God said that light was good, and so there was light in the world.
God said that all living things were good, and so there were birds, insects, and fish in the world.
God said that man was good, and so God granted man the sustenance of all things, allowing man to rule over His kingdom.
Therefore, wherever man exists, His glory must also exist.
To put it simply, as long as the universe is human-centric, it must be borne by His essence.
All miracles are attributed to Him, and all glory is gathered in Him.
The [End] He brings is the conclusion where He takes away all miracles.
Its name is [Return to the Mundane].
In a future where even the King of the End can no longer be born, the flow of time and the scale of space will slow down and lengthen countless times over.
The Legion of Doomsday Beasts turned to ash and smoke following the dissipation of their creator, Zephyro, into the light.
"Animus, this world is even more suitable for exerting power than I imagined."
Restraining the radiance that had briefly illuminated the dim universe, Tsukishiro Yuki looked at the Lord Ravager Zephyro—now resembling an insect trapped in amber within the ball of light in her hand—and smiled at Suke.
"When I first entered this world, I sensed many extremely powerful individuals, and I was worried I wouldn't be able to protect Animus here."
"Now it seems the situation is better than I anticipated."
Tsukishiro Yuki handed the light ball to Suke, causing an interface to pop up before his eyes:
[Special Item: Soul Ball · Lord Ravager Zephyro (Transforming)]
[A soul ball converted after facing the Infinite Light. Once transformation is complete, it can be thrown to confront enemies.]
[The reason God is God is not because of His mighty power, but because He has won the trust of man.]
What is this? A Pal Sphere? Or a Poké Ball?
Suke looked at Tsukishiro Yuki with utter horror. No wonder he couldn't sense the Zanpakuto or Path energy anymore.
Could it be that he was actually walking Ash's script, and Old Yuki was his Professor Oak?
"Animus, I know the urgency in your heart regarding becoming stronger, but you don't need to be too anxious about it."
"Although I don't know why I cannot share my power directly with you, I am looking for other ways to satisfy your wish."
Pointing to the Lord Ravager Zephyro, who looked like a figurine inside the light ball, Tsukishiro Yuki said:
"This is an attempt I made. What do you think?"
"This way, even if I cannot come to Animus's side, you will have the power to protect yourself... Of course, I believe that situation will not occur."
What do I think?
I can't easily evaluate this.
Suke looked at the "Poké Ball" containing Zephyro with a complicated expression. This scene was naturally witnessed by Stelle, who had followed them.
"Boss, what happened just now? Did someone throw a flashbang?"
"Why did all the enemies disappear after my eyes lit up!... Wait, Boss, what is that in your hand?"
Stelle leaned in, and upon seeing the light ball sealing the Lord Ravager in Suke's hand, she sucked in a breath of cold air.
"Boss, you... You captured the Lord Ravager as an Aether Spirit?!"
"I knew it! You retreating in defeat before her was just a feint!"
"Stelle, actually..."
"No need to explain, I get it. It's just like when capturing Aether Spirits, you deliberately go easy to avoid accidentally killing the opponent, right!"
Stelle closed one eye and reached out a hand, putting on an expression as if she had seen through the truth.
"That's too amazing, Boss. When will you take me to catch one too?!"
"If I could catch a Lord Ravager too, I would definitely win the Interastral Championship in the next round of the Aetherium Wars (Honkai-mon) tournament!"
Suke: "..."
It had to be said, this child Stelle's brain circuitry was just different from normal people.
Perhaps she and Gudako could really chat up a storm together. Oh no, that won't do. Can't let the latter lead her astray!
"Speaking of which, could this Witch Big Sister also be your Aether Spirit, Boss? Where did you catch her..."
"?!"
"Mmph? Boss, what are you doing? Mmph mmph..."
Before Stelle could continue speaking, Suke pulled out a baguette he had rummaged from a Stardew Valley trash can and stuffed it into her mouth.
Under the hardness that rivaled a 105mm tank main battle shell capable of smashing walnuts, Stelle was ultimately unable to continue speaking and could only make uncomfortable muffling sounds.
