At the introduction of this paramecium, my brain stopped working for a full second just to process.
'Kiana Kaslana!?'
'The K-423, Idiotka, Paramecium, the White Tuna herself!?'
Meeting the golden child of the Honkai in such a way…life truly never goes the way you expect. And I knew this wasn't a hallucination, because the Honkai energy radiating off her was nothing but absurd.
'Did she really pull my soul all the way out of the 'Shadow Realm' while everything exploded?'
I had no idea how, but I think that's likely what happened. It was truly an insane feat befitting a goddess protagonist.
However, as the saying goes, you should never meet your heroes…
*Flash~!*
Light came out of her phone as she took a picture of me. Defenseless and unable to move a single muscle, I was completely at her mercy…
"You're really roughed up!" Kiana said, giggling as she leaned over and poked my cheek. "I'm sending this to Mei and Bronya." She paused, frowning at the screen. "Eeh? The camera isn't capturing you…"
"…"
"Oh, it's working now!" She exclaimed after fiddling her phone with what I assume was the Corruption's authority.
*Flash~!*
'This woman…Is she serious?' I mustered the most deadpan expression my current condition could allow, which only made things worse for me.
"Pfft—! You're making such a funny face! Hahaha!" She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, taking more pictures without a shred of remorse. "Alright, alright, I won't bully you anymore. Let me heal you—-Kya!"
As soon as my injuries were healed, I immediately went into action. I crouched and grabbed her ankles before she could register what was happening.
"Do you have any last words?" I asked, raising my eyes to meet hers.
"Wait, let me tell you somethi—AAgghhh!" She didn't get to finish as I immediately got up and started spinning at full speed like a human tornado.
Her shriek of protest soon dissolved into a full blown laughter after a few rotations, and so it happens to be very contagious because I was laughing right after too.
We ended up lying side by side on the ground, giggling like children as the tension from the last battle finally eased. I took this opportunity to introduce myself.
"Welt?" Kiana asked, tilting her head. "Are you perhaps related to Mr. Yang?"
"Although I am an Earthling too, I am not related to Welt Yang as far as I know."
"Wait, you're from Earth too?" She looked so surprised that she raised up from her position.
"What's with that reaction?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Well…" She scratched the back of her head. "When I sensed the link between you and the Cocoon, I could tell it was stretched thin and weak, not enough to do anything even with my support." She paused. "It was only moments ago when the connection was at its peak that I was able to pull you here. I wanted to meet the new Herrscher."
"I see…." I nodded slowly and exhaled. 'So I really succeeded.'
I'd a feeling, but hearing it from her settled something in my chest. I didn't doubt her words because this particular paramecium wasn't the type of person to do this, nor she had no reason to do so.
"Humn, to keep it simple, I am from a different version of Earth, but due to some machinations of a god, I was suddenly tossed somewhere in the cosmos." I said. "I was fortunate that the first person I met had a heart as good as her looks." I smiled as I reminisced on the day I met Herta for the first time.
We talked for a while after that, sharing some of our experiences, mine in the space station and hers as Valkyrie. It wasn't a long chat, as we soon felt like it was coming to an end.
"So what happens now?" I asked as we both got up.
"It's time to make your choice." Kiana replied, bringing her hands side by side together as twelve gems appeared, hovering above her palms in a slow circle. "What kind of Herrscher do you want to be?"
Each gem came with different color, shape and authority,
Reason, Void, Thunder, Wind, Ice, Death, Fire, Sentience, Stars, Domination, Binding, and finally, Corruption.
"I thought I had to follow a certain order." I asked, puzzled.
'Was Prometheus slacking off?'
"You'd be right, if this were before I became the Goddess of Earth." Kiana said, adopting a solemn attitude. "But now I can influence Cocoon's decisions to a certain extent. If you want, I can even forge a new authority based on two existing ones."
"Make a new core based on the previous one?" I repeated to myself as I rubbed my chin, deep in thought.
That changed everything from what I had previously planned.
It would allow many combinations and open possibilities that there was never before. Great Sage was already running overtime with the calculations and simulations in my head. And after a few minutes of contemplation, I'd finally reached my answer.
"Then I would like a new authority based on Void and Domination, please." I said, then I proceeded to explain to her what I had in mind.
Kiana listened, then nodded. The other ten gems faded, leaving only these two behind.
