In the Nagazora City cemetery, Isla Ash watched her parents embracing and finally felt a sense of relief.
Although Yuna thought she had hidden it well, she couldn't fool the daughter who spent every day with her.
After realizing her mother might do something reckless, Isla had actually secretly followed the lone-departing Yuna several times.
To avoid being discovered by Yuna, Isla had even sought out the ace agent, Wraith, and learned tracking and anti-tracking techniques from her.
If her idiot dad hadn't suddenly dropped from the sky today, Isla had her own ways to interrupt Yuna's suicide attempt.
She had even prepared several speeches to persuade her mother not to act rashly. But now...
*—Sigh, not having to use those is, I suppose, a good thing.*
*Such a fussy couple, and they just have to be my parents.*
*But now, no matter what, Dad and Mom Yuna, those two twisted individuals, have finally opened their hearts to each other...*
*This isn't the time for a third wheel like me to show up.*
The girl, finally at ease, stealthily slipped away and immediately activated the Quantum Teleportation System to return to Schicksal HQ.
In her view, her parents had been suppressing their feelings for each other all this time.
Today, after their emotions finally erupted...
*Mhm, what happens next isn't something a child should be thinking about.*
Isla, who was completely relieved because her mother's mental burden was lifted and her father was confirmed safe, found herself completely dumbfounded just a few minutes later.
After returning to Schicksal HQ and wandering around for a few minutes, Isla never expected...
—That her Mom Yuna would also return to Schicksal HQ at this very moment.
"Mom Yuna, you..."
Isla, who wanted to ask *'Why aren't you with idiot dad?'*, immediately stopped herself, not wanting to expose the fact that she had been secretly following her mother.
"Hmm, Senior said you were nearby. Looks like that was true."
Looking at her daughter, Yuna, whose heart... actually hadn't fully healed, truly felt she wasn't qualified to be this child's mother.
She was far too sensible. So sensible that just standing in front of her made Yuna feel ashamed.
Compared to her, a mother who chose to evade her responsibilities for her own satisfaction, Isla was a far, far better daughter.
"Ah, don't be like that."
Although she couldn't see Yuna's face, Isla could easily imagine the guilty expression Yuna must be wearing.
"Forget that minor stuff—where's idiot dad?"
"He should have suppressed the Cocoon of Finality by now, right? Why hasn't he returned to Schicksal HQ after finishing the job?!"
"About that..."
Based on how things were after their emotional outburst, Yuna had been prepared, both mentally and physically.
She certainly didn't plan to do *that* in a cemetery, but the mood was right. Not 'applauding' would have felt wrong.
But as it turned out, she was overthinking.
After Leo had talked her through it, he decisively stated that he still had things to do and told her to return to Schicksal HQ first.
How to put it... although she felt a small twinge of disappointment, in Yuna's eyes, this was exactly what Leo *should* do.
In fact, Yuna even felt a sense of relief when Leo did this.
In the past few years, it wasn't like everyone was just staring at the moon doing nothing.
In the seminars held by a few of the geniuses with extremely high IQs, some speculations had been made.
The Cocoon of Finality was, after all, the root of the Honkai. And when the Honkai eroded living beings, injecting them with destructive urges and other negative emotions was standard procedure.
Although Leo had sealed the Cocoon of Finality, no one could guarantee that he could resist the spiritual erosion from Finality during the True Manifestation Fusion process.
So, in reality, during these past few years, the group, who could barely use Honkai Energy anymore, had been pushing technology to its limits.
Everyone knew that preparing countermeasures against Leo wasn't honorable, but this was a matter of human survival. They wouldn't *not* do it just because it was dishonorable.
Of course, if Leo didn't go crazy, many backup plans wouldn't need to be activated. *You're fine, I'm fine, everyone's fine*—that was the best outcome for everyone on Earth.
For example, now, Leo coming back and immediately getting to work...
How to say it... seeing that Leo was still so... 'Leo', Yuna was truly, completely at ease.
....
Meanwhile. Schicksal HQ. Conference Room.
In the Schicksal conference room, Kevin, Su, and Welt looked at each other, each waiting for the others to speak their mind.
In the end, Welt, the youngest and the one with the most normal personality, finally chose to speak first.
"Gentlemen, the images and report sent by Tianwu earlier have proven that Leo, at the very least, did not attack our Moonlight Throne forces."
"With his current power, let alone wiping out those Moonlight Throne units, even attacking the Earth directly would be a trivial matter for him. So..."
"You're right."
Nodding slightly, Kevin looked at Su beside him.
"The new 'Observer' plan is no longer necessary. When Leo returns, let's have a good talk with him."
"Indeed."
Although the worries in his heart hadn't completely dissipated, the news from Chen Tianwu was indeed good news.
And frankly, the contingency plans they prepared were to prevent accidents.
The three of them didn't support Leo's 'solve everything by himself' approach, but they deeply admired him for it.
The three, whose impressions of Leo were only 'good', 'very good', and 'extremely good', certainly never wanted to see a day where those plans were needed.
However, now that they had relaxed slightly, they all tacitly avoided mentioning what Leo might be doing right now.
After all, in their eyes, Leo was still just a kid in his twenties.
What a hot-blooded young man in his twenties would do after returning from a long 'business trip'...
—That hardly required guessing.
.....
From the day the Cocoon of Finality incident began until now, the being known as Vita had been observing this planet for a long time.
