing on the console.
"We're about two minutes out," Welt said, narrowing his eyes at the readings. "I'm detecting gravity fluctuations. They're strong."
I leaned forward, watching the holographic map flicker. "They may have activated it early. If they detected our approach, they might be trying to rush the process."
"That would explain the distortion," Welt replied. His voice stayed calm, but there was a trace of concern behind it. "Tell me something, Lee. Why is Otto so interested in the Sea of Quanta, despite the risks?"
I folded my arms. "He isn't interested in the Sea of Quanta. He's interested in Kevin. There's something Kevin has that Otto needs. Otto doesn't care about humanity's survival, only his own goals."
"Then the people working under him?" Welt asked probing.
"They're innocent," I said quietly. "The Valkyries, the scientists, all of them. I'm not killing anyone today. I'll disable them if I have to, but that's all."
Welt said, glancing at the display. "We wouldn't kill your former allies."
"If they know we're coming, they'll be prepared," I added. "I'll handle the Valkyries. Once we reach the portal, you and Siegfried go straight through. Don't hesitate."
Welt nodded. "Do you know how long it'll take Kevin to notice the portal opening?"
"No idea," I admitted. "Hopefully long enough."
Before Welt could respond, an alert chimed. "Incoming transmission."
He accepted it with a swipe. Otto's face appeared on the screen, calm as ever. "If it isn't my old friend, Welt Yang."
Welt stared back without answering.
Otto's gaze shifted. "And Lee. It looks like you've finally chosen a side after all. With how indecisive you were, I thought this day would've come much sooner."
"I'm on the side of humanity's survival," I replied flatly.
Otto smirked. "We'll see."
Two new faces appeared beside him, Durandal and Rita.
I coughed, trying to steady my voice. "Durandal!"
Durandal gave a small wave. Rita didn't; her expression was sharp, restrained anger behind her polite composure.
Rita gets an A+ for acting, Durandal gets a D.
"I've arranged a little welcoming committee for your arrival," Otto said lightly, before the call ended.
Siegfried frowned. "He didn't even mention me."
"Durandal is Schicksal's top Valkyrie now," Welt said. "You'll have to forgive him."
"The plan doesn't change," I said.
"Do you need backup?" Welt asked.
I shook my head. "No. I've been waiting for a real fight. You two focus on Kevin. That's the only thing that matters."
Before anyone could say more, the submarine shuddered violently. A wave of blue-purple light rolled past the portholes, warping the water outside.
"Gravitational instability," Welt replied.
"How much longer?"
"Less than a minute—wait!"
My stomach dropped as the vessel suddenly plunged downward. The barrier holding the water back from the Eye of the Deep broke around the vessel, and we fell straight through.
The submarine tilted and shook. Welt reached out, his power flaring. The hull folded and expanded in a burst of light, when the motion stopped, we were in a massive humanoid frame. Welt's control unit had become the cockpit of a mecha, catching Siegfried and me mid-fall.
"Don't use the mecha," I said quickly. "The corruption defense system is still active."
We landed hard, metal screeching as Welt dissolved the construct. The three of us hit the ground just short of the main platform.
Ahead of us, three towering pylons pulsed with blue-purple light, surrounding a circular gate that shimmered like liquid glass. The surrounding complex was half-hidden by shadow, with other structures visible across the platform, labs, containment towers, control modules.
And beside the portal stood Durandal and Rita. Durandal held a glowing blue spear; Rita's scythe glimmered faintly in the artificial light. Both turned as the mecha vanished.
I stepped forward, activating my flight system. The thrusters hissed softly as I hovered above the ground.
Grabbing Judgement of Shamash from Siegfried, I clipped it to my belt. "Get to the portal!" I shouted.
Drawing my rapier, I muttered to myself, "I never use this thing anyway," and launched forward.
Siegfried ran beside me, twice my speed. Durandal lunged to intercept, her spear flashing, but Siegfried vaulted over her in one clean motion, narrowly avoiding a strike to his legs. He landed on the platform and disappeared as another energy pulse radiated outward.
"Durandal!" I shouted. "Your fight's with me!"
I slashed forward, meeting her spear mid-thrust. The impact severed the tip, scattering purple particles through the air before it reformed instantly.
