As the lingering aftertaste of that indescribable sensation—like a sudden, startled awakening—faded away, or more precisely, ceased to manifest outwardly, the invisible hand that stood above all things and all living beings, freely plucking at the carved traces of countless destinies, finally withdrew.
Supported by the red-haired woman, Kiana walked over, looking exhausted.
Mobius knew that the power temporarily lent to them had returned to the Immaterium.
A pity... but there was no helping it.
"The authority to command life and death, the great power to reverse space and time—how did it feel?"
Pushing aside the pink-haired woman who was clearly clinging to her and whispering secrets, yet whose eyes were darting about with undisguised excitement—glancing at Raiden Mei one moment, then at Durandal and Rita the next, her face practically spelling out 'I like them'—Mobius let out a light snort. "Ah!" With a sharp motion, the Infinite Serpent peeled the pink-haired nuisance off her body, a trace of curiosity flickering in her gaze.
Although she had been the one to propose the resurrection, the greatest contributors and organizers behind it had been Kiana and Durandal. The right to use that temporary authority naturally belonged to them.
After all, to a certain extent, their physiques shared the same origin as the Divine Empress. That alone allowed Mobius to minimize the backlash from reversing space and time.
She understood that clearly.
She... did not bear the surname Kaslana, Schariac, Ataegina, or Habsburg. When Durandal had yielded, giving her younger sister the chance to touch the sacred relic, it was Kiana who resurrected the heroes of old and their loved ones.
"It wasn't good."
After serving as Planetary Governor for so many years, regulating her emotions had long since become second nature. The uncontrollable surge she felt upon reuniting with her life mentor—and the mother she had wronged the most—had already been reined in. Kiana rubbed her pretty face, wiped the fragrant sweat from her forehead, and shook her head.
"An endless ocean of laws... In that moment, I felt I could accomplish any great feat, erase any opponent. But that godlike power never belonged to me. It... was too dangerous. A single careless thought, and losing myself within it—the backlash from the fluctuations of the fundamental Honkai laws would have been enough to completely annihilate me."
"As expected of Imperial Sister. Perhaps the resurrection list we submitted—carefully weighed and revised—was, in her eyes, precisely our limit."
Kiana spoke with a touch of emotion to Mobius. At the same time, she gently withdrew her hand from the tender red-haired woman who still looked at her with heartache and nodded. Then she turned her gaze toward the silver-haired woman in the old Schicksal black Valkyrie uniform standing silently not far away... She paused for a moment before offering a radiant smile and nodding.
Faced with the one she had longed to see again, the one to whom she wanted to say "I'm sorry," the one to whom she had countless heartfelt words to confess—when that person truly stood before her, Kiana realized she could say nothing at all. She wanted to rush into her arms, but in the end, she restrained herself.
After all, she was not truly the biological daughter of that Saint of Schicksal. Even though Durandal did not mind and had given her the name Kiana, even though they had long since reconciled.
Taking a deep breath and casting aside her stray thoughts, Kiana said, "Doctor. I'm sorry. When I reached my limit, the sacred relic bestowed by Imperial Sister dissolved on its own. Klein, Ato, Blanca, Mei—they... I was powerless."
Because of the asymmetry of information, Kiana did not know that the 'vessel of authority' Selene had granted her possessed no inherent limit.
When she restrained her own desires—reviving exactly the number she had presented—and voluntarily chose to stop, forming the thought of ending it, that was the true moment the authority dissolved. Those mystical, indescribable oceans of law and oppressive sensations were merely the pressure she had to endure due to the immense disparity between them.
"It doesn't matter. With a precedent established, it can be replicated. Klein, Hen, Ato... I'll find a way to bring them back. Besides, among the Flame-Chasers—nine for you, two for me—I've taken the bigger advantage. Thank you. I'll put what I owe you on my tab. And as for them... don't be polite. Use them as you please. They all owe you."
(PS: Ato and Blanca are Griseo's parents, and one of Mobius' assistants.)
Pointing at the Flame-Chasers who were staring at each other, wanting to speak yet not truly familiar—especially the foolishly grinning Vill-V—Mobius spoke thus. "As for Mei... there's no need for you to worry about her. Whether she lives or dies, someone will take the initiative to concern themselves with it." She glanced at the white-haired, expressionless man who looked like a block of ice.
