As Su's voice faded, the TV screen switched to Pardofelis's side.
She asked in confusion: "The final link? Boss, I don't really get what you mean…"
"Oh… I get it. The real good stuff you've been saving for last, right? Wait here, I'll go grab it right away."
The phantom of Expert Vill-V appeared in front of her and mercilessly exposed her: "Alright, Pardofelis, stop pretending to be deaf and dumb."
"The only reason I exist here as a backdoor is so that you can maintain your sense of self."
"And… it really worked, didn't it?"
Pardofelis said: "Listen to what you're saying. What backdoor? I do honest business here—no cheating kids or old folks."
Expert Vill-V said: "Pardofelis, then can you answer one question for me? Since the you here doesn't possess any Fire Moth memories…"
"When Su called out your name the first time he met you, why didn't you find that strange at all?"
"…"
Pardofelis was silent for a moment, then scratched her head and laughed awkwardly: "Uh, hahaha… it's business, you know… how could I just say it straight out like that."
"Boss, do you need anything else? If not… I still have to go restock somewhere else."
Expert Vill-V said: "Of course. Although that customer is quite special… I need you to become its guide."
"Special?"
Expert Vill-V nodded: "Mm. It's not a person—it's an attack coming from Kevin."
"While its destructive power is beyond doubt, if he unleashes it just like that, it will only destroy a massive amount of irrelevant data instead of striking the truly critical point."
"Right now, only you can do this—open a passage to the outside world and allow this strike to take effect at the most vital location."
Pardofelis widened her eyes and said: "Uh… Boss, everything you're saying… I really don't understand at all."
"How about… you find someone else instead? I'll… head off first?"
As she spoke, she had already taken a few steps, preparing to pull her usual trick—vanish before the other could react.
Expert Vill-V said casually: "Sure. Goodbye."
"Ah… huh?" This complete lack of intent to stop her actually made her pause involuntarily.
Expert Vill-V continued: "Pardofelis, I already told you—the only purpose of this backdoor is to let you keep your sense of self. I don't have the ability to force you."
"Look—there are no boundaries here. You are freer than ever before."
"You don't have to do what you 'should' do. Do what you want to do."
With those words, her phantom vanished completely.
"…"
"What a weirdo!"
Pardofelis muttered as she walked: "What a waste of time… I should've just ignored her from the start."
"…"
"Besides… besides…"
"…"
"Besides… didn't I already help Brother Su find Boss Kevin earlier?"
Just as Vill-V had said, that backdoor truly had succeeded in helping Pardofelis maintain her sense of self.
But there was still one thing even she could not control.
Even though she had not been captured by the illusion, this girl named Pardofelis did not seem to be the type of person who possessed that kind of resolve.
"Seriously… why do we have to risk our lives like this?"
"Living in this kind of illusion isn't bad at all, is it? We… were just data to begin with."
"But…"
Yet there was still an indescribable feeling lodged in her chest right now.
In the past, whenever she stood in front of a comrade's tombstone with condolence gifts, this same feeling would appear for no reason—and no matter what she did, it could never be dispelled.
"Everything here is clearly perfect. This is exactly the life I've always wanted. So why…"
"…do I still feel so unwilling?"
"…"
"Fine… fine. Since only I can do it…"
"Just this once! The very last time!"
"Boss Kevin, you better not swing too fast…"
Haa~
Pardofelis's pace quickened, faster and faster, running toward the target location.
As long as she guided Boss Kevin's attack through Cosmic Juggernaut at that spot, she could escape immediately!
She reached the location.
Using Cosmic Juggernaut, she opened a gate in the sky.
"Alright, that should do it!"
"Ah! Time to scram—Boss Kevin's attack… even just the aftershock would be more than I can handle. I'd die for sure."
Pardofelis turned and ran outward.
But after only a few steps, she noticed something wrong. The gate in the sky was rapidly shrinking and was about to close.
"Because it's too large… it can't sustain itself?"
"…"
"I don't care… I don't care!"
"My dream in life is so simple… just having sun to bask in, naps to take…"
"Is it really necessary to risk my life again and again just for something like that?"
Even as she said these things, her feet never stopped moving.
Without a doubt, without someone's conscious will to maintain it, that passage could not exist for long.
And for the one maintaining it—standing directly in the path of that strike—her own outcome was obvious.
"Sister Vill-V… did you know from the very beginning that things would turn out like this…?"
"No way… no way… I… I'm the most afraid of dying!"
"Hero stuff should just be left to heroes. I… I'm just an ordinary person."
Imagining the moment that strike would engulf her, she seemed to smell the scent of herself being burned to ashes.
She began trembling uncontrollably and sped up her escape.
"The me in reality… must have made the same decision, right?"
"Going to the moon to fight the Finality—someone as weak as me would never be chosen for that no matter how you think about it! And besides…"
"I'm… the best at running away. There's no way I'd die there."
"Right, right…"
"The me in reality is definitely still alive right now… probably sunbathing somewhere."
"If that's the case, then why… why should I have to die here…?"
Crying, forcing herself, trying to convince herself to leave.
Indeed, she possessed unparalleled good luck. As long as she wanted to, she could always turn danger into safety.
Indeed, her ideals could never be called noble. Such ordinary wishes carried no obligation to die heroically.
Indeed, she had used so many little tricks in the past just to see the sun rise again.
For someone like her, if there were any reason that could make her choose a path of death when the chance to live still existed…
"That's just impossible!"
"No matter how hard I think, if I can live well, why would I go die?"
