The thunder and lightning became more frequent, sometimes even striking in rapid succession, weaving a net of light that illuminated the entire sky.
The thunderclaps rolled continuously, as if the heavens themselves were trembling. Each boom accelerated the heartbeat, spreading a sense of unease through the air.
"..."
Having silenced Dr. MEI's attempt to interfere with a few words, Prometheus turned around. Her gaze towards Fuli's crimson eyes was unusually gentle.
[Prometheus would like to share a conjecture.]
She spoke softly: [First of all, after our previous interactions and understanding, I believe my Host is not someone easily shaken by the past. Even having personally experienced the Great Eruption in Nagazora City, with Host's personality, you would only turn every difficulty and danger experienced into nourishment for your own growth, cutting through thorns and growing stronger on the path of the Honkai side.]
Hearing this, Dr. MEI was stunned for a moment, suddenly realizing she had fallen into a cognitive blind spot.
The reason her prototype, Dr. MEI of the Previous Era, was so obsessed and deeply scarred by the Third Eruption was that she had grown up in the Nagazora City of the Previous Era.
Father, family, classmates, friends...
Almost everything Dr. MEI cherished was destroyed in the Third Eruption. At that time, she could do nothing but watch helplessly as it all unfolded, which led to her indescribable obsession with fighting the Honkai.
Fuli was different.
He was an international student who had come by boat from the continent across the sea from the Far East and had only lived in this city for about three months.
For him, apart from his white moonlight (ex) Kiana and the later-arriving Mei, the rest of Nagazora City was just filled with strangers in a foreign land.
This could be seen from the fact that [Fuli didn't plan to stop the Great Eruption from the start, but instead used Susannah to notify Theresa and the others to come for rescue]. To him, saving Nagazora City was purely based on humanitarianism.
If it succeeded, fine; if not, it didn't matter.
In other words, the assumption that he would hold an irreconcilable grudge against the Herrscher of Thunder because millions died simply did not hold true for Fuli.
Prometheus continued: [Moreover, Host also knows that the culprit who triggered the Third Eruption is Cocolia. Miss Mei is also a victim of this disaster. With Host's style of 'only the weak draw their swords against the weaker,' if you were to really draw your sword, the target would only be Cocolia's head.]
Dr. MEI, who was listening, couldn't help but nod.
If Fuli were really the unstable factor who believed "It's not me who is wrong, it's the world!", she, having dealt enough with psychopaths, wouldn't have specifically discussed with Prometheus to come out and meet him.
So why was this child reacting like this now?
Dr. MEI's confusion didn't last long; Miss Will of Honkai quickly gave her the answer.
Prometheus chuckled lightly and spoke in a tone as if coaxing a child: [Host just feels that he was deceived by Miss Mei, that he was a clown in their eyes, so he's throwing a tantrum.]
Whether it was her or Dr. MEI, the excuse they used when they first appeared was that 'their modeling referenced a woman extremely important in Fuli's heart.'
Of course, the audience with a god's-eye view knew that the resemblance between Prometheus and Bronya, and Dr. MEI and Mei, was merely some astonishing coincidence.
But Fuli, the person involved, actually accepted it naturally.
What did this show?
It showed that subconsciously, he genuinely regarded Raiden Mei and Bronya Zaychik as extremely important companions!
He thought they were his friends, the kind who would take a bullet for him, and he could take two for them!
Until just now, when the Third Eruption happened before his eyes, and until he learned the truth about the outbreak of the Great Eruption in the previous timeline.
Prometheus was right; Fuli really didn't care about the lives of millions of people in the Far East.
Just because he restrained himself from disturbing ordinary people's lives didn't mean he would impose his values on others.
What Fuli absolutely could not tolerate was that Mei and the others in the previous timeline had concealed the truth while interacting with him!
What is this?
Was I treated like a clown?
Were those things taught to me just acts of charity based on pity?
Was I just a tool for your self-satisfaction to alleviate your inner guilt?
For Boss Fuli, who had been proud all his life, this was the one thing he could not accept no matter what.
