"Could it be... are you Sirin?"
Ignoring the Honkai Energy alarm, Cocolia gazed at Inaba Tsukiyo's golden pupils, reaching out to touch them.
[Smack!]
But before she could get close, Inaba Tsukiyo slapped her hand away. Cocolia clutched her slightly reddened hand, looking at the standing Inaba Tsukiyo.
At this moment, 'Inaba Tsukiyo' looked at Cocolia with very complex emotions: nostalgia? Anger? Sadness? Or hatred?
The one in control of the body now was indeed Sirin's will, but she didn't manifest a separate body as she had during her last meeting with Welt.
She had only temporarily taken control of the body with Inaba Tsukiyo's permission. She wanted to see her mother, the mother who wasn't there when she needed her most.
"Sirin... I..."
"Don't call my name so intimately, human. What stands before you is merely the consciousness of the Second Herrscher—the Herrscher of the Void. As for the girl named Sirin, she died fourteen years ago."
"She died in Schicksal's experiments, she died amidst your human malice."
As she spoke, her body trembled uncontrollably. This wasn't a tremor of anger, but rather one caused by an emotion she desperately wished to avoid experiencing.
Sirin wasn't lying; her current persona was that of a Herrscher. The former Sirin, after tearing apart humanity's heart, had already become a true Herrscher.
But even as a Herrscher, Sirin couldn't forget her memories of Cocolia.
Even if this mother had her flaws, she was still her mother; she was the one who brought her into this world, this distorted world.
"...Sirin, I..."
"Leave here, quickly. I... don't want to see you. Not at all."
She gestured, and long spears suddenly appeared in the previously empty space. These were spears from the Imaginary Space, and their attacks could not be defended against by physical means.
Not only that, but numerous Imaginary Arms also appeared around her, preventing Cocolia from approaching.
Facing such a scene, Cocolia understood that it was not the time for words. She cast one last lingering look at Sirin, then turned and left the room.
After Cocolia left the room, the Honkai Energy warning in the base shut down, and the Imaginary Spears and Imaginary Arms vanished.
But Sirin's will did not leave immediately. No one noticed that her eyes were already brimming with tears, which flowed freely after Cocolia departed, except for Inaba Tsukiyo.
Sirin squatted in the corner of the room, and even her consciousness within the mental space was crouching on the ground, like a helpless child.
At this moment, Sirin felt someone embrace her from behind. She turned her head and saw that it was Inaba Tsukiyo behind her.
Although her body was temporarily under Sirin's control, Inaba Tsukiyo's main consciousness was still watching her in this mental space. Faced with such a vulnerable Sirin, Inaba Tsukiyo couldn't help but step forward.
"My Lord... I'm sorry, I lost my composure. I thought after all I've been through, I had let go of the past. But it turns out I'm still just a coward."
Sirin gave a self-mocking laugh. When she first accepted the Lord's power, she had vowed to eradicate those filthy humans who had taken everything from her. She hadn't expected to still show such an unaccomplished appearance.
"Although you have torn apart your human heart, your memories as a human have not disappeared. You haven't forgotten the happy times you spent with her. It is precisely because the past beauty was shattered by reality that you became this way. It is precisely because you were betrayed that you hate humans so much. However, you can't bring yourself to hate Cocolia, can you?"
As Cocolia's daughter, Cocolia had no flaws except for not being able to be by her side often.
What Sirin couldn't accept was that Cocolia didn't appear when she needed her most. Rather than hatred, it was more like a child's complaint against an adult.
Sirin was only a fourteen-year-old child when she became a Herrscher.
Even if she was filled with hatred for this world due to her experiences, she still remembered her mother's love very clearly.
It is the existence of love and pain that allows humans to constantly grow. It is precisely because they once had happiness that they unleash immense power when they lose it.
"Don't worry, Sirin. While you are a Honkai Emissary, you are also my child. Fulfilling a child's wishes is also a mother's duty."
"Huh? But... isn't that a human way of thinking? Why would my Lord..."
Sirin looked at Inaba Tsukiyo with some confusion. Wasn't such a thought conceived from a human perspective? Why would she... "This is also the most interesting thing about humans. Small and powerless, yet they can continuously increase their strength through endless reincarnation. From initial powerlessness to later learning to use Herrscher power to fight Herrschers. To understand humans, one needs to understand human thoughts from a human perspective."
Although her expression was very calm, she couldn't help but wipe away a cold sweat internally.
Although she didn't know what would happen if her true nature was exposed, Sirin's character correction still needed more time.