Alright, although Suke explicitly opposed this child Stelle's viewpoint, thinking carefully about his own situation, he felt he really was quite like Ash.
There was no difficulty that throwing out an Old Yuki couldn't solve. If there was, then just throw out another Abi or BB!
Meanwhile.
Not long after Suke brought Stelle and Tsukishiro Yuki down to the central command Starskiff to regroup with the Astral Express crew, the forces of the Yaoqing and Luofu Xianzhou, who had received Fu Xuan's distress signal, finally arrived in a hurry.
Just like the police in a suspense movie, arriving only at the very last moment.
But Suke didn't really want to continue dealing with them. His purpose in coming here from the start was just to wipe Boss Mabel's butt for her irresponsible behavior.
After all, the matter of finding Elysia's essence couldn't be rushed. Or rather, rushing was useless. The Honkai: Star Rail universe was so big; God knows where she would be.
If anything, he planned to go check out Omphalos later, since there was a Doppelganger of Miss Pink Elf there.
As for now, the butt had been wiped, and the tool-person had been abducted.
Helping them solve (capture) a Lord Ravager out of humanitarianism was truly the utmost benevolence.
So Suke really had no interest in this kind of meaningless socializing.
Unless the Aeon of The Hunt, Lan, was willing to manifest on the spot and make him an Emanator to see if it could make him stronger, he didn't want to be questioned endlessly alongside Tsukishiro Yuki.
He still had to go check on the condition of the other visitor from the bus, Seele.
Although he had asked Sakuraba Emma, who was responsible for taking care of Seele, in the public channel earlier and learned that Seele was currently in a state resembling an autism flare-up, impervious to everything.
But as for the specifics, he had to go see for himself, didn't he?
"Boss, we made a huge profit! This is a Gold Medal valid across the Xianzhou Alliance!"
Of course, there were extra gains from this trip.
"With this medal, we have a free spending quota of one thousand Strale every week on the Xianzhou!"
For example, the gold token Stelle was holding. Qingque had distributed one to everyone who came to support them. It was something like a credit card within the Xianzhou Alliance.
"One thousand Strale is equivalent to one hundred thousand credits! We can buy so many cups of Immortal's Delight Tea!"
"Have you eaten Xianzhou cuisine, Boss? How about I take you around when we have time? I actually miss the snacks at Aurum Alley quite a bit..."
As Stelle introduced this to Suke, she lamented in her heart how awesome it was to be a dog that wins by doing nothing.
Wasn't this ten times more relaxing than when she helped Dan Heng and Jing Yuan fight Phantylia back then?
Of course, the Xianzhou Alliance's thank-you gifts were definitely more than just these, especially for the two direct crisis solvers, Suke and Tsukishiro Yuki.
That pink-haired, white-stockinged shorty Master Diviner from the Divination Commission had even personally stepped forward to invite him and Tsukishiro Yuki, saying she wanted to specially thank them for the act of removing a scourge (a Lord Ravager) for the universe.
Although Suke didn't refuse the invitation, it would have to wait until he found the time.
Listening to Stelle's ceaseless description of Xianzhou cuisine, Suke found that he did indeed want to eat some Chinese food. How long had it been since he last ate it?
Although he could cook it himself, how should he put it? Suke wasn't a professional chef after all. Dishes made without Stardew Valley recipes were still lacking a bit in flavor.
Although Mr. Qi's Seasoning tasted invincible, he didn't hold much of it, and putting it in every meal wasn't realistic.
Suke missed the Chinese Fox Girl Syalorin from Tripoka's world a bit. If that little chef were here, how could he be tempted by just a few words from this Stellaron Spirit?
He would ask Tripoka later if she could bring over the other few people from her world's hotel: Jevna for Alchemy, Leaf for Housekeeping, Syalorin for Cooking, and Little Grim for muscle.
One could only say that every one of them was a high-end technical talent, much stronger than Old Ai and Old Yuki and the others in his farm who knew nothing and mastered nothing!
He wouldn't criticize Old Ma (Sin Mal); at least she was diligent.
"Oh, oh! I didn't notice before, but your farm is so big, Boss!"