Presumably, regarding my various actions in the Middle East back then, even if Mei didn't say it openly when she rushed over, she must have found it quite laughable in her heart.
[Exactly. You, a mere A-rank, wanted to get involved in Lord Herrscher of Thunder's affairs? You even single-handedly wiped out thirty-seven World Serpent bases in the Middle East and faced off against Raven? Do you think you're cool? How much did you drink to be so brave!]
After mimicking Fuli's thoughts, Prometheus changed the subject: [But, stupid Host, suppose we change perspective and think carefully from Miss Mei's position?]
Before the boy could react, the little AI continued her narration:
[Persecuted by Cocolia, she became the Herrscher of Thunder, triggering the Third Eruption and destroying everything she cherished. While living with this guilt, she suddenly discovered that the boy who had been following Kiana around not only survived through twists and turns but was alive and kicking, becoming a powerful individual like herself. She couldn't help but want to teach him her best family swordsmanship to prevent him from meeting with misfortune.]
It was an indisputable fact that Fuli's fate had changed because of her. The kind-hearted girl felt she should make some compensation within her ability. This was justifiable no matter how you looked at it.
[After that, as fellow survivors of Nagazora City, they communicated from time to time through various channels, and their feelings gradually warmed during this period, becoming something like confidants... Unfortunately, considering Kiana's feelings, the lump in her throat regarding the Third Eruption, and the various changes that occurred afterward, Raiden Mei ultimately chose to reduce contact with the boy. Even when they occasionally met and communicated, it was mostly Mei venting unilaterally.]
Kiana's Herrscher transformation, the stripping of the Gem of Conquest, the Far East Branch's rebellion and attack on Schicksal, the Final Lesson, Meteoric Salvation...
At that time, Mei was truly very, very tired, both physically and mentally.
[She thought the relationship between the two would end there in this life. After all, what she had done before was quite excessive... As a result, the boy actually suspected that she was coerced into joining World Serpent and charged into the enemy lines alone without a second word, getting himself covered in wounds!]
Not just Fuli; after "Lament of the Fallen," Mei, who became the Herrscher of Thunder again, even cut off contact with the St. Freya group.
At that time, she was truly alone.
And at such a time, Fuli suddenly popped up, caring for her, protecting her, not hesitating to provoke the World Serpent—a super-large organization ranked top five in the world—just to seek justice for her.
A clown? Unrequited affection?
At that time, the boy was simply radiant in Mei's eyes!
That was why, after bandaging his wounds, the girl wanted to confess everything to him.
It was a pity that, facing Fuli's sleepy eyes as he rested on her lap, Raiden Mei, rubbing his cheek, still couldn't muster the courage to say everything this time.
She was afraid of the look in his eyes turning to rage after learning the truth, and even more afraid that he would leave her without looking back.
Dr. MEI said softly: [It is precisely because she cared too much that she hesitated to move forward.]
[I know Host might not believe it and think I made all this up. But does Host remember? I said at the beginning that the Key of Domination has the ability to record the surrounding environment.]
Prometheus paused and said: [In the previous timeline, after Miss Mei finished bandaging Host, the scarred Host fell into a deep sleep due to exhaustion and other factors, so you didn't hear the second half of Miss Mei's story.]
She glanced at Dr. MEI, who nodded and began to reconstruct the scene recorded in the system:
"Raiden Mei was born into a very wealthy family."
"Her father and mother always doted on her very, very much. It was the kind of spoiling where they feared she would melt in their mouths or catch a cold in their hands."
"Living in such an environment, Raiden Mei grew up slowly. After her mother passed away from illness, her father Raiden Ryoma's attitude towards her gradually became stricter."
"Fortunately, Mei knew her father was doing it for her own good, so she tried very, very hard to become an outstanding person in people's eyes."
"Mei indeed achieved this. She not only met her father's expectations but also became an object of admiration for her classmates, the 'child from another family' in the mouths of other elders."
The ink-black night was silent, and even the air was filled with a chill.
In the empty room, there were only two lonely shadows accompanying each other, like friends who hadn't seen each other for a long time, or... enemies about to part ways.