Off to the side, Welt used the Star of Eden, gravity crushing downward and pinning Rita in place before he, too, sprinted for the platform. The towers pulsed again, and he vanished.
I activated my suit's "Abundant Shock Cannon," launching a focused blast at the nearest tower. The light shattered, flickering out. The other two began to destabilize, energy arcing wildly. Quantum shadows began forming at their bases.
I fired twice more, striking the remaining towers until they collapsed in a burst of static light. Durandal and Rita turned to face the growing swarm of shadows.
Opening my HUD, I turned to the comms panel, before joining the Schicksal frequency.
"Hello," Otto's voice came through.
"Was the portal closed successfully?" I asked.
"There are still violent fluctuations," Otto replied. "But nothing a human could travel through. The portal's stabilizing. The energy signatures are fading."
"Probably the Imaginary Energy interfering with the Sea of Quanta," I said.
"Indeed," Otto answered. "And now that it's expired, the fluctuations are nearly gone."
I quickly switched over from 'Healing' Path Energy to 'Decay' Path Energy, it really was quite like the Abyssal Flower.
Taking aim at the closest quantum shadow, and I started blasting.
>>> POV Change<<<
The Sea of Quanta shifted again.
It was not a sound that reached him, not really, more a pressure that rippled through the endless, weightless dark. Kevin raised his head, pushing his enhanced senses to the maximum to try and get a better understanding of the shifting currents. In addition there was a hint of something familiar.
Almost...
The faint tremor in space wasn't natural. Something, or someone, was forcing a path through the quantum layers. Kevin's dull blue eyes flickered open, reflecting a light that wasn't supposed to exist here. A corridor had opened somewhere above, the energy pattern too structured to be an accident.
"The Eye of the Deep…" he murmured, voice coarse from disuse.
He had known that name once, from Fire Moth reports. He had heard about its potential use for recovering him from Grey Serpent through the Kaslana Stigmata. A possible bridge, a way back into the real world. Otto had been digging again, reaching where he shouldn't. Kevin hadn't cared. Schicksal was only one piece of a game that no longer mattered. Only Project Stigmata mattered now.
But now, standing here, he could feel the portal's pulse like a heartbeat against the fabric of the Sea. Someone was coming through.
He waited.
The first one to appear was a man, white-haired, barely armored, the unmistakable aura of a MANTIS. Even through the haze of the portal, Kevin recognized him. The Kaslana bloodline. The resonance was unmistakable.
Siegfried Kaslana. The descendant that the Kaslana Stigmata had once declared a failure.
Kevin's lips twitched, not quite forming a smile. He had heard about him from the Will of the Kaslana Stigmata: the man who had clawed his way back from the brink, who had nearly died trying to defeat the Second Herrscher, before losing the one he loved. Just like Kevin had. The Kaslana line was stubborn. It always had been, and soon he was back on his feet, before suffering the loss of his daughter as well. That, it had taken much longer to recover from, so long that the Kaslana stigmata had deemed him a failure, before his remarkable recovery.
The portal flared again. A second presence stepped through, the weight of it pressing hard against the Sea's unnatural stillness. Gravity bent around the man as if the dimension itself feared him.
Kevin stilled. His gaze narrowed.
That presence… Herrscher?
The air rippled as Welt Yang stepped forward, his hands raised in calm readiness. Holding something that Kevin recognised as Starry Harmony, Eden's divine key, last used by Su, glowing with controlled force.
However, it wasn't the original.
Faintly. He recognized that power. The first Herrscher's power, the power that had once defined the start of never ending war against the Honkai.
His mind, dulled by centuries of repetition, began to turn again. For a moment, he thought Siegfried was running from the Herrscher. That would make sense. But then the two men stood side by side, facing him.
Kevin tilted his head slightly.
That was… unexpected.
Without speaking, he extended his hand toward Siegfried. A thought was enough, the gravity around them pulsed, and in Siegfried's hands, a phantom copy of Starry Harmony appeared, reconstructed from memory and instinct.
He studied them in silence. The Herrscher and the MANTIS.
The Kaslana Stigmata had whispered to him before. It had spoken of a Herrscher who fought for humanity's survival. Kevin had not dared to believe it then, a reminder of Elysia's sacrifice. Now, standing before these two, he began to wonder if perhaps it had been right.