"In that case, I won't stand on ceremony..."
"Himeko-sensei." ×2
Hearing the call, Kiana smiled faintly and stepped aside, allowing the red-haired woman to move forward. Bronya and Raiden Mei responded in unison and walked toward her.
Murata Himeko's fiery red hair flowed loosely like burning flames—just as it had been in the final moment of her life.
Only this time, the Honkai erosion marks that once covered her entire body were gone. On her smooth, rosy face beneath her crimson willow-shaped brows, her golden eyes gazed at the grown disciples approaching her—filled only with emotion and pride.
"I'm proud of you."
Himeko smiled and placed both hands upon the heads of her now fully grown, graceful students.
"Cecilia..."
Durandal's call made the white-haired Saint—who had been standing with her hands clasped at her chest, silently offering blessings for the reunion of teacher and students—turn around. Her expression was complicated, as if harboring many guesses, as she looked at the golden-haired, blue-eyed female knight before her, dressed in the crisp uniform of an Imperial Guard officer.
"You... are my Kiana, aren't you?"
As the Saint of Schicksal, Cecilia could naturally sense the unfamiliarity in that other Kiana's attitude toward her. Though the affection was just as deep, there was a distance she could not explain—hesitation, reluctance to acknowledge, certain concerns.
That was why Cecilia had not stepped forward earlier. She respected others' circumstances.
Moreover, at the time, after resurrecting her, the girl had clearly continued resurrecting others—Murata Himeko, the child from the Far East Branch, whom she vaguely remembered. Cecilia had not wished to intrude upon that reunion.
But now, the golden-haired, blue-eyed female knight—so utterly different from the white-haired porcelain doll of her memories—stirred something within Cecilia. Their ocean-blue eyes, clear as sea and sky, met in tacit understanding.
"How... did you know?"
"Take a guess."
An inexplicably composed smile curved Cecilia's lips. She opened her arms—just as she had in her memories, every time she returned home from her Valkyrie duties to face the little one waiting for her.
A flash of conflicted remembrance crossed Durandal's face. She gazed at her with heroic, immaculate eyes, her petal-soft lips parting slightly. "Mom..."
"'Kiana.'" Cecilia simply drew Durandal into her embrace. Though she could no longer lift her as she once had, she held her gently. "I'm sorry. I came back too late."
"Your family relationships are truly complicated. Aren't you going?"
Mobius watched everything in silence.
"Is it really too late to go?" Kiana countered. With steps that were heavy yet strangely light, she passed by Mobius and walked up to the Flame-Chasers, whose expressions varied widely. "If you have questions, ask them."
...
"Griseo... is still alive?!"
It was a murmur from the green-haired, orange-eyed, horned handsome youth.
The Flame-Chasers had no more questions. As if resigning themselves to fate, Kalpas continued lounging, Su kept his eyes closed in quiet repose, and Kevin sat to one side carefully weighing the wording of the resurrection clauses. Pardo vividly described her current job to Aponia, Eden, and Vill-V. Sakura solemnly consulted Fu Hua about the requirements for enlisting in the Imperial military.
"It's truly astonishing... Forgive me, perhaps this is rude, but if possible, I would very much like to meet the Imperial Sister you mentioned and personally thank her. Though she probably wouldn't care in the slightest. She is 'Honkai,' the Goddess of Finality, and also the Empress of the Empire?"
After hearing from Durandal and Kiana about the full story between the two sisters, Cecilia felt both heartache and pride as a mother. She accepted, with relief and admiration, that the elder sister had given her name to the younger. Only the role played by that Imperial Sister—the Empress of the Empire—left her shocked and deeply curious.
"Also... do we truly resemble each other somewhat?"
She believed she had met all the younger members of the Schariac family. Why had she never heard of her before...?
"Come to think of it, does she belong to the Kaslana family, or the Schariac family?"
At this, even Himeko's interest was piqued.
"Well..." Kiana and Durandal exchanged a glance.
How should they explain it? The Habsburg family?
Imperial Sister had her own family, her own parents, even a personal steward. According to many deliberate speculations, the mysterious Imperial royal family was hidden within an undisclosed core universe.
To be honest, they had never noticed before. It had always been Imperial Sister summoning them. Even just meeting her had made their hearts tremble. Of course they were afraid—who wouldn't be? Unless absolutely necessary, they rarely troubled her. Only now, when they truly wished to request an audience, did they understand how complicated and precious the process was.