"Until the anomaly struck. As the carrier of the Gem of Conquest, I triggered the tragic Third Eruption."
"Events proved that the one who made the mistake wasn't me."
"I was just used by Cocolia, becoming a tool for that hypocritical woman to expand her influence and research. I myself was also one of the victims of the Great Eruption."
"But I still caused a great disaster!"
"At that time, I was trapped inside my body by a force, forced to watch helplessly as everything happened!"
"I was powerless! I couldn't do anything!"
"Trapped, I could only hug my shoulders and cry out in the dark wilderness, begging for someone to come and stop the me who was about to go berserk, praying for someone to appear like a shining hero in a story and stop the me who was about to destroy everything!"
"Then, a shooting star came."
"Kiana appeared on the rooftop of Chiba Academy. Using various means, she finally saved me, who had transformed into the Herrscher of Thunder."
"The tragedy had already happened. I was saved, but only I was saved."
"In the end, I didn't wait for the hero who would save everything. I only waited for a best friend who arrived late."
"Of course, this is definitely not blaming Kiana! I couldn't be more grateful to her for redeeming me when I was about to fall and become a Herrscher!"
"But in the future, when I occasionally look at the starry sky alone, when I meet people whose destinies were changed by me time and again, when I sit with you, Fuli—who became like this clearly because of me, yet still got covered in wounds for my sake—I always think: If only Kiana could have come earlier... if only, if only there really was a hero from a fairy tale, clad in rainbow-colored sacred armor and riding on a seven-colored cloud, who made a dashing entrance and turned the tide before everything became irreversible!"
"...Then would the future have been a little different from now?"
Drip, drip, drop.
In the past, the sleeping Fuli mistook it for the sound of rain drifting into the room from outside the window.
But this time, through the recording of the Key of Domination, he clearly knew what it was.
"Then now, could I appear before you upright and dignified, not as the creator of the Third Eruption, but in the name of Raiden Mei?"
—Those were the girl's tears falling on his face.
It was as if an angel had flown across the sky; the scene fell silent for a moment.
A moment later, Prometheus's voice slowly sounded: [In terms of stance, MEI and I are the same.]
[Host is an incredibly important existence to us. No matter what, we don't want Host to die here.]
Fuli was sent back from the future by the Herrscher of Finality. He must possess clues about the 'enemy that even Finality cannot oppose.'
[If Host truly cannot do it, I will advise you to leave here, just like MEI.]
True despair is not that I can't do anything, but that whatever I do is useless.
[But this time is different. Coincidence or destiny, the possibility of defeating the Herrscher of Thunder is now held in Host's hands.]
[It is true that humans are creatures who won't improve without regret, but only the person involved understands just how bone-deep and memorable the 'regret' that makes people want to improve is.]
[Compared to that kind of improvement, I still prefer that Host, in a certain summer in the future, can lie on the grass with Miss Mei and the others, looking up at the starry sky and laughing loudly: 'It's a good thing I did that back then!']
The greatest regret in the world is not "I cannot," but "I could have."
[I don't want Host to regret.]
[Miss Mei must be thinking the same thing, which is why, even now, she is still persisting in her resistance inside the Herrscher of Thunder's body.]
As the explicit Will of Honkai, Prometheus could feel the tenacious will still resisting within the Herrscher of Thunder.
Mei in the previous timeline must have done the same. Regrettably, she, who struggled until the last second, ultimately didn't wait for the hero who would save everything.
[In the previous timeline, she failed to wait for the hero who would save everything.]
[But now, she is waiting for you.]
Waiting for you, this hero, clad in silver-white armor and riding a tall horse, to make a shining entrance like in a fairy tale, waving the spear and sword in hand to smash all the villains in one breath, and walk towards a beautiful future full of happiness and light while holding the heroine, whose face is filled with emotion and attachment!!!
Tap.
Fuli stopped in his tracks.
"Let's skip the hugging the heroine part. Before reaching the Serial Rank, I have no plans to fall in love."
He said, "Bronya, do me a favor."
...