During this period of observation, Inaba Tsukiyo also found that children of Sirin's age were almost at the point of being mischievous. Coupled with her past experiences, correcting her thoughts would take a long time.
Although Herrscher Tsukiyo often talked with Sirin, Herrscher Tsukiyo's personality was... how to put it, if she didn't keep an eye on her, Inaba Tsukiyo worried that this fellow might cause some big trouble with Sirin.
"Achoo! Huh? What's going on? Can I get a cold too? No way, I haven't been out much, how could I catch a cold?"
At this moment, Herrscher Tsukiyo, who was slacking off in a certain space of the mind, suddenly sneezed and scratched her head curiously.
"Could it be... someone is talking about me? Never mind, there are people talking about me every day, it's not that strange. But what's going on with Sirin? Why hasn't she come over yet? I wanted to play with her."
Completely unaware that Herrscher Tsukiyo was already developing into a gaming recluse, Inaba Tsukiyo was comforting Sirin.
At the same time, Cocolia, who had left Inaba Tsukiyo's room, encountered Tesla, who had come to check on the situation.
Compared to the base staff who didn't understand the situation, Tesla knew that the alarm at the base was due to Inaba Tsukiyo.
It must be that this fellow was suddenly stimulated by something, which is why she became like this.
Having figured it out, Tesla dropped what she was doing and rushed to Inaba Tsukiyo's room, only to encounter her friend Cocolia.
"Cocolia! Why are you here? What are you planning to do to Tsukiyo!"
"Don't be so fierce, Dr. Tesla. This is Anti-Entropy's base, after all. As an Executor, do I need to report my free movements to you?"
Facing the aggressive Tesla, Cocolia merely returned a smile.
"Ha?! Don't change the subject! Even if you don't tell me, I know what you're thinking! I advise you to give up your ideas. Tsukiyo is a member of our Reform Faction. You just carry out your actions within the Reform Faction. If you dare to make Tsukiyo participate in your experiments, Chicken Coop Head and I will absolutely not let you off."
"...Although she indeed has great research value, I won't do that. She can unleash greater value alive than dead."
"...What does that mean? Do you still want to win her over? I advise you to give up; she's completely different from you."
Tesla suppressed her anger. In her opinion, Cocolia's purpose in seeing Inaba Tsukiyo, besides using her for experiments, was simply to win her over.
But that was absolutely impossible. Inaba Tsukiyo's way of doing things was completely different from Cocolia's; they were fundamentally different people.
After saying this, Tesla ignored Cocolia and rushed past her towards Inaba Tsukiyo's room.
After Tesla left, Cocolia's face darkened, and the smile disappeared from her face.
But then she remembered Sirin's behavior towards her just now, and her eyes couldn't help but dim considerably.
Tesla was right; Inaba Tsukiyo would never agree with her, just like that time when she almost killed her after learning about her experiments at Cocolia Orphanage.
That time, Cocolia truly felt Inaba Tsukiyo's desire to kill her, because Seele had already been quantumized and disappeared under her experiments.
Even Bronya was about to undergo experiments, wanting to go to Seele's world to be with her.
In the past, when she was at the orphanage, she had explained that the purpose of her experiments was to save more people, and even if an experiment failed, the data could help subsequent quantum experiments.
However, compared to Cocolia's idea of sacrificing a few to save the many, Inaba Tsukiyo wanted to protect her important people more.
Even if such a thought was very selfish, if one couldn't even protect those close to them, how could they protect the world?
"Take it slow; it's just the beginning. It's natural for this child not to acknowledge me. Since she's joining Anti-Entropy, there will be more opportunities to meet in the future."
Although Inaba Tsukiyo was not part of the Reform Faction she led, as long as they could meet at the base, Cocolia would find a way to create opportunities for them to meet.
When Sirin appeared, those subtle emotional changes did not escape Cocolia's keen eyes.
Given time, Cocolia believed Sirin would forgive her.
Meanwhile, Tesla had already rushed to Inaba Tsukiyo's room, but the scene before her startled her, as she couldn't find Inaba Tsukiyo anywhere.
For a moment, the thought of whether Inaba Tsukiyo had run away from here kept spreading in Tesla's mind.
However, Tesla quickly spotted Inaba Tsukiyo in the corner of the room. She was squatting there; could it be that she hadn't noticed?
"Hey, are you alright?"
Tesla, a bit worried, patted Inaba Tsukiyo's shoulder, wanting to ask if Cocolia had done anything just now.
Suddenly, Inaba Tsukiyo stood up from the ground. Unprepared because she was too close, Tesla's chin directly hit Inaba Tsukiyo's head.
[Bang!]
"Ouch!!!
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