Stepping through the door into Stardew Valley, Stelle didn't mind the sudden drop in temperature that gave her goosebumps in the slightest. Instead, she showed considerable curiosity about everything.
As for a certain Black Haji-mi (Cat) who was feeling uneasy about the sudden disappearance and reappearance of the script, no one paid it any mind.
Let him clarify that abrupt appearance of the Fifth End named [Return to the Mundane] first.
"I say, do you really not need to add some clothes?"
Suke, who had just draped a down jacket over Tsukishiro Yuki, looked at Stelle in astonishment. The warmth effect provided by the Path of Trailblaze definitely couldn't take effect inside Stardew Valley.
It was snowing in the sky, yet Stelle, wearing only a jacket and an inner shirt, and even exposing her two bare thighs, really wasn't cold at all?
"It's... It's fine, Boss! Sniff!"
"This level of snowy weather is a piece of cake compared to a place called Belobog I stayed in before!"
"Strange, it wasn't even cold in Belobog, so why..." Stelle muttered in a low voice.
Stelle, whose cheeks were frozen red, sniffled. The outdoor sub-zero cold still hadn't hindered her enthusiasm for wanting to go to Pelican Town to check the trash cans again.
Suke could already imagine the inspirational scene of her running around Pelican Town alone earlier, snot flying while rummaging through trash cans.
No wonder she wasn't very willing to hand over the items found in the trash cans before. It really was life-threateningly hard work. If he put himself in her shoes, he wouldn't be willing either.
But it would be much better once winter passed.
Suke had previously agreed with Stelle on a 50-50 split of trash can products. Of course, in winter, it was a 30-70 split (in her favor).
He wasn't a black-hearted boss after all; there was still a seasonal low-temperature subsidy.
Taking Stelle to the Farmhouse, Suke added a set of his own clothes to her (the ones Meruru made wouldn't fit) and let the child move freely.
He felt he was becoming more and more like a mother hen. He didn't know if it was because the farm was full of kids.
He urgently needed some Loli Mamas to balance it out (Convinced).
After greeting Sakuraba Emma, who was peeling fruit in the living room, Suke arrived at the room where Seele was settled.
The girl named Seele Vollerei was curled up in the blanket. Even after entering a dream, her body couldn't stop trembling slightly.
"Eh? Boss, is she Seele?"
"She looks so much like Seele when she was little!"
Stelle followed behind him. Although she didn't know if it was her illusion, she felt that her new Boss's territory was full of young girls.
And she hadn't seen any other males.
Stelle, who only had a single-digit mental age, was a bit confused. It was fortunate that March 7th wasn't by her side; otherwise, she would definitely be dragged away from this place by March.
"Yes."
"She is 'Seele', but not the same 'Seele' as the one you've met."
"Huh?"
"To put it in terms you can understand, it's like the Stellaron Hunter Silver Wolf and the Supreme Guardian Bronya of Belobog."
Suke recalled the topic he had discussed with Boss Mabel a few days ago.
"You can view them as two similar flowers, although the relationship between them is far more complex."
Suke thought of BB and the girl named "Matou Sakura" in the Type-Moon worldview. In the past, he also simply thought they just looked alike.
But once "Essence" was involved, the relationship between them inevitably made one think more.
"Emma, how long has she been asleep?" Suke turned to look at Sakuraba Emma, who walked in holding a fruit platter.
"She hasn't woken up since Miss Abigail brought her over, Sir."
"Miss Abigail went to ask Boss Mabel to come over and take a look. She said..."
Sakuraba Emma weighed her words, seemingly thinking about how to broach the subject.
"Boss Mabel said that if you returned, to tell you to leave it alone."
"Leave it alone?"
"Yes, she meant that this problem is the same as the time Yuki caught a cold. It will get better naturally as time passes."
"Oh right, she also said for you not to send messages asking her anymore, Sir. She's preparing to go out for a bit and won't see them."
What does Boss Mabel mean by this?
Leaving it alone—isn't that a bit too casual?
And going out at a time like this, could there be some hidden circumstances?