"Void and Domination, huh?" Something in her voice softened, nostalgic as if she was reminiscing about something. "This sure brings me some memories."
She brought her hands together, smashing the two cores into a new one.
Then she lightly flicked it and the gem drifted toward me.
I didn't move. I watched it slowly entering my chest, and felt a warmth spreading through all over my body.
"Do you know what our motto is, Royce?" Kiana suddenly asked, breaking me out of my trance.
"…If I am not mistaken, it's 'Fight for all that is beautiful in this world', right?"
"Exactly." She nodded happily, even a little bit surprised. Then she raised a fist. "As Humanity's Herrscher, you're destined to carry a burden, and face many setbacks, just like we did. But as the name of your gem suggests, promise me that you'll never give up, that you'll keep fighting for everything that's beautiful in your life, no matter what happens."
I stood there, looking at her in shock. It was then the idea finally settled in that the woman in front of me wasn't the tuna who started the journey, but a matured tuna who experienced a lot in life, both good and bad.
And before I knew, my lips morphed into a gentle smile.
'Gem of Devotion, huh?' The name surfaced in my mind as I held my palm over my chest. 'I guess it's a fitting name.'
"I promise I'll do my best." I said as I returned the fist bump.
"That's all I could ask." Kiana said, before her solemn expression cracked into an awkward smile and chuckles. "Sorry, I tried to act dignified now that I am a Goddess, but it's harder than I thought. I am still not quite used to it."
"Nah." I shoot her with my best toothy grin and thumbs up. "You did great."
"Thank you, Royce." She said with a chuckle.
An amicable silence settled between us as we looked at Earth.
"Time to say goodbye, isn't it."
"It is." She nodded. "But don't worry, I am sure we'll meet again in the future. After all, you still have your promise to fulfill, Herrscher of Providence."
"Goodbye then." I waved my hand as I felt my consciousness slipping away while feeling a gret power surging within me.
"…And thank you for everything, Herrscher of Finality."
—
It had been a while since the situation had gone off the rails.
The Honkai energy sensor had long been broken, and the effects of the eruption started spilling outside of the controlled area, frying the electronics and unstabilizing the space in the area, becoming increasingly difficult to manage.
The puppets were scattered throughout the surrounding area to eliminate Honkai Beasts, while Herta herself was rushing through the hallways in a hurry.
'Something has changed!'
The shift was sudden. The energy levels spiked without warning and the whole atmosphere changed, as if building up toward a greater explosion.
The doors slid open and she stepped inside, with an already active protection against Honkai radiation.
But what she witnessed had stopped her.
In the spot where Royce should've been, there was a cocoon, wrapped tightly around his body.
'Royce!'
In that instant, her perception of reality changed.
Just like how a veteran lawyer would unconsciously see their daily life in the lens of law, and a physicist would see it in forces and equations, but for Herta, it was much on a grander scale, so she turned it into a conscious activity so it doesn't bother her daily life.
However, before she could obtain anything useful, the scenario around her suddenly changed, and she found herself standing amidst a field of purple flowers, under the lone silver moon hanging in the dark clear sky.
Clematis, Herta recognized them immediately. It is the same kind of flowers she uses to decorate her puppets.
'What is this? This isn't an illusion, it's almost like another world entirely!' The implication hit her fully, baffling her as she turned towards the source.
In the same distance as previously, there was the cocoon.
It slowly unfolded, its layers peeling away before disappearing into the air, when it revealed the figure of a young man, floating in the air while sleeping in a fetal position.
"Royce…?" Herta called him out cautiously, her eyes widening as she saw his new appearance.
Her voice had reached him, causing his eyelids to twitch a few times before finally opening them, revealing eyes she didn't recognize. Bright yellow irises, white pupils shaped into ripples, crossed by the mark of an X.
The tips of his indigo hair began to glow, as the moonlight fell on him and illuminated the rest, an armor and clothes waved together in a perfect harmony, and a blue dharmachakra manifested, hovering at his back.
Royce lowered his legs, but didn't touch the ground. He appeared to be floating in the air, and his gaze locked in Herta, when he opened his mouth.
"I am…" His voice was softer than she remembered, but it was still the same that she wished to hear. Before Herta even realized, she was already moving across the field of Clematis.
"—Honkai."