"Now announcing the plan against the Herrscher of the End."
"Since Dr. Mobius, Vill-V, and Su are responsible for very important work, they cannot go to the moon."
"Therefore, the combatants determined for this Final Battle are: Kevin, Li, Hua, Kosma, Sakura, Eden, Aponia, Kalpas, and Pardofelis."
"Everyone, remember: You only need to stall the Herrscher of the End on the moon. Wait for the Moonlight Throne to finish charging, and then Kevin will deliver the final blow using Shamash."
In the freezing conference room, the remaining nine of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers gathered together, listening to Dr. MEI explain the plan.
MEI sat beside Kevin. On the screen behind her, an image of the Herrscher of the End was projected.
"Everyone, this will be our final chance. The survival of humanity depends on this one stroke. We depart in ten minutes. I wish you all martial fortune."
"Understood."
Several low responses came from the conference room, and then the crowd stood up and walked outside.
Fu Li and Eden walked at the very back. Just as they were about to leave the room, Mobius shoved a watch into his hand.
"Be careful on the road. I never gave you a gift before; this is a token of regard from me and Klein."
Mobius spoke while reaching out to adjust Fu Li's collar, patting his shoulder. "You must come back alive."
"Okay." Fu Li nodded, putting on the watch and smiling.
If he remembered correctly, this was the first time Mobius had ever given someone a gift. This silly snake girl of his family had finally grown up.
Just then, Eden suddenly grabbed his arm.
"Alright, stop spacing out. Doctor, we'll be going ahead. Rest assured, we will return."
After speaking, Eden ignored Fu Li's resistance and dragged him away with a fake smile.
Seeing this scene, Mobius couldn't help but smile as well. Coupled with her appearance as a young girl, she looked exceptionally beautiful.
[Two hours and twenty-four minutes later, the ship arrived on the moon.]
"Li, do you think we can make it back alive?"
Eden crouched down, scooping up a handful of lunar dust, watching it flow slowly through her fingers. She wanted to grasp it tightly, but it was futile.
"Of course, Eden. You absolutely must live on. Bring your songs to the next era, let them hear the singing of our era."
"Cold experiments can only pass on knowledge, but artistic songs can pass on our entire era."
"Pass it on?" Eden nodded, exhaling a breath.
Although she felt it would be better for her songs and life to pass away with the era, since Li said so, then so be it.
A romance starting at the dawn of civilization didn't sound too bad.
"Eden, I'll leave my back to you."
Fu Li felt the increasingly intense pressure and secretly pressed a switch under his armor.
A transparent liquid was injected into his body through needles, forcibly suppressing the exhaustion and injuries within him like magic.
This was a special Anti-Honkai Energy Adrenaline he had secretly developed. It could temporarily suppress the injuries in his body.
After experiencing the battle with Elysia, his injuries were already completely incurable. Even if he survived this war, he would surely die.
But before he died, he still wanted to work hard to save those two Flame-Chasers who were beaten down within the first five minutes.
Just as he finished his preparations, the End descended...
[Sensing the arrival of the Herrscher of the End, Kalpas was the first to rush up.]
[He shouted, "Finality! Come on! Have a good fight with me!" —while being rubbed against the ground by the Herrscher.]
"Damn, has Kalpas always been this brave?"
Seeing Kalpas spitting blood while cursing, getting trampled by the Herrscher of the End, the others could only brace themselves and swarm forward.
Fu Li was the first to activate his Artificial Honkai Collapse form. Relying on his multiple defensive genes, he tanked several large-scale attacks for the group that were neither painful nor itchy (to the Herrscher).
Sakura held her Frozen Naraka, nimbly dodging the Herrscher's beams, and followed up with consecutive slashes, but she only left shallow marks on the Herrscher's body.
The others were the same. No matter how powerful their attacks were, when they landed on the Herrscher of the End, it was like a stone sinking into the ocean.
And Kalpas, who had rushed up first, had been sent flying completely, losing the strength to stand up again.
For a time, lights of various colors flashed on the moon. The heroes exerted their full strength, just to stall the Herrscher's footsteps.
Various intense energies collided. Fu Li raised both hands over his head, as if holding up the sun, taking over Kalpas's position under the pressure.
[The battle continued until the fourth minute. The End suddenly changed its attitude of indifference and began to gather energy.]
[You realized that the End was finally no longer ignoring you all and was preparing to launch a true attack.]
[And you had also prepared yourself.]
[In the instant the energy finished accumulating, a fierce attack shot toward Kalpas and the injured Felis.]
In the moment Aponia couldn't bear to look and closed her eyes, Fu Li used the combat plan from before, using his back to block this fatal ray for them.
By the time the dust settled, Fu Li had already exited his Artificial Honkai Collapse form, lying amidst the scorched earth, having completely lost the ability to move.
For a moment, everyone's pupils constricted.
"Li!" Tightly gripping her dual pistols, Eden's heart seized. Uncaring of the continuous suppressing fire, she ran quickly to Fu Li's side.
"Li, are you okay?!"
Carefully turning Fu Li over and confirming he was still breathing, Eden hurriedly took a vial of reagent from her waist and stabbed it into his neck.
"Please, don't let anything happen, by all means..."
"Cough cough... Eden, I'm fine... How are Felis and Kalpas?"
Hanging on to his last breath by the medicine, Fu Li tremblingly opened his eyes, looked at Eden, and spat out a mouthful of black blood.
At this moment, the collapse energy could no longer be suppressed. Terrifying cracks crawled all over his body, emitting an ominous black light.
"Don't talk... Li... I beg you..."
Looking at the trembling, bloody and mangled Fu Li, Eden felt as if her heart were being cut by a knife.
Whether it was against the Ninth Herrscher or any other, she had never seen the once playful dandy, the superstar, show this kind of expression.
"Sorry..."
Using the corner of his eye to see that Pardofelis and Kalpas had only fallen into a coma, Fu Li sighed in relief and chose to give his final time to Eden.
With hands covered in ash, he caressed that peerlessly beautiful face.
The feeling this hand brought her wasn't warm and moist like before; instead, this touch was exceptionally rough.
A line of tears slid down the corner of her eye. Even if Eden couldn't bring herself to believe it, she could see that Fu Li had already reached the end of his life.
"I'm sorry... Eden... I won't be able to help you complete your wish..."
"Since I was a child, I have always believed in you. You can emit a light more dazzling than gold, regardless of the past or the future."
As time passed, the eroding energy completely went berserk.
Starting from the fingertips touching Eden, black light spread, and Fu Li turned into gray ash bit by bit, drifting toward space.
"Eden, carry my share, and live well."
"No! You liar!" Eden watched Fu Li turning into ash. Like a demon, she wanted to reach out and grab hold of the dissipated light.
"I haven't told you yet! I like you... You... how could you..."
Until Fu Li's body completely vanished, a pink gemstone fell to the ground. The sound it made caused Eden to stop her movements.
That gemstone was a pair with the one Eden kept close to her body constantly. It was originally given to each other as a symbol of friendship when they first met.
Tears soaked the lunar sand drop by drop. Eden sat there powerlessly. Behind her, a piercing white light shattered space, striking the weakness of the Herrscher of the End.
[At the final moment, the Moonlight Throne was scrapped to deal a shield-breaking blow to the Final Herrscher.]
[And Kevin also turned the final switch, unleashing the full power of Shamash, fighting to win the final twelve hours for humanity.]