Ryn and Kiana were gone, leaving Kukulkan with nothing to do.
Kukulkan warped the dimension, existing in another plane of space, then refracted light to conceal the spatial distortion. It then began to fly aimlessly in the sky, circling the Earth.
It was now like Janna, existing in a different world, with nothing familiar around it.
But going back was impossible. Janna had already made it clear that if Kukulkan dared to go bouncing back, she would definitely smack it to death.
Over the Pacific Ocean, Kukulkan, which was skimming the surface of the sea, suddenly slowed down.
Kukulkan sensed a Honkai Beast in the depths of the ocean even larger than itself...
"Huh? Why is there a giant manta ray at the bottom of the sea in this world too..."
Kukulkan vaguely sensed the shape of the Honkai Beast on the seafloor and couldn't help but be surprised. Then, it dove headfirst into the sea, plunging over ten thousand meters deep.
The strong draw their blades against the stronger, the weak draw their blades against the weaker.
Unfortunately, in Kukulkan's current half-dead state, it couldn't afford to, nor did it dare to, provoke Janna, that giant manta ray...
But the manta ray at the bottom of this sea... had better prepare for disaster!
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The largest creature in the world, the absolute ruler of the deep sea.
It had long forgotten how long it had existed, but it had witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations on land for several cycles.
Since its birth, only one beautiful and innocent girl had ever truly seen it.
That day, Maheśvara had shrunk its form and surfaced, wanting to see how the people of the new era were developing.
Then, a newborn baby fell from the sky and landed on its body.
It was suddenly at a loss... What should it do?
It took the baby to a nearby forest, hoping that a human would take her.
But the baby girl cried, and cried very loudly...
After waiting for a long time and seeing no humans, it took the baby girl away.
It didn't know how to raise a child, but the all-powerful Honkai energy could never be wrong...
The baby gradually grew into a lovely pink-haired girl.
But the girl couldn't speak, because it couldn't speak either...
As the girl grew older, it knew it could no longer keep her by its side.
It was a Honkai Beast and couldn't teach the girl anything. The girl needed to learn human knowledge, human language.
It brought the girl to a beautiful town. It had observed the people there; they were all what humans would call good people.
It placed the girl under the tallest ash tree outside the town. The girl didn't know why it was doing this, but she waited quietly under the tree until she fell asleep.
It stood guard beside the girl until a gardener found her and took her to a nearby orphanage.
The girl was still too young, and her memories of living with it quickly faded. Under the care of the orphanage, she soon integrated into human society.
There, she learned the human language, learned to tell stories. She would paste leaves of various colors into pictures and weave them into stories to tell everyone.
Having watched over the girl, it left, returning to the deep sea.
Several years later, it sensed the girl's presence on the surface of the sea. So it reawakened, shrunk its form, and followed by the girl's side, protecting her on her journey.
The girl said she was searching for the "Flawless Paradise... the Eternal Elysium." It didn't know what that was, so it could only follow the girl silently, shielding her from the various threats she encountered along the way.
During her journey, the girl gradually discovered its existence.
The little girl said her name was Elysia, and she took it upon herself to give it a name: 「Maheśvara」.
Elysia was very lively and talked a lot, chattering on every day about things Maheśvara didn't understand. Maheśvara couldn't understand, so it could only be the girl's patient listener, listening to Elysia tell all sorts of stories.
Along the way, the girl met all sorts of wonderful people, which made her gradually fall in love with the concept of humanity. But Maheśvara slowly faded from the girl's view, until it left her side completely.
Many years later, when Maheśvara saw her again, she had grown into a graceful young woman.
Elysia stood by the sea and called its name, and it answered the girl's call.
Maheśvara played with the girl on the sea for a long time.
The girl said she had joined an organization called the Fire Moth, fighting against all kinds of Honkai Creatures every day to save the world. To gain more power, they were conducting a modification experiment called MANTIS.
Maheśvara was resolutely against Elysia participating in this experiment, because Elysia was the very being the Fire Moth had been trying to vanquish. It was Maheśvara who had used its power to conceal the traces of the Imaginary Space around the girl so she wouldn't be discovered by humans.
But the girl's will was firm... So Maheśvara contributed its own cells, allowing Elysia to fuse with its factors. This way, humans would not discover that Elysia was a Herrscher.
But Maheśvara had underestimated humanity. In the near future, Dr. MEI deduced that Elysia was a Herrscher based on various differences she observed...
After that, Elysia also understood that she was a Herrscher...
Elysia met Maheśvara one last time on that same coast.
Maheśvara wanted to take Elysia away, but Elysia refused. She chose to fight to the very last moment for the people she loved.
Maheśvara didn't understand why the girl would do this, because in its view, it would all be in vain in the end.
This was a sad and uninteresting cycle. This era did not have the person the Cocoon was waiting for, and the girl was merely a variable thrown out by the Cocoon to speed up the process.
Maheśvara told Elysia the truth about the Honkai and the Cocoon of Finality, hoping she would give up. Maheśvara could ensure Elysia lived a good life.
But to Maheśvara's surprise, after a brief moment of sadness, Elysia smiled through her tears.
"Oh my, if only I had known the truth sooner... would there have been less sadness..."
"You would still have died."
"But they wouldn't have..."
Elysia gently stroked Maheśvara's head, then rested her forehead against its.
"Alright, alright~ Don't be sad, okay?
Our era has come to an end, but the seeds of hope will sprout in the future...
To undo the shackles of the Cocoon of Finality and return the power of choice to humanity... if this is my mission, then I should complete it.
To sacrifice the few to save the many... it's a very romantic thing, isn't it?"
"To me, it is not worth it. But if you must go, take this with you. You might need its help..."
Maheśvara split itself, creating a small manta ray, and gave it to Elysia.
"What a cute little thing! Why don't I make it my Retinue? What do you think?"