"Is it troublesome? That's understandable." Seeing her daughters hesitate, Cecilia did not press further.
Himeko, having tied up her hair, did not insist either.
Merely imagining the authority of the Empire's Empress as described—the overwhelming military might, the boundless territory, and the Empire's cold, high-pressure, efficient, strictly hierarchical rule: an absolute centralized theocratic monarchy formed from the convergence of extraordinary power and professional bureaucracy—made both women feel dizzy.
Here, the beauty of the new world aligned in direction with the Valkyries' dreams. The disasters of Honkai were gone. Yet the difference was enormous.
This was entirely different from facing Archbishop Otto or Principal Theresa.
Hearing that even Kiana had personally ordered the execution of nearly ten thousand corrupt officials across colonial worlds, and that Durandal, as a general of the military, had bathed in blood across the star seas—issuing extermination orders, slaughtering xenos, suppressing rebellions in newly annexed worlds—the world had become something they no longer recognized.
"It truly is... unrecognizable," Cecilia murmured.
Her gaze drifted out the window. "Perhaps it isn't perfect. But if, through what effort we can manage, it can become better... that is enough. How could we ask for more...?"
It was dusk. From the upper floors of the Golden Courtyard within the Valkyrie garrison, one could look outward toward the transitional district connecting the Imperial Palace to the upper city. Towering walls, skybridges, and celestial avenues shimmered with starlight.
Sacred star-trees and colossal statues of gods stood in orderly rows along the mountain roads. Boulevards crisscrossed beneath leafy canopies. Luxurious floating islands adorned the sky. Layer upon layer of magnificent architecture stretched endlessly upward, painted glass walls rising straight into the heavens...
Most striking of all was the Grand Imperial Palace, radiating brilliance that pierced through clouds and seas alike.
"Oh~! My 'Helix' heart is roaring!"
"Vill-V, you'd better keep those gears roaring. Once you follow me back to the Science Bureau, don't start crying about being tired."
"Hey, Eden... such beauty—the Imperial Capital, yes, that's what it's called. The people of the Imperial Capital, its scenery—any new inspiration? A new song?"
"Elysia, I don't understand it yet."
"Aponia, have you decided what you'll do?"
"Me? Not yet. Though Elysia, you also... Are you planning to join the Imperial military?"
"Hehe, that's a girl's secret~ But if it's Aponia asking... a shy maiden like me, blooming like a flower, probably doesn't quite match the military's roughness and violence..."
"Ahem! Just go to the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I have connections—I'll arrange it. It may be a rather invisible department, but it absolutely suits you."
"Oh my, Mobius cares about me so much? I'm so happy~ Is it because of my incomparable beauty...?"
"No. It's because your skin is thick enough."
...
The major disagreements were largely resolved. Just as everyone was discussing what kind of life they would choose to live within the Sacred Selene Empire—
Bang!
"Her Highness Alyssa has arrived!"
Clatter—
The Valkyries moving about inside and outside the Golden Courtyard immediately stood at attention. The sharp sound of heels striking the floor echoed in unison.
Creak!
"Kiana, look what I brought you!"
The doors were pushed open. Dressed in magnificent attire, Alyssa strode in, surrounded by the Astartes Honor Guard of the Grand Imperial Palace. With both hands wrapped around the waist of a gray-haired, blue-eyed girl, she lifted her high into the air.
By hair and eye color alone, they looked almost like sisters.
"Bella."
Seeing her, Kiana called out instinctively.
"Kyaa—! Queen!"
"She's yours." As casually as tossing a toy, Alyssa twisted her waist and threw Bella over. Wide-eyed, Kiana reflexively reached out.
Bella's face first showed shock, then delight. "Queen!"
Holding the gray-haired bundle in her arms, Kiana glanced at her increasingly gossip-minded mother and teacher and felt a wave of embarrassment.
"Are these the ones you resurrected? Hm, rather ordinary. Never mind. Kiana, submit the list to me as soon as possible. Since they're technically from the Valkyrie Corps, I'll arrange their identity documentation... Oh, and a ceremonial offering—Kiana, Durandal, arrange what performance our Valkyrie Corps will present at the banquet of the grand celebration. If there isn't one, forget it. Decide among yourselves."