Suke felt he had a bit of PTSD. Before, Tsukishiro Yuki was also like this—intermittent loss of contact, and then a huge issue exploded, and she got elbow-dropped into crashing.
Although theoretically speaking, there were few existences in the heavens from bottom to top who could make Boss Mabel eat a loss, if even she got elbow-dropped, Suke really wouldn't be able to hold it together.
Moreover, Seele's state of being unable to communicate made Suke unable to determine if she was from Honkai Gakuen 2 or Honkai Impact 3rd. After all, the two Seeles were truly identical except for the setting of their inner personality.
...Wait!
Suke suddenly remembered the Old Yang from the Astral Express crew he met in the Star Rail universe.
Assuming the door Elysia opened didn't have a positional error, and there was no parallel universe setting.
Then wouldn't that mean the time point in the Honkai: Star Rail universe was already after the Paramecium became the Great Sage Qi (Kiana) in Honkai Impact 3rd!
Suke hurriedly pulled out an Iridium Key he had just obtained not long ago from his chest pocket, intending to use it on Seele immediately.
But then he remembered that the Iridium Key required the user to be in a conscious state, using their heart's thoughts and wishes as a bridge to successfully open the door to the user's world.
Could he only worry helplessly?
"Look at that anxious look of yours. Could it be you're concerned about me, Farmer?"
The figures of Mabel and Abigail appeared in the hallway outside the room at some point. Her familiar voice rang out along with them, taking Suke's mood on a rollercoaster ride.
Mabel stood with her hands behind her back, puffing out her nonexistent chest, looking like an old leader inspecting the troops. This instantly dissipated the few bits of concern Suke had just raised for her.
"It's rare for you to care about an old woman like me. I thought you despised me to no end."
"Yo, another newcomer arrived?"
"The newcomer this time looks quite sturdy. Nice figure, oh?"
Mabel walked up to Stelle and reached out to tidy the collar of this three-year-old child who was much taller than her.
It gave Stelle a feeling of 'I don't understand but it seems awesome,' and she subconsciously straightened her back to accept the inspection.
"Good, very spirited!"
"We need talents like you here. You, kid, will be covered by me, Mabel-chan."
"If you encounter anything you can't solve in the future, just come find me, and I'll settle it easily for you!"
Mabel put on an insufferably arrogant appearance like a dark force boss. It had to be said that with her personality, no matter what she did, Suke didn't feel it was OOC (Out of Character).
For the biggest, strongest, and worst hedonist under the heavens, Suke felt that worrying about her meant his head had been kicked by a donkey!
"Stop teasing the kid over there!"
"So what exactly is going on with Seele? Are the two girls who came from her world during the Spirit's Eve fine?"
"What do you think I went out for?" Mabel rolled her eyes at Suke.
"With me taking action, even the biggest matter can be settled for you. Who do you think I am?"
"So, did something happen or not?"
Why didn't Suke believe it? If nothing happened, would Seele Vollerei be lying here?
"Nothing major happened, I guess..."
"It's just that the entire timeline was reset and made into a loop, but it didn't take her along."
Suke: "?"
You call this 'nothing major'??
No, Suke had encountered things like timeline resets quite a few times. For example, Abigail back then.
But at least Abigail herself reset and ran along with the timeline reset. Why was Seele still here?
"I am different from her, Big Brother."
Seeming to see Suke's confusion, Abigail spoke up to explain:
"Actually, there is one thing Abi hasn't told Big Brother, because I was afraid Big Brother would worry."
"Before meeting Big Brother, Abi, as Uncle's Witch, was trapped in that Salem, sealed in memory and reincarnated many times. My essence was constantly extracted, and even Uncle couldn't save Abi."
"It wasn't until, by a stroke of luck, a purple star emerged, and Uncle took the opportunity to act, that Abi was able to break away from the cycle ahead of time before my essence dried up, and come here to meet Big Brother."
"It is also thanks to Big Brother, who was completely unaffected by the magic-prohibiting rules there and broke the nightmare for Abi, that Abi could be saved."
"Otherwise... perhaps Abi would have become like her. Even if I met Big Brother, I would have become like Big Sister Elysia, completely unable to help Big Brother."
