"Do as you please…"
"Maheśvara, you can definitely live to see the future, right?"
"Mmm…"
"Then… please, on my behalf, go and witness the future that I cannot!"
For a time after Elysia left, Maheśvara waited for her to have a change of heart. As long as she changed her mind, Maheśvara could have taken her and, defying everything, lived on to the next cycle.
But Elysia was unwilling to repeat the same mistakes, to re-experience the cycle of civilization's demise… She selectively told MEI and Mobius what she had learned from Maheśvara…
They formulated a series of methods to counter the Cocoon and Finality, but they left out one thing…
Humanity's last remaining civilization fell into chaos in its final moments. For the sake of those unworthy humans, Elysia wove a grand lie and a magnificent curtain call for herself and for them.
And then…
Elysia died.
Maheśvara, completely disappointed with humanity, sank back to the bottom of the sea.
The blade of Finality swept across the entire surface, turning everything to dust and annihilating it beneath the ground. The earth was overturned several times by Finality, and furious magma erupted continuously from the surface.
The seas were vaporized, and torrential rains fell globally. The solidified lava formed new continents…
Heh… you think you're safe hiding underground?
The manta ray Maheśvara had left for Elysia erupted with Maheśvara's power, covering the humans who were hibernating underground.
Whether it was earth, ocean, or Soulium, none could block Finality's observation. Only Maheśvara's power could erase their presence, preventing the Herrscher of Finality from detecting them.
But the Cocoon of Finality discovered Maheśvara's little trick. Its Executor, the Herrscher of Finality, hovered over the sea where Maheśvara was, gazing at this Honkai Beast that had luckily survived several cycles.
Maheśvara felt its hair stand on end from the stare and could only silently pray that the Cocoon wouldn't act.
The Herrscher of Finality remained above the sea for over a thousand years, waiting until the surface was completely devoid of any signs of life. Having completed its mission, the Herrscher of Finality prepared to start the cycle anew.
Before initiating the cycle, the Herrscher of Finality threw a corpse at Maheśvara.
A corpse whose time had been reversed to the moment before death…
「Her mission did not require her to give her life, yet she chose to do so.」
"Hehe…"
Maheśvara let out a few cold, self-mocking laughs. "You created all of this; isn't it all up to you how things go? Since you can reverse her time, why not reverse it to the moment before she died?"
「Her soul was taken away by someone. Reversing the time of her body is futile.
Preserve her body. This is your next mission.」
With those words, the Herrscher of Finality turned and left, returning to the moon.
She was not the proxy the Cocoon was waiting for, so after she completed her mission, the Cocoon would reclaim its power.
The Herrscher of Finality turned into a giant stone statue, standing tall on the moon.
The Earth was reset to its initial chaotic state, returning to how it was 4.6 billion years ago when it first formed.
The Cocoon of Finality initiated the cycle, accelerating everything.
Oceans appeared, life evolved, continents separated…
The Cocoon shortened the process of Earth's evolution of life to the emergence of ancient humans from several hundred million years to just forty thousand years.
The rest of the time belonged to the survivors. The Cocoon withdrew its power and returned to silence.
Watching the people of the Fire Moth re-emerge from underground, they distributed the preserved biological genes, poured the potions they researched into the rivers, and conducted experimental modifications on the new human race…
The Cocoon cared about none of this. All it did was wait.
Even the little bugs trying to steal its Authority, the Cocoon didn't care. If they wanted it, the Cocoon gave it to them directly.
But this was ultimately futile. Still, the Cocoon appreciated these courageous beings. It created a Bubble Universe near the moon and transferred the consciousness of MEI and Prometheus there.
It was very curious, what would 「Humanity's Chimera, Civilization's Leviathan」 Kevin do?
This was a test the Cocoon set for him, a test to decide if he could obtain the power of Finality.
Prometheus was a backdoor? That was just what they thought was a backdoor.
Elysia's sacrifice would not be in vain, but for mortals to covet the divine was ultimately an unrealistic fantasy.
The Cocoon watched as Mobius continuously uploaded her consciousness, trying time and again to rush into its body to witness a true god, and even to replace that god.
Trying to use a god's power to overthrow a god, how ridiculous…
The Cocoon opened a door in front of Mobius and threw her onto the path to the Imaginary Tree.
The Cocoon occupied the tip of the Imaginary Tree, and had, in essence, become a part of the Imaginary Tree.
Since Mobius wanted to see a god, then let her see a real one.
But whether that god wanted to see her was not something the Cocoon could decide.
After all, it had forcibly occupied the tip of the Imaginary Tree. Although the Tree didn't care about such things, if the Cocoon went looking for trouble by bothering the Tree with this, the Tree would surely slap it to death.
——————————————
Back to the present, at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
Kukulkan and the several-kilometer-long manta ray, "Maheśvara," were staring at each other.
Although not even a fraction of Janna's size, it was still quite huge compared to its own three-hundred-meter frame…
(When fully spread, Janna is a quarter of the size of Earth. Back then, she knocked out all of Earth's orbital defenses with a single headbutt…)
But does size matter?
Kukulkan instantly grew to tens of kilometers in size, whipping its tail to tightly coil around the slumbering Maheśvara.
Kukulkan was now connected to Ryn's Imaginary Space, its Honkai energy nearly infinite. It could become as large as it wanted.
The sleeping Maheśvara was instantly awakened. Looking at the giant white dragon head in front of it and the tail wrapped around its body, Maheśvara got a little angry.
Maheśvara: "Are you trying to mate with me while I'm asleep! Don't even think about it!"
Kukulkan: "Huh? I'm a female dragon! Aren't you female too? What mating? I'm here to fight you!"
Maheśvara: "Ridiculous. I've observed humans for a long time. Who says two females can't get together…"
Kukulkan's eyes widened with astonishment and horror. It quickly retracted its tail and fled without looking back.
"Oh no, I've run into a perverted Honkai Beast…"
——————————————
At St. Freya, Ryn, who was being hung up and scolded by Theresa, looked up in the direction of Kukulkan in the Pacific Ocean.
"Huh, is Kukulkan fighting someone? Why does it need so much energy?"
"What are you muttering about!"
Theresa grabbed Ryn's ear and roared fiercely.
"You bastard, how dare you get distracted right now! I'm seriously scolding you!"
"Yes, yes… Grand-aunt is right to scold me…"
Ryn closed his eyes, not looking at Theresa, and then activated the "shutdown when scolded" technique he had secretly learned from Kallen.