She came quickly and left just as swiftly. After giving her instructions, she even reached out to ruffle Bella's little head. Wearing an expression of sudden understanding, she muttered, "So this is what it feels like to be a queen..." and walked away.
Only a group of people staring at one another remained behind.
"Who was that?"
Ignoring the lively introduction on Kiana's side about Bella Benares, and paying no attention to Elysia's curiosity, Mobius stepped forward and lightly patted the elegant, cultured woman in a refined gown, with dark red hair and a gentle demeanor.
"Your specialty, Eden. If you'd like to meet Her Majesty—though not a formal audience—this is an opportunity."
"I'll think about it." Eden smiled faintly, a trace of helplessness in her expression. "But I still don't understand the Empire—the splendor of the Imperial Capital. How could I possibly compose music or stage a performance as an offering? To reuse an old work would be perfunctory. And according to what you've said, deceiving the sovereign—would that not be a grave crime?"
"Why not tour the Imperial Capital?" Mobius glanced at the fireworks outside the window. "No matter what anyone says, it's better to see it with your own eyes."
"Would that be permitted?"
"Of course. I've at least managed to become a Senior Director. I still have the authority to grant temporary access passes."
"Are we going shopping? How could such an outing possibly lack a cute and charming girl? Eden, you don't mind, do you?"
"Ah, Elysia. You're always like this. Don't suddenly pounce on people from behind."
"I can't help myself when I see Eden. No matter how many times I look, Eden preparing to gather inspiration for composing is so beautiful~ Aponia, come along too."
"Very well."
...
With the lively ones gone, the spacious living room fell quiet. Of the Flame-Chasers who remained, each and every one was taciturn. Kosma looked toward Kevin, who still sat with his hands clasped, deep in thought.
"They've left."
"Mm."
"I asked. If we want to accumulate merit, we'll need to join the military and contribute to the Empire's expansion. Governor Kiana assured me that once this period passes, they will return to our home world. Griseo may still be drifting in deep space at the original coordinates of our home world. I will go and bring her back."
"Mm."
"And you?" Kosma asked.
"I will revive Mei. If, in the eyes of Finality, I am guilty, then I will atone. She won..."
Kevin raised his head, letting out a long breath that was both complicated and relieved, about to continue speaking—
"Dinner service has begun. Would you like to place an order?" A household service unit approached the two of them and inquired.
Kosma fell into quiet reminiscence. "Shall we eat something? I've almost forgotten the taste of normal food..."
"Please bring me a bowl of noodles."
"The information provided is insufficient. Please specify. Here is the detailed noodle selection menu available to guests."
A dazzling holographic menu unfolded before them—
Noodles.
Category: Soup noodles, stir-fried noodles, dipping noodles, mixed noodles...
Noodle type: Length and width, thickness, firmness...
Toppings...
Kevin: "..."
Kosma gazed at the display and thought of someone. "I wonder if Griseo is eating properly now... what she's eating... whether she's grown up..."
...
Sacred Selene Empire, Inner Ring, beyond the Honkai Dimension—the universe where the former Schicksal forces' home world once resided.
Back when Selene, with the intent of uprooting all threats and leaving no future troubles, had excised the surrounding star regions—including time and space itself—of the mother star system where the renowned Schicksal Legion of the Imperial Auxiliary Army had once been stationed, she relocated it into the Honkai Dimension as a directly governed world of the Empress.
The cradle universe that had once given birth to the primordial Honkai was thus transformed into a trial universe.
Beyond the heavens, outside the universe relocated by the Divine Empress, a new budding civilization—one that replaced the failed modern civilization whose cycle had reset after 'Finality annihilated the world'—had no connection whatsoever to the past.
A new civilization was rising.
A new Honkai was gestating.
A new trial had begun...
All of it new.
Under the gaze of 'Honkai.'
At the newly replaced temporal boundary in deep space, within the Sixth Trial Star System recently developed and constructed by the Sacred Selene Empire.
Planet III, near-orbit central control chamber.
"Report. A resource exploration shuttle has detected an unknown signal frequency. Cross-referencing indicates a probable match within the World Serpent database—an emission signature belonging to the Project ARK vessel left behind by the Fire Moth organization fifty thousand years ago."
—
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