Abigail whispered:
"That Chaldean Master also has fragmented memories of this. Big Brother can also verify it with her."
Her answer completely resolved a doubt that had always existed in Suke's heart: why Abigail's affection for him was so high.
Yeah, thinking about it makes sense.
How could a Door Witch who had followed Bubbles for a thousand years fall for him just because of two pieces of chocolate cake?
Suke felt a chill down his spine. He looked at Seele, then at Mabel and Abigail.
"So, does Seele's situation mean..."
"Yes~ Essence squeezed dry, value lost. The cycle of her world naturally didn't need to bring her along anymore."
"Her existence has been erased from her world. No one will remember her."
"But it's actually not too bad. At least she can still live in this pastoral field of yours, Farmer. If not for you, she would really be dead as a doornail~"
Mabel shrugged.
Suke fell into silence.
He looked at Tsukishiro Yuki. This Great Witch who had always accompanied him met his gaze at the same moment, a bad premonition present under her slightly furrowed brows.
Could it be that the cycle Tsukishiro Yuki experienced was also related to this event?!
At this point, he would no longer believe that kind of cycle was something Tsukishiro Yuki created for herself.
Suke couldn't help but think of the afternoon when Tsukishiro Yuki was forgotten by the entire world.
If not for him using the power of the Buddha residing in the Statue of Yoba to pierce directly into the cycle, she likely would have been picked up by the bus Tripoka possessed not long after.
Or, with a bit of bad luck, returned directly to eternal nothingness.
"The process of extracting essence using a loop is very simple. It is to constantly simulate the scene the extractee fears most in their heart, using what is commonly known as psychological trauma to make the extractee trap themselves."
"When the last tear runs dry, when the last shred of hope for survival is cut off, the essence will precipitate above the cycle, becoming precious nutrients gathering towards the 'Land of Return'."
"At the same time, it accelerates the convergence of the worlds."
"You don't need to worry about some mastermind behind this. The loop is actually a natural phenomenon... or call it a natural disaster."
Mabel's words made Suke heave a slight sigh of relief.
What he feared was some gadget fishing through the heavens planning everything from behind the scenes, leaving even Boss Mabel helpless.
Then his pressure would have gone straight off the charts!
"However, the cycle corresponding to the essence squeezed out of this girl is quite dangerous."
"She is related to both 'Mother' and the 'Lord of the Wood'. This is also why I told you to leave her alone."
Mabel sat down by the bed. She reached out to stroke Seele's cheek, her eyes full of pity.
"You've seen before how terrifying a dirty thing like 'Mother' is. It symbolizes the effigy of what humanity holds most dear yet fears most."
"And under the superposition of the 'Lord of the Wood', this fear is amplified to the extreme, to the extent that it can even be called a 'Human Trial'."
"'Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.'"
"Are you familiar with this record? For a human, nothing is more terrifying than the betrayal of one's parents..."
"Humans always talk about how devout Abraham was, but who has ever discussed Isaac's feelings at that time?"
Mabel turned her gaze to Suke, sizing up the man before her.
There was one sentence she ultimately didn't tell him: among all existences who have undergone the cycle, only his essence would not wear down in the slightest.
Just like how he chased after his beloved girl countless times without getting lost in it.
"You don't need to rush to make a decision. You can think carefully before she wakes up about whether you want to save her, or rather, if saving her is worth it."
"You have to know that you and she have only met by chance."
"Time is still ample. Her awakening will take a lot of time. Whatever you want to do will be a matter for after she wakes up... No matter what you choose, I will respect your decision."
Mabel murmured in a language no one could hear:
"It's nothing more than trying my hardest to fish you out one more time."
____
New Story: Danmachi: But I am a God, time to make a family!
🔥 25% off something at the funeral parlor... care to take a look? 🔥
✅ Read up to 40 chapters in advance (all stories)!
✅ Access exclusive posts and updates first!
Let's achieve our community goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 extra chapter for everybody
🚀 140 MEMBERS = +5 additional chapters on ALL STORIES!
👻 P - Walnutchan