Honestly, although this planet's Cocoon of Finality had been sealed by the actions of one man, causing its humans to be unable to use Abyssal Energy as they had in the past, it didn't mean the planet's peak combatants were easy to deal with.
Vita, who had once observed the original Kevin from afar, was certain that man's strength far exceeded her estimates.
And based on her understanding of Sa, if she chose Kevin as the target of her plan...
Setting aside whether she could escape safely, she felt that if Sa knew an expert of Kevin's caliber was coming to settle accounts, Sa would 100% choose to be a 'Sa'-turtling coward.
Yes, although Sa's power was close to one-tenth of the Cocoon of Finality's, Vita was certain that this increasingly machine-like entity had perhaps already written 'cowardice' into its core logic.
Because of this, Vita, feeling she shouldn't be so extreme, chose to observe the Cocoon of Finality while looking for a suitable reason to make the two sides fight.
And today, as the Cocoon of Finality's shield grew increasingly bizarre, Vita felt she couldn't afford to be so cautious anymore.
But just as she was preparing to make a move...
—The Cocoon of Finality's shield was suddenly broken by someone.
In the minute after the shield was broken, Vita went through a mental roller-coaster: ["Wow, someone can actually break the Cocoon of Finality's defense?!"] → ["Wait, where did the Cocoon go???"] → ["Those two are fighting, is this my chance?!"] → ["Good... terrifying aftershocks. I absolutely must not provoke them."]. After that, she decisively concluded that she should find a time to run.
Why didn't she run then? Because at that moment, she sensed that the man who had messed up the Cocoon had already perceived her existence.
If that man hadn't been in a hurry, she felt she probably would have been easily dragged out right then.
*Revealing myself at a time like this is suicide. Who would dare?!*
Of course, what happened later proved one thing: you can't run from what's coming.
The above was the life-flashing-before-her-eyes-moment that popped into Vita's head after she was beaten half to death by Leo.
"Mm, that felt pretty good. A nice stress reliever."
Looking at the bruised and swollen woman on the ground, Leo felt much more relaxed than before.
And Seele, who was being stalked by Vita earlier, had no idea that Leo had secretly resolved a...
Well, now that Vita didn't dare to make a move, Seele wouldn't have to face the things she did in the original story.
"Sir, I have no grievance with you, you—"
"You what?"
Yanking the woman up from the ground, Leo looked at Vita, who immediately shut up, and smiled.
"You don't actually think I'm some kind-hearted person who cares about due process, do you?"
"I've deceived my sister, my elders, my classmates, my daughter. I've beaten up my ancestor, my martial niece, my commander, and my wife. My specialty is doing evil."
"Please, Miss Vita, think carefully—what exactly do you think I'm planning to do now?"
"Sir! Please wait!"
Facing Leo, who was emanating killing intent, Vita didn't dare show any dissatisfaction and said to him.
"I am very useful!"
"I know. Otherwise, you'd already be dead."
*Th-thank goodness.*
Vita's psychic power was arguably unrivaled on Earth. Even the Herrscher of Sentience at her peak might not be able to suppress her in this regard.
But now, both Leo's demeanor and her own psychic fluctuations were telling Vita one thing—abandon all those useless schemes.
Otherwise, she would really die.
At this moment, the idea of instigating a fight between Sa and Earth to profit from the chaos was completely deleted from her mind.
*I mustn't have any unnecessary thoughts!*
*Forget it, I must forget all of this!*
"Mm, good girl."
Seeing Vita's current behavior, Leo healed her injuries and brought her to the Schicksal conference room.
And in the conference room, the three disrespectful old-timers, who had just been wondering which woman Leo would visit first, now saw Leo appear before them with a bruised and swollen woman. They could only think...
*—We really underestimated him.*
The three of them had noticed some anomalies over the past few years. Or rather, it was precisely because the human side was so difficult to deal with that Vita had waited so long, only choosing to act hastily when she could wait no longer.
But now, Leo had returned and immediately brought back a trembling, unlucky sod. Just by connecting the dots, the three understood—the recent problems on Earth were definitely this woman's doing.
And Leo, upon returning, hadn't done any of the things they expected. He had chosen to finish his work first.
How to put it...
*—The heart of a tryhard truly won't be easily eroded by Finality, huh?*
"If possible, I'd appreciate it if you'd stop misunderstanding me."
Leo, who already knew how the three evaluated him, stared at them with an unfriendly gaze.
"Am I that kind of person? I've finished my work, and I desperately want to slack off!"
"No, wait, I *can* slack off now—I'll leave the interrogation of this woman to you. I'm off to 'resume the music, resume the dance'!"
Watching Leo drop Vita and vanish from sight, Welt finally couldn't resist saying to the empty air.
"But... you've never 'resumed the music' or 'danced' before."
"Alright, that's not important."
Su stared at the woman before him. He recognized her, of course—this was the female version of himself who had fought and suppressed him before.
Seeing Su's gaze, Vita, who in some ways shared a similar mindset to Su, immediately chose to use the skill: [Tiger's Landing Pose].
"I am truly sorry for what happened in the past! But please believe me, I was forced!"
"I am well aware of your noble deeds. To atone for my mistakes, I must tell you all one thing—please wait until I've finished speaking before making a decision!"
"Speak."
Seeing Kevin utter a single, cold syllable, Vita dared not delay and immediately said to him.
"Mr. Kevin, Mr. Su, I know Miss Griseo's current location!"
"I am willing to atone for my sins and take you gentlemen to Miss Griseo's location to rescue her!"
.....