"What nonsense are you saying? Lady Cecilia is right by my si..." She turned around, and along with her abruptly interrupted words, what appeared was an empty, yet utterly familiar basement.
"Eh?!"
"Mom...!"
Not only was Kiana stunned, even the audience watching this scene felt their hearts skip a beat.
The viewers at the company were all starting to panic as well.
Anyone who saw this point knew just how desperately Kiana in the story wanted her mother—how much she wanted to save her.
They had finally managed to reach this moment—was something unexpected going to happen again?
"Director, please be human for once. Don't go too far."
"Even if it's just a data space, at least let Kiana fulfill her dream once."
"No way, no way—things have come this far, and you're still going to pull a twist?"
"Please stop it already. Don't torment our precious Kiana, okay?"
"..."
Similar thoughts flooded everyone's minds.
Inside the company, many of the actors turned their gazes toward Hessian, carrying a distinctly threatening air.
Even Hessian, who was playing his game, couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.
As if to hide it, he turned his back to them and continued playing.
The plot, meanwhile, continued onward.
Theresa hurriedly asked, "How did you sneak into this data space? Come back with me quickly—this place's things…"
Boom!!
A sudden change occurred.
Theresa was instantly restrained by Fu Hua. "To avoid interfering with our mission, please step aside for now, Academy Principal."
Theresa struggled desperately, trying to break free from her grip, but it was completely ineffective.
Fu Hua simply looked at Kiana and said seriously, "Kiana, your mother is not here."
"Eh?"
Kiana turned her head weakly. "This voice… Class President?"
It was as if she had found a lifeline. She asked urgently, "Where is this place? Where is my mom?!"
Fu Hua replied, "This data space has never contained any virtual environment or AI. The Babylon Laboratory and Cecilia never existed from the very beginning."
This answer struck Kiana even harder.
She roared in anger and disbelief, "No, you're lying! Mom has been by my side the whole time. We defeated the Second Herrscher together—I protected my mom!"
Ignoring everything, she charged toward Fu Hua. "Give me back my mom!!!"
"All of this has merely been your illusion. From the moment you entered this data space, you have been standing motionless in place. It was the Herrscher's trick that immersed you in your own dream. Everything you saw and experienced was fake."
"The Cecilia you were searching for, the mother you risked everything to protect—was merely a phantom created by Sirin using your desires."
Fu Hua's emotions remained completely unmoved from beginning to end, like a person without feelings, stating the truth word by word, shattering all of Kiana's hopes and crumbling her beautiful fantasies into pieces.
Kiana could only collapse powerlessly to the ground.
After remaining dazed for a long while, she still refused to accept this reality. "No… this isn't true… Mom is definitely here. I will definitely find her!"
"That's right!"
A glimmer seemed to appear in her pupils. "There's still that magic spell… Ich☆liebe☆dich!"
"Ich☆liebe☆dich..."
"That's right—as long as I say this spell…"
"Any wish will come true!"
Terrifying Honkai energy erupted from within Kiana's body.
Alarms blared throughout St. Freya Academy: "Strong Honkai energy reaction detected!!!"
Fu Hua continued to watch her and activated her own battlesuit. "No. This time, the world will not change according to your wishes. Kiana, it's time to wake up from the dream."
She acted decisively, knocking Kiana unconscious and restraining her.
Theresa, too, was rendered unable to fight by Durandal, who had already arrived.
The television screen went black.
A report came through: "Fu Hua has captured the target. Theresa has also been subdued. How should we proceed?"
From the other end of the communication came a man's laughter. "Hehe, for the sake of my adorable granddaughter Theresa, let her go this time. I'm very interested in that little girl—bring her to headquarters quickly, Durandal."
"Understood!"
Only after Fu Hua and Durandal had taken Kiana away did Theresa gradually regain her mobility.
Enduring the pain from injuries that had not yet healed, she opened communications. "Ai-chan… notify Himeko immediately. Prepare to deploy—target: Schicksal HQ!"
"Also, transfer Bronya to the Hyperion right away and begin preparing for surgery. We don't have much time left."
"Damn it!"
"Kiana—I will definitely come save you!"
The ending theme suddenly began playing without warning.
At this moment,
all the viewers were completely stunned.
Starting with someone unknown, every single person watching this drama exploded in rage.
"What the hell! You don't treat people like humans, director? You damn dog—this is how you make a show?"
"Who was it that said this director had a conscience just now? Conscience my ass—it was clearly eaten by a dog."
"Fuck, this stabbed me right in the heart. All Kiana wanted was to save her mom even in a fake data space—was that wrong? You won't even grant that kind of wish? What the hell is this 'beautiful' bullshit!"
"Damn damn damn!! I'm so pissed I want to stab the director!"
"No, I can't take this. I'm going to find that shitty director right now—what kind of garbage is this? Does he even know how to make a TV show?"
"My Kiana… why do you have to treat my Kiana like this? She's so innocent, cute, and lively—why does it have to be this way?"
"And that damn Fu Hua—who talks like that? Even if it's all true, couldn't she say it a little more gently?"
"Dog of a bishop—what the hell are you trying to do? There really isn't a single good person in this show, huh?"
"No no no, I'm about to die from anger. Let's group up—tonight we go stab the director!"
"..."
Countless curses and furious roars flooded the entire internet.
Every group related to Honkai Impact 3rd was filled with violent declarations; chat messages were hitting 99+ per second.
As for the comment sections of short videos, the moment a video was posted, it was instantly overrun.
The drama Honkai Impact 3rd shot straight to the top of the trending list in just a few minutes—and the only reason was people cursing the director for having no heart and being inhuman.
Fire Moth Interstellar Entertainment Company.
At this moment,
every employee was staring at Hessian, who was lying on the sofa playing his game.
Some had anger in their eyes, some quietly picked up a pen, some looked at him in disbelief…
Hessian also started feeling uncomfortable under all these stares.
He quickly put away his phone.
Clearing his throat with a cough, he asked, "Everyone finished watching? How was this episode?"
Mobius replied in a bad mood, "I feel like you're about to die."