The Ninth Honkai Eruption had ended.
Just as the outbreak of this Eruption was absurd and incomprehensible—stemming from unprecedented internal strife within Fire Moth and the implementation of the high command's dictatorial plans—the "ending" of this Eruption followed its beginning, moving in a direction no one had anticipated.
In this Eruption, Atla—the epicenter and the location of the Stargate—was completely destroyed. Nearly three million residents of Atla perished in the Fire Moth riots and the Ninth Honkai Eruption.
This should have been a grievous sacrifice, yet compared to the "aftermath" of the Ninth Eruption, it seemed almost insignificant.
When the Ninth Herrscher was being suppressed, she used all her authority to create a Pseudo-Black Hole, which spiraled completely out of control upon her death. The Pseudo-Black Hole, having exhausted all the authority of a Herrscher, did more than just consume Atla and the Stargate; the entire Mu Continent tectonic plate sank into the abyss of that black hole, which seemed like a punishment from the heavens.
The sinking of the Mu Continent resulted in sacrifices far more tragic than even those of Australia during the Seventh Eruption. Due to the speed of the sinking, the majority of ordinary people were unable to evacuate. Nearly one-sixth of the human population perished in this Eruption. Social structures collapsed, triggering large-scale global riots. Furthermore, Fire Moth, the Honkai, and the Herrschers truly entered the world's spotlight, and doomsday prophecies—things that should have been obsolete—returned to the public eye.
In the wake of such heart-wrenching casualties, the Fire Moth high command "suddenly saw the light." They ended the second phase of the MANTIS project and the KY Project, actively organizing rescue efforts and post-disaster handling for the Mu Continent. All combat robots originally used to suppress humans were modified and integrated into the organization's normal operations.
Fire Moth's own losses were extraordinary. Kevin executed the vast majority of the MANTIS who were products of the KY Project; those who chose to surrender were imprisoned in the Deep End (The Deep). One-fifth of the ordinary soldiers were also killed or wounded in the internal strife. However, the 13th Squad, which was at the center of the storm, only lost three people. According to the testimony of the soldier Pardofelis, Captain Elysia gained control of the situation in time and led the squad to effectively stop the robots' attacks on the city and the branch.
When Dr. Vil-V returned to the Fire Moth headquarters, she blankly found the list of survivors. After reading every single ID number and name, she locked herself in the Helical Workshop. For nearly six months, no one saw her again except for Mei, who entered the workshop of her own accord.
The following is the list of the fallen from Fire Moth (ID numbers are omitted out of respect for the deceased):
Kaliossa, Erwin, Monias, Sky, Delta, Fitch, Ato, Luther, Naiden, Einstein, Lin...
Within the blood-colored Red Sea, everything drifted away from Lin.
This was a "predetermined event."
Much like Ragnarok, from the moment the prophecy appeared, the course of the world was no longer within human control.
Painful yet valuable memories, the humanity given upon him by mankind, the consciousness named "Lin"—all of it would dissipate within the Red Sea.
In these final moments, what Lin thought of was Ato—under that heaven-swallowing black hole, his body shriveled and turning into fragments—tightly pinning the Ninth Herrscher, then giving Lin a slight nod with his collapsing face.
Lin killed Ato.
Using the black mist of the Abyss to take both him and the Ninth Herrscher together.
With these hands.
With Lin own will—
Under the gaze of those inhuman iris-colored eyes, Lin silently closed his own.
His consciousness drifted in the Red Sea. He didn't know how much longer he would sink. Perhaps when the owner of those iris eyes completely poked their head out of the water, his consciousness would vanish.
A brand-new consciousness would be reborn in his body, but fortunately... Lin remembered that at the last moment, he had charged into the Pseudo-Black Hole to tear himself apart.
In this way, humanity would not have to face another Herrscher.
And he could finally welcome eternal silence. Perhaps he would go to that beach, sit down with the people who had been waiting for a long time, and take a good rest.
Only... the words he once said to Yama might not be fulfilled.
Would it be left to Spaciel now...?
Clink.
In the quiet Red Sea, the sound of chains was startling and piercing. Lin opened his eyes in dazed confusion, only to see those iris eyes bound by golden chains. The eyes struggled, but could only sink helplessly away from the surface they had nearly reached.
And one of those chains reached out toward Lin, grabbed him, and pulled him upward.
"..."
His eyes snapped open under the glare of intense sunlight. The stinging light didn't make him close them again; his pained pupils shifted from that eerie iris hue back to a normal greenish-black.
The man clutched his chest and slowly crawled up from the ground, dragging his numb body. He stood in place, organizing his chaotic mind.
He was still alive...
His thoughts were normal; he hadn't turned into a Herrscher...
His memories were vivid; he hadn't forgotten the moment he threw himself into the black hole.
His body was the same as before, but the clothes he wore had changed from the tattered combat uniform and armor into casual wear. There were no scars.
What happened?
In the bustling streets of a busy downtown area, a disoriented man stood still, watching the passersby. He turned his head toward a large advertising screen nearby.
Shenzhou characters? Is this Shenzhou?
The characters on the screen were undoubtedly Shenzhou script. Among the languages Lin was proficient in were the characters of his and his mother's homeland. The language the people around him were speaking was also Shenzhou.
Why was he here?
Lin stopped a passerby and asked in the Shenzhou language, ignoring the stranger's odd look: "Excuse me, where is this?"
"...Canghai City."
Under the stranger's "Are all good-looking people crazy?" gaze, Lin asked again: "What's the situation with the Mu Continent?"
"What do you mean 'what's the situation'? Isn't it the same as always?"
"What about the Pseudo-Black Hole?"
"What Pseudo-Black Hole? Are you talking about the particle collider?"
Perhaps because Lin behavior really didn't seem like that of a normal person, the passerby quickly left, leaving Lin standing there in a daze.
The distance between heaven and earth seemed to have been infinitely stretched. Lin felt as if he too was caught in that stretching length, his entire being elongating.
An inexplicable chaos swirled in his heart.
"Excuse me, do you need help?"
A grey-haired girl dressed as a student hesitated for a long while before coming forward to ask.
Lin slowly raised his head. The moment his pupils saw the grey-haired girl, they shrank to pinpoints.
"Hua...?"
A television in a nearby electronics store was broadcasting a news report:
"Recently, at the Mu Continent Scholars' Symposium, Dr. Mobius stated..."