"But… but…"
Yet those feet that had never stopped—the feet that should have carried her out of the vortex…
Why did they bring her right back in front of that passage?
"…"
"But… since I'm just an ordinary person… it's forgivable to act stupid once in a while, right…?"
"Big Sis Ellie, I never do business at a loss."
"You… you have to come back, okay."
She stretched one hand forward. In her vision, it was still trembling—but the passage that had been about to vanish finally stopped fading.
"I know… if I hadn't been so lucky, there's no way you would have chosen me to become one of you… no way I could have… stayed here together with everyone."
"So… Big Sis Ellie… at the very least, I can't let you regret the decision you made back then."
"Whether I can do it… I don't dare guarantee. But I'll do my absolute best."
"When you come back… please… praise me again, okay."
In the end, she still made the same decision—even though no reason existed to convince herself.
And at the same moment, the strike that had long been waiting for the right timing was finally ready. She felt the surrounding temperature slowly turning scorching, already almost unbearable.
"That's definitely… going to hurt a lot."
Thinking of the surging flames about to overwhelm her, she trembled even harder, her voice carrying a heartbreaking sob.
But she never retreated a single step.
"It's fine, don't scare yourself… maybe nothing will happen at all."
"My luck has always been really good… I…"
"But Pardofelis…"
"I am—"
…
Su, who had been watching all of this, finished for her: "…a member of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers."
Kevin said: "I see. No matter what, we must never doubt this."
Su said: "Then… let us set forth—it's time to place the final piece for our past."
"After unleashing this strike, regardless of whether we ultimately win or not, you yourself… will cease to exist. Do you have anything left to say?"
"…" Kevin was silent for a moment before speaking to Su: "At least this time, you won't go before me."
Su gave a soft laugh: "Then I'm afraid you'll be disappointed—after all, I'll still go just a little earlier."
"But only a little."
For no apparent reason,
A memory surfaced in Kevin's mind—something Elysia had once said: "If one day, pulling the trigger on me like this could save the majority… Kevin, what would you do?"
And his answer had been: "It has nothing to do with humanity's future, nothing to do with the ideals of the masses."
"This time I'm loading my own life into the chamber…"
"—Only to save one person."
Kevin held Judgment of Shamash horizontally in front of him.
"This is the one and only chance, Kevin. Let me become your sword." Su began burning his own data, pouring everything he had into Kevin's greatsword of heavenly fire.
"Judgment of Shamash… unsheathed!"
This strike shattered everything in its path. This strike pierced through all. This strike… consumed the lives of three people.
Seeing this scene, audiences across the nation were stunned—not merely by the terrifying power of the strike or Kevin's overwhelming strength, but by the resolve of the Flame-Chasers.
What is a hero?
What is a Flame-Chaser?
In this moment, it was fully revealed.
Even though many people had previously said Pardofelis was unworthy of being a Flame-Chaser,
In this moment,
Her choice undoubtedly moved everyone.
"It's hilarious. I used to think the Flame-Chasers were all scheming against each other with zero trust. Just look at Vill-V and Pardofelis—she always believed Pardofelis would make this exact decision."
"Exactly! I used to think they didn't trust each other either, but… whether it's Mobius or Su, they all had complete faith in Vill-V's plan and went all out to execute it."
"Flame-Chasers! These are true Flame-Chasers—risking their lives for even the slimmest chance, for the sake of saving just one person."
"Wuwuwu, I'm seriously crying so hard. Pardofelis is the Flame-Chaser most afraid of death, the most ordinary one. She has almost no combat power, yet her actions are utterly worthy of the name hero."
"Honkai Impact 3rd!! I really love you so much. Even though this plot is insanely painful, I love it so much. These characters are all just incredible."
"AHHHHHH, Pardofelis, I'm completely in love with her in this moment."
"Kevin is so strong! So cool! But even under Kevin's brilliance, Pardofelis shone with such dazzling light. I love her so much."
"The people of the Previous Era really suffered so much. The life they longed for was so simple, yet they had to give up their lives for it."
"…"
On the television,
That blazing firelight pierced straight through the Herrscher of Corruption's chest, bursting outward from within.
That radiance was like the death of a star.
—It was an unstoppable strike, one that clearly defined what destruction meant.
—It was the strike that had once led everyone forward, on the verge of crossing the Finality.
"Kevin…"
Seeing this, Fu Hua understood everything and murmured: "Kevin did it… The Herrscher of Corruption's power has visibly declined. Something inside her… has already disappeared."
The Herrscher of Corruption glared furiously at Fu Hua: "You… all of you… one after another… are you all going to do this?"
"Cherishing life… is it really that difficult for you?"
Fu Hua answered: "Perhaps it depends on whether it is necessary."
The Herrscher of Corruption slowly stood up: "Then… Fu Hua, have you thought it through? Are you… also prepared to do the same as them? Even though you don't even know why you should?"
Fu Hua answered: "Only by knowing the meaning of life can one bear its weight. I… am not that kind of person. But… most people in the world are the same."
"Since they can bear it without any reason, it seems there's no need for me to be an exception."
"Hah… hahahahahahaha…" The Herrscher of Corruption let out piercing laughter: "Very well… Fu Hua, then I've decided too."
"Next, I will show you my full power. But… I will no longer try to make you die."
"Live on… I will make you live on… forever immortal."
"After you've lived through an endless lifetime, I will make you admit to me with your own mouth just how…"
"…utterly foolish your former comrades were!"