He was about to speak when Welt's voice cut through the still air.
"Kevin Kaslana," he said, calm but unyielding. "You cannot be allowed to return to the real world. Project Stigmata will never be realized."
Kevin regarded him for a long moment. The weight of the words barely reached him. His first thought wasn't anger, but curiosity.
Did Su send them?
That seemed possible. After all, Kevin had been trapped here by Su in the first place. He would undoubtedly try again if Kevin was on the verge of escaping. Even now, after everything, Kevin could imagine his old friend trying to dissuade him through the Herrschers words.
Before he could ask, the light behind them fractured. The portal shuddered, its energy lines collapsing in on themselves. The noise wasn't sound but vibration, a crack running through the dimension. Welt and Siegfried both looked back, startled.
"I thought this portal couldn't close for 6 minutes," Siegfried muttered.
"We must have entered just as its window expired," Welt replied.
Kevin didn't move. He simply watched.
Then the fight began.
"Witness the stars shatter before you!"
The gravity around Welt twisted violently, the twin Stars of Eden activating at once, the hyper intense gravity barely registered.
When he retaliated, it was almost gentle.
A pulse spread from his palm, the First Herrscher instantly frozen solid, the Herrscher core inside him suddenly becoming much more active.
Kevin moved closer.
"It's a shame," he said softly. "A Herrscher who fights for humanity… but I need your core to return."
Kevin was reaching for the core before Siegfried was upon him again. The man's body was changing, flesh and energy fusing, his veins pulsing purple, the right half of its face darkening and becoming solid.
Artificial Cascade, much more controlled then some MANTIS warriors from Fire Moth.
The mimicry Starry Harmony was gone with the Herrschers Death.
Kevin took a step back, eyes narrowing. "You've grown strong."
"It's been a while," Siegfried said through clenched teeth.
Kevin didn't answer. They had never actually met, Siegfried had interacted with the Will of the Kaslana Stigmata, not him. There was nothing to say.
Instead, he asked, "Will you join us? The World Serpent still welcomes those who understand necessity."
Siegfried's eyes hardened. "Killing ninety-nine point nine eight percent of humanity isn't a necessity. It's insanity."
Kevin's voice didn't change. "It's the only way."
"In no world," Siegfried said, "is that the only way."
For a moment, they stood there, two Kaslanas, separated by fifty thousand years. Bound by the same curse of purpose, saving humanity from destruction.
Kevin's expression softened, almost imperceptibly. "You'll see it, eventually."
Then he paused. The Herrschers body, no, its core, was gone.
Kevin frowned. He could still feel it, distantly, like a flicker behind a wall. But it wasn't here. Siegfried looked equally confused, glancing around as if the core might reappear in front of him.
Kevin didn't wait. His arm blurred forward, catching Siegfried square in the chest. The impact sent ripples through the Sea. The man collapsed, his body flickering as the transformation faded.
Unconscious. But alive.
Kevin sighed, the sound carrying no emotion. He reached down, gripping Siegfried by the collar. "Then we'll start again."
With a thought, the space around them shifted. The Sea folded, giving way to another layer, a bubble world replaying a story Kevin had relived countless times through countless world bubbles. A fragment of the Previous Era, containing some of Kevin's own experiences.
He pushed Siegfried through the barrier, the World Bubble would automatically assign him a role, just like it always did.
If he lives my memories, Kevin thought, he'll understand. He'll see why Project Stigmata is the only path left.
He paused before the threshold.
A small figure stood near the edge of the platform, a girl, faint and fragile, yet holding a hidden aura Kevin recognized all too well.
If it was any stronger he might have eliminated her on instinct.
The little girl, also stuck here like him, also trying to get back to the real world.
He hesitated. Then, after a moment, he reached out with his power, pushing the girl gently into the same world bubble.
The Sea of Quanta fell silent once more.
Kevin straightened, eyes half-lidded, returning to his search. The faint trace of Herrscher core was still there, flickering like a dying star somewhere in the deep.
A.N. I think the eye of the deep being on challenger deep is dumb, it's been moved closer to the mu continent. In addition, the actual transfer between dimensions is super unclear in the original, so I just made a teleporter platform